#and mag getting wrecked ajghbak

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Swap into the CrystalVerse Chapter 10: SepticHeroes

Co-written with @crystalninjaphoenix 

Read Swapboys | Read Septicheroes | AO3 Link

Prologue | Switch | Stitched | PNPT Taglist: @brokentimewatch @di-diwata  

For the third time, Alt falls through nothing and ends up in a different dimension. And for the second time, he is immediately met with a, shall we say, intense reaction. He blinks into existence in a living room. Probably the most generic living room possible, with white wallpaper and furniture that looks like it could be from a store showroom. It's empty at first, but just a second later he hears a gasp from behind him. Before he can turn around someone grabs him and holds a knife close to--but not quite up to--his throat. "How did you find this place?" a voice asks--no, demands.

Alt jolts and quickly glitches out of the hold and in front of the figure to get a good look at them- but he holds up his hands in a gesture of peace. “Woulddd you believe if I told you I just jumped from another universe or-?”

The figure is wearing something--weird. It's like the color of the fabric is constantly shifting to match what's behind it, making it hard to discern any details of the outfit or the man's build. The man also quickly pulls a cloth mask over his face, hiding everything but his brown hair and bright blue eyes. He laughs, keeping the switchblade pointed at Alt. "What proof do you have? I may consider it," he drawls, mostly sarcastic.

Alt blinks a bit and lets his body fizzle and pop with glitches. “…did the glitching not do it for you? Cuz I can do it again-“

"All that proves is you are a super," the man says. "Not where you came from. Stop making up stories. Tell me who told you about this place."

Alt looks very confused, “a… super?” He backs up some, “Listen dude, I dunno where this place is cuz it’s clearly not home like I was hoping. I just pressed a button on this thing and ended up here!” He briefly pulls out the TRVLR to flash it at the man before putting it back away.

Footsteps. The man stiffens and turns towards a hallway entrance. "Jamie, nein! Bleib sicher! Hier ist ein Mann, er hat sich direkt hineinteleportiert." The footsteps stop. They sound like they're just out of sight.

Alt stiffens too as he shouts out in German. Oh- okay.

“Here I have proof. Your name is Henrik, right?”

The man stiffens, and turns back to him. "How do you know that? And what is that?" He reaches out and--somehow--manages to take the TRVLR out of Alt's pocket without even reaching in through the opening.

Alt jumps as he suddenly has the TRVLR, “Hey what the hell!? Fucking- careful with that!”

"Fascinating." He turns it over in his hands. "I do not recognize this style. Smooth, but also a block. It is definitely not SepTech. And I do not think there is a tech like this in the underground." He glances back at Alt. "Either this is something made by a new coming villain who you work for... or you are telling the truth. But do you have anything more?"

Alt stiffens at the accusation and his eyes flash green as he snarls. “I don’t work for villains. …not anymore. Also- the fuck is Septech??” He takes another breath and then glances at the doorway he heard the footsteps from.

“Okay. More proof- the man you told to stop. He’s Jameson Jackson. Am I right, Schneeplestein?”

Alt sees the man--Henrik, as he so correctly guessed--tighten his grip on the device. "Knowing our names does not prove as much as you think," he says slowly. Then he laughs. "It is fun, your attitude to villains and genuine question about SepTech proves more. Here." He hands the TRVLR back to Alt.

Alt blinks and looks surprised to be handed the TRVLR back. He takes it and pockets it before glitching a bit farther back, watching him warily.

Then Henrik turns to the hallway entrance. "What do you think?" A man steps into view. As Alt expected, the face (and mustache) give away that it is Jameson Jackson. He's wearing what looks like an oversized T-shirt and pajama pants with socks. Clearly, not expecting to go anywhere.

He seems genuine, JJ signs.

"Do you want to...check?" Schneep trails off.

JJ quickly shakes his head. I told you, we're not doing that. I'M not doing that.

"Okay, okay."

“…what do you mean, check?” Alt asks with a raised eyebrow.

Schneep pulls his mask down and presses a hand to his lapel. The strange shifting color of the outfit disappears, settling into shades of purple.

All of Alt’s questions disappear as he watches Schneep’s outfit change. “Woahhh what the fuck?? That’s sick as hell! Is that like- real time camouflage??”

Schneep avoids the question about ‘checking’ and chuckles when Alt is surprised. “Maybe you really are from another world if you are a super who hasn’t heard of chameleon cloth,” he mutters. "Who are you, then?" he asks, giving Alt a once-over.

Alt coughs back some of his excitement and sticks his hands in his pockets. “M’name’s Alt Brody. I’m a magician/rookie crime fighter from another universe- a parallel one. Cuz I have friends who look just like you- and I’ve met so many others now… but- I dunno where I am now. Some place with rad future tech- cuz last I checked we don’t have stuff that does that.” He gestures back at Schneep’s outfit. “…or how you just reached into my pocket- but… that could be magic so?” He shrugs.

He and JJ go quiet as Alt explains who he is. They both have a visible reaction to his name, with Schneep narrowing his eyes and JJ raising an eyebrow. When he’s done, they look at each other.

I have never heard magic mentioned so much out of the context of stage shows and stories, JJ says

“Yes, that is strange, isn’t it?” Schneep says. He looks at Alt and smiles. “I am flattered that you think it was magic, it means I am very good with my powers. Look.” He leans over and sticks his hand inside the sofa. Inside. Passing through it like it’s not there at all. “This is what I can do. I can become intangible, like a ghost. And I can make small objects the same.” He pulls his hand back out.

Alt’s eyes widen and he glitches closer to look at what Schneep’s doing. “Woahhh-“ But then he backs up and shakes his head and hands, “wait wait okay- you guys keep saying ‘supers’! Like- like supernaturals or… or superheroes?”

Schneep bursts into laughter. JJ doesn’t make a sound but he smiles wide, finding whatever Alt just said funny as well.

“Supernatural!” Schneep wheezes. “Alright, I am convinced. No one is that good an actor.” He collects himself, then puts his knife away, flipping it closed and sliding it into a pocket on his leg. “Yes, like superheroes. And supervillains. The catch term is superhuman but that is so long that it is shortened to just super.” He gestures to JJ and himself. “We are supers. You would be called one too, with your teleporting glitch powers.”

Alt’s mouth falls open and he looks between the two with wide eyes, “…Both of you?? JJ too?” Alt slowly makes a face, “…man- Chase is gonna love it here….”

The lighthearted mood suddenly sobers up.

I do, JJ signs slowly. But I don’t like to use them anymore. I must be honest, I’ve done some terrible things.

“It was not your fault, Jamie,” Schneep insists.

I would argue it was, but this is not the time to discuss it.

Alt’s expression seems to soften, though he seems confused- that a person so closely resembling Dr. J… would ever do terrible things. “…I… I get that.”

JJ looks at Alt. You mentioned Chase just now. Do you have one too? Are you related?

Alt messes with his hair and nods, “Yeah- Chase, my Chase. He’s my older brother… and he’s a hero in my world. Calls himself ‘Bro Fantastic’ ” Alt raises an eyebrow at them, “…is your Chase a hero too?”

Schneep gives him a small smile. "I think it is the opposite here. Chase is the only one of our little group who has no powers."

He is a hero in our hearts, JJ says fondly.

Alt seems surprised by this. I mean- he’s known Chase with and without powers- but now his powers were just as much a part of Bro as Alt’s glitching was.

"He also does not have any family. Definitely not a brother, that would have shown up in his records." Schneep sighs, a bit sad. "We have two others who are close. Jackie Skye and Marvin Nedra. Perhaps you have them in your world, too."

Alt hums, “Close as in friends or- wait they have powers too then??”

"Yes, close as in friends... in Jackie's case. Marvin is a newer addition."

He can be a bit of an ass, but his heart's in the right place, JJ adds. And he's very powerful.

Alt’s flabbergasted again. His Jackie would be so fucking jealous. And even though Jackie Mann was a good fighter and parkourist… he was wayyyy too clumsy to ever be a hero. He frowns at the mention of Marvin. Hm- a powered Mag already means they’re in trouble but… Mag hasn’t been able to drain Chase as far as he remembers…

Hold on a tick, is YOUR Chase here? JJ asks. Your brother? In this universe? Or is it just you?

Alt blinks at JJ’s question and then nods, “Yeah he’s here- I don’t know where but he jumped with me. And… someone else too. A villain named Magnificent.”

"Sounds like a fucking drama queen," Schneep mutters, and JJ laughs silently.

Alt bursts into giggles, “You’re not far off-“

But back to your brother and that villain. JJ makes a big show of looking around the living room. I'm guessing you don't appear in the same place.

The glitch shakes his head. “No I… I don’t know why but when we jump- we end up separated. I guess- it’s the multiverse pulling us towards related people? I haven’t figured it quite out yet…” he sighs, “but that usually means I need to find Chase hopefully before Mag does anything… he’s the reason we’re even entering these other worlds. He’s a power hungry maniac looking for new unique magic- or I guess in this place.. power. And then trying to crush versions of himself. Because he’s crazy.”

"We can let Jackie know to keep a lookout for those two, if you would like," Schneep offers. "We cannot guarantee he'll find them. And we probably will not know if he does." He pauses, pursing his lips. "The two of us are a bit... off-the-grid right now. For a couple reasons. We can get messages out, but we have no phones or computers here to get an instant reply."

Alt blinks and then laughs a little, shaking his head. “man- you make Jackie sound like he’s a leader or something.”

"It is funny you say Jackie is a leader." Schneep laughs. "He would deny it, but he is the only Hero in the group. Ah, Hero as an official term, indicating someone who is a member of the League. He can go out without suspicion. That means we have to default to him for a couple things. Such as looking for people like your brother and... Magnificent." He rolls his eyes at the name.

Alt nods slowly, “okay… huh- heroes being commonplace is blowing my mind a bit… Chase- Ah, Bro. He told me he’s lucky now the police work with him but he… he had to work a while to get them to accept him….”

  Then he frowns and tilts his head, “You said you’re off the grid…? No phones or computers? God that sounds like a nightmare- what gotcha guys hiding out?”

Schneep hisses, inhaling sharply through his teeth. "A couple things." He glances at JJ. "Do you want to tell or should I?"

I will, JJ says. For one, do you remember those terrible things I mentioned? Well, we are now hiding from the police because of that. And the League of Heroes, who are sort of... an organization of superheroes. And then there is... someone. JJ pauses.

Alt knits his eyebrows in something close to sympathy. He remembers being in hiding for a while after he stopped being Impulse… “…superheroes are so common here they have a whole organization?? Huh… kinda like the magic circle then i guess…” he muses.

We don't know anything about them, but we know they are probably a-- he makes an unfamiliar sign, like he's typing on a computer and then pressing both hands against his temples.

"Ah, wait, if you are from another universe, you would not know what that is," Schneep says. "A technopath is a super who can control technology. Whoever is after us now can use cameras and the Internet to spy on us. Therefore, none of that."

We did consider getting an old flip phone or a landline, but calls can still be traced, JJ says.

Alt’s eyes widen as Schneep explains the unfamiliar term. “…a technopath…? Is that what it’s called…?” Alt slowly reaches into his pocket and then pulls out his phone. He opens up his palm and then the phone starts to float- then in a quick fizzle of static and green blue magic, the phone gets taken apart and then reassembled. Then, while it’s still floating- Alt glitches into phone, completely disappearing for a second before glitching back out and then catching the phone as it drops out of the magic. He looks a bit sheepish but he answers quietly. “I guess… I’m kinda that…? Never had a word for it… but I can’t like- use the internet or anything- I just… exist in the circuitry. Electric… powers and stuff.”

The two of them gasp as they see Alt disassemble the phone and then disappear into it. "What?!" Schneep gasps. "You can teleport and you are a technopath?!"

Oh, oh, I understand, it's like he is made of electricity! JJ says.

"Ahhh, okay, that makes more sense." Schneep nods, understanding.”"Well, it sounds more strange to us to hear about a world where supers are rare. There will be at least one in every town--and you get a lot in a big city like where we are now.”

Alt finds himself blushing, “…I mean- I can do… lots of things. But electric stuff is… easier. Think it’s cuz my magic is like- a current of electricity in my blood or something…” He messes with his hair self consciously. “I can… glitch, and use sound waves, and electricity. And tech stuff- but that’s… just what comes easiest to me. Other things I need help with like- spells or circles or…” He seems almost embarrassed that he can’t do more.

"How can you do so many different things?!" It looks like Alt just listing his powers is breaking Schneep's brain. "They are--they are different?"

You can two two different things, Henrik, JJ points out.

"No, mine are related, I have the ghost powers," Schneep says. "And spell circles? Spell circles?! You can do things with technology and spell circles?!"

Don't mind my cousin losing his mind, JJ says to Alt. It's just... so many unrelated things is not... possible here.

Alt blinks at Schneep's mind being blown and then can't help but laugh. "Oh! Well... where I'm from- the fact that I have magic makes me a magician- but I got my powers really late in life... I could glitch for a long time but I had no idea I could use electricity or even use magic at all! But... people who know magic- they know like... basic spells for lots of different things. Like how to heal or summon fire, or turn into animals... whichicankindadobutthat'salongstory." He coughs and then waves his hand, "Point is... im- kinda stunted magically... so... I should be... able to do more but I'm... I'm still learning..."

Alt sighs, “I guess… it might be good for me to just get out there and look- how off the grid are we right now?”

“... well." Schneep walks over to the window, which has its curtains drawn, and throws it open for a moment. Outside is a sunny day in the middle of a suburb. Taller skyscrapers are visible in the distance. "Not too much."

I still say it is foolish to stay in the city, JJ says.

"People never suspect that we would come back here," Schneep says defensively, quickly closing the curtains again. "And we came in through that secret passage so they never saw us inside here. It also makes it easier to contact Chase and Jackie and Marvin. But, yes, no internet devices of any kind. We cannot leave without covering our faces, but you should be okay to, you look different enough."

Alt blinks at the sight of the city in the distance. He thinks. “…I wouldn’t want to draw attention to you two though… if you’re trying to hide.” He fidgets with his phone and then looks at something on it. “…would disguising myself like… like a hero- would that help? I wouldn’t want to you know- get arrested for using magic or whatever-“

You wouldn't get arrested simply for using powers, you would need to cause trouble with them. But most heroes and villains do have masks and secret identities, it WOULD be strange for someone unmasked to be using powers. If you have a mask you can use, it would help.

Alt hums in thought and looks back at his phone. He blushes a bit and then mutters, "Chase is never gonna let me live this down..." Then, he sighs and summons some blue magic and waves it over his face. A red mask that looks like its made of paint blooms around Alt's eyes and the ends of his hair turns a bright green and blue like it's covered in glowing paint. He looks sheepishly at the others and then looks away. "... ive been wanting to help my brother back at home and... I've been thinking of a costume... I just need a face mask but... i-I haven't even shown Chase yet..."

Schneep gives up on thinking about how impossible Alt’s powers are and smiles supportively at his appearance changing. “I think it looks quite nice! You have a very clear sense of style.”

If your Chase is like our Chase, he’ll love it, JJ says. And if he’s a good brother he’ll be supportive.

Schneep nods and puts a hand on JJ’s shoulder. “We will still tell Jackie about all this, it would be better to have help in this big city. Good luck yourself.”

Alt slowly smiles through his reddening cheeks and nods, “Thanks…” He takes a deep breath and stands up taller, trying to channel his brother in his mind. “Alright well… it was nice to meet you too. Good luck out here… I hope things get better for you.” He then gives a tiny two finger salute before glitching away, making his way towards the city.

"Goodbye!" Schneep says.

And thank you, JJ adds, just before Alt disappears.

Schneep sighs. "This has been very strange. I hope we did not make a mistake."

I doubt so. JJ shrugs. I'll contact the others now.

-----------

Bro falls through darkness for a split second--and then keeps falling. And falling. He is in midair above a city scape, passing by skyscrapers, the asphalt street getting closer with every second--

Bro blinks open his eyes and is met with wind strong enough to make them water. But, he knows this feeling well enough. He grins and then pushes to fall faster for a second before pulling up and flying back up into the air, doing a couple twists. He giggles as he rights himself in the air and then adjusts his cap as he observes the city. "Well- that was new! Good to get back in the air though~" He says as he starts to shrug off his jacket and tie it around his waist. It was way warmer here already so he quickly pulls off little Chase’s jumper. Then, he fumbles to try to slip his jacket back on and wrap the jumper around him as he looks at the city below. He instantly recognizes this isn't Brighton- he knew his city now like the back of his hand. He sighs and shakes his head. "Wrong again- bummer but- least I didn't scare the shit out of anyone this time-"

As soon as he says that, a voice shouts "Hey!" When Bro turns to the side he sees a man... also flying. He's wearing a red and blue suit, and has a mask with white glass covering his eyes. The man stops a few feet away from Bro. "Oh you're fine," he says. Bro startles and then stares at the other man with wide but excited eyes. "Oh my god! You're a hero too! omgggg how cool!! I mean Volt was one but! Its been a hot second!"

"You were falling there so I thought--WAIT YOU'RE INJURED--No, no, wrong again, you just have a rip in your shirt, sorry." The man laughs.

Bro blinks and looks down at his shirt then laughs, "Oh yeah i keep forgetting about that- such a bummer... this was a prototype!" He pouts.

"What're you doing here? Anything I can help with? I don't recognize you." The man looks Bro up and down. Bro sees surprise behind the mask once he gets a good look at Bro's face. "Uh... yeah. I-I don't. Always cool to meet another flyer, though."

Bro blinks and adjusts himself in the air, and gives Jackie a raised eyebrow. He smirks slightly, "You're not a very good liar, fellow hero bro~!" He laughs, Then he pauses and feels his face before cursing and fishing out his mask to put it back on, his hair flaring to bright yellow green. "Though ha- I don't really look like a hero without my mask on!" He laughs. "Anyways uhhh what im doing here is kinda a long story- you on a patrol or something?"

The man laughs. "Am I not? Shit. Sorry, you just look like someone I know. Anyway yeah, I'm out of patrol. I don't know if you've ever heard of me, but I'm Windstorm. I mean, if you're with the League they'd have to let you know about me when you came into the city, but they didn't tell me about you so I'm guessing you're still freelance?"

Bro grins, "Sick name! I'm Bro Fantastic- though... sounds kinda silly next to your name." He says with a blush, messing with his hair. Bro then blinks rapidly, "... the league? huh- I've never heard of them... that sounds so official- wait... are heroes like a regular government thing here?" he says, his eyes sparkling like the nerd he is.

Windstorm looks confused. "What d'you mean you've never heard of the League? I mean, I know there are some places they don't reach but... I mean, I don't want to assume, but you don't look or sound like you'd be from there. And they're not... government..." His voice drops to a mutter, "As much as they pretend to be."He looks down at the street below. "Hmm. Pedestrians are looking. You wanna land to talk or are you good to hover? In my experience it's harder to talk while actively flying."

"Oh and uh- it's whatever you want! I can talk and fly, s'no issue. I do it without meaning to sometimes, actually." Bro laughs.

"Haha yeah, I do that too sometimes, but for extended periods I need to concentrate so let's put down somewhere." Windstorm scans the area. "There, they have a flat roof." He points at a building not too far away. "Follow me," he says, and flies off.

Bro blinks in confusion, knitting his eyebrows together. But when Windstorm says to follow him, he nods and follows right behind him. When they get to the roof, Bro drops out of the sky and does a tiny nose dive before slowing down at the last second before he does a cool parkour roll onto the roof and jumps back up to his feet. He laughs and whoops, "God! I've been holding back in these last couple jumps goddd it feels good to do shit again without worrying~!" He turns back around towards Windstorm and crosses his arms behind his head, grinning like a dork.

Windstorm laughs. "You got some fancy moves, man. Must've had a lot of practice." Then Bro's words register and he looks confused. "Jumps? That sounds like... like you're teleporting places. Or, being teleported. Is that it?"

Bro beams, looking proud of himself. He- feels like such a fuck up sometimes back at home but- this is awesome already. Seeing other heroes. Then he blinks and nods, putting his hands in his pockets. "Uh- kinda. It's... a bit more complicated and...you might think im insane but- if this is a world where supers have an entire league then... maybe not."

He braces himself and then looks back at Windstorm, "I'm... from a parallel universe. Me and my brother have been tracking down a villain from our world whos trying to hop to other dimensions for power. And- other shit i think. I think Alt gets that better than i do. I just know he's crazy and... dangerous. Anyways- we've been trying to get home with this guy- but we keep ending up in the wrong universe- cuz i guess we're supposed to know our universe's zip code to travel to it?" He tries to laugh and shakes his head. "It's... confusing. Honestly, im just glad im here to keep my brother and innocents safe from Magnificent."

Windstorm blinks, processing all this. Then a slow grin spreads over his face. "You mean it's real?" he says. "Other universes, travel between worlds?! I-I thought the comics about Heroes having adventures in other worlds were exaggerations! If not completely made up for the press, but it's real?!"

Bro's entire expression lights up and he stims a bit, giving off some sparks of blue energy as he nods, "Yeah! It's real dude!! Ive been to like- god... 4 now?? no- 5! It's... it's insane- but really cool."

The wind around them on the roof seems to pick up a little. "Oh I should've guessed! That's why you look so much like Chase! I mean, I guess you could be a shapeshifter but that wouldn't explain the flying--wait, are you Chase? Chase Brody from another universe?!"

Bro laughs as he feels the wind pick up and then grins wide and does a little dance, "Yes! That's me!! i-I guess you're friends with this world's chase then!" He then makes a thinking face, "My brother technically can shapeshift but uh- that's a sore spot for him..." He shakes his head and can't help but stim more. "Dude!! It's so nice to have someone who gets it like right away!! This is AWESOME!!"

Windstorm giggles excitedly. "Dude, this is so exciting! God, you must've seen so much. Yeah, Chase is my roommate. I don't think he has a brother, and he definitely doesn't have powers like you, but you're for sure the same guy. Do you--I probably shouldn't give away my secret identity to some guy, but I already gave the roommate bit away so let's go all in--Do you know a Jackie where you come from? Jackie Skye? Cause that's me!" He wiggles his fingers, stimming.

Chase's smile lights up even more and he zips over to Windstorm and grabs his hands, sparks practically coming off of him. "You're Jackie?! Oh my god! Oh my god- my Jackie- he's Jackie Mann actually but!! He's my best friend!! And he's the biggest hero nerd I know oh my god he would die knowing I met a hero version of him! But- you- you have to be like my Jackie!! That's why we're just like like-" He lets go and makes rapid pointing motions between the two of them, "clicking so well! Dude!! This is soooo cool!!"

"Yeah I clicked so well with Chase when I moved in! I could actually introduce you to him if you want we're not too far from where I live--ah, but I probably shouldn't take you inside, that's probably going a bit too far with the identity thing." He laughs. "He'd love you, dude!" Chase grins, "He sounds like a chill dude! I'd love to meet him!"

Then Windstorm shakes his head. "Okay. Okay. Serious time now. This is great, but, uh, what was it you said? There's some villain who came with you, and... your brother? My Chase doesn't have a brother. Probably, he might've forgotten--that's a long story, don't ask me about it now. The point is. Villain. What was it? Mag... Magna... Magnificent?"

Bro calms down too and nods, trying to get back to business. "Yeah Yeah right- my brother... his name is Alt. He's- he's magic. I dunno if you guys have that too but- if you see someone like- zipping around but he looks like he's straight out of a computer game? That's him. Anddd yeah- Magnificent... he's an evil magician looking to gain power from the worlds he visits... I dunno what's he's gonna try to find here but... it won't be good most likely. So... god- I guess i better get moving to find them..." He sighs loudly. "Mannn! I wanna vibe just for second! Why does Mag gotta be such a douche!!"

Jackie shakes his head. "Villains suck sometimes don't they? I, uh... don't think we have magic here. Well, no one knows where superpowers come from, or why some people just have them but others have to gain them. I guess that could be magic? Hmm" He pauses, thinking. "I haven't seen anyone who looks like a computer game around. And I've never met an Alt in this world to compare him to.”

Bro laughs a bit, "Yeah... you probably wouldn't know him as Alt if he has a counterpart here- he likes Alt better but it seems like in most other worlds he's known as Anti." Bro shakes his head laughing, "Alt says that all the time! That powers and magic are the same but! I don't get it cuz they feel different to me! But he says its all just energy we can utilize and shit like that-" He rolls his eyes, "He started becoming such a know-it-all once he started learning magic better, I swear."

“He would've just got here? Well, we can look around together, if you want? I know the city really well." He laughs. "You probably get it, you get really familiar with your city."

Bro brightens up as Jackie offers to help him look, "Oh yeah! That'd be great! Alt is easy to spot once you know what you're looking for! Just a bright green blue blip of light and like- the sound of glitching. An extra pair of eyes would be super helpful!"

"Glitching? So he really is like computer stuff." Jackie chuckles. "I've never met anyone called Anti, but it's always possible I will eventually." He pauses. "Maybe that's who... well, I've been looking for a villain recently, a technopath. We can't find anything about them, maybe they're this Anti guy? Like...Anti-Virus or something, that'd be a cool super name." He shakes his head. "Nevermind. Priorities. Okay, we can fly around, sounds like we'll need to be closer to the surface." He steps back off the edge of the roof, the air catching him. "Coming?"

Bro can't help but be relieved. So far the Antis they've met besides Anti Mcloughlin had been bad news. He almost expected Jackie to react badly to hearing Alt's name but he's glad they don't have to worry about that for now. "A technopath? Huh- no but wait Anti-Virus is a metal as fuck name!! Dude- wonder if Alt should use that," He laughs. Bro blinks as Jackie steps back off the roof then he grins and runs to take off next to him. "Yeah! Let's go!"

"Whoo!" Jackie grins--it feels good to have someone to fly with, he's never had that before. "Come on, we'll go down Wonder to start with."

But they're not flying for long before-- 🎶 Dadada da dadada da dadada daa daa 🎶

"Ah fuck, hang on, man." Jackie stops midair. He looks around, then flies over to a nearby building and stands on the stone decorations sticking out from the facade. He pulls a phone out of a pouch on his belt and presses a button, not minding his gloves or his precarious position or the chance of dropping the phone. "Hey, Chase!" he says, laughing. "This is both the worst and best time to FaceTime."

Bro blinks in confusion and follows after Jackie. When he hears who it is, he grins mischievously and then pops up behind Jackie, floating upside down over his shoulder and waves. "HELLOOOO OTHER ME!!"

"Whoa what the fuck?!" The screen jolts as someone seemingly drops the phone on the other end. Then it recovers, and Bro sees a version of himself with brown, slightly longer hair. "Who the hell is that?!"

Jackie laughs. "That's you from another dimension!"

"Oh. Oh! Okay, this message makes a lot more sense now." The phone is placed on a flat surface, giving a wider view of Chase... and the dog who is peeking over the surface. Bro laughs, very pleased with that reaction. He rights himself to float over Jackie's shoulder as he listens. He awws when he sees the dog and whispers, "Omg pubby-"

"Message? From JJ?" Jackie asks.

"Yep." Chase holds something in view of the camera. It's a small wooden doll, like something an artist would use to reference poses. Except one arm has a yellow string wrapped around it, and the other ends in a wooden ring that holds a pen. "Crazy to see this little guy just moving out of nowhere." He puts the doll out of view again. "Anyway, it wrote something about a guy from another universe popping into the safe house. Something about glitches? The handwriting isn't the greatest. Apparently they went out to look for you and their brother."

Bro brightens up and grins, "Hey! That's my brother! They definitely met Alt!"

"Oh! Okay so that's you." Chase looks surprised. "Do I have a brother, then?"

"That probably would've come up in your records," Jackie says.

"True." Chase sighs, but then quickly recovers. "Oh, Frosty's in frame? Hang on, lemme show you a better look at him." He grabs the phone and flips the camera around, filming a very cute Samoyed sitting next to him. "This is Frosty, other me. He's my good good boy. Aren't you?" He reaches out and gives Frosty some pets on the head. Frosty enjoys it very much, shifting position slightly. Now Bro can see the harness, with the words --"rvice Dog Do Not P"-- printed down the side. "We just got back from our walk."

Bro awwws even more, leaning in, "Oh my god!! Frostyyy hi! What a good boy! Oh! And he's a service dog!! My friend Henrik has one too! Her name is Sahne and she's the best!"

Chase blinks, surprised. Then he laughs. "Henrik? Like, Henrik von Schneeplestein? What is this, reversed life? He's my doctor. Or, uh, was, shit's been complicated recently. Tell your Henrik that his dog sounds cute. Sahne must be German but I don't remember if I've heard it before."

Bro laughs, "yeah i think we're all swapped around or something! My schneep is an actor! Oh and deaf- and Sahne means cream!"

"Thanks for letting me know about the message, by the way," Jackie says. "I'll stop by the safehouse next chance I get to check on them."

"No problem." Chase nods. "Well. I can see you're on a building, so I'll head out. You have got to bring other-me round so we can see each other in person."

"I can talk to you on a building!" Jackie protests. "Without dropping your phone? I don't want to be responsible for that, haha. Besides, we should keep this short anyway, in case it attracts, you know, attention."

"Right." Jackie nods. "We're going to look for other-you's brother and this villain that showed up with them. I'll call you or stop by the apartment to update you when needed." "Thanks, bro. And hey, nice meeting you, other-me." Chase laughs. "Even if it's fucking bizarre. Bye."

"Yeah it's weird but cool! Hope we can meet up soon, other-me!"

"Bye." Jackie says.

After the call ends, Bro grins, "He's neat. I like him- and he has a cute dog so extra bonus points! Man i want a doggg but we have Glitches- ... she gets along fine with Sahne though hmmmm"

"Glitches? If it's not a dog, I'm guessing that's a cat, then." Jackie laughs. "Cats are nice. Usually." He pauses. "I was going to make a joke about a cat that's not very friendly, but you don't have the context. Basically, there's a guy I know who's a super who has a cat theme. And he's sometimes an asshole. Pretend I made a funny joke." He pockets the phone and steps back into the air. Bro snickers, "Nah I get it- that's exactly like my brother~ He's a prickly asshole sometimes too. But fun to make fun of~"

"Schneep as an actor, huh...? Can't picture it. Can't picture any of us as actors, really... though I guess JJ can be alright. I didn't know they had service dogs for deaf people. The more you know." Jackie continues.

The other hero beams, getting to talk about his friends. "Yeah! Schneep is great- he's a big ol' goof ball- ray of sunshine kinda guy! And i didnt know they had hearing dogs till I met him either! It's pretty cool~"

"Aw, he sounds great!" Jackie grins. "Maybe our Schneeps can meet each other one day, that'll be a sight to see. The Schneep I know is kinda grumpy but he really cares. And he hangs out with Chase, who is a great ray of sunshine if you ask me, so clearly he gets along with the sunshines."

"Yeah! Dude, If we can figure this shit out my Jackie neeeds to meet you!"

Jackie stretches. "Anyway. Let's see if we can find your brother. I'd like to meet him."

Bro laughs and stretches as well and nods, "yeah! Let's rock it~!"

"Alright! Here we go!" Jackie grins and zooms off.

Bro beams and laughs and he races after Jackie.

-----------

Magnificent appears in some sort of office space, the sort lined with boring cubicles and desks. The lights are off, the blinds are drawn, and there are no computers or decorations on the desks. Clearly, this place hasn't been used for a while. He lies there for a couple minutes before regaining consciousness.

Magnificent groans as he’s brought back painfully into wakefulness. He sits up stiffly and clutches at his bruised face- then clutches at his injured hand as it buckles trying to keep him up. “Fucking brat!” He growls to himself as he struggles up to his feet and lights a green flame in his hand. “Hm… now where have I been brought to now…?”

There is nothing especially unusual about the unused office. But the door is slightly ajar, light pouring in from a hallway beyond. There are... footsteps? It's hard to tell, they're light, like someone is being carefully quiet.

Magnificent stiffens, and-not wanting to run into more trouble, teleports to hide behind some of the desks. He extinguishes the flames and settles in to listen.

A moment passes. Then the door slowly creaks open. A thin beam of red light shoots from the doorway to a camera hanging in the corner of the room. Then a man slips into the room. He's wearing a red, orange, and white costume, with a black cape and belt...and a cat-shaped mask. He glances around, then goes for the nearest desk and starts checking drawers. "Of fucking course not," he mutters to himself.

Magnificent sends out some of his magic to see who had entered and... is confused by what he sees. But, he recognizes the cat mask and he smirks. He teleports behind the man and chuckles darkly, "Well well... what do we have here?"

"Motherfuck--!" The man slams the drawer shut and spins around, raising his hands. Orange light appears before him, forming a shield. He glances over Magnificent. "Who the fuck are you supposed to be?! Why are you here?"

Magnificent grins sinisterly and prowls around the man with a purred chuckle. "Well~! What a unique power you have, kitten! Who are you supposed to be, hm?"

"Wha--That's what I just asked you!" The man eyes him warily.

"Oh forgive me then- sometimes I tune out the words of little worms who don't matter~" The mad magician laughs smoothly.

"Look, I don't have time for this right now. If you want to take whatever, go ahead, as long as it's not what I want." But if this stranger (he has to be a villain, no one else would dress like that, but he doesn't recognize which one he is) is planning to harm innocents in the building... well, that'd be a different matter.

Mag loops around the man's back, giggling. "oh? you're but a lowly thief with power like that? what a waste..." He says disapprovingly. He tries to lash out to grab the man's wrist.

The cat-masked man slowly spins around, keeping the shield in between him and the strange man--but he's not expecting him to reach around the shield and grab him anyway. And why would he? Who would expect someone to willingly get close to something giving off as much heat as the shield does?! "Let me go you crazy bitch!"

Maybe its because the villain hardly feels it- his mad thirst for power overpowering all his other senses. He digs his claws into him, grinning madly. "I don't think so, kitten. I think you'll be a great little snack for me~!" Anddd he tries to drain the man- not even realizing he might not even be able to.

The power--oh, Magnificent, you have held fire in your hands, but now you are trying to touch a star. Can you handle it? Or will it burn you?

It is searing, like drinking boiling water, but it shudders into Magnificent where it sits, converting much slower than his drained power usually does.

Magnificent yells out and crashes halfway to the ground, holding his wrist as the magic burns inside him. And it keeps burning- blaring orange searing in his blood, taking forever to mesh with his own.

The man yanks his wrist free of Magnificent's grip, stumbling backwards, looking at the spot of contact with wide eyes. He seems a bit tired, but not as much as his usual victims would be by this point. "Wh-what.... what the hell...?" the man whispers, shaken. He stares for a second--and then turns and bolts for the door.

Mag sees the man running and growls in anger, soon pushing himself to run after him- trying to teleport in front of him to cut off his path.

The man shouts in surprise when Magnificent appears before him. What?! HOW?! Did he absorb teleportation from someone?! No time to think about it! He shoves him aside, metal claws on the end of his gloves scraping against the man's skin, and runs out into the hallway.

Magnificent bites back a scream of pain as he's hit with the claws and staggers back into a wall. The man turns and blasts the ceiling above the doorway with white-hot energy, sending debris crashing down over it. That won't stall a teleporter for long, but maybe it'll be long enough to get out of here!

Mag shouts in surprise as the ceiling caves in on top of him and blocks off his path. He yells in rage and quickly teleports back down the hall, trying to find the little brat. "Get back here!"

The man laughs as he runs down the hall. "Fuck no!" He glances over his shoulder and throws a ball of red-orange light.

The ball clips Mag's side, burning right through his clothes and leaving a perfect singed hole in his cape. Pain laces from the spot of contact as Mag is pushed to the side. It leaves a burn behind.

Magnificent screams bloody murder as the light screeches across his side. He curls up on the ground, writhing in agony as the power burns him. It doesn't look like he can pursue the escaping super any further.

The man glances back, wondering if he feels bad about that...no, probably not. He keeps running, turning around the corner of the hall and jumping out through the unlocked window he came in from. Back in the hallway, a camera that he missed on his first go-round points at Magnificent. (It is not his fault he missed it. It was too small and too well hidden.)

Magnificent curses up a storm, trying to figure out how the hell he can fix this- fuck! It fucking burns- maybe he can...? He mutters a quick spell to summon some water to push against the wound. He can't notice anything else besides the searing pain.

Nothing happens for now. But there is clearly movement elsewhere in this building, even if the hallway is currently empty. There is the murmur of voices and footsteps through thin walls and floors. They may be coming to see what caused the crashing sound of the still-smoking debris. Outside, something activates.

Magnificent now starts to realize even if the office was empty, clearly the building isn’t. He feels a bit of panic before something occurs to him. In a fizzle of static, he dons his civilian disguise and then pulls out his best acting. Though- most of it isn’t acting at this point. “H-Help…! Someone please h-help me-!”

It takes a moment. Then a group of people come rushing around the corner.

"Oh my god!"

"Who is that?"

"He's hurt!"

A man in a white lab coat pushes past the others, with brown hair and two different colored eyes: blue left, green right. He looks a bit confused as he sees Mag's disguised face but pushes past it. A small... robot?... flies next to him, a softball-sized green circle with a blue ring around a camera in the center and a metallic peripheral of some kind coming from the back. "Holy shit, are you alright?" he asks. "What happened?! S-some of our cameras went down--are you alright?"

Mag grits his teeth then looks up at the man with a pained expression. "I… I'm not sure-! I was just walking and i ran into some- some freak in an orange suit and cat mask! I t-tried to stop him... i-i think he was stealing something but then h-he burned me..! He jumped out the window-" He then curls up as a wave of pain washes over him, but- it does help his performance.

"Spitfire Cat was here?" the man says, surprised. "H-hold on a second. Jeanne, can you call an ambulance? Get the SDER here immediately. And the police! Paul, talk to security and see if we can catch him." The man steps to the side, pulling out a remote with one red button on it. As the others mill about, he speaks into it, his exact words covered up by other voices. The flying robot stays where it is. The camera is pointed at Magnificent's face.

Magnificent stays where he is, trying not to pass out. But, now he notices the robot. He narrows his eyes, looking at it curiously. ...was this purely tech or was some magic involved...?

He senses no magic from it. None that he recognizes, at least.

He frowns and bares his teeth at it, pressing his face back against the floor. This place was strange... none of the power he's seen so far is making any sense... but at least it was something he could take. Even if the cat's burned... surely he can find another... better suited source.

The group of people hovers about, slowly growing in size. They reassure him that an ambulance is on the way.

"I can't stick around for long, but I hope you're okay," says the man in the white coat. "If you need anything don't hesitate to reach out, okay?" He doesn't explain who he is. It's like he's expecting Magnificent to already know. He must be someone important in this world.

Magnificent almost wants to ask who the man is- but he can't give himself away. "yes... t-thank you-" He tries to say. It's mortifying having to defer to mortals to heal him but... he doesn't really have a choice with his wound. Guess it'll make for a more fun game as his prey recovers as well... And he'd find that cat and string him up like a carcass. It's not long before the ambulance arrives.