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huffle-dork · 1 year ago

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Glitch into the Hufflverse Chapter 7: Septnautical

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Once they're on the other side: they're immediately met by a strange site. It seems to be a huge cavern filled with low floating greenish brine. And what looks like a huge gigantic ribcage of a long dead creature smack dab in the middle like a pathway.

Once Marvin sees he gasps and the merboys grab the visitors nearest to them and quickly dash them all behind some rocks.

"Whoaa—" Jackie marvels at the ribcage before getting pulled away. "Hey! What the hell?!"

"Marvin!" Mer-Jackie whispers in a hush, "I thought you said you were taking us straight to that arch thing! You put us right in the getting-eaten-territory!!"

Marvin looks freaked out, "I-I I didn't mean to put us here! I-It shouldn't have put us here!”

Jackie's eyes widen and he immediately regrets shouting. He pokes his head over the rocks but JJ grabs him and drags him down again.

"I-it must have been a mistake," Schneep whispers, trying to see if he senses any especially large creatures nearby. "Perhaps something interfered with your powers? Like—like how radio waves interfere with each other sometimes and make static?"

I don't think they'll understand that, JJ points out.

Marvin growls and shows off his fangs. "I-It's okay... we can't panic we just... gotta figure out how to get a-all of us to the arch without a-alerting mesmers or ghost leviathans or getting in the brine..."

"And... crabsquids." Jamie adds nervously.

"That's a very long dangerous check-list..." Chase mumbles.

Mer-Jackie swims up like Jackie did to look at the area. "... I don't see any ghost leviathans yet... but those things are sneaky..."

JJ also looks over the rocks. He vaguely remembers Anti showing him some pictures of stuff from Subnautica... if he's correct, the ghost leviathans are huge and glowy. Yeah, no sign of them. We just... have to be quiet, he says. With all of us, we can keep an eye out.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Schneep asks. "I am, apparently, made for this environment." He flicks his tail. "Maybe I should go first? Even with the... you know." He waves his hand in front of his face.

"Technically you and JJ are safe here. Ghost rays also live around here," Henrik says. "So... maybe that could work."

"We can form a group," Jackie mutters. "Like a little ball. The ones who are more vulnerable to the poison brine stay in the middle, and the rest stick to the edges.”

"Can't you simply make another warp gate?" Schneep asks Marvin.

"If he could, I'm sure he would've suggested that," Jackie says.

"Oh- y-yeah lemme see-" Marvin says as he quietly tries to open a new gate- they can be kinda loud. However, when he tries, he gets a shock of green electricity up his hands and he yelps. Then, he full blown starts to panic, his voice raising. "i-I-i! I can't m-make another gate!!"

"Shit- I didn't think we were near the no-warp zone!" Mer-Jackie curses.

"I-I don't think we are! I just... i-I can't make one!" Marvin screeches in distress. Jamie surges over and grabs his arm, trying to shush him. Chase also comes over and tries to quiet him, "M-Marv calm down, we'll figure something out!"

Alt suddenly pales and curses, "...ah shit- m-maybe my glitches...?"

"Alt!" Bro hisses, "I told you!!"

"I know I know I'm sorry!" Alt whispers.

Marvin doesn't seem to hear his brothers though as he looks up at Alt and suddenly snarls. "Y-You! Your f-freaky powers messed with mine!" He then bursts out from where Chase and Jamie are holding him and goes to tackle Alt to the ground with a yell. Alt squeaks in response and tries to push him off but he's a bit freaked out. "I-I didn't think it'd hurt you! I-I'm sorry!"

Jackie blanches and rushes over to Marvin and Alt. The mandibles on his back instinctively shoot out and grab Marvin on either side. "Leave him alone! He didn't do anything!" Jackie says, trying to pull Marvin back.

Jackie, be careful! JJ says, also jumping in to help. He casts a protective shield in between Alt and Marvin, hoping to push Marvin's hands away.

"I think JJ was right earlier, I think we should be quiet!" Schneep says, trying to be heard without raising his voice too much. He keeps trying to sense nearby souls.

Marvin is snarling like a terrifying predator eyes trying to go pink behind his mask. Alt covers his head and then blinks as JJ shields him.

Bro gets in between Marvin and Alt and pushes Marvin back with a snarl. “Back off!”

Anti and Mer Jackie growls at seeing Marvin get pushed and Chase has to grab them both to make sure they don’t go after them too.

Then, there’s a terrifying roar coming from the expanse before them- the area starting to show a blue glow.

Bro freezes, “…that’s bad news isn’t.”

The way Marvin and Reaper Jackie freeze seem to answer their questions.

Jackie lets go of Marvin and backs away at the sound of the roar.

Ghost? JJ guesses.

Schneep's eyes widen. "That feels big." He feels around the rocks. "I-is there anywhere to hide?! Any—any small crevices? If not, fucking run."

“Marvin, which way is the arch?!” Henrik asks sharply.

“I don’t know!” Marvin squeaks, “That’s why I was hoping we’d just warp there! I haven’t been over there lately this place is like a fucking maze!!”

“S-So run then?!” Bro asks.

“Swim!” Mer-Jackie yells as a bright blue horrifying fish with a hammerhead like head barrels towards them through the murky water, trailing blue like ribbons and roaring so loud they can feel its vibrations in the water.

Bro sees this terrifying thing coming and for a second he freezes- but he sees Henrik is too. Without thinking he barrels into Hen right as this thing sails over top of them and ends up crashing the two of them back down into one of the rocks. Jackie and JJ dive down, swimming as fast as they possibly can away. Meanwhile, Schneep is gone the moment he feels the vibration of the roar. Just completely out of sight, having leapt away. Alt glitches away and has to right himself as he feels a bit dizzy doing so.

The rest of the boys manage to dodge okay while Marvin panickedly look around. He spies something in the distance and spurs down, "I-I'm starting to remember! Swim down towards that smaller set of ribs!" Bro helps Henrik up and grabs his hand to help him follow. Mer-Jackie does the same with Anti and Chase grabs Jamie- just because their tails make them a bit slow. Jackie and JJ swim after them. Schneep waits until the group is on the very end of his soul sensing range and then leaps over to them from his hiding spot in that strange cooler section of water near the ground.

Luckily for them, the Ghost Leviathan is clumsy and sped straight past them- too big to turn back around to chase them in time. By the time it does, the merboys have all swam down into a lower section of the briney falls. They all stop to catch their breath.

"F-Fucking hell..." Alt gasps, "T-that thing was terrifying...!"

“That was so loud," Schneep gasps.

If I wasn't running on pure adrenaline and terror that might have been cool, JJ says. But again. Pure adrenaline and terror.

"I-is everyone okay?" Jackie asks, looking around. "Schneep? You kind of disappeared for a moment there."

"I was in a cooler section of water, I think it was perhaps some sort of mist," Schneep says. "It must have hid me."

“That is the brine-“ Henrik explains. “Ah but no worries for you… it can be your protection here. It is too close to the ground for the ghosts to go towards.”

"The brine..." Schneep repeats. "Brine. Brine. Briiiine." He giggles a little. "A funny word."

"Oh god the near-death experience made you loopy," Jackie comments.

"I tend to disassociate when too upset, actually," Schneep says casually. And then break down, but that doesn't need to be shared. "I just think it is a funny word."

“You sound like Alt when he’s loopy after glitching too much.” Bro snickers. Alt frowns and flicks Bro. Then he laughs. “It is a fun word though- don’t get to say it often. Briiiiine-“

“Okay that’s enough,” Chase laughs.

Alt swallows and then timidly goes up to Marvin. “…I’m so sorry I caused this I… is there any way I can help?”

Marvin looks away and rubs his wrists. “…we probably need to just… give it a bit… I-I self repair… whatever you did will get out of my system somehow…”

"Sorry I grabbed you, too," Jackie mutters. "Panicked."

No harm done, it all seems! JJ signs cheerfully.

“Let’s not get too dragged down gang,” Bro tries to say lightly. “We can get through this! Who knows how to navigate down here?”

“Probably Marvin… the rest of us don’t come here…” Anti grumbles. He seems to be swimming a bit slower as he wraps his arms around himself, “p-probably because it’s f-fucking freezing down here…”

“Is it?” Marvin says, flicking his tails. “… I never noticed.”

“It is kinda chilly…” Chase agrees, rubbing his arms.

“I think it’s bracing!” Mer-Jackie grins. Anti whacks him with one of his tails.

JJ shrugs. Seems perfectly fine to me.

"Me too," Schneep adds.

Jackie frowns. "Maybe it's a bit chilly."

"Perhaps it has to do with the temperatures our, ah... fish... samples? The temperatures they can live in," Schneep says.

"Then why am I cold?" Jackie asks. "I thought I was some arctic creature!"

You're also a lobster, JJ says, amused.

"Ssshut!"

“What’s a lob-ster?” Jamie whispers with a tilted head.

“Some weird human thing I’m guessing.” Anti grunts.

Marvin stiffens a bit and his eyes turn slightly pink as he drones, “The chelicerate is a predatory animal that patrols the warmer waters found near thermal vents.”

“Ohhh so that’s why!” Mer-Jackie grins, “Your species hunts in warmer waters. Guess not everything is icy over there.”

“Huh. Guess that explains it,” Jackie says. “Weird that there’s some animal that sticks to a vent when the rest of the water is so cold. Like—you think they’d evolve to tolerate the cold, then.”

“There are animals like that on Earth.” Schneep shrugs. “I suppose it just shows that if life is possible, it will find a way.”

“S’also why i’m miserable…” Anti pouts. “I need a thermal vent…”

“I think there’s some on the way, Anti.” Marvin tries to smile at him. “C’mon.”

Marvin starts to lead them down further into the cave, swimming right above the brine as it swirls like a cloud on the sea floor. The area is beautiful in an eerie way. Above them they can see ghost rays swimming, letting out an ethereal ghostly song.

Alt grins and nudges JJ, “Look! It’s you!”

JJ looks up at the ghost rays. “Ooooo.” He waves at them, grinning wide. Prettyyyyy.

“So how far d’you think we are from that place?” Jackie asks. “And can you describe the stuff to avoid? Heard you mention… mesmers and… crabsquids?”

“I think a crabsquid is described in its name,” Schneep points out.

“Hey, you never know.”

“I mean other Schneep’s not wrong,” Chase laughs, “They’re… big creatures with long legs like a crab. They emit emp blasts.”

Alt pales at this, “Oh they do? …gotta make sure to avoid that…”

“Mesmers are smaller but I think they stay mainly around those bones…” Mer-Jackie says as he looks around.

“There are also the river prowlers…” Henrik points out. “But maybe they will avoid us because we have one with us?”

The corridor is starting to get darker, bits of bright blue light shining on the cave walls.

But suddenly… there’s the sound of a drone of some sort… and something foreign calling out to the group. Strange creatures… come closer… don’t be afraid… come over this way….

Schneep stops swimming momentarily. “Do you all hear that?” It’s a voice. How unusual… he doesn’t think he can sense any strong souls. He turns to face that way just in case.

“Hmm?” Jackie also turns towards the pull.

JJ frowns and quickly shoves the voice into the back of his head. Anything that talks to you like that can’t be good.

Anti hears the voice in his head and freezes, then shrinks up and curls to put his hands over his ears. “No! No no g-get out!”

Henrik quickly swims over to see what’s wrong. “A-Anti??”

Alt shudders as he hears the voice and hunches up, his tail starting to light up with sparks.

Those who feel the pull turn to see creatures with beautiful swirling wings flowing out of the darker water, coming towards them. Once they hear it and look at the colors- it’s impossible to turn away. They feel themselves drawn forward towards that beautiful light. It’s just… so pretty…

As the boys are drawn in they see the water around their vision swirling with beautiful pastels green purple and blues- the effect getting stronger the more they turn towards the creatures. Stronger the closer they get… they want to get closer.

Oh… that’s beautiful. Jackie has never seen anything so beautiful. He grabs onto Schneep’s shoulder. “Wish you could see this,” he whispers.

Schneep frowns. “Why? What is happening?”

JJ looks back at the others. His eyes widen. No no no! It’s just like those spirals in that SCLERA place! He darts forward, keeping his eyes down and squinted, and grabs onto Jackie, trying to pull him back. But Jackie just frowns in annoyance and shoves him away without even looking.

Bro looks over and gets drawn into the swirls of color. “…wow…” he laughs dazedly and starts to swim forward. The Mesmer beckons him closer.

Marvin and Reaper Jackie, who are leading the pack, look back in confusion as the group starts to disperse. “What are you guys doing?” Marvin squeaks in concern.

Henrik gasps, “It is a swarm of mesmers! E-everyone do not listen and do not look! Try to get away from them!”

But, it seems Chase and Jamie have fallen for the voices too. Floating together towards one Mesmer, Bro going towards another.

The Mesmer drawing Jackie in seems pleased. That’s it child… very good… don’t resist… don’t look away.. come closer… let me show you something beautiful. The mesmers drone to their prey.

As Jackie nears it- it suddenly opens up its mouth and 4 sharp toothed tentacles try to snap shut around his face.

JJ cries out. Schneep, get him away from there! he signs. He backs up, concentrating, and sends out a spray of magic, aiming mostly for the one that's trying to eat Jackie but hoping to catch others in the crossfire. But nerves cause his magic to go wide by a long shot.

Schneep leaps out of Jackie's grip and grabs his tail from behind, pulling him away and downward.

Jackie yelps and finally looks away, down at Schneep. "Dude, what the fuck?!"

"Try to think clearly, Jackie!" Schneep shouts. "Do you think this is normal?!"

Alt doesn’t know why he’s able to avoid this so well but he dives towards the Mesmer drawing in Bro and tries to shock it.

The Mesmer trying to draw in Bro dodges Alt’s attack and swims away, dragging Bro to follow closely after it. He grins in delight and doesn’t take his eyes away.

“C-Chase! Wake up!” Alt tries to call, grabbing onto Bro’s arm. But he makes the mistake of looking up and- fuck! Another comes up a bit closer to get in Alt’s line of sight- and Alt looks directly at it. He feels his senses leave him completely. The drone overtaking everything else.

yes… don’t resist now… come come… I’m very friendly… come see my beauty…

Alt’s shoulders slump and he breathes out, relaxing. “Okay…” he lets go of Bro and starts to swim dazedly towards the one pulling him away.

“No! D-Don’t!” Marvin tries to warn but he swims back- terrified of the swarm as it brings back memories. Without his warps- he feels powerless.

JJ sees Alt get taken in out of the corner of his eyes. He gasps and sends a spear of icy magic towards that mesmer.

The ice shreds through the Mesmer, leaking yellow blood into the water as its fishy body is cut in half. Alt stops swimming but- his eyes are still swirling with its colors. He still feels entranced. He doesn’t seem to notice anything else around him. He can’t even bring himself to keep his tail swimming so he starts to fall through the water.

Mer-Jackie roars and tries to tackle the ones targeting his brothers. As ReaperJackie tries to tackle the Mesmer drawing in Chase and JJ- another one gets right in his face. His eyes immediately start to swirl and he lowers his mandibles and hands.

oh… we remember you strange reaper… you were quite the tasty meal… will you let us feed on you again? In exchange we will let you gaze upon our beauty for as long as you can…

Mer-Jackie breathes, his head lolling a bit on his neck. “Y…yeah…” he whispers- going in a tight circle as the Mesmer makes its prey follow it docilely like a game.

“J-Jackie!” Henrik shouts. Anti is still too freaked out to do anything- his body shaking against his will.

Bro gets close to his Mesmer- staring at its wings with delight in his eyes- its mouth starts to spread apart- fangs glistening in the dull cave light but he doesn’t seem to notice.

Jackie shakes his head. Huh? What was he doing? Schneep has pulled him close to the ground, almost to the brine, and as he looks up he sees the teeth and fangs on the mesmers. "Holy shit!" he gasps. "Th-they're gonna—we got to do something!"

Schneep reaches to a side for a weapon—and pulls out his trusty scissors. "Tell me where they are and I will go there."

"You can tell where people are, right?!" Jackie says urgently.

"Yes!"

"There's one right in front of Bro, i-it's the one closest to someone, it's about to fucking eat him!"

"Got it!" Schneep disappears, and reappears in the water right above the mesmer, stabbing downwards. Schneep manages to skewer the Mesmer and it shrieks in anger and tries to wrap a tentacle around Schneep’s arm.

Jackie looks around wildly, trying not to look directly at anything. He sees his hybrid counterpart try and get close to one of the mesmers, only to get caught in its grip. He has to do something! Closing his eyes, he charges through the water with a yell, hoping to pin the mesmer.

By some miracle, Jackie’s hybrid instincts kick in and his mandible crushes the Mesmer into one of the stalagmites. Mer-Jackie is still entranced though, just slowing to a halt and sinking a bit through the water- not knowing where else to swim.

Marvin yelps and dives down to catch him, holding his twin close to his chest.

Schneep stabs the mesmer’s tentacle as soon as it latches onto him, then leaps behind Bro. He grabs onto him and starts pulling the same way he did with Jackie. JJ grabs onto Alt where he’s floating and starts swimming away. Jackie backs away from the crushed mesmer, breathing heavily, stunned at his own capabilities. He sees the other two and Marvin grabbing the mesmer victims and dives down next to Marvin to help.

The Mesmer Schneep attacks screeches in pain and swims away. And soon, Bro is able to shake out of the trance and blinks up at Schneep as they’re pulled away. “H-huh? Schneep?”

Chase and Jamie have neared theirs, Chase reaching out towards it. The Mesmer snaps out its jaw and bites down hard on Chase’s arm. He’s snapped out of trance as he yells in pain. This is enough to make Anti uncurl and roar in anger. Sending a fire ball out to blast and kill their Mesmer. Jamie blinks in slow dazed confusion and Chase tries to scoop him up, looking for a place to take everyone to hide.

Henrik seems to pick up on this and looks around and points down below where the brine makes a couple waterfalls, seeing a plateau of safe rock just below the streams. “D-Down there! Hide behind the brine, I think there’s a cave there!”

Chase and Marvin nod and hurry down, curving around the stream and finding safety behind the falls. As soon as the three others hear Henrik shout, they move in that direction as well, JJ taking Alt, Schneep taking Bro, and Jackie taking mer-Jackie- seeing Marvin have some difficulty carrying him.

They’re all taken down under the falls and luckily, enough of them glow enough to shed at least some light in the shallow cave.

Henrik leads in with Anti and sighs shakily. “W-Who’s hurt?”

“I-I got bit,” Chase says and Henrik swims over and rummages through his bag, finding some creepvines and wrapping up Chase’s hand.

Marvin is shaking but stays outside the cave to watch out for any more signs of trouble.

Bro settles to the ground, still a bit disoriented and spacey. “What… what happened…?”

“Mesmers…” Henrik snarls, showing a bit of anger.

Jackie shivers. “I-I thought you said those things stick around the bones. I figured we’d gone far enough away from them to not have to fucking worry.”

“Maybe we weren’t far enough away… or we were too interesting to ignore…” Chase mumbles, frowning at the still tranced Jamie.

JJ shakes his head. I don’t like that. I don’t like things that… mess with your head.

Jackie gives him a strange look. “Uh… you mentioned… something called Distorter once…”

JJ pales a little. Lets just say that if Distorter was a hybrid, he would definitely be one of those things.

“I see…” Jackie mutters.

“I-I think we are all safe?” Schneep says, holding tight to his scissors still.

Bro sees Alt still tranced in JJ’s arms and he hurries over, trying to shake Alt awake. “A-Alt?! Alt hey!” But Alt’s head just dazedly lolls backs and forth. “T-The fuck?!”

Anti looks at JJ with probably the most sympathetic look he’s given yet. He then swims over to Jamie in Chase’s arm and frowns, “I don’t get it… w-we killed those fuckers right? Why are they still… caught in this?”

Jackie frowns. "Maybe—maybe we just need to snap them out of it?"

"If Alt is not being snapped out by Bro shouting at him, what will snap him out of it?" Schneep asks.

"Uhhhh... we could slap him?"

Schneep frowns disapprovingly.

JJ looks out through the brine waterfall, checking that there are no threats. There aren't, but something could show up at any moment. He pulls back. I think we should move on. We can carry them with us.

Henrik snaps out of his focus as he finished Chase’s arm and nods to Jackie. “A-Actually yes! The only thing I have found to work is… t-temporary pain. I do not know why… but the trance only lingers if a Mesmer is killed while their victim is in trance.”

"Huh. Weird." Jackie pauses for a moment. "Maybe it's something like... the signal is able to continue in their head? Sort of... sustain itself? I dunno, I know there are a lot of mental magick spells like that.

“That is a good theory…” Henrik muses.

“Anyway." Jackie swims over to Alt. "Sorry, Alt." And he slaps him across the face.

Alt immediately exclaims in surprise and grabs his cheek, the colors immediately clearing from his eyes. “Ow! Jesus!”

Schneep can't help but laugh a little at the sudden slap noise. "Ah—sorry, that is not funny. Just—the noise without context."

“Oh thank god…” Bro sighs in relief. “T-Thanks Jackie I dunno if I could have done that.”

Alt massages his cheek with a confused frown then sits up with a gasp. “T-That weird fish! It.. it-“ He looks visibly pale as he swallows shakily. “…f-fucking god damn it…”

"No problem." Jackie nods at Bro. "You okay, Alt? I don't think I hit you too hard, but I also feel stonger in this merman form so I might not be a good judge.”

Alt tries to nod but he’s visibly shaken. “Y-Yeah I’m… it s-stung like a bitch but I’m… I’m fine.” Bro frowns and brings in Alt for a very gentle hug. Alt shudders and flicks his tail to try not to spiral.

Anti frowns at Jamie and then slaps one of his tentacles against his face. Jamie makes a noise of surprise then sits up, blinking up at his brothers in confusion.

Mer Jackie is still under too but he seems to slightly be waking up, not down as long as the others. “…m..Marv…?” He mumbles, blinking like it’s still kinda hard to see.

"Oh! Hey, other me!" Jackie looks back at mer-Jackie. "Marvin? He wants you!"

Marvin perks up and swims back quickly to his brother, bending down. “J-Jackie?? Are you okay?”

Mer-Jackie grins dazedly, “Didn’t get bit this time…!”

Marvin snorts and pushes his face away playfully, “Yeah… thank the stars we weren’t alone again…” Marvin sighs and lightly taps mer- Jackie’s cheek to wake him up too and the colors start to completely clear from his eyes. He pushes himself up and shakes himself out like a dog. “Fuck dude! I hate fucking mesmers…”

“….t-those things are really strong for s-something so small…” Bro mumbles.

“It is because their calls can reach your mind…” Henrik says with a shudder. “They are smarter than most prey here… maybe not as smart as a sea emperor or a warper but… smart enough to draw fish into their thrall.”

"Not smart enough for me to sense their souls, apparently," Schneep grumbles unhappily. But if those emperors and warpers are stronger, he'll probably be able to sense them, at least?

Do you think covering our ears would protect us from mesmers? JJ asks. I know it's not a good idea to cover your ears while swimming somewhere dangerous, but I'm just trying to establish how they work.

Schneep nods. "Rules are always good to know."

“I… I think we’re for sure out of their territory though…” Marvin says quietly, “I think I-I’m starting to remember the way. We should be safe…” he looks to JJ and shrugs, “Covering your ears won’t work against them… cuz it’s in y-your head… and to be honest it’s about to get kinda dark … but only for a little bit. There’s river prowlers ahead and… i-I think that’s it until we swim up…”

“We just gotta try our best to lay low and not draw too much attention,” Mer-Jackie says with a shake of his tail as he swims up from the ground. “…sadly though just us being here brings a lot of attention… so we just gotta be brutal enough to send fish swimming’ scared~!” He grins.

"Hell yeah, I can be brutal." Jackie flashes a dark grin. "Let's move. The sooner we head out, the sooner we get there."

JJ nods slowly. That does make sense... Schneep, perhaps you should stay in front? Maybe it'll discourage the river prowlers from getting close to us.

"I'm willing to do that, but someone should be next to me," Schneep says.

Marvin nods, “I’ll stay by other Schneep then… Since I mostly know the way.”

“Alright- let’s keep it going then!” Bro tries to say brightly, hoping his enthusiasm is contagious. Mer-Jackie grins at him and nods.

The boys all filter back out into the main cavern past the brine and Marvin starts to lead them down a bit more in the lower parts. The brine still flows but- now there seems to be a big island below surrounded by the mist. Big funnels puff warmer water into this area like heated vents. And strangely to the right are large glowing pillars… and what looks like massive metal cables sunk into the cavern walls. And under them, by the vents and in between some more falling brine… is a decently sized skeleton. Not the size of the rib cages they saw… but pretty big. This thing must have been at least 100 meters…! It looks big enough for you to even swim inside of it.

"Whoaaa," Jackie whistles. He's so tempted to swim through that skeleton but they have to stay focused. "I so wish you could see this, Schneep." He diverts down to one of the funnels, enjoying the warmer waters.

"Describe it for me," Schneep says.

"Well, this whole place has been pretty green. The brine is green, and it looks like rivers and waterfalls. There are these glowing pillar things and this huge ass skeleton!"

And these strange cables, JJ adds.

Alt looks down at the skeleton and can’t help but shudder. Bro whistles too, “Damn that thing is sick! What is that thing you think?”

The merboys (except Marvin) all pause to look down and then they gasp. Anti seems palest of the all as he stammers out, “T-That’s… that’s a sea dragon…! What… what was one doing down here…?”

"A sea dragon?" Jackie repeats. "Oh, like—oh."

"Perhaps it was looking for food?" Schneep speculates. "Well, in any case, if it is old enough to just be bones now, whatever killed it is definitely no longer around. So we don't need to worry."

Mer-Jackie stares at the skeleton and hums. Then starts to swim and gestures for the others to follow as he talks, “you know- Zara told me a story once. About how this planet got the khaara… said the architects that lived here came here to look for a cure and captured a sea emperor. But it was old… and they didn’t know how to hatch its eggs… and a sea dragon was really similar to the sea emperors so they took one of its eggs and… she got angry and attacked a big base of theirs. And… it broke the base and spread the disease into the ocean. Causing the outbreak almost a 1000 years ago…”

"Outbreak? Oh, so it's some sort of disease?" Jackie asks. "Or, well. It was almost a thousand years ago, so I'm guessing—hoping—it's not around any more."

"I'm sure that would've come up with the list of dangers," Schneep points out.

"Oh yeah! You guys don't know about that!" Mer-Jackie says. He then laughs and shakes his head. "We don't really get what it is but yeah its not around anymore. Except the time that Chase got it."

"It is a strange disease..." Henrik mumbles, "It nearly wiped out the whole planet I am told... it was only about a 100 years ago that someone from Alterra fell to the planet and got the cure from the sea emperors... they were the only one who had the cure surprisingly. It is something they produce naturally. ...which is probably why they took Jack... just in case it ever returned..."

"I'm... sorry that happened to you guys... that your brother went missing..." Jackie says slowly. "And that bit about Chase getting it, too. Sorry about that."

"It's okay," Chase says, having swam back to swim with the others. He smiles tightly. "We got it fixed really fast... but that’s how we found out what warpers could do. They were made to get rid of the khaara... or creatures that were too sick with it since they didn't have a cure. But, things had been so peaceful here for so long no one had seen a warper act aggressively. So we were all pretty shocked when Marvin suddenly warped me into the grand reef." He rubs his arms, "It's okay though... we're figuring it out. And... we have Jack back now... we'll figure out how to wake him soon..."

Anti seems to be sinking a bit as he's swimming, looking like he's having trouble staying awake as Chase says this.

JJ notices Anti sinking a bit and ducks down, shaking him a little.

Anti blinks sleepily at JJ and tiredly bares his fangs at him. His Jamie comes up and subtly grabs his arm, looking at JJ gratefully.

JJ looks back at the cables again then asks, What are those? Man made? Or... alien made?

Marvin seems determined to get past this part as quickly as possible and bites but a growl of frustration at people getting distracted. But as Jamie mentions the cables Marvin freezes almost robotically. He doesn’t look that way but stammers out. “..a-alien-made- don’t… don’t go that way-“

JJ looks at Marvin, puzzled. Then nods slowly. Alright. We'll avoid it if there's danger. Let's keep going.

Marvin shivers and nods, quickly swimming away from this corridor as fast as he can.

Alt looks curiously at the path with the cables. Wonder what’s over there that’s got Marvin so spooked?

The merboys shake out their fear as they see their brother booking it away. “M-Marvin! Hang on!” Chase shouts and tries to follow.

Jamie looks at where Alt and JJ are looking and flicks his tails sadly, whispering. “…I think over there is where the bad man kept Marvin… that’s why he’s scared…”

JJ looks at his other self and softens. He nods.

Jackie and Schneep also glance back at the corridor with the cables. "I get it," Jackie mutters. "I really get it."

"I think we all understand that response," Schneep says.

Alt seems to shiver at this too and nods, holding his arms. "Yeah... w-we get it. Let's not dwell on it."

"I agree with Alt, let us not dwell," Schneep says.

Let's hurry past, JJ says. Onwards we go.

They all speed away from the skeleton and weird cables, coming towards an expanse of even more green brine waterfalls. Marvin starts to swim upwards quickly, a very steep expanse- swimming towards a strange tree with white tips that glow brightly in the darkness.

JJ unconsciously starts to swim faster, looking up at the tree with wide eyes. That's so pretty! he says. Why is there a tree here? A glowing tree?

Marvin pauses in his faster swimming and slows down, twitching a bit to answer JJ's question. "Oh... those are ghost trees I think... they're our way of finding where this arch is... t-there's a whole area of them... I dunno why but they grow down here..."

"Maybe it's cuz of that biggg pink one that has that giant egg!" Mer- Jackie says, swimming up towards Marvin and startling him some. "Maybe these are just its baby trees!"

Marvin laughs a bit, "Maybe..."

"Oh, a giant egg? How fascinating." Schneep chuckles. "In all honesty, that would make sense, if there is one big tree it is probably sending out some sort of seeds--or, well, it is not likely seeds because this is underwater, but something like that. But eventually it lands and new trees go."

“Ah… I heard that those are… more ghost Leviathans…” Henrik says quietly, adjusting his goggles. “Their parents come here from the void to lay their eggs because the tree somehow provides nutrients to the eggs…”

“Yeah well- never seen one hatch before.” Mer-Jackie says with a shrug.

"From the void?!" Jackie repeats. "The hell is that?! Doesn't sound good."

“Oh… yes-“ Henrik coughs, “The life on this side of the planet is only contained in a crater… if you travel outside the crater’s safety- then you meet a spot that is almost devoid of life… and here is where the adult ghost leviathans live.”

"What about Jackie?" Schneep asks. "His fish species isn't from the crater."

I suppose there's another bit of life in that arctic area, JJ figures.

Marvin twitches a bit and slows, eyes turning pink. “4546B’s craters edge is inaccessible because of its depth, freezing waters and lack of life. The voids connect the warmer waters to the colder waters of Sector Zero, where another crater breeds more life. The Void of Sector Zero contains the Void Chelicerate. A rare mutation of the chelicerate that prefers to roam in dark, open waters at the edge of the sector. Like the Ghost Leviathans of the warmer sectors of 4546B these creatures roam the dark waters searching for microscopic fauna to eat.” He then shakes himself out of it and blinks. “Huh… didn’t know about that…”

"Oh." Jackie pauses. "...huh."

"So the planet is mostly uninhabitable except for some craters," Schneep sums up. "Fascinating."

Marvin looks up at the cavern and sets his face in a determinated look. "...we're almost there but... when we get to the ghost forest... w-we gotta be careful... there's another ghost leviathan up there... i... I dunno how we'll avoid it though... the area is... p-pretty open despite all the trees..."

A lot of things named after ghosts in this area, JJ comments, looking down at his own body. Probably because they're translucent and/or glowing.

"Another one of those giant things?" Jackie mutters. "Okay, we'll have to hurry through, then. Fast and quiet."

Marvin nods, “Yes… the arch is at the highest point of the cave… we’re almost there.”

Now they can see bigger branches of ghost trees underneath an arch where one more big waterfall of brine falls.

JJ gasps. Oh, this place really is so pretty! He looks at all the ghost trees and underwater waterfalls in awe.

Schneep sighs. "I am usually okay with not seeing things, but this universe in particular is proving the exception."

JJ winces. Sorry, Schneep.

"No no, is fine, it's not anyone's fault. And I am not going to stop you from saying it's beautiful just because I cannot see it."

Alt swallows nervously, “…I really hope this arch thing works…”

"It'll work," Jackie says, unusually optimistic. "And if it doesn't, we just have to wait for another rift, and try to find another way in the meantime."

Alt giggles, “That’s pretty positive coming from you, Jackie.”

Jackie tries for a smile. "W-well, I think we have to be, in this situation. I mean... if we don't have optimism, what do we have?" He shakes his head. "I don't want to... I don't want to feel hopeless, you know?"

Alt smiles shakily but Bro nods enthusiastically. “yeah! Good srat, dude!” He bumps into Alt. “We got this!”

Alt shakes his head with a laugh.

JJ nods. How close are we to the arch?

Marvin slows and holds out a hand to everyone to stop. Just before them is a smaller cavern that seems to be source of the brine rivers and falls. It has a shallower tier of pools weaving through taller ghost trees. At the edge of the pools- there’s one more huge waterfall- and what looks like a broken metal door behind it. But swimming just in front of it is another Ghost Leviathan.

“…it’s just up there- right in its path.” Marvin says quietly, trying to hide his shaking.

Jackie quickly stops swimming, holding his arms out to stop anyone behind him. "God they really are so big," he whispers. "Okay. We have to get around that thing, avoiding all the brine except in the case of Schneep and JJ, and to that metal door behind the brine waterfall. The--the brinefall. It is... right in front of the door. Ooookay."

JJ frowns, staring. There must be a way through. Maybe we can wait for it to leave? Or, well, I suppose Schneep could just appear right by the door... right, Schneep?

"Yes, I have no doubt I could appear right there, no matter where it is," Schneep says. "Ever since I got control of my powers I haven't had difficulty reaching a location within, ah... 'eyeshot.'"

"Okay, but the rest of us can't do that," Jackie whispers. "And you and Alt can only take a few passengers while glitching. And your glitching feels terrible. No offense."

Schneep shrugs. "None taken. By the way, the leviathan cannot see or sense us over here, right?"

“I’m not so sure…” Marvin whispers. “I-I think we might be far enough away…”

“…you all only need Marv and yourselves to go to this arch thingy right?” Anti says sleepily. He looks at the others and then puffs out his chest, light shining brighter in his eyes. “…then we’ll distract the thing while you get inside. That way you all have time to get to the thing using your majic whatever.”

“But I.. I can’t warp right now-“ Marvin emphasizes.

Mer-Jackie shakes his head. “Anti’s right! If Alt and Schneep can just pop over there then we’ll only need to distract it for a second! We’ll drive it away! The others can stay over here where it’s safe- or oh! we can all meet up at the cove tree over there.” He points over to a spot of glowing blue in the dark back the way they came. “It’s completely safe over there!”

Anti cracks his knuckles then grins at Reaper Jackie. “I’ve been itching for a fight… I’m actually looking forward to this. No more swimming away scared…!” Reaper Jackie shares his grin and grows out his claws. “Agreed.”

Jackie nods as he listens to Anti and mer-Jackie talk. "Hell yeah. I bet I could be helpful in this." He grins, and his mandibles snap a little. "I've been in a lot of fights—though I've never fought a giant glowing fish."

I'd be surprised if you had, JJ says.

The merboys all laugh at this. “It does sound strange like that doesn’t it?” Henrik chuckles.

Chase, Henrik and JJ look nervous. But eventually Chase sighs. “…alright bros just.. be careful. Don’t try to kill it- just… distract it long enough for them to get inside and then come find us.”

Bro looks at Alt and Schneep, “…you both okay with this?”

Alt seems nervous, flicking his tail as it sparks slightly. “… glitching feels wrong here but… I-I can try…”

"I am okay with it, yes," Schneep says.

"How's your powers?" Jackie asks.

"I have been able to jump normally so far, I do not think there will be trouble."

I could be helpful, too, JJ continues. My magic might not be so helpful with the arch, it'll be more useful as a distraction. I could also help heal people up if they get too hurt.

Bro nods, “If it seems like it’s going after us Jackie, JJ, me and Alt can help keep it back- but we should all focus on getting in that tunnel! Soo! Let’s get it rolling!”

Chase swims up to the boys and smiles warmly. “just in case this works and we don’t see you again… this was fucking weird but… nice too. S’nice to meet humans who… relate to what we’ve been through.”

Jamie beams. “If you ever can come back… somehow- it would be nice to meet again!”

Henrik smiles, “But if not… please be safe. I do hope you all get home.”

Of course! JJ beams. You've all been so kind.

Jackie leans close. "Even Anti?" he whispers.

JJ nudges him playfully. Yes, even him. When you don't trust people, trust is the kindest thing.

Anti blinks at this and then hides his flushing face with one of his tails.

"Sure." Jackie looks at the others and smiles. "Yeah, I'd love to come here again if possible. I have a lot of stuff going on back home that I want to take care of first, but eventually."

"I agree, it's been strange, but nice." Schneep nods. "So... goodbye." He grins. "Until we may meet again."

“Goodbye-“ Henrik smiles and Chase, JJ and Henrik all go towards the cove tree.

Anti and Mer-Jackie grin at the others. “I guess we should do that too and shit.” Jackie laughs. He turns towards them. “This has been super cool and I’d love to show you so much next time! If you can. But until then- let’s fuck shit up!”

He goes to hit Anti’s shoulder and braces to swim. “We’ll get its attention! Try to swim or warp past whatever it is you do!”

Anti looks at the others and nods. “…bye.” Then he and Jackie rocket towards the ghost leviathans, both of them roaring loudly at it. The ghost Leviathan roars and races up to meet them.

Jackie watches them go, wanting to go after—and starting to for a moment—before he thinks better of it. After all, if they're going to leave, they have to all leave together.

Alt startles and goes to grab some of the others. “Link up! I can get us up there!”

Marvin swims back and holds his hands close to him. “No way! I-I’m not getting near your weird powers again!”

“Why didn’t you say anything about that before this?!” Alt snaps in frustration.

"Marvin, you don't really have a choice," Schneep points out. "We need you up there! Are we just going to swim there? Right by the fight?"

You could bring him, JJ suggests.

"IIIII don't think he would like that."

"We don't have a lot of time!" Jackie says. "Whatever we're going to do, we have to do it fast!" He turns to look at the fight.

The ghost Levithan rushes to meet the boys and mer-Jackie rushes to try to spear it with his mandibles. But it moves too quickly and grabs Jackie by his tail and then tosses him into the cave wall.

“Jackie!!” Anti screams and then turns to growl at the ghost Leviathan. He builds up fire balls and starts to loop around the bigger fish, pelting it with fire as it screeches in pain.

Bro yells out, “Fuck! Jackie!”

“M-Marvin come on!” Alt urges, going to grab his arm. But Marvin lashes out and scratches at Alt’s arm with his claws, his eyes going a bit pink and his voice sounding a bit more robotic. “No! I-I-“ he looks back to where Jackie fell and then speeds over to try to get to him.

Alt grabs his arm and yells out in pain before trying to yell out after him. “M-Marvin!”

"Fucking hell!" Jackie shouts. He swims after Marvin.

"Wait, hold on!" Schneep swims after him as well, in case they need to make a quick getaway.

Marvin is too fast- having been here before he knows what to dodge and where to go.

Alt and Bro try to follow after the others but can’t catch up to Marvin.

Luckily Anti is still keeping the Ghost Leviathan occupied but it already seems like he’s slowing.

Schneep tries leaping closer to Marvin, but his targeting is slightly off. He has to swim the rest of the way.

Jackie curses under his breath. He's not going to be able to catch up! So he instead turns to look at Anti and rushes over, determined to help. "Hey! Ghostie goo!" he shouts.

“Jackie?! The fuck are you doing?!” Bro shouts and spurs after him.

Jackie’s shout distracts the Ghost Leviathan enough for it to look his way- and Anti lands a fireball in its face. It roars in pain and runs into some of the trees around as its vision is affected.

Marvin races over to Mer-Jackie and tries to shake him awake. Orange hybrid blood clouds in the water from Jackie’s bitten tail and a spot on his head where he hit the wall. Marvin blinks tears out of his eyes as he tries to wake his brother up. “j-Jackie?? Jackie! W-wake up!!”

Schneep stops next to Marvin. He reaches out, and feels the slightly warm blood in the water. "Jameson?!"

JJ hurries after everyone else, quickly catching up. He looks at mer-Jackie, assessing the damage. Head wound—tail wound—if there's ever a time for healing magic, it's now. This will take a minute, he says, eyes glowing blue as he grabs onto reaper Jackie's arm. A film of blue magic starts to cover his wounds, healing them slowly.

Marvin slightly snarls at JJ as he comes closer, almost curling up around Jackie protectively. But he blinks in surprise as he sees the wounds start to close.

Alt spurs over to the small group surrounding Reaper Jackie and then floats a bit away from them and uses his magic to create a shield around them.

JJ smiles at Marvin reassuringly. This is what my magic does, he says. Meanwhile, the wounds seal up.

"We have to get there soon! While it's distracted!" Schneep hisses.

Jackie grins and decides to put these mandible things to use. He swims up to the ghost leviathan and latches onto its side, serrated edges digging into its flesh and then quickly letting go. He swims downward immediately after. The Ghost Leviathan roars in pain and is immediately diverted off course and starts to swim away from its territory with fervor.

Bro blinks at Jackie’s attack and laughs, ramming against its tail slightly as it swims. “Yeahhh!! Dudes you guys fucked that thing up!!” Bro says, turning to Jackie and Anti.

Anti grins, the water bubbling a bit hot around the edges of his mouth. “Fuck yeah. I needed that.” He looks at Jackie though, “You were very impressive though… you know- for a human.”

"Ha! I'll take it." Jackie grins.

Alt braces his shield, thinking about Schneep’s warning and then gasps as he hears the Ghost Leviathan swimming away. He laughs in disbelief and lowers his shield. “I… I think we’re good to breathe for a second Schneep… it’s swimming away!”

"What the—oh, it is!" Schneep gasps. "Amazing! Driving off something so big. Truly a marvel."

Anti grins and then swims down back to everyone else, Bro follows close behind.

Marvin watches the magic with muted fascination and wonder, slowly getting closer and reaching out like he wants to touch it. “…y-you didn’t have to do this… w-why are you doing this?” He asks JJ. “…does it hurt you?”

JJ smiles at Marvin gently. No, it doesn't hurt me. It tires me out, if I use a lot of it, but it doesn't hurt me. As for why... well, I don't like seeing people hurt. Most people don't. Jackie is a good man—or, a good hybrid. He doesn't deserve to be hurt. He nods at the magic. You can touch it. But it won't feel like much of anything.

Marvin does go to touch it and just marvels at the sight of it. He feels over Jackie’s tail and balks as he feels the skin being healed over so fast. He laughs a little. “…that’s amazing… s-some white suit machines can do stuff like this… b-but I don’t think they’re this fast… or through. T-they still leave scars…”

He frowns as he sees the large scar on Jackie’s side and thoughtfully touches parts of his jaw.

Jackie notices the scar when Marvin does. He narrows his eyes slightly, wondering if the white suits were healing their own actions... and hating them just at the possibility.

If the wounds were worse there would be scars, JJ says. But lucky they weren't, and I got here quickly. He rubs his neck.

Anti lands down, looking a bit worried. “Is Jackie-?” Then he stops himself and blinks in surprise as Jackie looks almost completely fine. “W-Woah…”

Bro grins, “Yeah JJ! Way to go!”

JJ grins, a bit shyly. I'm just doing what I thought would help.

Schneep nudges him slightly. "And that is an admirable thing--not to mention it must take a lot of magic to heal."

Not that much, really. Though... he hopes that he doesn't have to use magic for a while. Just in case.

Soon enough the injured reaper opens his eyes, his wounds pretty much healed. He blinks in confusion then grins dopily- though he might just be dazed still. “…did we win?”

"Yes, Jackie, we won!" Schneep says, laughing.

Marvin snorts through his nose and playfully slaps mer- Jackie. “You fuck… you gave us all a fucking heart attack-“

“I didn’t ask to be bit and thrown across the cave!” The reaper protests.

Alt and Bro laugh.

“…just in case that thing is still around, why don’t you two join us inside the tunnel? Maybe Marvin will be able to warp again once we’re gone.” Alt says.

Jackie nods. "Yeah, we should get out of here quickly."

Anti shrugs. Mer-Jackie smiles and tries to get up but still seems kinda weak so Marvin grabs him and puts his arm over his shoulder. “…yeah okay I-I’m sticking with Marv…” the reaper laughs.

Marvin doesn’t really look at the others as he hurries towards the metal doorway. “c-c’mon then…”

Alt starts to follow closely behind, followed by Bro then Anti dragging behind the pack. The other three hurry after everyone else.

The cavern clearly looks like an underground cave that has slowly filled with water over the past century. The way is twisted and a bit confusing- branches of ghost trees jutting out and parts of the path looks like it’s made of its branches. Eventually, Marvin swims up a walkway made of wood before floating in front of a large impressive structure. It houses a glowing green field of energy, shining like light on top of water- inside a metal diamond frame. It looks completely foreign and alien to anything they’ve seen so far.

Such strange architecture, JJ comments. And then they arrive at the glowing green field. His eyes widen. How strange! Is this what we're looking for?

"Maybe?" Jackie says. "Certainly looks like fucking... alien stuff. Just by design."

Schneep slowly reaches out, and JJ pushes his hand to the side so that he touches the frame instead of the energy field. That probably wasn't something they wanted to do.

Marvin does exclaim as Schneep reaches out but relaxes as JJ diverts him. “y-Yeah this is it… it’s programmed to take people to… hq I think. Down in the lava zone. But… I think it can be programmed to go other places…?”

He looks at Alt finally and nudges his head towards the structure. “Wanna give it a try?”

"You got this, Alt!" Jackie says encouragingly.

Alt swallows shakily and then nods. He goes to place a hand on the structure and closes his eyes, feeling out the energy inside it. His tail sparks up as he tries. And trying to access the tech- trying to insert some of his own magic into it to find a grip- god it hurts! It’s a rush of a foreign alien language that makes no sense- just jumbles of words and symbols and things he couldn’t possibly understand. He digs claws into it before breaking off connection with a yell and falling down to the ground, clutching his head.

“Alt!” Bro shouts in concern and tries to swim towards him- but as he gets too close he gets mildly shocked and he spurs back. “What happened?!”

“T-Too m-much-“ Alt whimpers, his eyes filled with green light rippling just like the portal. His voice echoes slightly with static, sounding robotic. “D-Don’t under s-stand… too much p-p̵̯̕o̵͙̾ẅ̸̥e̵̪̊r̴̤̄”

JJ gasps. He starts rushing forward as well but then Bro gets shocked back and he stops.

"Too much power?!" Schneep repeats. "What does that--"

The swirling mass of energy seems to glitch slightly- and seems to start to darken… in the middle- it almost seems like a crack is forming.

Jackie gasps. "Look!" He points at the energy... at the spot where it's darkening. "Is that--"

If it is, we have to link up! JJ says.

Alt’s head snaps up and his eyes widen. “W-What?! D-Did I do that?!”

“I-I dunno- we probably just have really bad luck!” Bro shouts, holding out a hand to Alt.

Anti pushes Marvin and Reaper Jackie behind him, growling at whatever this growing mass of black energy is.

“W-what is that?!” Marvin gasps.

The cavern shakes and the rift cracks open even bigger, glitching more and the water around the boys starts to get drawn in.

“It’s the rift! I… I guess this was all for nothing huh?” Alt says a bit tearfully. He looks to the merboys and smiles as they start getting pulled. “…thanks so much for trying to help us…”

"Yes, thank you so much," Schneep says. "Get out of here as soon as we are gone!"

It was nice to meet you! JJ adds.

"Maybe we'll see each other again!" Jackie shouts. He grabs onto Alt, and JJ grabs onto him and Schneep. "It wasn't all for nothing, Alt! We spent time with these guys, at least!"

Alt blinks and then smiles with Jackie and nods. “y-Yeah…”

Jackie smiles back at them. "Goodbye!"

"Goodbye!" Schneep adds.

JJ nods a farewell.

Mer-Jackie tries to swim closer, looking like he wants to help but Anti holds him back with one of his tails. “W-We’ll see each other again! I-I just know it!” The reaper shouts after them.

Bro grins, “I hope so! Take care of each other, okay?”

Anti blinks and then smiles giving them a nod. “…we will.”

The rift expands bigger with another crack and the pull is too much to resist. Down down the boys are pulled… falling through twisting caverns and caves that echo into nothingness.

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huffle-dork · 1 year ago

Text

Glitch into the Hufflverse Chapter 6: Septnautical

Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs | Read Septnautical

Read SITCV | Read SATCV | GITHV Masterpost

Once Alt is done describing outside, the others have reached the secret hidden research lab holding Jack. The boys and Zara all come into another tank of water- which seems to be an observatory aquarium facing the lab.

Curled up on the sparse white floor is Anti. He’s lying on top of a few of his tails, idly watching the view into the lab. His ear twitches as he hears people enter and then blinks in surprise at seeing all his brothers. “O-Oh… hey.” He smirks and looks at reaper Jackie and Henrik. “Did those weird humans get eaten yet? I hope so-“

His eyes then widen as the human-hybrids enter and then they quickly narrow as he bares his fangs. “What the fucking hell?! Is this a joke?! Is this a white suit trick?!” He hisses as his back fin puffs up.

“Anti please- try to stay calm.” Henrik says gently. “It is strange I know but… this is not a trick. We’re trying to help them get home.”

Anti doesn’t seem convinced as he curls up more and growls at them. “How do you know this wasn’t just a-a elaborate plan to get to Jack?! You all just lead them straight here!”

“Cuz we trust them dude!” Mer- Jackie says. Marvin and Chase kinda grumble but Jackie ignores them. “I don’t think they could lie about all this- not even Alterra could make up some of the shit we’ve heard!”

“Look man, if we wanted to get into this place we wouldn’t bother with some fucking elaborate trick,” Jackie says, trying not to snap. “We’d be plenty capable of getting in here without any trickery.”

“I do not think that’s as reassuring as you want it to be,” Schneep mutters, hanging back.

We understand that this is strange, and you don’t have to trust us, JJ says calmly. But we really don’t mean you any harm. If there’s anything we can do or say to prove that, we would.

“As long as you don’t tell us to do something we can’t,” Jackie mutters. He leans to the side. “So… this is some kind of lab space. Or, it is on the other side.”

“Anything interesting?” Schneep asks curiously.

Anti bristles and growls at Jackie, bunching up like he might lash out. But Jamie comes over and shakes his head at him and touches over his heart. This seems to give Anti pause. Then, hearing JJ use the same robot as Jamie has him relaxing even more. But, he still on edge.

Behind Anti and through the glass is the lab space. Seems to be open air at the moment as a couple people in blue and black suits are walking around, typing stuff in on holo screens or checking on the main subject of the room. Which of course is Jack. He seems to be asleep, set mostly upright on a lab table with wires and things tucked under brown armor-like plates on his arms and upper torso. He has 5 similarly armored tails that are submerged in a small tank of water below him. They seem to have glowing bits of blue underneath like suction cups. He seems to have a breathing mask on his face but filled with water that also filters over the gills on his neck.

“Ya wanna prove yourselves to me? Okay- I wanna hear what Jack has to say about this.” Anti growls.

His brothers all balk and look at each other. “Uh… I dunno how that’s gonna happen Anti…” Chase says quietly. “You’re really the only one here that talks to him… r-regularly in your dreams…”

“He’d know if these bitches are a threat or not.” Anti glares at the newcomers. “I’m not letting them near him otherwise.”

“Anti please be reasonable!” Zara tries to say, “We just need to talk to Danan and you know she’s-“

“No!” Anti growls sitting up to spread out his tentacles in a defensive stance. “Don’t get any closer…”

JJ backs up, hands raised. We’ll stay back, he promises. He looks at the others. Won’t we?

Jackie looks up and nods. While this exchange has been going on he’s been describing the lab—and Jack—to Schneep. Now he looks at Anti warily. He doesn’t want to fight him, but if it comes down to it he’ll defend himself.

“Jack… is the one outside of the glass?” Schneep asks slowly. That soul feels strange. Like his Jack, but… there’s something about it. Like the magic he senses in JJ, Alt, and Bro. “A-and he speaks in your dreams? How? A-and… how are you going to get advice from him? You are not asleep.”

“He can hear us,” Anti says eerily. “If he’s as worried as I am… he’ll do something…”

“Like.. what exactly?” Alt says with a raised eyebrow. “Look I-if you let me closer I could talk to him for you- I could go into minds and-!” He attempts to swim a bit closer but Anti snaps his jaws and lunges forward. But not to attack just to keep Alt back. And Alt glitches back and Bro catches him.

“Don’t test me ya fucking fake humans! I’ll tear you to ribbons!” Anti growls. Jamie hugs his neck and tries to hold him back but- Anti is bigger and stronger than him.

Jackie tenses, glaring at Anti, the mandibles on his back instinctively snapping. JJ holds his hands out, a shield starting to form. Schneep backs up, scleras turning black, getting ready to leap out of the way of danger.

However before the situation can get anymore tense- the human-hybrids and Anti feel a sudden pull in their guts- and their eyes fill with cyan. And then… it’s like they’re pulled into sleep and they all sink to the floor as their consciousnesses get pulled somewhere else.

When they open their eyes, they seem to be in the deepest reaches of the ocean- almost pitch black around them. It still feels like water- and they’re still in their hybrid forms. But it also feels… floaty. Like a dream.

And… Schneep finds he can see.

A bit before them is… the hybrid they saw in the lab. But he’s awake now, staring at them with startling bright cyan eyes. He regards them with a neutral expression, tilting his head as he studies them.

“Huh?” Jackie looks around. “What? Huh?! Huh?!”

“W-Woah…” Alt whispers.

“T-The fuck is this place?” Bro asks.

JJ backs up. Is this an illusion?

“Ah!” Schneep presses his hands to his eyes, closing and opening them several times. He expects them to hurt from the sudden influx of imagery… but they don’t. Confused, he looks around.

Alt startles and goes over to Schneep, “A-Are you okay Schneep?”

Bro sees him seemingly looking around and gasps, “Can you see?”

“Oh! I can see! I can see!” Schneep laughs in amazement.

“What?!” Alt and Bro both shout in delight.

Alt smiles. “This is the mind I guess… like you being able to see in dreams.”

Schneep looks at the others, starting with Alt and Bro. “Oh! I can see the resemblance, but you two look less like my friends than I was picturing.”

Bro and Alt look at each other then laugh. “It’s the freckles I bet.” Alt snickers.

Then Schneep looks at JJ. “You look very much like my Jamie, though—except for the mouth of course.” Then he looks at Jackie. His eyes widen in shock for a moment. But he doesn’t say anything. He looks down at Jackie’s tail. “Oh—you have a lobster tail.”

“Wh—no I don’t!” Jackie protests.

JJ laughs. Lobster boy.

“Shut up!”

Bro laughs too, “Oh my god! He is a lobster!” Alt hides his laugh behind his hand.

Anti shakes out his head then gasps and spurs up towards Jack, “Jack!!”

The other hybrid smiles at Anti and open his arms and Anti hurries over and gives him a quick hug. Then he seems to protectively hang over Jack’s shoulder as he glares and growls at the visitors. Jack keeps his face neutral but there’s a bit of warmth radiating from him.

“Sorry to just… pull you in. I didn’t want Anti to hurt you… if you’re as innocent as you claim.” He says with a bit of authority.

“U-um…” Jackie stares at Jack. It’s a bit… strange… to hear his voice, so similar to the Jack he knows. When was the last time he heard Jack’s voice?

It’s fine, it seemed like an emergency, JJ says.

Jack tilts his head, “Anti said you were …fake. And… I can sense you are not Alterans but also… so strange… were you really.. human?”

“We were indeed human,” Schneep says. “A-and we can be human again. It is unusual, I know, but it’s true. We mean you no harm. You or any of your family.”

JJ glances around. So… this isn’t an illusion. It must be some sort of… mental landscape.

Jack nods, “Yeah we’re… I dunno exactly where but I have like… telepathy I think it’s called. The hybrid part of me is sea emperor and they have that too… I think the doctors here think I can do a bit more cuz of you know- having a human mind.” He laughs. “It’s weird but… I can talk to people like this… least until they figure out how to wake me up.”

Jack separates himself from Anti, much to the younger brother’s dismay and appears in front of the group in a flash of blue. He studies them closer.

“Alt… Chase… Schneep… JJ and… Jackie huh?” He says slowly looking at all of them. He then smiles and nods. “…yeah I… I think you’re good.”

“What?! You trust them just like that?!” Anti yells.

“Mmm yeah. I can see… bits and pieces of where they come from. This isn’t their home… and it seems like they all have a lot to get back to… family and people they really love.” Jack smiles sadly and holds a hand over his chest. “…I know the feeling…”

Jackie backs up a little as Jack appears closer. “O-oh. You can like—read our minds?” he says. “Can you um—n-not do that? There are things in my brain that I-I don’t want people to see.”

“Not fully,” Jack laughs, answering Jackie, “I just get… feelings and snippets. Flashes of things that are important or like.. really strong feelings. I can talk in the mind more than see it. I won’t pry I promise…”

Jackie lets out a sigh of relief. "I-I know you won't. Still... thanks."

“You’re like… an enchanter almost…” Alt mutters.

Jack blinks, “…I dunno what that word means but… thank you?”

JJ also looks a bit uneasy, but he pushes through that, knowing Jack means no harm. We would very much like to get home, he says. I sort of left my friend waiting.

Jack looks to JJ with sympathy and nods, “Unfortunately me and my brothers don’t have the kinda powers you guys have… but I’m sure my brothers will do what they can to help. Even Anti.”

Anti makes a noise of protest but Jack gives him a look and Anti crosses his arms and grumbles. “…yer sure they’re not with Alterra?””

Jack nods, “I’m sure.”

There’s a beat of silence before Anti groans, “Finneeee!”

JJ laughs a little at Anti's attitude. He can't help but be reminded of his friend. Thank you, Anti. I'm sure there's a lot you could do to help us.

"You know, Jamie, if this is the mind, why are you still signing?" Schneep asks. "Shouldn't you be able to talk if I can see?"

JJ shrugs. I suppose I'm more used to this by now.

"Ah. Well, in any case, thank you, Jack." Schneep nods at him. "Now we have to figure a way out of here."

Jack laughs and shakes his head, “Don’t worry. I got that. It was… nice to meet you all. I wish it could have been in person but… keep my brothers safe if you can, okay?” He smiles sadly and then his eyes turn cyan before the space around the boys turns white.

"Bye Jack!" Jackie shouts, a bit desperately, as the space starts to fade.

"Nice to meet you too," Schneep adds.

Your brothers will help you, I know it, JJ says.

Jack smiles at them all before everything goes white.

Then, they’re back in the lab observatory. Alt shakes himself out and blinks as the merboys have surrounded the passed out visitors.

“Are you guys okay?!” Mer Jackie asks.

Anti pushes himself up and shakes his head out like a dog. Jamie hugs his head with Anti lets him do so begrudgingly.

Schneep blinks. "Ah, back to reality."

"We're okay." Jackie pats himself down. "Jack just wanted a word with us—well, kind of? He wanted Anti to know we were safe to trust."

Which we are! JJ says cheerfully.

Chase's eyes widen. "Y-You talked to Jack??"

"Yeah... and they're all good." Anti sighs.

"Now. Is Danan out here?" Schneep swims up to the wall of the tank, facing out. "I can tell there are people, is she one of them?" Anti lets Schneep pass with a huff.

At the window, an older black woman with bouncy black hair and bright green eyes is writing notes on her own PDA. She blinks as Schneep comes forward and smiles. She touches a button on her jacket and her voice comes from a speaker on their side. "Oh Henrik I-!" Then, she blinks and takes notice of how different Schneep looks and seems confused.

Jackie chuckles. "I think you've been spotted, Schneep. And she looks really confused."

"Ha! I can imagine." Schneep grins.

"Yeah just- hang on-" Henrik says and goes to push the button for the comms as Alt and Bro come over to meet her. "Hello Danan? Is there a way for you to meet us in here? We have... many things to discuss with you."

Danan looks surprised but then she nods and touches the button again. "Of course. Lemme just get finished up in here."

It takes a few minutes but soon the door to the observatory opens and the woman swims in. She smiles at everyone but she can't hide her surprise. "Oh well! Hello there... I did not know we had so many new people on my base."

JJ waves at Danan. Hello! This must be very surprising. Well you're going to be even more surprised when we tell you where we came from.

"We're not from here," Jackie says. "To the point where we haven't even heard of Alterra. I'm Jackie, this is JJ, Schneep, Alt, and Chase. We're from another universe."

"Nice to meet you!" Schneep waves cheerfully. "The others speak highly of you."

“Do they now?” Danan says with a smirk. “I’m glad my reputation precedes me! Well I’m Dr. Kendra Danan and…I’m sorry did you say another universe?”

“Insane, right?” Zara laughs. “Have you ever heard of traveling to different universes?”

“Well… it was a theory I remember being vaguely interested in for a bit…” Danan says, crossing her arms. “Alterra was very interested in the possiblity of it off planet but… not here.”

Alt deflates a bit, “Oh well… we were hoping you might know if it’s.. possible to maybe reprogram a… what were they called?”

Marvin’s eyes flicker pink, “Alien Arch.”

“yeah that!”

Danan hums and then thinks. “…I’m not sure we have the tools but.. if they were maybe connected to architect technology somehow…?” She looks at Marvin.

Marvin shakes out himself then looks at Danan with wide eyes. “M-Me?!”

“You are the only warper around that can possibly understand technology like that…” Danan says with an encouraging smile.

“Oh I.., I don’t k-know…”

“Well… it’s either we try this out or… we just wait for the rifts to find us again… which is not ideal…” Alt mutters.

Danan and Zara blink, “Rifts?” Danan asks.

"They're what sucked us here in the first place," Jackie explains. "See, the three of us—" He gestures at himself, Schneep, and JJ. "—were actually from a different universe than those two." And he gestures at Alt and Bro.

"Three separate universes, actually," Schneep says. "But then we were pulled to their world through these rifts, and all five of us were pulled from that one to this one some time later."

They look like black cracks or tears, JJ explains. Like the air itself has been ripped. And they pull at people nearby. Like... when you open an airlock and all the air goes rushing into the vacuum.

"How do you know what airlocks do? You've never been in space!" Jackie says. "H-have you?"

No, but I've seen movies! You ever seen a movie where someone got ejected into space?

"...I've played Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Unleashed, does that count?"

"Ayyy SBA2! That's me and Alt's favorite!" Bro says excitedly. Alt slaps his tail with his own. "Focus-"

JJ blinks. Sorry, I've never played a Sonic game.

"Really?" Schneep says. "Even I have played a Sonic game--the classic sidescrollers, though, none of the 3D games."

"We're getting so distracted." Jackie shakes his head. "God—I've probably missed my time to take my ADHD meds. Anyway. The point is. You really think that we might be able to mess with these alien gates to open up a way to another universe? That seems... complicated."

"... I'm sorry I don't know anything about these rifts...." Danan says.

"They also have like- magic and stuff." Mer Jackie says excitedly. "So- maybe that could help?"

"Well... what the architects could do was nothing short of magical... so- who knows? It's still a mystery to us but... maybe it just needs the right touch." Danan smiles. "Us scientists believe there's nothing wrong with trying something out. They should be safe to look at, at the very least."

Alt sighs, "... It at least gives us a goal for now... and if it works, great! If it doesn't then... gotta wait for the rifts then... honestly it could be worse."

Bro grins at the merboys, "You guys up for taking us on an adventure?"

"I wanna! I wanna!" Mer Jackie says excitedly. Jamie claps and swims around his brothers in a couple big loops. Henrik chuckles, "I am quite curious what we could find." Anti and Marvin grumble a bit but Chase nudges them and they get quieter. "If Jack trusts you all then... yeah. I'm willing to help you guys get home." Chase smiles.

"Awesome!" Jackie whoops. "Let's see more of this place! It's the strangest fucking place I've ever been, so might as well enjoy it while it lasts."

"I am getting better at swimming, I swear I am," Schneep says.

"Y'know, if might actually be better if you took off your shirt," Jackie suggests. "Less drag. More maneuverability. I mean--the fish'll still be there, but still."

"Huh. You might be right, actually," Schneep says, tilting his head thoughtfully. "Okay, might as well try. This is not time to be modest." He starts taking his shirt off.

JJ frowns at Jackie. Did you just want him to join the rest of us in some weird peer pressure thing?

"No, I don't care what he wears or doesn't," Jackie shrugs. "But I really do think it might help. Here, put it in the bundle. Also, do you guys have a bag or something for all our clothes?"

"Of course," Danan laughs. She swims over to the wall and there seems to be a fabricator in here too. After clicking a few buttons it starts to create a large flexible bag. She swims over and hands it to Jackie. "There! That should work right?"

"Ah sweet, thanks!" Jackie grins and takes the bag, putting all their clothes inside. "I hope one of you two know how to dry stuff for when we get out," he says, looking at Alt and JJ.

Oh, of course, that's easy, JJ says.

Then, Danan seems to think and looks over to Marvin, "Marvin... how did you know about the alien arches? Most of them are on land where you all can't reach..."

Marvin quickly looks away and holds his arms. "Um well... I... one it's this... f-fucking chip in my head... but um... I also found one in the lost river...? I... I think the forcefield that kept the water out got d-damaged by a Ghost Leviathan."

"The Lost River?!" Chase shouts, "T-That place with the brine that poisons you guys??"

"...I mean the new Schneep guy is a river prowler- he'll be fine." Marvin says shortly. "And JJ.. he's a ghost ray. And I-I can... self-repair... apparently."

"Ghost leviathan?" Jackie repeats, raising an eyebrow. If that reaper thing was also a leviathan—and there was poisonous brine— "This doesn't sound like a good place."

"Oh! I think there's another forcefield that got damaged in the one by the mushroom forest though!" Zara says happily. "I'm pretty sure I came across that recently but- wasn't really sure how to use those things still..."

"They need an ion cube to work usually," Danan explains. "Most of them that need ion cubes in the main gates are down in HQ but... I think those are still intact...? hm... the mountain base is probably one that needs one."

"...the Lost River one was active." Marvin says quietly.

"...that's really dangerous though! Last time you and me went there you nearly lost your arm and I got bitten to death by mesmers!" Mer-Jackie explains.

"We didn't die Jackie-" Marvin snaps at him. The two glare at each other the way siblings always do when they fight and want to be right.

"W-well, don't fight about it," Jackie says, voice trembling a little. "Don't—don't fight about it.”

"What the fuck happened that nearly lost you an arm?" Schneep mutters.

And... what was that? Mesmers? JJ repeats, spelling out the word. He's visibly uncomfortable with the implications of that name.

Marvin looks to Schneep, "...a Ghost Leviathan attacked me and bit my arm. ...and it was just a baby too." He shudders and grabs his arm, where the others can see what looks like bite marks. "And uh.. m-mesmers are fish that can... pull you in with colors on their fins and they can s-speak in your mind."

"They majorly suck." Reaper Jackie says and Henrik nods in confirmation.

Hypnotizing fish, JJ comments. Great. He signs the word slowly, making the fish robot say it in a drawl that's clearly meant to be sarcastic.

Alt bursts into giggles. "Oh my god- that was great JJ. But also- mood."

"Also… uh, The brine is easy enough to avoid. It's only on the bottom of things and like... the falls and pools." Marvin mutters.

"Since when do you know so much about it?" Mer Jackie asks with a growl.

"Since I was trapped there for a month, asshole!" Marvin snaps back. Henrik quickly goes to push them aside. "Enough you two!"

Jackie cringes while looking at mer-Jackie and Marvin. He knows that they're siblings, bickering is probably normal, but—why is he thinking of fights with his Marvin? He doesn't like thinking about him— “We can—maybe we can grab one of those cube things from the lost river base and take it to the mushroom place?"

If we're going there anyway we might as well just stay there, JJ points out.

"Can you not make an ion cube with your machines?" Schneep asks, confused. "Or... do you need the design or something?"

"The ion cubes are architect tech so... we don't know how to make them." Danan explains, "They seem to grow in these places though and there's a self-replenishing supply in HQ. But that one is one you all cannot reach... or my boys can't at least."

"Plus uh- Alterra." Zara points out.

"Yes that too."

"Huh. I suppose even machines that can rearrange matter have a limit," Schneep says thoughtfully. "But that limit is not helping right now."

Alt looks at Jackie with a bit of concern and lightly touches his tail against his. Then he sighs and says, "... if the one in this lost river is the only one you all can take us to that's active... then we'll just have to take our chances."

When Alt touches him, Jackie jumps a little, then quickly shakes himself off. "Yeah. And we have safety in numbers, too."

"Besides! We got tons of natives here to help us!" Bro tries to say positively. The merboys either smiles at him or snort and look away.

Danan smiles and nods, "It shouldn't be a long trip. Marvin should just be able to warp you straight there. Unless you all are eager to explore. It is an eerily beautiful place down there."

JJ smiles at Danan. Perhaps we can explore a little bit, but we should do this quickly, I think. Messing with these arches might take a while.

"So we are leaving right now, then?" Schneep asks. "Or—should we prepare? I would be fine with leaving now, in either case."

The merboys all look at each other. Anti shrugs, "I say lets get this over with. I'm eager for things to... be less exciting." He grumbles.

Marvin nods and then opens up a warp gate in the middle of the room. "This should take us straight there." He says, "Everyone swim on through."

"Hmm. Swim through? So you open up a portal," Schneep muses. "Like a small wormhole. Or like a portal from the game Portal." He giggles to himself at the repetition of the word.

"Yeah, actually, it does look a bit like a portal," Jackie says. "But you can't see through to the other side and it's this swirling... pink and purple and blue—"

"Oooo, my favorite colors," Schneep says, grinning. "As my Jackie would say, bisexual lighting."

Jackie and JJ both burst into laughter at that. A little less intense, but you got the idea! JJ says.

Alt studies the warp gate curiously. "... I wonder what would happen if I tried to glitch through this..."

"I dunno if now is the time to play around like that Alt." Bro chuckles.

Marvin makes a face then shrugs, "If it's similar to warping... hm... I can't say I'm not curious too..."

Alt's eyes sparkle a bit and he grins and then glitches through. From their end- nothing seems to have happened- except a tiny spark of green across the surface. And a bit of green reflecting in Marvin's eyes and a barely noticeable twitch in his hands. Bro hurries after Alt.

JJ frowns as Alt glitches through. Not sure that was a good idea.

"Well, it's too late now." Jackie shrugs, making sure that he has the bag on securely. Then he swims on through.

Schneep frowns. He swims forward hesitantly, then passes on through.

JJ lingers nervously at the back. He probably shouldn't be worried. Probably nothing happened. But still, he can't stop the anxiety as he approaches and slowly goes through the warp gate.

Mer-Jackie doesn't look excited to go in the warp gate but Jamie grabs his hand and starts to lead him through. Henrik and Chase laugh a bit at this and follow after. Anti gives the others a neutral glance before he shuffles through.

Once everyone is through, Marvin follows and the gate closes. Zara and Danan wave goodbye. "You have your radios if you need us boys!"

#GITHV #glitch into the huffleverse #GITHV Septnautical #alt anti #bro fantastic #stitched schneep #the jaunty jackson #inverted jackie #reaper jackie #sea dragon anti #sea emperor jack #warper marvin #cuddlefish jamie #stalker schneep #rabbit ray chase #dr kendra danan #zara caley #OH BOY SO MANY CHARACTERS TODAY AHGJBK #sorry im late i had like no sleep last night gahbk

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huffle-dork · 1 year ago

Text

Glitch into the Hufflverse Chapter 5: Septnautical

Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs | Read Septnautical

Read SITCV | Read SATCV | GITHV Masterpost

Diving under the water they see the murky yellow water under the aurora and the shapes of the hybrids swimming through it. Mer Jackie waves and then loops around to catch up with Henrik.

As they all swim after them, the water quickly starts to transition towards more of a green, rough rocks jutting out from the sea floor. Then, it turns a brilliant bright blue, the sun shining dream-like through the surface of the waves above.

Jackie and JJ both fumble for a while as they swim. This isn't like swimming as a person at all. Jackie figures it out first, moving his tail up and down. JJ takes a bit longer, but soon realizes how he has to use his new wings to help him glide along. It's a strange arms-out position.

Schneep, unfortunately, struggles for a while. His soul sensing abilities don't extend to all animals, only the bigger or smarter ones. And so, since there are a lot of alien fish in this alien ocean, he keeps bumping into them and slowing down. Eventually, JJ doubles back, reaching out and offering his arm. Schneep finds it and quickly clings onto JJ, looking a bit upset about how he can't swim as well as the others yet.

As they swim Henrik starts to explain, "Ah... we are obviously not fully human. But you cannot be... naturally born as this. And Alterra is a large company who has been given free reign to... experiment on this planet. And that is how... we all came to be. ...to them, we are not even known by our names. We all chose these names... but we are only letters and numbers to them- a result to be studied. They know me as... SH-003. The... third of the hybrids to be created."

Alt feels dread hit him like a punch in the gut. "... you all are... experiments...?" He asks quietly.

Mer-Jackie nods and holds his arms. "Yeah... I'm- uhhh RL-006-! But, we don't usually use those. Feels icky."

JJ sighs. He knew it wasn't good.

"Don't worry, if you do not like those titles, we will not use them," Schneep says.

"Yeah, I'd hate to call someone something that makes them feel icky," Jackie adds. "Uh... I'm uh... s-sorry if..." He clears his throat. "Well, I'm glad you were able to find your names."

"How many of you are there? If Jackie is six and he mentioned two others younger than him... eight?" Schneep is more talking to himself than anyone else.

"Oh! There's 7 actually- that fact makes it confusing." Reaper Jackie laughs, "Actually i think... right after I was born I... I technically died? But me and Marv were the only ones born outside of eggs and we were ready at around the same time so... I think putting us together saved me somehow?" He shrugs, "That's what Zara told me a PDA file said about me and him. But- that's why I'm technically older but he's the fifth- WH-005. The last one is Jamie- he's CH-007."

Henrik nods as if to confirm this. "Yes and other than them and me. There is RR-001, Chase- SE-002, Jack..." Henrik seems to linger on Jack's name before moving forward, "And... my near twin, Anti, SD-004."

“Died?" Jackie blinks, surprised. "I'm guessing you don't remember that. I hope you don't." He shakes his head. "I, uh... know someone named Marvin, too... But I can't imagine being paired with him." He hides a shudder.

"I can picture it all too well," Schneep mutters.

Reaper Jackie laughs, "Nah I don't remember- Marvin doesn't either! We were like... just a few days old i think." He swims back to look at Jackie and tilts his head at him. "Huh? Why...? Is your Marvin mean? ... I mean mine can be too but- I'm also kinda mean sometimes." He bares his teeth in a sharp grin and flexes his mandibles. "Then again I'm biased~ he's my twin!"

'You are not actually twins, Jackie." Henrik chuckles.

"It's close enough!" Mer-Jackie argues.

Jackie shakes his head. "The Marvin I know... isn't a good person..." he says slowly. "It's a long story." He wishes he could put his hoodie on over his new mandibles.

"What do all those Letters mean?" Bro asks, "I get the numbers just... the letters seem weird."

Henrik chuckles, "Those let the scientists know what species of hybrid we are. Like me- SH, stands for Stalker Hybrid."

"And I'm Reaper Levithian, RL!" Reaper Jackie adds with a grin, easily swimming circles around the others.

"You will understand better when you meet the rest." Henrik smirks. "Since it seems you are all not familiar with the fauna here."

"yeah- totally in the dark," Alt mutters. "... they're neat though I... I'd love to learn more."

JJ nods slowly. I vaguely remember hearing some of these names from my Anti, he says. While he uses his arms to sign, Schneep transfers his grip to JJ's waist, holding on via tendrils.

Mer-Jackie bllinks at JJ's signs and then looks to Alt. "What did mustache guy say?"

Alt laughs, "He said his friend Anti told him some of those names."

"Oh yeah! Cuz they said it was a game! Man- that's weird. Is it a naming game? Like- name all the fauna? That's nooo fun- that sounds like white suits drills." The reaper grumbles.

JJ chuckles at being called mustache man. I wish I had a spell that could let everyone understand me... but at least one person can.

"It is much more helpful than having someone translate for me," Schneep says. "Or the morse code system me and my JJ use. It is just a shame we found a wor—we found somewhere where most people do not know."

“I have a spell- but it’s still kinda iffy on non- spoken languages,” Alt sighs.

“It’s just that your signs are weird! But also cuz no one really uses them here much- ‘Cept Jamie now. And like- we didn’t really know how to read for a while so learning stuff like that is hard!” Mer Jackie chuckles.

“Imagine having to learn to read with your fingers," Schneep says. "I'm sure sign language is easier."

JJ looks back at him and frowns. Braille is an alphabet. BSL has individual words.

Schneep laughs. "You are right, you are right."

“We all have our struggles Schneep,” Alt laughs.

As they're swimming, they're now in a more colorful patch of ocean. Large tunnels of coral and weird looping structures of rocks. Colorful rays with bright blue and orange swim by, singing a sweet melody. The ocean is alive with schools of fish and colorful plumes of plant life.

JJ looks around with wide eyes. This place is beautiful! He waves at the rays as they swim by. Jackie can't help but duck through some of the rock loops.

The hybrids slow down a bit as the others take in the sea. Henrik smiles. "It is beautiful out here, is it not?"

"The shallows is one of the prettiest places! That's why our cove is over here! But also cuz it's the safest place!" Mer Jackie explains.

Bro sees Jackie swimming through some of the loops and laughs, trying it out himself. Man- it feels just like flying when he swims- just a bit more muscle work. Alt laughs at their antics.

"It is just a bit further to the forest," Henrik calls, spurring forward. "Careful you keep up- we have been building up our camouflage so you could get lost!"

The group speeds up as Henrik says to. Schneep bats angrily at the kelp strands as they pass. He makes a note to himself: never travel through forests. He doesn't want to hit his head on low-hanging branches. JJ squeezes his hand, reassuring him that he's there.

Henrik has taken to the kelp forest with ease- this is clearly his element and he has the way memorized well. They start to go a bit lower into the tall flowing strands of thick kelp. There’s even bundles of glowing seeds clustered together to make patches of bright light. Which helps since the ocean seems a bit… darker here amongst the swaying fronds.

Eventually they seem to come across a hole amongst the rocks and kelp and in it, surrounded by tall rocks is a white base. Most of it is covered in windows and… tubes? But there are some parts hidden amongst the twisted maze of hallways and rooms.

“Woahhh!” Bro laughs, “That’s so cool!”

Henrik grins. “Welcome to the Ocean’s Arms.”

"Whoa!" Jackie gasps. "Look at that scifi shit!"

JJ stares up in awe. His eyes are practically sparkling.

Schneep tilts his head to the side. He can sense nearby human souls... though none seem familiar. "What is it like?"

"Oh—well it's all white and glass," Jackie says. "Made of tube and round rooms—very round in general. It's all twisting and stuff."

"Ooooo. Sounds very nice." Schneep grins.

After Schneep is done getting the lay of the land- a black and white bundle speeds up and suddenly tackles mer-Jackie in a big tentacle-y hug. The reaper laughs and pats the new tinier merman that has attached himself to him. “Hi Jamie! We brought some new friends- you wanna meet them?”

A head of teal hair perks up away from Jackie’s chest and looks at the others. He has the same mustache as JJ’s except less maintained. He has black and white dots all over his face like freckles except one large patch that covers his left eye. And instead of the long singular tails the rest of the boys have- this tiny merman has 5 black and white spotted tentacles. He gasps quietly at seeing the others and then shakes mer-Jackie’s arm, pointing wildly.

Mer-Jackie laughs. “Yes I see them! Say hi! Show off your new thingy!”

Jamie nods and swims up closer to the others. Now that they are closer- it seems like he’s wearing… gloves of some kind? But with strange robotic-like finger attachments on the outside. He taps on a bag he has on his side and a strange robotic fish swims out, its body mostly consisting of a green and blue eye. Jamie makes a show of coughing in a somewhat dramatic manner like he’s gonna speak before- he starts to sign. And as he does- sound comes from the fish that sounds exactly like JJ from the few things they’ve heard him talk.

“Hello! I am Jamie! I’m still learning this so- forgive me if I am slow. My friend Ollie is teaching me trans-universal sign!” he beams once he’s done, flicking and swirling his tails, almost like a happy dance.

"Oh!" Jackie gasps. "Ohhhh that's so cool! Gloves that like—like translate sign language! That's so cool!"

JJ laughs. It would definitely be helpful—though it seems like sign language here is different.

"Yeah, no wonder they were calling BSL weird," Jackie agrees. "Anyway—it's nice to meet you, Jamie! You're like—some kind of black-and-white speckled octopus—pentapus? Cause there are only five tentacles?" He laughs and shakes his head. "This place is crazy."

Jamie tilts his head to the side. “What’s an octopus?” He whispers in a very quiet voice.

“Yeah or a pentapus- the fuck is that?” Reaper Jackie asks.

“Uh- creatures from our world.” Alt explains, “They’re helping us… take all this in better.”

“A pentapus isn’t even real,” Jackie laughs. “That was a joke.”

“Ah well here- he’s a cuddlefish!” Mer-Jackie grins. Jamie smiles shyly and twists his tails again.

"We should introduce ourselves," Schneep says. "Though... if you are anything like your brothers here, you will find it strange. My name is Schneep, and this is JJ—"

JJ waves.

"—and Jackie—"

"Hey!" Jackie grins.

"—and Alt and Chase."

Alt gives a two fingered salute to his name and Bro grins. “Yo! Nice to meet ya!”

Jamie blinks at all of them before pointing at the others and looking back to Henrik and mer-Jackie. “…they have your names.”

“Yes-“ Henrik nods.

“They look like you too!” Jamie tries to say a bit louder.

“Kinda freaky isn’t it?” Reaper Jackie laughs.

“Freaky? I can imagine,” Schneep says, amused.

Jamie swims up so he’s face to face with JJ. He blinks big blue eyes at him and tilts his head curiously. He signs and the robot fish says “You look like me! JJ… I like that!” Jamie smiles wide.

JJ blinks, then nods excitedly, matching Jamie’s enthusiasm. “I do look like you!” He says—though he then coughs and rubs his throat. Probably best to avoid that for a while.

Jamie’s expression turns into one of my sympathy and he floats towards JJ and lightly touches his neck. “…hurts?” He asks quietly. He then touches his own neck and nods like he relates. JJ can see a bit of scarring there.

JJ nods back, giving Jamie a small smile. He hopes the understanding comes across.

Then, Jamie looks at Alt and Bro. He points at Bro. “…Chase-“ then at Alt, “Anti!”

Alt chuckles, “That’s one of my names yeah- but only Chase calls me that. You all can stick to calling me Alt.”

Jamie looks back at the hybrids and signs, “Anti came back here earlier. He looked mad. Said something about freaky new humans.”

“Oh? Did you see where he went?” Henrik asks.

“He went to go see Jack.”

“Oh. Well um…” Jackie squirms slightly, tail flicking. “We… might know something about those ‘freaky new humans’.”

“Surprise! It is us.” Schneep waves. “You are not going to believe hearing that, but it is true. You can ask your Jackie and Schneep.”

Jamie then blinks and looks at all the others and then mer-Jackie and Henrik. They laugh.

“Strange is it not? They have uh… magic I guess. To turn from human to hybrid.” Henrik says.

Jamie’s eyes sparkle with wonder as he swims excitedly all around the others and studies all their tails.

Jackie blinks. “…Jack, huh? He flipped out about him earlier. Sensitive subject, I take it.”

Jamie deflates as Jack is brought up. He looks back to his brothers as if asking for permission.

Reaper Jackie sighs “…we might as well tell them.”

Jamie looks back at the others and signs slowly, “Our older brother Jack is… asleep. He has been for a long time. The white suits did something to him and… Anti was used by Alterra to protect him… as a weapon. But, he still loves Jack so much- we all do. It makes us sad that he is still asleep.”

Bro’s eyes widen, “…woah that’s… that’s insane.”

Alt feels a bit in his stomach. “Anti.. he was used as a weapon…? How?”

The merboys all look a bit uncomfortable. Finally reaper Jackie says “… mind control. They erased Anti’s memories of us and put these weird chips in his ears that made him obey them. But he’s- he’s better now! We saved him from that.”

“Oh,” Jackie says quietly. “I-I’m um… I’m sorry about your brother.”

“Fucking mind control,” Schneep mutters. “I have dealt with a…similar situation with a friend of mine.”

JJ sighs. He nods. Me too. We’ve all had to deal with that in my home.

“Lotsa fucking mind control out there, isn’t there?” Jackie says.

Alt looks angry at hearing what happened to his counterpart, his tail flickering and a few zaps of electricity coming off him. Bro gets zapped and he yelps. “Ow Alt! careful!”

Alt blinks and then looks at his fins and tries to shake out the electricity. “ah sorry…”

“I-it is good that you are all past that, though,” Schneep says, smiling a little. “I suppose that makes sense why Anti was not trusting of us.”

Jackie pauses for a moment, giving the news the respect it deserves before moving on. “Well. Uh… This is where you guys live, then?” Jackie says, gesturing at the base. “Cool. I’m guessing you guys can’t actually go inside. Cause like… you’d need legs and stuff. But this is where those Ocean’s Arms guys live? They’re, uh… your friends?”

Mer-Jackie laughs, “We don’t live here! Our family has a cave together in the shallows! But, Henrik stays here mostly- he has a neat little cave he made for himself to hide all his scrap!”

Henrik blushes a little and flicks his tail. “… we all spilt up for a bit but we are… coming back together.”

Jamie smiles, “yes the base has our friends! The Ocean’s Arms saved my brothers from lots of things so now they make it so we feel safe here. They take care of Jack and! They made it so we can travel inside- in fact I think Marvin, Chase and Anti are inside if you’d like to meet them!”

“Coming back together, huh?” Jackie repeats. For a moment, he looks thoughtful. Then he shakes his head and smiles at the hybrids. “Yeah, we can go meet them.”

JJ nods excitedly. He wonders what the others will look like! The fish seem to have some crazy variations here!

Schneep chuckles. “I am glad of that. Everyone should have a place where they feel safe. We would love to meet your brothers. Ah, how do we get in?”

Reaper Jackie grins and flicks his tail. "Just follow us!" He dives down towards the base with Henrik and Jamie following closely after him. Alt and Bro follow after them.

Jackie quickly chases after the rest of the group, while JJ and Schneep are a bit slower.

As they approach the base, they suddenly notice the tubes have a couple entrances into the water, which the merboys slip easily inside. Alt looks a bit apprehensive about going inside but Bro helps him in.

"... these are a bit tight..." Alt mutters.

Henrik laughs, " A bit- you get used to them. These designs were made for tinier fish but they make it work!"

"Honestly I prefer this," Schneep mutters. "Less options for places to go--and nowhere for the fish to jump out at me—"

JJ laughs. You weren't hurt by running into all those fish, were you?

"I think the fish were more hurt, actually."

Jackie taps the tube walls as they go along—sometimes unintentionally hitting them with his mandibles. He wonders if people can hear that on the other side.

They swim for a bit in dizzying circles before stopping inside a larger aquarium tank that flanks an inner most hallway. There is another hybrid with bright yellow green hair, a large blue speckled tail with bright orange fins and even orange appendages that stick out from his back. He also has wings like JJ's attached to his arms with bright blue edges. He seems to be sitting in the sand, talking animatedly to... a couple kids?

Jamie swims over first and tackle hugs the new hybrid. He yelps in surprise and then laughs, hugging him back. "Oh hi Jamie! The kids were wondering where you went!"

Jamie beams and waves at the kids. There's a tiny brunette boy with- what looks like a prosthetic leg. And a tinier blonde girl with her hair in pig tails. And she's holding an almost holographic looking device in her hands. When she sees Jamie she lights up and starts rapidly typing on the pad. A robotic voice calls out, "Hello Jamie! Welcome back!" Jamie giggles and then tugs on the hybrid's arm to try to get him to get up. The older hybrid laughs, "What's got your tails twisted, Jay??"

The hybrid then looks up at the approaching group of new hybirds and freezes. Especially as he meets Bro's eyes. "oh... woah..."

The little boy gasps, "More hybrids?! I-I didn't know they were more!"

Mer Jackie laughs, "They're... kinda new? But also- kinda human? It's... super weird."

Henrik smiles, "Everyone, this is Chase. Our eldest brother."

Chase spurs up to look at the others higher in the water. "Uh... h-hello..." He stares at them apprehensively and a bit guarded, pushing Jamie behind him. The smaller merman huffs a bit. "Who... are all of you exactly...?"

"Uh... hi." Jackie waves a little at the kids. "And... hello to you, Chase."

JJ also waves, much more enthusiastically. How cute! The friendly blonde girl sort of reminds him of his Jackie's daughter—though they look nothing alike.

"This is going to sound very unbelievable," Schneep says. "But we have the same names as your group. I am Schneep, for example."

"And I'm Jackie," Jackie says. "This is JJ, Chase, and Anti—but he prefers Alt."

"You sound a bit nervous," Schneep mutters. "I... suppose that is understandable. But we are not here to do anything. It is a long story, how we even ended up here."

Bro waves awkwardly, "Uh yeah I... I'm also Chase..."

Chase stares at his copy. "...you look just like me..."

"Uh... yeah." Bro agrees. "Even got the same hair~"

Chase's eyes narrow and he bares surprisingly sharp teeth at the others, eyes flitting around a bit wildly. "S-So what is this? Is this a trick from Alterra?! D-Did they make you all t-to replace us?"

"H-Hey Chase calm down bro! I-It's not like that!" Reaper Jackie tries to say.

Jackie holds his arms up, showing that he has no intent to harm though—though he's aware that it might look like he's concealing something inside their bundle of clothes. "We're really not here to hurt you. We've never even heard of Alterra before we arrived here!"

"Y-Yes they are... they are human, but they are not Alterran!" Henrik adds.

Chase quiets down but still seems defensive. "...where did you all come from then? W-Why are you hybrids-"

Alt swims a bit forward, "Um... I know it doesn't make much sense to you but... I'm a magician! I can cause... strange things to happen by just- thinking about it and I... I knew a way to let us come underwater since there wasn't much for us on land."

"and if they are lost... I think Danan and Zara can help them find a way back to where they are from," Henrik adds.

Chase hums in thought, still warily looking at Bro but seems to relax a bit. "... okay uh... w-welcome then..." Jamie swims up and hugs Chase's middle, both to show the others he means no harm and to comfort Chase.

"Thank you for the welcome." Schneep smiles in Chase's direction. "It is nice to hear. Things were very confusing back when your brothers first met us. Hopefully we can take care of things quickly."

JJ nods. It's good to meet you—even if I know it might be confusing.

"JJ says it's good to meet you, even though it's probably confusing," Jackie relays.

Bro tries to smile encouragingly at Chase.

Chase seems to fully take in the way JJ signs and looks at Jamie behind him. "... he does the hand thing that Ollie taught you." Jamie nods excitedly. Chase seems to hum and then looks back at JJ. "... Henrik and another blue suit made the robot that Jamie is using to talk... maybe they can make one for you too? Just so we can understand you..."

Alt's eyes sparkle as he looks to Henrik, "You made that robot??"

Henrik flushes more and nods, "With some help... M-Marvin helped me to draw it and Tessie put the ideas i-into the fabricator... it can make anything so... w-we could make another..."

JJ’s eyes light up and he nods eagerly. That would be so helpful! Can they make one so fast? Well, this is supposed to be the future, isn’t it? That would make sense.

Schneep clears his throat. "Your Jackie and Henrik mentioned those two. Danan and Zara. They are... friends of yours?"

Mer Jackie swims up and nods excitedly to Schneep, "Yeah! They're our friends! Danan is a former scientist with the white suits but she left to form this place! Cuz she wanted to take care of us but also let us be free! And Zara- well... she realized she was doing bad stuff and left to help us too! Now she's like- one of my best friends."

Chase smirks, "More than friends, I'd say."

"Huh?? What's that supposed to mean??" The reaper screeches, face getting red.

Jamie looks up and then makes kissing faces at mer-Jackie. The reaper shrieks in response and tackles Jamie to the ground and the two start to wrestle. Henrik and Chase don't seem phased by this but they do laugh.

Jackie grins. “Ah… reminds me of a friend of mine who constantly teased me about my dating life. His name is Chase, too.” He shakes his head. “Still can’t believe he figured out Frederick was my boyfriend before we told him…”

JJ blinks at him. You know, in my world you’re married to a lovely person named Rama.

“Really? Never met anyone with that name. Glad he’s happy with them, though.”

Alt looks over at Jackie with wide eyes and then swims over, looking excited, "You guys got together?! Thank god! Dude you were sooo obvious the last time I was there!"

“Wh—sh-shut up, I was not!” Jackie protests.

JJ laughs. If you’re anything like my Jackie, you were.

“Oh yes, same,” Schneep says. “The Jackie I know is not dating anyone right now—the whole… situation kind of interfered with that—but in the past, when he did—”

“You all are so mean to me,” Jackie whines.

"You're one to talk Alt," Bro snickers, "Sounds like there's another doppelganger of your boyfriend here if I'm guessing right."

Alt shuts up as his face turns red. "y-you don't know that... m-maybe its just... similar names!"

Bro rolls his eyes and then looks at Mer Jackie. "In our world you- I mean... our Jackie is married to someone named Zara. They have 3 kids together."

Reaper Jackie seems to short circuit. "k-kids?!" His face becomes as red as his hood.

The rest of the merboys laugh. Alt and Bro also burst into laughter at the other boys' banter.

Jackie laughs as well. “Yeah, I know, right? I can’t see it for myself, personally. Kids, I mean.”

"Anyways- Danan knows a lot about this kinda stuff. More than we would. If you guys... don't know Alterra and got lost here, she can probably help." Chase explains.

Schneep clears his throat. “In any case, yes, we would love to meet Danan. She sounds wonderful.”

Henrik swims up back towards the tubes, "Come- we can stop by the lab first to get a device for JJ. Maybe Danan will be nearby!"

“Ooo, ‘the lab,’” Schneep repeats, eyes lighting up—literally, irises turning turquoise. “That sounds fascinating. Well, lead the way, then! Ah, if you want to, of course.”

Henrik smiles, "Of course! Follow me." And he swims back up into the tubes. The others start to follow. Jackie follows after Henrik immediately, and Schneep isn't far behind. But JJ lingers, waiting for everyone. Chase swims down and meets back up with the kids. "I think my brothers need me anddd your mom is probably looking for you." He laughs and pokes the glass. "Don't get into more trouble, okay? "

"Awww okay Chase." The boy whines. Chase chuckles, "Don't be sad, Grayson. We'll catch up later okay?" The girl perks up and types out another message. "Bye Chase! Love you!" Chase blinks and blushes a bit before smiling warmly, "Yeah... bye Skylar..."

Grayson grabs Skylar's hand and starts to lead her back down the hall and Skye leans back to keep waving at Chase. Chase floats there for a second waving after them before sighing and following after the others.

JJ smiles as he sees Chase's interaction with the kids. He doesn't know a Chase in his world... but if he's anything like Bro and this Chase, he must be kind. And yet, as that thought comes to him, something bad lingers at the back of his mind. Why does he feel... dread? His smile fades and he shakes it off, following everyone else into the tube system.

The tubes lead into a few more confusing circles before they wind up in a green tinted room. It's filled to the brim with gadgets and materials, fabricators lining the walls and bigger machines in the corners. A workbench-like table is set up in the middle and even though this place looks like it’s made more for humans, it’s filled with water on the inside. Inside curled up in the corner is a bundle of purple.

"Oooo." Jackie looks around. More scifi shit.

Jamie seems excited and swims forward, "Marvin!" He quietly greets.

The purple thing jumps- and a bunch of metal starts to float around it, caught in a blue light that reflects in its eyes. Upon closer look- it's another hybrid! But this one seems closer to JJ- in which his tails are see-through, you can see his inner organs inside his chest and he has two tentacle-like legs. A purple armored cape hangs around his shoulders that end in tentacle-like tails too. He has bright green hair that is quite long compared to the others, pulled back into a ponytail by a bright blue ribbon. And most notable at all, he has a white cat mask on his face, a strange red symbol in the middle.

Reaper Jackie swims up next and grins, "Marv! I wondered where ya were!"

Schneep lingers near the wall, pressing a hand to the glass. There's someone else in here. He can feel them even before Reaper Jackie calls out his name. Marvin, huh?

JJ grins widely, flapping his arms and causing the attached wings to flutter. This place is so cool! Oh, and another Marvin! A nice one, he hopes--feels like he's the only one who has a nice Marvin. This one has cool powers!

"y-yeah h-hi...?" Marvin mumbles out nervously, "I was just... I..."

"You were trying out those new powers of yours, yes?" Henrik supplies. Marvin sheepishly nods. Then, he seems to notice the new people and he yells, throwing out a hand and sending bits of glowing metal junk hurtling towards through the water.

"Holy shit!" Jackie starts to dodge the junk but a big bit hits him in the stomach, sending him flying back. JJ isn't as fast and takes two blows, one to the chest and one to the tail. Schneep immediately tenses when he hears Marvin yell and the whoosh of water. He instinctively leaps to the side, but he doesn't quite get out of the way and a sharp bit of metal cuts his upper arm. "Motherfucker!" Schneep curses. "We mean you no harm!"

Alt and Bro try to dodge- But Bro gets hit across his cheek and he holds it with a yelp. "Ow! Jesus!" Alt almost manages to glitch out of the way- only to be disoriented by glitching in water which feels weird and actually kinda hurts! So he gets hit by another piece that hit him in the chest. He oomfs and tumbles back in a bit of somersault before he rights himself.

"Stay back!" Marvin hisses, holding out his hand as more objects lift up in the water, glowing like the blue light in his eyes that starts to shift to a hot pink. "I-I don't know who you guys are but-!" He gasps a bit as he sees Alt glitch though and the objects all float back down as the power dies down. He appears next to Alt in a circle of purple and blue magic and gets right up in his face. "Y-You... you warped! H-How?? How did you do that? Y-You're not a warper!"

"A-A what?!" Alt stammers out, nervous now that Marvin is in his face. That shade of purple is... luckily not like Mag's. But, it's too close for comfort.

Marvin swims back with wide panicked eyes and behind all the human-hybrids a pull is felt. But- it's not like the rifts- this one is glowing and swirling with pink and blue like a whirlpool. "I-I dunno what you are but! G-Get away from my brothers!" Marvin shouts.

"Really! We're not here to hurt you!" Jackie holds his hands up--then spins around as the pull appears behind them. JJ gasps in surprise. A whirlpool?! Schneep immediately latches onto the closest person—who turns out to be Jackie—and braces himself to be sucked in.

Then, Mer-Jackie tackles Marvin and the warp gate behind them bursts into bubbles as the concentration is broken. "M-Marv! It's okay! They're with us!"

JJ shakes his head, also raising his hands, and tries to look as harmless as possible.

"I said we're not here to hurt you," Jackie mutters.

The rest of the merboys come over and try to explain, kneeling down by Marvin.

"Friends!" Jamie emphasizes.

"I-I still don't get it but i-I Think they're harmless..." Chase adds.

"We are trying to help them, Marvin, but we will not let them hurt you...!" Henrik says gently.

Marvin still seems freaked as he looks up towards the human strangers. "W-Who are you?"

"um- I'm Alt, if that helps..." Alt speaks up. "And t-this is my brother... Chase."

Bro waves, "You guys can call me Bro though if you want... s'easier."

"I... think this will be very strange for you to hear," Schneep says slowly. "But I am Schneep, and this is Jackie and JJ."

"Hi." Jackie tries for a smile.

Marvin's eyes widen as he hears their names and looks at all his brothers with a bit of distress. Reaper Jackie gives him a tight smile. "Yeah... it's weird I know but... I just think they're lost. And they have like weird powers which is why they're hybrids too. Alterra didn't make em..."

JJ swims over towards Jackie and Schneep, holding onto Schneep's arm. A bit of blue magic wipes away the cut on his arm. Is anyone else hurt? he asks.

"I'm fine... just got my breath knocked out of me," Jackie says, looking down at his stomach where the junk hit him. He might have a bruise there later.

Marvin still looks a bit guarded but that goes out the window as he sees the blue magic and how JJ healed Schneep. He swims over and then pulls on Schneep's arm and then lifts it up like he can see where the cut went. He looks at JJ with wide eyes. "H-How did you do that??"

The other merboys also look fascinated by this and swim a bit closer.

Schneep stiffens a little, but he doesn't pull away as Marvin grabs his arm. JJ notices, though. He smiles at Marvin and gently pulls his hand away from Schneep. Magic, JJ says.

"He says it's magic," Jackie says. "That's some of those weird powers your Jackie mentioned."

Bro timidly raises his hand and points to his cheek, "...if you wanna show them more, J."

JJ looks at Bro and nods. He puts his hand on his face, next to the scrape, and similar blue magic heals it away. He then pulls away, shaking his head slightly. I can't do it forever. I have a limited amount of energy. So I think I'll save it for emergencies for now. Jackie repeats this for the hybrids.

Alt looks at JJ with worry. "Do you need anything to fuel your magic like I do? M-Maybe some food will help..."

JJ looks at Alt. Time and rest, is usually all I need. But food does help. I like thinking of it as a stamina bar in a video game. It recharges slowly but there are items to help fill it.

Alt laughs with JJ, "I like thinking of it that way too!"

"Magic?" Marvin's eyes shine a little bit then he giggles a bit shyly, "...i've always liked that word. .. it's how it feels to make my warp gates... you know? Making something out of nothing..."

Henrik notices the boys having to translate for JJ and hurries down to one of the fabricators, bringing up a hologram menu and clicking around on it. After finding the right plans he beams then swims around to collect the materials. He sets down the right ones and sets the machine to create. Two beams of light start to create the base of a fish robot like Jamie's. Henrik hurries over to another and makes the gloves that go with.

Schneep hears Henrik working around and swims closer, trying to figure out what's happening just by the sounds. He grins. This seems so interesting. Even just the noises are cool.

Alt can't help but be fascinated as he sees the machines create stuff- so much so that his tail starts sparking again. "Woah! Oh my god that's so fucking cool?! How is it doing that??"

"Oh uh... I dunno." Henrik says.

"Oh oh! Zara says it has something to do withhh rearranging maffer." Mer-Jackie says.

"It rearranges matter at the atomic level," Marvin says almost robotically, a bit of pink appearing in his eyes. "It was the catalyst behind the great expansion, and remains the backbone of the modern world." He shakes himself out. "It uh- makes stuff from other stuff."

The merboys look at Marvin weirdly.

Jackie frowns. "I'm guessing you didn't mean to say that," he mutters.

"...he's doing that fancy talking thing again," Reaper Jackie mutters. Chase laughs and ruffles Marvin's hair, "Kinda nice I'm not the know it all anymore!"

Marvin swats them with his tails. "I-I am not! Besides- Schneep is the know-it-all!"

"Yes, but I did not know that." Henrik laughs. He does give Marvin a look, something that holds a bit of concern.

Schneep turns his face towards Marvin again. "I am guessing you quoted something? It did not sound like your voice at all. Ah, I mean your personality—I assume, I mean." He tilts his head. "Rearrange matter at the atomic level... that must take an incredible amount of power. Yet this room does not seem so big. And I think the others would have mentioned it if you saw a huge power plant nearby. Oooo, how incredible it must be, then! The technology you could have that is possible but only limited by power—" He grins excitedly.

Jackie sighs. "All this science and magic stuff flies right by me. I mean... it's cool. But still." He rolls onto his back, floating with his hands behind his head.

Bro laughs with Jackie and nudges him, "dude me too- I don't get a lick of this stuff."

Marvin looks freaked out and backs up some. "I-I uh... I-I..." His eyes have a bit of pink in them again and he stiffens a bit, "T-There's multiple power sources on the planet. We are on top of a super volcano which provides thermal power the lower you go. Or Solar power which runs this base. Power Transmitters can use both solar and thermal power to power a single seabas-" He then shudders and swims backwards, holding his hands to his chest. He looks scared. "S-Sorry- sorry-" Jamie swims over and tries to hug Marvin- Marvin is stiff at first but slowly lets him.

Schneep faces Marvin again as he speaks some more. "N... no, I am sorry, for making that happen," he says quietly. He's curious, but he doesn't want Marvin to be seemingly taken over by whatever this is. Still, he's not the best at comfort, so he stays silent and lets Jamie take care of it.

"I-It's... fine." Marvin grumbles, "I'm t-trying to learn how to c-control it... sorry..."

Henrik grabs the new objects and hands them to JJ. "Here- put on these gloves... and then try to sign something. The robot should translate out loud for you. I have it set to have the same voice as Jamie's."

JJ's eyes light up. He puts the gloves on, making sure they're secure, then signs, Thank you. Can you understand me now?

The robot fish powers on and swims around JJ, partially translating. "Thank- you understand?"

"Huh... guess it's still struggling with BSL..." Alt mumbles.

"BSL? I've heard of that!" A new figure appears in the lab, and she has black hair bundled back into a ponytail and- oh she's human! She's in a blue and black dive suit with a strange symbol on her shoulder glowing blue and white. She also has purple eyes. Bro and Alt seem to recognize her immediately and stare a bit in dumbfounded awe. She's... younger than the Zara they know but- definitely Zara.

Mer-Jackie perks up and swims over to throw his arms around the woman. "Zara!! Hi!!"

The others turn to look at Zara—or, Schneep faces her. She's not familiar to the three of them, but Jackie does blink in surprise. So the Jackieboy from Bro and Alt's world is married to someone like that? ...well she is cute. Maybe if he'd never met Frederick he would've found her cuter, but he can understand it. He laughs a bit at mer-Jackie's excitement.

Zara laughs and hugs Jackie back, "Hey you!" She then blinks and realizes how many hybirds are in the room. "Woahhh- I knew our scanners picked up new lifeforms in the system but... wasn't expecting this..." She then grins and goes to swim over to grab JJ's fish robot. "Lemme try to fix this for ya though before we do intros!" She takes out a tool from a small bag tied to her leg and opens up a panel on the side of the fish. A small hologram menu shows up again and she scrolls through the options before she beams. "ah ha! Here it is!" She selects it and closes the panel before gesturing for JJ to try again. "Give it another try!"

JJ looks down at his gloves and tries signing again. Hello! It's nice to meet you. All of you.

The robot repeats his words back perfectly. The merboys all perk up and smiles. "Yay! We can understand you now!!" Mer Jackie says excitedly. Jamie swims around JJ in circles, giggling. "New friend! New sign friend!" His robot says.

Alt and Bro look relieved too and smile at JJ. Zara giggles, "Sorry it's usually set to Trans-Universal- BSL is like ancient now but some people still use it!"

Alt smiles at Zara, "I'm Alt- this is Chase." Bro waves.

Schneep nods. "Nice to meet you, Zara. This is going to sound very strange, but I am Schneep, and this is Jackie, JJ, Chase, and Alt. We are... ah..."

"We're from another universe," Jackie says bluntly. The others turn to face him, surprised, and he shrugs. "What? I got tired of dancing around it. Technically we're from other universes, actually."

Zara starts to smile at first but her face falls a bit and her eyes widen. "What...? a... different universe? Different universes?" She emphasizes looking shocked. "you're... all not even from this star system?"

"We're not even from this... plane of existence." Alt answers, rubbing his arm. "Like... good example- what year is it here? For us... it's 2020. Or for me and Chase- I mean Bro at least."

"WHAT?!" Zara exclaims in pure shock.

JJ nods slowly. Well actually it's 2019 in my world.

"Oh same," Jackie says.

"In mine, too," Schneep says.

Really? What month is it for you? It's March for us.

"January," Schneep answers, and at the same time Jackie says, "June."

"Oh you all are a year behind us- huh." Bro comments.

JJ looks at the hybrids. Sorry for not saying all this earlier. We weren't sure you would believe or understand us.

"Hell, I barely understood it, at first," Jackie says.

Schneep sighs. "And yet, you were so eager to share it."

"Honestly, I think it was rude for us to hide it."

"Well...Anti was very aggressive for us even mentioning our friends called Jack," Schneep says carefully. "Based on that, I was a bit hesitant."

"I'm not even sure I understand it..." Mer-Jackie says as he scratches his head. "The fuck is a universe?"

The merboys do all look a bit confused about this. Marvin grips at his head a bit but bites his lip to keep from saying anything.

"If you don't even know what a universe is, then... I am not sure how to describe it," Schneep says. "Think of it like... you have a piece of paper with a drawing on it. You copy the drawing, and on one you add some more details, but on the other you add different ones? Does that make sense at all?"

The merboys look even more confused. Well- except Marvin. He seems to understand the drawing analogy and nods. “Okay… I guess that makes sense.”

“Does it?” Henrik asks, making a face.

Zara still looks shocked, "I.. I can't believe that... h-here it's... 2232-"

"2232?!" Jackie inhales sharply. "Whoa... I-I guess it makes sense that time wouldn't line up perfectly... and that some worlds would be way ahead or way behind of the others.”

Alt sputters, "What?! t-that's insane-"

"As insane as you saying you're from another universe!! That's like- not in ours-"

"It's... parallel actually." Alt explains, "...that's why we all look similar or have similar names... in a way- we are some of you. Just... from somewhere different."

Chase makes a face, "How does that work? I.. I'm me- I'm not- not that guy!" He points at Bro.

Bro laughs nervously. "It's... complicated. But there's always ah... trends- similarities that tell us we're the same. B-Besides you know... looking like each other and having the same name."

I think that in a lot of ways that matter, we're not like you, JJ says. So... if it's easier for you, you can just think of us as a group of people who are kind of similar to your little family.

Chase nods to JJ, “y-yeah… you’re just… g-guys that look like us… that’s all.” He hugs his arms. “I-I don’t wanna think of it more beyond that…”

JJ smiles back at Chase. We'll leave it at that, then.

"Are you okay Ms. Zara?" Schneep asks. "You sound very shocked." He chuckles. "Though... that is understandable. It is very shocking."

Zara blinks at Schneep and then waves her hand. “Y-Yeah I’m just… trying to process all of this… like there’s a world- m-multiple worlds where these guys… don’t grow up here. In the past… that’s so crazy.” She laughs, “Do I even have a parallel in your worlds?”

“Uh… not in theirs,” Bro gestures to JJ, Jackie and Schneep. “But in mine and Alt’s? … yeah. You… you’re… a mum. And married to our friend, Jackie. Jackie Mann. But I think… is your last name uh… Caley? Cuz that was her maiden name.”

Zara’s face turns dark red and she holds her cheeks. “W-woah… god I… I’m way too young to be a mum!”

“To be fair our Zara is more of Bro’s age,” Alt laughs nervously.

“…there’s a universe where I… I get to be with Jackie and… have a family…?” She whispers, slowly smiling to herself.

"Yeah—and the kids are very cute," Jackie says, grinning. "I saw them for a bit when I popped into Alt and Bro's world. But I didn't see you." He pauses, thinking about what Bro said about Zara and their worlds. "Actually, maybe you do exist in our worlds? Our three. Maybe you exist, but we just don't know you?" He guesses. "It's a big world, after all. A whole planet—oh! Wait a second, by the way, is there even a planet Earth in this universe? Or did humans evolve on a different planet?"

"Perhaps it does?" Schneep says. "Alterra—the company name has 'terra' in it, and that is a word for Earth. It could be a very big coincidence that Alterra was called that—but perhaps not?"

Zara laughs, getting over her blush even if she glances at reaper Jackie who looks equally as flushed, hiding his face in his hood. “No you’re actually spot on! A lot of companies who went off into the further reaches of space came from earth of course, but Alterra was the only one bold enough to take its name. This is a planet far from Earth though. I’ve never even been near Earth- I was born here.” She explains, “We’re around a star called 4546 in the Ariadne Arm. This planet was the first found around 4546 so we call it 4546B. It’s a bit far from federation space but it’s more habitable than it was when it was rediscovered by Alterra almost a century ago. Right now Alterra’s trying to find… use of it. There’s lots of good resources and… well- ample places to experiment.”

Schneep makes a little "ooo"ing sound as Zara talks, and JJ swims closer, fascinated. But she lost Jackie the moment she confirmed that Earth existed.

“Those are… so many big words.” Bro mutters.

Zara laughs, “That sounds like something Jackie would say!” Mer-Jackie flicks his tail a bit in annoyance.

“I… I can’t believe we’re on a completely different planet…” Alt whispers in awe. “We’ve never managed to do that before.”

Zara blinks, “You’ve been to… other universes before?”

“Yeah! A ton! Me and Alt are like regular multiverse travelers now!” Bro grins.

"Not us, though." Jackie gestures at himself, Schneep, and JJ. "This is the first time I've been sucked into multiverse travel. Though—I guess I can't speak for you guys."

JJ shrugs. I got snapped to Alt and Bro's world one time, alone with some friends. But nothing since then.

Schneep shakes his head. "No, it is the same for me, Jackie, you are right." He pauses. "Though... one time, when I was getting used to my powers, I... ended up somewhere very strange. It is hard to describe... but it might have been outside my world." After a moment, he shakes his head again. "Don't ask me to go back there, though, I do not think I can. It was a freak accident... and very confusing."

"Well... what do we do now that we know more about this world?" Jackie looks at the others—mainly Alt and Bro, the experienced travelers. "We have these cool mermaid forms—hybrid forms, I guess. So I guess we could go anywhere? But... just, what do we do?"

“I… I dunno-“ Alt admits. “Honestly I was hoping… if this was future tech then… maybe they’d have a TRVLR like IRIS but… I don’t think they do.”

“Yeah sorry… none of those are ringing a bell.” Zara says softly.

Marvin seems to stiffen again and then clasps hands over his mouth. The merboys all look at him with confusion. “…do you know of something, Marvin?” Henrik asks.

Marvin tries to shake his head but then blurts out, his eyes going a bit pink again. “Sector Zero has an interplanetary phase gate hidden for Architect use-“

Zara’s eyes widen, “What?! A… a phase gate?!”

“Uhh- what’s a phase gate?” Bro asks.

"Ooooo, a phase gate," Schneep repeats, interested. "It sounds like some sort of... man-made wormhole."

Like from that movie Stargate! JJ says. He looks at the others. If you guys know what that is.

"I've vaguely heard of it, but I've never seen it," Jackie says.

“Yeah same- never was big on sci-fi movies.” Bro laughs.

“Phase gates are used for travel between sectors of space- they’re huge things used to teleport whole space crafts to other worlds. Sector Zero has that??” Zara gasps.

“The fuck is sector zero?!” Mer Jackie asks. Marvin almost seems to pale.

“It’s the arctic part of this planet outside the crater where we are now… I know there used to be researchers there a while ago but… that place gets abandoned a lot. It’s too cold.” Zara laughs lightly. Then she perks up and seems to realize what Jackie is. “oh!! That’s why you look so strange! You’re not a species from this side of the planet you’re a- a… oh what are they called?”

“A chelicerate.” Marvin supplies robotically before clasping his mouth shut again.

“Yeah!! That!” Zara beams. She swims around Jackie to admire him. “yeah! They’re like… the equivalent of reapers over there! That’s what my dad said at least- I think he and Zeke studied there for a bit!”

Jackie looks down at himself. "Oh. Huh." The mandibles snap again. "So... guess it's fitting that I turned into one, if this Jackie is part reaper. Parallels and shit."

Are you okay, Marvin? JJ asks, concerned. Do you need us to stop asking questions?

Marvin shakes his head. “I… it’s fine I just- h-hate that this k-keeps happening. I-It’s like my head fills with words and they don’t go away until I… I say them.”

“Danan did say it could be from your warper chip… warpers apparently are very smart.” Chase says.

Marvin grumbles. “I don’t wanna be smart… I don’t like being a… computer thing that just s-spews stuff out…” Jamie frowns and hugs Marvin around his shoulders.

Schneep frowns at the implications. Did they put a chip in Marvin’s head? Sure, the guys are experiments in this world, but something about that seems a bit too far even by those standards. "Unfortunately, I have another question that seems important," Schneep continues. "What does this phase gate have to do with the TRVLR thing, and IRIS? I see the connection between traveling through space and traveling through worlds, but... it is a different thing with a different purpose. And apparently made by a different company."

"And who the hell is Zeke?" Jackie asks.

Zara sighs, “Unfortunately… Zeke is my older brother. He’s… not a good guy. He’s the reason I left to stay here and… he tried to turn Marvin into a…a full time warper for him to use. And uh here- warpers are a type of like- mix of biology and tech… they were made by an ancient group of aliens that lived here like… a thousand years ago I think?” She shrugs, “The ones that live here are pretty harmless. Just- warping around, which is like teleporting. They’re Predators but they keep to themselves mostly. Not many are left cuz… they don’t reproduce and the Architects are gone So… Zeke thought Marvin was… fascinating.” Both Zara and Marvin shudder.

“Oh, so he’s an asshole,” Jackie says.

You can’t just call someone’s relative an asshole, even if they’re a bad person, JJ says.

“No no no, let him keep going,” Schneep says. See, that’s why he thought it was too far to put a chip in someone. Who knows how that could be taken advantage of? Even if these real warpers have tech, he can’t believe Alterra did that. Or—any of this, really.

Zara laughs, “No you’re right. He’s the biggest asshole. …but I think he just… got influenced by all the Alterans we worked with… I dunno. Part of me wants to… find some way to…” She shakes her head. “no… there’s no excusing what he did. But uh- speaking of the architects that brings me back to Schneep’s point. I.. I don’t know how a phase gate relates? I mean… they’re powerful… maybe there’s a way to set it to… different universes? I dunno… I don’t know many people here who work on that kinda tech. Most of us are like… Xeno-biologists or simple Alteran engineers.” Zara explains. “Besides I feel like if Alterra had that kind of knowledge they’d be advertising it like crazy. Those guys only care about research and money…”

“Hm… maybe Marvin simply got triggered to say that from hearing traveler?” Henrik suggests.

“Fuck if I know…” Marvin sighs, crossing his arms.

Alt hums, “…maybe we can try to see if we can like- work with a phase gate?”

“I dunno- those things are hugeee.” Zara says. “And still- no one here knows how to work them…”

“Hm… is there anything… smaller then? M-Maybe like- interacting with something like that could… I dunno- sense we’re not from here and send us home? Or like- I’m good with tech…maybe I could figure something out..”

Marvin stiffens again, “Similar technology is used in the Alien arches scattered across the crater. All connect to the Primary Containment facility.” He says robotically.

The merboys all gasp slightly. “T-That is where they had Jack and Anti…”

Alien technology… JJ repeats. It’d be exciting if the hybrids didn’t all have an immediate negative reaction to hearing about this containment facility. I’m going to guess the place is under the company’s control?

“Then it’s probably not safe to get too close,” Jackie says. “People like that would be fascinated with your guys’ magic.”

“But we still need to get home,” Schneep mutters.

“Yes but… the base there was also destroyed.” Henrik replies to JJ, adjusting his goggles. “I do not know if the containment was destroyed… but we also do not know if there are any… survivors down there.”

“It’s also not safe to go there cuz it’ll boil most of us alive.” Mer- Jackie says, “It’s down in the lava zone. Only Marvin and Anti can go down there without being fried.”

“Lava zone?!” Jackie gasps. “That would be so cool if it wasn’t able to kill us! Well—still kinda cool, I guess, but you know what I mean.”

Schneep frowns. He almost wants to ask what destroyed the base… but maybe later. He doesn’t want to get sidetracked.

Marvin’s eyes dim a bit and he answers a bit more quietly, “…I think A-Ant- Alt is onto something though… if similar tech exists in these arches then… t-they’re teleporters. Maybe there is a way to make the destination back towards your homes…”

“That is true… these humans do possess power that even the white suits do not have…” Henrik muses.

“And um… we don’t need to go to the lava zone… we can find one of the arches c-closer by I think…? I’ve… seen a few around.” Marvin says timidly.

“Oh yeah- isn’t there one in the mountains?” Chase says. “It’s that- freaky black diamond thing we sometimes race through.”

“Y-Yeah that’s it.”

I suppose it makes sense that there are closer ones, JJ says. If you have teleporting technology you would want to use it.

“…we should ask Danan,” Zara says. “She’s been researching on this planet longer than I have and might know more about this architect stuff.”

“Danan, right.” Jackie nods slowly. “If she’s in charge here, we should let her know we’re here, anyway.”

“Where is Danan?” Bro asks.

Zara sighs. “She’s taking care of Jack… which means well- you’ll be able to see Anti again because.. he’s there too. Doing his uh- guard thing.”

JJ tilts his head. You know, where I’m from, Jack is Anti’s cousin. They’re the only ones of us who are related.

“They’re pretty close where I’m from, too,” Jackie says. “I uh… don’t know how to describe it. They’re like best friends and family and a weird symbiotic relationship wrapped all into one.”

“Ha… weird. I got a friend named Jack back at home. He helps me make my music for shows.” Alt grins.

Schneep laughs nervously. “Well… that is fun to know. Anyway, should we head in that direction?” He doesn’t want to talk about his Jack and Anti.

The merboys shift a bit uncomfortably. “Jack and Anti have always been close… despite Jack being a bit older than him.” Chase says sadly. “But… now Anti hardly leaves Jack’s side… I think it’s cuz…”

“Cuz of what those white suit fucks did to him.” Reaper Jackie growls, digging his nails into his arms. “They made him their personal bodyguard to make sure Jack never escaped. But- heh, that backfired on them.” He grins.

The more I learn about Alterra the less I like them,” Schneep mutters. JJ and Jackie nod in agreement.

“Yeah just know he might be a bit… snippy, to put it lightly.” Zara says with a wince.

“Don’t worry though! We’ll protect ya!” Mer-Jackie says brightly.

Bro laughs, “I’m not worried dude- I think we can handle it. We’re all a pretty tough bunch.”

“Hey, I can handle a snippy Anti,” Jackie says. “The one I know is a dick. Good person, but a little mean.”

JJ chuckles. My Anti can be like that too. You have to get through the prickly outside.

“Yeah I think all Antis are like that- especially the good ones.” Bro laughs, nudging Alt. Alt glares a bit then flicks his tail at Bro giving him a tiny shock. Bro yelps then makes a face at Alt who only grins back. “What? You said I was prickly, prick.”

“Okay, I suppose that you should all go in front, then?” Schneep hurriedly says before anyone can notice him avoiding the topic of his Anti. “So that way he sees you first before us. I imagine we look quite shocking.”

“Your tail is transparent, by the way,” Jackie comments. “We can see the bones.”

“What?!” Schneep leans down and grabs onto his tail, but it feels like normal fish flesh to him.

The others all kinda hide their laughter. “Y-You didn’t know? You’re just like me actually.” Marvin tries to smile.

“Oh uh- Schneep is… blind.” Bro tells everyone. The ones who didn’t know eyes widen.

“Oh! Wow- you… don’t super act like it but that makes sense..” Zara says. “Good thing you got those tendrils though! I bet they help.”

“River Prowlers use their tendrils to lure in prey.” Marvin says with a twitch and then shudders.

“The extra limbs are helpful, yes,” Schneep says, one of the tendrils grabbing onto JJ’s arm. JJ looks at it a bit warily as Marvin makes that comment, but doesn’t pull away.

Mer-Jackie nods to Schneep, “Well you got the right idea other Schneep, we’ll head the group, c’mon!”

He quickly swims back up into the tubes, the rest of his brothers following after. Zara smiles at the rest of them before following.

“Oh, Zara’s coming with us?” Jackie says, surprised. “I, uh, hope we’re not interrupting anything.”

“I’m sure she knows what she’s doing,” Schneep says. “It will be nice to have someone to help explain.”

Thank you again for your help with the robot, by the way, JJ adds. Then they all follow the others, leaving in that order.

“Ha don’t worry! Hanging out with these guys is kinda my part time job now. ” Zara says with a wink. “Except better cuz I enjoy it! …and I don’t get paid regardless.” She laughs. “Plus it seems like you all need some more uh- human explanations. The boys are still- learning a bunch.”

Alt and Bro follow closely behind but Alt starts mumbling. “I wish I knew a spell that could like… I dunno… fix your vision or at least let you see temporary, Hen…”

“Hmm? Oh.” Schneep turns back towards him and smiles. “Thank you for the concern, Alt. It means a lot, truly. But you don’t have to go out of your way for me. There is a sadness that I lost my sight, but I have grown used to it. I have more accommodations than most blind people, since I can tell where people are, at least. I am mostly satisfied with my situation. I don’t think I need anything more.”

“Wow Schneep you’ve taken losing a whole sense with a lot of grace.” Bro smiles.

Alt frowns and holds his arms. “…I can’t imagine losing my vision. Maybe it’s just cuz I’m an artist but… I just… that terrifies me. I dunno how you do it.”

“I do wish you could see all this though,” Bro says quietly, looking outside the base as they cross through the glass tunnels. “All of this is… just insane.”

“Oh, well, it has not been easy, of course,” Schneep says. “I had to leave my job—hard to be a surgeon when you cannot see the patient. And there are many inconveniences. Even something like buying food can be difficult. Cannot read the labels, yes? But I am lucky to have had support in adjusting. My friends are always willing to help.”

Jackie looks back at him for a moment, thinking. “You… I’m glad they’re there for you,” he says softly.

Schneep nods. “I am very thankful for them.” He presses a hand to the glass wall of the tube. “But I am sad to be missing out on the view.”

We could describe it for you? JJ suggests.

Schneep laughs. “Give me the colors, if anything. I can figure out the rest with my other senses.”

Bro sighs, “Damn… going to medical school for so long and then having to stop… that majorly sucks.”

“Your friends are good ones though,” Alt smiles. Then he blinks and looks out the windows. “Well here it’s- it’s kinda green but I think that’s cuz there’s these tall kelp vines. You probably felt those. Most of the leaves are at the top of the water though so it kinda makes a canopy? So it’s a bit darker here… and there’s like these glowing fruit things on the vines so it’s all- glowing and shit.”

“Glowing…” Schneep repeats. He smiles. “It must be beautiful.”

#GITHV #glitch into the huffleverse #GITHV septnautical #alt anti #bro fantastic #stitched schneep #the jaunty jackson #inverted jackie #reaper jackie #cuddlefish jamie #stalker schneep #rabbit ray chase #warper marvin #zara caley #theres hints to stories ive been meaning to write in here-#and hints to the current BZ event! :D #septnautical #sorry it ends on an awkward place here!!

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huffle-dork · 1 year ago

Text

Glitch into the Hufflverse Chapter 10: Darker Seas

Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs | Read Septnautical | Darker Seas AU

Read SITCV | Read SATCV | GITHV Masterpost

The boys have been sleeping for a few hours when Anti suddenly crashes into the lab with a bit of pained cry and quickly scrambles over to try to wake up Schneep and JJ.

Schneep cries out and immediately lashes out. Luckily, JJ awakens first, and has enough wit to reach out and push Schneep's arm out of the way before he can punch Anti. "What?! Who?!" Schneep shouts. Then his soul sensing kicks in and he remembers who everyone is. "A-Anti? What is it?"

Are you okay?! JJ asks.

Blood is clouding the water around the jagged cut in one of Anti’s tails. He shoves his bag towards them that has a few peepers in it and says in a panic. “E-eat these and then we- you all need to go! I… I dunno how much time we have-“

JJ sits up straight. You're bleeding! I can help, if you want. Like I did earlier with Schneep.

Schneep feels out the peepers. Normally he's not the biggest fan of fish, but he's really hungry. "What happened? Did they—did they—" He sniffs. Is that... blood? "Did they find you? Did they hurt you?!"

Anti scrambles back a bit in fear with wide eyes, his tails shaking. “Y-Yeah I was h-hunting in the reefs and they just- s-showed up out of nowhere! The weird armored guy cut my tail I-I’m fine but stars… I-I might have led them straight here! I…I can’t let them find the others… I…!” He heaves in panic.

"Weird armor guy—Jackie?!" Schneep gasps. “Or Bro?!”

If we get out of here quickly, we can lure them away from the base, JJ says. We need to stop by and ask Zara about stuff but then we GO.

Schneep nods and immediately begins tearing into the peepers. Wow—that tastes good? Must be something based on this form. "We go now!" he says after a couple bites. "Eat on the way!"

JJ nods hurriedly.

“R-Right yeah let’s go-!” Anti says, speeding over to the hatch to the hallway to try to find Zara. The other two quickly follow after him.

Anti zips through the hallway and then finds Zara sitting in a cramped small lab space and bangs on the window. Zara startles and then looks up and hurries to open the hatch to her space. “Anti?! What’s wrong you- you’re bleeding!” She gasps.

"He says that the hybrids found him!" Schneep says. "And--at least one of them was our friend!"

Anti, really, I can help with that blood, JJ says.

Anti acknowledges JJ and nods, waving his hand. “uh yeah yeah sure!”

JJ nods, swimming over and gently placing a hand on Anti's tail just above his wound. A blue film covers the wound, cool and healing.

Anti stares at JJ’s magic with wide eyes before looking up at him and stammering out. “..t-thanks…”

JJ smiles back. Not a problem.

Schneep continues on. "W-we have to get out of here quickly before they follow to the base."

Zara gasps and scrambles through the hatch, pulling out the thing she was working on. “Okay uh- yeah you guys need to try to get out! W-we don’t have the defenses… but m-maybe this can help?” She hands the device to Schneep. It’s… like a small taser- “If you can get close to their ears- this might be enough to cancel the signal? I-If only for a moment… but that might be what you need.”

Schneep turns the device over in his hands. "Like a stun gun, I see. Or a taser, I suppose. Okay. I will be able to make much use of this. Thank you, Zara."

“O-Of course…” Zara says with a nervous smile. “I… I wish I could help more but I’d… I’d just slow you down so- go quickly.”

Anti then hesitates before going to hug Zara tightly. Zara is surprised but hugs him back. “In case I don’t… I don’t-“ he whispers in a bit of broken voice. Zara shakes her head. “you’ll come back… I know it. Now g-get out of here!”

Anti lets go and nods, hurrying back down the hall to open up the door to outside and rocketing out into the dark ocean around them.

Schneep hesitates before he follows JJ and Anti out of the base. He looks back at Zara. "We'll keep him safe," he says quietly. "I promise." Then he turns and chases after the other two.

Zara smiles and nods. “Thank you… good luck.”

Once outside, Anti hurries as fast as his tails will take him. He constantly looks back behind him to check for a sight of the others. He starts to pale as he remembers. “S-Shit! Most of those guys don’t glow! M-Marvin is with him though so… l-look out for any sign of something blue!”

"Ah, Anti, i-if you are worried about them sneaking up on us, I can keep a look out," Schneep says. "My eyes are blind, but... I have the ability to know when people are nearby."

How close do they have to be for that? JJ asks.

Schneep frowns. "I... am not sure, actually."

Well, keep your senses sharp, anyway, JJ says. I'll look out for the blue glow. I think the ends of Alt's spike things also glow a bit.

“Right… o-okay good. That’s good… keep your… senses peeled or whatever.” Anti says to Schneep. “Y-Yeah… the ampeel guy…” He mumbles, shuddering. “…he… he looked like me. You guys said y-you’re like my brothers if they were from a different world… i-is he…?”

JJ nods. Yes. He prefers being called Alt, but his name is Anti. He spells out the names, the fish robot picking up on it and saying the names as they should be said.

“I… I see. Alt…” he tries out the name.

"He and the boneshark, Bro—Chase—are the only real brothers between us," Schneep says. "The rest of us are from somewhere else. They are... quite close."

“Heh… weird to think of all of us… not being brothers…” Anti says quietly. “Though we uh… haven’t been for… for a bit. I… I miss Chase. They don’t let him leave HQ with the others much… precious collateral and all… he was the first hybrid they ever made…” He laughs bitterly.

JJ's expression darkens. Collateral, he repeats bitterly. I don't have experience with Alterra, but I know a different company that would do something like that.

"I am truly so sorry, Anti," Schneep says. "I... know what it is like... to miss Chase—though, my Chase is different than yours, of course. There was a period of time in my home when... he was pulled away from the rest of us. Made into something different." He shakes his head. "B-but... we... we freed him after time. Or, the rest of my friends did, I was also out of commission at that point." He laughs drily.

“…thanks…” Anti says shortly. He then laughs a bit. “… it’s been a bit since I was around someone who felt like they… get this. I know Google feels it cuz of…” He swallows and his head, “…I don’t think Zara and Danan really understand though… this ache. I miss them so much it hurts.”

He starts to swim up, not looking back as much as the cavern gets a bit lighter. “…sometimes on bad nights… I’d think of just going to find them…joining them just so it wouldn’t hurt as much….” He laughs bitterly again. “…they’d kill me for that though. A-Actual them… who they were.”

JJ shakes his head. You’re right, they wouldn’t want that for you. Not to mention what would all these humans do? You’re clearly a great help to them.

Schneep nods. “It’s okay to miss them. But don’t throw your life away for that. They would want you to live free—” He suddenly stops. “Do you hear that?”

Below them- something flickers in the darkness- sparks of blue and the sound of a distant roar.

JJ looks down into the darkness with wide eyes. That must be them! Anti—which ones were they? How many?!

Anti freezes, looking back with wide eyes too. “Shit! U-uh- I think all 3 of your friends and m-Marvin-! I-I dunno for how long that’ll be though… m-Marvin could have warped the others here-! O-or maybe he’s waiting until-“ He swallows shakily and looks around then darts towards another tunnel. “C-C’mon! Let’s make it to open water at least!”

“All of them?!” Schneep repeats. “Well—at least we won’t have to go into the headquarters to find them.” He swims hurriedly after Anti but JJ hesitates for a moment, wanting to be sure that the hybrids are following them and not going towards the base.

“Y-Yeah you two wouldn’t be able to survive down there…” Anti stops when he sees JJ stop and is about to ask what he’s doing when his eyes widen. His blood trail ended at the base! He scrambles back out past JJ and takes in a huge breath before letting a fireball sail through the open water and hit a stalagmite with a big crash. “HEY FUCKERS!!” He yells afterwards, “CANT CATCH MEEEE!!” His voice echoes through the cavern and then they hear a familiar roar of anger… it sounds like Bro. though it sounds more animalistic and feral than anything Schneep and JJ have heard before.

“Okay now we swim!” Anti says hurriedly and starts swimming back through the tunnel.

“Swimming!” Schneep says, hurrying into the tunnel, tendrils tracing the sides. JJ darts after him, some instinctual part of his brain telling him that the sound meant danger.

“W-was that really—them?” Schneep says, shaken. “That sound—”

There’s another sound just as he says that, a different one. A horrible screech that sounds almost human but mostly animalistic and aggressive. JJ stops for a moment, disoriented, and one of Schneep’s tendrils reaches back and grabs him, pulling him along.

“Don’t stop! I-I know you’ll wanna but I-it’ll be easier to fight out in the open!” Anti pants.

Early morning light shines through the exit and they just about make it to the surface- then AE-10 glitches right in front of them. He regards them coldly, blocking off their path as his tail crackles with electricity. Also leaving them vulnerable for CE-9 and BS-8 to attack them from behind.

“You will not escape this time SD-4.” AE’s static laced voice drones through his radio. “Make this easier on yourself and give in.” His eyes flicker to JJ and Schneep- but there’s no recognition in his alien looking eyes. “You two as well. Alterra has you slated for assimilation.”

JJ swims back, a look of horror on his face. Alt? What have they done to you? That horrible mask!

AE-10's eyes flicker a bit at hearing that name... and he tilts his head in confusion.

“I do not think we can reason with him in this state,” Schneep says. His eyes narrow, sclera turning black. “The only thing we can do is—” And without warning he leaps forward, suddenly right in front of Alt as he attempts to tackle him to the ground or out of the tunnel.

AE doesn't expect Schneep to suddenly appear before him and his eyes widen before he's tackled to the ground. His radio makes a static screech that sounds like AE yelling in surprise but more corrupted. He narrows his eyes at Schneep and then tries to hide his tail against him to shock him.

Schneep shrieks as the electricity courses through him, instinctively letting go and backing up. But with Alt out of the way there's enough room for Anti and JJ to get out.

Anti meanwhile grabs JJ and tries to swim past them out of the tunnel- hearing aggressive roars closing in.

JJ glances back over his shoulder and throws magic back down the tunnel, blocking it off with a crystalline wall. It won't stop them forever but it might get them time to deal with Alt before the others show up.

There’s a loud roar- and then a crash as BS-8 crashes headfirst into the crystalline wall, a small crack forming in it- but not enough to break it. He blinks in mild confusion and pats the surface to see what the hell it is.

JJ glances over his shoulder, worried, as Bro cracks the wall.

"Verdammt!" Schneep curses, shaking himself off. "Guess who can do that too," he says through gritted teeth, and lunges forward again, pointing Zara's device at Alt.

AE-10 rolls over to push himself back up in the water. His eyes widen as he sees the device but he quickly glitches away. “What is that thing?!” he growls.

"Get closer and you'll see," Schneep says, lunging forward again.

AE-10 jerks back and then catches Schneep’s hand before he can get any closer- but AE stopped his hand just before it reached his neck/ear. The crackling of the tool seems to cause a reaction as AE’s grip loosens slightly and his eyes shift for a second back to normal.

“S-Schneep?” Alt breathes, sounding scared.

Then, his gauges shock him and AE stiffens holding on tighter to Schneep before tossing him away. “D-Do not try that again!” AE-10 snarls.

Behind BS-8, CE-9 runs right into him, pushing him into the wall some more. He backs up, just as confused as him. Then makes a low shrieking sound in his throat as he charges at the wall again. It shatters immediately, and JJ whirls around, surprised and a bit afraid. That should have lasted at least a little longer!

Once the barrier is broken Anti scrambles back and tries to grab JJ- but BS-8 roars and heads straight for JJ- trying to tackle him into the sand.

Schneep doesn't even have time to respond to Alt before being tossed to the side, spinning through the water for a while before he regains his balance. He shakes his head, a bit disoriented—but he knows what he heard there. "Hold on, Alt," he whispers. Then he turns to the side. "JJ!"

But JJ is too busy dodging Bro's attack to respond. He manages to avoid being caught but can't slowly down enough to sign. He makes a whistling sound to let Schneep knows he's listening.

"We have to work together!" Schneep says, lunging for Alt again, tendrils flaring out.

BS-8 crashes into the sand and spits it out before giggling sinisterly and turning on JJ. “Yer slippery aren’t ya?” He laughs darkly before lashing back out at JJ with teeth and claws.

Meanwhile, CE-9 recovers from hitting the wall and charges at Anti, screeching.

Anti dodges quickly, surging up higher in the water. He growls at CE-9 and blasts a fireball at him. CE-9 dodges, ducking to the ground. "No more fire! No more burning!" he shrieks. The words grow into a screeching roar as he charges at Anti again with mandibles out.

Anti cries out in slight fear and soars past CE-9’s charge overhead and laughs out, “I won’t if y-you just leave me alone!” CE-9 just snarls and screeches again, a completely feral look in his purple and white eye. He spins around and lashes out with his mandibles.

AE-10 grows claws and tries to slash at Schneep. Surprisingly, Schneep dodges easily—and when Alt's hands reach out, one of his tendrils wrap around them. "Stay still! Please! JJ!" He tries using the device again.

JJ dodges Bro again, head whipping over to Schneep and Alt. He rushes over—if Schneep's able to use the device again, maybe there will be an opening to take those ear things off!

BS-8 growls and rushes up to try to grab JJ and pull him back. “Hey! Yer fighting me small fry!” He snaps. JJ yelps as Bro grabs his tail. He looks down, eyes wide. And he mouths the word 'sorry' as he blasts dust-like sparkling magic right into his face. BS-8 is momentarily blinded but he just charges blindly and tries to bite onto JJ’s tail.

AE-10 panics slightly at being caught by Schneep’s tendril, especially when he tries to use the device again. He moves his head out of the way then tries to shock Schneep off, even if his eyes flicker with fear again.

Schneep cries out, muscles spasming, but he holds tight. "A-Alt! You have to listen to us! You don't want to do this! Y-you are not the type of person to hurt people anymore! Try to remember!"

AE-10’s hand trembles and he tries to pull himself out of Schneep’s hold. His eyes are wide as he shakes his head. “N-No- I… I’m-” He shudders and then glares at Schneep as his head twitches to the side. “I’m not a person. I’m a weapon. And I will serve Alterra.” He lashes out a clawed hand to try to cut himself out of Schneep’s grip.

Schneep screams as Alt's new claws dig into his tendrils—he wasn't expecting that to hurt! He pulls his tendrils back quickly, orange blood drifting through the water. JJ's head snaps towards him and he struggles out of Bro's grip, shooting through the water and aiming a magic blast at Alt.

Anti ducks and weaves out of the way of the mandibles and he giggles. “Jackie fights better with those things better than you!” He taunts.

CE-9 shrieks and roars, rage pushing him into a feral state. He continues to swim after Anti, trying to grab him. The only thought in his head is that Alterra wants SD-4, he needs to get SD-4.

Anti shudders, this feral state reminding him too much of fights with his brother. But… this isn’t his brother. And if he could see Jackie again right now… he growls and suddenly turns to grab CE-9 and pushes them both down into the ground, making a cloud of sand with the impact. He growls and digs his claws into CE’s shoulders and yells, “Fucking stop it! You’re not a tool for Alterra- they don’t give a fuck about you! They’re using you!! Wake the fuck up!!”

AE pushes back and is about ready to shock Schneep again- only to get blasted back by JJ’s magic, rolling over himself in the water- disoriented.

BS-8 yells and scrambles to try to grab JJ again. “yer no fun! Give me a better fucking fight, coward!”

Schneep breathes heavily, recovering from the pain while JJ dodges Bro again. "JJ! Hold Alt!" he shouts. "Your magic!"

JJ nods. He flings out a hand, blue magic whipping through the water, ribbons wrapping around Alt's torso and pinning his arms.

AE-10 makes a confused static noise through his speakers as he’s grabbed. He looks down at the magic and something sparks in his eyes. He then glitches out of the magic easily and a sinister laughs echoes out as he builds up magic in his hands. “I almost forgot… I can do that too-” He tries to send a bolt of lightning out at JJ.

BS-8 snarls ferally and changes course to try to grab Schneep.

JJ tries conjuring a shield but isn't fast enough and the lightning hits him, sending him back, flipping through the water. Meanwhile, Schneep dodges Bro's attack. "You are not really good at this, are you?" he says. "Not if the blind one can—" And he suddenly lunges back at Bro, aiming to use the device on him.

BS-8 snarls, baring his sharp teeth, “What do you know?! You won’t even fucking fight-!” He then yells out as Schneep plants the device right next to Bro’s ear. There’s a spark as the waves from the gauges are destroyed by the ones from the device- then a pop as the gauge starts to smoke and seems looser in BS’s ear.

Bro’s eyes snap back to his normal bright blue eyes as he gasps in pain, his back arching. Then he goes limp and falls back down to the sand in a heap.

Schneep hears the pop and reaches for the gauge. Once he feels where it is he starts to pull it free. The gauge is loose but still sort of stuck even if Schneep makes it a bit more loose. Bro makes a groaning sound and blearily tries to open his eyes, but they’re so unfocused. “S…Schneep…?” He whispers. Ugh… lifting his head makes him feel dizzy.

Schneep nods. "Yes. Are you okay?"

“ ‘m all… fuzzy…” Bro slurs, blinking dazedly. “What’s happenin’…?”

CE-9 shrieks and struggles against Anti in the sand. He feels his claws dig into his skin and glares at him. But the glare weakens a little. Why does this—why does this feel so familiar? This face—shouting at him—about how he's... wrong? His eyes flicker, turning normal blue. "...Anti?" he whispers. "What's... happening...?"

Anti blinks in surprise, jaw dropping. “I-it can be that easy?” He whispers.

But- CE-9’s gauges try to spark up to shock him back under.

Jackie screams, head flailing. His eyes flicker again back to that purple and white. "N-no! No! I can't—" Images and memories are flashing in his mind—but no! He's—he's a weapon, meant to serve Alterra—he's not supposed to care about anything else! "I d-don't want—I h-have to be better! I'm not a wea—I—Alterra, prey, prey—"

JJ recovers, glancing back over at Anti and Jackie. His eyes widen and he starts zooming over there. Anti! The ears! he says, his little robot shouting the words.

Anti’s head snaps to JJ and he looks down at Jackie as he fights. He sees the gauges and looks at his claws before trying to see if he can pry one of them off. “K-keep fighting!” He tries to encourage.

AE-10 sees his companions falling and the radio on his neck crackles loudly with static and angry growls. He goes to tackle JJ to try ground, claws flashing and eyes wild.

Jackie's eye rolls back in his head as he thrashes. Anti has a hard time holding him still for a moment, but after some effort, he pries a gauge free. Jackie cries out as his eye turns blue again and he suddenly goes still.

Anti pants as soon as the gauge is popped out and then falls back, watching Jackie wearily. They’ve never been able to remove these before… what’s gonna happen? Is it.. over?

JJ barely manages to dodge Alt's wild attack, claws just barely scraping by but not drawing blood. Now that Alt is close JJ tries something new. He reaches out to him and the temperature of the water around them suddenly drops, ice forming around Alt. He'll be able to glitch free of bonds, so he needs to hold him in place some other way. Maybe he can freeze his arms or something?!

AE-10 screeches in rage as the ice forms around him, making it hard for him to stay up and swim. He struggles to surge upwards as he starts to sink through the water, struggling and fighting as hard as he can.

Jackie's eyelid flutters. "Wh... what happened...? Anti...?" He looks, confused, at the face before him. "What happened to you eye-patch... and neck?"

Anti blinks at Jackie in confusion, “…the fuck are you talking about?”

Jackie blinks, then frowns. "S-sorry, I... thought you were someone else."

JJ grabs onto Alt, pulling him downwards. Then he lets go and looks back at the others, signing, Schneep! The device!

Schneep looks back at him and nods. "Hold on tight, Bro," he says, and then leaps away, reappearing next to Alt, and he immediately tries to use the device again.

AE-10 makes lots of screeches that dissolve into static on his radio as he tries to fight his way out. “No! L-Let me go! I can’t fail! I can’t fail!!” As Schneep appears and tries to use the device, AE closes his eyes then shouts out, “WH-5! H-Help!”

A ball of blue and pink water hits Schneep in the shoulder and sends him off course, forming a bit of a vortex that dies down quickly.

WH-5 appears next to AE-10 and looks at all the chaos before looking down at AE. “…what a waste of resources. You all are not fit to serve Alterra.”

AE-10 thrashes desperately in the ice, trying to claw himself free. “I can still be useful! I can still do this! Just-help me!”

Anti freezes as he hears that familiar drone. His stomach drops and he shouts out. “d-don’t let him open a warp gate!” He then rushes to try to tackle WH away from AE.

Anti manages to push WH into a nearby rock but WH-5 regards him coldly and scratches at his face, hard. Anti yells out in pain and lets go, pushing himself away to hold the orange leak on his face. “M-Marvin please-! It’s me! Wake up- a-aren’t you sick of this?!”

“Don’t try to play mind games with me, SD-004.” WH-5 hisses. “I serve Alterra with all I am. And you will join us or you will die.”

JJ watches WH appear in surprise. The fight with Anti and him happens so fast that he's not able to jump in for a while. Something about seeing a Marvin act like this, be controlled like this—it breaks his heart and fills him with rage at the same time. His expression darkens and he lunges at WH at from behind, not even bothering with magic.

Schneep recovers from the warp projectile and senses JJ do this. "Jamie!" he shouts, also lunging at WH.

WH-5 is starting up a warp gate as Anti shrinks back in fear- bracing himself for whoever Marvin brings to fight.

But to both of their surprise- both JJ and Schneep manages to land blows. JJ grabbing Marvin and pulling him down and Schneep tackling him fully to the sand. WH-5’s radio screeches with static as he tries to get away. “Unidentified hybrids s-s-stand down! Do not interfere with Alterran affairs!”

“WH!” AE-10 yells and bursts through the ice, trying to rush over to help.

Jackie gets up, shaking, regaining his senses. He sees Alt break free and—without really thinking—he charges at him, sending both of them flying to the sides as he screeches.

WH's fighting sends Schneep flying, letting go of the device. but JJ grits his teeth and keeps holding him down. His hand darts out and grabs the device from where it's floating in the air and presses it against WH. "Snap out of it, Marvin!" he says in his hoarse voice.

Something seems to snap in WH-5 demeanor- his fight goes as he stares wide eyed at JJ. “J-Jamie?” he says. Right before the device is placed near his gauges and he screams, spasming wildly. The gauge closest to the device snaps- and then pops apart with a bit of smoke. Marvin’s head falls to the sand, wide eyed- staring out unfocused but his eyes are cleared of pink.

Anti sees this and then hurries to crash down next to Marvin’s side. “M-Marvin!!” He yells desperately, trying to shake him. JJ slumps in relief and backs away so Anti can get close to his brother.

Bro is also pushing himself up, trying to shake of the fog. Ugh.. he feels really sick though. He blinks and then gasps as he sees Alt.

Schneep shakes his head and rushes over to Bro. “W-we have to help him!” He says. “L-let’s go!”

Bro shakes himself out and clumsily follows after Schneep. “R-Right!”

AE-10’s radio bursts into static shrieking as he’s tackled and he desperately tries to claw his way out of Jackie’s grasp. “No! No!!”

Jackie holds tight onto Alt even as he claws at him. The mandibles close in as he grits his teeth. Don’t let go. Don’t let go!

JJ grabs the device again and hurries over to Alt and Jackie.

AE-10 cries like a wounded animal, terrified tears pricked in his eyes as he tries to get loose. “Let go! Let me go!”

Bro crashes down next to Jackie and Alt and helps to hold him down. “Alt! Come lil bro! You gotta wake up!”

“No! I-I’m AE-10! I-I serve Alterra- I need to-! Let me go!!” AE wails, his radio glitching and raked with static.

Bro can’t help but cry seeing his brother like this. “Anti- please!”

Jackie shakes Alt slightly. “Snap out of it! Don’t let those fuckers win!”

“You are not just a number! Schneep shouts. “Try to remember!”

“This is what those fuckers at SCLERA wanna make you, Alt!” Bro sobs. “Don’t let these fuckers keep changing you! You’re stronger than this!”

Something flickers in AE’s eyes and he fights a little less- mostly shaking. “I-I-I-” his radio starts to skip, glitching more and more.

JJ brings the device over. He glances at Bro and hesitates, not wanting to do this in front of him.

“JJ, do you have it?!” Schneep says. “Hurry!”

Bro looks up at JJ but just nods. “W-Whatever you have to do!”

This will look painful, JJ says, glancing apologetically at Bro, and then lunges forward, using the device.

The device hits its mark and the radio bursts into glitched screaming as the brain waves of the gauges are shattered. The gauge lets off dangerous bright sparks then completely breaks off. The screaming stops and AE-10’s eyes fade from their ampeel hue back to his normal green-blue with white scleras. His body falls completely limp, head lolling back on his neck as his wide eyes stare out into the distance, unfocused.

Jackie quickly lets go of him, but Schneep darts in, checking Alt's vitals, feeling the collar and mask in the process. His expression darkens. "This fucking thing..." he growls.

JJ puts the device down. That was a stronger reaction, he signs slowly. Is he okay?

"I-I think so," Schneep says.

Jackie rubs his own ears, pulling the other gauge free. "Wh... wh-what the fuck?" he whispers, eyes wide in horror.

Are you all okay? JJ asks.

"Well they are clearly not," Schneep mutters.

The newly freed boys still can feel lingering feelings of aggression and… they feel kinda feverish and shaky. That was a lot of strain on their bodies and minds…

Jackie leans back, staring up at the distant surface, breathing through the shaky feeling.

Bro chokes on a sob and goes to hold Alt in his arms, holding him close as he breaks down. “W-What was that?! What h-happened? I-It’s all j-jumbled but we were… w-we- that lady at Alterra-!” He suddenly shifts to anger, his eyes going back to boneshark-blue as he bares his teeth and holds Alt tighter. “I’ll kill her- I-I’m gonna fucking kill her!”

"E-everyone calm down, yes? We are not able to go after anyone right now." Schneep stares then- "Bro, please, be careful!" He says, worried at the sounds of the growls. "A-Alt probably still needs help. That mask—it felt..." He shudders.

Jackie growls too, shaking his head. He's not sure if he wants to kill that Alterra woman or run far, far away from here.

"Jackie, you too," Schneep says, turning towards him. "Just—just breathe."

Bro is breathing heavily through growls and trying not to dig claws into Alt but the anger won’t leave him. It’s eating away at him and he can’t-

JJ turns over to look at Anti and Marvin. Anti is holding Marvin like he’s made of glass. Watching him with wide eyes. Marvin twitches a bit but still stares out at nothing. It could be the mask…Jj swims over and sees if he can take the mask off Marvin's face.

Marvin’s mask seems to be stuck into his jaw through his skin- but pulling at it makes Marvin make a muffled yell of pain and then blink his eyes back into focus. He looks around in confusion, still very out of it. “W-Where am I..?” his radio says shakily.

“Marv?!” Anti say hopefully. Marvin sits up in surprise and looks at Anti with wide eyes. “Anti…?” he whispers- like he’s just seen a ghost. Anti cries out in happiness and tackles Marvin to the sandy floor, curling all his tails around him. “you’re back! You’re back!!” Anti wails. Marvin blinks in confusion but slowly brings up his arms to loop around Anti’s. Then he’s melting, curling one of his tails across Anti’s back as he starts to cry.

JJ backs up, letting the two brothers have this moment. He smiles sadly, reminded of his own Marvin. He... he wonders when he'll next see him. He shakes off the anxious thoughts and tells himself he's just happy that one Marvin has been reunited with someone who cares about him.

Anti laughs and starts to let go of Marvin but the littler brother just clings to Anti and won’t let go. Anti puffs out a small laugh and holds him with one arm and he swims over to the others.

Bro finds himself able to breathe, his eyes fading back to how they’re supposed to be and he blinks out slowly. He looks down at Alt and feels his heart break again. He touches the mask where it meets his jaw and- god it’s hard to keep back the anger. Plus he just- doesn’t feel good… he feels hot and shaky and confused. “…w-we gotta get this off him…” he breathes.

“…d-Danan might know how to get these off…” Anti says, “w-we don’t have much in the lab but they have some stuff… and you all can rest and stuff for a bit… and we can figure out how to get you home.”

"If the mask is stuck, w-we definitely need to get it off," Schneep says, going a bit pale. "They—they need to eat, after all. Or—S-surely there must be some way to get them food, even if it is stuck. W-we have something like that where I am from, surely there's something like that here."

“God yeah… Alt hasn’t eaten in… h-how fucking long has it been?” Bro breathes. “This is s-so fucking cruel…”

Calm down, Schneep, JJ says. Everyone stay calm. We're done for now. We can rest—we just need to get somewhere safe.

"Y-yeah, let's," Jackie says, getting up. "I-I—Make sure to get rid of the gauges. Leave them to fucking get lost in the sand."

Bro blinks up at Jackie and nods, going to pull the gauges off his ears and then take the last one off of Alt. Taking off his other one- ugh… why did he get another way of dizziness?

How is Alt? JJ asks.

The hero dazedly looks back at JJ then Alt. He’s breathing but still out of it and Bro sighs, “Still… s-staring weird… but m-Marvin woke up from pulling on the mask right?” Bro tries to pull at it even if it hurts to do so.

Alt gasps painfully and blinks back up to full consciousness, staring out at everyone blankly. Then, “C-Chase…?” he breathes, his radio crackling a bit.

“A-Alt thank god…!” Bro tries to smile.

Schneep sighs in relief. "Good to hear from you, Alt."

How do you feel? JJ asks. Then he looks at Bro and Jackie. How do you two feel, too?

"W-weird and... shaky," Jackie says. He clears his throat. "B-but I can swim, if we need to go soon."

Alt blinks slowly and looks around at everyone. “F-Freaked…?” he says. Bro laughs a bit, “me too bro…” he blinks up at JJ and shakes his head, “uh.. dizzy… I think but s-same.” He smacks his lips and then sticks out his tongue, “Also my mouth feels weird?? Ugh… did I eat something weird while under??”

Anti makes a face and looks away- not really ready to reveal what Bro was like during that time.

"Wait, actually, yeah, me too." Jackie copies Bro's expression, also sticking out his tongue. "That's so weird."

JJ and Schneep choose not to say anything, either.

“I… w-what is on my face-?” Alt says in confusion then shakily reaches out and tries to pull the mask off. When it doesn’t come off and he feels it tugging on his skin his eyes widen and his radio picks up on his hyperventilating. “W-What the-?! Ow- I-I-!”

Bro startles then looks to Anti. “uh- you said you had your Dr friend right? I think now's the time to see her!”

Anti nods quickly, “R-Right! Follow me.” He holds Marvin close to him, who only slightly peeks out his head to look as he speeds back towards the tunnel.

"Let's go!" Schneep says, hurrying after Anti. JJ quickly follows after him. Jackie, still a bit stunned, takes a moment to shake himself off before following after. JJ slows down a bit, holding out a hand for Jackie to take. He does so, wordlessly.

Bro hurries after the others, holding Alt close as he whispers, “Breathe Alt… we’re gonna get you out of this thing soon… just hang in there…”

Alt whimpers and curls up in Bro’s arms, holding shaky hands over the mask.

#GITHV #glitch into the huffleverse #GITHV Darker seas #yippie!! mind controlled boy fight :D #but also!! saved!!#god this was so much fun to write this is def one of my fav sections of GITHV #but theres also so much fun coming!! :D #mind control #brainwashing #alt anti #bro fantastic #the jaunty jackson #inverted jackie #stitched schneep #zara caley #septnautical #warper marvin #whump

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huffle-dork · 1 year ago

Text

Glitch into the Hufflverse Chapter 9: Darker Seas

Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs | Read Septnautical | Darker Seas AU

Read SITCV | Read SATCV | GITHV Masterpost

Schneep, JJ and Anti have been swimming for a while. But finally, they seem to enter a new area. It’s filled with floating balls of glowing blue, caught in net like substances that keep them from floating completely off the sea floor. It’s dark down here and kinda chilly.

Wish you could see this place, Schneep, JJ says. It truly is fantastical.

Schneep sighs. "I am starting to get tired of hearing that."

Oh. Sorry.

"No, it is not your fault. Just keep to objective descriptions, yes?"

They swim through large trenches of dark stone, keeping low and towards the rocks. Then, Anti suddenly turns and starts to head down a seemingly random dark hole.

JJ blinks in surprise as Anti chooses this hole, of all of them. Watch your head, he says as he follows Anti through.

"Watching," Schneep says, swimming after the two of them, tendrils outstretched to keep track of the walls of the tunnel.

Anti hurries through and soon enough they enter a huge cavern with even more of those floating blue pods. It’s even darker here though, the glowing pods being the only real source of illumination besides the boys’ bioluminescence. There’s the sound of eerie clicking and screeches in the distance. “…stay close- lots of crabsquids here… but we’re almost there.” Anti says.

Schneep frowns. “I do not like those clicking sounds…” JJ reaches out and holds his hand.

“Yeah the clicking is the crabsquids… they’re more threats to the human subs and shit but.. still not pleasant to deal with. And they taste terrible too.” Anti grumbles.

Curious bright rays swim through the dim water- similar to JJ’s color and shape but they have longer tendril-like wings and a long flowing tail. They make high pitched song-like cries as they circle through the water.

“Oh, those sounds are better though!” Schneep perks up a little.

JJ laughs. They look a bit like me, but with tendrils for wings.

“Interesting.”

Finally, the darkness recedes a bit to show a dark blue colored base hidden amongst the rough tall stones on the sea floor.

There’s movement and then a familiar face to the other boys shows up. It’s Zara. She’s in a darker version of her suit- her hair chopped short and a very stark scar on her cheek like she’s been raked with claws. But, she grins as she sees Anti. “Anti hey! Did hunting go alright? We were wondering-“ then she stops herself as she takes in the sight of the other hybrids. “…woah w-what?”

“…long story.” Anti says quietly, gripping the bag on his shoulder. “…rather explain it all to Danan and Google all at once. …these guys say they want your help though.”

Zara looks surprised by this, “..r-really?”

JJ nods. It’s nice to see you, he signs, the robot translating his words. My name is JJ, and this is Schneep.

Zara’s eyes shine at seeing the robot, “woahhh! That’s some really cool tech…!” She whispers.

Schneep nods. “We are, ah… Anti is right, it might be best to explain everything with everyone there. But basically, we are from far away, and when we arrived here the hybrids took three of our friends.”

Zara shakes out her head and nods, gesturing to follow. “y-yeah of course… follow me.”

She dives down towards the base and Anti swoops down after her. JJ and Schneep glance at each other before also following.

Unlike the last base- this one doesn’t have a lot of attachments or tunnels. There’s a few but… not a lot. Only a few large rooms and no windows- bordered up with dark tints and very little light on the outside.

Zara swims to a bulk head door and knocks something on the metal. A pattern. There’s a pause and then a man opens the door just peeking through, his eyes glowing bright blue. He looks startled slightly then says in a rough voice. “Zara what is..?”

“Anti brought them… and you know he’s trustworthy.” Zara says shortly.

There’s a pause and then the man opens the door. He’s about average height, long messy black hair cut about shoulder length. And unusual robotic eyes shine behind glasses. “…Danan is in the lab.” He says simply then swims down the flooded hall. Zara looks at the others then follows. Anti sighs and follows.

“That’s Tillman… but he asks everyone to call him Google.” Zara says quietly. “…it’s what his brother used to call him.”

Anti is quiet at this, though his face looks a bit pained. Soon enough Google stops and opens another hatch to go inside.

The two of them trail behind the others. Schneep frowns. He leans over to JJ and mutters, “We did not see him last time, did we?”

JJ shakes his head. This whole place is giving him a bad feeling. A dreadful feeling. This place is so small… and Zara’s comment about what Tillman’s brother ‘used’ to do isn’t going unnoticed. He just knows something bad happened here.

Inside is a sparsely filled lab space with a few fabricators, though some look damaged. There’s some energy converters and a small aquarium that’s currently empty except for plants. The boys recognize the face of Dr. Danan as she concentrates on trying to fix one of the fabricators.

She blinks up at the approaching figures and smiles tightly. She looks a lot more worn down and tired then she did before. She floats over to meet Anti. “Anti! Good I was getting worried… what were you able to find?”

Anti takes off his bag and hands it to Danan. “…a few med kits… a couple bladderfishes, a couple good fish from the shallows… I think there’s a nutrient pack in there too…”

Danan busies herself with looking and nods. “Okay… w-we can work with this… S-Stacy is sick and the kids are not looking great either… but this should… should help. Thank you.”

“…sorry I wanted to get more but… I ran into complications…” Anti mutters, flicking his tails, one nudging Danan to look up. She does and then her eyes widen at seeing JJ and Schneep. “…o-oh my stars…!”

JJ waves, trying to look friendly.

"Hello there," Schneep says. "I imagine this is quite a shock for you. Let me explain quickly. My name is Schneep, and this is JJ. Us and three friends suddenly arrived here, and got attacked by those other hybrids. A-Anti has told us about them and Alterra. O-our three friends were caught by them."

JJ nods in agreement. We need to get them back. We need to get home.

Danan’s eyes widen and looks at Anti, “…j-just like…”

“Yeah.” Anti says shortly. “…looks like him too. T-thought it was a sick clone joke but… I don’t think it is. Marv tried to capture them too.”

Danan looks even more surprised. “I… I don’t understand… you have… other hybrid friends?”

“Yeah,” Zara snorts, “I thought they were culling their hybrids. Getting rid of the mindless defective ones. So their fucking pets get their enrichment-”

Anti growls and glares at Zara, “Don’t call them that!”

Zara blinks and then slinks back, gripping her arm. “…sorry Anti I… sorry..”

“What do you mean by home?” Google speaks up, narrowing his eyes. “Alterra has prohibited any unauthorized entry or exit of the planet until they’ve… perfected the hybrid project. So… either you’re from the other bases but… we haven’t had much contact with anyone else lately… and they… only HQ makes the hybrids.”

"Well... what if we were to tell you that we were not from this planet?" Schneep says slowly. "What if we were to tell you that we're from another universe?"

Four different universes, actually, between the five of us, JJ says. Places where things like THIS are possible. He holds his hands up, conjuring a little light show with his magic.

"It sounds incredible, but I promise you, it is true," Schneep says. "The reason we look like the hybrids you know is because we are them, from some other branch of the multiverse. We've been hopping through a couple universes, actually. The last one we were in... was much like this one. Only, the hybrids were not under Alterra's control. None of them."

I know it's unbelievable, but this is not a joke, JJ says, looking very serious.

Everyone’s eyes widen.

“T-That’s possible?” Zara breathes.

“I-I’ve heard of theories but…!” Danan whispers.

Anti zooms up to Schneep and JJ, his eyes wide and desperate. “…t-there’s a world where my… my brothers are safe? Where they’re free?” his voice chokes up at the end, pin pricks of tears in his eyes.

Schneep instinctively swims backwards, but JJ stays where he is and nods. Yes. In fact, I remember them saying that YOU had been caught by Alterra for a while. But they rescued you. And in that world, you're all safe... or, as safe as you can be.

Tears freely fall from Anti’s eyes now as he looks to JJ with a sad expression- but there seems to be the lingering of hope behind his eyes. “…they can be saved…?” he breathes.

"Th-this is why it's so important that we find our friends," Schneep says. "We are not supposed to be here. Th-they all have lives—friends and jobs and families—to get back to." He shakes his head. "I-I know it will be difficult, but we need to find them. And if... Alterra has done anything to them, we have to figure out how to undo it. I-I'm sure you have been working on something like that, even if you haven't been able to do anything yet. Yes? Perhaps with our more unique abilities, we can help."

Danan, Zara and Google all share glances. Zara then grips her arms and looks away, “…my brother is the reason this fucked up process exists… we found WH- …Marvin… I-in the lost river and I’m good with tech and biology and so I… I got Zeke some scans. Marvin was hurting… and I thought we were gonna help him. But… zeke had worse plans. He took my blueprints and made those awful masks and worked with Demerci to make those chips and…”

“…they all got captured… one by one…” Anti says quietly, “…they waited until they found me to test it completely… I saw it happen. I saw them shock the memories out of my brothers until they were all unrecognizable. They don’t even remember their names… or me.” Anti glances briefly at JJ and Schneep, “…they probably did that to your friends.. I.. I’m sorry.”

“Of course we’ve been trying to figure out a way to free them…” Danan says miserably, “I… I helped to raise them. I watched them grow and explore the ocean and… I-i thought Alterra would move on from them… m-maybe leave them alone,.. but I was wrong…”

“They still have Jack too..,” Anti whimpers.

“… we think interfering with their ear chips or their masks if they have them might disrupt the mind control signal the Alterans are using. The technology is based on hive minds found on other planets… but with WH-005’s ability to warp in aid and CH-007’s ability to control the wildlife and.. and the other two's ferocity and speed… we haven’t been able to try.” Google explains.

All this technical talk goes over JJ's head, but Schneep nods slowly, parsing out what he hears. JJ winces. Memories can't be gotten rid of—only suppressed. His signs are slow, and there's a slight desperate expression on his face. I'm sure that there's some way...

Anti’s eyes widen, “…really…? They… they might still remember?” He pauses. “…I can’t hurt them,” He says, digging his claws into his shoulders, “… I know they wouldn’t want to be doing this so I… I can’t. If I fight them I could… I.. I’m too dangerous to be around them…”

“And Anti’s the only one who can even get close to them…” Zara says sadly, “…O-Ollie and Lizzie tried but…”

Google shuts his eyes with a pained look, quickly looking away.

JJ winces. I'm... sorry for your losses. He can't believe that the same kind people they met in the last world did something like that.

"Ear chips and masks..." Schneep repeats absentmindedly. "JJ, did the hybrids all have something like that?"

I think so? I didn't get close enough to Henrik or Jackie to check their ears, but they must have, JJ says.

"So... we must interfere with the signal somehow..." Schneep says slowly. His tail and tendrils whip around, eyes darting randomly as he thinks. "Do you know any magic that might be able to do that?"

I try to stay away from mind magic, but... I could try? JJ suggests. There has to be something about magic against technology.

"I think if they have been caught, you will have to be the one trying to get their chips out," Schneep says. "I will not be able to find something as small as an ear chip—not quickly enough, at least. I can distract them in the meantime. I'm sure that even if they pin me down, I can jump out."

What if they catch you? JJ says, worried. What if they hurt you?

"I can probably jump out," Schneep mutters. "And if I get hurt... well, you'll have to conserve your magic, then."

JJ still looks worried.

“I’m sorry we’ve never heard of… actual magic before. Only ancient stories from our ancestors on earth…” Danan says. “but.. if you all have a power Alterra doesn’t… there could be a chance…”

JJ nods. Magic isn't even well-known where I come from. But yes, it seems like this world doesn't have any. They won't be prepared.

“In the mean time…” Google says slowly, “we are all well hidden here… they haven’t found us yet. We don’t have much for food but… we can at least give you a place to rest and prepare.”

"We would really appreciate a place to rest," Schneep says.

Zara fidgets with her hands and glances about, “…I’ve been trying to work on something… s-something that could possibly affect the chips but it’s still very experimental and I’m a good fighter but.. “ she touches her cheek and shudders, “… I had a bad run in with RL-006… I… I haven’t been able to swim as well since then… but… maybe if you all and anti and me work together-?”

“M-Me?” Anti looks up at Zara and then swims back. “N-No way. I… I’m not getting involved in this anymore than I have!”

You don't have to participate if you don't want to, Anti, JJ says. I’m sure it's difficult for you.

"But at the same time, you would be a good help," Schneep says. "Any combat experience would be helpful."

JJ nudges him.

"What? It is true. I am good, but there will be a lot of them! And I will remind you, I cannot fucking see."

Anti holds his arms and suppresses a shiver. “…Alterra wants me too. Keep telling me they n-need the complete ‘set’. I-If I expose myself to them then I… I…”

“You can’t see?!” Zara shouts in disbelief. “Oh god… that’s- this must be sooo confusing for you. …and strange because uh.. I’m guessing you’re supposed to be SH-003 based on your face and accent but he definitely can see…”

“…he used to need goggles. Like Google.” Anti mumbles.

Schneep laughs. "Oh, so confusing. But yes, I am blind. I used to be able to see, but there was an... incident. And this was the result."

Do you want to talk about that? JJ asks.

"No. Not yet." Schneep shakes his head.

Danan looks at the boys kindly and tries to smile. “Please… rest here as long as you need… I wish we could give you more to prepare but…”

“I-I’ll… I’ll get more food. I won’t leave the reef.” Anti says shortly and then swims towards the tube at the top of this room.

“…give him time… I.. I know he cares, deep down.” Danan says gently. “I can tell he’s worried about your friends… but he’s been through so much with what happened to his brothers…”

No no, we understand, JJ says. Us and our friends have been through a lot, too.

“We’ll help though…” Zara says, anger burning in her eyes, “…I c-couldn’t help to save the boys before but I… I can help now. I can make sure Alterra doesn’t keep taking away the people we care about.”

"Thank you," Schneep whispers to Zara.

There’s a beat then Google asks in a monotone, “…do you all need… beds? Or a… a nest?” He looks confused. “…I don’t know what hybrids sleep on… Anti sleeps on anything.”

“Especially if it’s warm,” Zara laughs. “Like a cat on a heating pad.”

JJ and Schneep glance at each other. Do you think we should change back? JJ asks.

"Well, this place is mostly underwater, so this is certainly more convenient." Schneep absentmindedly touches the bracelet on his wrist. "If we have to move quickly, this would be better."

That's fair. Then... where do we sleep?

Schneep shrugs. "Somewhere to curl up, I suppose? Somewhere soft."

JJ tilts his head. Yes... that feels right, somehow. I have the strangest urge to find some small space and squeeze in.

Schneep laughs.

“Hybrids usually do find themselves compelled to act on their mother species instincts,” Danan laughs lightly. “…Chase used to sing. Henrik collected scrap and made piles…” she cuts herself off, her voice getting a bit choked up. “…d-do whatever you need to make yourselves comfortable.”

“I think there’s some extra dock leaves around… let me get you a pile. Or… maybe some extra blankets.” Google says as he floats back out into the hallway.

JJ nods. Some blankets would be great.

“You said…Change… back, Schneep?” Zara asks with a tilt of her head. “What do you mean by that?”

"Ah... the changing back is complicated," Schneep says. "Let's just say that, in our worlds, we can be human."

Zara and Danan’s jaws drop.

“I.. I haven’t heard of something like that…!” Danan stammers. “I mean of course you’re half human with the DNA but…”

“You can change just like that?! To a human??” Zara gasps.

Well we have to be on land to do it, JJ says. We can't do it in the water. It's these bracelets that help us do that. He indicates his wrist. Our friend Alt made them. He's... one of the ones who got taken.

"These bracelets are surprisingly secure," Schneep mutters. Then his eyes widen. "Ah! W-we should probably talk about our friends, yes? Just—just in case."

JJ nods. Alt, Bro, and Jackie. Alt has magic like me, but more electricity based. Bro is super strong. Jackie... seems fairly normal. Normal in terms of hybrids, I mean.

“That’s… that’s insane…!” Zara laughs breathlessly. “God… Alterra would kill for tech like that…” but her face falls hearing the name Jackie and she swallows shakily.

"What are the names of their fish species...?" Schneep's brows furrow. "Alt is some sort of electric eel, Bro is a shark of some kind, heavy armor, and Jackie is something from a different crater—something called a chelicerate."

JJ raises an eyebrow. You don't remember amp-eel or bone-shark but you remember that long word?

"It comes from the scientific word for that sort of sea crab species."

Danan’s eyes widen, “A chelicerate? Outside of sector zero?? …those are all hybrids Alterra hadn’t attempted to make a stable version of yet… n-no wonder Alterra took an interest in them…”

Google swims back in with a bundle of plush comforter type blankets and sets them down in a corner. “There… I hope that is enough. It was all I could find.”

JJ smiles. Thank you, sir. I think this will be enough.

Schneep swims over, feeling out the blankets. "Oh! Oh, soft. Soooooft." He grins, settling down on the blankets, his eyes turning yellow for a brief moment.

JJ laughs. Save some for me!

"Oh, right, of course." Schneep gets up and starts separating the blankets out.

Danan laughs a bit at Schneep’s response to the blankets. “Get as much rest as you need. We will be around if you need anything.”

JJ looks at the humans in the room. Thank you all so much for your help. And tell Anti thank you too if you see him before we do. You're all so kind, and so brave.

Zara looks touched. “…thanks JJ. I.. I’m gonna try to see if I can improve my device! Maybe it can help you…” she quickly swims out.

Google gives them a slight smile, his lip just barely curling up. “It’s no problem. Give them hell if you can. … for Ollie.”

"We will," Schneep promises, facing Google. "And thank you some more."

“Anti should be back soon… try to rest until then okay?” Danan smiles and her and Google head out.

After the humans leave, JJ settles down to rest as well, pulling some of the blankets over himself. He makes a strange ghostly noise in his throat—which he doesn't mean to do, but immediately regrets as soon as it happens. He rubs his throat, frowning.

"Was that you?" Schneep asks, amused.

Yes. I didn't know I could do that. JJ pauses. Maybe... being in this form so long is affecting us. Back home, a danger of animal transformation is becoming the animal for real.

Schneep frowns. "Well, we are not fully animal. We will... probably just have some strange reactions. It will be fine."

I suppose you're right, JJ says. Well... good night?

"Good night." Schneep settles down on top of the blankets, curling his tail up. "We should sleep well. Tomorrow... I'm sure we'll need the rest."

And it's been a long day, too, JJ says. Good night, he says again, then closes his eyes.

The two of them try to sleep, and slowly, despite their worries, they drift off.

=========

Meanwhile, even as the sun sets on the surface and the ocean turns dark- the new Alteran weapons are trying to sniff out their prey.

“How are we supposed to find these guys anyways?” BS-8 growls, “we don’t know what they look like!”

AE-10’s speaker sounds off, “SD… he is a sea dragon.” he says shortly.

“Oh… well. One of them we know at least. Did they even tell us what the other hybrids looked like?”

CE-9 shakes his head. "No. They didn't. But—they won't be under Alterra control. They'll probably run when they see us." He grins. "And we'll chase them."

“Yess! That’ll be such a thrill!” BS-8 grins too, showing off his sharp teeth.

“…they are most likely hiding…” AE-10 says, “Which means running to them out in the open is unlikely…”

"Right, of course. Hiding, hiding, hiding." CE-9 starts swimming in circles for a moment. "Hiding... where would prey hide? Maybe—maybe deep down. Can we go deep down? Let's go deep down. We need to find a way." He starts diving.

BS-8’s eyes flash and he grins. “Yeah yeah!!” He quickly dives after CE-9.

AE-10 seems to regard them with a bit of annoyance but glitches to catch up. He shakes himself out as electricity courses along his tail in response. “…I suppose that is logical… they were in the… kelp forest.” His gaze becomes unfocused for a second as if processing information then he nods. “If they found a way underground… that leads to the grand reef. Northwards-”

"Northwards," CE-9 repeats, changing direction. He knows which way is north instinctively. "Grand reef? Reef..." He shakes his head. The word isn't familiar to him. This whole environment seems strange to him, actually, but it doesn't matter, does it? There is still prey here to find.

“Correct. Though it is night, now. They could be sleeping. Which will make detection harder.” AE-10 replies.

BS-8 snorts and bares his teeth. “I don’t like just lookin’ I wanna tear something’ up. I’m fucking starving.” He hears a call up above and grins as he sees a large looming creature, long floating tentacles dangling behind it. Spots of green glow underneath it in small clusters. “Ohhh! Think we could kill that??”

CE-9 also starts drifting up towards the creature. He could take that. He knows he can.

“Not advisable BS-8.” AE-10 drones, “Please stay focused.”

“But I’m hungryyy AE!” BS-8 whines.

CE-9 frowns at AE-10 as well. But he's right. They have to stay focused. Even so. "We need to eat, we need to eat to swim," he says, twitching a little. He looks around. "Small things, maybe? Anything. They'll be fast, good practice for fast things."

Oooo, what about that fish with a big eye? CE-9's lock onto it. His throat rumbles with the beginning of a roar.

“…fine. Don’t stray too far.” AE-10 drones.

“Don’t you wanna join AE?” BS-8 asks.

“My mask prevents me. I will get fuel when we return successfully.” AE answers. BS shrugs then grins at CE-9, “Let’s see how many we can kill!”

Then he rockets down into the trench below them, darting out to try to catch the peepers.

They are over a large expanse of ocean that looks very sparse except these trenches and spots of glowing flora. Peepers and Reginalds float around though, good source of food.

It doesn’t look like they’re too far from the grand reef though- there’s spots of glowing blue up ahead.

…and it looks like they’re not the only large creatures attempting to hunt here. Though that is strange.. this place looks pretty barren. It’s hard to see what kind of creature it is through the dense fog- but it does seem to have multiple tails.

CE-9 lunges at one of the peepers, catching it in his arm and immediately biting into its flesh. Once he's done tearing it apart, he looks up, and catches the sight of some tails flicking through the fog. He grins. And instantly charges that way, letting out a screeching roar.

The creature stiffens and then cries out in surprise as he’s suddenly tackled to the sea bed by CE-9. This hybrid has dark green hair and black sclera- kinda like AE-10. He’s got green scales and sharp teeth and claws. He looks like he’ll make a fun fight.

The hybrid’s breath hitches, especially once he notices the gauges on CE-9’s ears. “N-No!”

He panics and then opens his mouth, trying to hit CE with a fireball.

CE-9 shrieks and jerks backwards, trying to shake off the burning fire, unintentionally freeing the hybrid in the process. He shakes his head--and then realizes what just happened. That's not normal prey. That's the target. "Sea dragon!" he gasps. "SD-4!"

Anti looks absolutely terrified and quickly tries to kick up sand with his tails to temporarily blind CE-9 to try to escape.

Meanwhile, AE-10’s head snaps down to see the target and CE. He stiffens getting a message from WH-5, who’s still watching them, in his head. ‘Thats the target. Do not let him get away. Do not fail.’ Yellow pulses in AE’s eyes as he nods and calls out. “BS! We found him!”

BS-8 looks up from where he’s caught a peeper in his mouth, yellow blood sprayed around his face, slowly chewing. He spits out the rest then grins and starts to give chase. AE-10 follows close after, charging up electricity in his hands.

CE-9 closes his eyes and charges forward, grabbing onto Anti, trying to pin him down. He glances back at the others. Have to secure the target! Don't let go, don't let go!

Anti yells out and quickly slips his tails out of CE-9’s grip and tries to scramble away. He quickly breathes out another fireball at CE in his scramble.

BS-8 soars after him but is having trouble keeping up.

AE-10 tries to throw out blasts of his magic but misses as Anti serpentines out of the way. He hurriedly swims north towards the reef, making sure he still has his bag.

CE-9 screeches, letting go and clawing at the space where the fireball hit. Not burning! Not burning! Anything but burning! He drops down to the floor of the sea and rolls in the sand for a bit until he doesn't feel the pain anymore. Then he gets up again, breathing heavily, and darts after Anti, letting out another roar.

BS-8 hears CE-9’s distress and looks back, going up to swim next to him. “You okay CE?”

"Fine!" CE-9 snaps. "Let's go!" He snarls ferally and keeps swimming, determinedly charging forward after Anti.

“Right!” BS-8 grins, his eyes flashing brighter. He hurries after them too.

AE is still trying to get closer, glitching to get further down and trying to blast SD-4 off course. But the sea dragon knows this area better than them- he’s darting behind rocks and places the others aren’t prepared for. AE finally manages to glitch close to Anti to blast an electric ball right into his side. Anti screeches and crashes into a rocky wall, momentarily disoriented.

“Don’t resist, SD-004.” AE-10 growls out, “Capturing you will prove our worth to Alterra. We will not fail.”

Anti spits out sand and glares at AE. “T-they don’t give a single shit about you! J-just leave me alone!”

CE-9 catches up, growling down at Anti. He lunges forward, trying to grab him again, screeching so loudly that it's disorienting.

Anti yells and curls up to try cover his ears, then whips out one of his tails to wrap around CE’s tail and throws him back into the rock before darting away again.

"Ah!" CE-9 wasn't expecting that. He hesitates for a moment, then shakes himself off and lauches himself forward again, mandibles outstretched.

BS-8 shrieks and tries to follow Anti hot on his tail. AE-10 tries to glitch after them.

CE-9’s mandibles catch onto Anti’s tail and pulls him back and Anti screams in fear. “No- no!!” CE-9 growls. He looks back at the others as he tries to pull Anti closer—but that moment of distraction is enough for Anti to wriggle free again, at the cost of scraping his tail on the serrated ends of CE-9's mandibles. Orange blood flies into the air. CE-9 screeches in anger.

Anti hurries away as fast as he can- but a trail of blood follows him through the water.

AE-10 manages to tackle Anti to the ground and pins him down, “WH-5! We need a warp!”

Blue and purple blooms bright behind AE and Anti and Anti sees a flash of familiar pink eyes. He panics and throws AE-10 back and WH and AE crash into each other in a heap. Sparse electricity crackles from AE’s tail and mildly shocks WH and the warp gate crackles with green before bursting into bubbles. WH makes a confused screech and- his blue eyes show through the pink, looking confused.

Anti watches this with wide eyes and hesitates- then he quickly tries to dart away while eveyone is distracted.

AE tries to glitch after him- only causing WH more distress as his body momentarily glitches too.

CE-9 stares at AE and WH in shock for a moment, a little scared of what he sees. But then he remembers the target is getting away. He screeches and swims after Anti, but he has a head start. Even CE-9's charging speed isn't enough to close the distance. BS-9 also stares at AE in confusion but tries to dart out after Anti, nipping at his tail. Then Anti manages to throw sand in their faces again before he slips down into a tunnel and disappears from sight.

WH-5 pushes AE-10 off of him and swims away, looking at him with wide eyes. “T-That was Anti- I… y-you…!” He sounds more emotional than anyone had heard him so far. He opens up his palm to try to make another wrap gate but then his hands crackles with green lightning and he makes a muffled shout, holding his hand. “I-I can’t warp?! What did you do to me?!”

AE-10 trembles back, something flickering in his eyes. Why does this feel so familiar? … this hasn’t happened before right?

"Anti?" CE-9 repeats, looking back at WH-5. Why does that name... make him feel both angry and fond at the same time? He's never heard that name. CE-9 shakes it off and swims over to the tunnel opening. Anti isn't in sight. They lost him. He growls in anger, then swims back to WH and AE. "What happened?! What do we do?!" The electricity seems dangerous, but he starts to reach out anyway. "Wh-what do we do?!" They need—they need direction. Direction of some kind.

“Why am I here?!” Marvin says with a trembling static voice. “W-What is this thing on me?!” He tries to pull at his mask- but it’s stuck on tight.

AE-10 tries to swim up and hold out hands towards WH-5, “Calm down WH!”

“My name is Marvi-!” The warper tries to screech before he suddenly stiffens as a shock goes through his gauges. He then slumps to the ground, head bent over his chest.

CE-9 backs up, suddenly strangely scared upon seeing WH-5's breakdown.

BS-8 swims back towards the group and looks at WH-5 with wide eyes. “W-What happened?!”

Then, all their gauges crackle with static as Demerci’s voice echoes in their minds. ‘Let this be an example of what happens to failures, Hybrids…’

The threat lingers in the air before WH-005 stiffly and robotically sits up, his eyes pink again. He floats up, regarding the other hybrids emotionlessly once more. “…that was a momentary setback. We can still find SD-004. He can’t have gotten far.”

“What will you do without your warps, sir?” AE-10 says quietly.

“We will make do until my powers are fully functional again.”

It's... nothing. It's nothing. CE-9 shakes his head. "Yes. Of course. Surely this is temporary." He turns back to the tunnel Anti went down. "The target went that way. Should we follow directly, or try to circle around?"

“Directly. You injured him. We can follow the scent of his blood.” WH-5 drones and starts swimming forward. “BS-8, CE-9, show me where SD-4 escaped.”

AE-10 hesitates then follows shortly after.

“I didn’t see which way for sure…” BS-8 says quietly, “I-I think CE-9 saw where he went exactly.”

"Yes, down here." CE-9 hovers at the mouth of the tunnel. Once everyone is over, he dives down into the tunnel. "Where does this lead?"

“Presumedly towards the Deep Grand Reef.” WH-5 says and starts to swim through after CE. AE-10 and BS-8 follow close behind. “Either his nest is here or.. we’re on the scent of the rebels.”

#GITHV #glitch into the huffleverse #GITHV darker seas #septnautical #ehhehe writing the brainwashed boys is so fun #i feel like writing this was just a way to torture all my septnautical readers jhbak #im too tired to write all the other tags rn-#im also sick so please read our stuff it would make me so happy #imma go pass out now ahjbka

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huffle-dork · 1 year ago

Text

Glitch into the Hufflverse Chapter 20: Epilogues

Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs

Read SITCV | Read SATCV | GITHV Masterpost

Alt and Bro step into their apartment- and Alt is immediately tackled by a black yowling bolt of fur. Alt yelps and skids to the floor, then bursts into laughter. “Glitches!! Oh it’s so good to see the real you!!” He giggles as he kisses her cheeks. Glitches purrs loudly like a motorboat. Chase laughs.

There’s someone behind him that startles up with a gasp. Semi-blended into the couch with his yellow sweatshirt. “Alt?! Chase?!!”

Alt freezes and quickly gets back up, holding Glitches in his arms. “O-Oli??”

It is Oliver, his eyes brimming with tears as he laughs wetly. “Y-you’re okay!” He pushes himself to rush at Alt and hugs him tightly. Alt is stiff but then his lip warbles and he timidly hugs Oliver back. “y-you… you were- w-why are you here?” Alt asks breathlessly.

“Last the others heard from you- you were overdosing and Chase took you the hospital and then y-you were just gone! They came rushing to our office to try to find you but we hadn’t seen you! I… I had been crashing here cuz i… I dunno I figured you might come back here and we’ve been trying to look and t-the others just left to get food and… god I’m so glad you’re okay!” Ollie cries quietly, curling his arms around Alt’s neck.

“You know I was gonna make a sarcastic ‘hey I’m here too’ comment but like- yeah this is a valid reaction.” Bro says with an awkward laugh.

Oliver laughs and this and shakes his head. “I-I’m glad you’re okay too, Chase.”

“H-How long were we gone…?” Alt asks.

Oliver lets him go and leans back to give him a look. “…you didn’t know??”

“No uh… it’s such a long story but I take it the others told you about the other guys that came here? And the rifts?” Alt asks.

Oliver nods, “Yeah… I-it’s still really confusing… all this magic stuff but… t-they tried to explain.”

“We got sucked in with them… we were going in and out of worlds with no way back. But I-it’s okay now…!” Alt says as he takes one of Oliver’s hands, “We’re… we’re okay… mostly.”

“Yeah mostly… you both look like you need to be looked at,” Oliver says with a raised eyebrow.

“C’mon Doc!” Bro tries to say.

“Chase, I keep telling you I’m not a doctor ye-!” Oliver interrupts.

Then the doorknob to the apartment starts to jingle- and 3 other heads pop in, Jackie leading the charge with a bag of groceries. He’s ruffling his hair and starting to talk, “Ol, I know you’re worried but Hen said you hadn’t been eating much so we’re making dinner instead of take ou-!”

He looks up and blinks- and Henny and Dr. J gasp. Jackie makes a pog face then drops the bag to point dramatically at Alt and Bro, “you fucking son of bitches!! Do you have any idea how fucking worried we’ve been?! 3 fucking days!! Where the hell were you?!”

Bro and Alt look at him wide-eyed- then Bro bursts into laughter. “Oh man… I missed you bud.” He goes over to pick up the bag and heads to the kitchen. “there enough in here for everyone? We can catch you all up over dinner- me and Alt’s treat.”

“What?? Chase, you know I can’t cook!” Alt exclaims.

Jackie blinks in confusion then laughs lightly, “Alright… better just make it on you then, Chase. Seems like Oliver and Alt wanna catch up together anyways.” He smirks at the both of them.

Alt and Ollie both blush and quickly look away from each other.

Henny and Dr. J chuckle behind their hands.

“Go go you two!! Dinner will be a bit it seems!” Henny grins.

Alt stammers, face even more red. Oliver giggles and takes Alt’s hand. “C’mon…”

“…you’re gonna use this as an excuse to patch me up aren’t you?” Alt mutters.

“Only a little bit. With some kisses in between- does that make it better?” Ollie giggles.

“…maybe a little-”

=========

JJ walks out into his house. It's been a while since he saw it. How long had he been wandering the worlds?

"Mister! What happened?!" A voice echoes down the hallway. "Somet'ing spook ye?"

JJ's heart soars. He whistles, a loud sound meant for attention.

"H-huh?!"

Footsteps rush down the hallway—more than one set. And suddenly, Schneep, Jackie, and Anti burst into the entrance hall. "Holy shit!" Anti gasps. "Jameson! I-is that really you?"

"It is!" Schneep nods excitedly.

"JJ!" Jackie rushes forward, giving him a big hug. JJ laughs and stumbles backwards, returning the embrace. "What happened to you?! Was it Distorter? Was it IRIS? Are you alright?" He backs away, scanning JJ with his eyes. "You seem alright."

It's a long story, JJ says. He starts going down the corridor. What are you all doing here?

"Fucking talking about you, Jackson," Anti mumbles, following him. "You can't fucking disappear for three days and not expect us to worry."

"I do not think he meant to disappear," Schneep says.

JJ pokes his head through an ajar door and into the room beyond. Marvin's bedroom. As expected, Marvin is there, already making his way to the doorway. He stops, eyes going wide. "Jems?" he breathes. "Y-you... you're alrigh'?"

Smiling, JJ nods. I'm alright. More or less. Very exhausted.

"Oh t'ank god." Marvin collapses back onto the nearest chair, sitting down heavily. Mr. Fluffington trots up to JJ, sniffing him, and JJ bends over to pet his head. "What the hell happened?! Wh-where did you go? I waited for what must've been ten minutes, and t'en you didn' answer any of my messages! I-I t'ought—we all t'ought—"

I'm sorry to have worried you all, JJ says. But Volt is right, I didn't mean to disappear. It's a long story. But it's nobody's fault. It wasn't Distorter or IRIS or anything.

"Well what happened, then?!" Jackie asks.

"Yeah, fucking what?" Anti asks as well.

JJ laughs. It's going to take a while, I think. We should head to the kitchen. Make dinner. I'm starving.

"O'course." Marvin pushes himself to his feet again. "Let's go. I'm... so glad you're alrigh'."

JJ nods. I am. And honestly? You're all not going to believe what happened. Remember that time we went to another world? He starts to explain to everyone as they all walk down the hall towards the kitchen. This is going to take a while. And then... he's going to need some rest.

=========

Jackie looks around. It's almost strange to be back in Frederick's house after all that. "Uh... hello?" he calls out.

Something clatters in the kitchen. "Jackie?!" Chase turns around and rushes on over. "Oh my god, you found him! Fucking finally!"

"You're welcome," Anti says, and glitches over to sit on the sofa.

"Frederick!" Chase shouts. "He found Jackie! He's here now!"

"What?!" The shout comes from down the hallway. Suddenly, Frederick is there, tackling Jackie in a tight hug. "Oh my god! Jackieboy! You're okay! Thank the heavens, thank the gods, thank fucking everyone!"

Jackie tries to laugh it off, but some tears start to line his eyes. "Y-yeah, I'm back. I... missed you guys."

"We missed you too, Jackie," Chase whispers. He hesitates, then walks on over, joining the hug.

Frederick presses a kiss against Jackie's cheek.

A moment passes. Then Jackie starts to wiggle. "Alright alright, e-enough of the—the sappy shit. H-how have things been here? Did you guys know where I was?"

Frederick withdraws, Chase right behind him. "Anti told us," he says. "Something about a rift to different worlds. He says there's a chance more of them might appear."

"Really?" Jackie looks back at Anti.

"Unfortunately," Anti says. "So I suggest you guys all stick together for a while."

"Great, I love being a third wheel!" Chase says, cheerfully sarcastic.

Jackie laughs and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Good to hear you make comments like that. Missed them, really."

"How about I make you some tea, melon?" Frederick asks. "And then, if you want to talk about what happened, we can do it over drinks."

Jackie smiles. "That sounds great."

=========

Schneep feels the air suddenly shift, becoming slightly warmer—huh, the space in-between didn't really have much of a temperature at all. Isn't that strange? But that must mean he's somewhere else now—

"Holy shit! Schneep!"

Schneep gasps and whirls towards the sound. "Chase?!" No, not just him. He can feel—all of them. All of his friends.

"Schneep!" Jackie shouts. He rushes over. "I'm hugging you now!"

"Whoa, hey—!"

Too late, Jackie already has him in a tight squeeze. "We were so worried!"

"A-are you okay?!" Jack asks, hurrying over. Chase, JJ, and Marvin are right behind him. "You just—disappeared one day. I-it's been so fucking worrying!"

Like back then. JJ knocks on a wooden surface, relaying his words through morse code.

"I can imagine," Schneep mutters. "Ah, where am I?"

"We're all in Jameson's shop," Marvin explains. "We thought there might be some way to find you. Cause when—when neither me or him could track you, we—we sort of freaked out. Y...you're okay, right?"

"I am fine, I promise." Schneep reaches out and pats his shoulder. "It is a long story. But I am not surprised you couldn't track me. I was... in a very strange place. Multiple very strange places, actually. Ah, do you all remember those two visitors from another world a while ago?"

"With that freaky black magic magician guy?" Chase asks.

"Yes, them. Oh, I suppose Jackie and Marvin would not remember, though."

"Uhhhh..." Jackie hums. "I remember... something very strange. A... third half..."

"There can't be three halves of anything, Jackie," Marvin mutters.

"You know what I mean!"

"I do, I do."

"Right, th-that did happen when they were here," Jack says. "But what does that have to do with your disappearance?"

"I was sucked to their world," Schneep explains. "And I was not alone."

That's crazy, JJ says.

"It was, it was. Well... it was not all bad," Schneep says. "Here, I can sit down and tell you all about it."

"Let's go upstairs into the apartment, then," Chase suggests.

"Great idea." Schneep nods. He takes out his cane and gets his bearings. "Is the staircase... this way?"

Yep, JJ confirms. Let's go.

"Start telling us on the way, okay?" Jack says. "This sounds fucking wild."

Schneep chuckles "It was. And... we may see them again soon." He still remembers what that giant Sam told him, sending the feeling of the missing part directly into his mind. It will be difficult, but the least he could do is find it for his new friends.

He couldn't wait to see them again.

#GITHV #alt anti #bro fantastic #inverted jackie #stitched schneep #the jaunty jackson #omg this is the first time ive posted ollie and alt actually being a couple agjbhk #so uh swap spoilers XD #tbh regular swap is like in 2018- and the rp timeline is like 2020 #and takes places after like alt.exe where alt is like really improving his magic!#i dont think ive ever really explained that here XD #anyways the end!! :D #i hope you guys enjoyed GITHV as much as me and cry did!!#glitch into the huffleverse

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huffle-dork · 1 year ago

Text

Glitch into the Hufflverse Chapter 17: Swapboys Bad End

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

Read SITCV | Read SATCV | GITHV Masterpost

Alt glitches them all down, way underground. But even away from the destruction up top- this way is no worse for wear. That glitchy code that’s eating buildings outside is in here- leaving abandoned equipment half formed and walls with big gaping code holes.

Against the back wall, or whatever is left of it- is a stone archway. But it’s been destroyed too- crushed and cut in half by something that has left purple scars in the stone.

Alt gasps as he sees and rushes over, “no! Nonono!”

Henny sighs heavily, “It is as I feared…”

Schneep sighs as well. "That does not sound good at all."

"It's completely destroyed," Jackie whispers. "Like... cut in half. And there are purple cracks in the stone."

Alt looks angry as he bangs against the back wall. “Damnit! Fuck this evil fucking me! This could have gotten you home!”

JJ walks forward, as if in a daze. He reaches out to touch the stone of the doorway, running his fingers along the rough stone. He can tell there were runes carved into it, but the purple scars are messing with their shape. He can't tell which runes they were supposed to be. Except... for one. He looks up at one, where the top left corner of the doorway would have been. I know that one.

"You recognize one of the runes?" Jackie asks.

JJ nods. He points at it. An angled sort of spiral. That one is on the back of some of Marvin's magickal cards. The jokers.

"Alright... what does it mean?" Schneep asks.

I'm not sure. That's the only place I've seen them. But... I think it's supposed to be a tunnel of some kind.

Alt looks to JJ as he talks about the runes then tilts his head as he touches the spiral rune. “…huh… like a… a portal? Is that the rune that makes this thing work…?”

JJ shakes his head. I don't know. Marvin's told me that runes all work together. You can't cast a spell with just one or two. He takes a closer look at more of the runes. You know... these are all different styles. I'm betting there's a variety of runic alphabets here. Strange. Normally you have to stick with one.

“True… even when I use chaos magic I need at least 3 to create something…” Alt says. He does look surprised at the different runic languages. “Huh… I wonder if it’s like… a mix of magic cultures… I heard in the medieval world they had a doorway like this. I never got to see it but I remember trying to search for it…”

I wonder if these doorways are... always there, JJ says.

"I cannot imagine an 'always' in an infinite multiverse," Schneep says. "But they might be consistent in this part of the multiverse. This, ah... section?"

"Branch, my Anti's said 'our branch' a couple times," Jackie says.

Jackie and Schneep also walk over. Schneep starts feeling the broken archway, running fingers along the carved runes. "Hey, look, there's another one of those spiral runes." Jackie says, picking up a bit of rubble.

That looks like it would have been the opposite corner, JJ says. So there are two tunnel runes. I don't see any other repeats... they must be important.

Bro comes over and tries to move around to not spook anyone. “Hey! Maybe we could… put it back together? That’s worth a try, right?”

"Worth a shot, yeah." Jackie nods. "I can't think of any other ideas."

"Heh." Schneep smiles a bit. "Jamie, do you know Mending? Do you have the spell slots for it?"

JJ chuckles a little. I should have the 'spell slots', yes. I've never tried fixing something with magic but it can't be that difficult.

“I can try to help too… can’t be too hard to figure out between two magicians right?” Alt smiles at JJ.

“That’s the spirit!” Bro grins. He starts searching through the rubble to look for more pieces. “Also love the dnd reference- god Alt when we get home we should start a game! God it’d be sick to do a game with all of us… Do you think discord could cross dimensions??”

Alt bursts into laughter.

Jackie raises an eyebrow. "Nerds. You're all nerds."

Schneep nudges him with his shoulder. "Ah come on, Jackie. You cannot be so different from the Jackie I know that you are not a tiny bit interested."

Jackie grumbles as he starts sorting through the rubble. "I... may have tried in high school. But I got bored waiting for my turn to fight."

You just need to do something else while waiting, something idle, JJ says. Besides, the fifth edition isn't fully combat-focused. There's a lot more you can do!

“I never got to play- it seems really fun though,” Alt admits. He laughs, “Dr. J used to run the group that my Jackie and his wife were in. Did you ever join, Chase?”

Bro hums, “Mmmm maybe once? But I feel like I might have gotten too drunk- I usually met up with Jackie at pub crawls… maybe there was a dnd night?”

Alt laughs, “maybe next time I see your Anti, Jackie, I’ll ask if he might have a way… I feel like he would know.”

"If Discord can cross dimensions, I'd be... fine with... trying," Jackie mumbles. "If anyone would, it's him," he agrees. "Not sure if he'll agree to break the fabric of space-time for a DnD game... but I dunno, maybe he really likes you guys."

“He seemed pretty fond of us,” Bro giggles, “He’s helped us out of so many pickles. I think he’s a chill dude.”

“I feel like fusing with me made us actually tolerate each other,” Alt chuckles.

"Your Anti sounds like the type of person you're glad to be friends and not enemies with," Schneep says.

"Ohhhh hundred percent," Jackie agrees. "Anyway. Sort out the pieces by ones that have flat sides, ones that have edges, and ones that are purely rough."

“Heh! This is like a puzzle!” Bro chuckles as he follows Jackie’s instructions.

"Exactly like a puzzle," Schneep agrees, feeling out the pieces. "Hmm. What is this? The texture is strange."

Looks like a piece where one type of stone meets another, JJ says. There are a lot of those. But it'll help us figure out where to put stuff.

"We can also use these purple lines, that might help," Jackie says.

Alt hums and starts to look for the purple pieces. “Right… there’s gotta be a good way to connect these…”

Henny starts to help- Sahne tries by pushing over stones with her nose- but soon she finds herself playing with the rocks instead of helping.

JJ reaches over and pats Sahne. Good dog... but not really helping. Maybe the opposite, actually. He moves some of the rocks she's messing with back in place.

Sahne leans into the pets and goes roll around and play in a pile far away, throwing the rocks around and chasing after them like she’s playing fetch with herself.

"You can, like, follow the lines," Jackie says. "It'll probably be easiest to put together the parts that broke right through a rune. Liiiike this." He puts two pieces together, forming a complete rune.

Hand those to me, JJ says. Jackie does so, and JJ pushes the two pieces together. A bit of blue magic traces over the crack, leaving behind some ice that seals the two pieces together.

Alt grins wide at seeing JJ’s magic, “hey! Nice!”

He looks through and finds a couple purple cracks together, switching them around until the rock clicks back together just right. He concentrates and then puts a glowing finger up to the break and pushes it down the line. A line of green follows and welds the pieces back together. Alt like pleasantly surprised. “Yoo! That worked!!”

JJ smiles. It didn't cost too much magic, which is good.

"Alright, so if we find two pieces that fit together, we had them to JJ or Alt to put together," Jackie says. "This isn't like a puzzle where you work on the edge first. We piece it together as we find them."

Schneep frowns. "I hope working by touch is enough... I can do most of the sorting, I think, if you all want to focus on the puzzle."

Henny nods, “We will help with putting them together, other me! Just leave it to us, sorting helps plenty!”

“Yeah Schneep we gotcha!” Bro agrees, helping him to sort and put stuff together, handing stuff to alt for him to try to piece together and weld.

Schneep smiles at Henny and Bro. "I will, then. You all can probably do better than me."

JJ puts two more pieces together. No runes on either of these; they must be part of the inside, judging by the rough texture. I hope we don't make any mistakes.

"I think it'll be harder to make mistakes with big rocks like this than with tiny puzzle pieces," Jackie says. Though he frowns. "There are... probably tiny bits, though..." He sighs. "This might take a while."

"Well, more time to talk, then, I suppose," Schneep says.

“I believe in us! We got a system and that bastard Glitch guy is probably still an icicle and we’re all completely out of sight! There’s no way he’ll find us!” Bro grins, “…maybe that means I can stop being invisible soon- this has been sooo weird.”

Alt laughs and shakes his head, “gotta commend your optimism, Chase.”

All of them get to work, sorting, piecing and patching what they can find.

A couple minutes pass in silence. "Sooo... like..." Jackie says slowly. "JJ, Schneep, do you guys play Dungeons and Dragons? Cause you both made the reference."

JJ seals another piece to two that are already together. I used to run games in uni. We had a little club. It wasn't that popular, but the guys that showed up were really fun.

"A couple times," Schneep says. "But I got busy as I got older, threw myself into work." He shakes his head. "I've never played with my current group of friends. Perhaps we could try... though they do not seem the type."

“Who do you think you’d play, if you could?” Bro asks cheerily as he passes more pieces to Alt.

"Hmm? You mean, what would my character be?" Schneep asks. "Well, I could never keep the spells together—too many options to choose from. So one of the fighting classes. And I generally like the elves and those types for race."

JJ shrugs. I like making strange combinations. Subverting expectations. But I can never stick with one character for long before making another, so that's why I run the games. I get to use all of them! He chuckles.

“Hey that’s clever! You definitely give off DM vibes, JJ,” Bro laughs. “I think… I like paladins- probably like a cool scourged aasimar or something! Edgy but fights for Justice and shit.”

“I thought you didn’t play,” Alt smirks.

“You have no idea how often Jackie and Jay talk about this my dude,” Bro laughs, “Jackie has helped me to think of potential characters! Still don’t super get it but man there’s tons of cool things to be!”

"The fuck is an aasimar?" Jackie mutters.

They're like angels—a bit, JJ says. In the same way that tieflings are like demons. They're both half human, half something else. Celestials and fiends in this case.

"Oh, I remember tieflings," Jackie says. "They seem cool." He shrugs. "I never really was one for magic characters in, like, video games. But I've learned a lot about magic recently... hanging out with magicians and all. Maybe I'd give it a shot. JJ, here." He hands over more pieces that JJ fuses together.

“You seem like the type who’d play a human fighter, Jackie,” Bro snickers.

"IIIII'm pretty sure that's what my character was in high school," Jackie says. "Looking back, the guy was basically me. Or, uh... what I wanted to be. Cool badass hero defending the innocent and crushing bad guys." He shakes his head. "Man... how life changes."

Alt fuses a bit more pieces together and chuckles. “I’ve seen a lot of cool stuff from Jackie playing Baldur's Gate- maybe I should make a save and try it out.”

"What is Balder's Gate?" Schneep asks.

It's a game based of D&D, JJ says. I hear the third one's coming out in a couple years--in my world, at least.

“Oh yeah I think Jackie is playing the early access of that one.” Alt says with a laugh, “so it’s not there yet but from what I’ve seen? It’s gonna be such a cool game-“

“There wasss 2 other ones? I hear they’re really fun- I like more actiony games though.” Bro grins. “Where I can punch people.”

"Hell yeah, me too." Jackie nods and grins. "I mean, my favorite games are Sonic and their fast stuff. So, I guess I like platformers too? What about the rest of you?"

Schneep shrugs. "Never played many games. I think the only requirement for me is a good story."

Minecraft, JJ says.

Jackie laughs. "You can't exclusively play Minecraft."

I do, actually! JJ grins. Sometimes with mods.

“Fuck yeah Minecraft! I can’t get too into it but Jackie plays it a lot with his kids!” Bro says.

“Me and Chase loved sonic as kids- we used to play Sonic Adventure Battle 2 constantly and do the VS mode. Chase was Sonic, I was Shadow.” Alt laughs, putting together a couple more pieces.

"Oh that makes so much sense, actually." Jackie laughs. "I'm definitely a Shadow fan, too."

Everyone I know is a Shadow fan. JJ chuckles.

"I thought you only played Minecraft," Schneep says teasingly.

Yes, but I know about other games. My Anti plays them on YouTube for a living.

“Oh yeah that’s how you knew about Subnautica! …we need interdimenisonal internet so I can watch his let's plays,” Bro laughs.

“Oh yeah didn’t he say he plays spooky games? Heh… I’d like to see that.” Alt smiles.

JJ laughs. He does, he very much enjoys scary games. And also games that are easy to break or exploit. He has a series where he tries to deliberately find glitches. That's why some of his fans call him the glitch bitch.

“Oh my god- what an amazing nickname! Gonna start calling you that, Alt,” Bro grins.

Alt gives him a withering look.

Jackie laughs. "That what we used to call my Anti, too. It's very fitting, isn't it?"

“I’m not a bitch..!” Alt almost whines.

Bro laughs and goes to give Alt a noogie but Alt glitches away even if Bro manages to get him at first.

"Oh hey, we got a big part done now," Jackie says. There's a long column of stone completed on the ground in front of him, about as big as his forearm. There are still bits missing, but it's identifiably part of a door.

Alt has a similar part made, more of an L though as he forms a corner.

“Hoo boy… this is hard work,” Bro sighs.

“I think you all are making quick work of it though,” Henny says.

"It helps that there are many of us working," Schneep says.

"The worst parts are this, like, black stone," Jackie says, holding up a bit. "It broke smoothly, not jaggedly. Yknow?"

Alt then looks to Jackie and nods, trying to slip the smooth stones together, “yeah… it’s like… obsidian? So weird…”

Black stone and crystals are often used for protection and knowledge, JJ says. Perhaps that's why it was chosen. Knowledge of other worlds, or protection while crossing to another.

"Is there any special meaning to this type of stone?" Schneep asks, holding up a chunk of the not-black stone.

I'd have to know what type of stone it is, though... and it looks very... ordinary. JJ shrugs. Maybe it was chosen because it's easy to carve or something.

Alt does look fascinated by the meaning behind the black stone and studies his shards a bit more. “…knowledge huh…? …guess the other me here didn’t know about that… or maybe he could have used that. The knowledge part at least. Maybe the protection part is what kept him out.”

JJ shrugs. Who knows? Maybe magic doesn't work the same in your world at all.

"But I will point out that these doorways existing in their worlds means that there are some similarities, at least," Jackie says. "Oh! Hang on, Alt, I think this fits with the corner you're working on."

“Maybe… feel like the meanings of stones should be… universal almost?” Alt muses. He blinks at Jackie then grins, seeing if he can put them together.

"Should we start standing this upright?" Schneep asks.

“Might as well!” Bro says, starting to see if he can find the bottom.

"Here, flat end." Jackie points. "This is probably what we stand it on. On three. One... two... three!"

They push it up--but it doesn't stay. JJ reaches out and uses his magic to hold it in place. Where's the part to keep it up? he asks.

"Well uh... it's just kind of a... freestanding doorway," Jackie says slowly. "I uh... never thought about how it shouldn't be able to stand on its own."

“So how do we make it stand??” Alt asks.

Henny holds out his hand and covers the arch in his magic too, suspending it in place. “I can hold it in place just fine if you all would like to find out how it operates!”

Thank you, Henrik, JJ says. Perhaps... we need to complete it? Then whatever magic is helping it stand will kick in.

"So we should focus on the bit with the runes first, then?" Jackie asks.

Yes, I think so. Once the runes that help support it are done they should activate regardless of the rest of them.

"Well, in that case, do you know what runes those are?" Schneep asks.

I don't recognize a lot of these rune languages, but I can try? JJ says. Alt, you help, too. See if you recognize any symbols for... support, or stand, or... sturdy things.

“Got it-“ Alt nods and starts to look through all the runes to see if there’s any he recognizes.

JJ also searches. And though he doesn't find any he recognizes, he sees a rune near the bottom of the doorway that looks like a pair of legs mid-stride. What do you think of that one? JJ asks Alt, pointing to it.

"What're those, hieroglyphics?" Jackie mutters.

“Basically as far as I know,” Bro agrees.

Alt glitches over to look and then shrugs, “S’the best bet so far- worth a shot.”

"So we must focus on completing this section, then?" Schneep hurries over to the sound of their voices. "Where?"

Near the bottom. Here, can I help?

"Yes, show me." Schneep holds out his hand, and JJ presses it to the section of runes they're looking at. There are still a few chunks missing.

"So look for ones that seem like they'll fit in there, then," Jackie sums up.

“On it!” Bro says and starts scooping out through their piles. He hands anything with runes to Alt who starts to see what fits and what doesn’t.

Slowly, they piece the runes together again. And when JJ seals the final part in place, the runes briefly flash with multicolored light. I think… that’s them working, JJ says. You can let go now, Henrik.

“Great! We still need to piece the rest of it together but at least it stands now,” Jackie says.

Alt’s eyes shine with fascination and excitement at seeing the runes glowing.

Henny releases his spell with a smile, “Good! We are getting somewhere!!”

Schneep sighs. “More piecing together, then. This is taking a long time.”

“Yeah, I bet Bro’s invisibility is gonna wear off soon,” Jackie says. “D’you think that if we focus on the runes it’ll work if all the runes are done?”

I don’t trust that it will work properly unless it’s completely fixed, JJ says.

“Well considering it was broken to bits- I think this is going smoother than it could have gone.” Alt shrugs.

“Focusing on the runes seems as good a place to start if any- maybe we can fill the gaps with magic if it seems too hard to all put together?” Bro suggests.

JJ frowns. This construction seems very deliberate… but if worst comes to worst, we can try that filling in with magic idea.

Henny starts to help again, though he’s cautiously looking around, clearly anxious about their surroundings.

Jackie notices Henny’s reaction. “You seem nervous, Hen. Worried about spending too much time here?”

Henny looks at Jackie and shakes his head, “I know this is what must be done to get you all home… I am just worried the glitch will find us…”

“No, of course, I’d be worried too,” Jackie says. “Uh… we’ll just just have to hurry. You can get out of here, right?”

“Yes I am not worried for me… I have evaded Glitch well enough on my own,” Henny replies, searching through stuff faster and passing it along.

Schneep hurries, doing his best to feel out the pieces with runes carved on them and pass them to the others to figure out. Huh. Hang on a second, something about this sequence of symbols seems familiar to Bro and Alt… somehow, they know it means ‘the World.’

Alt lingers on the familiar symbols and looks at them, trying to figure out where he learned this.

Bro appears next to his shoulder- literally, as the spells wears off. “Hey! I know what that means!”

Alt jumps, nearly throwing the piece. “Jesus Christ Chase!”

“What???” Bro blinks in confusion then looks down at himself, “oh! I’m visible again!” He grins then blinks, “ohhh-“

“Yeah you scared the bejesus out of me dude!” Alt says.

“Well I didn’t know I was about to pop right back in!”

JJ laughs. Sorry, Chase, I should have said something. Though I wasn't fully keeping track of the time, either.

Jackie looks at the series of symbols. "This looks like some weirdo language. Like more fucking hieroglyphs."

What does it mean, you two? JJ asks. It's not familiar to me, at all.

Well, it's the World. Or... something like... aan Dahmun, maybe.

“Aan Dahmun…” Alt says quietly, tracing the symbols, a brief flicker of green in his eyes. “It means… the world.”

“Oh oh!! I know why it’s familiar!!” Bro says excitedly, “It’s Glasish!! Dude we still know some Glasish!!”

Jackie blinks. "Is that like... that fantasy world you guys went to?"

“Glasish is the language,” Alt explains, “We were in a land called Glasúil.” He tries to suppress a shudder. As much as he loved visiting Glasúil… the reason the language is in his head isn’t exactly a pleasant one. It just makes him think of the King.

So there's writing from that universe on here... JJ looks at the doorway with renewed awe. Perhaps that's why some of these symbols are strange to us. They're from a variety of worlds.

"Great. Let's keep fixing it," Jackie says, putting a piece in place. "Seal?"

JJ puts a hand on the piece and seals it in place.

“I wonder how that works,” Bro muses as he helps to find more rune pieces, “Do you think runes from other worlds just… show up? How do people find them..? Is it like in The Owl House where like- nature just shows you it? Magic is so weird.” He laughs.

JJ pauses thoughtfully. Well... how do these doorways even show up?

"Frederick and I did some research on that, actually," Jackie says as he continues piecing the doorway together. "Cause my Marvin's gone insane trying to learn about other worlds. Apparently these doorways just pop up in the world. No one knows where they come from, but they're not, like, made by people. And apparently... well, they're not supposed to be... destroy-able. But..." He gestures at the doorway before them.

"Perhaps there is something special about Alt's powers," Schneep says. "Something about being a glitch, perhaps?" He pauses, thinking about what the last world's Anti told him. About him being a glitch.

“Really? They just pop up? Whattt that’s even weirder!” Bro exclaims.

“According to the last world’s Anti… a glitch is someone who can break the fabric of their world… the boundaries… and act outside of it.” Alt says quietly, glancing at the holes filled with code around them. “And also… Mag figured out you need black magic and …whatever my glitches are to activate the gate. Maybe since other me has both, he was able to destroy it…”

“If he had both, why couldn’t he just use it then?” Bro asks, crossing his arms.

Alt shrugs, “I dunno… Sam sees everything. Maybe they did something to prevent it. Or… other universal forces. This me getting out… it would be very very bad if he can just take apart the world like this…”

"Sam sees everything?" Jackie repeats in a mutter. "Sam like... the little eyeball Anti and Jack hang out with?"

JJ raises his eyebrow. There's a Sam in my world, too. They're a friend of my Jack.

"I do not know a Sam," Schneep says, shaking his head. "The fuck do you mean an eyeball? An eye on its own? I suppose Jack's channel logo is like that."

"Heh. In my world, that logo is based on Sam," Jackie chuckles.

“Exactly! We met a couple but the one we’re talking about is giant!!!” Bro says, spreading out his arms as wide as he can.

“They’re the one who helped us get home last time when the TRVLR broke.” Alt explains, “they are from another world where… where an Anti got super powerful like here and corrupted most of our other selves. But they can also exist in… this space in between? Where Jackie’s Anti can go… it’s still really confusing but they told us they see everything and could find the broken parts of the TRVLR to return to us.”

"...huh." Schneep isn't sure how to respond to that. "That is... strange."

The world is strange, JJ says. What's this in-between space?

"Yeah, my Anti mentioned it once," Jackie says. "After he helped you guys out of whatever weird... timeline thing... you guys were stuck in. It's a completely black space except for sometimes there are green balls of light floating around--"

Schneep makes a choking sound in surprise. "I—That is—"

JJ blinks. Does that sound familiar to you?

"I-I went there once!" Schneep says in a hushed voice. "When my powers first started—I-I was disappearing and reappearing in many different spaces—a-and then I stopped somewhere, there was a strange man, he showed me an image of the place I was stuck in—he said something about it being like the space outside a video game level—"

Bro points eagerly, “That’s what it felt like exactly! I think… we also might have been in there in between jumps? I remember the green lights-“

Alt looks at Schneep with wide eyes, “Schneep- if you did that once m-maybe you could do it again! Then we can try to find Sam and- they can get you all home!”

"I—well. i-it was completely by accident," Schneep stammers. "I am not sure i-if I could do it again...? I—-I suppose I could... try. If this archway does not work."

Alt sighs but nods, “Of course- I get it… I have stuff I do all the time I have no idea how I did it… it couldn’t be that easy anyways. Not with our luck.”

Bro lightly hits Alt on the head, “Don’t be so pessimistic bro! We’re fixing the doorway- we’ll figure this out! Now here- weld these together will you?” He hands Alt a couple more pieces that fit together and Alt grumbles but starts to patch them back up.

It takes some time, but with some work, all the runes on the doorway are repaired. They flash with multicolored light as Alt welds the last piece into place.

Bro cheers and hovers a bit in the air as he pumps a fist, “See!! We did it!!”

"Whoo!" Jackie throws his fists in the air. "Fuck yeah!"

There are still a lot of pieces missing, but maybe it will function? JJ says.

"Ha! Only one way to find out." Schneep grins. "I cannot imagine anything so bad that we cannot take care of."

Alt steps back and looks at the doorway with a bit of awe and smiles a bit. He lightly touches the runes and looks at the doorway, “…do you think it could work now?”

“Only one way to find out!” Bro says.

Alt chuckles, but then his face falls, “wait… we… we need black magic to make it work-“

JJ blinks. Black magic... He looks down at his hands. I could... try...

"No, you shouldn't have to do that," Jackie insists. "There has to be some other way."

Alt nods, “Yeah it… w-we shouldn’t have to rely on it…” He does look troubled as he looks at the doorway. “But… m-maybe-“

“Did you really think it would be so easy~?” A voice giggles in their ears. Then, Glitch appears behind Bro’s shoulders, floating a bit with his glitches as he digs his nails in. “I knew you all were fucking liars- hiding my own blood from me!” He laughs madly and pulls up his hands- purple green strings typing up Bro and lifting him slightly into the air by them. He yells and tries to struggle. “But, you all were so daft to think I wouldn’t find you here~ I see e̷̟̾v̷͕̈e̶͎̅r̷͖̈y̷̯͘t̵̺̾h̵̙̆ị̶̔n̵͕̈́ǵ̷͉~̴!̸”

“No!” Alt cries out, glitching back with terrified eyes.

Bro fights as best as he can against the strings, “Let me go you motherfucker!!”

Jackie whirls around, extending his staff again. "Motherfucker! We took too long!"

"Well how were we supposed to go faster?!" Schneep also takes out his scissors. "What is happening?! He grabbed Chase?!"

"Yeah, with these fucking strings!" Jackie glares. "You don't even realize what you've done, do you?! The fucking irony of it all!"

“You got that grit in your ears? This was inevitable, friends~! I was just waiting to see if you could actually fix the doorway! And by some miracle you did~!” Glitch laughs madly. “Now, finally! I can take Chase with me and we can find a new universe to start over in!”

Bro fights more, “I’m not going anywhere with you! You ain’t my brother!”

JJ's mind whirls. They don't have time to talk to the Glitch! They have to act before he can do anything to Bro! He hesitates, then shoots out a wave of sharp magic, trying to cut the strings.

There’s the sharp angry sound of glitches that break Glitch apart for a second before his form starts to turn a bit red. He growls angrily- then the strings get cut.

Bro immediately lunges away.

“No!” Glitch snarls and then shoots a blast of magic at JJ, “Stay out of my way!”

JJ gets knocked backwards, doubling over as the magic hits him directly in the stomach.

"Leave them alone!" Jackie picks up one of the sharp obsidian shards on the ground and throws it at Glitch.

Glitch teleports out of the way with a wild laugh, “too slow!”

"New plan, we fucking break the doorway and find some other way to get out of here!" Schneep says.

Alt looks panicked at Schneep’s suggestion, “No we can’t! This is our only lead right now to get you home!”

“We can take this fucker-“ Bro growls, eyes glowing brightly with power.

Henny has been hiding in the back- in the shadows. When he sees an opening he yells and lunges out to grab onto the back of Glitch and try to pull him out of the air. “Leave them alone!”

“H-Hen?!” Glitch gasps, the tiniest bit of blue flickering in his eyes. Then he growls, trying to buck him off, “Get the fuck off of me!”

"If we are not doing that, then—" Schneep pauses. "Then—we get Glitch to do it, if you understand." His black magic—his glitch power—if they can somehow trick him into it—

JJ nods, catching on. Then would it need to be destroyed afterwards so Glitch cannot escape?

"Henrik!" Jackie shouts. He runs over, pausing. He was going to try and get Henny off, but actually—Instead, he jumps up and grabs Glitch's legs. "Get! Down here! So I can fight you!"

Jackie ends up pulling Glitch down with so much force he yells in surprise and nearly face plants. But he giggles and eyes Jackie with hungry eyes, “Oh you wanna fight again? Okay!” He lunges at Jackie with sparking claws.

Henny got pushed back in the rush to get at Jackie and he struggles to center himself.

Alt looks conflicted but he nods, “Okay… w-we can do that- how will we destroy it afterwards?”

Henny rushes over and pants, “I can destroy it! I can use my power to make it fall apart as soon as you leave.”

"That would work, then," Schneep says. "You must be careful, other me." He draws his scissors. "Now—we draw his attention!"

Henny nods, “I will be. Do not worry. …you all just must promise you stay safe and do not come back here.”

Schneep nods, a determined look in his black-slcera'd eyes. "We promise."

Jackie manages to let go and jump back in time to avoid the claws. "Jesus fuck! You don't even realize what you're doing, don't you?! You've become the monster you were afraid of!" He swings the staff at Glitch's head.

Glitch laughs wildly and catches the staff before it can hit him, using it to bring Jackie closer. “Yer dumb- you think that matters now? I fucking won that fucker is dead and I’m stronger than he ever was!” He giggles and pushes Jackie back by his staff while building up black magic fire in his hands. “I’m not Magnificent~ I’m something far greater and that’s why I’m on top! Like I was always meant to be!” He cackles loudly as he tries to blast the fire at Jackie.

Jackie's eyes widen and he barely ducks, the heat of the fire feeling all too familiar against his skin. He takes a deep breath, trying to recover from the familiar feelings that fire stirs inside him.

And then Schneep leaps over behind Glitch, driving the scissors downwards.

Glitch quickly turns around and dodges Schneep’s attach before blasting out fire towards him too. “Nice try~!”

Schneep yelps, the fire burning his arm. He leaps to the side, patting out the flames. JJ takes his place, throwing magic after Glitch but staying where he's standing off to the side.

Alt growls and glitches around, trying to create a distraction for Glitch.

Bro hurries over and kneels by Jackie, “You okay?”

"F-fine," Jackie says. He steadies himself. "Now—let's get this fucker!" He tries to sweep out Glitch's legs with his staff.

Bro grins and nods, trying to kick at Glitch’s stomach. Glitch glitches out the way though but ends up getting blasted back by JJ’s magic and is thrown through the air. He growls and then starts to spark with electricity. “You all are getting on my last fucking nerve!” He hisses.

Then, Glitch sends out a wave of electric magic to try to shock everyone and knock them away.

Jackie and Schneep fly through the air away from Glitch. Even JJ, as far as he is, gets knocked down. Schneep is the first to get to his feet, and he leaps over to help Jackie up. "We have to get his magic to the doorway somehow," he mutters. "That is the plan."

Henny and Bro get blown back, bro briefly hitting his head against a far back wall. Alt manages to glitch away and then yells as he tackles his other self to the floor. Glitch roars in anger, meeting eyes with his former self.

Alt snarls and bares his teeth at his copy. “…you need to stop this! Your Chase wouldn’t want you doing all of this!”

“You know fucking nothing!” Glitch hisses, “I’ve seen the light- who we were meant to be all along! Someone who’s not tethered to weak useless meat bags- Chase was the only exception- the only one worth fighting for! Now I’m stronger than anyone who ever hurt us! I could rule worlds- all the worlds! I could turn back time to make sure Chase never died! All I need is a way out-!”

“Fucking listen to yourself!” Alt interrupts, “You sound exactly like Mag! Doesn’t that make you angry?! In the end- he won! He made you what he always wanted us to be! This wasn’t a victory- this is a tragedy! One where the man who tortured us for years got the last laugh and corrupted you so much you killed the only family you had left and drove everyone else you love away! You didn’t win jack shit! And I- I’m never gonna let myself turn into you!”

There’s an intense beat of silence as Alt pants from his emotional outburst as Glitch stares up at him with wide eyes. Wide eyes that… actually look a bit scared.

Everyone stares at the two Alts. Jackie starts to raise his staff and run forward, but Schneep puts out an arm to stop him. "Think about it," Schneep says. "You have not won anything. If Magnificent could see you now, he would be so proud of what you've become. Is that what you want?" But even as he talks, he gets ready to leap out of the way with Jackie at the first sign of danger. JJ also gets up, magic at the ready.

Glitch seems to shiver at this, eyes wide and distant as he shakes his head. “No…” Then his eyes start to fill with purple as he screams out in anger, “N̴̼͠o̸̭̕!̶̗̽!” A wave of purple magic rockets out of him and it blasts Alt away with enough force that he hits his head against the wall and blacks out for a second, slumping towards the ground.

Schneep was ready for this. As the magic approaches he leaps out of the way, dragging Jackie with him. JJ is not so lucky. He conjures up a shield but the magic blasts through it, knocking him back against the doorway.

“Alt!” Bro cries out as he hurries over to his side, hardly being thrown off by the magic at all.

Bro hurriedly tries to rouse Alt. “Alt buddy c’mon!! You can’t pass out on us now!!” Alt rocks a bit in his grip, a spot of blood on his head from the impact he took.

Meanwhile, Henny tried to protect himself with his magic- but the black magic touches his light magic and he screams in pain as it eats up his hand and puts purple cracks on his pocket watch. He clutches at his hand then falls back against the wall, slumping against it.

In the middle of the room, Glitch is curled up into a tight glitching ball, muttering madly, “no no no no! I’m not like him- I’m not! I’m better! I-I won! He couldn’t win he’s dead!! I… I… Mag isn’t here- I’m the one still around!! Chase wouldn’t- I- He… he…! No! Nonono-!” Electricity is crackling off him like a dangerous storm. The floor underneath him is cracking and breaking into code- reality around him is shattering. “I’m the one in control! It was meant to be me!! He’s nothing- I-I’m eternal!’”

JJ climbs to his feet, looking over at Henny in alarm. He takes a deep breath and—in a puff of blue smoke--appears next to him. I'm going to try and get rid of that magic, he says, and reaches out to take Henny's hand with the watch in it. He tries to tap into whatever power he used on the rooftop to cast a purification spell.

Henny blearily looks at JJ and nods, “p-please… Juwel…”

JJ smiles at Henny gently. He concentrates. Come on, he’s done this before… and though it’s more difficult than expected, the black magic slowly drains away.

Henny sighs in relief as the magic starts to drain away. Once he’s recovered enough he pushes himself up and puts a hand on JJ’s shoulder, “thank you my friend… hurry to the doorway-“

JJ nods slowly. Be careful, he says. Keep yourself safe over anything, even breaking the doorway. And then he teleports back to the doorway, right by Jackie and Schneep.

"Do you think Chase would be proud of you now, Alt?!" Jackie shouts at Glitch. "Do you think he'll want to hear you say things like that? See you do things like this?!" As Jackie shouts, Schneep pulls him back until they're standing by the doorway--right in front of it in fact. "He wouldn't! If he's anything like our Chase, he wouldn't! And he'd say you weren't meant for this at all! He'd say you were meant to be a hero!"

“ S̷̯̓Ḥ̴̉Ú̸̧T̴̬̒ ̸̰̋Ṳ̶̚P̶̒!” Glitch screams at Jackie, curling up claws into his scalp. “Chase was blind- w-we all were! I was always meant to be this- It’s what I-I was made for! The universes told me so- this magic tells me so! Playing hero was a-a foolish dream! I… I- ngh-!” Glitch cries out in pain and curls up more, the magic eating away more at the fabric of the world.

“Yeah, and whose magic is that?!” Jackie shouts. “Who did it come from?! Magnificent right? I don’t think his fucking magic would tell the truth!”

“Black magic sucks you in!” Schneep says. “But it may not be too late for you to make your way out, Alt!”

“And I don’t believe that anyone was made for anything!” Jackie continues. “This is a fucking multiverse, man! Do you think the possibilities are so limited?!”

Glitch grits his teeth and screams, tears of blood falling from his eyes. “There’s so many-“ He pants, “So many versions of me who are this- the trends, the canon- we were made this way…! I-I can’t fight this- this was inevitable! A puppet master needs his toys…! I-I’m a higher being now- I’m a-above all these useless fucking emotions! Above t-this empathy- this sadness-!”

Then he curls up more gripping over his heart as the magic blasts out even more, ripples of black magic washing over the doorway, lighting up the runes with purple light. “So why does this still h̴̠̀u̴̮͌ŕ̷̹ẗ̴͚́?” he wails almost like a frightened child, “Why does it still ache?! Make it stop- MAKE IT S̷̜̚Ť̸͍Ǫ̴̈P̸̢̍!̸̭͗!̸̀ͅ”

Bro watches Glitch break down with wide worried eyes, some part of his chest aching with him. He grips the still passed out Alt in his arms.

"My friends!" Schneep looks at Bro and Alt, reaching out towards them. "Here!"

"Try to make it stop all you want!" Jackie shouts. "But it hurts because it's real! It hurts because it mattered! If you bury that hurt, if you try to justify it away—well, don't count us responsible for who you become!"

“Shut up!! Shut up shut up S̶̳͑H̴̢̕Ū̷͇Ţ̴͠ ̸̳̏U̸͖̎P̷̮̓!̵̩̑!̶̮͒!̵̮̐” Glitch sobs hysterically, clawing at his skin, leaving claw marks down his face like tears.

Bro looks conflicted. Then he looks down at Alt and whispers an apology to him before giving him a little zap to wake him up. Alt jolts then winces gripping at his head. Bro pushes him forward, “Go to the others! Careful not to glitch yet- I… I need to do something-“

Alt opens his mouth to argue, “Chase-“

“Please Anti- just… just trust me, okay?” Chase says, looking at his brother with a meaningful expression. Alt slowly softens then nods. “Be careful…” he then glitches across the room- away from the doorway and starts to make his way towards it.

Bro stands up, then starts to brave his way through the magic storm around Glitch.

"Chase what the fuck are you doing?!" Jackie gasps.

"Chase!" Schneep starts forward, reaching out. But Jackie grabs him, holding him back.

JJ looks back and forth between Bro and Alt before hurrying over to Alt, dragging him back to the other two.

Alt stumbles a bit but leans against JJ as he helps.

The magic shreds at Bro’s super suit and skin, pixels slashing at him and the glitches unstable to walk on. But he tries- this… this guy is a version of his brother! A version that lost him- and Chase promised he’d never let his brother feel alone again.

Glitch doesn’t even see him coming- so when he manages to break through and grab his bleeding cheeks, the glitch startles and shakily holds a hand against Bro’s. “C-Chase?”

Bro looks at this corrupted version of Alt with deep heartfelt sympathy. He hesitates then brings Glitch into a hug and holds him tight. “Don’t worry, Anti…” he whispers, “We’re going to make sure this doesn’t happen to you in our world… we’re gonna try to fix the future. I’m so sorry this happened to you…”

Glitch is stiff in the hug, purple flickering in his eyes- a bit of blue seeping through. He shakily reaches up and then curls claws into Chase’s shirt. “Please, Chase… f-find a way to save me-“

“I will,” Chase promises. He then lets go and looks at Glitch sadly, “…but you gotta let us go. You have to let me go.”

Glitch chokes a bit and closes his eyes before shoving Bro towards the doorway. “…g-get out of here- go-! Before it… before I lose myself again-!”

Glitch looks at the others with determination burning in his green blue eyes. “…make sure this future- never happens!”

Jackie, Schneep, and JJ look at each other. There are some tears in JJ's eyes. "We will do everything we can," Schneep says to this Glitched Alt. "We promise."

"You fight as hard as you can, okay?!" Jackie says.

Glitch nods, “I… I’ll try.” He looks to Alt, “…k-keep him close, okay?”

Alt has tears in his eyes too as he nods, “I will.” He says, his voice breaking.

Glitch smiles, looking sincere. “…good.” He closes his eyes and breathes, gripping at his heart. Purple veins pulse and glow underneath. He looks at Henny and a tear falls from his eye. “…keep on watching over me, Hen, will you? Y-you’ve done a good job of it s-so far.” He laughs.

Henny blinks back tears and nods, “Until the very end, my friend.” Sahne crawls out from where she was hiding and presses up against him, whining slightly at Glitch.

Glitch smiles more, looking on the verge of more tears. He shudders as the purple veins on his face light up and cause him pain. “G-Go- hurry-!” He shouts at the others.

Henny holds out a hand to hold the doorway in his magic. Alt slams an electric filled hand against the doorway and then lets his body disperse into glitches and pixels. The runes hum loudly and fill with more light, the air becoming electric and an electric whine reaches a fever pitch of intense noise. A bubble of crackling magic caves in on the 5 boys then rockets out in an intense beam of magic and light.

Then, the boys are gone- hearing the collapse of stones before they fall into deep confusing darkness.

#GITHV #glitch into the huffleverse #GITHV swap bad end #yay the last part and final battle with glitch!!#i had sooo much fun writing the ending here and figuring out the lore of the arch with cry!!#sorry this is very very late i was going through some personal stuff #but its all good now!! :D #hope you guys enjoy! only a few more chapters left!!#alt anti #glitch alt #bad end alt #bro fantastic #the jaunty jackson #inverted jackie #stitched schneep

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huffle-dork · 1 year ago

Text

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.

#GITHV #glitch into the huffleverse #GITHV Swap bad end #sooo if anyone read that one drabble i did where alt became the next mag?#....yeahhhhh #since rifts lead to different timelines in the SATCV i thought lets explore a bad time line for swap! >:D #and omg glitch alt is so fun to play #it was really fun to think of like how would alt go crazy- then how would present day alt react?#my poor boy i put him through so much agjvhbak #bad end alt #glitch alt #bro fantastic #the jaunty jackson #inverted jackie #stitched schneep

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huffle-dork · 1 year ago

Text

Glitch into the Hufflverse Chapter 12: Curiousity Killed the Cat

Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs | Read CKTC | Read The Magnificent Series | Read Glitched Mind

Read SITCV | Read SATCV | GITHV Masterpost

The 5 of them fall into a well decorated dark parlor- shelves of the wall lined with trinkets and crystal balls and big heavy tomes. There’s a sitting area made of plush chairs and ornate tables. It almost looks like the place you get your fortune read. But they aren’t alone.

Before them stands a tan skinned man in a pinkish shirt and vest, black hair slicked back and red eyes. He’s holding an ornate crystal ball scepter in his hand, the end held by what looks like dragon’s claws. He’s dressed like a magician almost.

And next to him… floating and glitching ever so slightly, is a brown haired man in all black. His neck is slit, dripping blood. He has black sclera with green and blue glowing irises. Both him and the red clad man blink at them in confusion. Then, the glitch that shares Alt’s face gives them a wide fanged grin.

“Well- isn’t this i̵n̵t̴e̴r̶e̴s̷t̸i̷n̴g̵?”

The other man makes a face, “…you all are dripping water on my carpet…”

Jackie scrambles to his feet first, looking at the glitching man with narrowed eyes. “…Anti.” It’s not a question. He knows for sure. This guy is the closest Anti to his that he’s seen yet. But—that grin. He’s seen smiles like that before, and he doesn’t like that this guy has one. It sends chills along his skin.

“Anti?” Schneep repeats. The static—the tone of voice—his instincts are immediately screaming danger. As he gets up, he reaches behind his back and grabs his scissors, keeping them hidden. Huh? Wait a second—these two in the room. There’s something strange about their souls. Something he can’t quite place.

JJ looks up in confusion. Where are they? Some sort of parlor? Looks like a magic place if he’s ever seen one. He looks down at himself and gasps as he sees that part of his chest is still glowing blue and translucent. It’s a bit more disturbing to him in human form, so he quickly takes off the bracelet and stuffs it in his pocket, reverting back to full human.

Alt gasps at seeing Anti’s face and glitches back, ripping his bracelet off so he appears back in his clothes, dry. He looks a bit scared at first-seeing that grin.

Bro hurries to his feet and takes off his bracelet- appearing back in his sleeveless super suit. He stands in front of the others and bares his teeth, glaring at the two men.

Anti laughs, grinning wide, “Ah so you all know me! Glad my reputation precedes me~”

“Anti- the hell is happening?” The other man says with a dry expression. “Was this your idea of a prank? Call me in for a discussion only to glitch in your other figments soaking wet and… the hell is wrong with them?”

“Nope, Smokey-“

“I really wish you wouldn’t call me that-“

“Don’t know what the fuck is going on but I wanna find out!” Anti laughs and glitches to be on front of everyone, floating in the air like someone lounging on a bed, hands tucked under his chin. “You aren’t my egos- you’re all… messed up. Different universes I guess? Figures- Jack’s fans are never fucking satisfied are they?”

“The fuck are you talking about?” Jackie mutters. “Figments? Egos? Jack’s fans?” He’s confused as all hell, but seeing the others take off their bracelets and get their clothes back, he does the same. Once his hoodie reappears on him he checks the pocket—yep, somehow his staff is still inside. He’s not going to question it. His gaze darts around, counting the exits.

"ohhh you don't know do you~?" Anti grins even bigger, "Oh... that'll make this so much more fun~"

JJ frowns. Messed up? That’s not very kind, is it? Jackie nudges him. He gets the feeling this Anti doesn’t care about kindness.

Anti laughs at JJ and shakes his head, "I'm just saying the truth! You all are all mixed up from how you're supposed to be."

Schneep pulls off his bracelet as well, even appearing back in his sweater… but not his coat- weird. “Who are you, then, if this is Anti?” He asks, turning to the stranger in the room. “Some sort of… magician?” He’s only vaguely guessing based on the power he senses in the man’s soul.

The other man scoffs and then bows to the others, "The name is Phantom, gentleman. Pleasure to meet you all~"

“Phantom…?” Jackie repeats, eyes narrowing. He’s heard that name before. His Jameson once mentioned him as an old friend who lives in America. And he doesn’t trust anyone who his Jameson would refer to that way.

Phantom then straightens and rotates his staff in-between his fingers. "Well Anti... I am quite disappointed our discussion was interrupted but I have a feeling a deal with me is uh- not the thing on your mind now."

Anti grins more and glitches around to look at everyone, invading their space and studying them. He tries to lift up Alt's arm and Alt glitches back with wide eyes. "D-Don't touch me!" Anti's eyes widen and he laughs madly, "Ohhh you're like me~?"

JJ steps in front of Alt, blocking him off from Anti. A blue shield flickers into place. He glances around the room. Time to go, I think!

“Probably for the best!” Schneep agrees. “Door?”

“This way!” Jackie grabs Schneep and heads for the room’s door.

Anti blinks in surprise at Jameson’s magic but then grins wide and laughs, “oh not so fast! You fucks ain’t going nowhere~!” He snaps and a red null sign appears in front of the door in a glitch and sends those going for it flying back. “We need to get to know each other, gentlemen~! I’m so curious about your stories!”

Alt is panicking a bit, staring at Anti with wide eyes. The way this guy is talking is freaking him the fuck out-

"What the fuck?!" Jackie shouts, getting back to his feet quickly. He pulls out the staff, quickly snapping it to its full length. "Let us go you bitch!"

Schneep gets up and walks towards the door, feeling out what's blocked it.

“Anti, please don’t destroy my shop.” Phantom sighs. Behind the two of them seems to be a curtained off area, presumably towards the back of the shop.

Bro tries to stand in front of the others and gets into a fighting stance, eyes glowing blue silver. “Fuck off, bitch! We don’t want to be around a fucker like you!”

JJ's head also snaps to the door. Shit! There has to be some other way out of here! He rushes for the curtained area, gesturing for the others to follow him.

Alt grabs Bro and quickly glitches after JJ. Bro shouts as he's pulled but starts to run with them. Jackie pulls Schneep after the others.

"Hey! That area is off limits!" Phantom shouts.

The area behind the curtain is definitely a backroom area- not nearly as decorated and full of cleaning supplies and a private room of sorts. Tons of doors line the hallway and a fire exit is near the back.

JJ’s head turns on a swivel. There! He points to the fire exit. The group runs towards it.

"Don't just yell at them, demon bitch!" Anti laughs, "Help me out! Don't tell me you're not curious too~”

Phantom is silent for a moment before he sighs and then whips out his cane. Red smoke starts to dart after the boys, filling up the hallway as they run.

As the smoke curls around them, a sultry song-like voice whispers in their ears that they should stay. What are you afraid of, gentleman? Let's stay and chat~ you're jumping to conclusions a bit fast aren't you?

JJ coughs in surprise, trying to cover his mouth with his shirt. But as he hears the voice, he slows a bit. Maybe… maybe they’re wrong? This is a different world. They shouldn’t make assumptions.

Jackie also slows. He glances back towards Anti and Phantom. Is this a mistake? After all, his own Anti acts scary a lot. He shouldn’t judge this one on being a little creepy. And did he really hear Jameson mention Phantom, or is he making that up?

“What the fuck are you all doing?!” Schneep shouts as he feels everyone slow and stop. “The man sending weird smoke everywhere is not someone to listen to!” He can feel that smoke against his skin. It reminds him of that SCLERA place. He pushes Jackie, trying to get him to move again.

Alt and Bro slow and Bro blinks sleepily against the smoke, a red glint appearing in his eyes as he stops. "..m-maybe we're assuming too much..."

Alt grip at his head, trying to blink back the smoke. "..s-something's not right here..."

“Are you all fucking insane?!” Schneep shouts as he hears Alt and Bro say that shit. “Yes something is not right—he’s probably fucking drugging us again!” He surges to the front of the group, grabbing Bro and Alt and trying to pull them towards the exit.

Anti glitches over and floats about the others, giggling. "C'mon gents! Don't be lil bitches- I Just wanna chat~! Like- learn where you're frommm and why you're the way you areee? That wont be so bad, right?"

JJ looks back at Anti, tilting his head, frowning vaguely. He doesn’t like the way he’s saying it, but… maybe he’s right, maybe talking wouldn’t be so bad?

“Don’t call me a bitch,” Jackie mumbles, shaking his head dazedly. Why does he feel so odd?

Phantom walks out to block the others from leaving, watching them curiously.

Schneep glares in Phantom’s direction. He pulls out his scissors. “Get the fuck out of the way or I swear I will cut you out of the way!”

Phantom giggles and pushes the scissors back with his cane. "Is that so? You don't scare me, Henrik... don't know where this surge of courage came from, but I'm sure it's short-lived."

"Nah Nah Phan- they look like ours but they're not at all! I feel it- outside creators’ spheres here. Completely different creators actually-" He flips on his stomach in the air and grins hungrily. "Which makes them even more fascinating. If you don't mind actually Phantom. I think I'll keep them all~ or... maybe just the weird Henrik and- bizzaro me. Coward me-"

"Hey! Lay off of him!" Bro growls, snapping a bit out of the smoke.

"The fuck are you talking about?" Jackie mutters, a sort of dreadful curiosity filling his chest. "Creators? Like—what, God? Is God real in this universe?"

Phantom chuckles, "I am interested in the magic I feel here... maybe I could take the Jameson?" The smoke seems to wrap around JJ, like a gentle tendril caressing him around the shoulders. "Don't that sound fun, Jameson~?"

JJ shivers slightly, waving a hand through the smoke. Anxiety shoots through his heart, briefly shaking him out of this, and he conjures up a faint shield, like brittle ice.

Schneep is starting to panic. He's not sure what's happening but he can tell that this is a bad situation they're caught in. And so, he acts desperately—throwing his scissors right at this Phantom.

Phantom yells and grips at his shoulder as the scissors sink in. He staggers back against the door.

"Alright! That settles it! I like your spunk~!" Anti giggles and goes to grab Schneep by the wrist. "Yer coming with me~"

Glitches start to build up around him and Alt notices this and yells out, "NO!" And glitches over to try to catch them- then the 3 of them disappear in a flurry of glitches.

“ALT!” Bro yells, trying to reach them, but he’s not fast enough. Phantom giggles and Bro glares over at him. Fuck… they took Schneep and his brother!

JJ staggers back, shocked at everything that just happened, staring at the spot where they all disappeared.

Jackie cries out. He lunges for Anti and Schneep as well, but he's too slow. He staggers to a stop. Panic has broken through the soft haze of the smoke and he spins to Phantom, eyes alight. "You—you're working with this Anti, aren't you?" His grip tightens on his staff and he lunges forward, grabbing Phantom by the shirt. "Where did they go? Where did he take them?!"

Phantom holds up his hands and grins, "Oh me? No. We were supposed to have a civil discussion about a possible alliance- but then you all showed up. So... I have no idea where they went or what he wants to do with them. He's far more... chaotic then I am." His expression falls to something more neutral and cold as he cocks his head at Jackie, his eyes glowing red. "So, Jackieboy. I suggest you let me go unless you want me to erase that tiny brain of yours."

Jackie growls, but lets go. He doesn't know if Phantom is telling the truth, but he believes the threat, and isn't too keen on getting his mind fucked again.

We must find them! JJ says. There has to be a way to track them down somehow— Then he suddenly gasps and hits his forehead. I know tracking spells! I could have tracked them down in the previous world! Stupid, stupid! He shakes his head. But my best tracking spells need something of the person's.

Jackie glances back at Phantom. "I mean—Schneep did just throw his scissors at him."

“Oh- so you’re a proper magician are you, Mr. Jackson?” Phantom practically purrs, stalking closer. “If you all are so desperate to find your friends… I can be of assistance.”

"Noooononono, we're not that desperate," Jackie says, standing in front of JJ protectively. "I know your type. We are never gonna be that desperate."

“W-We still have Schneep’s coat dont we?” Bro says quietly.

JJ opens up the bag hanging from his shoulder, looking inside. He nods, pulling out a lump of wet, black fabric and then quickly putting it back. His cape is in there, too, but the coat is more important. He whispers the command under his voice, eyes glowing blue. A whispy trail of blue magic appears.

“Come now Jackie let’s be reasonable…” Phantom coos. The smoke starts to curl around their feet again. “You all are in an unfamiliar place… clearly out of your depths. You need someone who understands what you’re dealing with… and I can be that.”

Bro tries to grab onto Jackie and JJ and pull them back, towards the front parlor again.

JJ’s spell seems to work for a second… but then it glitches and disappears before it can get too far. They might not be in a place that’s detectable.

Jameson's eyes widen. Jackie notices the trail disappear. "That's not good, is it?" he mutters.

No, JJ says. The last time tracking spells didn't work, the person I was looking for was in a strange pocket dimension.

"Well... fuck. I hope that's not the case now." Jackie frowns. He looks back at Phantom, acknowledging his words. "Uh—no. Fuck off, and no." He lets Bro pull him back towards the parlor. JJ does as well. Jackie lowers his voice and whispers to Bro. "I think we should get out fast, he's probably not gonna like our reactions."

Bro nods, gripping a bit harder on JJ.

Phantom’s eyes narrow and he bares his teeth. “Fine. Then, we’ll do this the hard way.” He points his scepter at them and tries to wrap up JJ in his smoke- the red tendril becoming surprisingly solid.

JJ yelps as the smoke twists around him, feeling himself yanked forward. "JJ!" Jackie shouts, grabbing him and trying to pull him back with Bro's help. Bro grabs on too and together they try to fight against the pull of the smoke. And the hold snaps and JJ starts to fall back against his friends.

Phantom’s eyes light up with red and he blasts a big red cloud of smoke- so thick and powerful it separates the others away from each other, blasting Jackie and Bro away.

He then slinks towards JJ, going to grab his arms from behind and yank them down and he sings sweetly in his ear. “Now now Jameson… let’s talk… I’m not your enemy. I want to help you find your potential~! I can make you stronger than you’ve ever been before.” He brings his arm out and moves to touch his palm. JJ feels a surge of energy within him. The smoke sings siren songs in his ears. Phantom has the answers, the way to make him stronger. He just needs to listen…

“JJ!” Bro tries to shout through the smoke, trying to brush it away. Why is it hard to hear stuff now too? It’s like- strange music is filling his ears. “J-Jackie!”

JJ struggles against Phantom's hold--at first. But the longer the song plays, the more he starts to relax. Find his potential...? Make him stronger? Maybe... maybe if he was stronger, he'd be able to protect his friends better. Maybe... if he listened... Phantom really could help? His eyes glaze over a bit as he tilts his head, listening to what Phantom says.

"Jameson!" Jackie shouts, getting to his feet. "Jameson!" He rushes forward—this is just smoke, right?! He can get through it!

The smoke is easy to get through sure, but it keeps trying to force Jackie and Bro back, keeping them away. “Jameson!! D-Don’t listen!!” Bro cries out.

"F-fuck!" Jackie stumbles back. Is this smoke alive?! "Jameson! Jameson!"

“That’s it… good… I can help, Jameson… I can fulfill all your dreams… I can see them. You want to get home to your Marvin, don’t you? Just stick with me and we can get you home…” Phantom sings. A piece of paper unfurls in front of JJ and a feather pen appears next to it. The smoke whispers he should sign.

JJ starts to reach out... then hesitates. This--this doesn't feel right. There are faint alarm bells ringing in his mind, muffled, but there. He... shouldn't do this, should he? He... shouldn't... it's... hard to think through the fog... this fog. He doesn't like it. Yet his hand starts moving again against his will. No—no he doesn't want this! But the song is so sweet. So enticing.

But… there’s something else underneath the siren song. A… a feeling that is familiar but foreign all at once. A spark- something he can grab to help him get free. He’s not going to let himself be controlled anymore, right? This is his way to fight back. This burning hot ball of magic welling inside him- coming to his aid.

Yes--that magic. It's the only way out of this! He closes his eyes and reaches down for it, grabbing hold of that spark of magic and bringing it up to the surface—

A bolt of red magic shoots from his hands, tearing through the paper.

This momentarily wounds Phantom as he cries out in pain and lets Jameson go, falling to his knees. “W-What the hell?!”

The red bolt of magic shoots through the fog, nearly hitting Jackie and Bro and sails through the curtained area, crashing into a window in the front parlor. The smoke clears a bit- making it easier to see the shapes of JJ and Phantom in the smoke.

"Jameson!" Jackie shouts, trying to run forward again, reaching forward.

JJ looks towards the shout. Yes—they have to get out of here! And—and they have to make sure that this Phantom can't follow them. Maybe—maybe he can stop him. He has to stop him. As JJ rushes for Jackie and Bro through the smoke, he spins around and sends out a spray of red magic, sharp like shards of ice.

Phantom doesn’t even have the chance to get up before some of the ice shards shred into his arm and hand, making him crash to the floor.

Bro rushes forward to grab JJ and Jackie then rushes them towards the front parlor again- muttering to himself “gotta run run run run-!”

They burst through the now unblocked front entry and out in the street. And nearly run into two very familiar faces-

A green blue shield gets put in front of them to stop them from colliding. And the boys see a green haired man in a red jumpsuit with blue boots and gloves and a magician in a white cat mask, half his hair green and the rest of his long wavy brown hair pulled up into a ponytail.

“…what the fuck?!” The red clad hero gasps. The magician just stares with wide eyes, dumbfounded.

Jackie starts to shout in surprise, but the sound won't come out. What the—this man—he looks like him, but—this is the first version of him he'd seen who looks like—like a hero. The ground beneath him feels like it's tilting.

Bro gasps slightly at seeing them too- then looks briefly at Jackie.

JJ looks at the two of them with wide eyes. He glances back at the shop they'd come from, then back at these guys. Hi? he signs. Who are you?? He knows who they are. But still.

The hero blinks slowly- caught staring at his double and the magician coughs and then nudges him in the side. The hero straightens up, “oh uh- i'm Jackieboy Man! And this is is uh-“

“Marvin the Magnificent,” The magician smiles shyly. He drops his shield and looks at the lingering smoke coming from Phantom’s parlor. “Guessing you were about to be lured in by that bitch huh?”

JJ laughs drily and shakes his head. No, but he gave it his best shot.

“Y-Yeah we heard this crash on patrol and came to check it out! Course it was fucking Phantom again.” Jackieboy says, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes. He then eyes the the others again and points between them. “…who’re you guys? Cuz… you look like… people we know.”

"R-right—of course we do," Jackie says. "Uh—yeah—w-we probably do. Uh. This is gonna sound insane. But—we probably... are you and your friends. But from another universe."

Jackieboy and Marvin’s eyes widen.

“…t-that’s insane.” Jackieboy stammers.

“…not entirely? I mean… I’ve read and heard theories but-“ Marvin tries to argue.

“Theories are different!! Theories are not standing here in front of us also looking like Jack!” Jackieboy screeches, pointing his hands at their direction. “H-How do you know that you’re not just… new egos Jack made that think you’re from another universe?”

“Jack can’t do that right now, Jackie!”

“Shush up! It makes more sense than whatever the hell is happening here!!”

“Uh… I’m very lost-“ Bro says.

"What the fuck do you mean egos?" Jackie asks. "That crazy Anti back there called us the same thing! And what does this have to do with Jack? What kind of weird fucking bullshit goes on with your world's Jack?"

Marvin stiffens a bit. “…A-Anti was here..?”

“Y-Yeah he took our friends away!” Bro says. “Dunno know why but- we need to find them!”

Would it help if we told you our names? JJ asks.

"Right, yeah." Jackie nods. "I'm Jackie. Jackie Parker. And this is Chase Brody and Jameson Jackson."

Bro waves a bit at his name.

Is your Jack okay? JJ asks, concerned.

Marvin and Jackieboy look even more freaked out at hearing their names.

Finally Marvin says, “L-Let’s get out of the open… then we can explain.”

"Explanations would be appreciated," Jackie mutters.

“Hideout?” Jackieboy asks.

Marvin shakes his head, “No we… let’s go to Chase’s office-“ he eyes Bro, “H-He’s gonna wanna see this… plus Anti won’t look there right away… hopefully.”

Let's go quickly, then, JJ says.

Marvin waves his hands in a quick motion and everyone glows green before disappearing in a wave of colored smoke.

=========

Alt and Schneep land on the dirty ground of a dingy room, floor and walls made of metal. TVs and monitors of all different sizes are stacked up in the corners, wires littering the ground in jumbled messes. Some of the TVs buzz with static but most are turned off. One monitor is actually hooked up to a computer- a computer at a desk playing videos of a YouTuber with a really loud yell and Irish accent. A green and black chair sits in front of it and a pair of headphones sits on the desk.

Anti just floats in the air, laughing, “Damn! That was a rush! Ha! Hadn’t had this much excitement in a while~!”

Alt shudders as he looks around the room- god… this reminds him of his old apartment…

Schneep gets to his feet carefully, taking note of all the wires on the ground. He hears static and the video playing—he turns towards the computer and frowns. Are those some of Jack's old videos? Is he a YouTuber in this world, too?

He quickly grabs his cane and starts feeling things out, mapping out the tripping hazards caused by the wires and the placement of the junk in the corners. This Anti probably isn't going to leave them alone for long, he has to get his bearings while he can. "Alt?" he calls. "Are you alright?"

“Y-Yeah I’m fine-“ Alt mutters, glitching to his feet.

Anti watches Schneep in amusement. “Wow Doc- you sure are taking being teleported to a pocket dimension in stride. Figured you’d be shitting your pants, considering you’re blind as a bat.”

Schneep rolls his eyes. "How crude of you," he mutters.

“Hey! leave him alone!” Alt shouts.

Anti grins and glitches to be in front of Alt, “Oh! Pussy me wants to speak up? Never thought I’d see someone with my face who’s such a fucking coward-“

“I-I’m not-“ Alt stammers, narrowing his eyes as they flash green.

“Couldn’t fool me, pipsqueak.”

"Alt, he is trying to get under your skin," Schneep says, grabbing onto Alt's arm. "Do not let him. We have to get out of here." He backs away again, searching for the door to this room. There has to be one. But—as he checks the fourth wall, he doesn't find any sign of one. No indent in the wall or difference of material. His eyes widen slightly. Is there—no door at all? Anti said this was a pocket dimension—it wouldn't need a door, or any entrance, would it? Fuck. Fuck.

Alt yelps a bit as he’s grabbed- letting Schneep lead him around. He seems to realize their problem at the same time. “…shit…”

Anti giggles and goes to sit down on the highest point of his TV pile. “You guys are so naive it’s almost adorable! If you want I could make you a place to run through. Like a couple of trapped rats~ mmmm I’ll save that as an option for if you bore me.”

“W-What do you want with us?” Alt growls.

“Well- didn’t wanna deal with you necessarily, pussy me-“

“My name is Alt!” Alt bites back. Anti repeats what he said in a mocking tone. Then- the lights in room change red and Anti appears in front of Alt and grabs him by the shirt. His eyes are pitch black with white pinpricks of light within. “I don’t get a flying fuck what you are, kid. You are nothing compared to me.”

Schneep shivers slightly. He's really not liking this Anti. He's bringing up bad memories—if he was a bit less smug and a bit more spiteful, he'd be just like the Anti he dealt with in his own world. But he can't show how much he's getting to him.

Alt trembles in Anti’s grip before there’s the sound of a snap and Alt is dropped. Then in a blink it’s like none of that happened. Except for Anti’s smug smirk. “Anyhoo- I wanted to see what managed to crack the doctor so much that he became a glitch. That takes a lot of fuckery~”

Schneep's eyes widen as he feels his stomach drop. "E-excuse me? I'm a what? I—I know that the jumping I do can be called glitching, but—I-I am not a 'glitch'. I am a human!"

Alt looks at Schneep with wide eyes too.

Anti shrugs. “So’s your buddy. Yer both glitches though. Either means you can glitch yourself or you’re a glitch from your world- something that has broken the boundaries that were set in place for you. You broke those, somehow, Schneeple. I wanna know how~”

"I—I-I—" Schneep shakes his head slowly. "Jack told me that there was—was something different with my soul since the—but—I-I don't know what... could have... caused it..." He trails off as a couple pieces fall into place. The Nightmare. The difference had appeared after he'd been rescued from the Nightmare pocket dimension. But—that still didn't explain how. Other souls had been trapped in that realm of fear before, surely if they all became glitches that would have been recorded somewhere. Why would he be different? His grip tightens on Alt's arm.

Anti grins, “I think you’re lying, Henrik. You have some inkling don’t you?” He giggles.

Alt goes to hold onto Schneep’s hand and pulls them back. “L-leave him alone…!”

"I-I—look, it would mean nothing to you," Schneep stammers out. "I don't know if I am right, a-and I don't know how it happened. All I know is that when I woke up, I could do things—though it took me time to figure out how." He squeezes Alt's hand. "Why do you even want to know? Just curiousity?" He narrows his eyes. "I do not believe that is all."

Anti laughs and shakes his head, “Curiosity, sure that’s a factor. But, you got that keen mind that my Schneep has it seems~!” He glitches in front of Schneep and Alt, grinning from ear to ear. Alt tries to push Schneep behind him. “I’ve had this… experiment I’ve tried. Didn’t really pan out that well. But- I’m wondering how’d well it will work if someone was already a glitch.”

Schneep, in turn, tries pushing Alt behind him the moment he hears the world experiment. "What have you done?" he mutters. "What are you planning to do?" He pulls out his scissors again—a new pair, unstained by blood. He has to protect Alt. This Anti seems to be underestimating him, maybe Alt can strike back when he least expects it. But he can't do that if he gets hurt. Besides—Alt has already been through so much. Especially in the last world. He doesn't want him to get hurt further.

Alt shudders and does hide behind Schneep now, feeling like he can’t breathe.

Anti laughs madly, the static behind him on the screens increasing to a fever pitch. “I found a fun new way to make some puppets! Puppets who are just as sane as me~! Know how to have as much fun as me… have as much potential as me. Especially if they’re already breaking rules like you are, Henrik~”

"You do not seem all that sane to me," Schneep mutters, trying to hide his instinctual fear at the sound of the static. "And trust me, I would know. I've met someone just as mad as you are, though in a different way. He was not able to break me. I am not scared of you." He raises his scissors defensively. "Stay away from us."

“There’s only so much sanity you can have in a world like this… connected to the mind of the person who made you. Forbidden to leave- forbidden to change. Static to their whims.” Anti giggles. “So- I make my fun where I can~!” He only gets closer, grabbing the scissors and holding them against his neck wound. “I don’t want you to be scared of me, Schneep~! I want you to join me.”

Schneeps eyes widen slightly. What is he—

He yanks the scissors from Schneep’s grip then tries to slash at his arm.

And then Anti moves, fast, impossibly fast, and Schneep shrieks as the blades of his own weapon slash across his arm. He staggers backwards, other arm extended protectively over Alt as his other one bends, pressed close to his chest. "Y-you really are insane!" he gasps out. "I will never join you!" He backs up, pushing Alt back. "Is there somewhere you can glitch to safety?" he whispers to him.

Alt trembles, knowing he’s not the target but feeling his heart pumping fast in panic. He tries to concentrate and then gasps out to Schneep, “I-I can’t… I can’t glitch out of this room- I-I’m cut off!”

Anti laughs madly and tries to grab Schneep to drag him away. “Your bond is cute and all but let’s get to the main event!”

As soon as Anti grabs onto him, Schneep spins around and whacks him in the side of the head with his cane. "Get your fucking hands off me!"

“Ow! Jesus Christ! what are you, an old man?!” Anti grumbles.

“S-Schneep see if you can get out of here!” Alt calls.

“Oh no you don’t-!” Anti bites as he tries to grab Schneep again.

Schneep's body starts to fizzle with its strange slashing glitches—but Anti moves fast, holding onto him and breaking Schneep's concentration. Schneep yelps and immediately starts to struggle, putting all his effort into the fight, kicking and headbutting wildly.

“Just calm down Henrik… it’s all gonna be okay~” Anti says- ignoring the kicking and dodging his head. But, he does make Anti wince slightly. He grabs the arm that he slashed through and digs his claws in, pushing his glitches into Schneep’s skin through the opening. It feels awful- painful and burning and invading every inch of his body. Usually Anti eases his victims into this with hypnosis but hard to do that with a blind guy. Would his power give him sight back? Hm… he’s so curious to find out.

Schneep screams—he can't help it, it hurts, agony like fire in his bloodstream.

“Henrik!” Alt screams as Schneep does, wanting to run and help but Anti shoots out a hand and sends him flying back before he can. Alt knocks into a couple monitors in an electric heap.

The glitches are swarming across Schneep’s skin, rising up his neck and gathering around his mind. Sinking in and starting to rewrite things. He wants to fight for Anti- he wants to cause pain and destruction and chaos. He’s spent so long being the victim- now he’ll make others suffer the way he has. It’s only fair- it’s what he’s hungry for.

"N-no!" Schneep gasps out. "N-nein, Ich werde nicht—" He shakes his head, trying to fight back the violent impulses. But--isn't it right? Isn't there something fun about hacking and slashing indiscriminately? Doesn't part of him want that? "No!" he shrieks. "Let me—L-let—L-lass mich gehen! Bitte!" His eyes dart around randomly as he struggles, irises going back and forth.

He's been hurt so much, wouldn't it be good to be on the other side for once? Wouldn't it be exciting? Wouldn't it be what he craves? He shakes slightly, trying to remind himself that this isn't right at all—he doesn't want to be—to be—what doesn't he want to be? He can't—remember—The bloodlust is almost overwhelming, the need for destruction and chaos. A strange, mad laugh escapes his throat, but he screams and tries to push it back down. "R-run," he gasps out. "Run, run, r—" Another laugh, the scleras of his eyes turning black and then filling in with static. The white noise—it's in his blood—and it feels good. Like lightning in his veins.

Anti laughs and let’s go of Schneep, letting him fall to the ground. “How you feeling, Hen~?” He grins, kneeling down next to him. “Ready to go a little crazy?”

Schneep twitches on the floor. He laughs again, a strange, unhinged sound that doesn't sound right coming out of his mouth. He pushes himself up, arms trembling slightly. The scleras of his eyes are all static, occasionally fuzzing into his glowing turquoise irises. Black lines and bars fizzle around him. "Y-yes," he breathes. "Y-yes, I want to—I-I want to—" Another laugh. He's not looking directly at Anti, darting eyes still unseeing. But he reaches a hand out and the air sharpens for a moment, like the second before lightning strikes, and the electricity bounces off the surroundings, giving him a perfect awareness of where everything is.

“Woah!” Anti glitches back as the electricity bounces around but then he grins. “Ain’t that handy?”

Alt staggers and pushes himself up and then gasps as he sees Schneep, “H-Hen…?” He whispers in fear, trembling so hard it’s hard to get back to his feet. “W-what did you do to him?!”

Anti just laughs, “I got him on my side! Now he’ll wanna have some fun, right, Schneep? Why don’t you show pussy me just how much you can have?”

“S-Schneep d-don’t-!” Alt voice cracks, “Y-you gotta wake up! You gotta fight this!”

Schneep gets to his feet, staggering a little, giggling. "Of c-course Anti," he says. And suddenly he leaps over to Alt, stopping right in front of him. He grabs onto Alt's upper arms, nails digging into his skin. "C-come on, Alt. L-let's have f-fun together." He grins manically and tries to shove him to the ground.

Alt yells out in surprise and doesn’t even think to glitch away before he’s shoved to the ground. He grits his teeth and glitches back up, staring Schneep down. “I-I don’t want to fight you, Schneep!

"B-but why not? That would be so great!" Schneep laughs. He grabs his scissors again and lunges forward, slashing with the blades open.

Alt yelps as he tries to dodge and gets cut across his cheek. He stumbles back and holds it, glitching in distress. “Because you’re my friend! A-And this isn’t you!”

"I think th-this is more me th-than anything!" Schneep laughs. He leaps forward again, grabbing onto one of Alt's arms. "C-cannot friends fight each other sometimes? I-it's not as f-fun if you do not f-fight back." He grins and slashes again.

Alt struggles as he’s grabbed, “H-Henrik stop!” He just manages to glitch out of the way of the next slash and growls out, “I’m not gonna fight my blind friend! I don’t wanna hurt you!”

“Mmm love the drama here~” Anti giggles, sitting back on top of his TV perch. “You gonna let him look down on you like that, Schneeple?”

"I am worthy of a fight!" Schneep says, the smile fading from his face for the first time. "Y-you said that before—both of you, wh-when you came to my home. Do you not remember? H-here, I can remind you!" He leaps closer, aiming to tackle Alt to the ground.

“No Schneep that’s not what I-!” Alt tries to stammer out before he’s tackled painfully to the floor. He growls and his eyes spark with magic as he bites out. “Fine! Y-You wanna fight so bad? I’ll knock some fucking sense into you!” He tries to grab Schneep’s arm so he can shock him.

Schneep tenses, feeling the energy gather beneath Alt's skin—and then he leaps back again, out of Alt's reach. He laughs. "Yes! Yes! Do it! T-together!" He leaps forward again, driving the point of the scissors down.

Alt quickly tries to glitch up to his feet and tries to hold out a hand to make a shield but Schneep is too fast and stabs into his hand. Alt screams out and glitches away, clutching his hand. He bares his teeth in rage and then twitches his head to the right- causing some of the CRV TVs in Anti’s pile to get caught in his magic and then sail to throw Schneep off balance in a flurry of parts.

Schneep manages—incredibly—to dodge a couple of the screens but then one hits him square in the stomach, knocking the breath out of him and pushing him to the ground. He's stunned for a moment, and then laughs, pushing the TV to the side. "Exzellent!" he shouts. He picks up one of the loose wires from the floor and leaps behind Alt, pulling the wire around his neck from behind.

Alt doesn’t expect Schneep to get back up so quickly after that- so he doesn’t even see the wire coming until it’s around his neck. Then, he panics. Grabbing at the wire as his past flashes before his eyes- those thugs- the rope- the metal bar. The feeling of his neck being sliced open as he glitched for the first time. He chokes and scrambles to try to pull the wire away, eyes blown wide in fear.

Schneep laughs... but that laugher slowly fades. He can't see Alt's face, but he can feel the desperation in his movements. Desperation beyond just the struggle. Wait. No, this... isn't how he expected this to go. His grip on the wire loosens, allowing Alt to breathe. "A-Alt...?" he whispers.

Alt gasps for breath and then shoves his way away as best he can before he falls to his knees, trembling too much to keep upright. He lost his mask to the last world- so now he holds a hand over his neck scar and heaves in fear, hardly able to breathe.

Anti is quiet, watching this with muted interest.

"...Alt?" Schneep says again. He crouches down next to him, concern breaking through the static-filled eyes. "It... a-are you not... Wh-what happened? Is... things... fine?"

For a long beat Alt can’t look at Schneep, he can’t do anything but try his best to breathe. Eventually, He chokes on a quiet sob. “…m-my neck- d-don’t… don’t do that a-again… please-“

"O...okay..." Schneep whispers. "I-I am... s-sorry." He backs away slowly. "This... this i-isn't f-fun anymore. I... n-not like... th-that..."

Anti glitches back down, expression neutral. “…you still care about this one, huh?” He asks Schneep.

Schneep turns towards Anti again and blinks in surprise. "I-I-I... it's not..." For some reason, he feels a bit wary. Why? This is out of nowhere, isn't it? "It... is not... l-like that. I... just..." His eyes instinctively flick back in Alt's direction, though he remains facing Anti.

Alt shudders and tries to scoot away from the both of them, unable to stop his shaking, even as everything in him tells him to stop. Stop and run, stop and fight. But he can’t.

“Nah nah I hear it in your voice. Interesting…” Anti muses. He lashes out and grabs Alt by the neck and the smaller glitch gasps and struggles to pry himself free. “Hm… I can probably use this… but how..?” He grins at Alt, “Should I use you to keep ol’ Schneep in line? Seems like he doesn’t want you getting too hurt.” Alt just rasps out a terrified squeak as he desperately kicks and claws at Anti’s hand.

Schneep cries out. He reaches forward--but for some reason, can't get too close to Anti. "N-no, A-Anti, you d-do not need to hurt him, I—I-I don't understand—This—this isn't f-fun--"

“Relax Schneep. I’ll make this fun again~!” Anti giggles, “I’m just making sure we can all go on our fun adventure together~!” He then brings Alt to his face and growls low, “Without you getting in m̷͉̅y̵̹̍ ̴̲̄ẃ̴͚ä̵͚y.”Alt tries to speak but Anti grabs his hand- the one with the scissor wound and plunges his fingers in there. Alt screams-

The electronics in the room start to fizzle and flicker as Anti laughs and dissolves into static and pixels. Alt falls to his knees, retching as blood falls from one of his eyes and his glitches become darker and more red. He coughs up blackish blood as the sclera on his right eye turns black. He shakily feels the scar on his neck spilt open like it’s a fresh wound. At first Alt is still panicking, not sure what to do or how to act and then-

His panic stops. His breathing evens- the electronics stop flaring. And Alt giggles. He shakily pushes himself up and trips over himself slightly before wiping the blood off his face and smirking. “Heh… now we can have some f̶̔̽ṵ̸̌n̴̫͠.”

Schneep staggers back at first, watching, his newfound joy for chaos warring with his concern for Alt. He half-reaches out, but doesn't move beyond that.

But then Alt gets up again. And—it's Anti, too. He can sense their souls, one on top of the other. He blinks... then grins. "W-we can have some fun?" He laughs, the static in his eyes eating at the edge of his irises. "W-we can go have some fun? Oh yes, yes! C-can we go now? Can we go now, A-Anti?" He laughs again. They're both going to love this, he just knows it!

Alt laughs a bit more and looks down at his hands. He seems a bit unstable, "Oof- gotta get used to being more physical... jesus he really is human, huh?" Then he grins at Schneep and giggles, "Yes, Schneeple~ Let's go find your other friends and have some more fun, hm?" He goes to grab Schneep and with a snap of his fingers- the two of them disappear in a flurry of glitches.

#GITHV #glitch into the huffleverse #GITHV CKTC #alt anti #bro fantastic #the jaunty jackson #inverted Jackie #stitched Schneep #glitched mind #CKTC #the magnificent series #phantom!nate #antisepticeye #marvin the magnificent #Jackieboy man #it was SO FUN to write an outsiders perspective of the CKTC world!!#and really connect the pieces between my like own huffleverse canon :)#this is stuff reallkyyy old fans of mine will recognize!!

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huffle-dork · 1 year ago

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Glitch into the Hufflverse Chapter 11: Darker Seas

Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs | Read Septnautical | Darker Seas AU

Read SITCV | Read SATCV | GITHV Masterpost

The swim back is easier this time- without anything chasing after them. There’s the distant sounds of the crabsquids and jelly rays but it’s smooth sailing.

Anti hurries down to the base and knocks on the door again, not wanting to freak out the people inside.

There’s a beat then the door opens quickly, Zara’s face bright with joy. “Anti! You’re oka- oh my god?!” Zara gasps seeing all the hybrids gathered in front of the door.

“…we need some help?” Anti says with a nervous smile.

“Y-yeah c’mon! I’ll take you to the medbay and… I’ll get Danan and those blankets again!” Zara says hurriedly. She starts to swim down the hallway and turns the corner, Anti right behind her.

The other hybrids pour into the base behind them. "W-well, we got them back, a-as you can see," Schneep says, trying to sound lighthearted but his voice still trembling with nerves. "Your device worked. Thank you."

“I… I can’t believe it did! That’s… that’s great news!” Zara laughs, but she also sounds nervous.

Jackie, Alt, and Bro, JJ says, pointing out the others, their friends who'd been lost.

"H-hi," Jackie says quietly.

Zara looks at the others and smiles. And Bro’s breath hitches really taking in Zara’s face. She’s so different here… and she’s swimming- kinda like she has a limp. What happened to her…?

“Nice to meet you all.” Zara says.

“Y-Yeah… y-you too…” Bro whispers.

They hurry into the med bay- a small room that’s dark and Zara hurries to grab a light to turn it on. There’s a few hospital like beds bolted to the ground and a couple flickering monitors looking like they’re for x-rays. “Sorry this one is for uh… looking at other fish and Anti so… I uh… h-hope it’s comfortable. You can lay down whoever needs to get looked at on the tables. And I’ll get Danan and blankets!!” She says hurriedly and spurs back down the hall.

Bro watches her go then sighs and goes to swim in and tries to lay Alt down on the table.

JJ looks everyone over. I can heal surface injuries, like claws and bites and stuff.

"Ah... I would appreciate if you could do that for me," Schneep says, his injured tendrils waving in the water.

Bro, Jackie, do you need to be looked over? JJ asks. On a medical bed?

"I-I-I think I'm fine," Jackie says, wrapping his arms around himself. "It's a bit... cold, but I think that's just cause of the water..."

Bro pants a bit and shakes his head. “I’m fine… just… s-shaken from all of this…”

"W-we should be careful of Alt and Marvin," Schneep says quietly. "We do not want them to be scared by the environment."

Alt seems reluctant to leave Bro’s arms but eventually curls up on the table, holding his arms and trying to breathe and not panic. But- he’s super aware of the mask and how much it hurts and how awful he feels. He shivers.

Anti nods to Schneep and goes to just sit with Marvin on the table, holding him to his chest. Marvin isn't looking at anyone, digging claws into the edge of his mask, his fingers trembling.

Schneep prowls back and forth across one wall, nervous. Jackie just sort of... floats there. He's still processing everything.

JJ swims over to Anti and Marvin. I know this is probably very confusing, but you're safe now, he says to Marvin with a soft smile. The people here can help.

Marvin startles and looks at JJ with wide eyes. He curls up against Anti. “…w-who are you…? You.. you look like Jamie but…you’re not.”

“He’s someone… similar,” Anti tries to say gently. “But you can trust him… and the one that looks like Schneep… and t-they trust the others…”

Marvin still looks a bit scared but he nods.

JJ nods slowly. Don't worry, I'll give you space if you want, he says, backing up.

“T-Thank you…” Marvin says quietly.

Bro leans on Alt’s table and then feels… heavy… it’s hot in here… his head lolls a bit as he struggles to keep his eyes open, his arms trembling.

"Um... B-Bro?" Jackie says, looking at Bro. "Are you... okay? You look... bad. Tired?"

“Y-Yeah yeah I’m…” Bro says dazedly then shakes himself out, blinking slowly. “I’m… good. I’m just… t-tired yeah…”

"Tired all of a sudden?" Schneep's eyes widen. "Th-that is probably not good." He swims over to Bro, putting a hand on his forehead, feeling out his condition.

Bro definitely has a fever and is shaking quite a bit. He has a glazed look in his eye that he keeps trying to blink back. “‘M fine Hen… ‘m okay…” he mummers tiredly.

Alt sits up and looks at Bro with concern.

"H-he has a fever," Schneep reports. "I-I think he needs medical attention, too."

What happened?! JJ asks. That came on really suddenly!

"I-I don't know. Perhaps this is all just hitting him at once?"

“N-No ‘m okay guys, really…!” Bro tries to smile at them. “We gotta focus on Marv and Alt… a fever isn’t a big deal…”

"I would say it is, actually," Schneep says. He doesn't want to worry Bro, but... a sudden fever could easily be the sign of something worse.

Finally, the door opens and Dr. Danan comes back in with a worried look. “Z-Zara filled me in are you all-?!” She gasps as she sees Marvin and Alt with their masks and hurriedly digs through her bag. “L-Let me get some scans to see what we’re dealing with!”

JJ and Schneep swim back, letting Danan do her work first.

She swims over and does Alt first who tries his best not to move as she waves the tool around the edges of Alt’s face.

Danan then hurries over to Marvin and he cringes curling up and digging fingers in more. “oh nonono! Don’t do that love let me see please-“ Danan tries to say gently to him. Anti whispers something to him and Marvin finally lets go and Danan scans him quickly. Once done Marvin curls back up.

Danan then swims over to one of the monitors and starts to click around on her tool to try to transfer the scans to the screen.

Now that Danan seems done, JJ says, Ah, doctor, our other friend here is suddenly hot. He gestures at Bro. Is that... normal?

"I do not think it is," Schneep mutters. "But—but maybe it has something to do with the sort of fish he is? Do you know anything about that?"

Danan blinks and looks at them with knitted eyebrows. “Hot?” She looks over at Bro and frowns. “He’s.. a boneshark so… not that I know of? That’s… that’s not good… are any of the others starting to feel hot at all?” She asks Schneep and JJ.

Bro is staring out ahead. Why does the room look like it’s swimming..? And why did it look like for a second he saw yellow hair…?

"I-I do not know—no one else has says anything!" Schneep stammers. "Jamie, do any of them look feverish?"

I don't think so? JJ says, head darting between Alt, Marvin, and Jackie.

Jackie keeps hugging himself, sinking down to the ground where he curls his tail up. "I'm... I'm just... t-tired," he mutters.

Alt shakes his head but then pauses, “I’m… a little warm…? I can’t really tell…”

Anti feels Marvin’s forehead and frowns. Marvin has closed his eyes and is dozing against Anti. “I… I can’t tell.” He says quietly.

“Mmm.. the fatigue is justified considering the circumstances…” Danan mutters. “Let's see about getting these masks off then I can run some more tests if that's okay?”

"Please hurry," Schneep whispers. "I-I do not think they can eat with that there—unless you have other ways to get food. Injections of some sort."

Danan looks just as worried. “No we don’t have anything like that so let me get to the bottom of this…”

Is there anything we can do to help? JJ asks. Or should we stay out of your way?

Danan smiles at JJ and shakes her head. “You all just rest…”

Jackie leans back against the wall while they talk, closing his eyes. Maybe he can fall asleep right here.

Schneep and JJ hover nearby, both looking anxious.

Danan then gets the scans up on the monitor. She looks them over and then gasps at the sight. “Stars…! This is…!” She then curses, “That damn witch Jezebeth!” Before she swims to look through the drawers in the room. “I’m so sorry boys… I had no idea this went as deep as it did I… I might need to sedate you to get these off…!”

"What?! Wh-what?!" Schneep gasps. "That—that went that far into their—?!"

“T-Their jaw bones and muscles yes I-I…” Danan stammers, looking distressed. “I-I luckily still have a medical fabricator so it can rebuild the damage it just… they have to be completely still and… I don’t want it to hurt.”

JJ stares at the masks in horror. And then in anger. They have no right to mess with people's bodies like that! At least we could get the gauges out without sedation!

"Y-you two—you two please don't worry," Schneep says, darting closer to the medical beds again. "W-we will fix this. W-we'll just need to—to—it will take more than expected."

Bro growls tiredly, digging nails into the bed. “those fucking Bastards…!”

Jackie opens his eye slightly, staring at the commotion with a slightly glazed look. The water doesn't feel as cold anymore... he must be getting used to it.

Anti looks disturbed but he looks down at Marvin who has basically passed out. “Y-You’re good for Marv doc… get it over with before he wakes back up…”

Danan nods and hurries over, gently going to inject the sedative into Marvin. He slumps a bit more and Anti gently lays him down on the table, looking worried.

Alt looks like he’s on the verge of panic, sinking claws around his mask and breathing heavily.

Alt, please, please, you'll only hurt yourself, JJ says, trying to look reassuring and not like the anxious mess he feels like. Put your hands down. We'll be right here. We won't let anything happen to you.

Alt looks at JJ with terrified eyes and then back at Danan as she approaches. “I promise this is to make it as least painful as possible, Alt…” the Dr. says gently. “I don’t want this to hurt you…”

Alt makes a couple more panicked breaths before he eventually lets go and nods. Danan smiles and carefully moves some of his hair out of the way to inject him. Alt blinks heavily, already feeling the pull then Bro shakily leads him down.

Once Alt is down, Danan hurriedly grabs her equipment and starts to set up the fabricators- seems she has enough for both of them.

As that gets set up, Schneep swims over. "Chase, y-you have to lie down, please," he says. "You look like you're about to pass out. And then you cannot stay by Alt if you're asleep, yes?" His tone is unusually gentle.

Bro floats a bit straighter and blinks blearily at Schneep. “Hm? Uh… yeah maybe I…I’ll…” He glances at the door- then sharply inhales as he sees Demerci staring right at him through the window.

He yells in surprise then tumbles back, hitting the back wall in his scramble to get away. “N-No…!”

"Chase?!" Schneep gasps, staring at Bro in confusion. "What—A-are you okay?!"

JJ follows Bro's line of sight. He's looking at the door. What are you looking at, Bro?

Schneep blinks. "A... a hallucination, maybe? Chase, do you have hallucinations normally?"

“I-I- no I…!” Bro stammers in slight fear, looking paler. “I-It’s Demerci-! S-She’s right there! D-don’t you see her?!”

Danan startles a bit at this and looks at the door in confusion.

But then, Zara opens the door even as Bro yells and covers his head with his arms, shaking like a leaf. “I got the blankets!” She says cheerily. She then blinks in confusion to Bro’s reaction. “…damn is my face that scary…?”

JJ shakes his head. It's not you, Z. He's seeing someone else.

“Oh… that’s not good.” Zara says with a worried frown.

"Bro, Bro, please." Schneep gently grabs Bro's hand. "Clearly, JJ cannot see this Demerci. A-and I cannot sense any souls besides us, Danan, and Zara. If she's as close as you say, I would definitely be able to sense her. But--if she is somehow there, we outnumber her, yes? We can take her down. Y-you are safe here."

Jackie watches Schneep and Bro, blinking slowly. This feels somehow familiar... But reversed.

Bro whimpers and looks at Schneep with a terrified expression. “I-I swear I saw her Hen I-I’m not crazy…! I-I can let her get to Alt again I… I can’t-!”

"No, I believe you, I-I'm sure you saw her, but she will not get to Alt, I promise," Schneep says in a calm voice. "We are going to protect him, okay? We are going to stay right here and protect him. Please don't go running off after her. We cannot get separated." JJ hovers anxiously behind Bro, listening to this.

Bro seems to calm down a bit at this and he slowly nods. “O-Okay I… won’t.” He laughs tiredly. “I-I don’t think I could even if I w-wanted to…” he then tiredly leans forward and lays against Schneep’s shoulder, his eyelids fluttering. “You make me miss my Hen and Dr.j…” he mumbles dazedly, laughing a bit. “Yer like a fusion of them…”

Schneep blinks in surprise. "Hah. I will take that as a compliment." He wraps an arm around him in a half-hug. "We will get back there to them, I promise."

“It is…” Bro says with a smile, settling in some more against Schneep. “Yer good like both of them… kind… even if you give us that scary stern look jays gives us… or like…” Chase’s vision dims and dips in front of him and he sees Demerci bending down next to them and… smiling…? She seems so gentle here… Chase doesn’t even feel scared. “…mum…” he whispers before his eyes flutter shut altogether.

“Mum?” Schneep repeats, confused. What does that have to do with anything? Maybe Bro is just delirious? Either way, he’s asleep before Schneep can ask about it. He chuckles. “Alright, let’s get you a blanket, then.” He drags Bro through the water towards Jackie. Bro mumbles something incoherent back to Schneep as he’s dragged over.

Zara swims over to Jackie and lays the blankets down on the floor next to him. She smiles gently. “hey… feel free to rest on these, okay?”

Jackie looks over at her and nods. "Thanks..." He smiles back, and looks down, sorting through the blankets. "You're so nice... I can see why I like you in those other worlds..." His voice gets quiet at the end. He doesn't think she can hear him.

Zara pauses in helping set them up and then looks at Jackie with wide eyes and a slight blush. “…w-what..?”

"O-oh, uh... I didn't realize you could hear that..." Jackie says, staring at her. "Um... I-I've been to... two other universes where you were uh... in a sort of relationship with a 'Jackie.' One was in its early stages and another was um... you were older an'... married." He clears his throat. "Um—y-you're really nice and pretty, b-but I actually have a boyfriend in my own world, so don't, uh... think of me that way?"

Zara blushes even more, “w-with Jackie? RL-006??” She looks flabbergasted by this and thoughtfully touches her scarred cheek. She then laughs and shakes her head. “…don’t worry. Not really in the right place right now to be d-dating anyways…”

JJ looks towards Jackie, slightly distracted by his rambling exchange. You said he was called Frederick, right?

"Yeah... he's pretty too." Jackie hums. "He has silky black hair and sparkly black eyes... pretty."

JJ laughs a little. Zara here has dark hair too, you know. And where I'm from, a version of you is married to a spouse with black hair.

"...Fuck, do I have a type?" Jackie mutters.

Zara smiles wide listening to Jackie talk about Fredrick. Then bursts into giggles at Jackie’s last statement. “Well… I’m flattered, truly. S’been a while since I thought I was pretty.” She laughs lightly.

“Well you arrrre,” Jackie says. “Jameson, isn’t she pretty?”

JJ frowns. I’ve never liked girls romantically.

“Then you’ll be, uh…” Jackie struggles with the word for a second. “…objective!”

JJ laughs a little. Okay if you insist. Yes, I agree.

“Seeee?” Jackie yawns. As Schneep brings Bro over he curls up on the blankets next to him, subconsciously scooting a bit closer until he’s pressed up against Bro. Mm… warm…

Zara giggles, “You all are too nice. But… thank you.” She smiles as she sees Jackie curl up against Bro.

Bro instinctually lays an arm over Jackie- as if wanting to protect him in his sleep.

Danan finishes setting up the machines and has actually used a laser cutter to take off the masks, exposing the open wounds for the fabricators to heal. Anti has been anxiously floating around Marvin the whole time. Danan finally sighs and gathers up the masks before addressing the group. “it will take a couple hours for the fabricators to work most likely… you all can rest here in the meantime and we can get you something to eat… whatever you need to feel comfortable.”

“Thank you, Dr. Danan,” Schneep says. “W-we really appreciate everything you’ve done to help.” He swims over to Jackie and Bro, settling down a little apart from them.

JJ nods in agreement. We do need rest and food, but I think the rest can come first. He looks at Anti. For you too. Marvin will still be here when you wake up. And I don’t think you want him to see you looking exhausted when he comes out of the sedative.

While JJ talks, Schneep has slowly scooted closer to Jackie and Bro, hoping that no one will notice.

Anti blinks over at JJ and seems confused for a second before he seems to sag. “…right right… I’m just… I’m afraid if I go to sleep… I-I might wake up and he’ll be gone again…” he whispers.

JJ smiles. I know that worry. But I promise, this is real. And we’re safe here. And he won’t leave you again. I’m sure he missed you as much as you missed him.

Anti’s lip trembles but he slowly nods. “…okay… okay…” his gaze lingers on Marvin for a bit before he goes to curl up at the edge of his bed, laying down in some of his tails.

Bro in his sleep is panting a bit, eyebrows knit together in slight pain.

JJ looks over at Bro, worried. Hopefully that dies down soon. For now, he swims over to join the rest of the group, squeezing under the pile they’ve all formed. He sighs, and tries to put his worries out of his mind as he closes his eyes.

Danan and Zara smile as all the boys settle down to rest. They quietly leave the lab, promising to check back later.

=========

Hours pass… but it’s hard to tell the passage of time here since they can’t see any light from the surface.

Everything seems to be going smoothly- the fabricators seem almost done with fixing the wounds on Alt and Marvin. Alt is trembling a bit in his sleep, the sedative slowly wearing off. He makes quiet whimpers as his eyes flit around under his eyelids, caught in a dream most likely.

Marvin on the other hand is still very still- it’s almost hard to tell if he’s breathing but he is. Anti is still curled up next to him, sleeping peacefully.

Bro’s panting and fever have only gotten worse as he presses his burning face into whoever is near, clinging to them and biting back a whimper. It’s hot… why does that feel familiar…?

Jackie is the first to wake up. He blinks his eyes open slowly and looks around. His head feels… weird. Is he sick? He raises it slightly and looks around the room. He hadn’t really taken in all the details before. All of the others are here, curled up together—Bro’s skin is hot against his. There’s also what looks like this world’s Anti and Marvin and someone else—

He freezes, staring at the figure. No. No, it's impossible. He can’t be here. But those purple eyes are unmistakable, looking over at him—

“Hello again, Jaaackie.”

Jackie screams.

Bro startles up immediately, gasping and looking around dazedly. “J-Jackie?!”

He tries to look over at him but is met face to face with Demerci again.

“Hi Chaser~ did you sleep well, love?” she whispers sweetly.

Bro screeches too and trips over himself to try to get distance, breathing heavily. “Nonono g-get away!”

JJ and Schneep immediately startle awake as the two other in their pile start screaming.

Anti jumps up at the screaming and hits his head on the underside of Marvin’s table in his scramble. He shakes this off and surges up into the water and over to the others, “Stars- what’s wrong?!”

“No! No, you’re not here!” Jackie wriggles out of the pile, scrambling back across the floor. “It’s impossible! Impossible!” His Marvin only laughs and gets closer. “No! S-stay the fuck away from me!”

“What is happening?!” Schneep asks. His brain scrambles. “A-are they seeing something, maybe?”

Anti swims back, looking at all their reactions with wide scared eyes. “Hallucinations??”

“Hallucinations,” Schneep confirms.

Everyone calm down! JJ says. There’s nothing in the room! He hurries over to Jackie’s side. Jackie—

“Get away from me, Jameson!” Jackie screams. The mandibles on his back snap, and JJ quickly jerks backwards, confused.

Bro pants, trembling like a leaf as Demerci seemingly lifts his chin up and smiles at him. “Love, you need to return to the base. You don’t belong here… and I miss you and your brother ever so much… won’t you come back to me?”

Bro bites back a whimper and shakes his head, “I-I can’t… y-you can’t hurt Alt anymore- I-I…”

“I don’t have to hurt you love… all you need to do is play along~” she hums sweetly. “Come back to the base and bring Alt too… then this can all be over~”

Bro chokes on a sob.

Alt meanwhile is blearily trying to open his eyes- his jaw is killing him and he feels really warm and shaky…

“Hello, cub~” Magnificent grins down over Alt. Alt yells hoarsely in fear and tumbles off the table in his scramble to get away.

JJ looks over at Alt as he falls. I think—I think all of them are experiencing that.

“Why would—This is not a sign of a fever, this is targeted,” Schneep mutters, his mind whirling. “A—a side effect, perhaps? An intended side effect? To—hurt them?” He shakes his head, swimming over to Bro. “Chase. Chase please, focus on me. D-don’t look at what you’re looking at. Focus on me, okay?”

Bro’s eyes flicker between Schneep and Demerci, unsure which one is real. “S-She’s gonna hurt Alt, Hen she’s-“ Bro’s head snaps to Alt as he yells and he tries to clumsily swim over to him but crashes over himself. “A-Alt!”

Alt feels like the breath has been knocked out of him as Mag bends down over to him. It feels like his head is being held down… or is his head just too heavy to lift?

“So sad to see you this way, kitten…” Magnificent purrs. “I wish I could have seen your spiral personally… how fascinating that would have been~” His voice is suddenly in Alt’s ears as he whispers. “Maybe I’ll drag you myself just to see it again~”

Alt croaks on a response but his entire face is so sore from the mask and the mouthpiece in it. “M-Mag- n-no…!” He breathes.

Jackie breathes heavily, eyes locked on the figure in front of him. “I’m coming for you, Jaaackie,” Marvin taunts. “You better run.”

And, instinctively, Jackie does, bolting for the door. JJ’s head whips around and he tries to conjure a shield to block Jackie in, but he’s just barely too fast, slipping through before the spell is complete. Damn it! JJ says. Schneep, you go after him, I don’t think he’ll react well to me.

Anti startles as Jackie bolts out. He hesitates for a second before following after him. “I-I’ll get him! Just hang on!”

JJ nods. With Anti going after Jackie, he turns his attention to Alt. He swims over, coming into view. Alt, it’s okay, you’re okay. We’re going to keep you safe. Did he say Mag? He’s not going to get you. Don’t listen to him.

Alt struggles to move his head back but looks at JJ with terrified eyes. “J…!” Magnificent is laughing so loudly in his ears and he chokes on a quiet sob.

“Chase, careful!” Schneep says, grabbing him and helping him up again. “Alt is fine! Look, he is okay. You can see that. Okay? Okay. Y-you are having difficulty swimming, it sounds like, do you want help getting to his side?”

Bro looks around wildly as Schneep grabs him. He- he feels solid through all the murky confusion. He grips Schneep’s shoulder and sobs. “I-I- I can’t let her g-get us Schneep- s-she’ll take us back there..! W-we can’t go back!” It’s unclear what back he’s talking about… hq? Or… somewhere else?

You're okay, you're okay, JJ keeps signing, making sure that Alt can both see the signs and hear the voice from the robot fish. He's not sure what to do in this situation—maybe contact will help? He drapes the wings attached to his arms over Alt like a blanket. You're going to be okay. I promise.

Alt startles at the contact at first but then sinks against JJ, biting back frightened tears. But… the laughter seems a bit harder to hear under here. Is he really safe…?

"She's not going to get you," Schneep promises Bro. "Jamie and I will not let her get to you. You are not going anywhere, yes? Here, let's go over by Alt and Jamie. Come on." He helps Bro over to Alt's medical table.

Bro whimpers but clings to Schneep as he’s brought over. He can see Demerci trying to mouth stuff to him over Schneep’s shoulder but… it’s harder to hear her.

Once Bro has been lead to Alt on the ground the older brother gasps and tumbles down to be next to him. He hurriedly wraps him up in his arms and curls up against him, holding him tight, though still letting Jamie’s wing cover him. “You’re okay…! You’re okay…”

Alt jerks in surprise and then smiles dazedly, “C-Chase?” He whispers, voice still a bit raw. He hiccups a bit and then hides against Chase’s shoulder.

"We are all okay," Schneep says reassuringly. "See? We are all okay."

JJ smiles and nods. Don't worry. If anything bad happens, we'll help protect you. He adjusts his position so the wing is over Bro as well.

"Just everyone take deep breaths," Schneep says. "Everything is fine."

Bro takes a shakily breath and his shoulders relax. He hugs Alt around his back and the cooling blue light of JJ’s wing helps to calm him down too. “W-we’re okay…” he breathes and Alt nods against him. “We’re okay…” Alt gazes up at JJ and Schneep with slightly more focused eyes. “T-Thanks guys…”

Of course, JJ says, nodding. Schneep smiles.

Jackie swims wildly through the base, crashing into walls. Behind him, he hears more laughter, and he can see the purple glow. He sobs. He can’t go back there! He can’t let him take him again!

Anti tries his best to speed after Jackie- and luckily he knows these halls and all their turns. He quickly gains on Jackie then tries to grab him. “Jackie! Breathe! You’re seeing things! You’re okay!”

Jackie yelps, instinctively squirming against the grip. He looks back--no, it's not Marvin, it's Anti. "A-Antiiii," he cries. "I don't—h-he's not supposed to be here! H-how is he here?! I'm not—I c-can't just be seeing things, I—I-I've never--"

"Trying to escape, Jackie?" Marvin looms behind Anti, grinning.

Jackie cries out. "H-he's right behind you! W-we have to get out of here!" He grabs onto Anti in turn, trying to pull him away from the glowing violet figure.

Anti swallows shakily and shakes his head, not letting Jackie pull him away. If anything he tries to pull him closer. “It’s okay Jackie- no one here is gonna hurt you! There’s no one behind me… w-we need to get you back to the lab so Danan can look at you and figure out what’s wrong!”

"Don't lie to me!" Jackie shouts. "I-I can see him right there!" He squeezes Anti tightly. "H-he might be able to hurt even you!" He shakes his head. "I-I can't go back to that place! I-I can't go back to that dark room! H-he's gonna kill me this time, I-I know he will, I'll be too much t-trouble—"

Anti laughs a bit and shakes his head. “You won’t be taken anywhere bad Jackie… you said he’s behind me right? Watch-“ he gently floats back, going to lightly wrap his tail around Jackie’s hand so he can go back a bit farther. “He won’t hurt me. You’re okay.”

Jackie cries out as Anti floats back towards Marvin. But... nothing happens. Even though Marvin is still looking at him and smiling that sick grin. Marvin... Marvin would try to attack him, wouldn't he? Wouldn't he? Maybe—maybe something's up? Even so, he doesn't want to get close. He hesitates for a moment, then suddenly swims forward at Anti, wrapping his arms around him. His whole body is trembling. "Let's go—quickly!" he whispers.

Anti oofs out in surprise and looks down at Jackie with wide eyes. He holds his arms out- unsure what to do. But… like this… oh. He reminds him of his Jackie… when he was small… scared of the thunder and the big wide ocean… Anti blinks back tears and holds an arm around Jackie and hurries them back down towards the med bay. “okay okay- I got you…”

Jackie nods fast. He's trying not to look towards the purple glow as they head back down the hallways.

JJ looks up when Anti and Jackie return. Schneep also perks up. "You are back," he says.

"Sch-Schneep?" Jackie says quietly. "Schneep? A-a-are you... okay?"

"Yes, I am fine," Schneep says, swimming over. As soon as he gets close Jackie latches onto him instead of Anti, holding him tight. "Whoa! A-a bit tight there, Jackie."

"Pl-please—you can't listen to them anymore," Jackie stammers. "Please."

"I won't," Schneep says quietly. "I won't."

Anti blinks in surprise then looks back down at Alt, Bro and JJ before looking back at Schneep, “…any idea what he’s talking about….?”

“His Schneep…” Alt croaks quietly, “…I think h-he misses him… b-bad people have him…”

Anti’s eyes widen, “…like they had Marvin… my brothers…”

“Y-yeah…” Alt looks back at the others and seems a lot more calm and awake but he holds the trembling Bro to his shoulder. “C-Can we get the d-doctor…? I… C-Chase doesn’t get s-sick like this…”

Where did she go? Is there any way we can call for her? JJ asks, looking around.

“I can find her,” Anti says and hurries back out.

"He does not get sick like this?" Schneep repeats. "What do you mean?"

I think he means about his powers... JJ says slowly.

Alt nods, “Mhm… h-he might be under the weather but n-not this severely… h-he doesn’t get fevers this bad… I-I’m usually the s-sickly one.” He tries to laugh but it falls short.

"I-I wish I could help, but... my knowledge of medicine does not extend to side effects after being mind controlled," Schneep says slowly. "I... I suppose we just..." Then he realizes something. Jackie, holding tight to him, is also a bit hot. He presses his hand against his forehead. "Wait a moment. Jackie, do you have a fever, too?"

"I... dunno," Jackie says slowly. "M'head feels a bit weird...?"

"Weird how?"

"H-heavy, I guess... and... watery? More than just being in water, I mean. Everything's full of water."

"Scheisse," Schneep curses.

“I-it’s okay Schneep… t-this is the future… I’m sure there’s… there’s something…” Alt mumbles, trying to keep his eyes open.

Dr. Danan quickly bursts back into the room, in a bit of panic. “A-Anti said something was wrong?” She looks down at all the boys shaking and trembling and she inhaled sharply. “stars… o-okay… uh… scans I can do more scans hold on…” she grabs her scanner from earlier and goes to scan the boys.

“Chase was having hallucinations right? Hallucinations, fever, fatigue…” she muses to herself as she waits for the scans to process.

"They were all hallucinating, I think," Schneep says. "Except for Marvin, of course, he is still asleep. If that helps at all." He pats Jackie on the back. "Come on, Jackie, let's sit you down on this table over here."

"Okay..." Jackie mumbles, still clinging to Schneep as he guides him over to a medical table.

Alt struggles to help Chase up who still refuses to let Alt go. “C’mon Chase…”

“I-If you all are experiencing the same symptoms then it must be from what happened to you…” Danan muses. She goes to scan by Jackie’s ears and gets a result. Her PDA reads out: Detecting hallucinogenic toxins in subject’s bloodstream. Symptoms include hallucinations, fatigue, fever, paranoia, vivid dreams-

“Toxins? Okay… okay,.. we can work with this… some food with charcoal can help, water to flush the system and… oh…! These toxins are man made… so… we may be able to draw them out magnetically and replace the blood?” Danan mumbles to herself, swimming back and forth as she thinks.

"Replace the blood?" Schneep gasps. "Technology has advanced that far in this world?!" He sounds excited about that.

Danan blinks at Schneep and smiles, “Oh well yes! It’s not common but there’s a process to use nanomagnets to draw out toxins in blood and then add back in the cleansed blood…”

If it's toxins, then that means the symptoms will definitely fade in time, JJ says. Is there anything we can do, doctor? Maybe we can go get supplies?

She looks back at JJ and hums, “Maybe… I think we have enough water, I have charcoal… we might need more food? Fish could help… I think we have some marblemelons left? That could help too…”

JJ nods. I guess I can go out and try grabbing something? I don't think I'm built for hunting, though.

"I can go with you in a second," Schneep says. "Just have to get Jackie to calm down."

Anti laughs, “It’s okay I don’t mind getting more… you can come if you wanna try but- yeah I don’t think ghost rays have a lot of hunting skills in their DNA.”

JJ smiles at Anti. If you're sure... I think I'll be more use here. He looks down at Bro and Alt. They need some support.

"Doooctor," Jackie repeats absentmindedly. "A real one?"

Danan blinks a bit in surprise and then laughs, “Yes I am a real doctor. Got my license is both human and Xeno biology.”

"She's a real doctor, Jackie," Schneep repeats.

"No' like you," Jackie mumbles. "With a real license?"

Schneep looks a bit surprised at that. "Ah... yes, with a real degree." He looks back at the others. "Apparently the me in his world doesn't have a real medical license?"

You don't have a license at all in my world, you're not a doctor there, JJ says.

"Interesting. But I don't think that's what he's implying."

“Schneep in Jackie’s world doesn’t have a license…? But he wanted to fix Henny…” Alt frowns sleepily.

Jackie's eyes focus over on Alt. He looks confused for a moment, then seems to realize who Alt is. "He thought he could," Jackie whispers. "But he wouldn't be able to. He'd just hurt him." He shivers a little. "I-I... I would have... let that... I'm... s-sorry..."

Alt blinks at Jackie and then smiles and shakes his head, “…it’s okay,.. you wouldn’t do that now… that’s what counts, right…?”

"I... y-yeah..." Jackie nods slowly. "Yeah."

Danan nods, “I’ll get started on what I can… but food and water will probably be the best start. Perhaps the fever is already burning through most of it….”

"...Jackie," Schneep says quietly. "What if I have to go?"

"N-no." Jackie grabs onto Schneep's arm. "Don't. H-he'll get you."

Scheep turns to Anti with an apologetic expression. "I... might not be able to go help, either."

Anti laughs and shakes his head, “Don’t worry I’ll get some.” He hurries out to go find some food.

Alt pats Bro’s hair as the older brother shivers and whimpers against him.

“I’ll go get some of the other stuff… hang tight okay?” Danan says gently before heading out too.

"We will." Schneep nods,

Silence falls for a while. JJ closes his eyes, feeling the two brothers' breathing beneath him. Poor Bro... he says. My Marvin gets fevers often, I know how much they suck.

"You two are close?" Schneep mutters idly.

He's my best friend. And my roommate.

"Hah... in my world, Jackie and Marvin are best friends and roommates." Schneep smiles idly, but then it fades. "Judging from how Jackie spoke of his Marvin, though, back when we were stuck in that SCLERA place... it is not the case, there. Not at all."

Jackie shudders.

“Mmm yeah.. Marvin in his world is… terrifying.. he.. he hurt Jackie..” Alt mumbles quietly. “Mag used to be roommates with my Jackie too… before he was mag… maybe that’s another constant..?”

You would know better than us, Alt, JJ says. It's not like that in my world, but maybe mine is an exception.

“Mmm… sometimes.. I can’t remember right now…” Alt mumbles.

Schneep nods. "You have been to more places than us. Though... I am very curious about different worlds." He chuckles. "If we had some way to control our jumping, I would love to visit other universes. See the differences. What about you, JJ? Jackie?"

JJ frowns. I think... maybe some other time. I still have business to take care of at home. Maybe once that's done, I can think about hopping to other worlds.

Jackie is quiet for a moment. "I... just want to go home," he whispers. "I-I wanna see Frederick and Chase again."

Schneep squeezes his hand. "You will. I promise."

“…’m sorry Jackie…I’m sorry to all of you…” Alt says quietly, “…the rifts are… they’re my fault. Kinda… I know I’m not supposed to feel like that but I do…” he slurs and shuts his eyes. “‘M sorry our mistakes got you taken away from your homes…”

JJ looks at Alt. How could it have been your fault?

"You... got tricked or something, right...?" Jackie mumbles. "That... doesn't count. It's the fault of the guy who tricked you. He's the one who did it."

“..it wouldn’t have happened if me and bro didn’t f-fuck around with visiting universes so much…” Alt mutters, “…we got too comfortable. I thought I’d have the TRVLR for… at least longer than I did… now I don’t even know how to get you all home…”

"You tend to blame yourself for things a lot, don't you, Alt?" Schneep mutters. "You should not do that. We do not blame you, so you should not blame yourself." He pauses. "One time, I was tricked, too. My Anti... he made me think I killed my Chase. F-for months, I... I felt terrible. I-I stewed in it. But Chase did not blame me. He wanted me to be okay. I still felt bad, though, so he forgave me." He shakes his head. "It is the same situation here. We do not blame you."

Alt looks down and doesn’t look at the others, feeling delirious tears in his eyes. “…you sure…?” He says weakly.

"One hundred percent," Schneep says. "I promise."

JJ nods. It wouldn't be fair to blame you for this.

"I blame the guy who tricked you, not you," Jackie mutters tiredly, closing his eyes.

Alt is quiet for a second before he says tiredly, “…okay…” he leans more against his friends and tries not to let his thoughts get too negative.

Danan comes back after this and goes to set down some food in front of them off. 3 bottles of blackish water and 2 regular ones. And a huge melon-like thing sliced for them to eat. Danan smiles, “Here you go boys… hopefully this will start to help…”

JJ's expression brightens. He swims over and starts passing out the water bottles—correctly assuming that the blackish ones are for the sick boys. These will help you feel better, he says after everyone has a bottle.

Alt nods and smiles and tries to shake Bro to get him to drink. Bro blearily blinks out and Alt hurriedly tips his head to help him drink. Then, he reaches to grab some melon and hands it for Bro to eat. Bro sleepily takes it and starts to eat and Alt smiles and goes to drink the blackish water.

Schneep takes the bottle, then makes his way over to where Danan is and feels around until he finds the melon. He takes a slice. "What is this? Melon?"

Not a fan? JJ asks.

"Normally I do not care, but for some reason it doesn't seem as appetizing." Schneep passes the slice to Jackie, who takes it without question.

Danan chuckles, “Anti should be back soon with something more hearty… the sick boys need some more hydration though!”

Turns out, Anti was near and it doesn’t take much longer for him to swim back into the room. He throws a bag down in front of the others, a couple Reginalds and peepers spilling out. “There you go! Most decent fish I can find around here… hope that’s okay.”

"It is perfect, I'm sure, Anti," Schneep says, grabbing one of the peepers and absolutely devouring it. JJ stares at him, surprised at the ferocity, and decides to stick with the melons.

Alt sees the fish and his eyes sparkle and he can feel his mouth watering. God he really didn’t realize how hungry he was. He hurriedly grabs 3 of the fish and starts eagerly tearing into them. As he does his eyes glow a bit and almost look like they did when he was under Alterra’s control.

Is everyone feeling a bit better with food in them? JJ asks. Jackie, drink the water.

"You can't fucking control me," Jackie mumbles, turning over away from him.

JJ tries to hide how hurt he is. But even the blind guy can see it. "Do not be offended," Schneep whispers. "He seems confused about things right now. And... remember, he said that the you in his world was terrible."

JJ softens a bit, and nods. You help him, then? I think that's better.

"Of course." Schneep swims on over. "Jackie, really, you need to drink the water." He holds out the bottle.

After a moment, Jackie takes the bottle and drinks slowly.

Bro seems to shudder looking at the fish and hugs his stomach. But… it feels like some of the fog is clearing. He hears Jackie snap at JJ and he frowns, slurring out, “J-Jackie… don’t be mean…”

"...sorry," Jackie says after a while. "I don'... mean it, Jameson. It's not... for you."

JJ nods. It's fine, Jackie. You've been through a lot.

"Remember to eat, too," Schneep says, handing Jackie a fish.

Jackie stares at the fish absentmindedly for a moment before taking it, tearing it apart with his teeth and hands.

You all must be very hungry, JJ says, taking a melon slice for himself.

"Are you not?" Schneep asks.

Yes, but I'm fine with this, JJ signs, and then begins eating the melon.

“I had that f-fucking mask on-“ Alt growls through bites. “I think Jackie and bro ate a bit during that-“

“Is that why my mouth tasted weird?” Bro says with an exhausted laugh. “…mmm… god they do look kinda good though…”

“If I had time to go to the lava zone- I’d get you guys red eyeyes.” Anti snickers. “They’re spicy, they taste awesome.”

Spicy fish? JJ repeats, eyebrows raised. Sounds strange.

“Sounds interesting,” Schneep says. “Perhaps some other time.” If they’re stuck in this world long enough.

Anti shrugs, “they’re my favorite!” He grins. “But eh- not worth going to the lava zone right now… especially cuz… well..” he bites his lip- thinking of his brothers all still trapped at HQ.

Bro hesitates then grabs a fish and tentatively takes a bite. Then he eagerly starts to tear into it too.

Anti hurries to grab some food for Marvin and goes to set it on his bed, checking over the warper mer. Marvin sleepily blinks up at Anti and then smiles. But, it doesn’t last that long for it to fade and it seem like Marvin is getting those hallucinations too. But- now Anti knows what to do. He offers the blackish water and the food to Marvin and scoots to hold him close as he quietly eats.

Danan smiles at the progress and nods, having done some research on her own. “okay… while you guys are eating I think… I think the scanner and Zara might be able to help me make… an anti venom basically? That way we wouldn’t have to… sit here and filter all 3 of your bloodstreams… that would take a long time. I-I just need a sample from one of you that is affected… if that’s okay?”

Jackie raises his hand. “You can take it from me, I don’t mind,” he says, looking a bit more alive now that he’s got some food in him. “I can handle it. I can handle a lot.”

“Don’t push yourself, Jackie,” Schneep mutters.

“It’s just gonna be a little needle, right?” Jackie shrugs.

“Thank you Jackie…” Danan says gently. She kneels down next to Jackie and takes his arm, going to tie off a section then carefully draw some of his blood. Once done she spurs back up and smiles, “Okay we’ll go work on this- rest and eat and hopefully we won’t be too long…” she hurries back out.

A moment passes in silence. “Um… Jameson?” Jackie finally says. “I’m sorry for… being like that… earlier. I-I thought you were the Jameson from my world.”

JJ shakes his head. It’s fine, really. I figured it was some like that. And honestly, I might also be a little cold if I met another version of someone who’d really wronged me like that.

“Still. I’m… sorry,” Jackie mumbles. “Schneep’s getting along fine with the Antis.”

“Well ‘Schneep’ is not currently hallucinating,” Schneep says.

Jackie laughs.

Alt and Bro chuckle. “Yeah don’t be so harsh on yourself dude… we’re all just- going through it right now.” Bro smiles weakly.

“It probably helps that we haven’t really met any… of the bad Antis, to be fair.” Alt says quietly.

I can’t even picture a really evil Anti, JJ says.

Schneep laughs darkly. “I’m glad for you, then. The one in my world was… terrible.” He brushes a hand over the tear scars on his face.

Alt shudders and holds his arms, thinking of the evil Antis they’ve met. Evil versions of him… even if he’s getting more used to the idea and that he is different, it still sucks to remember that his face lives in others’ nightmares.

If he was as bad as Distorter from my world, I can imagine, JJ says.

“Who the fuck is that, by the way?” Jackie asks. “You mentioned them before.”

JJ shudders slightly. He is… a being with the ability to mess with people’s minds in all sorts of ways. If he hates you, he tries to kill you—or get you to do it. If he likes you, he tries to make you his “friend.” He used to be human, but… something happened. We’re not sure what. Something to do with the house he lived in, we think. And now he’s… like that.

Jackie’s expression softens. “Sounds fucking awful.”

Bro almost chokes on his water at the mention of Distorter, coughing and having to quickly look away.

Are you alright, Chase? JJ asks, concerned. Drink slowly.

“Y-Yeah I’m good-“ Bro laughs nervously, smiling at JJ. “just- that Distorter guy… he’s just the… worst.”

J sighs. I know. We're working on taking him down back home. Our Anti has an idea... something about confronting him directly.

Bro smiles weakly, “…I believe in you guys. You’re all tough lads. You’ll get him.”

JJ nods, smiling. Thank you.

Meanwhile, Jackie notices Alt's discomfort, too. "You... okay? I mean... guess it's gotta suck to have someone with your name be so evil." He sighs. "At least you're good, you know? You're doing the best you can." Maybe that isn't fully directed at Alt...

Alt blinks up at Jackie and is quiet for a beat. Then he smiles and nudges Jackie’s tail slightly with his. “yeah… that’s what matters, right? Trying our best.”

Jackie smiles back at Alt. "Yeah. That's what matters. And there are people who can help us try." He nods in Bro's direction.

Alt glances at Bro and then chuckles , “Yeah from what I remember, your boyfriend is a pretty good influence.”

"Shhhhhut." Jackie blushes.

Alt laughs, “I meant it genuinely! …I know mine is a good influence on me… he helped me realize that… strangers can be kind again. But I’m glad he’s gotten you to find a good path.”

"I-it's a—well, yeah, I—I guess? He's... such a good guy. I-I want to help others the way he's helped me. Maybe... I-I can support my Chase, or something." Jackie pauses. "Oh yeah. Since you guys last visited my world a month ago—for us, time is apparently inconsistent—Chase has... gotten a lot better. He's not fully better, but he's um... recognizably himself again."

Bro and Alt seem delighted to hear this. “oh I’m so glad to hear that! …wild to think that was only a month ago for you though… god I’m not even sure how long it’s been for us.” Bro says.

“Long enough to consider ourselves multiverse travel experts, I guess.” Alt laughs quietly.

You know, your visit was only a couple weeks ago for me, JJ says.

"Oh, it was a longer time since you've been in my world," Schneep says. "A couple months... a whole season, really." He shakes his head. "Time really is inconsistent between worlds. How strange..."

“That’s… really crazy…” Alt says, shaking his head. “though… guess not too crazy considering… well we’re like 200 years in the future now. I wonder if the rifts have something to do with the time inconsistencies…”

“Probably, if I had to guess,” Bro says with a shrug, “We repeated like- the same couple hours in that one world the Antis saved us from.”

"Time and space are linked," Schneep muses. "If you are to travel to a different 'space' that is a different universe, it makes sense that the 'space' would have its own 'time.' And if these rifts are somehow cracks or tears in space, of course it would affect the time as well. I wonder how your TRVLR device managed to get around that. Perhaps it bases things based on the time of your own space..." He wanders off into some scifi sounding mumblings.

Jackie blinks. "You guys getting any of this?" he whispers to the others.

Bro shakes his head, “nooo fucking clue, bro.”

Alt hums and lightly hugs his tail as he thinks, “…that makes sense I guess. Time was inconsistent in some ways..? Mostly- technically we’d end up maybe a year or so in that part from our time… except once when we ended up in a world that was in 2009. Or- I dunno if I count the medieval would we ended up in either… because that just seemed like- a fantasy world, not going in our own past. Could be the same of here… we have no idea if our earth is the same as their earth. Most of the time though… the time didn’t really matter? So… guess I didn’t think about it. Not unless it was jarring, you know?”

"Hmm." Schneep nods slowly. "Perhaps you were jumping to the relative 'present.' But now there are rifts, and they are a bit less stable, sending you across the time of the space. It really is fascinating. I wonder if you can cause the rifts intentionally... But something like that must take a phenomenal amount of power."

“Hmmm I’ve been wondering about that too…” Alt says, “I’m still unsure if these were caused because the TRVLR broke… or cuz the Anti that tricked us made them. If it’s the latter than… yeah power is the thing. He nearly drained Mag of all his magic to do it. I still don’t get it…” He sighs and lays his head on his tail. “…the TRVLR made me feel like I got how all this worked… but without it I.. I just feel so powerless… I hate it.”

"God, I know how you feel," Jackie mutters. "I mean... the three of us also got sucked through to other worlds, y'know?" He shakes his head. "I think... I think my Anti mentioned something about working on stuff for you, though. He hasn't been around lately, I think cause he's doing that. So, if that helps... there's that."

Alt chuckles a bit and nods, “Yeah… he’s working with Sam to find the TRVLR pieces… they said they got scattered to many different worlds. But They’re an all seeing eyeball so… They’ll find it eventually. I thought we’d be… just stuck for a while though. No more adventures for a bit, you know?” He laughs a bit bitterly. “I guess ‘adventure’ just has a way of finding us.”

“Speaking of which though-“ Bro speaks up, “I’m surprised a rift didn’t just- yank us out of here already. I feel like this is the longest we’ve managed to stay in a world like this…” he shrugs. “Then again all this shit confuses me.”

"Well, you cannot expect something like that to work on a schedule," Schneep says. "They seem to be working at random, like all forces of nature do. Or, perhaps, they will get farther and farther apart. We do not have a way of knowing right now."

“I wish there was more notice a rift was coming beside it just popping up,” Alt grumbles.

“True that~” Bro chuckles. “…think I’m just eager to… uh- have legs back again. This was cool at first but…”

Schneep sighs. "It would be helpful to be in an environment I can use my cane."

At this moment, Dr. Danan and Zara float back in, grinning. “we got the antidote figured out you guys!” Zara says brightly.

Dr. Danan blinks down at the boys and then smiles, “Though it already seems you boys seem to be on the mend, huh?”

Jackie smiles at Danan and Zara. "Hey. I, uh... I-I guess?"

But as long as that stuff is in you, it's possible that it could happen again, JJ says. So an antidote is welcomed. Thank you. He smiles at them.

"D'you like... inject it?" Jackie asks.

Danan chuckles, “Yes- like a vaccine. It might linger for a little bit but this should guarantee it’s purged from your system.”

“Just one more shot and you guys will be right as rain!” Zara smiles.

Bro grins tiredly and holds out his arm, “Sign me the fuck up- forgot how awful feeling sick is.” Zara seems confused by this but swims on over and injects the medicine into his arm and then massages the area. “Might feel a tad bit weird…”

Jackie also holds is arm out for the shot. "I'd love to be right as rain. I don't care how weird it feels."

"I'm sure you will be good soon, Jackie," Schneep says. "You too, Bro, Alt."

Danan chuckles and swims over his Jackie, gently injecting the medicine into his arm too.

Zara helps Alt next and injects him too and Alt glitches a bit in surprise at how it feels. Then, brightens a bit seeing himself glitch a bit easier. “Oh yo??”

Zara looks very surprised though, “uh- is that normal??”

“For him? Yeah.” Bro laughs.

We are all very unusual, remember? JJ says, making another small light show with his magic.

"Except for meeeee," Jackie says, giggling.

"You are still unique, Jackie, don't get yourself down," Schneep says.

"Oh, no, I wasn't getting myself down. I just find it a bit funny." Jackie shrugs. "I mean... it's like how Batman is a seemingly normal human being while the rest of the Justice League all have powers, but he has his own strengths that let him stand with them. I'm the Batman of our group."

Schneep chuckles. "I see."

“That’s a good way to think about it, dude!” Bro laughs.

Dr. Danan swims over to check on Marvin. Seems like having contact with Anti kept most of the hallucinations away but the fever is affecting him which seems to have unnerved him. When Danan approaches Marvin flinches but Anti quietly reassures him it’s okay. Danan finally is able to inject him and Marvin sighs in relief.

“I’m not sure how long that’ll take to set in but you all are still welcome to rest here- or if you must move on, you can do so as well.” Danan says.

Zara frowns, “…they said they needed to get home though… you guys are.. stuck here right now aren’t you? H-how can we help?”

"Well... it is a bit complicated," Schneep says slowly. "We were just speaking about it, actually. The rifts that took us from our home worlds just sort of... appeared. They may just suddenly appear again."

"We tried to make one on purpose in the last world, but it might've been a coincidence that it showed up when it did," Jackie mutters. "Alt tried to control some alien arch thing... not sure if it worked, it definitely overwhelmed him."

We would like to stay here for now, until we can maybe figure something out, JJ adds.

Danan and Zara exchange wary looks. "Dang yeah... i wouldn't mess with Alien arches... most of them head straight to HQ." Zara says quietly. "Now that they don't have Marvin... they'll probably use those a lot more..."

"You're welcome to stay as long as you need," Danan smiles. "I guess if these...rifts are random- best to get as much rest as you can before they appear."

JJ nods. Thank you. We really appreciate all you've done for us. It would have been hard without your help and space.

"I hope they don't appear in our sleep," Jackie mutters.

"I am not so tired, I can stay awake and, ah... keep an eye out." Schneep chuckles. "I will be able to feel the pull if one starts up."

Danan chuckles, "We're more than happy to help... and you helped Anti so much... it's the least we can do."

"Rest well, guys." Zara says smiling, and she and Danan swim back out.

Alt yawns and flops onto the floor, "...sleep sounds good right now. Even if it feels kinda weird to sleep underwater-"

"..bro don't make me aware of it!" Bro groans, "It's like when someone mentions breathing and then you like- breathe manually- I am now too aware that we're breathing water-"

"Oh no, now I am too!" Jackie groans. "Chase, whyyyy?"

JJ and Schneep laugh.

"Don't pretend like you're not also thinking about it, you two!" Jackie says.

If you want to transition from manual breathing, but can't, think of yourself as monitoring your breathing instead, JJ says. That helps me.

"Hmm. I guess I'll try," Jackie says. He rolls off the medical table and onto the floor as well.

"At least get to the blankets, you two," Schneep says.

Jackie groans again and gets up, swimming over to the pile of blankets.

"No. Floor good." Alt says, flopping onto his face. Bro laughs and goes to help Alt up, "C'mon bro- you'll regret that later." Bro still isn't feeling entirely well enough to pick Alt up so they kinda rest on each other before flopping onto the blankets. Alt blinks and then sinks into them. "...okay nevermind this is better-" Bro just laughs.

Anti watches them from where he's curled around Marvin, curiously flicking his tails. Marvin is caught dozing against Anti's shoulder.

JJ looks over at Anti and Marvin. You two want to join? Or, if you don't, do you at least want some blankets?

Schneep silently separates some blankets from the pile in case Anti says they want some.

"w-we or... well.. I don't usually sleep on those... usually I sleep in a nest..." Anti says quietly.

"..i'm not really sure when the last time I slept is-" Marvin slurs, "Is that why I'm so tired...? I... did they even let me sleep...?" He looks a bit freaked out but Anti hugs him tighter. "You can sleep as long as you need... I'm gonna be right here..."

JJ nods. Take a nice long nap, Marvin. Even if we're gone when you wake up, Anti will still be there for you.

"You do not have to use them, but if you want them, here." Schneep pats the stack of blankets he'd separated out.

Anti is curious though and slowly swims over and grabs the blankets. He hurries over to the corner and makes a nest- piling up against the wall and making a little dip in the middle. He then carries Marvin over. Marvin melts from the softness and easily curls up. Anti smiles and curls up around him.

Good night, JJ says, swimming back over to Jackie, Bro, and Alt and squeezing beneath them.

Schneep smiles and nods, curling up nearby but not quite sleeping.

Alt blinks at JJ squeezing beneath their tails but then laughs tiredly. “Comfy, J?”

JJ nods. The pressure feels good. It must be something about his fish species' instincts. A ghost ray, they said. He doesn't know much about fish, but he knows that stingrays like to bury in the sand. Maybe that's similar.

Schneep chuckles quietly. Jackie doesn't say anything; he's already asleep again.

“Whatever makes you comfortable, dude.” Alt chuckles. Bro grabs Alt and holds him to his side and Alt sighs and lays back, closing his eyes.

It’s not long before the rest of the boys starts to drift off.

=========

A few restful hours pass- then… seems like Jackie predicted the rift. Because a black crack starts to form in the center of the floor- water starting to be pulled in.

Schneep perks up. He'd started to doze off, but the sound of the rushing water snaps him awake. "E-everyone!" He gets up, shaking the others awake. "I think it is here!"

JJ immediately snaps awake.

Bro sits up quickly and gasps, holding up Alt. Alt yells in surprise and blinks in sleepy confusion. “T-the fuck is happening??”

Jackie shakes himself up and immediately gasps as he sees the crack in the ground. "A rift!"

Anti startles up and looks out at the others, “A-Are you okay?! What’s going on??”

"There's a rift! There's a rift!" Schneep shouts.

JJ gasps. He wriggles out from underneath the blankets and hurries over to grab their bag of clothing. His eyes dart around and land on the little fish robot. Though it was helpful, it probably wouldn't be as useful in a world that wasn't underwater. This was time to leave it behind, then. JJ took off the gloves and folded them on top, tucking them and the little robot to the side so they won't get sucked in. Thank you, he signs to them. Maybe this world's Jameson could find a use for them once he was free.

"Oh fuck! I guess we're going!" Jackie makes sure to link up with Schneep and JJ.

Anti surges up in the water and looks worried, “T-that’ll get you home then?? It looks… scary-“

"I know, it really does look terrifying," Jackie mutters. "But we've done this before! It's safe!" Or as safe as it can be when they'll end up getting sucked to a strange world.

“T-That’s the hope.” Bro swallows nervously as he links up with Schneep with one arm and holds onto Alt with the others. Alt grabs onto his brother and looks at the others, “I-if we land somewhere different just- take the bracelets off and you’ll go back to normal, okay?”

"Take the bracelets off, got it!" Schneep nods.

“I-I guess this is goodbye, then?” Anti says quietly, “then… t-thank you. Thank you so much for helping me save my brother- for giving me hope again..! I… I won’t forget this.”

Jackie looks at Anti. "Yes. Maybe we'll be back someday. But maybe not."

JJ smiles and nods. "Be safe," he says in his hoarse voice. "And goodbye."

"Hold onto that hope!" Schneep encourages. "I know you will find a way out of this. Goodbye."

"Goodbye!" Jackie adds.

“Thank you for helping us- good luck!” Bro shouts with a smile.

Alt smiles at his other self and nods, “You’ll save them- I know it.”

And then- the pull becomes too strong and the 5 of them are sucked in. The sound of glitching screeches and pixels fill the air as they’re drawn down down down into darkness.

#GITHV #Glitch into the hufflverse #GITHV Darker seas #alt anti #bro fantastic #the jaunty jackson #inverted jackie #stitched schneep #zara caley #dr. kendra danan #darker seas au #septnautical #whump #heyyy if anyone knows the septnautical loreee this should seem familiar! :D

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