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huffle-dork · 4 months

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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 · 4 months

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 · 4 months

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 · 4 months

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 · 4 months

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 · 4 months

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 · 4 months

Text

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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huffle-dork · 4 months

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Glitch into the Hufflverse Chapter 8: Darker Seas

Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs | Read Septnautical | Darker Seas AU

Read SITCV | Read SATCV | GITHV Masterpost

When they’re dumped out- they find themselves still underwater? What?

In fact… it’s not that it’s just underwater… they’re back by the Ocean’s Arms base. But… why does it look like it’s been abandoned?

There’s broken windows and crushed sides of it- looking like several kinds of creatures tried to break in.

What the hell?

Alt shakes himself out and then blinks in confusion. “…what?? We’re back- huh??!”

Bro swims upwards and gapes at the destroyed base. “H-How long were we down there…? Was that e-even a rift…?”

"H-huh?" Jackie looks around. "This--this is the same place, right? But it's... different? Why is the base all ruined?"

"The base is ruined?!" Schneep gasps.

Looks like it's been ruined for a while, too, JJ says.

After a moment, Jackie hesitantly swims closer. "It's definitely the same... what happened?"

"Perhaps... we are in a slightly different version of that world?" Schneep says. "In the same way the three of us are from slightly different versions of a city called Mirygale."

“I mean… m-maybe?” Alt says nervously. “That… did happen to us the first time we encountered the rifts…”

“…I can’t believe… there were so many people in this base… Danan and Zara and Jack- those kids… w-what happened to them…?” Bro whispers, looking at the base sadly.

Suddenly, something lashes out from the creepvines surrounding them and tackles JJ to the sea floor. A cloud of sand obscures them for a beat before the sand clears and JJ is being pinned to the ground by a familiar pair of blue claws. Marvin is pinning him to the ground but… there’s a horrible white mask strapped to the lower part of his face. …not even that- it looks like it’s been stuck into his skin by his jaw. His cat one is nowhere to be seen- and the absence of it exposes a second pair of eyes under his normal ones- all 4 glowing a bright terrifying pink.

Something crackles to life in the water- and they realize it’s a radio strapped to Marvin’s neck on some kind of collar. A robotic distorted version of his voice drones out. “Unidentified hybrid secured. State your designation number and base of origin.”

JJ gasps, horrified, frozen and feeling sick at what he sees. He shakes his head dully, trying to sign but unable to with his hands pinned. "I don't—u-understan—" He coughs as pain wracks his throat.

Schneep spins around. "Marvin?!"

"Hey! Wh-what the hell?!" Jackie immediately charges at this new, masked Marvin.

The masked Marvin’s head snaps up and then sends a projectile warp towards Jackie, throwing him off course as the water swirls him in a confusing direction.

Alt gasps, “M-Marvin what are you-?!”

“Let JJ go!” Bro growls.

Marvin floats up and keeps one of his tails pressing down on JJ’s throat. He slowly turns to eye the rest of the group before the robotic voice says. “Detecting a total of 5 unidentified hybrid life forms. Sending out call to other agents for capturing procedure.”

“C-Capturing procedure?!” Alt whispers in fear, floating back as electricity courses down his tail.

“Do not resist. All hybrids were made to serve Alterra. All hybrids will be assimilated or eliminated.” Marvin says, turning his inhuman eyes to look straight at Alt. Alt feels like he can’t breathe.

JJ chokes, grabbing at Marvin's tail and trying to push it away, his own tail flailing wildly. Not there! Not there! The pain from his outburst of words is just increasing with the pressure.

Jackie tumbles head over tail for a while before recovering. "What the fuck is this place?!" He cries out. "Did they make him a fucking robot?!"

Schneep tries to attack next, leaping out of sight and reappearing behind Marvin, trying to grab him.

Marvin tries to dodge but Schneep grabs him and pulls him off JJ. There’s no emotion on Marvin’s face but a warp gate opens up behind him, making the water swirl around them and cause a type of pull. Something big with sharp teeth lashes out of the warp gate and drives Schneep into the sand, snapping its jaws.

Alt is spiraling- it’s like Marvin got brainwashed! He can’t stop the panic that’s gripping his heart. He’s frozen in place.

JJ immediately gets up and swims away as soon as Schneep gets Marvin off him. He looks at Alt panicking, and swims over. Alt! Wake up! We have to get out of here! He shakes him a little by the shoulders.

Bro yells as the thing attacks Schneep and tackles it off him. He then is a bit surprised- this fish looks just like his tail!

Schneep cries out, pain bursting in his shoulder as the creature bites down—and then Bro appears to help. He gets up, breathing heavily. What the hell was that?! He reaches for the damage, feeling it out, wincing as he assesses it. The bite probably could have been much deeper—he got lucky.

Something else darts out of that gate though with crazy speeds and tries to tackle Jackie to the ground… another familiar face- but he looks so different he’s almost unrecognizable, except for his signature stalker tail. Henrik growls ferally with sharp teeth protruding from his mouth and blazing yellow slitted eyes. He doesn’t have his goggles on- making the scar on his nose even more pronounced.

Jackie dodges the attack, doing some strange spiral motion that keeps him completely safe but causes him to drop the bag with all their clothes inside. He looks back at who attacked him and gasps. "H-Henrik?! You too?!" He swims over to Schneep, protecting him from this other Henrik's feral gaze while he recovers.

Henrik snaps his teeth at them ferally and growls deep, no recognition in his eyes. Just deep primal animal hunger. He screeches and dives towards Jackie and Schneep.

Jackie dives forward, intercepting Henrik's course. He successfully protects Schneep but gets tackled himself, landing hard against the ground. "Snap out of it!" Jackie growls. "If you can't—I won't be responsible!" His mandibles snap at the sides as he tries to push Henrik away.

Henrik just roars and digs claws into Jackie’s arms- wait claws? He never had those before! In fact the way Henrik acted before… you’d hardly know he was a predator. It’s like his most suppressed traits have been brought forth.

Two more figures come out of the wrap gate before it fizzles into bubbles. There’s a sharp whistle and the boneshark Bro has pinned roars and headbutts him to get him off. Bro yells and tears back, blinking spots out of his eyes. It swims back over to where the portal disappeared, looping around familiar black and white tentacles. Jamie floats there- the same awful white mask that’s on Marvin’s face also stapled on his. His eyes also shine with a sickly yellow light. A corrupted robotic version of his voice sounds out as he pets the Boneshark’s head. “Support RL-006. Incapacitate the targets.”

The other form next to them then lashes out in a burst of speed and tries to barrel into JJ and Alt, mandibles striking out to try to pin them to the ground.

Alt takes a second to register JJ is there but by the time he gets his senses back it’s too late- he yells and tries to warn JJ and push him out of the way only for Mandibles to skewer him in the shoulder and part of his tail. He screams bloody murder. Reaper Jackie giggles with sharp teeth as he leans in by Alt, his pure black eyes unnerving him to his core. “You smell tasty already~!” He laughs.

“ALT!” Bro screams trying to get over to him. But Marvin grabs him by the wrist and digs claws into his skin. “Do not resist. Capture is inevitable.”

The boneshark zips after mer-Jackie and tackles JJ to the ground, trying to bite at his face.

JJ spins through the water, only to get pinned by this shark. He quickly conjures a shield in front of his head, protecting it. He tries to look at Alt, catching sight of this other version of reaper Jackie. No! He has to help! Concentrating, he tries pushing the shield outward to send the boneshark away. The shield manages to push back the boneshark as it screeches and freaks out.

Schneep snaps his head up, hearing and sensing all the commotion. What does he do?! Where does he go?! Alt—Alt screamed, he's clearly hurt. He pushes through the pain and leaps over towards reaper Jackie, attacking from behind like he did with Marvin.

Reaper Jackie snaps his head towards Schneep and lashes out his claws to scrape across his face. Alt takes the second of the reapers focus being drawn away to concentrate then send a blast of electricity into him. Reaper Jackie roars in pain- and for a second you can see a bit of blue eyes peek out. Then he rockets back and spins back to growl towards Alt and Schneep. The pain is a lot for Alt and he slumps to the sand, holding his shoulder and biting back a whimper as his vision spins.

Bro yells and tries to get out of Marvin’s grip but he’s really really strong. “L-Let me go! Alt’s hurt!” He tries to beg.

Marvin slowly turns towards Jamie and nods. Jamie pulls out a metal pair of shackles and clamps it onto one of Bro’s arms then tugs the other behind his back as Marvin drops him. As soon as they’re completely snapped on his wrists, an electric shock goes through them and Bro screams until he’s shocked into unconsciousness, his eyes rolling up into his head.

“1 out of 5 targets captured.” Jamie and Marvin say at the same time.

“CHASE!” Alt screams.

JJ gets up, breathing heavily, and looks around. Alt and Schneep are injured! He rushes over to them, grabbing Schneep as he backs up through the water, and starts to conjure a spherical shield around them. Before it fully closes he reaches out for Alt, intending to grab him and pull him into the bubble. But then he stops, distracted by Bro's screams. He looks towards him as Jamie and Marvin speak in eerie unison. Schneep shudders at the sound of it.

Reaper Jackie snarls and lunges forward, grabbing Alt by his mandibles. Alt cries out and tries to find some way out of this but then Jamie rockets down and clamps cuffs on Alt too.

“Say night night~!” Reaper Jackie giggles madly.

Alt jolts and screams, his tail lashing out and striking wildly with extra electricity but then he slumps completely into the sand too. Once he does the reaper lets him go.

“2 out of 5 targets captured.”

JJ lunges for Alt, but he's too slow. And now that they're so close to enemies—because it's clear that they are enemies—he quickly closes the shield around him and Schneep, making it smaller so he can conserve magic, forcing him and Schneep up next to each other. What are they supposed to do?! These other hybrids—he doesn't feel right hurting them.

Jackie looks down at Henrik's hands in surprise and annoyance. Then he grits his teeth. "Let—go—of—me!" He shouts. The mandibles snap out, clamping onto Henrik's sides in turn as Jackie struggles to escape the pin.

Henrik doesn’t flinch at all as Jackie’s mandible clamps onto his side and just holds him there, snarling. Marvin then warps over and tries to grab Jackie’s wrist to put a shackle on.

Jackie's eyes widen. "No! Fuck off!" He flails widly, managing to pull his wrist free and punch Marvin right in the mask. He has to get out of here! He can't let himself be caught again!

Marvin’s eyes flicker a bit as the mask is punched, showing a hint of his eyes. For a brief second- he looks scared. But, that moment fades quickly as Reaper Jackie yells out and tackles Jackie into the sand on his stomach. Allowing Marvin to slip the shackles onto both of Jackie’s wrists. He has only a brief second before the shocking starts-

Jackie's eyes widen. There's no time left! His head whips over to JJ and Schneep. "Guys! Run!" Then he cries out as the electricity courses through his body. "R-run!" It takes a bit longer than expected, but it still sends him to unconsciousness after a few seconds.

“3 out of 5 targets captured.” Jamie drones once Jackie falls unconscious.

JJ covers his mouth in horror. Schneep flinches at the sound of Jackie's cries. He grabs onto JJ. "H-he said to get out of here, so we're getting out of here!"

We can't leave them! JJ protests.

"I don't think we have a choice!" He can feel the hybrids closing in on their little bubble. If they leave anything behind he can grab it later. For now, Jackie said to run, and so they're going to. He holds tight to JJ and leaps, taking them both out of sight.

Marvin looks out at where Schneep and JJ disappeared. “…remaining targets have left scanning area. Unidentified power detected. Sending Agents RL-006 and SH-003 for collection.” He turns towards Reaper Jackie and Henrik and growls. “Find them before the rebels do.”

Henrik and Jackie snarl in response, Jackie’s eyes briefly flashing yellow before they both dash through the kelp to start looking around.

Marvin grabs Jackie and tosses him over his shoulder- then swims over to grab Bro. Jamie grabs Alt. Another warp gate is opened as Marvin drones. “HQ: 3 targets ready for assimilation.” And then they all swim into the purple blue water and disappear from sight.

=========

Schneep and JJ appear a bit farther past the kelp forest and towards the safe shallows. They can hear the familiar roars and snarls of Reaper Jackie and Henrik hot on their tails.

J shudders at the feeling of Schneep's transportation—it makes him nauseous. Why?! he asks Schneep.

Then, something grabs them from a nearby cave and drags them inside. Clawed hands grab their faces and cover their mouths as a gravelly voice whispers. “Don’t make a sound and they won’t look here…”

Schneep immediately cries out and starts struggling against the hand, but JJ doesn't. He's still thrown off by Schneep's leaping them through space. And besides, his throat hurts too much to talk even if he could. He grabs onto Schneep's arm and makes a muffled shushing sound, then looks back at who dragged them into here.

The dark green hair and blue and green eyes with black sclera give it away. It’s Anti. But, he’s… different too. He doesn’t have that big spiral of a scar on his face anymore. He doesn’t look down at JJ just pulls Schneep more into the dark with him and presses down harder on his mouth.

Right outside the opening of the cave, there’s the flicker of a blue reaper tail- and a loud roar that makes the cavern walls shake and rattle, bits of sand and rock falling on them. The two of them can feel Anti’s hands trembling.

Then, a giggle, followed by a sing-songy gravely voice. “Come out come out, little fishes~! We just wanna play!!!” The words sound friendly enough but the threat lingers behind his growled words.

Schneep immediately freezes and stops struggling. His head turns towards JJ's direction, eyes flicking wildly.

JJ takes off the robotic gloves—the robot fish didn't get pulled along when Schneep leapt, but just in case—and signs, Schneep, it's Anti.

Schneep nods as JJ's sign-voice echoes in his head. Now that he's concentrating, he can sense Anti's soul.

We're in a cave, we need to be quiet, JJ says.

And Schneep nods again, a bit irritated. He wasn't going to make noise after hearing that roar.

There’s a couple more tense beats and another frustrated roar before Jackie’s tail kicks off bubbles and rockets away- his roar echoing farther down the landscape.

Anti finally drops his hands and backs up curling in as small as he can in the cave. He eyes them suspiciously, though he seems on edge and a bit scared as his tails seem to quiver. “…who are you guys? I-I thought you might be one of t-the botched hybrids they send out to train these guys but… y-you all just appeared out of nowhere… a-and not like M-Mar… WH-5 does…”

"It is a long story..." Schneep says slowly. "Were you watching us? Did you see that--that whole fight? Or just the two of us?"

“… I was… in the area. I was coming to see then.. then they came and…” Anti looks away, holding his hands to his chest.

Schneep turns towards JJ. "Ah, do you need help speaking?"

JJ nods. The robot didn't come along.

"Right. Ah, one second, A—one second." Schneep started to call Anti by his name, but decides that'll probably freak him out too much. "I am going to do something that seems impossible." He reaches out to the side with both hands and pulls back the little fish robot JJ got in the last world. He hands it to JJ, then reaches out and grabs the bag with all of their clothes as well.

JJ puts the gloves on and starts speaking, the robot translating. My name is JJ, and this is Schneep. We're from somewhere far away... and we have strange abilities.

Alt balks as Schneep pulls stuff out of nowhere and he hits the back of the cave in his attempt to get farther away. “W-What the hell?! How- how did-“ He blinks slowly at JJ and settles back down into the sand. He narrows his eyes and hunches himself up defensively. He doesn’t seem to care too much for JJ’s name but looking over and hearing JJ call him Schneep- his eyes widen and turn he snarls and tries to tackle Schneep to the ground. “I-I knew it! You’re one of those sick clones they send out to-to try to lure me in too! Y-You sick fuck-! Im gonna send you back to fucking Alterra in pieces!”

Schneep yelps and leaps out of the way just as Anti makes contact, reappearing next to JJ, who quickly conjures up a shield. "No no no no, w-we are not! W-we don't know anything about these clones!"

JJ shakes his head. We're not with the company! I promise! We came here with three other friends by accident!

"Y-yes, and our friends were captured!" Schneep adds. "We—I-I am guessing that whatever clones you're talking about... wouldn't be taken like that?"

Anti snarls and turns to look back at the others and stops when he sees the shield. His eyes widen and he scoots back. "...c-clones wouldn't be able to do that... h-how are you doing that?!" At hearing about their friends Anti looks away and grits his teeth, but there's pain in his eyes. "... I-I dunno how you guys got here o-or how you're hybrids... but if you all have powers like that...? ...I'm sorry... I-I don't think you're getting your friends back."

"Wh-what? No—no that cannot be—w-we are not going to just—" Schneep stammers.

JJ blinks. Not all of us have magic... that's what this power of mine is called. But all of us have abilities of some kind. Well, except for one of them, one named Jackie.

"What do you mean by that?!" Schneep demands, swimming closer to the shield separating them. "A-are you saying—what are they going to do to them?!" He has a feeling, but... he doesn't want to acknowledge it. He doesn't want to.

Anti can’t look at them as he hugs himself and curls his tails close to his chest. “…if they have useful powers… they’re gonna turn them I..into weapons… a-any hybrids left that are useless are… are hunted down and destroyed.”

JJ and Schneep stare at him in horror. We... we can't let that happen! JJ says, shaking his head furiously. He looks at Schneep. We have to do something about this!

"If we do, we are going to have to be very careful about it," Schneep says. "We cannot get caught as well. A-and turned into—" He shudders. "We—we have to find where they took them. There has to be a main base of operations. Then—then we plan around that, a-around the defenses and such."

We can't waste too much time looking for it! They could be doing that right now! JJ looks at Anti. What's your name? He asks despite already knowing the answer—it's just polite. Do you know anything that could help us?

“…Anti.” He says quietly and then digs his claws into his shoulders. “…they’re probably already down in HQ… i-in the lava zone… I… I know where it is. But its defense is…” He shakes his head and whispers with a bit of choked up voice. “…I’m sorry I… t-there’s nothing that can be done… when Alterra wants something… they get it. I-I’ve only survived this long on sheer luck… and… and a group of humans but I… I don’t know if they can help you. …not with this.”

Schneep and JJ look at each other—or, JJ looks at Schneep, and Schneep turns to face him. "A group of humans...?" Schneep repeats slowly.

Anything that could help would be good, JJ says. They both have the same suspicion. Perhaps the Ocean's Arms aren't entirely wiped out in this world, or at least, not as wiped out as the abandoned base would imply.

"Exactly." Schneep nods. "We are not just going to abandon them. We must try at least."

Anti, can you take us to these humans? JJ asks.

Anti seems hesitant. “…they can’t save your friends…” he says hollowly.

Schneep nods slowly. "Well... w-we have to try," he says slowly.

But then Anti sighs and goes to push over a rock at the back of the cave, which seems to lead to a smaller tunnel. “…but… yeah I guess. …yer the first hybrids I’ve met in a long time that are… actually close to how …they used to be.” He flicks his tails and shakes his head. He then gives them a look and disappears through the tunnel.

As the two of them follow, JJ says, So... those hybrids back there... you knew them. Well, they know that. But JJ doesn't want to freak Anti out by revealing that he and Schneep know all about his brothers. And... the company did that to them? I'm... so sorry.

Anti is quiet as he swims ahead of them. He almost acts like he didn’t hear JJ for a few beats before he whispers. “…they’re my brothers… were my brothers…” He’s quiet again for a couple more meters before he speaks up again. “…i-if there was a way to save your friends I’d… I’d tell you… but we have no idea. …it’s been… a year? Two? …honestly I’ve lost track… I’m just… trying to stay alive. …that’s what I tell myself that they would want… for me to keep going.”

Schneep nods. "I... I'm sure you're right, that they would want you to stay free and alive." He pauses. "I... I cannot promise that you'll get them back. But... there could be a way. A-a way for you to continue on. Maybe even a way to find them. I-I was in a space, once, where everything felt hopeless. But we got through it. I'm sure you will, too."

JJ nods in agreement. It was the same for me. Even if something seems so hopeless, there could be a way.

“…that’s a nice thought.” Anti says bitterly. Then he just continues on. Further down into the dark water of the tunnel- the water going from green to a dark blue.

=========

When Jackie, Alt and Bro open their eyes, they’re in an underwater lab. And unfortunately they’re all very well acquainted with the white sterile walls of a lab. And worst off, they’re strapped by their arms and tails to medical tables. Scanners and monitors are setting off around them, collecting information.

Alt feels the tug of the straps and starts to freak out, easily starting to hyperventilate as he tries to pull or get out of the binds- even trying to glitch but he seems to get shocked or some kind of reaction while trying that has him cringing and biting back a cry of pain.

Bro blearily opens his eyes to the sound of his brother’s panic and gasps, trying to pull at the metal binds as much as he can.

"Oh fucking hell—!" Jackie immediately starts to struggle. "Twice?! Fucking—what the fuck?!" He sounds angry, but he's really masking his fear with annoyance. His head darts around. "Y-you two! A-are you okay?! Other than—than the obvious."

Bro grunts and lays down his head when he doesn’t feel any give. “I..I’m okay… you okay J-Jackie? W-Where are the others…?”

"I-I'm fine," Jackie says. "I don't—I don't see the other two. I-I told them to run, th-they might've gotten away."

“Good good maybe they-“ Bro jumps in surprise and calls out, “Alt c-c’mon breathe!”

Alt is on the verge of panicked tears as he yells and struggles and pulls on the restraints. “I-I can’t go through this again! I-I can’t! What the fuck?! Fuck!!”

Jackie turns to look at Alt. "D-deep breaths, Alt! D-don't panic!" His voice breaks a little as he continues to fight against the restraints. He couldn't tell Alt to not panic—this was a panic-worthy situation!

“H-How?? How can I not panic right now?!” Alt screeches with tears flowing from his eyes as his tail tries to spark with electricity. “T-They’re gonna- gonna-!!”

There’s a window just slightly above them that suddenly has movement and what looks like a shock of blonde hair. A cool female voice laughs over the intercom. “Hello Gentleman… my~ isn’t this interesting? I don’t remember making specimens like you… where are you all from?”

Bro hears the voice and feels himself freeze instantly recognizing it. “…mum…?” He breathes with wide eyes.

Jackie glances at Bro. "Mom?" he repeats, confused. Wait. Don't tell him that—

The reaction is almost immediately drowned out by Alt yelling and thrashing against his binds. “f-fuck you!! Let us go!!”

Jackie snaps his attention back to the voice. "We're not going to tell you shit! Don't even try asking, you'll get nowhere!"

Bro looks freaked out of his mind, having a silent panic attack. He looks absolutely terrified.

The voice chuckles and sounds amused. “Oh… I really do love a challenge… it’s been boring around here lately~”

She leans further into the window to show her face. She’s a tall Caucasian woman with blonde curly hair pulled into a tight ponytail. She smirks cruelly and leans on her module.

“We can do this the easy or hard way, boys~! The easy way is you just share what’s happening here… since my agents already reported you all appearing out of nowhere. Orrr we can do it the hard painful way~!”

"Painful coercion gets you nowhere, you know!" Jackie shouts. "It's been scientifically proven!" Oh, the irony of him saying that. But he's going to take that as a good sign. He struggles some more. Then he looks over at Alt and Bro. The fear and panic evident on both their faces, "Y-you guys...?" He whispers. "A-are you...?" Are you okay? Stupid question. "I-I'm not going to talk to her but—you two—I-I wouldn't be... upset..." He shakes his head. "Not like they can do anything with it, anyway."

Alt looks angry- not at all phased by the look of this woman. Even if she looks… familiar. But Bro is petrified.

“I’m not gonna t-tell you shit!” Alt growls.

Bro looks over at Jackie and just shakes his head, curling up as tight as he can while strapped down.

The woman laughs, “Is that so? Because I’ve found it’s worked so very well for me~” She does hums in thought and taps the table. “However… I do have another method we can try…”

She’s quiet for a second before she sighs, “Oh- might as well. Less fun but.. a chance for it.” She grins and then clicks on her comm. “WH-5? Can you warp RR-01 into lab 12 please?”

There’s a beat and then a warp gate opens and the others recognize Chase swimming through. Though- his eyes shine with a sickly yellow light and he has slick black discs attached to his earlobes. He looks back towards the white suit in the window and smiles. “Yes, Dr. Demerci?”

Bro inhales sharply.

Jackie stiffens. "Ch—" No, this isn't his Chase! He has to remember that! It's not—even if it looks like him, it's not his friend relapsing again. But it is a Chase. It's someone being controlled. And that's still terrible. He feels sick just looking at this.

“RR-01 can you help me relax these new hybrids and run the Mesmer program for me?”

“Of course Dr. Demerci!” Chase says as he turns towards the others. He smirks at them and then closes his eyes and starts to sing a haunting melody that starts to weave and worm their way into their brains, trying to force them to relax.

"H-huh? Mesmer?" Jackie shakes his head. "N-no, I—you can't—!" He tries to cover his ears, but of course, with his arms strapped down he has to try and press his shoulders against his ears. He struggles for a moment, but... the song... what is that? It's like... he can't put words to it. So strange... so beautiful... His movement slows gradually. He can't help it. He wants to listen to this music...

The music is gorgeous and Chase’s voice is lovely. It doesn’t feel malicious at all. It almost feels like being home.

That false sense of security is what pulls Bro under, his fear falling off his face and being replaced with peaceful bliss.

Alt doesn’t fall for it though, he growls and tries to fight more- especially as he hears Demerci mention mesmers. That’s when screens starts to lower and pulse with beautiful flowing patterns of green blue and purple, like light dancing on top of waves. Alt tries to close his eyes but with both the song and the lights… his eyes start to glaze over really fast and he slumps.

“There we go… very good.” Demerci hums happily. “Now then, I’m gonna ask you some questions and well~ you’re free to try to fight all you want but… you’ll find it feels much better just to say it~!” She giggles.

“Now then… where are you all from? Who made you?”

"Where are we... from?" Jackie repeats absentmindedly. "It's... far away from here. Hard to explain. But we weren't made. I mean... technically... Didn't the magic make us? Or at least... turn us into this? But we weren't made like your hybrids were."

“I… I made us.” Alt whispers, “with my magic… but we’re… we’re human…” He laughs dazedly, “We could s-show you if we went on l-land…”

Demerci looks fascinated by this, “Magic…? Huh… interesting….” She looks like she doesn’t believe a word of this but she continues. “What are your designations?”

Bro laughs, “…that’s a big word…” When he laughs but doesn’t answer the question, Demerci presses something on her table and Bro gets shocked. He yells out and blinks in confusion before the Mesmer lights and song drags him back under. “Are you refusing to answer or do you just not have them?”

"We don't have them," Jackie says. "Unless you mean our names? I'm Jackie. Jackie Parker." He smiles a bit dazedly. "I-I chose it myself."

“Hm… names are fine then…” Demerci says.

“Alt.. Brody…” Alt whispers.

“C-Chase Brody…” Bro pants.

“Interesting…” Demerci muses. “Alright, let’s hear your abilities then?”

“I got super strength and stuff… think this fish body has good armor and shit…” Bro breathes with a dazed smile.

Alt’s eyes twitch and try to flicker before he mutters out, “I can… glitch… and use electricity and.. and electric magic…”

"I don't really have anything special," Jackie says slowly. "I'm strong, a-and I got these pinchers now, and the armored tail. But I think I'm durable."

“Oh that’s more than enough for us to use, dear…” Demerci chuckles. “Now… I can’t help but notice you look so similar to the other hybrids and even share their chosen names… even if we don’t use them. So… hm.. maybe you’re experiments from another company we can’t detect here… the only question is how they got McLoughlin’s DNA…” she then shrugs and grins, “no matter! This is an Alterra owned planet so- anything we find here we can keep~ but before we get started on that… do you boys know SD-004? He also goes by… Anti.”

Saying that name has Chase’s song faltering ever so slightly, his eyes flickering. Then, he gets back on track.

"I... guess?" Jackie says, frowning. "W-we haven't met him here. But... we know about him." He blinks, struggling for a bit, trying to sit up, but then the song brings him back under. "He... shoots fireballs and stuff, right?"

Demerci chuckles, “In a way.” She then frowns. “SD-4 has been a pain in our sides for too long… him and those rebels he’s somehow aligned himself with.” She then smiles sweetly and increases the brightness of the Mesmer screens.

“I need all of your help to reunite him with his family… we all miss him so terribly~ so… hybrids… will you help us?”

Alt answers almost immediately, “…yes.”

"Family?" Jackie repeats. Yes, the hybrids were all a family, weren't they? Why was Anti apart? They needed to be together. "S-sure."

Bro seems to struggle a bit, something trying to fire off in his foggy brain. “Y..yeah…”

The mesmer colors start to flash brighter and faster- words and phrases hidden inside them.

“Good. Very good. We need good weapons like you all on our side. We will give you all the purpose you deserve.” Demerci smiles.

You are a hybrid. Not a human. You are a Weapon. Obey. Do not resist . No free will. Let go. Forget. Serve Alterra.

The words flash over and over drilling them into their minds, starting to take away any thoughts of fighting against this. They were right, weren’t they? They’re only weapons… a means to the end. That’s all they’ve ever been.

Jackie blinks. For a moment, he struggles, but... it's so much easier to forget. All he's ever been good at is beating stuff up. Because... he was made for that. He was made for this. Yes, of course. Of course he was. How could he have thought otherwise? Even the memory of thinking he was anything else is fading. Serve Alterra. Serve Alterra.

Alt’s eyes glaze over rapidly as the words settle in. Serve Alterra… yeah… he wants to do that. He needs to.

Bro is trying to struggle, but it’s not getting him very far as his eyes get drawn back to the screen and fall back to the words. Spiraling down down into his emptying head. He starts to slump.

“You know… I thought it was strange to see a Chelicerate hybrid on this side… but then again they can survive in warmer waters. You are going to make the most fascinating study, Jackie Parker~” Demerci giggles. “Once your tasks are done… I’m gonna enjoy studying you.”

Now their monitors zone in and move closer to their faces, showing more personalized messages through the colors.

For Jackie: Chelicerate. Predator. Aggressive. Feral. Driven by instinct. Hunter. Powerful mandibles. Crush our enemies. No thoughts. You are not human. You are a weapon. Serve Alterra.

For Bro: Boneshark. Predator. Aggressive. Feral. Driven by instinct. Hunter. Powerful jaws. Armored defense. Incredible speed. No thoughts. You are not a human. You are a weapon. Serve Alterra.

For Alt: Ampeel. Predator. Aggressive. You will be our eyes and ears. Tactical. Find their weaknesses. Electric. Incapacitate. Capture targets. No thoughts but our objectives. You are not human. You are a weapon. Serve Alterra.

And as these words start to sink in and change their thoughts- something clicks from underneath them on the tables. And soon something round and sleek seems to clamp onto their ears. Like… gauges. It sets their bodies alight- feeling foreign and right at the same time as it emits waves of energy that seems to take control of their entire systems. Starting to rewrite them completely. The more the words and waves start to set in, the more the boys eyes start to… change. Reflecting different colors- closer to the species they embody. Not completely yet- but the shift is seen brewing at the surface.

“We won’t need those human names anymore- since you never were more than our tools, hybrids.” Demerci smirks.

“Now you are BS-008.” She says to Bro. He shudders and stiffens as a slight shock from the gauges cements this in his brain.

She looks to Jackie. “You are CE-009.” She commands- and a shock from the earrings make it so. It seems silly to think it was anything different.

And finally she looks to Alt. “And you are AE-010.” Alt’s body and tail ripple with electricity as he forgets his former name.

Something tickles at the back of Jackie's mind—some last struggle, a primal fear that spikes when the gauges are attached. He gasps for a moment... but then... then it... fades away...

CE-009's mandibles snap. He struggles a little against the bonds—and then looks towards the woman. She's Alterra. Serve Alterra. He blinks slowly. A noise echoes in the back of his throat, some sort of wordless screeching sound.

Demerci blinks in mild surprise then grins wickedly. “Impressive CE-009… usually we don’t get results like that until after memory deletion… you must not have had that big of a mind~” She giggles. “That’s perfect.”

She clicks more stuff on her table. Something else starts to snap onto the boys’ faces now- two suction cups that stick to either side of their foreheads. An arm makes sure to rip Bro’s hat off so it won’t get in the way.

“You’ve done so great for me, loves.” Demerci coos. “One final push and it’ll allll be over~ and you’ll be ready to serve Alterra like you were always meant to!”

She pushes a lever up- and electricity starts to fill their minds- their bodies. Alt, Jackie and Bro scream- the electricity and pain make them forget everything they knew before. Who they were. Where they’re from. Why they’re here. Their families, their friends. That they were ever anything more than Alterra’s tool. The electricity completely molds them into perfect Alteran weapons.

As they scream- their voices turn more feral and guttural. BS-008’s voice deepens and roars. AE-010 becomes more high pitched and crackles like static. Now their eyes fully change to their species’ own, glowing with unnatural alien light.

And then- it all stops. Their minds wiped, their purpose secured, the new hybrids fall to the beds, exhausted, panting but… complete. The monitors shut off and stow themselves away. The suction cups fall off- the restraints are removed. Demerci waves her arm at RR-001. “Thank you RR. You are dismissed.”

“Yes, Dr. Demerci.” RR-001 says and a warp gate opens to let him out.

Another arm pops out and goes to force a white mask like Marvin’s and Jamie’s—WH-5 and CH-7’s—onto AE’s face. It clamps around his jaw, inserted into the skin and he doesn’t even flinch. Another arm rips off his mask and replaces it with a collar with a speaker that goes around his neck.

“You can rest for now, hybrids… settle in and let me know when you’re ready.” Demerci smirks.

CE-9 turns over, shaking himself and blinking a new purple-and-white eye. He makes more of those screeching noises—quieter than the roars they can grow to be-- and tries swimming around the room. He goes in circles around, silent for the first little while, getting used to the environment. And then he starts to get restless. "I--I w-want—" His voice shakes a little—not with nerves or fear, but with that same sort of restlessness. "I--I n-need—prey." His head darts around, looking for anything he can tear apart. He swims across the room a couple times. "Where—where is it? Where is it? Something." He needs a target of some kind. He needs one. He looks at the other two in the room—but no, they're like him. They're for Alterra. He makes another sound and continues to swim circles around the room.

BS-8 shakes his head and slowly pushes himself up, looking dazed. Then, he starts to giggle a bit, feeling an unhinged bubble in his throat that he can’t calm down. He feels the itch too. The itch to fight- to tear into flesh and rip it apart. That’s what creatures like him are made to do right? He looks over at CE-9 and growls almost playfully, whipping his tail and sinking claws into the table he’s on.

AE-10 takes a while to process. His blood feels electric, his tail sparks and flickers with electricity. It’s hard to wake up his empty head and get it firing again. Then- like a computer starting up, he feels thoughts forming. Get the directive- start your mission. He sits up robotically then floats upwards, going to look at Demerci through the window. The radio on his neck crackles to life, a static robotic imitation of his voice coming out from the speaker. “Ready for orders, Dr. Demerci.”

CE-9 follows AE-10's gaze and swims up to the window as well. Orders? Prey? Where? Now?

BS-8 frowns as he’s ignored by CE-9 and whips his tail in an annoyed manner.

Demerci grins wide, “Excellent. And while I’m eager to get you all on SD-004’s trail… WH-005 told me there were other strange hybrids around. We need to capture them too… and why don’t we see what you boys are capable of, hm? I see some of you are already showing that bloodlust.. that’s good.”

She presses the comm on her console and says, “WH-5? Warp to the training tank please.”

A warp gate opens down at the bottom of the tank- into an aquarium filled with rocky terrain and bright flora.

“I’ll get you boys some nice prey to get you warmed up with hm?” Demerci giggles.

AE-10 nods and in a flash glitches down and into the warp gate. Demerci looks surprised by this- but then she watches him hungrily. Short terming warping? …that’s valuable.

BS-8 peeks up at seeing the warp gate and bares his fangs in a wide feral grin and rockets to get to the other side.

CE-9 whirls back around and charges right through the warp gate.

The warp gate closes behind them and they find themselves in a way larger tank with plenty of strategic places to hide and swim through. There’s a few whirls of gates opening and then- a river-prowler hybrid darts out and tries to attack CE-9.

CE-9 screeches—in surprise, at first, as the river prowler grabs onto him. And then louder, the sound growing into a disturbing roar. The mandibles on his back shoot out and grab onto the hybrid and his head darts forward, biting into its skin.

The hybrid looks young- younger than CE at least. It screeches in surprise and there’s a slight look of more human-like fear in its eyes as it’s grabbed in CE-9’s mandibles. They start to crush on its tail and it’s arm and then- the bite happens and he rips into its jugular. The river prowler screeches and thrashes as the orange hybrid blood clouds around it until it finally falls silent.

BS’s eyes sparkle with sadistic joy. He licks his lips and whacks the ground with his tail. “My turn… my turn…!”

A swarm of bonesharks are released next, each one going for one of the hybrids.

CE-9 is so focused on the dying prey that he doesn't notice the bonesharks until it's too late and one barrells right into him. He goes flipping through the water, letting go of the river prowler's body and slamming into the tank wall. Then he shakes his head and looks at the boneshark again. Armor—difficult. But not impossible. He screeches and charges headfirst at the boneshark in the same way it charged at him. The boneshark and CE-9 hit each other in the middle of the water, but CE-9 turns out to be slightly stronger, pushing the boneshark down into the ground. The mandibles shoot out again, holding it in place, and CE-9 starts prying at the armor looking a weakness where he can attack.

There! Behind the head and start of its armor- a fleshy bit of muscle most fish can’t get to. The boneshark shrieks and tries to wriggle free but then the mandibles start to crack and pry at its armor and it screams in pain. CE-9 darts forward, digging and clawing into the exposed flesh, snarling as he does so. Until, finally, the boneshark's pain is ended and it goes limp.

AE-10 tries to prepare himself for the prey coming towards him but it dives at his tail and drags him down. In surprise AE shocks it and they both tumble into the sand. Once he has his bearings, AE wraps his tail around the softer underbelly of the boneshark and tries to shock it.

BS-8 is overly eager and grins manically as the boneshark approaches him. Then it plows him over and chomps on his arm where he has no armor. BS screams in rage and then lashes out to try to claw it off him.

AE-10 seems to have a bit of difficulty but after enough tries fills the boneshark with so much electricity it shrieks and then burns bloom across its belly and it falls half-charred to the ground. AE-10 shakes himself off and away from the dead boneshark and looks down at it emotionlessly.

BS-8 and the boneshark struggle in a wrestling match against each other. But, BS knows this things weakness- he knows his kind. He pushes himself up onto the top of the boneshark and sinks his into its fleshy neck, ripping and tearing at flesh until the poor thing finally expires in a heap on the sand. BS-8 giggles and licks the blood off his face, his own blood pumping.

A clap is heard over that comm and an amused Demerci calls out, “Well done boys! Do we want another round or… are you ready to find your real prey?”

CE-9 backs up, breathing heavily. "Real prey?" he repeats, eyes going wide. "This tastes real enough." A smile flickers on his face and he glances at BS-8. "Right?" Then he looks back at the comm. "But yes. Yes yes yes."

“Hehehe yeah- tastes good-!” BS agrees. But then he spurs up and grins wide at the comm. “But, if you got better fights then yes!”

AE-10 nods. “We’re ready, Chief Demerci.”

Demerci chuckles. “Good. WH-005 will follow you and be on standby with his other agents should you need them. But this will be your chance to prove yourselves to Alterra. Capture SD-004 and any other strange hybrids you see.”

A ring of yellow flashes in AE-10’s eyes as he nods. “Yes, Chief Demerci.”

BS-8 grins wide, “Fuck yeah. Let’s get these guys~!”

CE-9 flicks his tail, giggling in a strange, scratchy way. "More prey. Let's go let's go!"

Demerci laughs. “Good luck then!“

A warp gate opens to the open ocean. AE-10 goes in through with BS-8 following close behind. CE-9 hurries after them, rushing forward.

Time to find the trail…

15 notes · View notes

huffle-dork · 4 months

Text

Glitch into the Hufflverse Chapter 4: Septnautical

Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs | Read Septnautical

Read SITCV | Read SATCV | GITHV Masterpost

The fall is long- the rush intense. Enough to make their heads spin.

So- landing onto water is just another jarring surprise. They splash into a semi warm but mostly cool body of water. But… it’s not just a body. It’s an ocean. A wide expanse of ocean… there’s no end in sight. They don’t fall too far away from each other for once- but that might be because there’s nothing to see for miles but water.

"Holy fucking shit!" Jackie splutters, almost sinking but managing to stay on the surface through wild flailing.

Schneep doesn't even have time to curse, he's immediately confused and disoriented. There's nothing to grab onto! He can sense the others nearby—what the hell is this?! Water?! Where are they?! "H-help!" It's lucky he's a strong swimmer. But where is land?!

JJ gasps, kicking wildly. The cape he's wearing is heavy with water. He looks around and starts swimming towards Schneep. As he gets close, he puts a hand on the surface of the water, and part of it freezes into a small island about the size of a card table. He steers it over to Schneep, who grabs onto it the moment it bumps into his side.

Bro tries to stop his momentum with his flight, just barely managing to avoid getting halfway submerged before he gets airborne again. He looks out at all the water. “What the fuck?!”

Alt isn’t so lucky- he gets submerged for a second before he scrambles back up to the surface to desperately gasp for breath. He looks around in confusion. “W-what?!”

“Is everyone okay??” Bro calls, hurrying to fly over to Schneep and help him up onto the ice.

"Y-yes, f-f-fine," Schneep says, carefully balancing on the ice with his hands and knees.

JJ gives a thumbs up.

"I'm fucking drowning!" Jackie shouts. He is not actually drowning, but he's clearly not that good a swimmer, just treading water.

JJ sighs a little and uses that same spell, pushing the new ice floe towards Jackie and Alt's direction. Then he shivers, losing strength for a moment and ducking under the water before scrambling back up, half-on the ice floe. His magic isn't at its peak.

"Wh-where did we land?" Schneep asks. "Where is—the land?"

"Uhhh... bad news... I don't see any," Jackie says. He grabs onto the second ice floe, helping steer it towards Alt.

Bro quickly helps JJ as best as he can before he hovers a bit higher. He pales as he looks out to see. “Yeah it’s just… it’s just water… I guess we’re pretty far out in this ocean…”

Alt scrambles to hold onto the ice floe and shivers against it. “Rifts are awful… the TRVLR n-never put us in the m-middle of the fucking ocean…”

"The ocean?!" Schneep gasps. "W-well... ah..." His eyes dart slightly as he thinks. "How... do we get... out of the ocean?"

"I don't know, it's the fucking ocean!" Jackie shakes his head.

JJ looks despondent for a moment, but then he shakes his head. Well. This is as good a time as any to try this spell he'd recently found. He makes sure his mask is secure on his face and grabs onto Schneep's hand, concentrating.

Schneep jumps in surprise—especially as a bit of blue magic flows down JJ's arm and onto his, up along his body into his chest. "Wh-what was that?!"

Can you hear this? JJ signs.

Schneep nods as he hears Jameson's voice come from beside him. "Y-yes... your voice sounds less gravelly, did you do something?"

A spell to translate my sign language into a voice that you hear in your head. It only works on one person at a time, so I thought it wouldn't be useful, but I kept it anyway.

"Ah. Well, it is certainly very helpful. How long does it last?"

I should be able to keep it up for a while, it doesn't take much power, JJ says. But if I suddenly run out of magic, the spell will end.

"Hmm. Alright, I understand." Schneep nods slowly.

Bro watches the exchange between Schneep and JJ and smiles, “Oh hey that’s awesome! Very useful-“

Alt shivers and looks down at the water. He… might be able to shapeshift to swim around and see what’s around but that’s not helpful for the guys here.He looks up to Bro, “C-Chase? Can you fly out and see if there’s anything we can at least rest on until we get our b-bearings?”

“Oh yeah sure! Hang tight guys!” Bro rises higher in the air then starts to look around.

He comes back really soon, grinning. “Good news! There’s a big landing of metal not too far away! It was kinda hard to see close to surface cuz it looks like it’s something that like… crashed I guess? But then like sank- It’s biggg! So it should give us a good place to rest!”

“Something that crashed?” Schneep raises his eyebrow. “Like an airplane?”

“Or like a spaceship?” Jackie adds. “Cause you know, there’s that thing about spaceships landing in the ocean when they come back. In like, movies and stuff.”

"It kinda looks like a spaceship actually yeah!" Bro laughs.

Wll, whatever it is, it has to be better than being stuck on a bit of ice, JJ says. This will melt eventually. He lowers himself more into the water and starts swimming in the direction Bro pointed, pushing the ice floe along.

Alt nods to JJ and starts to push their ice floe along too.

“There has to be a faster way than swimming,” Jackie mutters.

"I could always try to carry some of you~" Bro semi-teases, grinning at Jackie.

“Uh—no,” Jackie says. “I’m not scared of heights but that’s a bit much.”

“At least you would land in water if you fell,” Schneep says. “Ah—not that you would drop him, Bro, I mean.”

“Yeah I expected that response,” Chase laughs. “No one likes being flown! Can’t imagine why-“

“No one likes being dangled like dead weight in your arms, Chase,” Alt deadpans, kicking faster.

“Hey! I don’t always carry people like that-“

“They also don’t like being held bridal style- or on your back like a monkey.” Alt continues, looking up to give his brother a look. Bro flushes and looks away. “Alright alright… jeez…”

“Well we want to stick together anyway and we’d be limited to the slowest swimming speed,” Jackie points out.

Nobody is going to comment on the spaceship? JJ asks.

“We’ll comment on it when we get there,” Jackie says, helping Alt with the ice.

As they swim it does appear the sight of the ship was just a bit past the horizon where they landed. A bit of crooked metal sticks up top of a small island of dull gray metal, eroded and rusted by time. It’d be hard to tell it was anything except for the small rounded peaks of metal poking out of the water- reminiscent of thrusters on an airplane or jet. Stripes of yellow are just barely visible on the tail end, peeking out through years of grime and erosion.

Alt’s eyes widen, “…holy fuck that really does look like a space ship…”

“…huh.” Jackie stares. “Yeah. And not a modern spaceship, either, which… is concerning, given how rusted it looks.”

“What do you mean, not a modern ship?” Schneep asks.

Looks like something out of a science fiction movie. JJ’s eyes light up with excitement. Did we get pulled to a universe that’s in the future?!

“Well… we’ve been pulled into the past before,” Alt mutters, “so it’s plausible we could be pulled into the future?”

“Yeah but even if that’s future tech now it looks ancient!” Bro exaggerates, “This must have crashed a long long time ago!”

Schneep blinks. “Well. Ah… Jackie, how rusted is it?”

“Pretty fucking rusted and corroded, dude.” Jackie shakes his head. “It must’ve been here for a while. Which, again, giving the whole sci-fi sorta thing, is kind of concerning. It also means that there’s probably not people on it.”

“Do you think this place is… just as abandoned then?” Alt asks nervously. “T-That can’t be right? We’ve always found universes that had… us in it! This is so strange…”

As if to answer their questions, below the water they feel the vibrations and echo of a terrifying roar.

Schneep stiffens and looks down. “What the fuck was that?” he whispers.

Jackie instinctively reaches for his pocket—but SCLERA took his staff earlier. And even if they hadn’t, it wouldn’t do much against something that sounds so big. “I-I changed my mind about the flying thing, we have to get out of here as fast as possible.”

JJ doesn’t say anything, just scrambles on top of the ice floe and pulls Schneep with him. It’s barely big enough for the two of them to sit with their knees drawn up.

Alt narrows his eyes at the sound and then pushes off the ice to go dive under the water and look.

“Alt?! Wait!” Bro tries to call out after him.

Alt sinks down and tries his best to look towards the sound- then feels his stomach drop as he sees in the distance. The water here is murky and sandy, casting everything in a yellow-ish tint. But, Alt sees a shadow of something huge swimming in the distance. It roars again, and something at the front of it flexes like giant claws. Then it seems to turn towards them.

Alt bursts up from the water and sputters out, “F-FUCKING GIANT MONSTER THING!! CHASE FLY US!!”

Chase startles and then starts to scoop up the others, JJ and Schneep first. “Sorry Schneep just hang on!” He mutters.

Schneep yelps as Bro grabs him, clinging to him. JJ cries out as well, instinctively kicking his legs.

Alt panics and grabs Jackie, just managing to glitch them onto the edge of the spaceship as they hear the roar get so much closer, the water shuddering beneath them in giant waves. But glitching while wet fuckinh hurts. Once they’re on the metal Alt pants and gets to his knees, breathing heavily. He clutches over his heart. “W…what the fuck…???”

Jackie staggers back, losing his footing and falling down. “Ow!” He quickly sits up. “Yeah, wh-what the fuck is right! Why?! How?! What?!”

Soon enough Bro joins them helping JJ and Schneep to settle on the metal of the ship. “Jesus Christ! E-everyone okay?”

Schneep stumbles a bit, grabbing his cane from nowhere to help him feel his way around. “I—I am f-fine,” he says. “What… was that? What did you see, Alt?”

Alt gasps and clutches his soaking shirt. “I-It was… f-fucking huge! Like a giant serpent- but it had like…. Big sharp things sticking out if it’s face?? Or I’m assuming it’s its face cuz it like- flexed when it roared. God it must be like… 50 meters long?? Maybe more??”

“The fuck?! I-I didn’t think creatures like that existed!” Bro whispers in fear.

“I-I dunno dude I… I saw it though… god it was t-terrifying…”

JJ stands there with his arms and legs out, like he’s expecting the wreckage to tilt beneath him. It doesn’t, so he feels safe enough to sign. We must be in a very different universe if there are old spaceships and giant monsters.

“Maybe—maybe there’s not a lot of people here,”Jackie says. “Maybe this is some kind of… Waterworld situation.”

“Waterworld?” Schneep repeats.

“It’s a movie. Not a really good one but I like its style—”

“No, I know the movie, but it does not account for giant sea monsters!”

JJ shakes his head, getting wet hair out of his eyes. We need to think calmly. Maybe there’s something useful in this ship? It’s the only thing around, in any case.

Alt nods to JJ and tries to get to his feet, looking at the wreckage. “I… I can’t see any way in… m-most of this seems to be submerged…”

Then, that roar sounds off again- and something jolts into the part of the ship closest to them, trying to knock them off balance and into the water. They can see the hint of a red tail and the tips of sharp red and black claw-like appendages peeking out through the water.

Alt hadn’t moved too far from the edge- so as the ship is jolted he yells and is thrown back under the water.

“Alt!” Schneep shouts, immediately dropping his cane and jumping into the water after him.

“Schneep!” Jackie scrambles to his feet. “Have you lost your mind?!” He jumps into the water after him.

Bro gasps and tries to keep on his feet then pales as they all go under. “Guys!” He looks to JJ and then goes after them all. “I’ll be quick! Stay safe JJ!”

JJ starts to protest, but Bro is already gone. He crouches at the edge of the water and stares down after everyone else.

As they dive under- they can see the gigantic creature in all its glory. Or- Schneep can sense its soul. It’s massive- over 50 meters with razor sharp mandibles attached to its head and a red horn like fin. Terrifying pitch black eyes, 4 of them, lock onto the falling bodies as it moves away from attacking the ship and it snaps its razor sharp teeth- rows and rows of stained teeth pulled together in a terrifying grin.

Alt was sinking, struggling to swim back up but freezes as he takes in the monster. It roars at the 4, mandibles flexing back as it shows off its incredibly large mouth that will definitely swallow them whole.

Jackie stalls, shocked at the size and terrifying visage of this creature. But Schneep keeps going, aware of where the creature is and stunned by the roar—but he can’t leave Alt there. He dives fast—can he leap through the water? He takes a moment to concentrate, and suddenly he’s by Alt’s side, grabbing him and trying wildly to swim upwards as fast as possible.

Alt gasps as he’s grabbed, bubbles flying out his mouth but he clings to Schneep for dear life.

Bro is also temporarily frozen by the creature and he flinches as it roars, trying to grab Jackie and pull him behind him.

But then, a creature bigger than them but smaller than the monster shows up, swimming up in between the monster and the boys. It has the same mandibles on its back but… smaller. And the top half of it is… human?

The alien merman bunches up his tail and then lets out an equally terrifying roar out at the monster, his mandibles stretching out and scratching at the creature’s face. The monster roars in pain and tries to lash out but the merman swims rapidly up to grab one of its mandibles and then toss it further away into the water below. He roars again for good measure and the monster seems to think better of its attack and swims away under the bones of the ship beneath them.

The merman turns back towards the others and- Jackie recognizes his own face.

Jackie stops, staring in shock at this whole display. Wait—is that—is that—

But, he doesn’t get too long to dwell on that as the merman scoops up Bro and Jackie and rockets them up quickly towards the surface.

Schneep is confused by this whole exchange, but he knows that whoever just appeared and started roaring feels strangely familiar. As soon as they grab Bro and Jackie, Schneep starts frantically swimming upward, taking Alt with him.

The moment as they break the surface Jackie gasps for air and grabs onto the ship for dear life. He was running out of air down there! Schneep does the same beside him.

JJ gasps. Are you all okay?! Is the monster— And then he sees who, or what, brought Bro and Jackie to the surface and stops, eyes wide.

Jackie turns back to get a good look at this—this merman? Alien? This person who shares his face. “Th-thanks?”

The merman is surprisingly very strong and he helps all of the boys get back on the metal island. “N-No problem! You all okay? Stars… that was a close one!” The merman says.

Alt coughs up some water and heaves to get some air back. He looks back at the merman and his eyes widen. Bro also stares at the merman with wide eyes.

Upon a closer look- the merman has bright green hair hidden underneath a ratty red bit of cloth wrapped around his head and shoulders like a hooded scarf. His arms and chest are riddled with tiny scars like he’s been in a ton of fights and he has a band of blue scales across his eyes like a mask.

The merman blinks innocently and tilts his head at the others. “…we havin a staring contest? I just learned about those! Zara says it’s not fair for her though cuz fish don’t need to blink as much. But I think it’s fun!” Then he slowly blinks more and takes the look of all of them in. “Woah… you guys don’t look like any blue suits or white suits I’ve seen…! Where did you guys come from anyways?? Everyone knows you don’t go near the Aurora without protection!” He smirks confidently and crosses his arm and you can see the end of his tail flick in the water. “Luckily for you! I was in the area~!”

“…Zara,” Jackie repeats, latching onto one of the few familiar terms in that little speech. He looks at Bro and Alt. “Okay… guess that’s a sometimes constant.”

The merman tilts his head, “A constant? What’s that mean?”

Alt and Bro look at this merman with wide eyes before looking back at each other. “…he’s not gonna fucking believe this-“ Bro mutters.

Alt laughs a bit unstably, “Y-Yeah for real!”

“We did not mean to be here,” Schneep says. “I-it is hard to explain, but we are from somewhere far away and we just suddenly appeared here. Thank you for helping us.”

JJ nudges him. Do you know he’s a merman?

“Wha—OH.” Schneep’s eyes go wide. “Th-that would explain some things.”

The merman blinks more and watches JJ’s hands with interest. “Oh! You’re using your hands to talk! My little brother does that now! …I dunno what any of the motions mean though-“

JJ tilts his head, interested. Little brother.

“Sooo… what’s your naaaame?” Jackie asks, though he already knows the answer.

The merman perks up as Jackie asks his name and his tail almost wags as his eyes light up, “I’m Jackie! What’s all of your names?”

“Well I’m—” Jackie starts to say.

Then, another head pops out of the water- this one has even lighter green hair and the hint of goggles on his face. “Jackie?? What are you doing? Get away from there!”

The mer-Jackie blinks and turns around and then scoffs at this new figure, “It’s okay Schneep! I don’t think these guys are white suits at all- they’re not even wearing dive suits!”

Another head pops up- this one was darker green hair and black sclera, green and blue irises glowing slightly. As his face comes out of the water, he bares very sharp teeth. “It could be a trick somehow! C’mon! Ya saved these fuckers now we can leave them alone!”

Mer-Jackie rolls his eyes, “That’s not how saving works, Anti-“

Alt’s eyes widen as he looks at the new figures popping up. “A..anti?” He whispers. Bro looks similarly shocked.

Jackie goes on edge a little as the other two figures appear, backing up.

“Huh.” Schneep tilts his head to the side. Another Schneep and another Anti. That’s… surprising. He hopes this world has a kind Anti—not one like his Anti.

“You’re not gonna believe us if we tell you our names,” Jackie says. “But I’ll tell you anyway. I’m Jackie. This is JJ and Schneep and Chase and Alt.”

Mer Jackie's eyes widen and then he hurries over to the side of the Aurora and pushes himself up with wide excited eyes and a huge smile. "Whattt??? That's crazy!! Most of those are my brothers' names! E-Even Hen's nickname!! How'd you know that??" Now you can clearly see the ridges on his his pale blue-gray tail and where the scales meet his more fleshy stomach. He's got black slightly sharp nails and also has sharp teeth.

"Jackie! Shush up!" The other Schneep calls. A white and purple tail flicks angrily across the surface of the water.

"C'mon guys don't be such guppies!" The merman Jackie replies, "They don't look like they'd hurt us!"

Schneep laughs. “Well—We are not lying, those really are our names. We… maybe we are like you, in a way.”

"You're not like us- you got legs!" Mer-Jackie laughs.

“Well, you can leave us if you want, but please, before you go, can you please let us know where to find, ah… people? We are sort of lost.” Schneep continues.

"If you wanna find people, you're shit out of luck." The other Anti growls, "No one lives on the surface any more. They're all under the water. unless you got breathing equipment yer hiding- You're fucked."

"Anti! That's so mean! Don't scare them like that!" Jackie snaps back. Anti just gives him a toothy grin.

Jackie glares at Anti. “Gee. Thanks.” This guy has an attitude like his Anti!

"Wait wait- e-everything's under water??" Bro gasps. "...is everyone mermaids?? Then- why does a spaceship like this exist?" Bro gestures around.

Mer Jackie bursts into laughter, "Ha! You're really funny! No not everyone's- ...what's that word?? Merrr maids? I dunno what that is- the white suits call us Hybrids. But like- most people here are human. S'only me and my brothers that are hybrids!"

JJ blinks. Hybrids? I’m figuring this out. I think these hybrids are us in this world. Maybe… human combined with the sea monsters here?

“That would make sense,” Jackie says slowly. “This other me kinda looks like that big monster with the face spikes.”

“You talked about the white suits and blue suits,” Schneep says. “What does that mean?”

The other Schneep looks out at his counterpart and seems- momenatrily weirded out. But, he shakes it off as he adjusts his goggles. "That is what we call the human scientists that work with Alterra. Well, the white suits at least..."

"The blue suits are our friends!" Mer-Jackie says happily, "They made their own group called the Ocean's Arms that are on our side! They wear black and blue wetsuits while the white suits wear white and orange-"

"...the fuck is Alterra?" Alt asks.

Anti blinks at this and cocks his head. "...you all have never heard of Alterra?"

“I told you, we are from very far away,” Schneep says. “Too far away to have heard of that.”

"...Alterra controls like- majority of this star system... You would have to have heard of them to enter their phase gate-" Mer-Schneep says. Anti and Jackie look at him with confusion. "...what? Danan has been teaching me a lot about how all this shit works!"

But to the side, JJ’s eyes slowly widen. He knows he’s heard that name before. Are we in Subnautica?

Jackie blinks. “That’s a long word you just spelled there. What’s it—”

JJ suddenly gasps and points at mer-Jackie’s mandible things. Like a reaper! Oh my god, was that monster a reaper?! I didn’t get a good look at it—

“What are you talking about?” Schneep asks.

It’s a game! My friend Anti has played it a lot and he mentioned there was a corporation called Alterra and something called a reaper leviathan—oh and this ship is the ship that crashes! It must be! He grins, looking proud of himself.

Alt and Bro's eyes widen at JJ's realization. Mer Jackie blinks and looks at his manibles with confusion, turning around comically in the water. "What what?? Is he talking about my mandibles??"

Bro laughs with a wide grin, "Oh yeah!! Subnautica!! Oh my god- Jackie was obsessed with that game!"

"H-How are we in a game?? That's... that's never happened before!" Alt says with a bit of panic.

"The fuck do you mean 'a game'?" Anti growls. "This shit ain't a game- its real fucking life!"

"Anti- do not get angry- I do not think that is what they meant..." Henrik tries to say calmly to Anti.

“No, of course it’s not, we’re just saying it’s like a game that we know,” Jackie says carefully. “Or… that these guys know. I’ve never heard of it. Maybe. Maybe Jack played it…?” He looks vaguely guilty at the thought of Jack.

“My friend Jack played it too, but I do not know anything about it,” Schneep says.

Well, it takes place on an alien planet that’s mostly ocean— JJ starts, then stops, looking around. Oh. If this is some form of the world from that game, they really are far from home, in more ways than one.

"You all are talking nonsense-" Anti growls, his back fin bristling and getting bigger, "I don't like it." Then, his eyes widen and he growls out, starting to lash forward towards the others. "Wait how do you know Jack?! You fuckers-! I knew you were hiding something!"

Schneep yelps as he feels Anti lunge forward and quickly scrambles back. JJ throws a hand out in front of him.

"Hey hey Anti!" Mer-Jackie shouts, grabbing Anti and pulling him back. "M-Maybe they just mean someone else who has the same name! Like all of them! Human reuse names all the time you know- like how Jack used to say Xander's brother was also Jack! It's fine-" He tries to grin at him.

"Yeah yeah yeah, i-it's a different guy!" Jackie says hurriedly. "Like--me and Schneep here were talking about two other people, i-it's a really common name, yknow?" He laughs nervously.

Anti growls and flicks some green tentacles out of the water in his anger. Then, he spurs down to go under the surface, showing off that his tentacles are... glowing slightly with little small balls of yellow before he disappears from view. Reaper Jackie watches him go and sighs then looks at the others "D-Don't mind him he's... really sensitive about some stuff. Like our brother, Jack..." He looks sad for a second before he shakes himself out of it.

Jackie’s expression falls into something more serious. He notices other Jackie's sadness. But he's not sure how to respond.

Reaper Jackie then puts a finger to his chin and makes a thinking face, " Okay soooo let's... put this altogether. You.. kinda know what Alterra is but only cuz its like a game... you've played. Like tag I'm guessing? That makes sense, Zara says Alterra is hugeee!" He makes big wide sweeping gestures with his hands before continuing. "But- you're not a white suit orrr a blue suit- cuz you don't got any equipment... how'd that happen? Most anyone who comes here knows the planet is mostly water."

"We did not plan for this..." Alt grumbles. "We just... fell here. Its a long story."

Henrik snorts and crosses his arms. "Fell here... that is ridiculous! You cannot fall straight from space into the water-"

"But you guys really got nothin' at all to breathe with?" Mer-Jackie asks. "Cuz... mmm I might be able to get you some- but I dunno how well you'd swim with all those clothes on ya. The OA base is a bit farther down into the reefs. Plus- that reaper won't stay away for too long- this is his territory! He gets realll mad when other fish come nearby."

"Y-yes, nothing to breathe with," Schneep says hesitantly. "And no suitable clothes."

Jackie throws his hands into the air. "Well—guess we'll fucking die, then!"

Maybe I know some magic that can help? JJ says. I just need a moment to remember. He sighs. This is why the ABIM encourages magicians to carry around their own book of spells.

"No, I'm sure we can figure something out, don't waste your magic," Jackie says. "We'll try nonmagical means before magic ones."

Alt seems to think before he perks up, "...I have a spell- I've done it before!" He seems excited, "I-It turned us into mermen before- m-maybe it'll still work here! Oh... i might need to change some runes to make sure we're the right type of fish... hmmm-"

Bro looks at Alt worriedly, "I mean... do you still have enough magic Alt? We just went through a lot of shit..."

Mer-Jackie and Mer-Schneep look at all of the with confusion. "...what does all that stuff mean? Spells? Magic?" Stalker Schneep asks.

"They sound like Marvin... I still don't know where he learned words like that..." Reaper Jackie grumbles. "Maybe they mean warps? mmm but those don't work outside of the water last I checked-"

Alt then grips at his head and curses, "Argh! I dunno how that would work though! I don't have my spellbook and my phone is probably fried! I don't even know how I'd write the runes-!"

It’s okay, Alt, not your fault, JJ says. None of us could’ve predicted this. Then he glances at the mer-people in the water. He grins. Someone translate what I say for them. Do you want to see something cool?

“JJ asks if you want to see something cool,” Jackie relays.

Reaper Jackie's eyes widen and he nods eagerly, "Yes yes! I wanna see something cool!!"

Stalker Schneep chuckles and then shrugs, "Alright... I suppose."

JJ holds out his hands. After a second, flickering blue lights appear around his fingers, coalescing into a couple glowing spheres. He sends them flying around the area, moving like big fireflies, the blue shifting through various colors.

Reaper Jackie's eyes light up with excitement and he quickly swims around and tries to chase them. "Oh my stars!!! Look at that!! SCHNEEP LOOK!!"

Henrik laughs a bit breathlessly, "I... I am seeing- that is..." He looks back to JJ- "H-How are you doing that?"

"Its like Marvin with his warps! I bet he just thinks its and then whoooosh!" Reaper Jackie says, making weird arm gestures again.

Alt laughs, "It's called magic but... you aren't too far off? It's... kinda hard to explain..."

JJ laughs, happy that they like his little light show. The balls of light slowly fade away and he brushes his hands off, then signs, It’s a lot like that—thinking about something and making it happen. But sometimes it needs something a little extra, like a word or a gesture.

Jackie repeats what he says for the boys in the water, and adds, “Alt can do stuff like that, too, but slightly different. And our Schneep and Chase have their own stuff—”

“Jackie, what if we do not want to share that?” Schneep asks.

“Oh. Sorry.”

"I'm okay with sharing!" Bro pipes up and pushes off the metal- leaping into the air and then flying above the merboys. "I'm a superhero! so- I can fly!"

The mermen looks absolutely flabbergasted. Reaper Jackie grabs Henrik's shoulder and starts shaking him wildly, "Schneep! He's flying! What i- I didn't know humans could do that without their rockets and shit!!"

"Incredible..." Henrik breathes. Then, he gets annoyed by Jackie's shaking and he snaps his teeth at him. "Jackie! Enough I can see him!"

"Oh- Sorry-" Mer-Jackie grins sheepishly.

Bro goes to touch back down and brushes down his outfit. "Sadly- flying doesn't really help when we need to go underwater..."

"Oh oh! Maybe we can ask Zara to drive that reallly big ship over here for these guys! Cuz- I think a sea moth is too small." Mer-Jackie says.

Henrik frowns, "That will alert the reapers though..."

"ohhh yeah- that's not good..."

"If I just had something to write with... something I can make sure stays on all of us I... I bet I could try the spell...?" Alt mumbles to himself.

Schneep casually reaches to the side and grabs a permanent marker. “Would this work or do you need something else?”

“What?!” Jackie stares. “Can—can you do that with anything?”

“Nothing too big, I need to be able to hold it,” Schneep says.

“Can… can you get specific stuff?” Jackie asks. “Because SCLERA took my staff… and I kinda liked it…”

“Hmm. I am not sure. Let me try…” Schneep reaches out with his other hand… and finds Jackie’s collapsed staff.

“Whoa.” Jackie whistles.

“I don’t know if it is the same one or a near identical-one, but here,” Schneep holds it out.

“That’ll work!” Jackie happily takes the staff.

Alt blinks wide eyed at the marker, his jaw falling open. He then blinks at Schneep and mumbles out quickly. "I-If i describe a certain bracelet- could you grab that?? I... I can make duplicate from there and... well maybe it can just be a bracelet but the one im thinking of we used for these kind of travels cuz it had a tracking spell on it- but either way! T-then I can do the spell to make us mermen! ...cuz it sounds like there's fuck-all up here." He looks to Mer-Jackie and Schneep who just nod in agreement.

"All the fun stuff is underwater!" Reaper Jackie says with a sharp grin.

"Oh- does that take a lot of energy Schneep?? Maybe we can get JJ and my spellbooks too??" Alt adds on.

"Getting a specific item? No, not really. In all honesty, I do not get tired from my powers the way that my Marvin and Jackie get tired from theirs," Schneep says. "Or the way that you do, I suppose. I just do not know if I am literally grabbing it or somehow conjuring it. Hmm... perhaps I should try to test that some time..." He trails off for a moment, thinking. Then shakes his head. "I have never tried something with magic before, either, but I can at least try to get you a bracelet as you describe."

"Oh... huh... that's interesting," Alt says with a curious hum. Then, he focuses, "Uh... right um- it's like a leather bracelet and it has a gem on top of it and runes on the inside. Does... that help?"

Schneep nods slowly. "Yes, it does. Now let's see." He reaches out... and after a second grabs something. He pulls it back. "This seems fitting."

It is indeed a leather bracelet with a gem—exactly like the ones Alt was picturing, but lacking the runes.

Alt perks up and goes to take the bracelet and look it over. He deflates as he sees the tracking runes are gone. He doesn't have those memorized... and getting the bracelets attuned for that takes a long time. But- that's okay! They only need these for the transformation spell. Alt smiles at Schneep, "Y-Yes this is good Schneep, thanks!"

Alt starts to mumble to himself, duplicating the bracelets until there's 5 of them. He sets them all down, starting to write out the runes he needs with the marker: water. breathing, transformation and... can he still use fish here? That made them like... real life fish back in the merman world they found... but maybe the principle will still work here? Just in case... he knows the rune for space? Space...fish... that seems like it could work? He grabs a bracelet and secures it on, whispering some magic words to himself. As he does, his eyes and the runes glow blue. He gets to his feet and is about to take stuff off before he shrugs. All their stuff is already ruined... but mermen usually at least have their shirts off… god he missed his jacket. He pulls off his shirt then takes a steady breath. "Alright... Lemme see if this works..." He mumbles, before he dives into the water.

"Wait hey!" Mer-Jackie yells in a bit of concern, "The reaper!"

But, then Alt pops back up and- first thing you can notice is he has gills. and some kind of blue green armor on his arms. Henrik and Mer-Jackie's eyes widen. Alt takes stock of himself and then lifts up his legs- but now its a tail! A big thick tail that has... weird reddish prongs on the ends. Alt blinks in confusion. "What the hell??"

JJ applauds, impressed by Alt's work.

"Oh, so cool!" Jackie whoops.

Mer-Jackie gasps and swims closer and lifts up his tail to look at better above the water, effectively pushing Alt under the water in the motion. "Oh!! Oh my stars you're a hybrid now!!”

"But unlike one we have ever seen..." Henrik breathes, getting closer too to see.

"I know what you are though!" Jackie pipes up excitedly, "You're a- OW!"

A shock runs up the tail and reaper Jackie lets go and Alt pops his head back out with a glare. "...a little warning, next time?"

"You're an ampeel!" Mer Jackie says happily, as if that didn't just happen.

Alt's eyes widen. "...it worked?" Then he laughs in victory and pumps his fists, "Yes! It worked!" He then glitches back onto the ship and the other boys can see that out of the water, Alt still has gills and the weird armor on his arms and legs but- he has legs again and is mostly human. He quickly bends down and starts saying the spell words to make all the bracelets work.

"wooahhh- how'd you do that?? I've never seen a- a hybrid become human before!!" Mer-Jackie gasps. Alt just smirks, "It's magic~!"

Schneep laughs. "Wish I could have seen it. An ampeel?"

"Apparently it's a fish with armored plating and these parts that stick out and shock people," Jackie describes. "So—that'll work for all of us?" His eye lights up. "Can I try? Oh, what about our clothes?"

Alt grins, "Yeah- i-it'll probably turn you into different things... It's based on the soul. So... huh- you could become something like these guys or... maybe something completely different." Alt then laughs and gestures to himself, "Seems like they stay intact with the spell... thank god or I'd be really embarrassed right now." He hands the bracelet to Jackie and nods, "Give it a try!"

"Oh hell yeah!" Jackie takes the bracelet and pulls it on. He hesitates, but then—just in case, quickly takes off his hoodie and shirt beneath. Not that he doesn't trust Alt's magic. He just thinks it's better safe than sorry. Taking off his pants is a bit too far, though.

He takes a deep breath, then dives into the water. A moment later, he surfaces, and looks down at himself. He has a long tail instead of legs, covered in red armor that's white on the belly. A ridge of fins runs down the back, and two small flippers poke out near his waist. On his back are mandibles, similar to Mer-Jackie's but a bit different, all black and a bit serrated on the inside. "Whoa... this feels so weird. But also, kinda cool."

Mer-Jackie blinks in surprise and circles around Jackie. He looks... confused. He tilts his head and studies him. "I... I've never seen a fish like you before... Are there fish like this on this planet, Schneep?" he asks looking over at Henrik. Stalker Schneep looks just as confused and shakes his head, "... I have never seen a creature like this..."

"Huh... weird..." Mer-Jackie mutters. "Guess we can always ask Danan."

"Hah... I'm special." Jackie grins. This is strange... he lost his legs but gained four extra limbs. As he thinks about it, the mandibles snap a little. Good thing he took his shirt and hoodie off after all, these new things might've torn through them. But... it does leave his chest exposed. With all its scars... He folds his arm, trying to be casual about it.

Alt watches Jackie jump in with a smile then goes to hand a bracelet to Schneep. "Do you wanna try Schneep? We'll try our best to stick by you and help..."

"Hmm? Oh yes, of course." Schneep looks down at the bracelet as Alt places it in his hand, and he quickly puts it on. He takes his coat off—the water makes it heavy—but leaves his shirt on as he slides into the water. When he surfaces, his upper torso is unchanged, but his legs have been replaced by a bony tail covered in translucent flesh that allows the skeleton inside to be seen. Four tendrils branch off at his waist, moving slowly. One wraps around Jackie's new tail and he yelps in surprise. "Ah, s-sorry, Jackie."

Alt blinks over to look at the two of them and grins, "Woah! Awesome!"

"Ohhh! You are a River Prowler!" Henrik says brightly, swimming around Schneep. As he swims he does seem to take in Schneep's face a bit more, tilting his head. "... Jackie? ... do these strangers look... really familiar to you?"

Mer-Jackie is still swimming and trying to figure out what the hell other Jackie is. He pops back up and blinks at Henrik. "Hah?" He looks back at other Jackie and tilts his head too. "... mmmm maybe? I dunno..."

"..without the scars... this Jackie kinda looks like you... if you had brown hair." Henrik points out.

Mer-Jackie whips around to look at his brother then back at Jackie. "What?? n-no way! ... well if that's the case then- you look like this Schneep a lot! He just needs your goggles and green hair!"

"..h-hah??" Henrik gasps and looks at Schneep with wide eyes.

Jackie laughs a bit nervously. "Yeah, uh... funny, isn't it?"

Schneep blinks. "They have green hair? All three of them?"

"Yeah, they do, it's a bit strange... but kind of cool looking," Jackie says.

"Oh, I can imagine. My friends Jack and Chase dyed their hair together some years ago, I can picture it vividly," Schneep says. He turns to the hybrids. "Oh yes, I should explain. I actually cannot see." He waves his hand in front of his eyes, demonstrating. "Not at all. It is just black to me. So, if I have seemed clueless, that is why."

"OOOHH!" Mer Jackie says, "That explains a lot! Hey! The reapers are technically blind too! Maybe I can teach you to roar so you can like- echo stuff out and feel things!"

"I do not think River Prowlers can roar like you do, Jackie." Henrik says with a raised eyebrow. Mer-Jackie grumbles and crosses his arms. "You don't know-! Maybe.. they get special abilities or something... like that new thing Marvin can do! Or how Jamie can talk to other fish!"

If we're going to become fish I should do something really quick before that, JJ says. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the tooth Bro knocked out in their fight back in SCLERA. He presses it to the empty space, concentrates hard... and, after a moment, there's a flash of blue light and the tooth is reattached. He shakes his head, wobbling a bit. That took more power than he thought, but he can still make do.

Bro blinks at JJ and then his eyes widen and he goes to help JJ get steady afterwards. He hesitates for a second before lightly hugging JJ around the shoulders. "...sorry I did that... sorry..."

JJ blinks. He smiles at Bro and pats him on the back. It's alright. I know by now that you can't blame someone for the things they do while controlled. His smile fades. I'm... sorry, too. I don't know what came over me back there. I was just so angry... and... He shudders, remembering what it was like. So that was the effect of black magic, was it? He'd read about how it changes people, but he'd never understood the temptation until it was right there. So much power... but at the cost of acting on his worst impulses and feelings.

Bro squeezes JJ back and then smiles at him. "Hey, it's okay dude. Water under the bridge~!" He grins dopeily and nudges JJ with his elbow a bit. "Besides- no harm done." He gestures to the claw marks on his suit. The skin underneath is still a bit red and patchy but it's already starting to heal. "I heal fast, remember?"

J looks surprised, then laughs and nods. That's right. I forgot. Well... if there's 'no harm done', and we're both sorry, then we shouldn't worry about it.

Bro laughs and pats JJ on the shoulder, "Alright- I'm good with that~ You ready to try this crazy shit?"

JJ laughs. Of course!

Bro smiles at JJ and goes to take a bracelet and put it on. He takes off his hero jacket and then dives in. When he comes back up- he has purple markings on his face and purple like veins going up his neck. He has scalloped plates on his arms like armor and on his shoulder blades. And this strange armor like structure on his chest that sticks out a bit from his collarbone. He blinks down at it and pokes at it. "The hell is this thing??"

Alt bursts into laughter.

Jackie grins. "You're like if a fish was a tank."

Mer-Jackie blinks out of his mood and swims over and brightens up. "Oh oh!! You're a boneshark!! cool!!!" He points at his eyes. "We got the same kind of markings too! That's so cool??"

Bro blinks, "Really??" Then he grins and holds up his hand for Jackie to high-five. But the hybrid just blinks at him in confusion.

JJ giggles at Mer-Jackie's confusion. I don't think they know what high fives are.

"Really? Well, you do it like this." Schneep holds up a hand, and Jackie swims over to slap it. Classic high five. "It is an expression of friendship, or acknowledging that something is cool."

Mer-Jackie's eyes light up and he rushes to go to high-five Bro- wayyy too hard. "Ow! Jesus!" Bro exclaims, holding his hand. He grins nervously, "T-That was great Jackie! just... not so hard?"

"Ohhh okay!" He grins, showing off his teeth again. "That's fun- I like that! Imma high five alll my brothers!"

Well, I suppose it's my turn. JJ takes the last of the bracelets, removes his cape—much like Schneep's coat, it gets heavy when wet—and shirt, and jumps into the water. He pops to the surface with a blue glowing tail, slightly translucent, with a diamond-shaped fin at the end. Wings are attached to his arms, pointed at the ends, like some sort of fancy scarves or long sleeves. The blue translucence carries up his torso all the way to his shoulders. Red shapes can be seen inside his body, about where his lungs and stomach would be. He looks down at himself in surprise. He can see through him. It's a bit disconcerting... but he likes the glow.

As JJ jumps in Mer Jackie swims over and beams. "Woahh! A ghost ray!!" He swims over and holds up one of JJ's wings, "You got wings just like Chase does!"

"What?" Bro says, looking at his arms, "I don't got wings!"

"Not you! My brother Chase!" Reaper Jackie laughs. He then blinks and grins even bigger. "Now you can all meet them!! Oh Oh- Jamie is gonna love all of you!! And Chase! ... probably- mmm Marvin might be a mixed bag and... well- you have met Anti..." He shakes his head and smiles again. "And we can show the base!! Oh! This will be so much fun!"

Alt chuckles and dives back into the water with everyone. "You guys might wanna make sure you keep your things on you... unless Schneep can grab them for us later? I'm just worried a rift will show up and they'll get stuck here..."

"A rift?" Stalker Schneep asks, "What is that?"

"...that's a complicated story- we can try to tell you later okay?"

"Better safe than sorry," Schneep says. "Somebody grab my coat.

"On it." Jackie climbs out of the water, temporarily turning human again—the mandibles shrink down but still stick out a bit, little nubs on his back—and grabs all their stuff, bundling it up in JJ's cape. He jumps back into the water. "So. Sounds like you have a bunch of, uh... are they... brothers, then? You're all related?"

How are you all different fish, then? JJ asks.

"That's a good point. How are you all different fish?"

"And where are we going?" Schneep asks. "Exactly, I mean. Details."

"Oh well uhhh-" Mer-Jackie makes a face as he thinks, "I dunno- Jack started calling us all brothers long before I was even born. Do you know why Schneep?" He then looks back at the others and grins. "Schneep is older than me. Most of them are- the only one that isn't is Jamie... oh! and Marvin! I found out I'm older~!" He says proudly, puffing out his chest. Then he laughs, "But to be honest? I've always seen us like twins."

"The reason why we are all different is... complicated." Stalker Schneep says.

"Well- me and Chase are brothers and we're different right now!" Alt points out, flicking his tail. "Maybe its a soul thing? Maybe its... magic?"

"It is not that." Henrik says with finality. "It is... come, I will explain while we swim. We have a bit of one." He dives under the water.

JJ tilts his head at Henrik's statement. Why does he have a bad feeling about this? A world where there are humans, but the only hybrids are their little group... something abnormal happened there. And maybe something not so good.

Mer-Jackie smiles and motions for them to follow after. "We're going to our friends' base! It’s down at the end of the shallows near the kelp forest!"

Alt and Bro look at each other. Bro instinctually takes a breath before going under and Alt rolls his eyes before he follows.

"Shallows and kelp forest, okay," Jackie mutters. That means nothing to him, but it might make sense when he sees it. He also instinctively takes a breath before diving. JJ is next, then Schneep.

#GITHV #glitch into the huffleverse #GITHV Septnautical #septnautical #alt anti #bro fantastic #stitched schneep #inverted jackie #the jaunty jackson #reaper jackie #stalker schneep #sea dragon anti #YEAHHH ITS SEPTNAUTICAL TIMEEE #TIME TO FEED MY OTHER BLOG LETS GOOO #for septnautical readers- i am still working on requests but this will hopefully help fill in the gaps ahgja #And i'll post everyone's designs in a bit!!#cuz you know i did them gahjba #i feel bad that i give away the surprise with the title but ghavj #i have like 3 aus so it was bound to happen HGVJB

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huffle-dork · 4 months

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Glitch into the Hufflverse Chapter 3: SCLERA

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When everyone starts to wake up- they realize they’ve been moved out of the main lab space they were brought into and put somewhere entirely new. The walls are bright white- almost blindly so. Alt, Schneep, JJ and Jackie all find themselves in separate small rooms. Each one has a tiny bed (that they weren’t even put on) and a collection of monitors along one wall. A camera whirls up in the upper corner, focusing on their every move. Windows are placed along two walls on each cell, positioned so they can all see each other. 2 rooms facing the other 2. Alt and Jackie on one side. JJ and Schneep on the other.

As they all wake up and take stock of their bodies- they’ll all notice there’s now a cuff on their ankle, tethering them to the wall.

Alt instantly starts to panic, trying to pull at the cuff or glitch- but he gets shocked for even trying, causing him to cry out. JJ isn't far behind in the panic department. He runs up to the window, pressing his hands against it and staring through the glass. He tries to cast some magic to break through the window but receives a similar shock.

Jackie's first instinct is to pull at the cuff, testing its strength. No good. The tether is sturdy and the cuff itself is tight around his ankle. "Fuck!" he shouts. His eyes dart around this small cell. There's a bed at least—that's good. A camera—bad. Monitors—unusual. He feels his breath quickening but he refuses to panic like Alt and JJ are. This can't be too bad. He's been through worse. At least this time he has the smallest bit of hope that someone will find him. Surely the others from this world will come looking for their friends.

Schneep feels around the room, getting a hold of his surroundings. The sparse furniture and small size mean he's quickly able to get a hang of it. Which... does not bode well for what's going to happen to them. If they don't care enough to give their subjects more than a bed, that's not a good sign of these people's intentions. He can sense souls nearby. It must be Alt, Jackie, and JJ...but...

JJ stares out the window at the others... and realizes something. The Jackie across from him... He's different. You're not my friend Jackie, he signs, staring at him.

Jackie looks up and shakes his head. "No, sorry. It's a bit hard to explain."

“Fuck!” Alt shouts, his voice breaking a bit at the end. He staggers to the windows and looks over at the others, “Fucking shit I… I’m so sorry guys- this… none of this was supposed to happen! I… I never thought they… that they’d get Chase…” he grits his teeth and then hits his fist against the window. “Fucking shit-!”

“Don’t blame yourself, Alt,” Jackie says quietly. “I don’t think any of us could’ve predicted that.”

Schneep shakes his head. “I should have run when you told me to instead of coming back. I would be more help out there than in here.”

“It’s fine Schneep… you’re not one to leave your friends…” Alt mutters.

JJ looks at him as well. That’s Schneep but… it’s not any Schneep he knows. I’m sorry, I’m very confused, he signs slowly.

“Don’t worry about it, you were tripping balls the whole time, that doesn’t exactly lend itself to a clear head. Fuck that Overdose woman.” Jackie runs a hand through his hair. “Basically we took you and Alt to the hospital because you were in danger, but it turned out to be a trap and we all got captured. You’re in another universe, by the way. And me and Schneep also aren’t from here.”

“Oh, so this Jameson also uses sign language?” Schneep comments.

“Yeah, what do youohhh shit, right, you wouldn’t be able to read signs if you’re blind!” Jackie gasps.

Schneep chuckles a little. “No, I would not. My JJ and I have a system, but I think it will be difficult if we are all in separate rooms.”

“I can relay it for now, don’t worry,” Jackie says.

JJ looks around some more. He still seems pretty confused, but nods slowly.

“By the way, where is other Chase?” Schneep asks. “I cannot feel him nearby.” Maybe he should go looking? Can he leap out of this cuff? “Ow!” Nope, the moment he starts, there’s a distracting shock.

Alt looks guiltily at Schneep and sighs, “…you won’t be able to use your powers here… not unless they want you to.” He looks sad and glances down the hall. “…I dunno where Chase is… but I’m guessing they’re… they’re gonna keep… using him.” He shudders and grits his teeth, eyes flashing brighter in anger.

Alt slowly takes a deep breath then looks away, “…I’ll catch you guys up though… fill in some gaps. So… I heard you all got sucked in here by… by rifts. They’re… new. The device I used to visit you all just… broke. And Basically the rifts are broken holes that suck people into different worlds …or even different timelines. but I… I thought they wouldn’t be able to come here but that’s… another long story. JJ- like when you all fell here these are… other versions of our friends I’ve met. I’d… explain how they’re different but-“ He glances at the camera in his cell and glares at it. Then he deflates, “…fuck it. I think they already know more than I think… Schneep is from a world where… his Anti is made of black magic… and he’s also Jackie and Marvin fused together.

“And Jackie is… from a world where everyone but Anti is… well evil. Jackie’s trying to be better now though and their Chase has been put through some massive shit but… his Anti? He’s one of the most powerful ones I’ve met. He was able to get me, Bro and Jackie home after the TRVLR broke.” He laughs dazedly and shakes his head, “…I’ll have to try to see if I can c-contact him to get you all home but I… now we’re here and…

He shakes his head and looks between Jackie and Schneep, “Oh and for you two… JJ here is a magician in his world. Like me… he uses mainly ice magic though. But in his world… everyone’s roles are switched around from how you and me know things… like- their Jackie is a doctor… and their Schneep... Volt- he’s a superhero.”

The others listen to Alt talk for a while, staying quiet, their expressions all varying types of shock. Once Alt is done, they look at each other with wide eyes, really taking the other two in.

“I know you said your Anti was evil, but… you didn’t say your Anti was me,” Jackie says to Schneep.

“It didn’t come up—though I don’t know if I would have told you if there was an opportunity,” Schneep replies. “I am not sure how to tell someone that they are part of a black magic abomination.”

“Well Alt just did it,” Jackie points out.

Schneep chuckles. “He did, didn’t he?”

“It’s easier for me to say I think… since I’ve been to every one of your universes.” Alt says with a shrug, “If I didn’t point out and learn your differences you’d all blend together…”

“But… also… the Anti from my world is gone now,” Schneep says slowly. “I… do not want to talk about him too much. It is in the past.”

Alt perks up at hearing Anti is gone and he smiles warmly, “You guys saved them? That’s… that’s great. I’m glad that… that’s over.”

Schneep nods. "Yes... we are so relieved it's over," he says quietly.

“Oh.” Jackie blinks. “Well, uh, Jameson. Do you have an Anti?”

JJ nods. Nothing like yours, though. Anti is just a normal person there—one of my dear friends. Not some fusion or… whatever your Anti is.

Jackie repeats JJ’s words for Schneep, then adds with a shrug, “Anti is Anti. I think the closest description is some sort of electrical being.”

JJ nods. Are we really… that bad in your world?

“Are you really that bad? Uh… I don’t want to upset you or anything but… yes, absolutely.” Jackie nods. “I mean… my Schneep could probably get better, his case is kinda complicated, but my Jameson is… the worst. Just… just the worst.” He shudders.

JJ’s shoulders slump. He’s not sure how to respond to that.

Alt looks at JJ with understanding. “I know it’s hard to hear that J… but you and him are completely different. You’re the jaunty Jackson, you’re you.” He then laughs a bit bitterly and shrugs, “and well… if it makes you feel any better… I’ve really only met one bad Jameson… there’s way more evil Antis out there…” He grips his arms and lets himself feel for a second before shaking it off.

Schneep decides to brush this news off. “So… I am a superhero in another world.”

JJ blinks and smiles. A very brave one.

“Do I have powers, or…?”

In a sense. You have a lot of advanced technology.

Schneep nods. “I can see that.”

Alt laughs, “Volt is super cool Schneep… you’d like him.”

JJ still looks a bit disturbed by the news of an evil him, but he nods in agreement with Alt's statement. You do sort of remind me of him—more than the Schneep from this world.

"Yeah, it's strange," Jackie adds. "You definitely also remind me of my Schneep...but you know, a sane one with morals."

Schneep laughs. "Hearing you does sometimes remind me of my Jackie, too. And I know I have not interacted as much with you, JJ, but if Jackie is accurately translating your signs you at least speak a lot like mine."

"Doing my best." Jackie shrugs.

“God… if I had my spells books I’m sure I could find something to help you understand better Schneep,” Alt grumbles.

I may know something that can help, at least letting you understand my signing, JJ offers. Though… seems I can’t use my magic here. He looks down at the cuff.

"The JJ in my world also has magic," Schneep says. "Though... he is not a magician. It is very strange, he simply... gained magic one day. Very specific magic, too. It can help others, but not himself."

JJ tilts his head. He might be a warlock, then. Sometimes if a human is desperate enough for something, and has already been exposed to lots of magic, they gain magic of their own that's targeted to helping them achieve that goal.

"Yes, that does sound familiar," Schneep says slowly.

"My Jameson has magic, too... but it's not like either of those," Jackie mutters. "It's all contained in his pocket watch."

Oh, so he's a witch, then? JJ asks.

"Yeah, I've heard others call him that."

Alt looks very interested in the break down of different kind of magicians. Huh… interesting. He’s heard Mag call himself a sorcerer… is that what Alt is too…?

Jackie laughs. "You know... I think our three worlds might have more in common with each other than with this world. I mean, I'm sure this world is great, but things feel... different."

I've been here before, they ARE slightly different, JJ says. It's interesting.

Schneep tilts his head, thinking. "Perhaps... our three worlds are close to each other. And that is why a rift appeared in each of them."

Alt nods with a hum, “That makes sense… you all were really close to each other on the list the TRVLR had. Though… I dunno. I’ve definitely noticed that outside of mine and JJ’s worlds… that every other one had our friend group in pretty similar roles. Like… Schneep is normally a doctor. Jackie usually fights crime somehow… Chase is usually, normal? Sometimes a dad… mostly a dad actually now that I think about it. Marvin’s a magician… or powerful. JJ too… usually Marvins and JJs are like… really close… and JJ usually has something to do with… time? Old fashioned if nothing else… and Antis are… glitches. Evil electric… things. Not human…” He digs his fingers into his arms, shivering as he remembers all the horrible antis he’s faced. “…there’s other exceptions but… that’s a pattern I’ve noticed.”

“Huh. Well… I guess there are… similarities, then,” Jackie says slowly.

“Not too many,” Schneep says. “In my world, Marvin and Jamie are not close at all. They are really barely friends, in a way.”

And those roles don’t fit my world at all, JJ adds.

“Well he did say there were exceptions,” Jackie points out.

“Still… if anything is possible, surely there are many worlds that don’t fit those patterns,” Schneep says. “It’s simply that maybe… maybe this is a pattern in the worlds we can reach, and it breaks down the farther away you go.”

“Yeah…” Alt shrugs, “Universes get… messy. Usually you can tell who’s who based on looks though or like- certain behaviors or mannerisms. JJ always has a mustache or is mute somehow, always uses some type of sign language. Jackie always wears red or a red hoodie, Schneep is always German. Usually brunette. Chase always wears a hat at the very least… he’s the easiest for me to recognize though.” Alt laughs a bit hollowly. “And Antis…” He touches his neck and then pulls away his mask to show his scar. “…if they don’t glitch then… they usually have a wound like this. Or… green eyes… sometimes green-blue, like mine.”

Alt quickly reties his mask and sighs, “But… yeah… that’s basically the gist of patterns I’ve seen. We’re always together too… always connected somehow.” He smiles a bit, “…I think that’s… cool, you know? You always wonder if… you’d know your closet friends if things were different…”

"Your closest friends," Jackie repeats a bit darkly. He shakes his head. No, he shouldn't be jealous of others. Just because things didn't work out in his world doesn't mean it's anyone's fault. "Well... I guess it's kind of... sweet, somehow, that these people always find each other."

Alt gives Jackie an apologetic smile. “…you all were friends before…” He tries to say before shaking his head. “Again it’s… complicated.”

JJ frowns. There isn't a Chase in my world, though. Then he pauses. You said he usually wears a hat...? Why does it feel like he's forgetting something? Like... he's on the edge of a cliff and about to tumble into an important realization?

Alt makes a bit of a choking noise at JJ’s comment and then swallows nervously. “S-Sometimes there’s gaps… I-I wish I knew what… h-happened to your Chase, JJ…”

Schneep chuckles. "So you have an impressive mustache, too, Jamie. Good to know."

JJ is distracted from his thoughts by that comment. He grins. I'm quite proud of it, too!

Alt laughs, “Never met a JJ with a bad mustache! Unless they couldn’t grow one yet.” He smiles thinking of the younger JJ he met.

But then he sighs and looks at their surroundings. “…now that we’re caught up with that… I guess I should tell you guys about this place…” he waves his hand at the cells. “This is Sclera… Jackie, JJ… it’s similar to your IRIS. Except Sclera is more focused on studying magic with science than just… science. So… they know how to handle super powered people… or strange things like… people from other worlds.” He rubs his wrist underneath the purple bands on his right arm. “…they’ve captured me before… experimented on me… I-I don’t know what they’ll try to do to you all but…” He swallows shakily, looking scared.

"Oh..." Jackie isn't sure what to say. "I... I'm sorry. F-from what I've heard from Anti about IRIS... that's bad."

JJ shudders. He sits down on the bed, pulling his knees up to his chest. Alt... Not too long after we got pulled into your universe, something similar happened to my friends and I. Well... a lot of stuff happened before that. But eventually we were all taken by our IRIS. So... I know what you've been through.

Alt’s expression falls, “JJ I… I’m so sorry…” He grips at his wrist, “…no one should ever have to go through that.. I’m…” He growls in frustration and his hands light up with his magic as it reacts to his emotions. He gets shocked for that though and he yelps and stumbles back.

Schneep is quiet, looking troubled. "I... think there is an IRIS in my world, too. B-but they just make technology. I have not heard of any sort of... experimentation..."

Alt shakes out his head and addresses Schneep, “On the outside… that’s what these companies do. Experiment in secret to push their futuristic tech to the masses… trying to gain more control…” he growls, “It’s fucked.”

“Aw… thank you for the glowing endorsement, Mr. Brody~!” Dr. Cornelius’s voice echoes down the hall.

Alt glitches in surprise and then yells out as he’s shocked again and tumbles to his knee as he holds his stomach. “Motherfucker…!”

Coming down the hall and towards their collection of cells walks in Dr. Cornelius, Overdose… and Chase. Dazedly and stoically following after the scientists.

“Hello gents~ have a good nap?” Overdose giggles.

"Oh fuck off," Jackie growls, as close to the cell windows as he can and glaring. "Fuck both of you. Fuck you so hard."

“Oh- the tough one’s feisty~” Overdose giggles and goes to meet him at his window, grinning wide. “I like that… they’ll be fun to break~”

“Jin, please don’t rile up the subjects too much,” Dr. Cornelius chuckles.

Jackie just glares back at Overdose. He's not going to be broken. He's not going to give them the satisfaction. He's not going to cry or scream or beg. He's had enough of that.

JJ stays where he is, looking at the doctors silently. He tries to stay calm but can't help but shrink away. It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay—he has to keep telling himself that because he doesn't know what he'll do if he stops.

Schneep inhales sharply. "Chase?! Chase is that you?!" He can feel him approaching—is it true? Is he really being controlled by the scientists?!

Chase looks over at Schneep, something flickering in his eyes, but Cornelius snaps and his focus is brought back towards him.

“Yes it is~ Chase has been a wonderful helper for us here!” The mad scientist laughs.

Alt gets up and slams his hands against his window, his eyes burning bright and toxic with held back magic. “The fuck did you do to my brother?!”

Cornelius grins at Alt and then looks back at Chase and shrugs. “You know what? I think it’d be better to hear from him. Hero, why don’t you tell Alt what got you here, hm?”

Chase’s eyes slip shut and he slumps a bit, before he shakes his head rapidly and seems to wake up from his daze. He looks out at the others and seems panicked. “W-What…? How- no…! Alt I-!”

Cornelius snaps his fingers, “Hero, stay focused.”

Chase stiffens and looks a bit scared but he mumbles out. “I… a-after the TRVLR broke… I… I was trying to find more information about the rifts and I… I wound up here.” He looks at Alt with tearful eyes, “I thought they… they could help. I thought it’d be different- just getting i-information-! I thought I knew the risks… I thought it’d be okay- I’m sorry Alt, I’m so so sorry- I wanted to help-!”

“That’s enough, Hero.” Dr Cornelius snaps and Chase’s mouth shuts and the emotions drain off his face as he stands stoically still once again.

Alt watches his brother get controlled by the man who tortured him and- he can only stare back with a heartbroken expression.

“And from there… we slipped in.” Cornelius grins, “Just enough so he would be none the wiser… a few subliminal videos here- some experimental things he could try for us in exchange for information… soon enough we were able to make a pretty little sleeper agent out of Mr. Fantastic~ while he was none the wiser.” The doctor sighs though, “It was tricky to get a hold of though… there’s some kind of mental block that prevents true mental control. But… luckily there are other ways to control a body~”

Schneep staggers back, listening to Bro talk. The control this Dr. Cornelius displays over Bro's actions... it's bringing back awful memories. Memories of what happened to his own Chase, with Anti. Then he walks up to the glass, practically trembling with rage. He doesn't say anything, but his eyes change color, his scleras darkening to black and his irises turning a greenish turquoise.

JJ shakes his head, stunned. Seeing someone who he knows as a brave hero, acting like this... it's terrible. You're sick, he says, not knowing if they'll understand him.

"Yeah, they are, aren't they?" Jackie mutters in agreement.

Dr. Cornelius merely shakes his head at the others' attempts at insults. "Are we sick? Perhaps... only to those who don't see the good in what we do~! We're on the way to capturing magic for the masses to use! To understand its principles like they should be understood... by logic."

"How are you doing this...?" Alt asks quietly, glancing back at Chase.

"Hm? Oh, how are we controlling your brother?" Dr. Cornelius grins sharply, "It's fascinating, really! We're using a similar process to that dormant chip of yours Alt~" Alt stiffens and grabs his wrist, holding it close to his side. "We're capturing the energy that fuels his power- and only taking a bit of his brain power. Mostly controlling the limbic system and the thalamus- and generally leaving the cortex alone in case we need to influence something there~" He giggles. "We found that only in trying to control the whole of his mind was when we would get the... snag. That moment where something would hitch and he would break it. But, now? Well... these last few months have been very enlightening~"

Alt then yells in anger and hits the window. "You fuckers-!" He screams, electricity starting to rise around him. "I'll kill you for this-! I'll-!" He then screeches as Dr. Cornelius seems to click something in his pocket and Alt is shocked even harder than he has been. It only lasts a few short seconds, but Alt screams as his limbs jolt and jerk out of his control. He can't help but slump into a heap in his cell, clutching at his chest.

Jackie and JJ watch in horror. Schneep flinches upon hearing Alt scream. "Alt! A-are you okay?!" he shouts, facing towards him, a concerned expression on his face. JJ also rushes to the side closest to Alt, pressing against the window and staring at him, hoping he's alright.

"I-I'm okay S-Schneep..." Alt tries to pant, "I... I'm... ngh... 'm fine-"

"Holy shit," Jackie whispers. "Do you mean—does Chase know what's happening? Or do you—a-are you blanking out his mind?" Both options are terrifying for different reasons.

"Mmm... a little of both- though mostly the latter." Cornelius grins at Jackie. "He'll only know what we want him to know."

"You—you fuckers,” Jackie growls. “You motherfuckers!" It's like his Jameson and Marvin started some sort of company to standardize their fucked up business.

JJ shudders, looking back at Overdose and Cornelius. Well, at least one of them understands him. What are you going to do to us? he asks, not sure if he wants the answer but needing to know.

Overdose giggles at JJ and prowls close to him too. "Oh excellent question! Right now... we're just gonna... get to know each other a little better."

Suddenly, mechanical arms shoot out from the walls of their cells. They grab the boys with one arm while the other presses a syringe into the vein on their necks. The injection burns through their veins but soon enough they're released.

"Holy shit!" Jackie's first instinct is to punch the robotic arm, but that only—"Ah fuck!"—hurts his hand. JJ reacts similarly, trying to use his magic but only receiving a shock in response. Schneep yelps and tries to squirm out.

Alt heaves, holding his neck with a look of panic. "W-What was that?!"

"Oh.. you'll see~" Overdose giggles.

Soon enough, they all find their vision getting blurry. Any panic they were feeling starts to flow out of them like water- they start to feel themselves relax. Their heartbeats slow, their breathing gets shallower and everything seems to start to... float. It's similar to how being on ecstasy felt but there's no undertone of panic or pain. It's just... nice.

Dread immediately fills JJ's chest as the effects start, with it being all too familiar to the drug from before. But that dread slowly fades. He giggles a little, swinging his arms as he stands.

Schneep blinks. He tries to walk up to the window but trips over the cuff's tether and falls. He pats the ground. It's still there. Yeah. He's not hovering. Would that be possible, though? These guys are weird and magic. "Mein Gott..." he mutters. "I haven't... felt... like this... ever." He shakes his head. "This... this isn't... good, I think..."

Jackie paces around the cell, trying to see if he can force the effects away with motion. But no, it's not really helping all that much. It just gets harder and harder to walk until he eventually gives up and slumps against the bed. He blinks wildly. His scars aren't hurting as much. That's good, what is Schneep talking about? That's good.

Alt tries to push himself up but finds himself falling over and over. He would normally be angry but he... doesn't feel that. Where did all his anger go? He staggers to the bed and climbs up it clumsily so he can at least see the others. But, that's when his limbs refuse to work anymore and he slumps against the wall, blinking up dazedly. "...what... is this...?"

He doesn't get a response- only one of the monitors on the wall sparking to life. On it- a simple colorful spiral. It has none of the colors that make Alt flinch or feel fear. No these are... nice colors... yellows and blues and whites... Jackie, JJ and Schneep get the same thing on their monitors, drawing in their gazes. Well, except for Schneep... the effect is lost on him.

Overdose giggles, "Why don't we start simple, hm? Let's start with everyone telling me your full names, ages and where you come from~"

Alt feels his mouth falling loose- the urge to answer stronger than anything else. Even as some distant part of him screams not to. That screaming part of him is smothered by the fog overtaking his whole body. "..An... A-Ant..hea... Taran Brody... 27... B-Brighton..." He can’t help but shudder after saying that name. He hasn’t heard that in a long long time.

"Anthea?" Overdose smirks at Alt. Alt manages to find her gaze and growls, baring his teeth, "C-Call me that and I'll rip you apart with my bare fucking hands-!"

Jackie panics for a moment, but... there's no purple in those spirals. But.. spirals... he shouldn't... Huh. It's kind of fun to watch them go... circle... swirling... He finds himself answering the question without really thinking about it. "M'name's Jackie... Jackie Parker. But I used to be Julia. I'm... I think I'm... 29 now? 'm from... this city called Mirygale... Not a good city, I think... but it's mine..."

JJ blinks, staring at the spiral. His head feels foggy... but not the bad kind of foggy. It's a good foggy. He didn't know something like that was possible. "I'm..." He clears his throat. "Jameson Daniel Jackson—" He coughs wildly, throat too hoarse to keep going. Signing it is, but he'll have to be careful. His hands feel distant. 28. From Mirygale, Britain.

Schneep shakes his head, trying to fight off these effects. He hears the others respond... or he hears Jackie and Alt and assumes that JJ does the same after the coughing. He takes deep breaths. Maybe... he should save his strength... for something more important. What harm could come... from this question? "D-Dr. Henrik von Schneeplestein. Th...thirty years old. I live in Mirygale... i-in Britain, but... I grew up in Arzhorchal, i-in Germany."

Overdose shrugs and- well it seems her and Dr. Cornelius are taking notes. "Very good boys! Glad to see it's working~ Now let's see... what should I ask you all next?"

She looks at Schneep, JJ and Jackie, "Hm... Mirygale boys- We know you're from different dimensions... so why don't you tell us how your cities are different?" She laughs, "We already caught a bit about how your... little groups are different. Maybe this serum wasn't really necessary, loose lips~"

"Fuck you fuck you fuck you," Jackie says, though it lacks real bite. "We can talk 'f we wanna."

"I-I don't... I-I don't know a-about their cities," Schneep gasps out. "I-I just—i-it's a normal enough city, I think..."

"Not mine," Jackie mumbles. "It's not a good place... there's fucking crime everywhere... a dozen different gangs... and drug dealers and shit..." He looks at Overdose and flashes a grin that can only be described as feral. "An' all the coppers and shit h've been corrupted... most of them, an' more than usual, I mean. Same with... lotsa officials and shit... The city's fallin' apart, really..."

JJ shakes his head, shocked. That's not what mine is like. Mine is fine. We have... He falters for a moment. What do good cities have? Parks... and stage theatres... and trains...

"We don't have trains," Schneep mutters. "Just a lot of office buildings... Crime, but... not like Jackie is d-describing..."

I like it there, JJ says. I... want to go back... I want to go home... He feels tears welling in his eyes, and he hurriedly covers his face to wipe them away.

Alt dazedly looks over at JJ to see his signs and he clumsily tries to push himself up, " I'm g-gonna get you home JJ..! I promise- W-We'll figure something out, o-okay?"

Overdose rolls her eyes, "Alright- let's get a bit personal then. I see you all have quite the bit of trauma amongst you~ How'd you all get your scars and such? Or lose your voice, in that one's case." She points towards JJ. She grins at Alt, "You too, Mr. Illusionist. Tell us how you got that pretty scar of yours?"

Alt growls and glitches slightly- which gets him shocked again. He bites back the pain and then slumps back against the wall, falling back under the drug's pull. "... I was kidnapped... when I-I was 15." He tries to fight saying more but it just slips out, "They... t-they tied me up by my neck- cuz I bit one of the fuckers who took me. I didn't know I could glitch then... but I... I managed to do it and slipped through the binds... the ropes cut my neck though." He dazedly rubs at his neck, feeling the healed skin of his scar.

"I'm... I-I'm so sorry, Alt," Schneep says quietly. "You shouldn't h-have gone through th-that..."

"It was a long time ago," Alt replies distantly, "... its fine."

JJ blinks dazedly. He's always explained it away as an animal attack, but he finds that excuse isn't coming, and instead, the truth spills out. This being called Distorter lured me out of town, made me think a missing friend was there. But it was just Distorter. He attacked me. He wanted to kill me so he went for the throat. I'm only not dead because I have a friend who can divine things, and she knew I'd be in danger. But the damage was still severe.

Alt watches JJ as he signs and inhales sharply, "Distorter... y-you could talk before? T-That fucker...." He spits.

Jackie shudders. "I don—I don' wanna talk about—I-I don't want to talk about what M-Marvin did—I don't... I..." He tries to shake himself awake—but then he looks at the spiral again, and his efforts are in vain. The words come out anyway. "I got... shot and stabbed a lot... when I was out fighting, but... th-the worst of it... was after a magician I knew, Marvin, he... decided he didn't want to put up with me anymore. His magic... burns... It doesn't always leave marks, but when it does, it... burns. I-I don't know how long I spent—" He swallows a lump in his throat, curling up a little. "—it was a year, I think, I-I was stuck down there. H-he hated me. Especially after he... changed. H-he wanted to hurt me as much as possible before he killed me. I... I would've died... if Frederick hadn't found me." His visible eye goes distant.

Alt's eyes widen as Jackie tells his story. He knew some of it but, "A... A year? God... Jackie..."

Schneep turns to face Jackie, stunned. "That... th-that is h-horrible, I-I am sorry. I don't know if it'll help, but I—" No. Wait. This is the important thing. He shouldn't say this. Not when there are these terrible people listening. And yet, now that he's started, it's hard to stop. "I—I was—I-it was magic that—that is why I cannot see, I—" His body starts to tremble. "Anti, he... h-he took my sight. I-I don't think... he knew it would happen... but he... he..." The word is on the tip of his tongue. Nightmare. Nightmare. Nightmare Nightmare Nightmare—

He suddenly shouts and tries to leap out of the cell again, but cries out as the cuff shocks him for his efforts. But he's not thinking of that word anymore, so he can't say it. Good. Good.

Alt jumps as Schneep shouts and tries to scramble up to look at him. "S-Schneep?! Are you okay??"

"I-I'm... f-f-fine," Schneep says, breathing heavily.

"Damn- you all have been through a lot," Overdose mutters as she scribbles all this down. "Interesting... very interesting... Think this is something we could use, Doc?"

Dr. Cornelius grins, "Oh, absolutely..." He eyes the others and hums, "Why don't you all tell us how your abilities work? Alt can be the exception again, we have a lot about him." He giggles. Alt glares at him and bares his teeth.

JJ shakes his head... it's not a no, it's just him trying to find the words to describe magic as he's always known it. I... learn spells... and I cast them. It's very simple... I think. I like... water and ice... and healing. But I can do a lot of things. Teleport... make shields... I can turn into an animal but I don't do it often... Some spells need gestures or spell words or my mask to focus them... Or I guess I could use a wand instead? Or a crystal ball? He trails off, looking thoughtful.

Jackie laughs somewhat hysterically. "A-abilities? Motherfucker, I don't have any special powers—other than a p-pretty high pain tolerance, I thi—" He covers his mouth. He shouldn't say that he doesn't have powers. He shouldn't say that. Not in front of these doctors. "I can still d-do a lot, th-though," he stammers out, voice somewhat muffled. "Sometimes spells aren't as fast as fists."

"Ah- sorcery... very interesting." Dr. Cornelius hums. He then eyes Jackie and smiles. "...even without knowing what you went through, I know what black magic scarring looks like... you are still a fine specimen to study, Mr. Parker~" He giggles a bit madly. "Oh... there's much to discover there... I wonder how much power lies dormant underneath~"

"I'm... not sure how it works," Schneep says slowly. "I simply... think about it... and I jump to somewhere else. Or I grab something that was not there before. I don't know what happened to make me this way... Something about m-my soul..." Are those two things his only abilities? Well, he can sense souls, too, but... something tells him to push that back. To resist revealing that. Better they think him completely unaware of his surroundings.

Cornelius studies Schneep too, "... curious. Very curious. You can disappear and reappear like Alt but... without the electricity. That is fascinating... definitely something we can try to uncover more about..." He looks to Overdose, "Dr. Sun, any other questions you think we should ask?"

"Oh yes... let's see..." Overdose hums. Then, she grins wickedly. "Give us all your weaknesses. Anything we can use against you."

Since he wasn't brought into this round of questioning, Alt's attention was brought back to the spiral on the wall. So, he answers almost immediately, too lost in the fog to try to fight it. "...loud noises... I... I have m-mysophobia... e-especially if it sounds like s-static... h-hypnosis... m' not very s-strong without my... my magic..."

JJ's eyes flicker. He recognizes that this is something he shouldn't answer, so he folds his arms to stop himself from signing—but as he does so, the words are spilling out of his mouth, anyway. "Not a physical fighter... and if I use too much magic I get sick and collapse. And I... I don't like being... watched... or ignored... a strange contradic—" He coughs again, unknowingly demonstrating another weakness.

"I don' like fire," Jackie mumbles, staring at the spiral on the wall. "Don' like... burning. I can... endure a lot, but... that... M-my head's prob'ly fucked a bit, too, I wouldn't be surprised if my James'n did some stuff... I don't know." Some tears line his eye. "I'm... I'm a bad person... I know that. Tryin' t'be better but... I know it. Maybe th' way scars hurt still is... fate's payback..."

Schneep turns towards Overdose's voice and waves his hand in front of his eyes. "I'm fucking blind, you... you... du verdammter Idiot, du Dummkopf, du Trottel..." He trails off into mumbling German insults.

"Alright alright yeah yeah it was a general question, asshat-" Overdose mumbles. Dr. Cornelius claps his hands. "Well then! This has been very enlightening~ I think that's all we need for now. Why don't you boys try to rest that off, hm?"

He looks at Bro and nods his head. "Hero? Why don't you keep an eye on them for me?"

Bro nods, "Yes, doctor." He goes to stand right at the edge of their cells, straight up against the wall, held at attention like a soldier. He's been here listening the whole time... and there's almost no way to tell if he understood anything that was revealed. Except the slight trail of tears on his cheeks, but his face still remains expressionless.

"Grand! Welp! We'll see you all in a bit~" Dr. Cornelius calls as he and Overdose walk out of the hall. The door shuts loudly and then... silence. Overwhelming silence.

Alt eventually whimpers and goes to curl up, pulling at his hair. "...I hate this... I hate this...!" He mutters through a bit of a choked up voice. "Fuck them... fuck all these fuckers...! Argh-!"

"F-fuck," Jackie breathes. As the serum is fading and his senses are returning, he begins to really process the shit they're deep in. "We just told them all of our fucking secrets." He feels a little sick just thinking about how he told them about what Marvin did to him. Even if he didn't go into detail, he didn't want them to know any of that.

JJ chokes back a sob, pressing his hands into his eyes. What are they going to do next? How are they going to exploit everything that they just told them? He raises his head slightly, and notices Bro. He crawls closer, right up to the windows. Chase, I don't know if you can understand me right now, but we'll get out of here. We will. We'll all be okay.

Bro's eyes flit to JJ's signs and his eye twitches slightly. His hand seems to tremble. But, he can't get himself to respond any other way to him.

Schneep takes a deep breath. "There are—there are others outside," he mutters. "They—they must be worried. W-we just—i-if they do not come, nothing is perfect in any case. No defense is unbreakable."

"T-The others don't know we're here!" Alt stammers in panic, tears in his eyes. "They probably thought we w-went to the Dooms...! They don't know S-Sclera found us! A-And even if they did... w-what can they do?! Jays a t-therapist! Jackie can do parkour and sorta fight but... h-he's not an escape artist...! H-Henny can do some magic but I... I don't think it'll help here and t-then he'll just get captured too and I... t-that can't happen- H-Hen can't- I-If he got s-stuck here too I-I...!"

"W-well, they will notice if we are not there—" Schneep stammers.

"They won't k-know to look here I... I don't even know if we're s-still in that other hospital-" Alt mutters.

"Alt, hey, hey, deep breaths," Jackie says, scrambling across the cell to get as close to Alt as possible. "He won't get stuck here. None of them will. I-I can—I can do everything I can to make sure they don't, if they show up."

It's fine if you need to cry, but try not to spiral, JJ says gently. We can't get lost in bad what-ifs. I'm sure these people want you to be freaking out.

"Yes, exactly," Jackie says. "If you're freaking out, you're easier to fuck with. Deep breaths, Alt. Deep breaths."

Alt looks at the others with red-rimmed eyes and nods, trying to control his breathing. "... I'm sorry... I know it's not my fault you guys are here I just... I'm so sorry you're all caught up in all this shit... none of you deserve this..." He lets his tears fall quietly, rubbing at his eyes. "B-But you're right... w-we can't give them the satisfaction of freaking out..."

"For what it's worth, I do not blame you at all," Schneep says quietly. "No one is to blame, only those rifts." Assuming those rifts were freak accidents and not caused by someone deliberately, but he doesn't think that'll help for Alt to hear.

"None of us blame you," Jackie agrees.

And if we were not here, you would be here alone, JJ says. He gives him a small smile. I'm glad that you have company, at least.

Jackie nods. "Anything we can do to help..."

Alt lets out a bitter chuckle, "... I hate that you have a point JJ..." He curls his knees up to his chest. "...I'd be more of a wreck if I was alone..."

He's quiet for a second before he looks back at the others with determination. "...which means I have a clearer head... w-we can think of a way out of this." He leaps off the bed, still a bit dizzy but he starts to pace. "Okay... god I can't say too much but... we gotta... figure something out..."

He looks at Jackie and signs close to his chest, trying to avoid the camera, can you break your cuff? or- do you have anything hidden on you to try?

Jackie blinks. He thinks. They took my staff. And I was at home so I didn't have any weapons on me, he signs back. But might as well try. He pulls at the cuff, but finds it too tight to really gain much traction. That's gonna aggravate the scars around his ankle. He sighs, patting himself down anyway. Hoodie, pants, hair—hair. His eye widens slightly as he grabs onto part of his braid. There's something hard in there. Maybe something sharp.

You know we're leaving Schneep out of this conversation, right? JJ says. Not that Schneep minds. He looks deep in thought.

“Ugh I know-" Alt sighs, "I'm trying to figure out what I can do for Schneep..." He starts to pace again, "...his glitches aren't like mine... i-if we can break his cuff somehow then... then maybe?" He looks up at the monitors and all the electric things in the room. His eyes slowly widen, "...maybe I can drain the electricity...!"

"Hmm?" Schneep blinks to attention. "Well, yes, I never even thought about it as glitching before. More like forming a wormhole. I am sure that if this shackle was not shocking me... the things they use for you would not be effective. I'm not getting where you are going with the electricity, though. What would you do with it once you have it?"

Alt nods, "...I dunno i-it could be risky but... the cuffs are electric too. If... If I could find a way to maybe drain enough power or- m-maybe short out the systems...! Then... maybe that could be enough...?" He sighs, "But... that also feels dumb- I'd probably get massively shocked for even trying that... They know I can glitch into electric things so... they might be expecting something like that... Or I could overload myself..."

Through their mutterings, they don't notice another nodule that pops out from the wall. Something that looks like some sort of gun. Without warning, it shoots a beam of black purple magic at each of the boys, lighting up their systems with burning hot black magic.

Dr. Cornelius's voice crackles on one of the monitors, "Well gentleman! Hope you enjoyed your rest but... can't have you all discussing these kind of things~ sooo! It's my turn now~! Let's see how you all react to this!"

Alt gasps as the magic hits him and he falls to his knees. His eyes try to turn black and he grits his teeth as the magic crawls up his skin like veins. "N-No-! No not... t-this shit again...!"

JJ yelps, spinning around to see the gun retreat back into the wall. A hot, irritated feeling spreads across his shoulderblade, outward from the spot where the beam of magic hit. He suddenly feels sick, falling forward, arms trembling as they hold him up. Bits of blue magic spasm outwards involuntarily, triggering a shock each time it happens. He soon cries out and collapses fully. The magic shifts color, bright red joining the bright blue.

"Ow!" Schneep rubs his arm where the blast hit. "What the...?" His vision flickers—static swarms in from the side, taking over the blackness that's usually there. "Ah! Ah!" The sudden light after such darkness is painful. He presses his hands to his eyes, but of course, there's nothing he can do to block it out.

"Hey!" Jackie gets to his feet and spins around, glaring at the camera. "Huh?! So you guys are feeling threatened?!" He spins around. "Alt?! Are you— He suddenly stops, wincing. His scars are aching. They do that sometimes, but this is a spike in pain. A spike... that's not coming down. In fact, it's becoming more intense. "F-fuck. What the—wh-what did you d--" He cries out and staggers over to the bed, sitting down. "Wh-what's happenin—" And he cries out again.

He presses back against the wall, taking deep breaths. Breathing through the rising pain. This is fine. Whatever this is happening, it can't last forever. "Ack!" His eye! His eye is burning! His hand shoots up to his eye-patch, pressing against it. The scars on the back are... glowing, slightly. And so are the ones on his face. It's a dark, dark glow, a strange black light that's purple around the edges. He shudders. As the pain intensifies, so does the glow. He falls to his side—then shrieks and turns over so he's lying on the side that's less scarred.

Alt digs his fingers into the floor and bites back a scream. The magic is eating up his own- corrupting it. Turning it into something it's not. He hears the sounds of his friends in distress and he tries to glitch up, only to be met with another shock that sends him back down on his hands and knees with a yell. He bends his head down and then- starts to giggle. Bright purple is trying to fill his irises around pure black sclera and Alt can't help but let out a manic sounding laugh, even if his face looks pained doing it. He heaves, trying to push it back, but magic is crackling around him.

Dr. Cornelius is so intrigued by what JJ's and Alt's magic is doing- he shuts off their cuffs. If anything bad happens- the hero is there to stop it. And- their cells have better protection than the last time Alt was here.

"Wh-what is happening?!" Schneep asks. "Alt?!"

Jackie hears the strange laughter coming from Alt's cell but he can't look towards it. He picks up the pillow and bites onto it. He's not going to scream. He's not going to scream. Even as his scars burn with agonizing acid, he's not going to let them hear him scream. The strange black glow is brightening.

JJ gasps, lifting his head to look at Alt. His eyes are glowing—a blue core surrounded by red light. With the cuff's magic suppression deactivated, more and more magic splashes off, almost liquid in its movement. Every place the red droplets hit, they spread, becoming a thin layer of red ice. The temperature in the cell lowers enough that JJ's breath comes out in steam.

He staggers to his feet. Suddenly, it doesn't hurt anymore. He presses his hands to the window, red frost spreading from the point of contact and yet not blocking the spot where he's looking. He watches Alt... and his eyes flash with rage as more of the red consumes the blue. His head whips back over to the camera in the corner. Well—why not take this chance?! He throws a bolt of red magic at the camera.

Surprisingly, it connects, splashing over the device in a burst of light. Electricity flies from the camera, a crack forming in its side, and it starts to smoke. JJ grins triumphantly, an unusual malicious bite to his smile.

"What?!" Cornelius's voice says over the comms.

Alt's head snaps up to the sound of the camera breaking, still giggling a bit with black-ish tears falling from his eyes. "J...?" The cuffs- they aren't on..! Alt takes this moment to try to see if he can cut through his connection- but his magic isn't responding to him like he wants it to. Trying to use his magic only makes his core burn and this- madness infesting him go faster. He laughs again a bit of pain in the sound but tries to curl up, twitching and digging fingers into his hair. "JJ-! ah-! t-try to g-get out...!" Alt cackles loudly, trying to fight against the force eating at his core.

"Hero! Don't let them escape!" Dr. Cornelius orders. Bro's eyes burn with blue and he stands more at attention, watching the cells carefully.

JJ's grin widens. The cuffs aren't on? How foolish. How utterly, utterly foolish.

He can't teleport while connected to something—he tried that before, last time he was stuck somewhere like this place. So he sends a spray of sharp magic at the tether, cutting through it. And the moment he's free, he teleports outside.

Bro instantly locks onto JJ as he teleports out the cell and quickly tries to tackle him down.

JJ laughs and teleports again, avoiding Bro's attack. He sends another spray of red magic out, a wide fan that can both hit Bro and the window of Schneep's cell behind him.

The magic scratches against the window but it doesn't break.

It also hits Bro but he doesn't stop in his stride, going to punch JJ in the face. Bro's fist slams against JJ's face with such force that it knocks him to the ground, stunned for a moment. But he gets up surprisingly quickly, and spits something into his hand. A tooth in a puddle of blood. He puts the tooth in his pocket and grins at Bro, eyes glowing red, blood rimming his gums. This is fun. He hears whispers at the edge of consciousness, urging him to keep going.

He lunges forward, cold red magic trailing behind him, and swipes at Bro's chest with translucent red talons.

Alt tries to stagger to his feet. Chase and JJ are fighting... he needs to help he needs to- destroykillmaimchaoschaoschaos- Alt yells out in pain and grips at his head, twitching and glitching as magic builds up stronger around him. I-It's so hard to fight it-! He doesn't want to hurt the others though...!

JJ teleports again, suddenly behind Bro. Red magic wraps around Bro's neck like a rope, and JJ grabs either end and pulls. If he can get Bro out of the way, SCLERA can't use them! He'll take away their weapon! That's what they get for hurting him and his friends!

"Wh-what is happening out there?!" Schneep gasps. He's managed to push through the brightness to pay attention to the outside—and he can feel a stark difference in JJ and Alt's souls.

Bro chokes, eyes wide, as he scrambles to find a way to get the magic to let go.

"NO!" Alt shouts and in a burst of purple glitches- he's outside the cell too. He attempts to grab JJ and pull him away from Bro as purple lightning crackles loudly around his body.

Bro slumps to the ground, coughing and heaving. Trying to catch his breath. He seems to have a bit more clarity in his eyes.

JJ gasps as Alt pulls him back. He twists around and looks at him in anger. "Don't you understand?!" he shouts, rough voice breaking. He laughs a little. "Do you hear them too, Alt?"

Alt slams JJ back into one of the walls, giggling madly as his eyes fill with corrupted magic. "I do- I-I feel it- I hear it!" He digs nails tight into JJ's shoulders, momentarily enjoying the idea of bringing him pain. His eye twitches and he tries to tell JJ through a twisted grin, "W-We c-can't listen...! We g-gotta try to fight JJ-!"

Then, in a glitch his eyes darken and a more sinister smile curls on his lips. "... then again... " He laughs manically and presses closer to JJ, "what color do you think we bleed now?! I... I- I wanna know!" He throws JJ to the floor and staggers back, giggling wildly. "E-Everything is purple...! Everything is dark-! Has it dyed me inside?! Has it dyed you?!" He keeps laughing- laughing laughing laughing-

"Alt?! Jamie?!" Schneep rushes up to the window, banging his fist on it. "Snap out of it!"

JJ doesn't react to Alt throwing him around—it doesn't really hurt all that much, or at the very least, the pain feels distant. Once Alt throws him down, he staggers to his feet again. "Do you want to see?" he whispers hoarsely. "Allow me to help!" A red crystalline knife appears in his hand and he slashes at Alt.

Alt staggers back and manages to whip out his own purple tinted knife to catch Jamie's. He grins wide and giggles, pushing back against JJ's knife. "I'll find out myself!" He cackles and tries to push JJ back and slash at him. JJ jumps back, avoiding the slash. His heart is pounding in his chest, and he grins with manic excitement. He lunges back forward, his knife glowing brighter as he aims to stab Alt's shoulder. Alt glitches out of the way, laughing crazily. He flips the knife in his hand is about to try to strike again when-

Sudden loud alarms start blaring, bathing the hallway in red light.

Alt screeches and immediately goes to cover his ears, curling up against the noise. "N-NO!"

JJ looks at the alarms in surprise, and then back down at Alt. Well—it's not fun if they're not both participating. He instead rushes to the nearest cell—Schneep's—and sends a ball of magic at it.

The magic rocks the window a bit but, it still manages to stay sturdy.

Bro blinks spots out of his eyes, trying to focus. There's... so much noise. What's happening? "...Alt...? J?" He whispers hoarsely, trying to push himself up.

Alt gasps and claws at the sides of his face like it will get rid of the noise. "S-Stop it...! Stop it!"

Soon enough, jets pop out from the bottom of the hallway and start to spray that same sweet smelling smoke that Overdose used to knock them out earlier.

Schneep perks up at the sound of the jets. "Are you fucking kidding me?!" He gets up and rushes towards the window, pounding on it in the vain hope that he'll be able to break through after the damage JJ did. Meanwhile, Jackie's barely able to lift his head to look at the smoke filling outside.

JJ staggers back, looking at the smoke. He quickly covers his mouth and nose with his shirt and starts blasting the jets with magic. The jets are easily destroyed, but the blasts are sending magic up into the air and swirling it faster and faster around the boys in the hallway.

Bro is too disoriented to try to fight- but he sees Alt struggling and tries to reach out.

Alt curls up smaller and smaller, purple eyes darting around in panic. Then, it morphs into anger as purple fully takes over his eyes. "I said- STOP IT." He throws himself forward and finds the nearest spark of electricity he can feel- and then channels all his magic into overloading the system. The lights flicker and the alarm cuts off. The lights don't go completely out though- just dim. but any remaining monitors and cuffs start to short circuit. In fact, they burst so massively in Jackie’s cell the window cracks and then shatters. After this, Alt pries himself away from the wall and staggers back before he collapses onto his back, dazedly blinking out at the thinning fog. But it's quiet...

Schneep can feel access to his powers again.

Schneep leaps out into the hallway, grabbing JJ and shaking him. "Fucking stop!"

JJ staggers back, staring at Schneep with wide eyes. They're still glowing, but that core of blue is back, peeking through the red. His body shakes suddenly as he suddenly feels sick.

"Alt! Bro!" Schneep leaps to a spot between the two of them, quickly checking both their pulses and breath. "Jackie! Help!"

Bro jumps as Schneep appears but gets a more wakeful look in his eyes. "S-Schneep-!" He tries to stagger up and grab Alt, "Alt? Alt? Can you hear us?"

Alt blinks sluggishly and looks at Bro blankly, the purple fading from his eyes. His sclera is still black but he smiles. "C-Chase...?"

Jackie pushes himself up, breathing heavily. His scars are still glowing slightly, but the burning sensation is fading. He gets up, gritting his teeth, and staggers over.

But... there's an odd feeling coming from the hallway now... a crack in the ground, dark black, pulling at the boys in the hallway's clothes.

"Do... do you f-feel that?" Jackie asks.

Schneep pauses. His eyes widen. "No. No, it cannot be."

Both Bro and Alt stiffen as they hear the others and looks towards the crack as it expands, the wind picking up more.

Dr. Cornelius can be heard brokenly through the damaged comms, "No--! The-- readings-- be-- rifts-!" Then, it fizzles out into static.

"Rifts?" Schneep looks towards the sound of the comms. "They know about the rifts?"

"Of course they do, if they knew we were from other worlds!" Jackie says.

Bro looks guilty, “I-I told them about them…” he mutters.

Alt gasps and tries to scramble away on instinct then looks at Bro with panic as he sees the wind affecting both of them, "I-It's pulling us in too?!"

"I-I guess so?" Bro answers in a panic. He looks towards the others and then reaches out a hand, "M-Maybe if we all stick together- it won't separate us into f-freaky timelines and shit! Maybe it'll take us to one of your homes!"

JJ nods and grabs onto Bro's hand, not saying anything in response. The red is quickly fading from the magic that flutters around his fingers.

"I guess anywhere is better than here!" Jackie grabs onto JJ in turn, holding onto his arm with one hand. His other grabs onto Schneep's wrist.

Alt narrows his eyes and then looks at the rift. “J-Jackie is right- anywhere is better than being stuck here!”

Schneep doesn't protest. "That makes sense to me—We better stick together, yes? Safety in numbers."

Bro nods in determination to Schneep, “We will.”

Alt sticks his middle finger up towards the ceiling, “Fuck you!”

The rift gets bigger and bigger and soon enough, is big enough that Alt gets pulled in- followed by the rest of the group. Down down down into rushing pitch black night… the sounds of that awful lab fading away.

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