Part Five of the Inverted AU
A JSE Fanfic
[This is part of a fic series I wrote from December 2018 to August 2021. Jack's been living with his housemates for a while, and they're a bit odd, but he doesn't see anything necessarily wrong. Until Anti posts a video on his YouTube channel, trying to get through to him.]
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Jack woke up with a pounding headache. For a moment, he tried to remember if there was a reason for that, but when he couldn’t come up with anything he gave up. Must just be a bad day. He groaned, and rolled over to look at the clock. It was nine-thirty. That meant it was time to get up. He sighed, then managed to pry himself away from his bed. He stumbled toward the dresser, grabbed some clothes, then considered taking a shower. He decided against it; he was too tired and the water would just wash out the color in his hair. After getting dressed he climbed down the stairs to the kitchen. And then he realized he could hear the shouting. Already? It was so early.

“Some of us have a personal life, unlike you, discount Punisher!”

“I have a personal life, bitch, I think the word you’re looking for is ‘limits,’ and in that case you’re the one lacking!”

“Well I’m fucking sorry that I want to do more with my life than jump around in spandex beating the shit out of criminals!”

“Do more with your life?! I’d say that—”

Jack walked into the kitchen, and everything immediately stopped. “Morning guys,” he yawned. “Glad to see we’re off to a fantastic start today.”

Nobody said anything. Jackie was standing by the toaster, glaring at Marvin, who was in turn standing behind the counter and glaring right back. Chase was sitting at the dining table, picking at his scrambled eggs. After an awkward silence, he looked up and said, “Hey Jack. Didja sleep well?”

“Yeah. I have a headache, though, so maybe I slept too long. Did someone make breakfast or is it a free-for-all?”

Chase pointed towards the fridge with his fork. “There’s still some leftover eggs from yesterday in there, but if you don’t want those you’re gonna have to fend for yourself.”

The toaster popped. Everyone jumped. The atmosphere in the room was way too tense for sudden noises. Jackie sighed, the plucked the two bagel halves out of the slots, then strolled over to the silverware drawer, grabbed a butter knife, grabbed some butter from the cupboard, and began applying said butter to the bagel. He did this all while not looking away from Marvin, who was standing still as a statue.

“You know what? I’m just gonna…grab some cereal.” Jack edged around the staring contest, quickly getting the box from the cupboard and some milk from the fridge before power-walking over to the table and sitting down next to Chase. “Where are the others?” he asked.

“Still asleep,” Chase explained.

“Yeah, I figured Schneep would be.” The doctor’s clinic was usually open all night, so his sleep schedule was pretty off. “But Jameson?”

“He was out late. You know that, uh…fuck I can’t remember what it’s called. The, like, police charity gala? He got an invitation and went.”

“Huh. Didn’t know he knew anyone in the police.”

“Apparently it’s a new thing.” Chase shrugged. He glanced over towards Jackie and Marvin. “Jesus, they’re still…hey, are you two losers goin’ to actually eat or are you too busy having a Mexican stand-off but with eyes?”

“Fuck off, Chase,” Marvin said automatically. “You know what? I have better things to do. See you guys later, unhopefully.” He turned and left.

“That’s not a word!” Jackie called after him, causing a flurry of purple sparks to shoot towards his head. He barely ducked in time.

“What is with you two?” Jack griped. “Why are you always about to tear each other’s throats out?”

Jackie sighed. “It’s just…he’s a dick, but he thinks I’m one.”

“Don’t worry about it, man.” Chase said. “It’s not like they’re out to murder each other or anything. It’s…well, maybe I should have done a personality assessment for potential roommates. They’re too different.” He shoved a bit of breakfast into his mouth before continuing. “Anyway, what were you planning on doing today? More recording, or do you want to go down to the shop with me?”

“Probably just the first thing.” Jack sighed. “But god, that’s gonna be hard with this headache.”

“You can do it, man! I believe you can power through it!”

“Thanks, dude.” Jack rubbed his head. “Guess I’ll have to, huh?”

“Yeah. But it’ll be okay. I promise.”

After a bit, Jack went back upstairs. Chase immediately turned to Jackie. “Dude, if you’re going to shout at Marvin, can you shout things that WON'T clue Jack in?” he hissed.

“What? What did I say?”

“It was what you were about to say. You were like, ‘more out of life, I’ll say that’ and then you stopped when Jack came in and I just know if he hadn’t you were gonna end up mentioning Marvin’s…you know.”

“Oh, you mean murdering people and worse in the basement?!”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean!” Chase coughed, uncomfortable. “Look, I get it, Marvin’s…yeah…but Jack can’t find out! He’ll freak, and you know that! Plus, you’re giving Jameson extra work and he has a life outside of us. I don’t think it’s a good idea to piss him off when he could decide to leave at any time.”

Jackie thought about this, then sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. But if I have to listen to him brag about his ‘discoveries’ one more time…” He didn’t finish the threat, just clenched his fist like he was dramatically squashing a bug.

Chase rolled his eyes. “You don’t have this problem with Schneep,” he muttered.

“Th-that—that’s different! Henrik’s a doctor, we need him. And he’s all…well…y’know, so I can’t blame him. Plus, he doesn’t call me a no-good do-gooder under his breath every time he sees me.” Jackie took a bite out of his bagel. “I’m goin’ upstairs to check the web, text me if you need anything.”

Chase gave a little salute. “Will do, Mr. Boy Man.”
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Jack took a break from recording around noon, coming back downstairs for a quick lunch before heading on to the next game. He passed Schneep and Jameson in the living room, the former curled up on a couch with headphones and his phone and the latter sitting in an armchair with a book. They weren’t talking, though for all he knew Jameson actually was but he was projecting to Schneep alone. Jack waved to them, but neither responded. That was okay. He made himself a quick sandwich/chips combo, ate fast, then went back upstairs.

“Jack! Wait a moment.”

Jack stopped where he was on the staircase, looking back down. “Yeah, doc?”

“You were not planning on going to the Pax this year, were you?”

“Uh…” Jack bit his lip, trying to remember. “No, I…I think I decided there was too much to do here, and travel was too hard.” He gripped the banister tightly. He was feeling dizzy all of a sudden, his vision going in spirals. “Anyway, why?”

“Well..” Schneep held his phone up for Jack to see. “…because there is now a video on your channel called ‘Pax Special Announcement/Surprise.’”

Jack felt his heart stop. “I…didn’t upload that. You don’t think…?”

“It is possible. I have not watched it yet. Do you want to join me?”

“Yeah. Yeah, that’ll be good.” Jack climbed back down the stairs, settling on the couch next to Schneep, leaning over his shoulder to stare at the tiny screen of the phone.

The video started out…normal. Jack, or someone who looked like Jack, began by saying “Well hello there! Before we get right into this, I just want to come right out and say I won’t be going to Pax this year. I’m really sorry guys, but unfortunately life is…being a bitch right now…” A small giggle. “And I just can’t make it. There’s so much planning that you need to put into travelling, and I’m still sort of behind on videos from the time I was sick—”

“When was I sick?” Jack blurted out.

{Back in January.} Both Schneep and Jack startled at the mental interjection. They looked over to Jameson. {Don’t you remember? It was after that disturbing dream you had, right before Marvin strengthened the wards. You were bedridden for a week, it was horrible.}

“Oh. Yeah, uh, now I remember. Thanks, dude.”

The “Jack” onscreen was still talking. “—actually originally planned on going, and I filmed a speci-sp̵e͏ci̧a̕l vide͏o͞ for you guys, to show there.” That glitch didn’t go unnoticed by Jack. “I figured it wouldn’t do anyone any good just sitting on my hard drive, so I might as well post it. But first, you guys have to do something. You know how much I love audience interaction, so what I need you to do is all take out your phones. Or, you know, your iPad, anything with a camera. I’ll just…wait a minute. This is—it’s kinda awkward, isn’t it? But you’re all ready now? Okay, so what you hav͟e͟ to ̧d͢o is—̢” The video was interrupted by a horrible, electronic breaking sound as the screen went black. But the visual came back, severely lowered in quality and lagging. “—place ̸yo̕ur̕ p̶h̡o̡ne̢ in͟ you̷r̕ ͝han̡d͝,̡ ̴an͝d ͝j͏ust—” another glitch to black.

Jack glanced at Schneep, who only gave him a worried look. Then, the video returned, red and green pixels flashing across the screen, partially hiding images that…they looked familiar to Jack. Maybe he played games like that? But they seemed more real than anything. Then, black. Nothing except for a question, echoing. “A͡re you ̷th̢ere?” Jack found he was nodding. Why was he nodding?

And then he was there. His appearance was slightly different, more align with Jack’s than his own, most noticeable in the green hair and the lack of an eye-patch. But there was no mistaking the knife, or the bloody bandages around his neck. “Lo͢o̕k ͞a̵t you al͝l̴! J͏u͢st sittiņg͟ ͟t̴here—y̷o̧u͝ tho̶u͢g̨ht it̵ wa͠s ov̶e̶r̛—no̶t͟ ̷w͝o̸rryi͏n͢g̨ a̵b̢o͝ut ͞a͝ny̧t͏h̵i̵ng͝. You a͝ll͞ t̢h͟ought I wa̶s ̶gon͞e͡…̵b͢ut̡ I͏'͟ve b̨e̸e͡n ḩere̴ this͡ ͏entire ̕t͡im͟e!͡ ̢Kee͏pi͢n̷g an—̶ e͏͖͖͉̗̞y͇̭̞͓̗̰͡e̫ ̮̥̜͖̞͕o̼̗̪̬̻̰̳̕n͖̥̫͍̫̝ ̤̣͟t͎hi͖̥̱n̡̻̞̭͉̲̱̖g̱̰̤̬̫̥ș̜. Yơu͢ stopped̨ pa̡yi̵ng ̡a͢t̶te̡nti͟on!̕ We͡l̶l, I̧ ho͏pe yo͏u're̛ happ̸y. You ca̡n't͢ se͏e the͞ ̛s͠ig͞ns.̛ Thręw m͢ȩ aside! Did̶n't̴ r̡e̵ad͏ t͢he ͝warn͝i̸n̛gs.̸ I'm̨ ͞not g̷o̸ing̕—͠a̢n̷yw̢he̵r͝e̕!̷ ͡I̸'m̨ ͡alwa̢y͡s ͝the̶re, Aļw̨ą͠ys̶ Wa͠t͟c̵h͞͞in̴̡g. They ca̶n̸'̛t͝ ̡get ri͢d ̧o͞f͞ m͟e.” One final cut, and…“E̕nj͏o̴y your ̴'vid̷e̢os͟.‘̷” The words sounded bitter.

A few more seconds of dark silence, and then the video ended. Jack leaned back. “What…what does it mean?” he asked, a tremble in his voice.

“I think it is a warning.” Schneep turned off his phone. “To your viewers, saying he is still there, and to us, saying he can get inside the channel whenever he wants. He could make how many fake videos and ruin your life.”

“He wouldn’t do that.” Jack didn’t know where the words had come from. Yes, of course he would, he was a monster, he was a demon…and yet…he had the strangest, niggling feeling in the back of his mind.

{Jack, I think your eye friend wants your attention.}

“Wh—Sam!” Jack looked over to the tank in the corner of the room. They’d made it relatively recently, because he hadn’t really…trusted them with the secret of Sam’s existence. But he’d decided they were safe. So he told them. He couldn’t remember the actual moment he did so, but how else would they have found out about Sam?

Jack rushed over to the tank. Sam had been bonking on the lid, looking at him. “What is it, bud?” Sam wanted to see the video. “Well, Schneep can bring his phone over—” No, that wouldn’t work. He scared Sam. “C’mon, Sam, you gotta get over this.” Sam would not. They knew something was off, they didn’t like the way he looked at them. “Well, if you insist. Hang on, I’ll open the tank and you can come upstairs, I’ll show you on my computer.” Sam thought that was a good idea.

With a little effort, Jack pried the lid off the tank and Sam burst out in a spurt of green liquid. They immediately settled on Jack’s shoulder. “Comfortable?” They were. “Alright. Hang on, then.” Jack dashed upstairs. Jameson and Schneep watched him go in silence.

“How do they talk?” Schneep asked. “It has no mouth but Jack understands it just fine!”

{I’m…not quite sure, to be honest,} Jameson admitted. {If it’s a form of telepathy it’s not one I can detect. Jack just seems to know what Sam is feeling. They are definitely connected somehow.}

“Fascinating…” Schneep turned his phone back on, opening up the YouTube video again. “I think we will have to go over this with the others, yes?”

{Indeed.} Jameson stood up, then took Jack’s vacant spot on the couch. {I could feel a definite shift in Jack during that video. I believe Anti thought it would help jog his memory.}

“But how did he do this? How did he reach into Jack’s channel? And how did he change his appearance to match closer to Jack’s? Can he shift shape?”

{My good doctor, I think you need to calm down and focus on the more immediately problem. Jack cannot remember.}

“True, true…but someday I want to find the answers to these questions. And maybe I can answer my questions about Jack’s eye as well. Anyway, will you need to undo his mess?”

{Hmm…perhaps not. I’ll wait until the end of the day to see if there’s any lasting effect. But if there is…I think I may need to strengthen my approach, if one glitch’s video can break through it without too much difficulty.}
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Jack was starting to get uneasy. After he showed Sam the video, he’d scrolled down through the comments, reading the viewers’ reactions. He thought he’d done something like this before…looking for the viewers freaking out in reaction to a video he posted. But when would that have happened? He was a gamer, he never uploaded anything this level of shocking. The closest it got was Halloween, but he’d been scared then because Anti was taking over…that…was how it went down, wasn’t it? He just couldn’t shake the feeling of the glitch over his shoulder, but not…in a hostile way…

Most of the comments were very typical. Along the lines of “Aaaaaaah oh my god Anti is here!!! Aaaaaaa!!!” But there were a couple theories, comparing this sudden dropped video to the Halloween one, which had been built up.

Well, if he was looking for theories, he needed to be on a different website. On a whim, he switched over and searched up the jacksepticeye tab, scrolling through the results. Lots more of the “Ohmigodanti” reactions. He kept refreshing the search, looking for new…yeah, he definitely remembered doing this before. Only now there was Sam with him, instead of…but that wasn’t possible.

Then, he came across a post. Just a single question: “Does anyone else think that Anti isn’t, well, particularly evil?” Reading that, Jack felt…he didn’t know how he felt. Like he’d just remembered something, but there was nothing there. Most of the responses to the post were like “He possessed Jack and slit his throat, how is that not evil?” and that seemed the rational response…it was, wasn’t it?

Boop. The sound of his text alert startled Jack out of his…whatever this was. He picked up his phone from where he’d dropped it on his desk and read the text from Chase: "Dude, are you coming down for dinner or what?"

“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered to himself. “Sam, you ready to go back in the tank or do you want to hang around a bit more? I…miss hanging out with you. We don’t do it as much.” Sam missed it too, but they wanted to return to the tank. It was safe, and they didn’t think his friends were. “They’re fine, Sam. If they wanted to, like, murder me they would have done it by now.” Sam was worried about him. “…thanks, bud. I appreciate it, but everything is okay.” Sam wasn’t sure about that, but if Jack insisted.
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Dinner was the only time when everyone was home and awake to eat at the same time, so it was usually an event. Jackie or Jameson usually cooked, and they all sat at the table and made (sometimes awkward) conversation. There wasn’t really a defined seating arrangement, but they all sort of fell into the same pattern. Jackie and Marvin sat as far away as possible from each other, Jack usually sat next to Chase, or sometimes Jameson or Jackie, Schneep usually sat near Jackie or occasionally Chase, and Jameson sat near Marvin. There were only so many ways to sit with those requirements.

It was spaghetti night, because neither Jackie nor Jameson felt like cooking and spaghetti was easy. Jack was hungry, but he couldn’t bring himself to do more than pick at the noodles. He had too many thoughts, and they all contradicted each other.

“You okay, Jack?” Jackie asked.

“Uh…yeah, I’m just…thinking.”

“About what?”

“Well…I don’t know.” Jack dropped the fork. “You all saw that video on the channel today?”

Everyone nodded. “Are you going to delete it?” Chase asked.

“Maybe. But…after watching it, I feel…” Jack put his head in his hands. “I feel…like I’m forgetting something. Or that something is wrong. And I keep thinking about Anti, and I think I have weird memories…and Sam is worried about me…”

“Okay, that’s cool.” Marvin didn’t seem to be paying attention. He kept glancing toward Jameson.

“Maybe your headache is just playing tricks on your brain, Jack!” Schneep suggested. “That is a thing that can happen if it is bad enough.”

“Really?” Jack was skeptical. He would know about that, wouldn’t he?

“I think you need to get your mind off things,” Marvin said. “Hey, Jameson and I are working on something, and we need a third person. You wanna help?”

“I…literally don’t know anything about magic.”

“Well, that’s okay. We just need you to observe what happens, take notes, tell us if you feel anything, like, psychically. Not too hard.”

“I don’t…” Jack paused. It wouldn’t hurt to help them out, would it? {No, it wouldn’t.} And it could help him forget this whole mess of a day…{it seemed like a good idea.} “Alright, if you insist. After dinner.”

And indeed, after they’d all finished Jack followed Marvin and Jameson down into the basement. The other three, stuck cleaning up, exchanged looks.

“You don’t think…this will have any side effects, do you?” Chase asked.

“I hope not,” Jackie muttered.

“What kind of side effects?” Schneep asked.

“I don’t know! Just!” Chase glared in the general direction of the basement door. “That’s my friend! And I don’t know if this new thing will work. Doesn’t it seem kind of risky to have two people doing the spell at the same time? Like, they’d distract each other?”

“I think it will be fine,” Schneep said dismissively. “Jameson is knowledgeable, and Marvin is very skilled. They will be fine together.”

“Well…I guess this is our best option,” Jackie said reluctantly. “Still never liked this whole…thing, but…”

“It will be fine.” Schneep’s voice left no room for argument. “You will see.”
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Jack woke up with purple at the edges of his vision. It faded away. He wondered why that was, and then he forgot what he was wondering about. He felt great.

To his surprise, when he came downstairs to get something to eat before starting the day, everyone was awake. That was something he’d only seen maybe twice since joining the household. Schneep, Jameson, and Marvin were all in the living room, and Chase and Jackie were sitting at the table eating in the kitchen/dining room. “Is there an event or something?” he asked. “Why is everyone awake? Did all our sleep schedules just align?”

“Oh hi Jack!” Chase said. “You feeling alright?”

“Yeah, actually. Pretty good! I might do some VR games today, full of that energy.”

“Nice, dude. Here, I got you some toast.”

“Aw, thanks.” As he sat at the table, munching, he felt…like he was forgetting something. “Hey, uh, what day is it?”

“Friday,” Marvin called from the living room.

“Uh, actually I meant date. I think my phone’s off.”

“It’s the tenth of March,” Jackie said. “Why?”

“I just felt like there was…something I was supposed to be doing. But I think it must be because I’m not at Pax this year. I had my panel scheduled for today until I had to cancel it.”

Chase shrugged. “Well, unfortunately travel difficulties don’t just go away.”

“Yeah.” Jack finished off the toast. “I’m goin’ back up now. You guys know where to find me.” He disappeared up the stairs.

Everyone left collectively relaxed. “Either he is a better actor than he thought, or he really does not remember what happened the day before yesterday.” Schneep breathed a sigh or relief.

“And…you’re sure I’ll never have to do that again?” Marvin asked, turning to Jameson. “I have more important stuff to do with my day.”

{Relax, Marvin.} Jameson waved away his concern. {Now that the spell’s set in motion, it can run on its own energy. It just needs to be kicked into gear every week or so, and that is something I can do on my own.}

“Alright. Okay. Good, we’re all good.” Chase laughed nervously. “God, that was close. We almost lost him.”
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Across the city, a screen was smashed. Then the smasher immediately regretted it. That security monitor was an important window into what the hell was going on in that house, he really needed to stop this.

Anti forced himself to breathe, the strange, steadying motion bringing him back down to earth. It was okay. He’d just adapt. First, he’d see if he could still reach Jack through the combination of the house’s wards and the mind spell, whichever spell it may be. Then, he’d get a new screen. Then, he’d figure out what, exactly, this new and improved method was. It was fine. It was fine. He just had to try again. Some of the keener fans were starting to catch on, though they still thought this was all a game. So that was a helpful thing that came out of this.

But still, it stung knowing he’d almost had him back.

Part Sixteen of the PW Timeline
A JSE Fanfic
[This is part of a complete series I wrote from July 2019 to July of 2022. While Dr. Newson's hearing comes to a conclusion led by Marvin, and Chase goes to visit Jack and finds something surprising, JJ celebrates his birthday by himself. But he won't be alone for long.]
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The entryway of the courthouse was busy, many people milling about. Marvin wasn’t actually surprised, after all, this was a big case for the city. But that didn’t mean he liked it. He sat on one of the benches, playing anxiously with a Rubik’s cube in his lap. Not to solve it, just to do something. His lawyer, Aja, sat next to him, looking through her files.

Someone pushed through the crowd, coming to a stop nearby. “Marvin!” she called. “Am I late?”

“Huh? Oh!” It took Marvin a moment to recognize Dr. Laurens. “No, uh, you’re fine. We’re on recess, you don’t actually go on until later.”

Laurens sighed, relieved. “Sorry, traffic. I-I went slow, too, because. Well.” She gestured to her arm, no longer in a sling but still in a cast. “Much more mobility, and my wrist is better, but I’m still supposed to be careful. When does the recess end?”

“Uhh…” Marvin checked his phone for the time. “Just a few minutes. But it’ll still be a few minutes after that before you need to testify. Right, Ms. Bakshi?”

“Right.” Aja nodded. “Don’t worry, just head into that side room. All the people called to testify are waiting in there.”

“Oh.” Laurens followed Aja’s point towards the door. “So, this is a proper trial now and everything? I was told this was just a hearing.”

“Yes, but due to the sensationalism of the case, the hearing is being treated as a trial,” Aja explained.

“It’s stupid,” Marvin muttered. “I mean, I guess I’m glad that it’s getting attention, but I think maybe it’s a bit too much.”

“Look at it this way, now that it’s televised, public pressure will be up, and on our side,” Aja said.

“Well…good luck,” Laurens said. “I guess I’ll see you after this trial?”

“Yeah, sure,” Marvin shrugged.

That wasn’t very encouraging. “Uh…yeah. See you then.” Laurens awkwardly backed up, then turned and hurried towards the side room door.

The small side room looked a bit like a combination parlor and waiting room, so of course Laurens was right at home. The furniture was in shades of red and brown, contrasting with the green potted plants in the corner. One of the tables against the wall had a TV on it, showing a view of the courtroom. There was another door on the opposite wall that led to said courtroom. And surprisingly, there were already two people in there.

“Oh, Dr. Laurens, I see they’ve called you to testify.”

“Ah, hello. You’re those…detectives,” Laurens recalled. “Nix, and…I’m sorry, I don’t remember your name.”

The other detective bristled, but before he could say something snappy, Nix raised a hand and quieted him down with a gesture. “This is Hooper, don’t mind him,” he said. “How have you been? I see your arm has been healing well.”

“Yeah.” Laurens rolled up her sleeve to reveal the cast on her arm. “No sling anymore, and the doctor says I might be able to lose it entirely in another week or two, though I might still need a wrist brace.” She sighed, and rolled it back down. “A-anyway, why are you two here? Are you testifying, too?”

Nix nodded. “Yes. They wanted a statement from us reassuring the court that Henrik von Schneeplestein is not dangerous.”

“He’s not.”

“Well, we know that, but the public doesn’t,” Nix explained. “For a long time, he was our only suspect in these killings.”

“Nix, he still helped,” Hooper protested.

“Under threat, while he wasn’t in his right mind,” Nix said sternly. “Is that correct, Dr. Laurens?”

“Right.” Laurens nodded faintly. She could still remember her short time with Anti and Jackie as if it was just recently. And she didn’t think anyone could last long in those conditions.

“Not to mention his original disappearance turned out to be a kidnapping,” Nix muttered, side-eyeing Hooper before turning back to Laurens. “You know, I thought it was…strange, when we finally found him. You received the report on the arrest, right?” He waited for Laurens to nod again before continuing. “Yes, the house’s doors were all locked, and they all required the use of a key on both sides in order to unlock. Yet Henrik didn’t have a key. The real killer, this Anti, must have left him behind to take the fall, possibly fleeing the scene seconds before we arrived. Henrik got convicted anyway due to all the security footage and his fingerprints being at every crime scene, but personally, I think those would be easy to manipulate.”

Before Laurens could reply—though she didn’t know what she would have said anyway—there was movement on the TV, the one showing the courtroom. It appeared as though people were entering the area, settling down in their seats. Curious, she walked over, noticing a pair of volume buttons. Turning the sound on led to a bunch of chatter.

“Looks like they’re getting ready to start again,” Hooper commented.

“Yes, it seems so,” Nix agreed. “This must be to let us know when we’re being called to testify.”

Hooper shook his head. “We could’ve refused to come in,” he muttered unhappily. “We already gave them all the relevant case files.”

“Oh come now, this would be stronger for the prosecution,” Nix said. “We just have to confirm what’s in the files and clarify any questions.”

Feeling nerves start to crawl up her stomach, Laurens took a seat in the chair closest to the TV, anxiously waiting for her cue.

It wasn’t long before the time. The hearing proceeded with statements of the charges against Newson, and her lawyer attempted to counter said charges. Marvin’s lawyer responded, and announced they had someone to testify about Newson’s malpractice. The judge called for this testimony, and Laurens stood up, just in time for one of the courtroom’s employees (she wasn’t sure what his actual job was) opened the door. She nodded at him, and hurried out.

Laurens had never been in a courtroom before, and she was surprised that it was exactly how she pictured it to be. A grand room, some tall windows, a spot for the judge and the two parties. The only difference was the camera crew set up in the aisle: about four people dressed in dark professional attire, a table with a computer and some equipment, and a large camera. There was even a boom mic, being held by one of the people. Laurens tried not to look directly into the camera as she walked across the courtroom floor and took a seat at the table the judge was pointing her to.

“Dr. Laurens.” The lawyer sitting at Marvin’s table stood up, walking around to stand close to Laurens’ table. What was her name? Bakshi? “Please state your name and occupation.”

“Oh. Right. Well, I’m Dr. Rya Laurens, I’m a psychiatrist at Silver Hills Mental Hospital,” Laurens said.

“And what exactly do you do at Silver Hills?”

“Well, uh…I-I help people, um…who have checked in. My specialty is forms of psychosis and dissociative disorders. Currently my only patient is…um, the one in question. Henrik von Schneeplestein.” Her eyes couldn’t help but drift over to look at Newson as she talked. But Newson was very deliberately not looking at her.

“I see. And your relationship with the defendant?” Bakshi waved her hand in Newson’s direction.

“She’s—she was my boss, head of the hospital,” Laurens explained.

“And how involved was she, as your boss, in your patient cases?”

“Oh, uh…normally not very. But this one was different, she got…pretty involved,” Laurens admitted.

“Can you give an example?”

“W-well, uh…” Laurens swallowed nervously. “At first she offered to take the case from me, and one time when I was sick, she took over that day’s session with Schn—the, uh, the patient. Which resulted in one of the orderlies being injured.”

“I understand that was not the only time she did this, correct?” Bakshi prompted.

“No. When I was, uh…” Laurens paused. “…unavailable for a few months, she took over the case entirely.”

Bakshi nodded. “Tell us about what happened during this period.”

Laurens took a deep breath. This was easy. She just had to…just had to do it. “Well, obviously I wasn’t there, so I don’t know the specifics of what happened in the sessions and such. I guess, uh, you could ask the orderly on duty for that. But I do know that when I returned, Schn—Henrik, the patient, had his mental health severely degraded, and had lost all progress we’d made before. He was…very upset, and his hallucinations had gotten worse. A-and also, I checked the medication records, and Newson had prescribed large doses and—and unnecessary sedatives, both of which would have an—an effect on Henrik’s physical and mental well-being.”

“And would you say she did so deliberately?” Bakshi asked.

Laurens hesitated for just a moment. “Yes, I would say so. Definitely. It was clear that Dr. Newson harbored…um, ill feelings for Henrik.”

“Thank you very much, Dr. Laurens.” Bakshi looked at the judge. “The prosecution rests our case.”

“Very well,” the judge said in a deep voice. “The defense may proceed.”

Newson’s lawyer looked uncertain, but stood up, and cleared his throat. “Dr. Laurens, would you say that…that at any point, Dr. Newson broke the regulations of Silver Hills?”

“I, uh…don’t understand the question,” Laurens said quietly.

“I mean, is it against the regulations for Dr. Newson, in her position as head of the hospital, to be involved in other cases, prescribe medicine, or take over a doctor’s case when unavailable?”

“Well, no, not technically,” Laurens said slowly. “The head doctor may do all that, though it’s not very common, as she has her own patients.”

“So at no point did Dr. Newson do anything against the rules?” The lawyer stressed.

“Wha—no, I didn’t say that,” Laurens denied. “I mean, we have a policy against taking patients you are personally involved with, and I…I understand that Dr. Newson was personally involved.” Laurens said this last part quietly. “And she didn’t tell anyone.” Then she cleared her throat. “Furthermore, the medication prescribed was dangerous and unnecessary, and qualifies as misuse. The ethics committee has a strict restriction against misuse or abuse of any kind.” Her voice became stronger. “And even furthermore, I can confirm that the sessions she had with Henrik worsened his issues. And I didn’t know it at the time, but the hospital requires all patients to be let out of their rooms at least once per day for one hour, which Henrik was denied on Newson’s orders.”

The lawyer appeared to be at a loss for words. Laurens let out a long, long breath, and ended up glancing towards Newson. She still wasn’t looking at her, and Laurens wasn’t sure if she was relieved or hurt. “Well, ah.” The lawyer cleared his throat. “Thank you for your time, Dr. Laurens. The defense rests, Your Honour.”

“Yes, I see.” The judge nodded. “The witness may leave. Though I advise you to stay near court, in case we need to hear your testimony again.”

“Ah, thank you, Your Honour.” Laurens stood up again and hurried back into the side room. That didn’t take long at all. Hopefully, this will be over sooner than she thought.
.............................................................................................

Unfortunately, the hearing would drag on for some time. Marvin zoned out halfway through, playing games on his phone, while Aja did most of the talking and legal details. At one point, the judge asked him about his relation to his case, and so he put away the phone and quickly explained how he was friends with Schneep. But then he went immediately back to his phone. He knew he should probably be more engaged, as the one who started all this, but he just couldn’t help it.

Eventually the court called for a recess while the final decision was debated. “It’s looking up for us, Marvin,” Aja said with a small smile. “Though be prepared, just in case.”

“Yep, mentally ready for anything,” Marvin said absentmindedly.

Aja’s smile faded. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, trust me. I mean, I know I don’t look it, but I’m ready.”

“Hmm, alright. Just be sure.” Aja straightened her papers into a single stack.

A few minutes passed. And suddenly, Marvin got a text from Chase, letting off a loud ding! sound in the middle of the mostly-quiet room. "Marv i have some big news! Im on my way to meet the kids rn but im gonna call you after to tell you."

“Huh?” Marvin said out loud, blinking in confusion. He sent a message in reply: "What do you mean? Is it good or bad?"

Before Chase could reply, the hearing quickly reconvened, everyone returning to their spots. Marvin put his phone down, watching the judge stand up to deliver the court’s decision. “After much deliberation, we find Dr. Jennifer Newson guilty of malpractice. As of right now, her license to practice is to be revoked, and a fine of £70,000 is to be paid to Silver Hills Mental Hospital. However, the prosecuting party Marvin Maher was in the wrong to trespass and take information from Silver Hills, and thus must pay a fine of £25,000 to that establishment.”

Marvin raised his eyebrows, visibly surprised. That was…a lot. But he could probably scrape it up. While the judge continued with the particulars, he leaned over to look at Dr. Newson. Her expression…was utterly devastated, but resigned. She knew something like this was coming. Marvin stifled his urge to give her a smug grin; no need to add insult to injury.

The hearing adjourned immediately after. Marvin and Aja headed outside quickly, so as to avoid the television crew that was now anxiously looking for people to interview. “Whoa, it’s like evening,” Marvin gasped, looking up at the twilight sky.

“It was, uh, certainly pretty long.” Laurens appeared nearby.

“Aah! Oh, it’s just you.” Marvin relaxed.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” Laurens mumbled. “But, um. Congratulations!”

“Ah, yes, thank you for your congratulations. It means a lot, considering I just got your boss permanently fired,” Marvin said, unable to keep a hint of a smile off his face.

“Well, um…I guess it was really her own fault,” Laurens said. “I mean, it’s…bad for her, but I think it was the right thing to do. If this was how she reacted with one patient, she could’ve been doing this for others, too. A-and I don’t think they would’ve revoked her license on just the first incident.”

“Well, this was a very well-known case,” Aja pointed out.

“Oh yeah, by the way, thanks for your help,” Marvin said to her. “I’ll send you the check.”

“No problem. If you’re ever in any similar trouble, let me know. You still have my card.” Aja nodded, then turned away. “I’ll be heading off now.”

“Yeah, see you. Again, thanks!” Marvin waved as Aja slowly headed off. Then he looked at Laurens. “Uh…need a ride or anything?”

“No, I drove here, but thanks,” Laurens said.

“Oh good.” Marvin paused awkwardly. “Because, uh. I didn’t. Could you, uh, drive me over to my house please?”

Laurens thought about it, then shrugged. “Sure. I don’t think it’s too far away. My car is this way.”

“Thanks so much.” Marvin hurried after her as he headed to a parking lot.

“No problem!”

And so they headed off. Marvin breathed a sigh of relief. This whole ordeal had been on his mind for so long, he was glad it was all over with. Maybe things could slowly start to return to normal soon. Or at least some semblance thereof.
.............................................................................................

“So, Happy Halloween. It’s that time of year again. Pretty nice outside, too, like that sort of fall day where everything is just like, crisp and cool, y’know? Usually it’s just all foggy and cloudy and cold here. Honestly that’s one of the downsides of this part of the world, there were a lot of fall days like that when I was a kid. Or maybe that’s climate change, ha ha.”

Chase smiled a bit, leaning back in the hospital chair as he looked over at Jack. Of course, there wasn’t much of a response. But he talked anyway, as always.

“Anyway, I’m taking the kids trick-or-treating this year. That’s gonna be later, thought I’d stop by first. Stacy sent me pictures of their costumes. Nick’s a bat, and Sophie’s a cowgirl. She really likes horses lately, we were talking about having a horse-themed party for their birthday, but Stacy said that wouldn’t be fair to Nick. I dunno, he likes cowboy stuff well enough, and I think when you’re four-turning-five you don’t really have strong opinions except for a few things. Or maybe that was just me.”

Jack’s hand moved a bit, inching closer to the edge of the bed. That was happening more and more recently, which was apparently a good sign, according to Dr. Emerson. But Chase still jumped a bit as his arm and shoulder shifted position.

“Oh hey, do you remember like, two years ago when you did that, like, game thing with the videos on your channel? With all the glitchy stuff that Jackie edited? That was fun.” Chase chuckled. “Man, the community really liked that, huh? I-I tried to do a couple game things similar to that, but I’ve left all the glitchy stuff for you, don’t want to steal your thing. Nothing for Halloween, though. But I did record another pumpkin video, that’ll be going up later. If you don’t keep doing this every year once you’re better then I’ll just move it to my channel, it’s pretty fun.”

There was another twitch. Chase stopped talking for a moment as Jack’s head slowly lulled to the side, so that his face was now partially facing him. That one was new. Should he tell someone? Maybe move his head back? After a moment, Chase stood up and looked over the oxygen supply and cannula system, and concluding the movement hadn’t upset or anything, he figured it was probably fine. “Be careful, bro, don’t want to unplug shit, you need that.” No answer, but it felt a lot more personal when Jack was actually looking towards him.

Slowly sitting back down, Chase continued talking. “Oh yeah, a couple more things happening today. JJ’s birthday. I want to go visit him, but y’know. Kids. I didn’t see them last year, so.” He swallowed a lump in his throat. “Also about a year since we met him, so it’s kinda special. I dunno, maybe I’ll drop by real quick on the way back home. But Marvin won’t be able to visit until later, either, maybe I’ll wait. That’s the other thing, he’s in, uhhh, court, y’know? That thing about suing Schneep’s old doctor, the one who was a dick. He’s pretty confident, so I hope it’s going well right now.” He paused. “Maybe I should go see Schneep later. I mean, I can’t, visiting hours and all that, but Laurens, the good doctor, told me last week that’ll be changing soon, maybe I should stop by anyway to check, later tonight before going to see JJ.”

“Mmmmhnn.”

“But I don’t know, would that be too annoying? I don’t want to be one of those people, the ones who…wait.” Chase had been staring blankly at the opposite wall, but now he looked back over at Jack. “Did…was that…did I hear…?”

Jack’s other hand raised up briefly into the air before flopping back down. “Mmnnh. Nnnnhh.” Then his mouth opened. Just a little bit. “Uuuhhhn. Aauhh.”

“Holy shit.” For a moment, Chase just stared, in total disbelief. Then, he kept staring, unsure what to do. “Can you…do that again?”

A pause. And then some more mumbled, incoherent sounds. It might have been a coincidence that it happened after Chase asked him to do it again, but the fact remained that those were sounds. That was Jack’s voice.

“Holy shit!” Chase shot to his feet. “Hang on, I—shit—I have to get somebody!” He rushed over to the room’s closed door, throwing it open and leaning out into the hallway. “Hello?! Anyone?! There’s something—th-there’s a—he’s—!”

“Hhaaaay.” Chase whirled around as Jack made another sound. “Eeeee…?” His mouth opened and closed a couple of times, as if he couldn’t get it to form the right letters. “Ssssaaay?”

“Say? Say what?” Chase gave up on the door and hurried back over. “Are you actually trying to say something, or is this just—I-I don’t know, just—god, I don-don’t know.”

“Saayys…eeeelluh?” It sounded like a question, the way Jack’s voice was rising at the end. His hand raised and fell again, and his body turned a bit more in Chase’s direction. Wait…was doing this on purpose? Like, these movements weren’t just random muscle spasms? “Saayss…weeeluh?”

“I-I can’t understand you, bro,” Chase whispered urgently. “What’s ‘saays’?” It was only after saying it out loud that he realized. The sound Jack was making…it was almost like his name. “Are you trying to say ‘Chase’? Is that it?”

“Sss…Ssshhhaays,” Jack mumbled. “Weel? Ww…w…weellyy hhhewh?”

“Wheel? No, that can’t be it, can it? Wheely? Hewuh?” Chase shook his head. “I’m sorry, I still don’t get it.”

“Is everything alright in here?” A nurse poked her head into the room, looking worried.

Chase glanced back over towards her. “He’s speaking, h-he’s trying to say something! I—this is—he hasn’t—”

The nurse nodded, immediately grasping the situation. “Wait right here, sir, I’ll go get a doctor.”

“Dr. Emerson is in charge, if you can,” Chase called after her as she left. Then he immediately turned back to Jack. “Can you say that again?”

“Weeel…ehssss…weeeel?” The corner of Jack’s eye twitched, then he blinked. “Shhhaays?”

“Ehs wheel,” Chase repeated. “Ehs…Ihs…is? Is wheel? Is…real?” That sounded right. “Of course I’m real, Jack. You’re awake now, right?”

“Nnn…nahhh…” Another blink. “Naahh…ffff…ffffff…fffffayy?”

“Nah fay? No fey? Like fairies?”

“Nnnah. Nnauuhh…fffffaay…ffffay…ffffay—” Jack made a strange harsh breathing sound. He seemed to be having trouble with that word, but Chase was pretty sure the repetition meant he was really trying to communicate.

“Take it easy, bro.” Chase reached up and took hold of Jack’s arms on either side, gently. He glanced over towards the vitals monitors. They seemed increased in activity, but not to dangerous levels. “Okay, that’s nauh…maybe it’s not ‘no’, it’s ‘not’? Not fay? Fay fay fay…fffate. Faith. Fail. Fade. Fake. Not fake?” Chase smiled a bit. “What, is there a fake Chase running around?”

Jack groaned quietly. “Ffff…ffayy Shh…Shhaaaysss. Ffayy Shhayss. Ffayy mmm…mmmahhffnn.”

“Muffin? No, that makes no sense,” Chase muttered. Maybe it was another name? After all, it would make sense in the context of Jack saying Chase’s own name.

“Ffaay Shaayys. Fffay mmm…Mmahfffvfnn.”

Chase’s expression fell, cold dread filling his heart. “Fake Marvin,” he realized. “That’s what you’re trying to say, isn’t it? Fake Chase, Fake Marvin. Jack, was…was there someone here pretending to be us? Do you…remember that?”

“Fffayy Shaaayss. Ffaaay Mmahffn.” Jack’s head listed slowly to the side. His eyes remained staring straight, causing his gaze to shift. “Ffaay Shayyss. Fffayy Mmahffnnn. Ffayy ahhhshee? Ffaaay shnnneee?”

Footsteps pounded against the floor, and Chase looked back to see the nurse returned, Dr. Emerson in tow. “Mr. Brody!” Emerson looked flushed, as if he’d run all the way here. “Is it true?”

“Y-yeah.” Chase nodded. “Yeah, it’s—”

“Mmmmn.” Jack’s head rolled back around, falling forward. The force of the motion caused the rest of his body to lean forward, too, until his head hit Chase’s chest. “Sshhaays. Fffff…ffffffeh…”

“My god,” Emerson said, stunned. He gestured to the nurse, who hurried around the side of the bed to look at the readings from the equipment. “When did this start? Has he said anything clearly?”

“Uh, about a minute ago.” Chase lifted Jack’s head up and gently pushed him back into place. Jack groaned, and his hand shook irregularly. “I-I don’t know what you mean by ‘clear,’ I mean, I’m pretty sure he’s trying to say something, but there are, uh…n-no words that you can just hear. It’s all mumbled and slurry.”

“I see, I see.” Emerson hurried over, quickly looking over the equipment as well before leaving that to the nurse. “What about movements? Gaze?”

“He’s just looking straight ahead, but his eyes are staying open. Moving is, uh, random, but I think it’s deliberate? He just can’t make it happen.”

“Alright, I understand.” Emerson leaned over Chase’s shoulder. “Jack, this is very important. If you can hear me, try to say something. Try to say your name.”

Jack blinked slowly. “Eeuhh…aaaah…aaa—aaa—” Another harsh exhale. His mouth moved silently for a few seconds. “Zzzhh…zzhaah—aa—” And yet another harsh breath.

“That certainly sounded like an attempt, it had the ‘aah’ sound in the middle.” Emerson nodded. “Alright, then. Can you raise your hand, Jack? Either one of them.”

“Hhhh…” Jack’s right hand trembled for a bit, then slowly lifted up a few inches before falling back down.

“This is good, this is very very good.” Emerson backed up. “Nurse, has there been any change?”

“No sir, everything’s stable.”

“Hey, uh, Dr. Emerson?” Chase looked up. “I—I might have to go now.” He wanted to stay, he really did, but he couldn’t just abandon Stacy and the kids.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Brody,” Emerson said reassuringly. “We have everything under control.”

“Nnnnih—!” Jack’s head turned. “Sshhaays. Shaaayyss.”

“I know, Jack, but it’s okay.” Chase reached over and squeezed Jack’s hand. “These guys know what they’re doing. And I’ll be back tomorrow. Do you understand?”

“Nnnnmm.” Jack blinked, and squeezed back.

“Okay.” Chase reluctantly let go, and stood up. “Take care of him, doc.”

“We will, Mr. Brody,” Emerson said. “Count on it. You go have fun on this holiday.”

“Yeah. Well, bye.” Slowly, Chase turned around and left the hospital room, leaving the business behind. His head felt a bit full with everything that happened, and as he walked to the elevator he tried to process it all.

Good news, Jack was definitely awake again, and somewhat coherent. What would happen next was unsure, but even getting to this point after over a year was a weight off everyone’s shoulders. But those comments he made still lingered in Chase’s mind. Was he really interpreting them correctly? Did Jack really have some memory of…fakes?

Maybe he shouldn’t really take any of that at face value. He’d read somewhere that people in comas often took nearby stimuli, like sound and voices, and turned that into dreams. Well, he’d also read that some remembered nothing and others remembered everything. It must depend on the specifics of what happened to them. But, on the off chance that Jack had been in that last kind of coma, and he remembered everything that happened…if that was the case, then Chase knew one person who might be able to explain the “fakes.” After all, he knew that Anti has visited the hospital at least once, pretending to be Chase himself.

He pressed the button to call the elevator, and the doors opened almost immediately. Stepping inside, he took out his phone and unlocked the screen, staring at his messages. Should he tell the others about that? Well, of course, but should he tell them now? After all, Marvin was probably still in court, and JJ didn’t even know Jack. After a moment, he decided to send a quick text to Marvin, telling him that he had big news and that he’ll call him later. And so, typing out the message and then putting his phone back into his pocket, he pressed the down button, and the elevator started to descend.
.............................................................................................

The sky was twilight through the window. JJ stared out at the street below, then closed the curtains and sat down on the sofa, letting out a long sigh. Evening on his twenty-seventh birthday. It hadn’t been a very eventful day, if he was being honest, but he actually quite liked that. Some peace and quiet after things being rather stressful lately. The celebration could come later. Though, if he remembered correctly, ‘later’ might actually be quickly approaching. After all, if the televised hearing was any indication, his friends’ all-day business would probably be wrapping up soon.

As if on cue, the intercom system let out the ding! sound that meant someone was in the lobby, asking to be buzzed into the apartment building. Standing up, he walked over and pressed the button, making a whistling sound.

“JJ? It’s me! Buzz me in.” Only Marvin could say ‘it’s me’ and immediately expect everyone else to be on the same page. JJ pressed the button to let him into the apartments.

The knocking on the door came a few moments later. JJ hurried over to open it, revealing Marvin standing on the threshold and bouncing anxiously. “Hey!” Marvin smiled. “I brought cupcakes. Just store-bought, but you know.” He held up a plastic container of six cupcakes, chocolate with blue frosting. In addition to those, he also had a bag slung over his shoulder.

JJ smiled. 'Hey, anything is good, especially when it’s chocolate.' He stood aside, letting Marvin walk into the apartment. 'I was watching the hearing on TV. Congratulations.'

“Still can’t believe they filmed it,” Marvin said, setting the cupcakes down on the counter. “But yeah, right? I mean, finally. They just dragged this whole thing on and on, and it’s like ‘was my evidence not enough for you’?”

'Well, you did sneak into the building and steal some of it,' JJ pointed out.

“And?” Marvin chuckled. “Anyway, more important things to talk about. Happy birthday, JJ! You’re finally catching up to the rest of us! How’s it feel to finally be 27?”

'Exactly the same, in all honesty.' JJ opened the cupcake container and pulled one out. He paused, then set it down on the counter so he could sign. 'Though twenty-six was a good year in my life, if I must say. After all, it’s when I meant you.'

“I—” Marvin stammered. “Well—that’s just—”

JJ smiled. 'I see I’ve flustered you.'

'Well you can’t just say something like that without warning,' Marvin signed. 'That’s too sweet, I wasn’t prepared.'

'It’s fine, take a moment.' JJ picked up the cupcake again, carefully peeling away the paper. He ate slowly, careful to not get any frosting on his mustache.

“So, uh…what were you thinking for tonight?” Marvin looked around the apartment. “You didn’t really have any decorations, I see. Not even any balloons?”

'Oh, I’m not a balloon person, I don’t like it when they pop.' JJ walked over to the trash can and dropped the paper inside.

Marvin raised an eyebrow. “You ate that fast.”

'Shush, it was a really good cupcake.' JJ shrugged. 'Anyway, as for what I had planned…not much. I just wanted to hang out. I was thinking we could play Minecraft or something, I’ve been doing a lot of that recently. Did you bring your laptop?'

“Oh. No, I didn’t. Should I have?” As if to double-check, Marvin looked inside his back. “Shit, I forgot to stop by my house and pick up your present, I just rushed straight over here.”

'It’s fine, it was just an idea. And you didn’t need to bring a present today, either,' JJ assured him. Then he paused. 'Is that a new bag?'

“No, it’s an old one, I couldn’t find my normal one this morning,” Marvin explained. “Uh…yeah I got nothing in here. Sorry.”

'Well, at least you brought cupcakes.' JJ tapped the plastic container. 'Did you want one, too?'

Marvin hesitated. “No, it’s fine. I mean, not right now. Later. We have all night, right?”

'That’s true. But are you sure? You must be hungry, after being at that trial all day.'

“I had snacks, it’s fine.” Marvin shrugged it off. “Well, anyway, back to the topic at hand, is there anything you really want to do? You’re the birthday boy.”

JJ pursed his lips, thinking. 'Well, I think I have some multiplayer games kicking around somewhere. Let me check.'

It took them a while to find something. Marvin didn’t give that many suggestions, insisting that JJ choose since it was his birthday. Which, while Jameson really appreciated the gesture, seemed a bit…odd. Marvin always had something to say about group activities. But maybe after such a long day, he didn’t really have the energy to think much about it.

Eventually, JJ settled on rigging his computer up to a pair of controllers, and projecting the image on screen to the television. That took about fifteen minutes to do alone, but from there, he just had to select Stick Fight from Steam and it was ready to go.

“Hmm, is it really fair to play a fighting game against someone who can’t return any trash-talking comments?” Marvin wondered.

'Well, that’s never stopped you or Chase before,' JJ joked. 'Though do you think we should wait for him? I know he likes this game, and I’m sure he’ll be done with his kids soon. How long does trick-or-treating take?'

“I don’t know. A couple hours?” Marvin bit his lip, considering. “Why are you asking me? You’ve been trick-or-treating, right?”

'I think I went once as a kid', JJ recalled. 'And…once later, but it doesn’t really count when you’re a teenager, does it?'

“Well, I think it counts,” Marvin said softly.

JJ shrugged, and looked away. One year, he went out on Halloween with Anti; the year he was sixteen. That first year was pretty fun at the time, but it was different looking back on it. Thinking about it just made him feel…well, it was a big mix of emotions in there, positive and negative. As were a lot of emotions attached to doing fun things with Anti. He’d been working on figuring them out and accepting him in his therapy sessions, but this wasn’t the time to get into thinking about that. It was his birthday. He was going to have fun. 'Didn’t you go trick-or-treating? Why don’t you know how long it takes?'

“Well, uh…no,” Marvin admitted. “Once. But like you, I was already pretty old. Eighteen, that’s even an adult. I guess the time you’re allowed to stay out late will vary between kids and teenagers, so we’re not really good judges for when Chase will be done.”

'It can’t be that long. The kids are only four, after all, no matter how energetic they are.'

“Well, in that case, I think Chase will forgive us for starting a little early.” Marvin smiled. “C’mon, I’m excited.”

They played a few rounds—which went really fast in this particular game, so honestly, they played through practically all the levels—but as time went on, Jameson found it difficult to concentrate. His thoughts started to drift…and become a little foggy. He blinked slowly, and yawned. Why was he so sleepy all of a sudden?

“That’s the tenth time you’ve lost in a row,” Marvin pointed out, as his yellow stick figure destroyed Jameson’s blue one. “Are you feeling okay?”

JJ put down the controller and signed, 'I’m just a little tired, it’s okay.'

“Ah. Did you have a long day?”

'No, not really. I didn’t have work, so I just stayed in all day. I suppose I could’ve gone out for lunch or something, but...' he hesitated.

“But?” Marvin prompted.

'Well, there was something that happened last week,' Jameson signed slowly. 'Someone followed me home.'

“Really? Are you sure?”

JJ nodded slowly, stifling another yawn. 'Positive. I didn’t recognize him, but it scared me, so I’ve been inside since then.'

“That’s probably not a good thing,” Marvin muttered. “Do you want to go out tonight for dinner or something? If there’s two of us, then nothing will happen.”

Jameson shook his head. 'No, it’s fine. I’m too tired to go out anyway. Strange, though. I…not…don’t know why.' His signs slowly fell apart as his train of thought got lost in the brain fog.

“Maybe you should take a nap, then,” Marvin suggested.

'No. No, maybe it’s just dark or something, that can make you sleepy.' JJ knew on some level that logic didn’t fully make sense, but he didn’t care. He stood up, swayed for a bit, then walked over to the nearest lamp. But just before switching it on, a strange, powerful wave of drowsiness overcame him, and he stumbled, and ended up holding onto the lamp for support.

“Are you alright? Don’t fall.” Marvin stood up as well and hurried over to join him.

'Fine,' Jameson signed loosely. He managed to flip on the light switch before losing his balance again. His muscles felt so weak all of a sudden, barely able to hold him up. What was…what was going on? This wasn’t…normal.

The lamp started swaying. “Be careful there.” Marvin grabbed JJ as he fell again, but the lamp toppled with him. Its lampshade tilted, directing the light from the bulb directly at Marvin’s face. “Aak! God damn it, just—hang on a moment, that went right in my eyes.”

Jameson frowned. Was…was it just him, or was something…wrong, there? In Marvin’s eyes. He felt a bit bad about looking directly into them, knowing how Marvin felt about eye contact, but…something was off. What was it? What…was it?

Marvin pushed the lamp away, only for it to tilt back. “Fuck this lamp,” he said under his breath, squinting against the light that was once again too close to his face. The…light? The light, the light…

There. There was the problem. It wasn’t anything wrong with Marvin’s eyes themselves, it was the way they were reacting to the light. One was reflecting an image of the lightbulb that was a little too perfect, a little too much like a mirror. The right eye, in fact. Also, the way Marvin’s head was turned, the lamp was shining right into his right eye, but he didn’t really squint until he turned slightly and caused the light to be more visible in his left eye. Almost like…he couldn’t see out of the right one.

Jameson let out a fearful squeak, and wriggled away from ‘Marvin’s’ grip. He fell directly onto the floor, not reacting fast enough to catch himself, but immediately tried to get up again. Yet his head was too clouded, movements…slowing…

“Hey, what’s wrong?” ‘Marvin’ reached down to help Jameson up, only to have his hand swatted away. “What’s—” He stopped. Jameson’s eyes were scanning the right side of his face, as well as his neck. And slowly, he grinned. “Oh, you figured it out, huh? Well, you were always pretty smart, Jamie.”

And with that, Jameson’s fears were confirmed. Nobody else called him that. He backed up until he hit the back of one of the chairs, then tried to grab onto that and use it to pull himself to his feet. There wasn’t much success, but…but he had to…to…what was wrong with him? Why…was he so…so…tired?

Anti didn’t look too concerned with Jameson’s reaction. He didn’t even chase after him. Instead he reached up to his face, and—“It’s pretty good, right?” The fake right eye came out cleanly, and Anti held it up. The glass eye wasn’t a sphere, but more of an irregular dome-like shape. Anti slipped it into his pocket. “His eye color is actually a bit different from mine, you know? A bit lighter. I debated if I should just use the one that matched my natural color, but I thought it would be better if I just went all the way and got the actual shade, then used a contact for the one...left.” He laughed at his own joke.

Jameson gave up on trying to stand up, and instead started fumbling with his pocket. If he could…could get his phone out, he could…text someone…get help…

“What’re you doing?” Anti quickly walked over, kneeling next to Jameson. He easily got through Jameson’s small attempts to push him away, and pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Oh. No, you can’t have that.” Anti tossed the phone across the room, hitting the wall by the door. “Sorry.”

JJ looked after it with a sinking heart. He couldn’t possibly…move to the door…or somewhere. He could barely move. Maybe he could…call for help? But as always, his voice didn’t cooperate with what his…what his mind wanted.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine,” Anti said, oddly reassuringly. “The effects will wear off after a while, you’re not dying or anything. Just going to sleep for a bit. Sorry about that, too, but I thought you wouldn’t come with me if you knew who I was. And this shows I was right.” He gestured vaguely at Jameson’s continued attempts to get away from him. “I know your recent impression of me hasn’t been…favorable.”

Jameson could barely keep his eyes open, but he kept trying to inch away from Anti. This…couldn’t be…happening…

“Do you know what this feels like?” Anti whispered. “I thought you were dead, Jamie. For years. And once I find you, you’re just…here? In your own little world? Forgotten me?” He reached under his shirt and grabbed something tightly. And he smiled wide. “Well, no more. Now we’re together again. I know you’re a bit freaked out now, but trust me. It’ll be fine. Just like it used to be.”

The last thing Jameson did was shake his head, before finally closing his eyes and slumping over. Just like it used to be. Nothing scared him more.

Part Sixteen of The Stitched AU
A JSE Fanfic
[This is part of a completed fanfic series of mine with 24 total chapters. I started this October of 2018 and finished it May of 2021. After a long absence, Anti returns, and the group confronts him one last time.]
.............................................................................................

The summer days were growing short again. Weeks had passed since Chase, Jack, and JJ had gone to hide out with Stacy and the kids, and now it was a month away from school starting again. There had been no sign of Schneep, and Jack wouldn’t lie: he was really worried about that. Luckily, he had something to take his mind off of that for right now.

“Okay, just across the room, no support from walls,” Jack said, crossing the living room to stand on the other side across from Jameson.

JJ hesitated, unsure. 'Can I use support if I start to fall?'

“Yeah, of course. I’ll also be ready to catch you if you start to lose it.”

JJ sighed through his mask, and leaned away the wall he’d been supporting himself on. He wobbled slightly, then slowly started walking across the room. Jack watched, tensing every time JJ stumbled. But after a few minutes, JJ got into a rhythm, and soon made it to the other side. As soon as he was able, he grabbed Jack for support.

“Great!” Jack said, trying to sound enthusiastic. “You’re still limping, but you’re getting faster. How’s it feel?”

'Still twinges a bit,' JJ admitted. It was a bit awkward as he was trying to keep hold of Jack while signing. 'But infinitely better.'

“That’s great, real great.” Jack nodded. “You want to stop or keep going?”

'We can stop, it’s fine,' JJ said. He reached over and grabbed a cane leaning against the wall. It was a cheap metal model that Stacy had bought online once she’d realized JJ was having trouble walking. She’d grumbled a bit about how nobody was telling her what had caused this, but Jameson had been thankful anyway.

“Alright, if you’re sure.” Jack let Jameson walk over to the nearest chair on his own, making sure he got there safely before ducking out of the room and into the dining room.

Chase was in there, sitting at the table with his two daughters, markers and construction paper scattered about the surface. Lily was happily scribbling on a piece of green paper, while Moira was carefully cutting multicolored paper into strips and looping them through each other, making a paper chain as she stapled the loops closed.

“Dad, look!” Lily held up her drawing.

“Oh, very nice!” Chase said, smiling. “It’s a puppy, right?”

“It’s a pega-puppy, half pegasus, half puppy!” Lily said cheerfully. “I’m gonna make a uni-puppy too. They will be friends.”

“Nice, I look forward to meeting them.” Chase looked over to see Jack standing in the doorway. “Oh. Hey bro, didn’t see you there.”

“Hi Uncle Jack!” Lily waved.

Moira looked up briefly from her paper chain. “Hi.”

“Hey girls,” Jack said, waving. “Just checking on the three of you. How’re you doing?”

“Oh, we’re good.” Chase’s voice was very upbeat. “We’re doing arts and crafts to surprise Mom when she gets home from work.”

“Cool. Good luck with that.” Jack glanced out the window. The sun was still high in the sky. “I’m…going to go take a walk.”

“Wait, by yourself?” Chase’s cheerful expression dropped a bit. “Are you sure? What about—” He glanced at the girls. “—the bad guy?”

“We haven’t seen him for a month now, not since we…you know, found out.” Jack tried to shrug casually. “I think it’s alright.”

“Maybe he’s just waiting for one of us to be alone,” Chase said, now fully worried. He stood up. “Look, I’ll just come with—”

“No, it’s fine, you keep having fun,” Jack hurried to say. “I’ll be back in an hour, I just…want to look for Schneep again.”

“I really don’t think you should—”

“Chase, it’s fine,” Jack said firmly. “I won’t go too far.” Even though that could possibly impede his search, if he stuck to familiar places, but who knows? Maybe Schneep would have wandered into the area. “Look at your kids, they’re so excited. You should stay with them.”

Chase slowly sat back down. “Be careful,” he said. “Take my…you-know-what, if you need to. It’s in the bedroom.”

“I will. See you later.”

Jack found the gun right where Chase said it would be, in the dresser drawer by the bed. He did stick to close-by areas. The walk was partially a search for Schneep, but if he had to be honest with himself, Jack…didn’t think any of them would be able to find Schneep. They’d been looking for a month, and had yet to even pick up a hint of him. For all they knew, Schneep might’ve vanished off the face of the earth.

But Jack didn’t even voice those concerns to himself. Surely if he went out looking one more time he could find him. Maybe just one more time would help. Maybe just one more time.

But of course, there was nothing.
.............................................................................................

Later that evening, Chase made dinner (which is to say, mac ‘n’ cheese for everyone), Stacy came home and put on a movie for the kids in the living room, and the three men gathered together in the bedroom: Chase lying on the bed, Jack sitting on the floor, and JJ taking the chair from the desk. “So, uh…how’d it go?” Chase asked. “The walk, I mean, Jack.”

“It was alright,” Jack said. “I mean, I didn’t find anything. But I didn’t run into you-know-who either.”

Chase exhaled slowly. “Okay, that’s good. But, like, we should come up with a plan for if we see him again.”

'I thought we had one of those,' JJ said, confused.

“I mean, like, if we run into him while we’re alone. ‘Cause you know, that changes the whole plan.”

JJ sighed. 'Chase, while we’re on the subject, let’s talk about the plan.'

Chase laughed nervously. “What about it?”

'It’s just…are we sure this will…have the result we want?' JJ asked delicately.

“I don’t see why it won’t,” Chase said. “Jack pulled out the soul…string…thing once before, he can do it again. And An—he’ll go poof, just like last time.”

'Alright, that makes sense,' JJ said. 'But…are we sure that we can destroy it?'

“Well, I don’t know, do you think we can do that, Mr. Magic Man?” Chase asked.

Jack piped up. “I have seen your Dr. Strange magic cut through some of his strings before. If your magic is focused on helping people, just think about how getting rid of him will help all of us.”

'That string wasn’t an ordinary string,' Jameson protested. 'It’s more likely that it’s the remains of whatever black magic is holding him together. My magic might not be up for the task.' He paused. 'And besides…even if it does, are we sure that…what we expect to happen…will happen?'

Chase narrowed his eyes, and sat up. “What d’you mean?”

Jameson leaned back in the chair. 'All I’m saying is that…we don’t know that Marvin and Jackie will return if we destroy the string.'

“It makes sense that they would,” Chase protested. “I mean, I would argue that their bodies are, y’know, buried and worse, but last time they somehow came back anyway. This spell is what made them…like this, so if we get rid of the spell, it would undo it.”

'But that’s just a guess, Chase.' Jameson was trying to sign gently, eyes sympathetic above his mask. 'There’s no solid knowledge that this will happen.'

“There’s no solid knowledge about any of this! This is whole new magic territory, apparently!”

“Well, we have to try, don’t we?” Jack interrupted.

'I’m not saying we don’t try,' Jameson said.

“Kinda sounds like you are,” Chase mumbled.

'All I’m saying is that we’re expecting to get them back the same way they apparently were before. But realistically, black magic of this magnitude would leave effects. The transference spell is already extremely destructive, and now it’s gone wrong, leaving any number of side effects.'

“Anti is the side effect!” Chase shouted, getting to his feet. “We’re trying to get rid of him!”

'Actually, Chase, I think you’re trying to get your friends back,' Jameson said.

Silence. Chase went white, gaping. Jack stood up, looking between the two of them before going to stand by Chase. He started to reach out, but stopped. “Alright,” Chase said quietly. “So what if I am? So what if I am?! I want my best friends back, sue me for that! And we have a chance to try and get them, try to have everything go back to normal after the shit storm our lives have been! So what if I want that?!” His voice cracked.

'There’s nothing wrong with that,' Jameson signed slowly. 'But…we shouldn’t be expecting anything. There’s a high likelihood that they won’t come back. And if they do, they won’t be the same.'

“I’m trying to be optimistic!”

'No, you’re refusing to accept the possibility of failure!' Jameson suddenly signed sharply.

“Um, guys?” Jack said. “Maybe—”

“I’m hoping that my friends come back!” Chase shouted, tears rising to his eyes. “What would you know about that?! You didn’t know them! You didn’t even have friends before we came along, Jameson Jackson!”

If silence fell before, here it crashed down. Tension filled the air, thick enough to almost be visible. Jameson stared at Chase with wide eyes. Jack gaped at Chase, his expression similar. To his credit, Chase immediately realized what he’d done, and his face grew even whiter. “JJ…I—I didn’t mean—”

Jameson pushed to his feet. With the help of his cane, he walked over to the doorway. Before leaving, he turned back around, leaning against the doorframe. 'Say what you will, Chase,' he signed coldly. 'Perhaps you’re right, and I’m being callous because I never knew either of them. But just be sure. Be sure you’re prepared for whatever this plan will give you. Be prepared for them to be hollow shells like they were that week after we first defeated him. Be prepared for them to be completely different and foreign, even hostile. Be prepared for them to NOT BE THERE AT ALL.' Jameson paused. 'If you’re prepared for all of that, then I’ll be confident trying our plan. He turned and left without another word.'

Chase remained frozen for a few long seconds. Then, silently he started to cry. “I…I didn’t mean…oh fuck.” He buried his face in his hands. “Oh fuck, I fucked up.”

Jack looked like he wanted to agree, but didn’t say anything.

“I-I should go say something, right? I should go apologize. I-I didn’t mean it.” Despite saying this, Chase didn’t move from the spot. His feet remained rooted to the ground.

“Maybe not right now…” Jack suggested. “You’re both…a little heated, take some time to cool down. Maybe tomorrow.”

“Yeah…yeah, that sounds good.” Chase lifted his face from his hands, his eyes rimmed with red. “I’ll…go…take a nap. Or something.”

“Oh. Uh…well, this is your room, so I’ll…go, then.” Jack sidled away, heading for the door. He glanced back at Chase, to see he still hadn’t moved.

“Hey…Jack,” Chase said, noticing his hesitation. “You…you do think there’s a chance, right? That we’ll get them back?”

Jack was quiet for a long time. “I think…that there’s a way. If you forced me to choose—which, let’s be honest, I kind of am being, here—the plan we have is our best shot at getting them back. Maybe…” He paused a moment, thinking. “..maybe they won’t be exactly the same. But we’ll be there to help them.” Another pause. “But there is a chance…it won’t…”

Chase didn’t react to that, aside from a slight stiffening. Jack stayed hovering in the doorway, waiting for something else. When it never came, he simply left, closing the door behind him.

In the hallway now, Jack sighed, pressing his forehead against the wall. For a moment, he stayed there, feeling the weight of everything press down on him. He was…tired. And tense. And he guessed the others felt much the same.
.............................................................................................

The next morning was a quiet one. Stacy took the kids to the park, perhaps sensing the leftover tension and deciding to get out of the way. Still, it was almost an hour after they left, and Chase and JJ had yet to interact again after the fight yesterday. It got to the point where Jack cornered each of them separately and told them to meet him in the kitchen.

Of course, once each of them got there and saw the other, things got awkward real quick. The two of them sat on either side of the kitchen table with Jack at the head in between them.

“So…” Jack said, clearing his throat. “I think… people… we… you guys need to talk?”

'In case you haven’t noticed, that’s impossible,' JJ remarked.

Jack winced. “You know what I mean. Yesterday was…hard for all of us.”

“Jays, you know I didn’t mean it,” Chase blurted out. “I-I was just…upset because…” He waved his hands vaguely. “I guess just—i-it was enough finding out that Marvin and Jackie are…him. I-I’m still not…anyway, it was just like you were…I mean, it’s not impossible, right? Which it kind of…felt like you were saying. You know?”

JJ stayed silent. Jack tried very hard not to facepalm. He could tell that could’ve gone better, even if he didn’t have Jameson’s reaction to go by.

Before anyone could say anything else, the front door of the house opened and slammed shut. “Chase?!” Stacy shouted.

Chase cursed under his breath, then stood up. “I’ll be back,” he said, leaving to go back into the living room.

Stacy was standing in the middle of the room, purse clutched tight to her chest, and her face very pale. “Chase, where are Lily and Moira?”

“What? Aren’t they with you?” Chase asked.

“They were! Now I don’t know where the hell they are!” Stacy threw her purse down onto the couch. She blinked back furious tears. “They were on the playground, Moira was pushing Lily on the swings. I went to buy a bottle of water, they were within earshot, it was fine, and then I turn around and they were gone! Where the hell are our kids, Chase?!”

Chase couldn’t answer. He backed up into the nearest chair and collapsed, shaking slightly.

Jack poked his head into the room. He immediately looked like he wanted to back away, but then he noticed Chase. “What happened?” he asked, stepping fully into the room.

Chase covered his mouth with his hand, pulling at his bandanna with the the other. He shook his head.

Stacy looked between the two of them. “What’s going on?!”

“I knew this would happen…” Chase choked out. “I shouldn’t have come here, I-I didn’t want to involve you, a-and now look what’s happened!”

“It’s him, isn’t it?” Jack asked softly. Behind him, JJ also appeared, leaning on the door frame.

“He has my fucking kids,” Chase said, a sob ripping out of his throat.

“What?!” Jack rushed over to Chase’s side. “No no no, he can’t! He’s never involved anyone but us!”

“They’re gone, Jack!” Chase cried. “It was only t-time before h-he went after someone we knew…to get to us…we ne-never should’ve come here!”

“Oh shit.” Jack paled. “No no no, this is okay, we’ll go get them back!”

“That’s what he’ll be expecting,” Chase whispered.

Suddenly, a buzzing noise came from Stacy’s purse. She frowned, walking over to where it was on the couch and picking it up again. Digging around in it, she pulled out her phone and checked the screen. Her eyes widened. “I just got a text from an unknown number,” she said in a hushed voice.

“What’s it say?” Jack asked tentatively. Chase looked down, holding his head in his hands.

“‘I want my puppet back,’“ Stacy read out loud. “‘You know where to go. All of you can come, if you want, but if you try anything’…” She swallowed nervously. “‘…you can say goodbye to the girls. You have until noon.’ Holy shit…”

“We gotta do it,” Chase mumbled. His fingers bunched his hair, pulling it. “We gotta go. They’re just kids…”

Jack glanced over at Jameson, who’d been standing quietly the whole time. Jameson looked at him as well, and nodded. 'I agree…we can’t let anything happen to them. But we can’t go in without a plan, of some sorts.'

“You mean…the plan?” Jack asked.

Jameson paused then shook his head. 'I don’t know. Maybe that would be too risky. But this’ll be the third time we go into his territory, it would be foolish to not have some sort of fail-safe in case…he doesn’t keep his word.'

“What if we just did it?” Chase asked. “What if we just went through with it, a-and you guys came back for me later? I lasted five months, it can’t be too—”

“Chase, holy shit, no!” Jack cried, aghast. “You’re not going back there!”

“Wait, what?” Stacy suddenly asked.

“Long story,” Jack said to her. “And, uh…not my place.” He looked down at Chase, but he didn’t seem in the mood to explain anything right now. “The point is, there are a million better options before we go…there.”

“Do you think he’d really hurt them?” Chase asked dully. “I mean…since he’s actually them. Do you think any part of them would do something like that? I know Marv didn’t like kids much, but he was always nice to them, at least.”

'We can’t take the chance,' JJ said, shaking his head. He brushed away his bracelets to check his wristwatch. 'It’s nearly eleven o’clock, he said we only have until noon. We need to hurry.'

“Hold on!” Stacy held up her hands, asking them to stop. “You’re all talking about this as if I’m not here! You know, their mother? Whatever you’re doing to get them back, I’m going with you!”

“Stace, no…” Chase said softly, a sort of whimper in his voice. “You can’t get involved in this…then the kids will have nowhere safe to go.”

“I’m sick of you not telling me anything!” Stacy insisted. “Stop talking over me!”

Chase didn’t respond, just kept his eyes fixed down in his lap. Jack cleared his throat. “Stacy…I get it, this is awful. But…well, he has a point. After we get the kids back, we…we should leave. So nothing else happens.”

Stacy looked between the three men, gaping. None of them would meet her eyes. Her gaze lingered on Chase, who was still resolutely not looking up. For a moment, her expression softened. “I’m not an idiot,” she said, though the words lacked bite. “I know this is dangerous. I can tell something’s happened. You…you don’t have the energy you used to, Chase.” She paused, waiting for a response that never came. “I just can’t sit by while the kids are in danger. I want to be…involved.”

“Understandable,” Chase muttered. “But please, PLEASE don’t. Just…don’t.”

Saying nothing, Stacy picked her purse back up and walked past Jameson, vanishing down the hall.

“God, this is all going to hell,” Jack muttered.

'No shit, Jack,' Jameson said, eliciting a slight gasp from the other two at the unexpected language. 'Look, can we just focus on the current situation? We only have an hour to plan, and it’ll take forty minutes to walk to his lair.'

Jack sighed. “Alright, everyone, let’s talk this over…”

Fifteen minutes later, the three of them walked out of the house, starting down the sidewalk towards the now-familiar location of Anti’s hideout. The plan they’d concocted still wasn’t solid; it was more of a rough outline than anything, relying on the one they’d already discussed, with the promise that they’d wing it if anything came up. Which, honestly, did not inspire any of them with much confidence.
.............................................................................................

Things had changed. Though Anti’s lair was still located in the same abandoned building, though the stairs inside still led down to a hallway lit red…things had changed. It was something in the air, something sharp, like ozone. Something that made the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Walking down the hallway, Jack, Chase, and Jameson found themselves huddling together.

“We’re all ready?” Jack muttered. “Do we need to review anything?” Neither Chase nor JJ responded, so he kept talking. “Remember, we’re going to look like we’re agreeing, but we’re not, so don’t be worried, Chase.”

“I’m not,” Chase said automatically.

“JJ, you’re ready with your magic? Both to protect and go after the string thingy when I—”

'Yes, Jack,' Jameson signed quickly. 'Now be careful what you say.'

Jack decided to stop talking.

The hallway didn’t twist and turn or connect to other hallways. Instead of the maze the hideout had been the last two times, the corridor opened up into a big, circular room. Red lightbulbs in the ceiling lit up most things, though there were shadows around the edges. The floor and walls were concrete, making it look rather like a large basement. And in the middle of the room, three figures were sitting on the floor. The kids, of course, and…

They knew it was Anti. But that didn’t stop Jack and Chase from freezing when they saw him.

Lily, chattering about something, was the first to look up and notice the three who’d just come in. She waved. “Hi Dad!” She seemed completely unconcerned about everything. Moira, on the other hand, was more aware. She had her arms wrapped around Lily, holding her close to her chest, her shoulders and expression tense.

Anti looked over at the group. He smiled, and stood up. “Oh hello there. So nice of you to show up. Though a little earlier would’ve been better, instead of waiting until the last minute. Literally. 11:59′s pushing it a bit, isn’t it?” He laughed. “Well? Come in, come closer.”

The three of them looked at each other. Jameson clutched Jack’s arm, half-leaning on him. Chase swallowed visibly. Silently, they took a few steps into the room, getting halfway to Anti before they all decided to stop.

“Though, maybe I don’t mind as much,” Anti continued nonchalantly. “Gives me more time with these cuties. We’ve been having fun, haven’t we?”

Lily nodded, giggling. “Yeah, Uncle Jackie.”

Moira didn’t answer, merely held her sister closer. She was old enough to know that if you went to a funeral for someone, that meant they weren’t coming back.

Anti smiled widely. It was unnerving, how close it was to the way Jackie would smile. But there was something…off about it. Just enough to set someone on edge. “Well…unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.” Anti shoved his hands inside the pocket of the red hoodie he wore, and turned to look at the others. “And I need to talk to your dad.”

“Aw, do we gotta? It’s been so long,” Lily pouted. Moira, still holding her, stood up, pulling her sister along.

Chase cleared his throat. “H-hey Lils? Moira? Why don’t you…come over here?”

“Why don’t y̶̴͠ơu͏ come over h̸er͟e, Chase?” Anti asked. He gestured to the kids. “Don’t you want to talk to them for a while?”

Chase paled further, his face now white. He looked back at the other two. As a group, they started to walk closer.

After a while, Anti held up a hand. “That’s close enough, you two,” he said, eyes landing on Jack and JJ. “I only want to talk to Chase.”

“A-are you—” Jack started to ask something, but then Jameson squeezed his arm, cutting him off. He gave him a look that said ‘be careful.’

“Am I sure? Yes, I’m sure.” Anti grinned. For a moment, his eyes flickered green. “Now, come cl̶os͢er̛.”

Chase hesitated, then closed the distance. Once he was close enough, he knelt down on the ground to be eye-level with the kids. “Hey, girls,” he said gently. “How are you?”

“We’re fine, Dad,” Moira said tensely. Lily nodded along.

“That’s great.” Chase tried to smile. “Well, Mom was really nervous, you know? She didn’t know you were leaving.”

“Really? Uncle Jackie said she said it was okay,” Lily said, confused.

“Well, maybe she didn’t expect you to be gone so long,” Chase said softly. “It’s time to go home now, before she starts worrying. You go with Uncle Jack and JJ, okay? I’ll stay here and talk with…Jackie.”

“Alright, Dad. We’re going.” Moira shuffled to the side, away from Anti, taking Lily with her. Once she’d shuffled around Chase, she let go of Lily and grabbed her hand, running the rest of the distance to Jack and Jameson.

Before Chase could stand up, Anti settled a hand down on top of his shoulder, preventing him from getting up. “Well?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. “You heard him, it’s time for all of you to go home. If you stay any longer, something might hap͠p̡e̴n̶. Give us some privacy to talk, huh?”

Jack reached down and took Moira’s other hand. He nodded slowly, and started backing up, bringing the rest of the group with him. Briefly, his left eye flickered closed, activating his soul vision. Chase and JJ’s were the same as ever. The kids had soul lights as well—iris for Moira, peach for Lily—shining brighter than any other lights in the room. And Anti’s soul was still a mess, red and blue shards meshed together and tangled with green string. But…was it just his imagination, or did the mess of shards look somehow…looser?

Anti and Chase watched as Jack, Jameson, and the kids retreated, staring at them until they disappeared into the doorway. Once they were out of sight, Anti grabbed Chase by the bandanna and pulled him up. Chase choked in surprise. “Hello again, p͢͡u̴p̸͞p͝ę̛͝t,” Anti said cheerfully. His form flickered, and the disguise of Jackie fell away like unraveling fabric, revealing Anti as the others had always known him. “I m̢͏i̛͞s̴̢s̴e͏̵d̢̕͝ you.”

Chase didn’t respond. He reached up and tried to loosen Anti’s hold on his bandanna, but his grip was firm, and it was pulling the knot tighter.

“Oh?” Anti grabbed Chase’s wrist with his other hand. He squeezed it. Chase stiffened. Then his body went limp, his eyes dull. Anti smiled. “That’s b̨̢et͟t̨̨eŗ̸̨. You can do without these wristbands, you kn—”

A disc of blue light whirled towards Anti, slicing across his arms. Anti yelled, and dropped Chase, who fell to the ground unmoving. Spinning around, he saw Jack and Jameson standing in the doorway, glaring at him identically. Jack held a kitchen knife in one hand, and Jameson had two of his magic circles balancing on his fingers. Some ways into the hall behind them, there was another blue glow, the same shade as Jameson’s magic.

Anti scowled, but suddenly, smiled. “Clever, clever. I should’ve k͠no͠͏̡w̸n you weren’t going to g҉o ͢͞t̴̕h͟ro͢uģh̷ with this.” He tilted his head. “But then again, maybe I͞ ͇̻̦̟̣̣͡d̖͈͡i̼͖͟d͍̦̹͎.̥”

His eyes suddenly glazed over with static, red on his left and blue on his right. White noise filled the air as he raised his hands, and slammed them downward. The ground rumbled, and cracks shot across the floor, cutting through the concrete, forming a line between Anti and Chase, and Jack and Jameson. Anti grinned, holding his hands out again, close together. Slowly, he made a motion like he was pulling something apart, glitches and static racking his form. The ground shook again. Jameson fell to the floor with a muffled cry, and Jack leaned against the wall to keep from doing the same. The cracks in the floor widened, and slowly, the part of the room Anti was standing on started drifting away from the other half, leaving a widening crevice behind, dropping down into blackness.

“Shit!” Jack cried. He rushed forward. The ground rumbled again, and he fell hard as it lurched beneath his feet. The knife clattered against the concrete.

Jameson lifted himself into a kneeling position, and flung out a hand. Blue light attached itself to either edge of the crevice, sticky strands made of runes forming a rough bridge. Anti scowled, and once again made the pulling-apart gesture. The room shook, slowly at first, then rising into a violent quake. The two sides strained to pull away. Jameson reached out with both hands, clenching his fists like he was physically holding the room together. The strands of magic multiplied and dug into the ground. Jameson caught Jack’s eye and gestured with his head towards the magic bridge.

Jack climbed to his feet, grabbing the kitchen knife. He ran towards the bridge. He skidded to a halt once he reached the edge of the ravine. He glanced down, and paled. “Chase!” He shouted.

On the other side of the ravine, Chase stirred, and weakly tried to get up. But Anti noticed. He stepped on Chase’s back, pushing him back down. Static running along his limbs, breaking them apart, Anti made the pulling-apart gesture one more time.

The room shook, bucking and heaving. Jack stumbled, almost falling headfirst into the ravine before backing up. Jameson fell onto his side. A few strands of the magic bridge snapped. Jameson reached out again, his eyes flaring brighter blue. The bridge repaired itself, more strands appearing, but it was taunt. Jameson was shivering, beads of sweat trailing down his face as he fought to keep the room together.

Jack took a deep breath, and ran forward, stepping onto the magic bridge. He sprinted across it, the magic almost bouncing beneath his feet. Anti screamed, and the room shook again. Jack managed to step onto the other side, just as the ravine shot open wider, snapping the bridge in half. On the other side of the room, Jameson’s hands fell to the ground, his eyes closing as he went very still.

“Y̢͟o͡͏u̶.̷͢͢” Anti growled, pointing at Jack. “Are by far the w̨͉̠̘̳ͅo͏̸̸̫̦͈͕̗r̝͇͉̝̘̹̟̕̕s̙̹̩̭̻͠͠t̨̠͝ one. I ̵h̛͠a̡͢t̵̢͠e̛ ̸̕yo͞͞u͏̵ s̯̝o̧͎͉̬̬̟̻̹.̪̣̘̦ ͎͍̜̳̜M̭̖͇̖̯u̻͔̲͇c̦̫̲h̬. ”

“I figured that out a while ago,” Jack muttered, feeling all his old scars twinge. He gripped the knife tightly and pointed it at Anti. “Let him go.”

Anti burst into laughter. “Or w̨̛hat̸?”

“Or this!” Jack ran forward, quickly closing the distance. Anti chuckled, and just as Jack drew near, glitched away, reappearing behind him. Jack skidded to a halt and spun around.

“Wo̷̢͟w̧͡, good job.” Anti clapped. “Have you considered th̷̢͢is̷?” He reached to the side and pulled out a knife of his own, taking a swipe at Jack. Yelping, Jack jumped backwards, but Anti glitched again, reappearing behind Jack just as he was stepping backwards. Pain blossomed from a point on Jack’s lower back, and before he could even respond to that, Anti pushed him forward onto the ground. Once again, Jack dropped the knife. “You’re so p͠͝aţ̕͢het̵i̴̷͞c̷. Even Schneep had a fighting spirit, this is just s͏̢a͟d̨͠.”

Dimly, Jack registered that this wasn’t going well. Then immediately, the part of him that wasn’t concerned with the stab wound in his back went YOU THINK?! They hadn’t been counting on Anti somehow knocking Chase out of the fight right from the start. They hadn’t realized that Anti would be able to pull the room apart. They hadn’t thought about how the effort of holding the room together would make Jameson pass out, leaving Jack the only one left. Even if they had come up with a more thorough plan, their efforts still would’ve failed, because they hadn’t been expecting any of this.

“What would you do…” Anti raised his left hand. “…if you just..,drop͞p̨e̸͢d̛͝͠?” And he clenched his fist, sending a wave of static into the air.

The ground beneath Jack started shaking and bucking violently. Cracks appeared in its surface, spreading rapidly across the concrete. Every time he tried to stand up, Jack lost his balance. He watched pieces of the floor wall away and leave blackness behind. Anti was laughing. Jack kept trying to get up or roll away, but the small earthquake was too wild, pushing him back to place every time. The floor was giving away and he braced himself—

Anti screamed.

The ground settled. Jack quickly scrambled away from the cracks that remained on its surface. Once he was on solid ground, he looked up to see Anti…fighting with someone. At first he thought it was Chase, but then the person drew away from the fight, and realization struck him like lightning. “Schneep?!” He gasped.

Schneep turned toward him, responding to the sound of his voice. He wore a long black coat over his outfit, and held a pair of scissors in his hand. His eyes were…different. The scars were still there, underneath his eyes in the shape of tears, but now his irises glowed turquoise, his scleras black. He grinned. “Hello, Jack. Nice to, ah, see you again. In the metaphor sense.”

Jack laughed a bit. “Y-yeah,” he said, climbing to his feet. “Where have you been?”

“Is a long story, and not one that can be summed up easily,” Schneep said. “Especially not now.”

Anti shrieked, the sound more akin to an electronic whine than anything human. His form was glitching so hard that it was causing him to stumble and stagger. Eventually it settled, and he glared at Schneep. “You think you’re ş̸̴m͡a̡rt̵?̧̨!̧” He demanded.

“Well…” Schneep held up his scissors. A length of green string was caught in their blades. He snapped the scissors shut, cutting the string in half. “Yes.”

Anti growled. He clutched at his left arm…which was still glitching pretty severely, despite the rest of his body being fine. Glancing down, Jack’s eyes widened when he saw Anti’s hand separated from his wrist, dangling from a few strands of green thread. The string soon snapped, and the hand fell to the ground, where it glitched out of existence. The wound that was left dripped colorful static instead of blood.

Shocked, Jack closed his eye, activating his soul vision. The mess of shards that was Anti’s soul looked even looser than before. And as he glanced at Schneep’s soul, something seemed…different about it, too. In a way he couldn’t quite describe.

“You want to f̡ig͡͏̸ḩ͢t͞?̷̧” Anti summoned his knife with his remaining hand. “Le͢ţ’s ̸ge̴t̶ to it!̷” He lunged at Schneep.

Schneep didn’t even turn toward him, instead vanishing. The air behind Anti sliced open and Schneep stepped out, wrapping his arms around Anti’s torso. Anti shrieked again, and glitched to the side, swiping with his knife. Schneep countered with the scissors, and jabbed them forward. Anti backed up and slashed again. This time, Schneep opened the scissors, catching the knife in between the two blades. Quickly, he snapped the scissors shut and twisted, yanking the knife out of Anti’s grip. He grabbed the knife’s handle, now armed with two weapons. “Jack, make sure Chase is alright,” he said. “He feels like he is, but better safe than sorry.”

“What?”

Anti summoned another knife, darting forward while Schneep seemed distracted. But Schneep was gone. Now he was on the other side of the room, the other side of the ravine. Anti screamed, and glitched over, and the fighting began again.

Jack scrambled over to where Chase was. He turned him over, eyes scanning him. Chase’s eyes were open, but dulled. His chest was rising and falling slowly. Jack wanted to check his pulse, but he didn’t want to remove the bandanna or the wristbands without permission. “Chase? Are you okay, bud?” Jack asked, gently shaking his shoulder.

Chase blinked, and mumbled something unintelligible.

“Dude, come on, wake up! Or, well, you’re not exactly asleep—snap out of it!” He shook him harder, and Chase groaned, the dull look in his eyes fading a bit. “Chase, say something!”

“…something…” Chase muttered.

Jack laughed hysterically. “Okay, that’s good. How do you feel?”

“…kinda foggy,” Chase said slowly. “What…he squeezed my wrist, and I…”

“Maybe that was a pressure point or a trigger point or something?” Jack guessed.

“Maybe…” Chase squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them wide. “What’s going on?”

“Um…Schneep showed up, cut Anti’s hand off, and now they’re fighting.”

“…I must be really out of it, ‘cause I thought you said Schneep cut Anti’s hand off.”

“Nope, that wasn’t just you, bud,” Jack said, shaking his head. He pointed across the room to the fight boiling between Schneep and Anti. The two of them were disappearing and reappearing, much like they had when Schneep’s magic first manifested in the apartment. But this seemed more controlled, more deliberate.

Chase sat up slowly, squinting. “…oh. He doesn’t have a hand.”

“Yeah.”

“…what…the fuck?” Chase said. His voice was soft, but it contained a lot of feeling.

“I know, dude, here, just let me help you up.”

The two of them stood, staring across the ravine in the floor at the fight. “JJ…” Chase whispered, pointing across to where Jameson laid on the floor, still unconscious.

“I know…” Jack looked down at the ravine. “How’re we going to get across?”

Chase didn’t have time to answer, because just then, Anti and Schneep disappeared, reappearing three feet away from them. Jack and Chase cried out in unison, stumbling back. Schneep ducked one of Anti’s blows and tackled him, pushing him to the ground. Then suddenly, the world fell apart and sewed itself together. And Schneep was standing upright again, but Anti wasn’t. Schneep walked over to Chase and Jack and silently grabbed the two of them. The air shivered, and suddenly they were on the other side of the room, right by—

“Jameson!” Chase cried, kneeling next to him. “Hey, hey, dude. Wake up!”

Anti screamed. He glitched upright, then over to their group, lashing out at them with the knife. Schneep grabbed his arm, and suddenly he was attacking his wrist with his scissors. Anti yelled, dropping the knife in surprise, and glitched back a bit. His right hand was now dangling from green thread, though it didn’t fall away. Static crawled over his body. He laughed and screamed at once, flickering and staggering, appearance shifting between himself, Marvin, and Jackie.

“Jack, this is very important,” Schneep said. “You remember how you pulled out that string?”

“Yeah,” Jack said. “We were planning on doing that again.”

“Good! Do it. But first, we need to snip snip the stitches on his neck.”

“The—oh.” Jack hadn’t thought much about the green stitches holding Anti’s throat wound closed. They were…awful, but he’d just accepted them as part of Anti’s appearance. “Alright, got it.”

“What about me?” Chase asked.

“Make sure Jack and Jamie do not get hurt while I do this,” Schneep said, raising the scissors and pointing them at Anti.

“You̢’re ͠a̸ll̡ ͡w̢eak!” Anti yelled, words barely audible through static and distortion. He stumbled, legs glitching into broken pieces. Pieces of red and blue static sliced through his body. “Awfu̸l, ͡tęrr͟i͡ble͠—͢h͞ap̢py̡ p̨e̛ople! ̸W̶h̷y a̕r͝e̢ y̛o̶u h͢ap͡py?!̶ W̕h̴y̶ ̨am ͞I ͞be̵ing̵ ͠torn̛ ąp̕a̡r͞t—breaking͏,͝ a͏gony, pa͡i̴n pain͞ ̴pai̡n—͡a̧nd͢ ̨y͠ou̵ are ͢nǫt?͟!̕ Hap̢py̵, ͞ha̕pp͏y—l̸i͏vin̢g, ͡livi͏ng! I hat̶e̛ you! I ͞H̛A҉TĘ ̧Y͢OU͠!̵ YOU͡ ͏SHOU̸L͞D̶ ̨S̢UFF̧E̶R ͠L͠IKE̵ WE A̛RE!” He laughed, and cried, and screamed all at once. And then he lunged at them, arms outstretched, no weapons bared, eyes red and blue and green.

Schneep ducked. He opened the scissors wide, flipped them in his hand, and sliced. Anti stopped where he was, a wound on his chest bleeding static. He staggered back, then laughed and lunged again in a blind attack. Schneep pushed him back, away from the others. Anti snarled and screamed and laughed and sobbed and shouted all at once, arms breaking into glitchy pieces as he tried to attack blindly, punching and clawing. Schneep remained calm, deflecting every wild blow. Anti paused for just the slightest moment, and that’s when Schneep struck. He darted forward, slicing with the blade of the scissors. The slash cut cleanly through the stitches on Anti’s neck.

“Jack, now!” Schneep yelled. Jack ran forward. He hesitated for a moment. Anti was falling apart, a million voices coming out of his mouth, static leaking from his neck and various wounds, a mess of glitches and static with the image of his friends thrown in. But Jack steeled himself, and plunged his hand into the glitchy mess’s chest. His fingers grabbed something, and he pulled. Out came the green string. Schneep reached out, and Jack quickly handed it to him. He folded the string in on itself a couple time, then cut through the bundled up mess with the scissors.

Three screams at once rang out through the room. Then Anti flew apart, glitches and static bursting outward. There was nothing left.

Schneep dropped the remains of the green strings, panting. “That…was easier than I was expecting,” he said.

“EASY?!” Chase repeated incredulously.

“Yes. I suppose he fell apart the more damage we did. It makes sense.” Schneep nodded.

Jack was rendered speechless. He stared at Schneep, gaping. “I—what—how—oh my—what?” He shook his head. “The string. We thought it couldn’t be cut.”

“Special scissors.” Schneep snipped said scissors a couple times. “I…picked them up. Is a long story.”

“Broooo!” Chase shouted. “That was epic! How’d you learn to do any of that?! That was badass!”

Schneep smiled softly. “Well…I have been practicing. After a certain…encounter made me realize what I could do, I decided to form a plan to take Anti down. And…thank you. You are all alright?”

“We’re fine, yeah,” Jack said. “Well…JJ’s still out.”

“Is he?” Schneep asked. “Someone should carry him out of here.”

“I got it.” Chase scooped JJ into his arms. He glanced toward the back of the room. His eyes widened. “Uh…guys? Look at that.”

Jack turned to follow his gaze. The wall on the opposite side of the room was cracking, the concrete turning black and falling apart. “That…can’t be good.”

“What? What is it?” Schneep asked.

“Oh…so you still can’t see?” Jack asked.

“What? No! Why do you think I make that joke earlier? I just…I feel where people are, and it makes it easier.”

“Well, the room is falling apart. We should go.” Jack grabbed Schneep’s hand and started walking toward the doorway.

“You got the kids out?” Chase asked, following.

“Yes, we told them to go down the hall and up the stairs and wait for us outside the building. JJ put protection around them like we planned.” Jack frowned. “Though…maybe that went away after he passed out.”

Chase picked up the pace.

Once they left the building, they found Lily and Moira sitting on the pavement outside, perfectly fine. Chase started to cry. “Hey girls,” he said softly.

“Hi Dad,” Moira said.

“Hi Dad!” Lily shouted, waving. “Hi Uncle Hen! Uncle Jack! Why is Uncle JJ asleep? Where did Uncle Jackie go?”

Chase fell silent. “I think…he’s gone. R…right, Schneep?”

Schneep said nothing, then nodded softly. “I think he is,” he said quietly.

Tears started to pour faster from Chase’s eyes, but he swallowed the sobs. Not in front of the girls. “Well…c’mon, we’re going home, now. And we’ll tell you everything on the way.”

It was a long walk back to the house.

Once they arrived, Stacy and the girls reunited tearfully. She again demanded that they tell her what happened, but even though it was the middle of the day, everyone agreed they needed a rest. Chase promised to explain everything to her that evening.

They all took separate rooms, with Schneep staying with Jack for a while. He also promised explanations later.

Once he was alone, Chase started to cry in earnest.

They really were gone now.

Part One of the Switch AU
A JSE Fanfic
[This is part of an ongoing fic series I started in April 2019. In a different world, the characters we know and love have been switched around. Jackie's a doctor while his friend Schneep goes out at night dressed as a superhero. JJ is a successful magician, and his roommate Marvin is from another time period. And let's not forget Anti, the YouTuber/computer programmer. Soon the five friends find themselves targeted by someone—or something—else.]
[One evening, a magic show is interrupted and thrown into chaos. Luckily, the local vigilante is there to take care of things, though he's not expecting the magician to have REAL magic.]
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The final trick of the magic show left the audience gasping in awe. Fantastic acts of illusion, of blue firefly lights that hovered above their heads, of water that seemed to float and dance in the hair. The masked magician swept his top hat off his head and bowed as the crowd applauded and roared. “Thank you, thank you, you’re too kind!” he said cheerfully, the mic pinned to his tuxedo picking up his voice easily and broadcasting it over the audience’s heads. “It’s time for our intermission now, so please, take ten minutes to get refreshments, use the facilities, and give your children time to stretch their legs. I promise I’ll still be here when you return. Thank you, and have a good evening!” With one final bow, the velvet curtains swept closed.

The magician pulled his mask up so it rested on top of his hair. It was made in the masquerade style, white with purple markings, and a blue outline of a star in the center of its forehead. He rubbed his eyes as the stage crew rushed about, making sure nothing happened to the stage decorations in the first thirty minutes of the show. Hour-long magic shows didn’t usually have an intermission, but the magician felt it was best for him, so that he had time to recharge out of the crowd’s eye.

Speaking of the intermission, he had someone he want to check on. He replaced his top hat but not his mask, and exited stage left. He dodged around scurrying stage crew in black until he found who it was he wanted to see. A man in a brown suit jacket with a green vest underneath, leaning on a wooden cane, was chatting with the stage manager, Darla. The magician strolled up to the pair of them, and the man looked over at him.

“Hello Jems!” The man said with a smile. “The show’s goin’ well so far. I watched it all on the tiny television. You did a good job wit’ t’at last one!”

Jameson Jackson grinned back. Marvin knew he’d been having trouble with that one, so it was good to hear that encouragement. JJ turned to Darla and pointed to the door leading from the backstage area to the dressing room hallway.

“Yes, you should be good to leave,” Darla said. She’d been working with Jameson long enough to interpret him easily when he went silent. “Just be back about a minute before the intermission ends.”

JJ nodded in understanding, then turned to Marvin with a question. “Yes, yes, ‘m comin’,” Marvin said. He shifted his weight off the cane and into a better walking position. “Lead the way.”

The two of them exited the backstage area and entered the warren of hallways the venue had for storage and rooms for the visiting performers to stay. It was low-lit, with gray-blue carpet and matching wallpaper. “How’s everything going for you so far?” JJ asked. “Good first impression of what goes on behind the scenes of the shows?”

“Oh, it’s been grand s’far,” Marvin replied. “Not much has changed from back in the day. Still busy worker bees rushin’ around. Y’even have cameras! And they’re so much better!”

JJ laughed. “Technology has made leaps and bounds. They didn’t have live video back then, did they?”

“They had television,” Marvin said defensively. “But it was a new invention. I’d never t’ink of filming t'at was—was at the same time! Wonderful!” The note of excitement in his voice was evident.

“Well, glad you’re having fun.” Jameson gave Marvin a quick one-armed squeeze. “But now, I must do as I told the audience to and get a snack. I burned up a lot of magic onstage.”

“Oh! I’ll join you! If t’at’s okay.”

“No problem, my friend. After all, you don’t have money on you, remember?”

“Ah. T'at would be a problem.”

The foyer of the venue was crowded with audience members, most of them looking to be in their 30′s or 40′s, going about their business. Getting concessions, disappearing into the bathrooms, making calls on their phones. A lot of them recognized the magician as he came out. Jameson braced himself as he saw them approaching, politely listening to their chatter with a smile and a nod, but no words. Marvin glared at them, edging in between JJ and the spectators. The crowd quickly caught on not to bother JJ, unless they wanted to have his prickly friend shooting daggers of death at them from his eyes.

“Thanks,” JJ whispered under his breath as the two of them approached the concessions stand.

“Why d’you even do these shows if you hate the crowds?” Marvin asked.

“It’s not a problem when they’re far away,” JJ shrugged. “Or when there are too many to look at at once. The problem is in conversation. And besides, why would I not do the shows? That would deprive people of this…this wonder! And amazement! You can hear it in their cheers. No matter their problems or unhappiness, they can find some excitement for just a little.”

Marvin shook his head, a small smile on his face. “Only you woul’ say t'at. But I t'ink some of these people need to learn some manners.” He glared at someone. “T’at man there has been lurkin’ in the corner t’is whole time and starin’ at ev’ryone.”

JJ glanced over to the man in question. He was tall and pretty well-built, dressed in a dark suit and standing ramrod-straight with his arms folded. “He’s fine, some people just don’t like to chat.” But if Jameson was being honest, the man was giving him an odd vibe. He shook it off and asked, “So, what treat do you want anyway?”

Marvin didn’t respond. His gaze has switched to the opposite end of the foyer. “There’s another one over there,” he said, faintly surprised. “Wearin’ the same getup and ev'rything.” He glanced around. “There’s more of them. Quite a lot, actu’lly.” All of a sudden, he grabbed Jameson’s arm. “Jems, I t’ink they’re up to no good.”

Jameson gave some of the men Marvin had pointed out a once-over. It was a bit…odd that all of these men were dressed similarly, built similarly, and standing around the edge of the crowd in a similar manner. As he watched, one of them reached inside his suit jacket…

“Marvin!” Jameson squeaked. “We have to get out of here!” He grabbed and tried to pull him away, but he was going too fast and Marvin stumbled, falling into him.

“Jems? What’s happen—”

BANG!

The loud sound of a gunshot rang throughout the venue. One person screamed, and then the crowd started to panic, scattering like rats faced with a hungry cat. In turn, the men in suits fired more shots into the air, pointing the muzzles of their guns at fleeing audience members. “Nobody move!” One of the men shouted. “Nobody’s gonna leave this room unless they want a bullet in their brain!” The crowd stopped trying to leave the foyer and instead clustered in the center.

The man who’d spoken, presumably the leader, presumably marked by the fact that he was the only one wearing a blue tie instead of a black one, yelled again. “All of you, line up against the walls! Sit down! Any sudden moves get fired at. Now!” The crowd hurried to comply.

Marvin and Jameson ended up pressed against the wall near the concessions stand, sitting huddled on the floor. Marvin looked over at his friend with wide eyes. “Ar’ya alrigh’?” he whispered.

JJ nodded. “They weren’t shooting people. But they might.” He shuddered. “Why is this happening? This can’t have anything to do with the show.”

The group of suited men were now in the center of the room, talking among themselves. Jameson narrowed his eyes at them. He muttered some words, and small wisps of blue light curled briefly around his head. Suddenly, the words of the suited men were as clear as if he’d been standing next to him.

“—the police, tell them about the…heh, situation.”

“And don’t forget to mention the demands this time.”

“Or the hostages.”

“Okay, okay, jeez, I get it. One mistake, and you’re branded for the rest of your life.”

“Well, this is the most people we got, most of them rich bastards, so there’s a bit less of a chance for error and a bit more of a chance for a bigger payday we can’t afford to mess up.”

Jameson subtly shook his head to clear the spell away. He leaned a bit closer to Marvin. “Sounds like they’re hoping to get the police to give them something. And so they’re keeping hostages to make sure their demands are met.”

“And t’at’s us?” Marvin’s grip on his cane tightened. “How’re we goin’ t’get outta t’is?”

“I…don’t know. Maybe we can just wait for the police to take care of things.”

“Who’s talking?” The leader of the gang turned around, eyes sweeping the room. “This is your only warning: no more talking, or we might start to feel the room’s a little crowded.”

Dead silence. Marvin and JJ exchanged looks of fear.
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"All units: we have a hostage situation at the Orchester. I repeat, hostage situation at the Orchester. At least 100 patrons are trapped along with an unknown number of crew. Suspects are armed."

“Volt, you suddenly went quiet. You okay?”

Schneep shook his head. Maybe listening to the police scanner while also trying to have a phone call with Jackie was not a good idea. “Yes, I am fine,” he said. “I just got something interesting on the scanner.”

“Wouldn’t happen to do with the gang that’s threatening the local theatre, would it?”

“Ah…” Schneep coughed uncomfortably. “How do you know that?”

“Rama just turned on the news,” Jackie explained, referencing the name of his spouse. “Anyway, Volt, don’t you dare go check that out.”

“Why not?” Schneep asked, almost whining. “I am already out on patrol. There are people who need help. Seems like easy equation.”

“Well, last time you went out, you basically collapsed of smoke inhalation!” Jackie said sharply. “You barely made it to my house in time! And you’re still recovering, you shouldn’t even have gone out!”

“I am fine, it should not be too difficult.” Schneep was already making his way through the city streets in the direction of the theatre.

“It shouldn’t be—you are ONE GUY going against a gang of MULTIPLE ARMED PEOPLE. C’mon, dude. You know I’m okay with this in general, but I also don’t want you to die! Let the police take care of this.”

“Sorry, Jackie, I am passing through a tunnel, you are breaking up.”

“Don’t pull that shit on me, Volt, I know you parkour.”

“What? I—kssh—cannot—kssh—hear you I have—kssh—hang—kssh—up.” And with no further words, Schneep hung up on Jackie and tucked the phone into the hidden pocket inside his suit. He was so lucky he wasn’t too far from the Orchester theatre. If he ran, he should be able to make it in a few minutes.

And indeed he did. The place had cops on all sides, which was unfortunate, seeing as how the police weren’t the biggest fan of him. They didn’t look too kindly on vigilantes who ran around with homemade gadgets that were usually much more useful than whatever they had. He’d have to be clever. Luckily, there seemed to be a weak spot in the police’s blockade near the side alley, a stretch where they’d only stationed one officer, who was currently sitting in his car drinking coffee from a thermos. Schneep slipped past him easily, and after a bit of slinking around the edge, he found a side door and slid inside.
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The hostages had been trapped inside for an hour. An hour of absolute silence and stillness, watching the gang and the guns they carried. Nobody had managed to get away, not even the stage crew. Apparently the gang had sent members backstage to make sure there was no chance of letting anyone get away.

Marvin and JJ were uncomfortable, to say the very least. And Jameson was started to wonder if there was more he could be doing to help the situation. The problem was that most of his spells were incantation-based, and he didn’t know if he wanted to risk the gang hearing him. He also wasn’t sure if trying out a spell would even help, or if it would just make everything worse.

He was interrupted from his internal debate by Marvin tapping him on the arm. When he gave him a confused look, Marvin carefully and subtly pointed to the balcony with his cane. Jameson turned his attention toward it. The balcony was supposed to lead to the…well, balcony seats, as well as have a few shortcuts for the lighting crew. Nobody was up there, as the gang had forced everyone down to the ground level. Except…somebody was up there, crouching and staring through the railing at the gang below. He was wearing a long gray coat, a blue belt, and blue gloves. A black mask covered the lower half of his face.

Wait…Jameson remembered seeing that outfit on the news. It was that vigilante, Voltage or something like that. JJ’s head whipped back toward Marvin with wide eyes. Marvin shrugged, confused.

They both watched as the vigilante stood up, and with absolutely no warning leaped over the railing and right off the balcony. Amazingly, he landed on his feet, and seemed to be perfectly fine despite a fall from that height being enough to at the very least snap an ankle. “You people are ruining a perfectly good night at the theatre!” he shouted.

Immediately, every single member of the gang turned toward him, guns raised. “Shoot him!” the leader cried.

But Voltage was already moving before the command was even given. The bullets riddled the wall where he’d just been standing, following him across the room. The hostages sitting around the edges screamed, shrinking closer to the ground. “Stay down, all of you!” Voltage shouted, clearly aimed at the hostages. He was now standing next to a large brass pot holding a plant. He kicked it, and it flew across the room much faster than it should have, hurling toward the gang, most of whom scattered.

“I told you to shoot him!” the leader yelled. “Where’d he go?!”

Voltage hadn’t gone anywhere. He’d just followed the path of the pot right into the center of the gang. He grabbed the nearest man from behind. There was a zap, and an arc of blue-white electricity came from Voltage’s gloves. The man fell to the ground, unconscious. Voltage instantly ducked, avoiding a hail of bullets and causing some of the gang members to shoot each other. He launched himself across the floor and grabbed another by the legs, shocking him unconscious too.

There were still too many. Jameson counted. Fifteen left, but four of those had been shot and were clutching their torsos where the wounds were, pretty much out of commission. So eleven left. That was too much. Voltage was good, but it was only through sheer luck that he hadn’t been shot yet. Jameson’s mind whirled, thoughts fueled by adrenaline. He had to do something.

The gang was focused on Voltage, still somehow surviving. Jameson stood up, and crept a bit closer to the fray, hoping to not be noticed. “Jems!” Marvin hissed. “Are you mad?!” When JJ didn’t bother to answer, Marvin growled and started crawling after him.

Jameson took a deep breath, and pulled his mask down onto his face. “Ixáplose, lakoi’vai,” he whispered, kneeling and touching the ground with his fingertips. A puddle of blue magic crept out from the spots where his fingers touched, spreading rapidly across the floor, heading straight for the conflict. Once the puddle reached the men’s feet, they slipped. One by one, falling and crashing to the ground. Except for Voltage, who was standing in the middle of the magic puddle perfectly alright, if shocked. His eyes followed the path of the puddle back to its source, and even under the mask JJ could see the surprise and shock on his face.

Still, Voltage recognized an opportunity, and by the time the remaining members of the gang had gotten to their feet and scrambled away from the puddle, another seven had been shocked to unconsciousness. “What the fuck?!” shouted one of the men.

The leader did the same thing Voltage did and followed the magic’s path. “You!” he roared. “I don’t know what the fuck you did, but you’ll pay!” He raised his gun.

JJ dove to the side, managing to avoid getting killed, though he felt a streak of pain, and looked down to see the bullet had grazed his arm. He scrambled back to his feet, gasping out a basic shield spell just in time for bullets to ricochet oft the sudden blue icy barrier. He closed his eyes, simply concentrating on keeping the shield up. He heard what was happening: more gunshots, more shouting, more footsteps, more electric zaps.

Until: “Stop right there, or I swear I’ll blow his brains out!”

The room went silent. JJ opened his eyes to see that all the gang members had been knocked out except for three and the leader. Voltage was standing, frozen, in the middle of the room, staring at the leader and—Jameson felt his heart stop. The shield spell flickered and died. “Marvin!” he gasped.

The gang leader was holding Marvin close to him with one arm, and holding a gun to the side of his head with the other. Marvin himself only looked sort of annoyed, but Jameson knew him well enough to see the way his hands were trembling, holding his cane tight for comfort. The leader turned to look at Jameson. “This a friend of yours, huh?” he sneered. “Well, get back to where you’re supposed to be and stop this freaky shit, and he’ll be fine.”

“Do not tell him what to do!” Voltage yelled. JJ was faintly surprised at the accent in his voice. “I thought your fight was with me!”

“Well, you too,” the leader shrugged. “Leave this place, and nobody gets hurt. Or you can take off your shocky gloves and join the others around the wall, I’m not too picky.”

Voltage laughed dryly. “Ah yes, your one redeeming quality. You think I will just leave all these people here?!”

“I dunno, it’s kinda hard to tell with—”

The leader didn’t get to finish his sentence. Marvin had adjusted the way he was holding the cane, and then slammed the end of it down into the leader’s foot. He yelped, and his grip loosened just enough for Marvin to pull away and land sprawling on the floor. “You little—” the leader didn’t get to finish that one either, or finish aiming the gun at Marvin like he’d started to, because all of a sudden a shard of blue magic came flying out of nowhere and hit him in the head. He stumbled, and looked around as if he’d forgotten what he was doing. This entire sequence was just long enough for Voltage to charge forward and zap the leader out cold.

Voltage spun around and glared at the three remaining gang members. “Well?” he demanded. The men dropped their guns and raised both hands in the air. “That’s what I thought. Kick those away from you.” They did so. Voltage nodded once, then addressed the room at large. “I will open the front doors in a moment. I advise you all to leave once that happens. And do not be afraid to relax now.” Gradually, the crowd began chattering again. Voltage began kicking all the gang members’ guns into a little pile, occasionally shooting glares at the ones remaining conscious.

JJ rushed forward, kneeling next to Marvin. “Marvin! Are you okay?!”

“I’m fuckin’ fantastic. Got t’reatened to end up in the ground, gave a man the stomp, then he got bumped in the head after his whole gang got a beatin’, and now me legs stopped workin’. Average day.”

Jameson laughed. Yep, Marvin was fine. “Good to hear it. Need some help?”

“N…possibly.” Marvin let JJ grab him by the hand and help him up, though he stumbled and ended up leaning on JJ much more than he wanted to.

Voltage walked over to the two of them. “You are okay?” he asked.

“We’re fine,” JJ said with a quavery smile. “Thank you for all your help.”

“It is no problem. I am just doing what is the right thing. But usually…” he gave Jameson a scan with his eyes. “…Usually in these situations I do not meet someone who can do things like that.”

“Oh, ah…” JJ laughed nervously. “I’m sorry, I can’t really explain it. It’s just…something I’ve been born with. Magic, that is.”

“Hmm…” Voltage put his hands on his hips. “I did not think magic was real, but after this…”

“It’s not your beeswax, Mister Voltage,” Marvin growled, giving the hero a prompt whack on the shoulder with his cane topper. Unfortunately, that meant he suddenly lost a support to lean on, and he fell onto JJ, who stumbled before regaining his balance.

“Excuse me, that is Von Voltage.” The words were lacking the snap they were probably intended to have. Voltage was too busy watching JJ struggle to keep Marvin upright. “You did not get your little legs injured during this whole thing, did you?”

“Wh—no,” Marvin said, looking mildly offended. “This is an…unrelated issue. I’ve dealt with it for a long time, nothin’ you need t’concern with.”

Voltage gave him a skeptical look. Then he reached inside a coat and pulled out a phone. Apparently those gloves of his were able to interact with the touch screen just fine. “Well, if that is the case, I am going to give you a phone number. It is not one you have to use, but if you ever need a good doctor I have a friend who would love to assist.”

“I don’ have a phone,” Marvin muttered.

“But it’s okay, because I do.” Jameson awkwardly rummaged around one-handed in his pockets before pulling out said phone. “What’s the number and the name?”

He quickly typed in the number Voltage recited. “His name is Dr. Jackie Parker,” the hero explained. “Is a very good doctor, and I know he will not turn away a person in need.”

“Ah…thank you,” Marvin said quietly. He looked a little shocked at the turn of events. Jameson hoped he would actually consider contacting the doctor. Marvin was one of the most stubborn people he knew, and he didn’t want that to impact his health.

“Is no problem,” Voltage waved it off. “And now, if you excuse me, I am going to open the front doors real quick and then leave right after. Police are not too fond of me.” And with that, he strolled away.

JJ looked at Marvin, who was still basically putting all his weight on him. “Do you want to stand up or sit down.”

“I can—I can stand.” With some effort and the help of his cane, Marvin managed to regain his balance. “T’is has cert’inly been…a night.”

“Tell me about it. Probably my most eventful show, though not in a good way. I do hope that not a lot of people saw what was going on with the magic. Hopefully the police will attribute it to shock. They’re also going to want to check you for shock too, given the whole gun thing.”

“Shock? I don’ understand. Von Voltage didn’ touch me.”

Jameson paused. “No, like…like shellshock? That was a thing back then, right?”

“Ohhhh.”

“They’ll probably give you one of those shock blankets.”

“I get a free blanket?!” Marvin looked oddly excited at the prospect.

JJ laughed. “No, no, you don’t get to keep it. It’s property of the police.”

“Aw.” Marvin glanced over to the front entrance of the venue. “The doors are openin’. Ready to face the world?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be. Come on, let’s go outside finally.”
.............................................................................................

“Volt…” Jackie sounded exhausted on the other end. “I can’t believe you actually did that.”

Schneep, watching the police scene around the theatre from on top of a nearby rooftop, sighed. “Well, you would not expect better of me, would you?”

“I really shouldn’t, but I always do. How’s your breathing? The lingering effects of the smoke didn’t bother you?”

“Ah, a little bit of tightness, but I am fine.”

“If I ever find out you’re lying, you do realize I’m going to strap you to your bed and force you to rest.”

“Well, I do now.” Schneep fell silent for a moment, watching the former hostages being helped and talked to by the cops. “I saw…the most unusual thing tonight, Jackie. I do not know how else to describe it than…magical.”

“Really?” Jackie asked, intrigued.

“Also I gave someone your phone number.”

“What?!” Now Jackie sounded less intrigued and more mad. “Henrik, for the love of god. Not only is that a bad idea because of the general ‘don’t give phone numbers to strangers’ rule, but also whoever it is now knows you’re somehow connected to me!”

“Trust me Jackie, the two of them are good people. And they…seemed in need of a bit of help.” Though that one in the jacket and vest also seemed pretty obstinate. “Now, do you want to hear about this magic I saw or should I show up at your house in full Von Voltage gear and give your family a heart attack?”

“Michelle would be excited to know her honorary uncle is a real live superhero,” Jackie said thoughtfully. “But yeah, Rama would freak out. So, tell me the story of what happened.”

“You are going to want to sit down for this one,” Schneep said, grinning.

And as the evening faded completely into night, a new life dawned on the four who’d been touched that day. None of them knew where it was heading, but they all knew things would never be the same again.