Onism, Chapter One
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A/N: Here's the first chapter of Onism, and I'm so excited about it! I hope you all enjoy it, and I'll be back tomorrow with the next chapter!
The clock struck midnight.
It was Halloween night, and the egos were clustered in the living room, wondering what sort of antics would happen this year.
“Maybe nothing will happen,” Jackie suggested, shrugging as six pairs of eyes glared at him.
“What? Just saying.”
It was Robbie who noticed it first. A slight distortion in the air around Anti, causing the glitch’s static to buzz more. The zombie tugged on JJ’s arm, slowly pointing out the distortion to his friend.
JJ watched the air for a few seconds, then clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention.
The air around Anti looks a little… strange, he signed, a little awkwardly because Robbie was still holding his sleeve.
The group turned to the glitch, questions in their gazes. Anti shrugged, causing the distortion to warp the area around him, and he froze in place.
“Anti, stay still. We’ll… we’ll figure something out,” Chase said, looking at Marvin, who bit his lip and looked away.
“I’ve never seen this happen before, I… I don’t know what to do,” the magician stated, fiddling with the hem of his shirt.
Henrik nudged the magician, irritation on his face.
“You must know something about space dispersion, Marvin. Teleportation, quantum phasing? Did you study nothing after the Mayhem of a few years ago?” He turned to the group, still frowning.
“I’ll do some reading. I’ll let you know what I find.” With that, the doctor turned and left the room.
Anti looked at his found family through what seemed like a film. It was like standing inside a lighthouse light and looking out; everything beyond was distorted and unfocused.
Every so often, the background changed from the sitting room to some form of… interrogation room? Anti couldn’t tell behind the film, and he could barely hear anymore.
He lifted a hand to reach for the egos, then felt something cold and metallic press against his wrist, and with a blink, the egos were gone, replaced by the interrogation room.
——
“Anton, I need answers here.”
“What answers? I can’t see!”
“What are you doing? Stop that!”
“I’m not doing anything! This is happening on its own!”
“If I find out one of your brothers did this-”
“Like my brothers would help me.”
“Anton, stop what you’re doing, or I’ll arrest you for… for… failing to cooperate!”
“Who’s Anton?”
“Wha-? Who are you? What have you done to Anton?”
“Look, I don’t know any more than you. One minute I’m in the living room with the others, and the next…”
“Others?”
——
The egos stared at the man standing before them, confusion clear on his face. The man stood slightly taller than Anti, with bandages wrapped around both forearms, covering what appeared to be burn scars. He wore a dark blue shirt, black slacks, and dark green Converse shoes. His green-brown hair hung in a shaggy mop atop his head, some strands falling over dark green eyes.
He also had burn scars across his neck and creeping up his jaws, stopping just halfway up his cheeks.
The intruder stared at the others, then cleared his throat and looked around the house.
“Nice place. Beats a prison cell.” His voice was hoarse, sounding like he had eaten several buckets of coarse rocks, and the lights seemed to flicker with every blink.
Chase was the first to speak.
“Who are you? Where’s Anti?”
The man looked at Chase, seeming to be sizing him up, before smirking.
“You remind me of my brother.” He paused, seeming to consider the term, before sneering. “Caregiver.”
Chase straightened up, squaring his shoulders before asking the question again. The intruder turned to the rest of the group, observing each one before clearing his throat and smiling, an evil glint in his eye.
“My family call me Anton. You… you can call me Circuit Breaker.”
