#mrow masterpost

[huffle-dork]

Glitch into the Hufflverse Chapter 15: Swapboys...? Again?

Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs | Read One Villain falls Another One Rises

Read SITCV | Read SATCV | GITHV Masterpost

When the boys all fall into the new world- it’s nothing like they’ve seen before. It’s a city street… but the buildings look like they’re falling apart. Like something out of a dystopian film. The city is strangely quiet. Except for this strange- glitch-like sound- tinkling like computerized wind chimes. Looking closer at the buildings- it seems like it’s not breaking apart normally… no- it’s breaking into computer code. Binary, ones and zeros, long swatches of words and letters that are completely unreadable.

And worst of all- Bro and Alt realize this… this place is familiar. Why is it familiar…?

“What… is all this?” Alt breathes in confusion.

"H-huh?" Jackie looks around. "Whaaaat the fuuuuck..."

I've never seen anything like this, JJ shakes his head in disbelief.

"What is that sound?" Schneep turns his head around, catching the noises. "It is all around us. It sounds like... some s-sort of... computer or static... glitches?"

"Schneep, you're not going to believe this," Jackie mutters. "But we're in a city. And all the buildings are turning into fucking binary."

"What?!"

What is this, some sort of... simulation world? JJ asks, frowning.

"How the fuck does that make sense?!" Jackie asks.

I don't know! I don't know what this is!

Bro pales and holds onto Alt. “Alt… d-doesn’t this… doesn’t this look like… like downtown? Like… o-our downtown?”

“What are you-“ Alt starts to say, then really looks and he seems to pale. “N-No… no way…”

Something is slinking behind in the shadows of some of the buildings- something,.. big and… cat like? But Alt and Bro don’t notice- too freaked out by this.

"Your downtown?" Jackie repeats. "So this is—this is Brighton?"

JJ shivers. What could have possibly happened to cause this?

Schneep gets out his cane and starts feeling around. His head turns wildly, trying to hear through the glitchy noises. "Is there anyone coming?"

"I don't see anyone, no," Jackie says, but he takes out his staff and extends it anyway. Something about this place is giving him the creeps.

Schneep frowns. "F-for a moment I thought I... sensed... something."

Suddenly the shadowy figure lashes out, trying to tackle down one of the boys.

Bro sees this and gets in front of the others- the thing is a big cat! Almost like a panther but… fluffier? It plows slightly into Jackie, throwing him off before it tackles Bro to the ground.

"Whoa!" Jackie spins and staggers before regaining his balance by pushing against the ground with his staff.

"What is that?!" Schneep gasps.

"Some sort of cat! Hey!" Jackie starts to run back over to attack but JJ grabs him, pulling him back. JJ then tries to cast a protective shield around Bro to push the cat back.

The shield pushes the cat back and it mrows slightly in distress then bends back down to the ground and snarls at the rest of them. Alt glitches over to be in front of Bro, holding out his hand with magic sparking in it. Then, he freezes, face going pale. “…Glitches…?” he whispers in disbelief.

"Glitches?" Jackie repeats, blinking in confusion.

Isn't that your cat? JJ asks.

A glitchy haunting laugh echoes across the empty city street, sending shivers down Bro and Alt’s spines. Why did it sound so… familiar too?

At the sound of the laughter, Schneep immediately pulls out his scissors and spins around, trying to figure out where it came from. "What was that?"

"Show yourself, coward!" Jackie shouts.

JJ looks at him like he's completely lost his mind. No! Let's get out of here!

Alt is frozen in place, staring at the cat like he’s seen a ghost. Glitches growls at him, but looks… confused. Conflicted. Alt almost tries to reach out before they hear the laugh and Bro pulls Alt back.

Something suddenly… glitches next to the cat. The same effect as Alt’s just… more purple and neon. The figure laughs more and pets Glitches head. He slowly lifts his head and…

It’s… Alt?

But this Alt is very different- his brown hair is overgrown and pulled into a small ponytail. He wears his old impulse jacket that’s dirty and ripped. He has purple branching scars on his cheek and across his nose. And his eyes… they look just like Magnificent’s.

“…no…” Alt breathes, looking beyond freaked out.

"H-huh?" Jackie stares with wide eyes. "Alt?!"

"Alt..." Schneep breathes, feeling the similarities between their souls. But... "I-is that... dark magic?"

JJ looks horrified. He instinctively conjures a shield in front of them all.

The copy laughs wildly, “I thought I felt the rifts! It’s been so long… I thought they’d never come here again-“

“W-What is this?!” Bro snarls, “Is this some kind of s-sick joke? Who the hell are you? Cuz y-you- you’re not Alt!”

The copy finally looks properly at Bro and his other self- but his eyes widen as he sees Bro. He glitches past the shield to be right in Bro’s face. “C-Chase?” He whispers- like he’s just seen a ghost. Then he laughs wildly and grabs either side of Bro’s face, digging claws into his skin, “T-The universe brought you back!! The rifts brought you back!! F-Finally!! I can start to make things right- you’re not gonna leave me again are you, Chase?!”

Alt looks like he’s gonna be sick. Bro tries to shove the other Alt off him. “F-Fucking let go!! The fuck are you talking about?!”

"You know about the rifts?!" Jackie gasps. "You—what do you mean, 'they'd come here again'?"

"This is... some sort of... s-strange universe," Schneep whispers. His stomach sinks as he takes in the implications of the strange Alt's world. Brought Chase back...? "Some s-strange... tragedy must have happened..."

JJ cries out as the other Alt just glitches past his shield—he's got to remember he can do that! He hurries over to help Bro push the other Alt away. 

The strange Alt gets pushed away and he stumbles back. Then he grins and glitches to look at all the others properly. “Oh! So many familiar faces!! It’s been so long, friends~! I thought I was cut off from the other universes now but here you all are!!” He giggles, floating a bit off the ground.

Then, He glitches to grab Alt by his face- and his eyes flash with hatred. “…even you.”

Alt is trembling, staring at this- corrupted version of himself but not being able to move or do anything in response. Bro shoves the strange Alt away and growls. “Hands off!”

The weird Alt giggles and snatches Bro by his wrist. He then glitches the both of them over back by big cat Glitches and his eyes swirl as he looks into Bro’s eyes, floating so they’re the same height. “Come on Chase! Let’s quit all this mucking about! You know how much I need you… come home with me?” Bro struggles but then- seems to be slowly drawn into other Alt’s eyes. “I…I-“

"Oh no you fucking don't!" Jackie breaks into a run heading right for the other Alt.

"Jackie! Do not be a fool!" Schneep says. "Not by yourself!" He leaps towards Bro and the other Alt, aiming to knock Bro to the ground—or otherwise break his eye contact. Jackie arrives shortly after he does and immediately attacks the other Alt with his staff.

JJ grabs Alt's hand, squeezing it tight, and gets ready to throw magic at the first sign of trouble.

Alt squeezes tight on JJ’s hand, on the verge of a panic attack. This must all be just a terrible dream… right? This… this only happens in his absolutely worst nightmares.

Breathe, JJ signs to Alt. 

The staff hits the other Alt with a resounding clang and the spirals fade from his eyes. But then he grabs Bro before Schneep can and holds him possessively, claws digging into his neck. “Back off! You don’t get it! I need him- I won’t let you take him away again!”

“You’re out of your fucking mind, man!” Jackie says. “You’re gonna hurt him!”

“We do not want to fight you, but we will if we must!” Schneep adds, holding out his scissors.

JJ turns his attention back to the others, silently debating what to do. Maybe—if he distracts this strange Alt, the others can grab Bro? With that in mind, he draws back a hand and throws a bolt of magic towards the other Alt—something mostly harmless that will draw his attention.

Jackie notices this and takes the opportunity to try and pull Bro away.

The strange Alt makes a glitchy shield without even looking at JJ- but Jackie is strong enough to pull Bro away. Bro shakes out of the strange trance and clings to Jackie. “fuck- t-thanks…!”

The strange Alt growls and purple electricity sparks around him dangerously. “Enough! This fucking city and this world is fucking mine!” He laughs insanely and holds out a hand at Jackie, Schneep and Bro. The ground beneath them flickers and shifts like it might fade into pixels and code like the buildings. “I wanna hear you all go s̷̨̅p̶̩̍l̸̤͗ȃ̶̮t̴̨̓!” he giggles.

Schneep yelps upon feeling the ground under his feet shift. Jackie tries running, dragging Bro with him, but it's hard to find his footing to do so.

The other Alt glitches a bit in place and starts to close his hand-then… it’s like a pause button has been pressed, capturing him mid laugh and mid glitch.

Someone whistles from an alleyway nearby and then an arm gestures for them to follow. “Hurry! Over here!”

JJ's head snaps towards the voice and immediately books it towards the gesturing arm, taking Alt with him. He whistles sharply, drawing the other two's attention. Schneep and Jackie break into a run as well, taking Bro. Bro is able to run pretty soon with them and hurries over. Alt tries his best to keep up-

The dark alley makes it hard to see but soon there’s a tealish ring of light that appears and a shadowy figure jumps through- followed by something that looks like a… dog? “In here! Quickly! My spell will not last long-“

"Coming!" Jackie gasps, running as fast as he can. "Schneep, you're going to have to jump!"

"Tell me when!" Schneep says.

Jackie heads through first. "Now!"

Schneep stumbles a bit as he goes through the ring but manages to land well enough.

JJ goes through next, still holding onto Alt's hand.

"I-is this—who I think it is?" Schneep asks, recognizing the feel of the person's soul.

“I-It sounds like…!” Bro pants as he jumps in with the others.

They all land in a warmly lit but still somewhat dim room. It’s slightly cold in here… stone walls? Maybe underground? It’s jammed to the brim with a couple beds, a desk with med kits, water and packs of food. Bags of dog food line the wall and big duffle bags. One of the beds is filled with open spell books and notebooks with writing in them. Various suitcases lie around the beds, in different degrees of usage.

And standing before them is- it’s Henny and Sahne. Henny looks like he’s seen hell- his usual bright sunny face haggard and dirty- deep bags under his eyes. His glasses are cracked- he’s in a dark dingy trench coat. Sahne sits obediently at his feet. But she looks to see the others and her tail starts to wag.

“That was very very close- are you all alright? This place should be safe from-“ he starts to say.

“H…Henny?” Alt interrupts.

Henny looks up now and his eyes widen. “…my.. mein gott-“ he whispers. He looks like he’s seen a ghost. “Chase- you’re … you’re alive…!” Henny laughs in teary eyed disbelief and runs at Bro and hugs him tightly.

Bro blinks and pats Henny’s back. “Y-Yeah I’m… h-hi Hen?”

Henny laughs wetly and then goes to grab Alt too and hugs him with Bro, pressing his head onto both of their shoulders, “Oh! And… Alt… Alt, my friend… is it actually you…! Not that… that glitched Ungeheuerlichkeit!” Alt is frozen in his hug, still trembling.

Sahne starts to bark happily- though definitely more quiet barks as she dances around everyone, pressing her noses against hands and legs and rubbing up against them, tail wagging wildly.

JJ stares, stunned, at this other version of Henny. What... happened to him? He probably should have expected that this wouldn't be a good place to live, given the glitchy state of everything outside, but it's another thing to see someone who was so smiley look so tired.

Jackie is just as stunned. But he zeroes in on one thing in particular. "...'alive'?" he whispers. "What the... what the fuck happened in this world...?"

Schneep inches away from Sahne and starts getting the lay of things with his cane. "Wh-where are we? What... what happened to the Alt is this world?"

And what about the others? JJ says, worried.

"Um... also, uh... hi?" Jackie raises a hand.

Henny let’s go and wipes at his eyes. He laughs and looks back over Bro and Alt, “oh… you both look so young…” He says, gently cupping their cheeks. The others can notice this Henny does seem a bit older than the one they knew- though maybe the slight salt and pepper hair is from stress.

He smiles tiredly at the others. “Yes hallo.. it is… good to see friendly faces… I.. you all must be so confused. Please- sit and I… I will try to explain.”

“Yes explaining is good cuz what?!” Bro exclaims, throwing up his hands, “I… the me from this universe, he’s dead?”

Alt and Henny seem to wince at this. “I… I will explain Chase… please just…I-I am sorry it is tight in here-“

“If I’m dead then- w-what about Jackie and Jay? Henrik what-“

“They are safe.” Henny says firmly, gripping his hands into fists. “Z-Zara got them out of the city…on a boat. The children… Zara, Jackie and Jewel. They are all fine… all of this s-seems to be contained to Brighton… b-but I do not know for how much longer.”

"They're not even here?" Jackie's eyes widen. "It's that bad? Holy shit." He shakes his head and sits down on one of the beds. "Okay. Jeez."

Something must have happened to Alt in this world, JJ says. Something that gave him incredible power, but made him... unstable. He looks a bit haunted for a moment as he remembers what happened in the last world, but quickly pushes that away. Clearly, this is much worse, probably not even comparable.

"Yes, Jamie, I agree, that must be it," Schneep says. "Do not worry about the space, ah, Henrik, it is fine. Why are you still here, if the others have all left?"

“…someone needs to continue what… what Chase could not.” Henny says quietly, hugging his arms. “…I did not have nearly as much power as Alt or Bro Fantastic did but… I-I could do something. I stay to… to help anyone else who is left. It… it isn’t much now. I try to get people out to safety. But just in case I… I stay.” He smiles weakly. “Is good I did, ja?”

“Hen what…” Alt voice cracks, “what happened…?”

Henny is silent for a beat. “…it was supposed to be a victory. We had… finally defeated Magnificent. He was… he was dead. But s-something happened… the lingering black magic it… it found a way to claw itself into Alt’s- our Alt’s soul. Or body or… mind- maybe all 3. All we know is after that… it all changed. Alt tried to fight it but it just- consumed him. He started to tear the city apart- started doing things Magnificent would have done. He left us alone though… but it was hard to watch him… hurt innocents. Chase he-he could not stand it. He tried to confront Alt and-“ Henny grips his fingers tighter into his arms. “…he killed him. That fucking Glitch- he killed him!”

Bro and Alt go white as a sheet. Alt’s stomach lurches and he scrambles to find a trash can to retch into. Sahne carefully paws over to sit by him.

"...holy shit," Jackie whispers, his stomach sinking. "That... that's what...? I-I can't believe..." He shakes his head. He can't blame Alt for his reaction.

"Black magic always finds a way to linger, yes?" Schneep mutters darkly. "Even when... it should not." He shudders a bit.

He... couldn't have meant to do it... JJ signs slowly. Alt would never... and that version of him out there... maybe he regretted it? He leans heavily against the wall.

"Are you okay, Alt?" Jackie says softly. "I mean... I get it. I really, really get it."

Alt is bracing himself against the floor, shaking like a leaf as tears fall down his face, “T-t-this is a n-nightmare right? This… t-this can’t be r-real…! I-I w-wouldn’t… I-I would never-!”

Bro hurries over to kneel down by Alt and rub his back, “Breathe, Anti… it’s…”

“It’s okay, Alt,” Schneep says softly. “Black magic can do terrible things to people. It is not because of you that this is happening in this world.”

Alt doesn’t respond to Schneep, holding his arms and shaking wildly as he curls up to cover his mouth. Trying not to get sick again. He feels like he’s disconnecting from all of this- hardly able to grab onto any thoughts to ground him. 

“I-I am sorry for my emotions,” Henny says, looking regretful for his anger, “… the wound is s-still fresh… but that is why the city is in the state it is in. After the Glitch-or our Alt got corrupted… he gained so much more power- insight into other worlds he did not have before. He believes himself a… a god almost. Claiming that this world and all worlds are his. But he never got the ability to travel to other worlds again… so he’s been- tearing our reality apart- trying to find some universe where… where he can get Chase back. And he does not care who he hurts to get there.”

“Insight into other worlds, huh?” Jackie mutters. “Seems like that’s something Antis are prone to get.”

Wait, if he’s looking for a world where he can get his Chase back, then—we just walked right into his hands, didn’t we? JJ says, eyes wide. No wonder he went straight for Chase. He’s probably going to keep going for him as long as we’re here.

Bro pales at JJ’s realization and gets to his feet, “F-Fuck J, you’re right!”

“You all are safe here for now,” Henny says softly. “I have learned wards to hide this place. He had not found it yet.”

“Even so, we had better try to think about some way to get out of here,” Schneep decides. “I know the rifts may show up, but we should not count on them.”

“Great idea, except we have no idea how to do that,” Jackie comments.

JJ frowns. Alt, Chase, how did you two show up to our world before? You didn’t have the TRVLR yet—you got it from our world. I don’t remember if you told us how you got there.

Bro blinks at JJ and then hums, thinking about it. “Oh right! Um… the arch! Mag found an archway thing we’ve seen one other time before in a SCLERA basement. He used Alt’s magic and his to open up the gate and then… we wound up in your world!”

Henny frowns, “hm… SCLERA has been… destroyed by the Glitch… but if it was underground like this… maybe? But if Alt knew of this… he might have already tried to get to that.”

"He destroyed SCLERA?!" Jackie gasps. "Well—I guess that makes sense. If I was an all-powerful glitch being, I would destroy them too. They might get in the way."

Schneep stands up. "It is the only lead we have, yes? I think we should at least try to go find it."

It would probably feel better to take action rather than just wait here for a rift to come, JJ agrees.

Henny nods, “Destroying SCLERA was the one good thing the Glitch has done… but I worry- he has eyes all over the city. Magnificent’s cats… the Glitch uses them and he has a few puppets lingering around the city I could not save…”

Bro sighs and crosses his arms, “I agree it’s dangerous… but we can’t just sit here. We can’t afford to wait for another rift… maybe if the arch is destroyed we can repair it somehow?”

JJ nods slowly. Perhaps my magic could help. What does this arch look like?

"Oh, I've seen ours before," Jackie says. " I'm gonna assume it's similar here. It's a freestanding doorway. One side of it is made of black rock, like obsidian or something, and the other side is regular stone that's been carved with a bunch of designs."

Runes, presumably. I've been learning some alphabets to help Marvin with his card magic, I might... know some? JJ guesses.

“Yes! It’s just like the one from your world, Jackie!” Bro says with a smile. 

"That is the best chance we have, I think," Schneep mutters. "Alt. Are you...?" He trails off. Clearly, Alt is not okay. Asking probably wouldn't help.

Henny looks over at Alt with worry. And- a bit of fear. He knows this isn’t the Glitch- it helps that Alt looks so much younger but… he keeps his distance.

Which doesn’t help Alt at all. Everyone sounds like they’re underwater- the room is tilting and he feels- lost. Just staring at the floor, as he curls up as small as he can. It’s hard to tell if he’s ever registered anything they’ve been saying.

JJ winces. He's not doing well.

"No, really?" Jackie drawls.

This isn't the time for sarcasm, Jackie. JJ shoots him a disapproving look.

Jackie winces. "No. You're right. It's not." After a moment, he gets up and walks over to Alt. He hesitates, then puts a hand on his shoulder. "Hey." His voice is quiet. "I know. It sucks. Sucks to know what could happen. What you could do. But you're different, right? You're trying to be better, right? Doesn't mean it's not hard to hear about all this, I know. But that's not you. I know you're a good person, Alt. This... mess in this world... Don't let it break you down."

Alt jolts as Jackie touches him and finally looks up at him with red rimmed eyes. He listens but then whispers brokenly, “…what if this i-is my future…?”

“Hey Alt don’t say-“ Bro tries to say.

“No! What if?! The other me- he- he knows about the rifts- Hen says he travelled though worlds too. He’s o-older than me- what if this is just what happens to me?!” He pushes himself out of Jackie’s grip and pulls at his hair, eyes blown wide in panic as glitches break apart at his body. “T-This isn’t like s-seeing other Antis and knowing I’m different! T-That’s me! it doesn’t matter if I know I’m a good person- it doesn’t matter if I’m different now! This… this could be what I become!! It could mean e-everything I’ve learned about myself- everything I’ve fought for means fucking nothing!” he screeches at the end, his voice loud enough to make the room shake with vibrations as his magic whips around him wildly.

"And do you think the future is set in stone?" Schneep suddenly snaps. "Do you believe you are so powerless in the face of what will come? Are you going to just lie down and accept that you are some evil glitch, or are you going to get up and tell the world that you will not be like him? I have not known you for very long, Alt, but I know you have a fighting spirit in you. And yet, whenever the universe tells you that you will become something you don't wish to be, you accept it. Are you going to let the world do that to you? Are you going to believe that disaster is inevitable? Or are you going to take back your life on your terms? Are you going to look fate in the eye and tell it to go fuck itself when it says there is no other way? You have fought for your life, Alt! Do you really think you will give up so easily?"

Alt bursts into ugly sobbing, curling up to hold his head against his knees. “I-I don’t know! I don’t know!!”   

“Anti…” Bro tries to say, trying to get closer. Alt flinches and glitches to the very back wall and wails, “I-I always thought I-I-I wouldn’t ever d-do something like this! That I’d never hurt Chase- my friends…! T-They’ve always saved me before- why was this time different?! I don’t want this- but if even the m-me from here fought so hard then? Does it even fucking matter?!”

JJ clears his throat and signs weakly, And this Henrik said that it started when you all killed Magnificent, right? So... you know how to... prevent it...

Luckily- Alt always tries to look at JJ when he demands attention for his signs. He quiets down a bit.

Henny nods, “Yes.. I do believe if we found another way to stop Magnificent… then this may have never happened.”

“JJ is right Alt… w-we can make sure this doesn’t happen! Now we know…” Bro says gently, “You and me can work to make sure this future never ever comes to pass. But you can’t give up now… we gotta get to a better future together, okay?”

"It always matters, Alt," Jackie says firmly. "Every single little bit of effort matters. Even if it feels like it doesn't. You know, my Chase told me how you saved him. How Jameson tried to get in your head about this same thing. H-he doesn't remember it all too well, but he remembers that you got him out of there. If you hadn't pushed through Jameson's taunting back then, Chase would still be there. If you hadn't decided that you were going to get him out of here despite everything that happened the first time you visited our world, he would still be there. Even if it feels like it doesn't matter to you, it means the world to others when you fight against these—these claims that you're evil."

Alt looks up at Jackie with surprise. “He… he remembered all of that…?” He swallows shakily. “I-I couldn’t just leave him…”

“That’s where the differences lies, Alt. No matter what, no what how many Antis are different you have a kind heart…” Bro says with a sad smile.

Henny smiles sadly too, “yes… that sounds more like the Alt I knew… I think deep down… you are still the same, Alt. But you know how… invasive black magic in. Perhaps that is another reason I stay… I want to see if there’s still a way to save my friend… even after everything he has done.”

"And now that you are warned, it will be easier, yes?" Schneep says. "The future is never set in stone, even if it feels like it is. You have been to many worlds now. Surely you have seen worlds where even the worst can be reversed. We were there in one, weren't we? That second underwater world. Everything seemed so bleak there, but we changed it a little, did we not? I do believe things will be able to change even somewhere like that. So your world will also be able to change."

Alt thinks about both the Schneep’s words and eventually he nods, “we… we did help it get better…. Didn’t we? For other me and Marvin…” He’s quiet again before he glitches up to his feet and wipes at his face with his sleeve. “okay… l-let’s just… g-get out of here then… a-as quickly as we can…” 

JJ nods. We’ll probably have to move fast. And Alt? He pauses. Let us know if… there’s anything we can do.

“I… yeah I… I will.” Alt says quietly. 

“Yes, please do,” Jackie adds. “For now, uh… we gotta go find a SCLERA place, I guess? They have that weird eye symbol, right?”

“Other me, is there anything we will need for going out?” Schneep asks.

Henny hums in thought, “I would recommend some way to hide Chase… he will be the biggest target. Do any of you know invisibility spells?”

Jackie and Schneep immediately look over at JJ.

JJ frowns. I know one. But I've never cast it before, just read about it.

"Might as well try," Jackie says.

Yes, of course. JJ walks over to Bro. Hold still. That will make it easier, I think.

Bro looks a bit nervous but gives JJ a thumbs up. “I trust you, bro!” He quickly puts his hand back by his side and closes his eyes so he’s not too tempted to move.

JJ nods, and takes a deep breath. He's a little nervous about this. But he tries to hide it, adjusting his mask. A blue glow envelops his hands as he places them both on Bro's shoulders and concentrates. The blue magic ripples over Bro's form from the point of contact. He feels a little chilly for a moment as the invisibility slowly spreads across him, following the magic. Then JJ pulls his hands back and Bro is gone. Or, kind of. There's a person-shaped distortion in the air, like Bro has been turned into a pure glass statue that casts no shadow.

Alt blinks in surprise and glitches over. He tilts his head then tries poking at the distortion.

Bro yelps a bit and jumps, "Hey! ...shit did it not work??"

"No! It... it worked-" Alt laughs a bit breathlessly. "You're... still a bit noticeable but? from a far... I think you should be good."

"Whoa, that's trippy." Jackie leans side to side, staring at Bro. "It's like uh... that effect when you put a straw in a glass of water and it looks like it breaks."

Bro blinks and looks at himself, “woahhh!” 

"Oh? Interesting," Schneep says. "Jamie, can you keep that up?"

It should last an hour, JJ says. After that, I'll need to renew it.

Henny smiles and nods. "That should be good. ...outside- try to avoid anything glitching or- anything slinking in the shadows. Those are most likely the Glitch's eyes... but I can try my best to lead you to where SCLERA is."

“An hour should be plenty of time.” Henny says with a nod. He looks to Sahne, “You will keep an ear out too, right, Sahne?” Sahne barks in response. Henny smiles then opens up his hand and another teal ring of light forms. “I cannot go very long distances but this should help cut our journey.” He jumps through, Sahne close by.

Bro feels a bit nervous but he jumps through next. Alt hesitates.

"Gonna have to climb through again, Schneep," Jackie says.

"Very well." Schneep reaches out, feeling the edge of the ring, and hops through.

JJ notices Alt lingering back. He looks back and smiles at him. Ready to come? We'll need your help, I think.

Alt looks at JJ with a bit of fear but then closes his eyes before nodding. “y-Yeah I’m… I’m coming.” He eyes the ring then glitches through.

Jackie looks after Alt, a bit worried, and then hops through. JJ jumps through last.

[mrowsters]

Fanfiction MasterPost :3c

All fanfics under the break! I hope you enjoy!

4/26/25 : Due to the scrapping of GenAI, I have decided to lock my works now and in the future. Only registered AO3 users will be able to read the works below. I apologize to any guests who enjoyed my work in the past. Unfortunately it is the only step I can take to protect my works from infringement.

Current fandoms:

Linked Universe

DPxDC

Transformers

Art:

Art will be under the tag mrow art OR mrow post until further notice.

Linked Universe:

True Courage: COMPLETED

A Wind-Centric fic that tells how Wind finds his way back to the Chain after getting separated in a shift. The only problem? He's stuck in the middle of nowhere in Wild's world a mere five years after the Calamity. How will he make it back to them in one piece?

Pls mind the tags on individual chapters for different triggers. Also, I feel the need to mention that this is OC-centric as well.

_

Lost and Found :

A Wild-centric oneshot related to True Courage that details the steps Wild is taking to find the Chain scattered throughout Hyrule. This also gives some context. HOWEVER, it is recommended that one reads this AFTER CHAPTER 36 of TRUE COURAGE to avoid spoilers to the plot.

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A Team Bonding Exercise:

Oneshot. VERY FUN AND FLUFFY. Also one of my first pieces! Legend gets put on "babysitting" duty while Time, Twilight, and Wars run to town to get supplies. Legend takes full advantage of his leadership position to goof off with his brothers.

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A Question For the Chosen:

Oneshot. This made me cry when I wrote it. Flora and Sky are besties and I WILL die on this hill. Flora has something she needs to say to Fi and Sky. ITS SWEET.

Danny Phantom x DC:

Lotus Corniculatus : WIP

Multi-chaptered. Chaotic, there will be angst and arson in heaps. Stay tuned.

"Danny wanted one week. Just one. That didn’t end up a complete disaster. He was so close, so close, to being able to fully relax. "

______________

Danny Fenton was finally getting a break. That is until Jack and Maddie Fenton packed up the GAV to investigate strange "energy surges" occurring in and around Gotham. Now, forced to come along, will Danny and Jazz be able to find the source of the disturbances and stop it in time before Batman catches wind of Team Phantom being in town?

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Ivy + Danny Prompt Fill :

Oneshot. Inspired the fic above! From the prompt made by @/stealingyourbones; ""Danny gifts Ivy an extinct flower as a thank you gift."

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Brothers in Arms: Meeting

Captain Marvel and DPxDC mashup! Done with a friend @/somecrappyclone. Unsure if I'm going to continue. Will decide for suresies after Lotus is completed.

[casbangs]

Cas Bang Masterpost

And with that, the 2020 Castiel Big Bang has ended! Let’s look at the masterpost for the season ending in June 2021~!

#~+~#

Title: Breaking Free and Finding Home

Author: @limeyjellybean

Artist: @soluscheese

Rating: Mature

Pairing(s): Castiel/Dean Winchester (Destiel)

Words: 22,293

Summary: Freedom isn’t something Castiel ever thought he could be familiar with, living under Naomi’s roof with her rules and strict way of living - but when the opportunity presents itself, he takes it and runs.

What he didn’t expect was what followed, and what the newfound freedom would bring him.

Link to fic

Link to art

~~

Title: Husbands and Headlines

Author: Why_do_you_want_to_know ( @an-ace-phoenix )

Artist: @love-nakamura

Rating: Teen and up

Pairings: Dean/Cas

Words: 22,000

Summary:

Castiel thought his life was perfect. Maybe his husband was away for months at a time - but that was the life of an actor - and it wasn’t like Castiel wasn’t busy as well. They found time for each other. And Castiel knew that they always loved each other.

But then Dean started acting weird.

He took on more and more jobs, spending more time away than at home, and taking the bare minimum in terms of breaks. So when Castiel got a chance to work on the same film set, designing the costumes and spending the next couple of months in Montana with Dean, he jumped at the chance.

When Dean just acted even weirder, and Dean’s co-star Bela seemed to spend more time with Dean than Cas did, he started to see his perfect life crumbling around him.

Is anything really what it seems?

Link to fic

Link to art

~~

Title: Say Yes

Author: @verobatto (BENKA79)

Artist: @jenniferb-art

Rating: Explicit

Pairing: Dean/Castiel

Words: 21.1k

Summary:

After evading the apocalypse, Heaven faces a new crisis. Without archangels and with an absent God, the angels will appeal to their last hope: to achieve a perfect bond between two of their own and thus generate the necessary energy to save Heaven.

But when the first attempts fail, and everyone begins to lose hope.

It is then that Castiel admits that he may have “accidentally” started a bonding ritual with Dean Winchester by bringing him out of Hell, and now the restoration of Heaven depends on a brave hunter agreeing to complete the bond with Castiel, a ritual full of enigmas and sensuality that will confront the angel and the human with their most hidden feelings.

Link to Fic

Link to Art

~~

Title: Whiskers and Whispers

Author: Why_do_you_want_to_know (@an-ace-phoenix)

Artist: @kingstoken

Rating: Gen

Pairings: Dean/Cas

Words: 6400

Summary:

Castiel gets turned into a cat while killing a witch, and is brought back to the bunker by an unsuspecting Sam and Dean. He tries to get a message across to them, tell them that he isn’t actually a cat, but maybe its not so bad… especially with how open Dean is now that he thinks Castiel is just an animal who can’t understand his words.

Link to fic

Link to art

~~

Title: Sign of God

By: spnsmile

Art by: heart-eyes castiel

Pair: Castiel/ Dean Winchester

Rate: Explicit

Word: 12,000

Summary:

Amara smiled at him.

“Hello, Castiel…seems like you two have been having fun.”

Castiel wrapped his arms protectively around Dean’s sleeping form and dragged him closer to his body.

“What are you doing here? If you’re here for Dean—” She rolled her eyes.

“Of course, I’m here for Dean, but why would that make you think you’re out of the equation? You’re already making a very hot pair…” her eyes drawdown on Dean’s nakedness where a blanket flew to cover seconds next. Castiel didn’t like her smirk at all and was beside himself to tell her to fuck off. But she was here in Dean’s bedroom. She better had a good reason for it because Deity or not, Castiel will kick her out.

LINK TO FIC

LINK TO ART

~~

Title: Feline Fate

Author: @endlessnepenthe

Artist: @nickelkeep

Rating: T

Pairing: Castiel & Dean Winchester

Words: 5041

Summary:

The cat considers Castiel for a moment. “Mrow,” it repeats, a little less irritated, immediately followed by a high, curious trill.

“If I take you home with me,” Castiel tells the cat, stern, “you will be good. Won’t you?”

When Castiel rescues a green eyed cat from a certain doom via one truck running a red light, he never would have guessed his act of altruism would send a pair of brothers crashing through the door of his already chaotic, eventful life.

It’s a good thing Castiel’s well acquainted with seeing strange things.

LINK TO FIC

LINK TO ART

~~

Title: Angelic Kitty Curse

By: shadowywerewolfqueen

Art by: nickelkeep

Pairing: Castiel/Dean Winchester

Rating: Explicit

Words: 21736

Summary:

Angel’s only go through a mating season every few millennia so imagine Castiel’s surprise when his wings burst onto the physical, signaling the start of mating season. Castiel is worried that Sam and Dean might find the wings offputting, but he never imagined how Dean would react to them. Disheartened that his feelings for Dean aren’t reciprocated, Castiel enlists the help of Rowena to help him end his mating season prematurely. Instead, the spell goes wrong, and Castiel ends up turning into a cat with his wings still showing. Will Castiel be turned back into an angel before it’s too late? Will Dean ever learn Castiel’s true feelings?

LINK TO FIC AND ART

[asherranceoftheheart]

A Little Gift

Character/s: Antisepticeye (in cat form), Chase Brody Warnings: Soft!Anti Genre: Fluff

Masterpost of my Stories AO3 edition of the Post

Tagged: @beerecordings @awkward-bullshit

Chase sighed in relief as he entered the warmth of his home and exited out of the freezing winter of the outside world with the last grocery bag from his car. He hanged his keys near the doorway and grabbed the standby towel on the side to dry off and warm up his numb face. His eyes thoughtfully scanned his surroundings and he hummed to himself.

‘Not here…’ Chase thought as he brought the bags one by one into the kitchen while he kept an eye out for his housemate. ‘Not here too… Maybe he’s upstairs?’

He decided to leave the full unpacking later on and searched through the bags for the colorful items that he bought for his roommate. He let out a yell of victory when he managed to yank them out and cradled the items in his arms.

He walked up the stairs calling out for his housemate in the hopes that he’ll come to him on his own.

“Anti? Where are you buddy?” He glanced into the guest bedrooms and the bathroom on his way to his own bedroom. “Anti?”

When he pushed open his slightly ajar door, he stifled a smile when he saw what was waiting for him inside. A black cat was rolling around on top of his bundled shirt on his bed, purring happily as he scented his shirt. It wasn’t a rare sight to see his weird cat somehow finding himself inside his closet regardless of how much he secured it and dragging out some of his most used shirts to form a nest with. It was dangerously cute to see his baby curled up amongst his shirt nest but the amount of cat hair he shed everywhere…

Let’s just say it was a good thing that Chase has a lot of black clothes.

The black head popped up at the sound of his voice and his gaze was met head on by a pair of glowing green eyes.

“Mrow?” Anti’s tail shivered in delight at seeing him especially when he noticed that the man was holding colorful balls of yarn in his arms.

Chase chuckled at the gleaming cat eyes and walked over to sit on his bed.

“I bought you these nice gifts since it reminded me of how much you love these balls of yarn when I passed by the crafts aisle.” He rained down the vibrant rainbow of balls of yarn over the cat who yowled in delight at his new toys.

Chase watched the cat with a light heart and flumped over on his stomach contentedly and played with the sharp feline, dangling one of the green strings over the cat who rolled over to reveal his belly and batted at the string. After a while of playing with his favorite boy, he allowed him to win and dropped the string onto the cat’s face before his hand descended upon the fluffy belly, highly aware that he was probably the only person in the entire universe to be allowed the blessing of touching that soft fur. If it had been anyone else other than him, he was pretty sure that they’d be sans a hand at this point.

Anti purred and curled around his scratching hand having lost interest on his toys for now. Chase felt the mischief-causing cat nibble playfully on his fingers before giving him tiny licks. The cat looked up and gave him slow blinks which basically stood for cat kisses that had Chase melting into a puddle of goo for his baby.

He pulled the normally impatient cat closer to him and lavished him with attention and affection that was fit for the kings.

“Who’s the handsomest boy in the world? You are my king~!” Chase crooned while he pressed kisses all over that currently smug looking cat face.

A lot of people thought that his admittedly demon of a cat has no heart to love but Chase believed that he just needs more love and patience than usual; two things that he has a lot of space and gift to give. When he initially found his baby soaked to the bone in an alleyway with terrible wounds all over his body, he couldn’t bear leaving him alone in that dark space under the raining heavens and carefully cradled him in his arms despite the cat’s weak hissing and digging his claws into his skin.

It was only through a lot of care, patience, and love that he now has such a loving, loyal cat that would literally claw out the face of anyone who attempted to hurt him.

“I love you, Anti. You’re my baby, one of the main reasons why I get up in the morning.” Chase cooed into a pleased Anti’s fur as the cat purred and bapped his nose with a paw. “That’s right. You’re very precious to me.”

Anti mewled and rubbed his entire body against his chest as if telling him in his own way that he felt the same for him. Chase laid down on the bed and allowed the cat to curl up on his chest, pressing against the underneath of his chin and keeping him warm and toasty. He continued to pet the cat’s fur, the loud purring and the warmth slowly lulling him to sleep.

Honestly? He could just stay in this same spot and position forever if he could.

(A few hours later will find him scolding his cat with an exasperated smile after he found  Anti rummaging through the grocery bags to get to the bread. He’s lucky he’s adorable.)

[phantato]

SID 05♪ Rin and Kitties (pt 1)

2 days left until Rin’s birthday!!! soon!!!

Hoshizora Rin SID masterpost

Whoosh~

A stream of cool air blew out of nowhere.

Strange?

On the way home on a certain day at the end of September...

My body felt weird. As Rin was just thinking about that...

Ah… ah… ah—

“—achoo!”

Heh heh heh, I sneezed.

Rin rubbed her nose and……

“Ah— achoo, achoo, achoo, achoo!”

Rin is one of those people who sneezes in a row.

If Kayo-chin, who is always sticking with Rin, sees Rin sneezing in a row, she’ll tease her about it too.

She said Rin’s face will scrunch up and she’ll close both eyes when she sneezes; that face looks just like a newborn kitty~ heh heh heh♪

Aw~ Really, is Rin as cute as a kitty~?♪ Just kidding♥

Just as Rin was thinking about these things...

Meow~

Ah, a kitty! Rin heard a meow from a real cat.

“Oh my, it’s a kitty~ Where are you hiding?”

Rin moved her nose, which was just sucking up mucus earlier, and then bent her waist down, ready to find the kitty~!

Meow~ Meow~

When Rin was looking for it, Rin could still hear a very weak meowing coming from a certain place.

Hm…… it sounds like it’s a really small kitty.

Is it okay, nya?

Maybe it’s hungry, nya?

The kitty couldn’t have… fainted from the summer heat from a while ago, got hit by this autumn wind when it hadn’t even recovered, and then caught a fever?

“Okay, captain! Rin will now begin her journey to find the poor lost kitty!”

Rin saluted, and then got down on the ground to look for the kitty.

“Where are you? Where are you, Rin’s cute little kitty? Don’t be afraid, come out quickly~”

Speaking of the places nearby that cats often appear, it’s that dense hedge by the house with the old tiled roof, or under the cars in the open parking lot, or the super narrow path which is roughly 30cm wide in the middle of a the cement wall in between two houses—

Rustle, rustle.

The uniform’s skirt rubbed against the cement wall and Rin almost got stuck, but Rin still continued to look for the kitty.

Hey~ Come out, come out quickly, kitty!

Rin can share half of her Pringles chips with you~

Nyaa~♪

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Rin really loves cats.

Why?

Rin has loved cats ever since she was little.

Probably because they’re really cool?

Like their soft body, and the ability to jump really high without a running start.

And even if they fell head first, they could still do a really cool spin and land on their feet; as well as their elegant movements, and their upright big eyes.

Ah, they seem to have so much fun playing by themselves, too.

Rin really loves… all these features of a cat.

Every time that Rin sees a cat, she can’t help but to stare at them. When Rin was little, she got lost many times too because she let go of her mom’s hand to chase after a cat.

Mrow~ Meow, meow~!

The cats I met by the roadside always had this intriguing look.

I couldn’t tell if they were interested in Rin or not...

Rin tried really hard to imitate their meows to chat with them; after meowing a few times, they finally softly responded back to Rin. Although they sound pretty helpless.

Meow~

Even though they’re cold, Rin still felt really happy.

Rin stared at the eyes that finally responded back to her. Great, today…… today might be the day I can touch it. Rin slowly approached— but the kitty immediately turned around and escaped.

Dammit! So close.

Cats’ eyes are just like big glass marbles, sparkling and watery. They’re very pretty, but Rin still doesn’t quite get what are they thinking.

Feels like if I keep staring at their eyes, I’ll be sucked in, and it makes Rin thinks she has become one of them, but in the end she still gets straight up dumped by them.

Every time.

Sigh! Rin always thinks about this every time this happens.

Sigh!

It would be nice if Rin could become one with the cats.

Rin has had this thought ever since she was little. It’s like a one-sided crush that is destined to fail, nya~

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

That thing... happened one day when Rin hadn’t even hit ten years old yet.

It was a cold night in the middle of winter.

Because it was past New Year’s, the elementary schools’ winter break was about halfway through.

Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and the New Year’s days on January 1st to 3rd that Rin had been looking forward to had all passed. Rin had become like a flat soda.

Rolling and rolling and rolling in the room.

Rice cakes, New Year’s dishes, red bean cake soup, quizzes and punishment games on New Year’s specials— Rin is tired of them~ As Rin was rolling about with her cheeks puffed up, a door bell suddenly rang from the entrance.

“Rin-chan, what… what should we do...“

The person who came is none other than Rin’s childhood friend Kayo-chin; she was wearing a pure white wool hat, shivering all over.

“Whoa~ What’s wrong? Rin wasn’t expecting Kayo-chin at this time. But that’s great, Rin was bored, so let’s eat some rice cakes and play kids’ mahjong—“

Rin said as she opened the entrance door, and reached out to pat the wool on Kayo-chin’s hat.

Huh? It’s so cold— it’s snow!

There’s a layer of light snow covering the top of the pure white hat— it’s the snow that fell in large flakes just now.

The huge dark purple and blue sky behind Kayo-chin is raining white snow that looked like flower petals.

“Ah~ It’s snowing, it should be getting cold! Hurry up and come in, Kayo-chin.”

Even after Rin finished, Kayo-chin still hasn’t moved a single step from the cement floor at the entrance, shivering as she said:

“Rin-chan— what should we do? I think under our house’s storeroom, there’s a bunch of newborn kittens.”

EEEEHH! Newborn… kittens?

Rin still remembers even now, that time she was so shocked her eyes could fly out.

I originally thought Kayo-chin was shivering because of the cold, but the real reason was not even about the sudden drop in temperature at night. It’s from the surprise of suddenly discovering the newborn litter, on top of being in the middle of a snowing winter— it was from the fear that formed after hearing the energetic meowing slowly becoming weaker and weaker.

“I think a stray cat got into our house and gave birth to them. Even though I could hear them since yesterday, today I noticed their sounds were getting softer… the storeroom is in the very cold north side, so I think we need to move them to somewhere warmer… but Daddy and Mommy are not home because of work, and Grandpa and Grandma also went to the town council meeting. Rin-chan, what should we do? The kitties’ noises are already so weak, and it even started snowing now; if this goes on, the kitties might…… they might die...“

Kayo-chin nearly cried when she finished.

Rin silently moved close to Kayo-chin and wiped her tears away.

Kayo-chin didn’t stop Rin, she just closed her eyes holding in her tears.

Rin immediately took a scarf from the hangers and wrapped it around Kayo-chin’s neck.

The gloves and feather-woven coat Rin bought during the new year are getting put into use for the first time too!

“Mommy, I’m going to Kayo-chin’s house! There are newborn kittens!”

Rin yelled at the entrance, and closed the door before even receiving a response. And then immediately inhaled the cold air of the night that hurts deep inside the nose.

Rin held Kayo-chin’s hand and started running.

“Let’s go, Kayo-chin! Super-Fast Express~“

Kayo-chin said to Rin who started running:

“Rin…… Rin-chan, wait up. You’re running…… running too fast—“

Even though I can vaguely hear Mommy’s “You’ll disturb people this late, Rin—“ voice coming from behind Kayo-chin.

But now is not the time for that!

Kayo-chin and cats. Rin’s two most important friends in the world are now in big trouble! Super-Fast Express Number Rin, full speed ahead☆

Comments ♥ Nozomi

So that’s the reason why Rin-chan likes cats~ I like cats too. Cats are sensitive to the energy field of things: like when I’m walking on the street, I also feel that places with cats are hidden with good fortunes. So if I see any cats around the corner, I’ll think that there’s a new spiritual place and follow along. After all, fortune cats have been around for ages. Even though the cat was late and didn’t manage to be listed in the twelve zodiacs, I think their proud solitary attitude is pretty cool too. If I were to keep a cat or dog as a pet, I’d want a cat more♥ I don’t need to take it out for walks too— saves me some work♪

[huffle-dork]

Swap Beyond the Crystalverse Chapter 8: Banished Fae

Co-written with @crystalninjaphoenix Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs

Other Multiverse Stories: SITCV | SATCV | GITHV

SBTCV Masterpost

The town really isn't all that big. The group leads Bro and Alt back in the direction of Chase's cottage--which, from the outside, has white walls and a yellow roof that's missing some shingles. They go in between the cottages out here on the edge, through their gardens, and into the wilderness. The north forest is pretty close to the edge of town. There's just a short stretch of empty grass and flowers, maybe about half a basketball court in length. This is where Jackie gets out of the pocket and starts zipping around.

Alt and Bro brighten once they see Jackie start flying around. Bro stretches and then falls back- letting himself hover in the air kind he’s laying in a hammock. “Ahhh! That’s better!”

Schneep whistles. "You were not kidding about that flight. I only see sylphs floating in the air like that." 

You never see sylphs doing anything, they're invisible, Jameson says jokingly. 

"Nearly invisible!" 

Jackie flies over next to Bro, hovering by his head. "Wow. No wings or anything!" He laughs. "That must be pretty helpful." 

Bro grins, “Yeah! It’s amazing!” He rights himself then flies around in circles over the clearing and zipping through trees before he joins the others again. 

They start going into the forest. This isn't a thick woods. Sunlight easily pierces the canopy, sending ripples across the floor. 

Marvin climbs into a tree, hopping up to the nearest branch, and walks along next to the others, effortlessly balancing on branches that look like they should break under his weight. 

Alt watches Marvin climb into the tree. He thinks then in a flurry of glitches he’s on a branch by Marvin- in the shape of black calico cat. He hops and glitches along the branches.

"Oooo!" Chase's eyes light up. "Double cat!" 

Marvin meows, sounding delighted. Alt meows loudly and sticks his chest out proudly.

Jackie laughs. "Schneep, you do something, make it an animal party!" 

Schneep frowns. "I cannot become a cat, though. Mammals are hard for me." 

"No no no, do something!" Chase encourages. 

"Hmm... I can do one mammal," Schneep says slowly. He walks around the trunk of a tree--and a small, furry animal trots out, low to the ground, brown on its back and cream on its belly. It's about three feet long.

Alt blinks and glitches down by Schneep and sniffs at him. Then he grins and in a quick zip becomes the same animal as him, running around him in circles and making chittering noises. 

Bro laughs, touching down to walk with the others. “…he doesn’t show this one off as much- I can tell he’s having fun.” He says quietly with a fond smile. 

Jameson chuckles. What is that animal? I've never seen it before. 

"I think it's an otter of some kind?" Chase says. "I remember seeing some in the aquarium back in Cali. But this one is darker, I think, and its head is somehow different." 

Schneep raises up onto his hind legs and bobs his head. 

"An otter? Huh." 

Must be a different type than the ones you saw in the New World, Jameson says. 

"Oh that makes sense!" Jackie says. "It's another river animal." 

Alt chatters and tries raising onto his hind legs too but wobbles a bit. He makes a laughing type noise then in another quick glitch he’s now a brown wolf that sits down and barks slightly at them.

"Ohhh wolf!" Jackie says excitedly. "Fell yeah! They're so cool. Elves and goblins sometimes ride them into battle, you know." 

And piskies sometimes ride squirrels, Jameson says jokingly. 

"No, they're too small. A house cat, though? That could work." Jackie flies up to Marvin in the trees, landing on his back. "Even Marvin could work!" 

Marvin mrows and shakes himself, throwing Jackie off. Jackie, luckily, manages to catch himself and start flying again before he hit the ground. 

Alt makes a laughing like sound then whistles and glitches himself back into his cat form and walks up to Jackie, shaking himself off and showing off his back.

Jackie's eyes light up. He lands on Alt's back, right behind his head. "Onward!"

Alt meows and then charges ahead, even adding some speed with his magic- making bits of green sparks curl off his fur. 

Bro covers his mouth with his hand to hide his laugh. “Oh my god- that’s amazing!”

Schneep in his otter form bounds after the two of them. Marvin does not, but his tail does flick excitedly. 

Chase laughs. He takes his phone out of his pocket and films a video of all this. Bro follows Chase’s lead to get a video too. Why has he never thought of that? …Maybe cuz Alt might kill him. 

After a while, something happens. At first, it's bits of litter on the forest floor. Sad, but not too worrying. Until they notice that it's not exactly normal litter. It's broken phones and wires, and the occasional microchip. Marvin hops out of the trees as cables start to appear, draped across the branches. The mood seems to fall a little. 

We're getting close, Jameson says, frowning.

Alt starts to slow down as he notices the litter. His hackles raise slightly as he anxiously looks around the path and at the trees. 

Bro shudders, “… never thought seeing these kinda things in a forest would feel so… creepy.” He mutters.

Jackie takes to the air again. "Imagine if it was something that hurt you by touching it," he mutters. 

Schneep becomes human again--though he looks slightly different, his skin and hair tinted a bit green, his teeth a bit sharper. "This is where we start being careful," he says. 

Alt glitches back into his human form too, a serious expression on his face. His pupils look a bit slitted- but he’s able to blink that away pretty fast. 

"I'm guessing we shouldn't touch anything?" Chase says. 

Probably for the best, Jameson agrees, looking vaguely troubled. 

More and more junk shows up. Most of it is related to computers: laptops with keys missing from their boards, old boxy monitors with cracked screens, CPUs that have casing missing. But just about any technology is represented. TVs both flatscreen and boxy, kitchen appliances, projectors and speakers and car radios. 

Marvin starts doing that careful cat walk as he steps in spaces where wires don't cover the ground. Jameson starts veering to the side.

Alt glitches around to the objects and frowns. “…listen I used to collect stuff like this- but this is excessive…” 

“I’ll say… this feels like a fire hazard just waiting to happen… somehow-“ Bro comments. 

Alt pulls out his tracker to try to see his close they are… and if the piece is actually in the hands on the iron-mad Prince or just nearby. If they can avoid his other self… he thinks that’d be best.

The piece is deeper into the domain, in the center, sat in a little nest of steel wool. Alt relaxes a bit, at least it’s not literally in his hands. 

"Jameson, you good?" Chase asks. 

Jameson doesn't answer. He's making a beeline for a tree... a tree with autumnal leaves, out of place in the green forest.

Alt’s about to tell the others when he looks up and sees Jameson heading towards the autumn tree. Alt glitches up next to him and tries to get his attention. “Hey! Jay! You okay?”

Jameson blinks in surprise. Then he nods. I just wanted to check on it. He's standing in front of the autumn tree. Its branches are draped in cables like all the others, but those branches seem abnormally weighed down. 

Chase hurries over. "Check on what? Is everything fine?" 

In the next moment, Marvin is in his human form again. "Um... I can explain if you want, Jems?" 

Jameson nods, reaching out to touch the bark of the tree. 

"Okay," Marvin says softly. "Um... have you all heard of dryads? They're from Greece. They're guardian spirits of nature, tied to a tree. Jameson is... sort of like that. This is his tree."

“Oh!” Alt says with wide eyes, “A dyrad! That makes so much sense-“ he glitches around and frowns in concern at the cables. “…is he hurting your tree…?”

Jameson sighs. Not on purpose, he says. But... yes. His domain has been slowly getting bigger over the decades, and one day it reached here. 

Chase frowns. "Being, uh... 'tied to a tree'... that's not... normal, is it?" 

Jameson shook his head. 

"Do you... want to talk about it?" Chase asks softly. 

If you all want to hear.

Bro comes up and looks at Jameson, “Yeah I… if you’re willing, dude.” Alt looks concerned and tilts his head.

Jameson still hesitates. But then he slowly starts to sign. My family is gentry, one of the rulers of fairies. They did not like humans much... not as equals, at least. But I thought humans were very clever. I started messing with some of their ideas. 

"Clockwork, right?" Marvin says. 

Yes. But not made of iron, of course. When my family found out, they sent me here, and tied my life to the tree so I couldn't return to Faehome if I wanted. 

"Pricks," Marvin mutters, ears dropping back. 

"They were part of the Green Court, like me," Jackie says. "The king overrode Jameson's banishment, since you know... it wasn't fair. But even he couldn't undo this. Only the ones who cast the spell can do that, and uh..." 

"Fucking pricks," Marvin says again, making a growling sound in his throat.

Alt and Bro look horrified and heartbroken. “That’s… that’s awful,” Bro whispers. 

Electricity zips around Alt angrily as he bares his teeth, “All because you were a little curious?! That’s… what the fuck?!” 

"The Fair Folk aren't actually that fair," Marvin says. 

Jameson sighs. I've had a lot of time to adjust to that. This happened back in... one of the 1920s. I like this small town and all the people in it. I'm happy here. He rubs his eyes. But the iron in the area IS bringing the mood down.

Alt snorts, still feeling anger for how unfair this is all is. “…I’m glad you found a way to be happy… despite all that.” 

"I'm so sorry, Jameson," Chase says quietly.

Jameson looks back at him and smiles. It's fine, really. Henrik has it worse. 

"We do not compare suffering here," Schneep says firmly. "It does not mean yours doesn't count."

“…what happened with Henrik?” Bro asks quietly, looking back towards him.

Schneep sighs. "As Chase briefly said, I got 'super kicked out' of my home. But I do not mind. Because I got kicked out for, oh you know, not wanting to kill people." 

"It's still pretty shitty, dude," Chase says. "You like... can't go anywhere in Europe. I mean, Ireland is Europe, but you know what I mean. Like, the mainland area. That's a lot of place you can't go."

“You’re banished from all of Europe???” Bro exclaims, his jaw dropping. “For not wanting to kill people?!” 

Alt looks equally as disturbed by this. “…how does that even work?? …wait I don’t even know what kind of fae you are-“

Schneep laughs. "I am not technically a fairy, because fairies are from these two islands. But I am something else. A nix. We are... water spirits, of sorts. And many of us tend to be... not kind. You are probably more familiar with sirens? Imagine that, but in a river." 

"It was more that you were healing people, right?" Jackie asks. 

"Yes." Schneep nods. "They said it was ruining their fun." He sighs. "I am glad to be far from the rest of them, to be honest."

Alt bares his teeth, “…that’s messed up.” 

Bro nods, “…guess it’s probably good to be away- even if you’re … stuck in Ireland. And I say that as someone who grew up here-“

"Heh." Schneep smiles. "Yes, that place was... not good. I like this town much better." 

Bro smiles and claps Schneep on the shoulder. Schneep smiles back.

Jameson takes a deep breath, and removes his hand from the tree. Alright. I'm ready to move on now. Where are we going specifically?

Alt looks back out into the forest, “The tracker said it’s in the center… in a nest of steel wool.” 

“Eck- steel wool? Don’t like that stuff-“ Bro stays, sticking out his tongue. “Bad sensory shit-“

Chase frowns. "And steel is made of iron. So... it's like he's protecting it even more against any other fairies who come this way." 

Alt makes a face, “huh… I wonder if… he knows what it is then…” why else would he be protecting it from other fae? 

"We won't let that deter us though!" Jackie says, determined. 

Marvin is in cat form again. He meows at the others, indicating they should follow him. 

Onward, Jameson says, following him. The others trail after.

Bro hurries after the others. Alt trails behind, cautiously watching the trees.

More and more old technology shows up as they go further into the forest. Grass and bushes are replaced by dirt and piles of metal. Cables wrap around the tree trunks, snaking between them, sometimes forming something like a spiderweb between trees. They almost seem to be coming from one direction. The ground crunches beneath their feet as stepping on small bits of tech becomes basically unavoidable. 

Marvin returns to his human form--boots are better than walking on all this iron with his bare paws. 

Once it seems like it’s hard to avoid the debris, Bro starts to hover a bit but tries his best to stay out of the way.

They have not reached the center when, suddenly, an old iPad with a cracked screen turns on, showing pixelly squares of color. Other screens follow: computer monitors, televisions, even regular displays, like on microwaves and digital clocks. 

Alt startles slightly as the electronics start to turn on. He builds up magic in his hands, trying not to shiver as he hears the voice. He bares his teeth and growls, eyes flitting around to look for any sign of trouble.

"I can seeeee you," says a voice on the wind.

The others all whirl around. Jackie conjures up his small sword again. 

"Wh--where are you?" Chase calls out hesitantly. 

"All over, everywhere!" the voice says, seemingly echoing from all around them. "What do we have here? Three humans, a sidhe, a pisky, a cait sith, and something I don't know that smells like river water. Strange! Strange strange strange." 

“Show yourself, fucking coward!” Alt snaps out, lightning snapping around his hands. “You have something that belongs to us!” 

“Alttt I’m not sure it’s a good idea to antagonize this guy-“ Bro mutters, but he gets into a fighting stance regardless.

"I'm already there, though!" the voice says. "Look up!" And a blackbird dives down from a higher branch, flying at Alt.

It smacks against his face, talons making small scratches.Alt yells out in surprise and pain, trying to throw the bird off and glitch backwards. “S-Son of a bitch?!”

The bird spins backwards, tumbling through the air. As it hit the grounds it suddenly bursts into feathers that fly into the air, and a man is standing where it just was. The resemblance to Alt is clear, though this man has one blue eye and one green eye. Both of them are bloodshot. The man is pale and thin, hair wild and entangled with wires and leaves, pointed ears sticking out to either side. His clothes are fine, somewhat medieval in style, black with hints of green and silver. Cables are tied around his arms like makeshift bracelets. Random microchips and other computer parts are tied to his belt with silver wire. "Welcome!" the man spreads his arms wide and grins. "Welcome, welcome!" 

"So, you're this prince guy, then," Chase says. "The Iron-Mad Prince."

Alt staggers back, momentarily thrown off guard by the prince’s appearance. But then he glares, magic sparking in his eyes as he bares his teeth. 

Bro looks unnerved- “…yeah I get where the uh ‘mad’ comes from-“ he mutters.

“Mad? But I’m not mad! In fact I’m so very glad to see you all!” The Prince smiles wider. “It’s been so long since I’ve had visitors, especially humans. Do you want to stay?” 

“Leave them alone!” Jackie flies out in front of everyone, brandishing his sword. 

The Prince blinks in surprise. “One of my brother’s knights? But where is your crest?” 

“We’re not here to visit,” Marvin says. “We’re here for something.”

Bro shudders at this then gets into a fighting stance, “We’re not humans you wanna mess with, dude!” 

“You have something that belongs to us,” Alt growls.

“If it’s here, it doesn’t belong to you at all.” The Prince folds his arms. “I’m no thief. I take only what’s been left behind.” 

“Then there must have been a mistake,”Schneep says. 

Do you know every part of your domain? Jameson asks. If we said that what we’re looking for is in a nest of steel wool, would you know what we mean? 

“Oh! The one that fell from the sky!” The Prince’s eyes light up. “But—that one is so special. I haven’t seen anything like it, so intricate and unknown.” His fingers twitch. “That is so, so special. I couldn’t part with it for nothing.”

Alt glitches a bit in anger. Bro looks at him warily then steps up, “This thing is part of a larger thing that’s ours! It fell into different worlds and we need to collect all the parts or your world could be in danger. …what would you want in exchange?” Bro says slowly. 

Alt looks at Bro with wide eyes, “Chase! We can’t negotiate with him!”

“Oh! It would have to be special as well,” the Prince says, ignoring Alt’s outburst. “Hmm… I don’t even know who you are. Can I have your names?” 

“Well I’m—” Chase starts to say, but Marvin’s hand shoots out and covers his mouth.

"You can't have our names," Bro says firmly, remembering what his aunts taught him. "But you can call me Chase- or Bro... I guess. Weird for you to call me that..." He gestures to Alt, who is bristling like a cat, "And you can call him Alt. ...how special are we talking here? cuz uh- we're from like... super out of town? We could have something that interests you."

"Chase and Alt," the Prince repeats, fascinated. "And the rest of you?" 

We've met before, Jameson says. "We have? Ohhhh, you're the one worried about the trees." The Prince pauses. "Jems?" Jameson sighs and nods. 

"Call me Jackie," Jackie says. "And these all are called Henrik, Marvin, and Chase." 

"Two Chases! Interesting." The Prince grins, then looks back at Bro. "Well, I won't know if it interests me until I see it, will I?"

Bro makes a face and pats down his pockets and utility belt. “Uhhhhhh-“ he scrambles to think of something. He can’t give him his phone- or Alt’s phone. It looks like Alt will bite this guy’s head off for trying to take any of this things.

Chase looks at Bro, eyes wide. He doesn't want these two to lose any of their stuff." Um--look, all your stuff is broken, right? Maybe you want a fully functional one?" He pulls his phone out of his pocket, showing it to the Prince. "Here, see, i-it lights up, and I can give you the code to open it--" 

"What's that?" Suddenly the Prince is right in front of Chase, and Chase takes a step back. "It's a phone?" 

"No, on the screen," the Prince says. "That woman and child. They look familiar." 

Chase goes white as a sheet. "...what?" he whispers, the word barely a breath.

Bro tries to protest, “Hey no dude- what the hell??” Then he cuts himself off and stares wide eyed between the two. “…shit- is that…?” 

Alt glitches closer, eyes wide. “…do you have a family, Chase…?” 

“Y-You said you didn’t have one…” Bro whispers.

"I-I don't... not anymore," Chase says quietly. "They... disappeared. E-everyone back home thought I... But I would never!" He looks at the screen. The woman has curly pale brown hair, smiling at the camera wide with a bit of paint on her cheek. The boy is young, with darker hair, hands covered in paint as well. 

The Prince blinks. "Yes... they were in... the Wilds." 

"The Wilds?!" Marvin repeats, alarmed. 

"So you're probably not going to see them again," the Prince continues.

"What?!" Bro gasps, "T-That can't be true... there has to be a way past these wilds- right?" He looks to the others with wide eyes.

"It's um... not that easy," Jackie says slowly. "The Wilds are a Fairy World. And a really big one, too." 

"Like... a pocket dimension?" Chase whispers. 

"Yes, exactly like that." 

Bro looks very worried at this, looking back at Chase with concern. "M-Maybe we could-" 

The Prince's eyes light up. He leans closer to Chase, and Schneep reaches out and pushes him back. The Prince doesn't even seem to notice. "Is she an artist?" 

Chase blinks. "My... my wife? Y-yeah, she did--does paintings." 

"Do you have pictures of them? Can I have them?"

"Why would you want a painting?" Alt asks, narrowing his eyes at the Prince. "You're called the 'Iron-Mad Prince'- paintings don't really go with that..."

All fairies appreciate art, Jameson says. Because art... is unique. 

"No no no, not a painting, a picture of it," the Prince corrects. "Made of pixels. A-and electricity." He laughs a little. "I have screens you can transfer them to." 

"You mean... I wouldn't have pictures of her art anymore?" Chase asks quietly. 

"I think that's a fair trade." 

"Surely you have the originals, Chase," Schneep says, glancing at him. 

Chase shakes his head slowly. "She... she sold a lot of them..."

Alt blinks at this then hurries to grab out his iPad. “Don’t do that Chase- I have like, a million pictures of my art. Especially digital art, I can part with something.” 

“Yeah!! Alt’s art coming in clutch!!” Bro cheers.

"Oh, you're an artist?" Chase says, looking at Alt, barely managing to hide his relief. "That's cool." 

Alt smiles, “Yeah I dabble. Graffiti, some cartoon stuff. Things like that~” 

The Prince grins. "Yes, that would work! Here, come come come, I'll take you to my screen and your piece." 

"How do we know this isn't a trap?" Jackie asks, narrowing his eyes. 

The Prince takes a step back and bows. "I promise you, that as long as you do not try to harm me, and you provide the art as promised, you will leave here unharmed and with the iron piece you're looking for."

Bro blinks then hums with a nod. “Seems fair enough to me!” 

Alt looks a bit skeptical and holds his iPad close to his chest but he approaches the Prince. “Alright… how’re we doing this?”

"That's your device?" The Prince leans to the side, looking at Alt's iPad. "Cable, cable, cable." He sticks an arm out to the side, untying one of the makeshift bracelets. "This should fit. We'll plug it into a screen." He laughs excitedly. "This way!" There's another flurry of feathers and the blackbird is back, flying through the air deeper into the forest, tilting back and forth to the side. 

Marvin narrows his eyes. "That is not how birds are supposed to fly--but in any case, do we trust this?" 

Schneep shrugs. "Clearly he is not going to bring their piece here, so we must go farther anyway." 

I can find the way out, Jameson says. I'm familiar with the area.

Alt makes a face, “…I’m not sure I do. But- I dunno. My stuff is backed up back home so if he fries something it won’t be… the worst thing I guess.” He quickly glitches after the bird. 

Bro sighs and ruffles his hair, “Alright- time to follow the crazy bird Prince then.” He says, following after Alt.

They don't have much farther to go. The pieces of technology turn into piles. Leaves litter the ground, knocked down from the trees by the heavy cables. Bits of non-tech metal sprinkle the ground. Pots and pans, metal figurines, picture frames. 

"You can smell the iron," Jackie comments, sitting down on Chase's shoulder and riding the rest of the way. They eventually reach a clearing, a spot of blue sky clear of branches or cables. Metal bookcases line the area, forming rough walls, their shelves overflowing with old computer parts. There's a table set up with a new-looking flatscreen TV and a laptop that looks pretty functional except for some missing screws. And there's a bed with a metal bedframe and a comforter meant to look like a desktop screen. Some more computer parts litter the folds of the blanket. The bird dives down onto the bed, bursting into feathers again and reforming into the Prince.

Alt looks around the space with a tilted head, “…uh- nice place you got here…” 

“Kinda looks like your room, Alt,” Bro laughs.

 Alt flushes and hits Bro, “Hey! It does not?!” 

“When you’re working on a project it does!” Bro laughs more, covering himself from Alt’s rage.

Marvin shudders slightly. "Gods. This place reeks." 

Schneep frowns. "I-I am not as susceptible as the rest of you, but... yes, yes it does." 

"Are you all okay?" Chase asks, concerned. Jackie is leaning against his neck, looking exhausted. 

Bro looks at the others with concern. 

Let's just get out of here as soon as possible, Jameson says. 

The Prince stands up again and walks over to the laptop. It turns on before he even gets there. "Plug plug plug plug plug," he mutters, putting the cable into the USB port. It takes him a couple tries, as his hands are shaking, but then he gets it and he grins, looking back over at Alt. "Well?"

Alt jumps a bit but then goes to kneels down by the laptop, plugging in the cable. On his iPad is a combined photo of a couple pieces of graffiti he did. “There’s multiple here- should be more than enough.” He mutters.

The Prince leans uncomfortably close to Alt. "I've never seen art like that!" Multiple PNG icons show up on the laptop's desktop as Alt's drawings are copied to its hard drive. "Oh, that's fascinating!"

Alt flushes, “Uh yeah it’s… modern. It’s stuff humans do on like… buildings and stuff.” 

Bro marvels at how well kept the laptop and flat screen are. “…bro how are you even powering all this?” He asks the Prince.

The Prince looks back at him. "Most gentry have the power to do things like make their plants look better. I decided to put that power into the cables instead. Lightning in rubber, isn't that clever?" He giggles. 

Bro blinks, “Well… that is how electricity works-“

Chase glances at Jameson. "Is that true? About the plants thing?" 

Yes, actually, Jameson says. Though mine has been reduced since the iron surrounded my tree.

Alt unplugs the iPad quickly and glitches back, hugging it to his chest. “Okay that’s… that’s it then right? We can get our piece?”

The Prince gets distracted for a moment, opening up Alt's downloaded art and looking at it. Then Jameson coughs for attention and he snaps back to the others. "Piece, right? Yes yes yes." He nods and walks over to one of the metal bookcases... where, right in the middle of the shelf, displayed prominently, is a pile of steel wool. He brushes it aside and picks up a small item. A microchip the size of an American quarter, black and intricate. Some ribbon wires trail from the top and bottom. "This, right?"

Alt brightens up and glitches closer, “Yes! That’s it!”

"Here it is, then." The Prince holds it out, dropping it into Alt's hand. 

"That was... easy," Chase says slowly. 

"Yeah," Marvin mutters. "But he did promise we'd be unharmed... and that's not something fairies do lightly."

Alt stares at it, expecting some trick. Then he quickly puts it in the black bag and glitches back. “Uh… t-thank you.” 

Bro looks worriedly at the others. “We should… go then. Since this place is… a lot for the other guys.”

"You get used to it," the Prince says, picking up an old motherboard from a shelf and turning it over. His head twitches erratically as he seems immediately drawn into staring at it. 

"...riiiight," Chase says, backing away and pushing Schneep, Marvin, and Jameson behind him. "Let's head on out." 

Alt's phone crackles. "You know, you two could technically leave right now. But I know you won't yet, right?"

Alt jumps a bit at Anti’s voice then takes his phone out to shake his head. “I want to make sure the others are okay first-“ He says. He glitches over to the others. “if you guys want I- I can get us back to the pub.. or one of your houses?”

"I think I'm the only one with an actual house," Chase says. "Unless you count Schneep's clinic. But yeah, if you can do that..." His eyes dart down to his shoulder, where Jackie is sitting. "That would probably be good." 

The Prince's head suddenly snaps up. He looks up into the sky. "There's lightning in the air," he whispers.

Alt looks back to The Prince with wide eyes. “W-What?” 

“The fuck does that mean? A storm?” Bro asks, squinting up at the sky.

"Something's coming," the Prince says. His eyes widen. 

"Wait a second--!" Anti shouts. "There's--" 

Then the sky explodes into a wave of red light. The Prince shrieks, and throws up a hand, and a shield of yellow lightning appears above the clearing, rebuking the shockwave that follows. 

As the sky explodes, Bro grabs Alt and as many of the others as he can and covers them up with his body. He blinks in confusion as the shield gets made. 

A figure forms in the center of the clearing, hovering a bit over the ground. A figure made of red light. "Did you miss me?"

Bro and Alt gasp and stare up with wide eyes. “No…! No- why are you here?!” Alt shouts, bristling as magic sparks in his eyes.

"Wh-who the fuck is this guy?!" Chase gasps. 

"Did you think you could escape me?" Red Anti laughs. "Even if that eyeball thing was able to toss me out of the last world, I know everywhere you go. And I'll continue to know." He reaches out. "Let's see if I can use this." And a bit of purple energy pulls out the black bag with all the TRVLR parts in it.

“NO!” Alt shouts and tries to grab the bag and hold it back.

But it's too fast. The bag zooms up into the air, and red Anti's image mimes grabbing hold of it. "Courtesy of your friend Mag's magic!" he says, grinning. "Hope you like this world! You should get used to it." 

A bit of the air rips open, a rift unfolding. And red Anti tosses the black bag towards it.

Alt screams in anger and doesn’t even think about it- he glitches to try to go after the bag- diving into the rift. “ALT!” Bro screams, and bursts into the air to try to follow him.

"Oh no you don't!" Red Anti growls. Lightning charges in the air, a bolt shooting for the two of them-- --but a bolt of bright white lightning intercepts before it can reach them. 

"What the fell?!" Marvin gasps, and all the others turn to look at the Prince. "I promised they'd be unharmed, didn't I?" he says in response to their looks. 

"Fine!" Red Anti snaps. "Go after it! You won't like that world at all!" He laughs, and his image disappears. 

"Be careful!" Chase shouts after Bro and Alt.

Bro grabs Alt before he gets too far and holds onto him and they both manage to look back towards the Prince defending them. 

Bro smiles and shouts, “You too!! Thank you for your help!!” Alt nods back to the others with a slight smile before he focuses on glitching after the bag, falling into the rift.

Chase and the other fairies watch the two of them disappear into the rift, grim hope in all their eyes.

[asherranceoftheheart]

Chase Brody & His Bastard Cat Named Anti: Drabble # 1

Summary: A one-sided conversation slash confession between a divorced wife and husband. In which, nobody is villainizing anybody except Anti because he’s a glitch bitch. Warnings: Angst, Bittersweet Masterpost of my Stories AO3 edition of the Post

Tag List: @the-rampaige​ @egopocalypse​ @iris-the-asparagus​ @sqxxddygremlin​ @awkward-bullshit​ @jaysflight​ @assbutt-of-the-readers

The silence of the Septic HQ when it was three in the morning can be eerie when you’re not used to having the normally loud household this still and quiet. Thankfully for Chase, he was used to experiencing this rare instance of silence with how often he woke up in the middle of the night from his nightmares.

Chase nursed his cooling mug of green tea while he stared at one of the empty walls of the living room blankly.

He woke up from another one of his nightmares which had him walking into his old house and finding his kids and Stacy’s dead bodies on the floor. What made the nightmare worse this night was when he looked down and saw that he was holding a broken shard of his whiskey bottle and it was dripping with their blood. He woke up gasping and sobbing into his hands after their empty eyes stared into his widened horrified face and told him that this was all his fault.

He had been sober for an entire year already but god did those nightmares make him yearn for that addicting drink and its burning trial down his throat which helped remind him that he was awake and that those nightmares will always stay right where they belong: in his fucked up mind.

“Mrow~!” Chase was dragged out of his mind by the insistent slapping on his nose and the demanding yowl. He blinked his baby blue eyes into focusing back into reality and was met with glowing green eyes.

“You’re getting all of your cat hair in my tea, Anti.” Chase deadpanned and gave the highly intelligent demonic black feline an unimpressed stare when he shook his entire body to allow more of his fur to taint Chase’s precious tea to spite the man for his comment. “You’re lucky I’m not allergic to cats like Jack and I make sure to bathe you every other day or else you won’t have this poor sucker spoiling you rotten.”

The cat merely meowed and blinked up at him innocently. Anti licked the tip of his nose, acting cute and shit as if he wouldn’t rip any other person’s face off if they spoke to him like that, before curling up into a black ball of void in his lap. Chase sighed, fondness warming up his chest, before he started stroking his cat’s entire body and combed his fingers through all of that lustrous soft fur.

He finally cracked the first smile of the day when Anti started purring loudly like a motorboat. “Sorry for robbing you of your human pillow, your Majesty. I didn’t want to accidentally kick you in my sleep while I’m having one of those nightmares.”

As if to show him that he was forgiven, his cat bumped his head against his palm. A silent demand for pets as well as a sign of forgiveness for leaving him alone in his room seeing as the black cat hated anyone petting him unless it was Chase. He answered the not so subtle demand by scratching the spot behind the cat’s ears, chuckling at the increase of volume of the purring.

Chase took a sip of his tea, ignoring the small black strands with the patience a cat owner could only have, and fully relaxed against the couch.

“Thanks for keeping me company, Anti.” Chase smiled down at the happy cat. “You’re the best fur baby anyone could ever ask for.”