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.]
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.