#okay bye bye. byyyyye

[randomminty]

please i am BEGGING for you to drop the other roleswap champion designs,,, i had no idea how hard cynthia would slay in lance’s fit and my animal brain is now starving for roleswap steven and lance if you ever feel confident enough to post them,,,,,;

[insert meme of guy on his hands and knees offering a wad of fanned-out dollar bills here]

TY JUST FOR YOU ANON…. i redrew my old designs. I still cant figure out stevens design but this will do

Just for fun ill throw my old designs/brainstorming under a read more too!

This is a year old. Theyre so ugly. Okay

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Erased

Switch AU

A JSE Fanfic

I was thinking about how to follow up the last chapter, and I thought, well, we need to wrap up some details. Are the kids back? What happened with Anti? Stuff like that. Then I decided, the boys should start to find out more about Distorter. They’re smart, they can figure it out. And maybe a certain lady can help, as she’s more involved than anyone thinks ;) Anyway it’s a bit shorter than my last few stories, but those were already pretty long, so this is about average...for me. Which is still long lol. Enjoy ^-^

More of this AU found here

JJ peered through the curtained window at the street. When he didn’t see anything, he checked his phone. No messages from anyone.

“I know you’re nervous,” Marvin said from his spot in his usual armchair. “But you’re just workin’ yourself into a fit. Sit down, at least.”

I can’t, JJ signed. Though he was still learning, that was a phrase he was sure of.

“Why? Because ye’ll want to stand up again? Jus’ let me put Mister on your lap, he’ll stop you from ever standing again.” This was clear as Mr. Fluffington was currently spread out across Marvin’s lap. He’d been there for about an hour, and showed no signs of moving. It didn’t help that Marvin kept petting him.

Jameson picked up the notebook and pen he’d left on the nearby table. You can’t tell me you’re not worried about Anti, he wrote. It’s been two hours.

“Of course I am. But if I t’ink about it, I-I’ll, um...freak out, as y’say.” Indeed, Marvin looked a bit paler just talking about it. He gave Fluffington a few scratches behind the ear, distracting himself. “Anti’s tough.”

That was true, but Jameson still couldn’t sit down. He started to write out I was thinking about going to find him, but only got halfway when the doorbell suddenly rang. JJ frowned, and scribbled out his sentence to instead write Do you think that could be him?

“Wouldn’ be the first time one o’the others turned up sudd’nly,” Marvin said.

I’ll go answer, see if it is.

JJ tucked the notebook under his arm and headed over to the door. When the doorbell rang again, he hurried to open it. At first, he thought that the man standing on the doorstep was Anti. His face was pretty similar, and the clothes looked sort of like something Anti would wear on a casual day. But he quickly realized  he wasn’t the same. Anti only had a green streak in his hair, it wasn’t all dyed bright green. And the man didn’t have Anti’s heterochromia.

The man blinked, then laughed. “Wow, I am just running into all my clones today, aren’t I? Hey nice mustache.”

After a moment, JJ flipped to a new note page and wrote down his response, showing it to the man. Can I help you?

“Actually, I think I can help you. My friend Sam, uh...hang on.” He patted his jacket, and after a bit a green glowing ball flew out of one of the pockets. Sam. “Here they are. They say that they know you? They also said that you’re a whole bunch of people who looked like me, but man, I was not expecting how much you looked like me.”

You know Sam? JJ asked, surprised. And they somehow told you about us?

“Yeah, the five of you. Me and Sam, we’re connected, ha.” The man tapped the side of his head. “Anyway, my name’s Jack. Jack McLoughlin. Sam says your name is Jameson?”

JJ nodded. It’s nice to meet you Jack. He glanced back to see Marvin poking his head into the hallway, looking a bit confused, Fluffington winding around his ankles and cane. Briefly gesturing that everything was okay, he turned back to Jack. But I don’t understand. Can you communicate with Sam, somehow? Telepathically?

“Uh, yeah, basically.” Jack nodded. “Anyway, back to the point. I ran into Sam and your friend Anti in the park. He was, uh, kinda out of it. I had to help him get home. Sam says he lost his phone, and that you guys would be worried about him, so I thought I’d tell you that he’s home and he’s okay.”

Jameson practically wilted with relief. Thank you so much. Anti’s fine? He’s unhurt?

“Other than being confused and a bit tired, yeah, he’s fine,” Jack confirmed.

That’s so good to hear. Thank you again.

“Hey no problem. A friend of Sam is a friend of mine,” Jack said with a smile.

JJ chuckled a bit, coughing at the end. Hey, if you’re a friend of Sam’s, I was wondering something. Would you like to meet up with us sometime? I’d love to hear more about you and Sam.

“Oh yeah, sure, I’ll be in town for a while. Hang on.” Jack reached into his pocket and rummaged around while Sam sat on his shoulder. After a few seconds, he grabbed his wallet, opening it up and taking a card out. “Here, my number’s on this. Call or text me whenever you want to meet up. Maybe after your friend Anti is better.”

Jameson signed Thank you—again, one of the few signs he was really confident on—and took the card. It was a small business card, reading ‘Jack William McLoughlin: Drummer for Hire’ followed by a phone number and email address. I’ll text you some other time.

“Great, I’ll keep an eye out for it.” Jack nodded, adjusting his glasses. “Anyway, be seeing you.” As he turned to leave, Sam waved their tail in a goodbye. JJ waved back, then closed the front door.

“You asked him to a meetup, didn’ ye?” Marvin asked the instant the door was closed. “Jems, have I ever told you t’at you gather friends the same way others gather cool rocks off the side o’the road?”

JJ laughed a bit—less than before, just to save his voice. But then he quickly turned to more serious matters. Did you hear him say that Anti’s back?

“Yeah.” Marvin nodded. “And t’at he lost his phone. It’s good to hear, t’ough.”

Very good. Do you think that means the kids are okay?

“Well it didn’ sound like t’is Jack fellow saw them. One moment, I’ll call Jackie t’see if Michelle arrived home.” Marvin turned around and headed back into the living room, where he left his phone. Jameson followed him, and Mr. Fluffington trailed after them both.

———————

“—and then Rama called me to get down here right now,” Jackie said. “So I drove on down and—and yeah! They’re here!”

He was sitting in the living room of Rama’s house—technically his, though he hadn’t been living there for a while. Over by the wall, Rama was kneeling in front of Will, Anti’s son, wiping his face with a wet dishrag. Michelle was lying on top of Jackie’s legs, on her stomach with her feet in the air as she messed with the tassels of one of the throw pillows. He was still sort of in awe at the kids just...being there. After weeks, they were back in the house. He combed his daughter’s hair earlier and kept crying that she was there.

“Oh t’ank god,” Marvin said, on the other end of the phone call. He’d put the phone on speaker, and Jackie could hear Jameson clapping excitedly. “T’ey’re alrigh’? Both o’t’em?”

“Your accent’s gotten stronger,” Jackie noted teasingly.

“Well ‘m happy for you!” Marvin said.

“Ha! I know, right?! It’s like—like—wow, you know?” Jackie himself was so happy he had to wave his hands around to get rid of the excess energy. “Anyway, they’re both alright. They were hungry and a bit messy, but not more so than, like, at the end of a busy day. Thank every god in every faith for that, I am not kidding. You say this Jack guy told you Anti was alright?”

“Yea, he said he walked him back to his flat,” Marvin explained. “Anot’er guy who looks like us. T’at makes six.”

“Y’know they say there are seven people in the world who look the same at any given time.”

“Great, we jus’ need one more. Anyway he gave Jems his phone number, so ye can bet we’ll be seein’ him again.”

Jackie laughed.

“Hey Jackieboy?” Rama called, standing up. “I’m going to drive Will back home. Are you okay staying here for a while?”

“Yeah,” Jackie said, lowering the phone. “It’s only gonna be like twenty minutes.”

“Alright. Call me if you need anything, okay?”

“I will.”

Will grabbed Rama’s hand. “Bye, Uncle Jackie. Bye, Michelle!”

“Byyyyye!” Michelle waved vigorously with both hands. Jackie laughed again, then joined in, waving until Rama and Will left through the front door.

“Rama’s taking Will back to Anti’s now,” Jackie said into the phone.

“Great. Anti’ll be so glad.”

“He really will.” Jackie paused as Michelle adjusted position, sitting up and accidentally elbowing his stomach. She yawned. Despite it being shortly after noon, she was clearly tired as she leaned against Jackie’s side. “Hey, I’ll call you back, okay?”

“Okay. Bye, Jackie. Jems says goodbye, too.”

“Bye, guys.” Jackie hung up the phone, setting it down on the end table nearby. He wrapped an arm around Michelle, and she took the opportunity to snuggle closer. The smile on his face refused to fade. 

———————

Anti opened the front door to his apartment, rubbing his eyes. “Rama?” he asked. “Sorry, I was sleeping, what’s—” Then he glanced down. And froze. “Will?”

“Hi, Dad.” Will looked strangely nervous, as if he was worried he was going to get in trouble.

“He and Michelle just showed up!” Rama said cheerfully. “They opened the door to the house and walked right in! Don’t worry, he’s fine, I checked. I’ve been trying to call you, but you haven’t be answering—”

“Will! Thank fucking god!” Anti leaned down and wrapped his son in a tight hug. “I was so worried, oh my god—you’re here! You’re okay! Oh my god. Oh my god.”

“Sorry, Dad,” Will said, still sounding oddly guilty. “Michelle and me thought—the guy in the car looked like you—”

“It’s okay, Will, it’s not your fault,” Anti murmured. “It’s not your fault at all. I’m just...so happy you’re okay. I-if something happened to you I-I-I—oh my god.” He squeezed his eyes shut against the flow of tears. “Thanks for dropping him off, Rama.”

“No problem,” Rama said, backing up. “I’ll leave you two to it, okay? See you later.” They turned and disappeared down the hall.

“So...you’re not mad?” Will asked.

Anti pulled back. “Will, why would I ever be mad at you? Someone tricked you.”

“I...don’t know.” Will looked relieved. “I-I just—I don’t know!”  His eyes started to fill with tears as well. “I just—Dad!” And then he jumped forward for another hug.

“It’s okay, bud.” Anti stood up, taking Will with him even though the boy was really too big to be carried. “It’s all over now.” And he closed the apartment door.

———————

“So they really just showed up?”

“Well I mean I wasn’t there, but from what Rama’s told me, yeah, basically.”

A few days later, Jackie and Anti were sitting in a police station. Jackie had brought up that the detectives working on the kids’ disappearances would want to know they were back, and Anti reluctantly agreed to let him call them. He probably wouldn’t have agreed if he’d known the detectives would want the kids to come down to the station so they could talk with them. When Jackie told him that, he refused at first. But somehow, here he was now, sitting on a bench next to Jackie and glaring at any cops that passed by. They were waiting outside the room where one of the detectives and a child psychologist were talking to the kids, and he kept glancing at the door.

“They’re fine, Anti,” Jackie said, catching his twentieth glance. “They’ll be out soon.”

“They should’ve let us stay with them,” Anti muttered. “I don’t like being kicked out of places.”

“I mean, I can see where they’re coming from logically,” Jackie relented. “What if the kids say something different while their parents are gone? But I think it’s a bit flawed in practice.” He paused. “Still, that’s no reason to threaten to ‘cut a bitch.’”

“I didn’t say that!” Anti protested.

“No, but you wanted to. The only reason you didn’t was because Will and Michelle were in the room.” Jackie shrugged. “Kid-friendly threats are still threats, though, and I really don’t think you should direct those towards cops.”

“Fucking...take me away from my kid,” Anti muttered, sinking lower in the seat. He hesitated. “Do you think there are things the kids are keeping from us? Do you think they don’t trust us?”

“Of course they do,” Jackie reassured him. “The detectives just want to cover every possibility. I don’t like being away from them either. Will knows he can tell you anything.”

Anti rubbed his eyes. “I dunno. I mean, I never told my mom anything.”

“Well, that’s different. Clearly, you’re a better parent than her,” Jackie laughed.

He meant it jokingly, but Anti went really quiet. “Hope so,” he said, too quietly for Jackie to hear.

“Huh?”

“Nothing.”

Jackie looked at him skeptically, but decided to move on. “And...you still don’t remember what happened when you went to meet him?” he whispered.

Anti shook his head. “Nothing. It’s all a blank after he said he wanted something from me. Which is...fucking terrifying, honestly. Did I agree to something? If I did, what was it? I don’t like not knowing.”

“We can...figure it out,” Jackie said slowly, looking a bit pale despite his optimistic words.

Anti nodded. “Oh, I’ll tell you something I do remember, though. You know that Stacy lady?”

“Yeah?”

“I ran into her on the way. She had to give me a ride.” Anti leaned a bit closer to Jackie. “She’s connected to all this.”

The door to the room opened, and Michelle ran out. “Hi Dad!” she shouted, jumping into Jackie’s lap, who gave Anti a look of ‘we’ll talk about this later.’ “We can get ice cream now, right?”

Jackie laughed. “Oh man, I did promise that, didn’t I?”

Will walked out next, then that detective, Laurens.

“Hey, bud.” Anti stood up and walked over to him. “Did it go okay?”

“Yeah,” Will nodded. “It was pretty boring.”

Anti breathed out, relieved to see that Will wasn’t affected by the talk with the detective. That probably meant it wasn’t too upsetting. “Well that sucks.”

“It did.”

“It sounds like the two of them really did forget everything that happened,” Detective Laurens explained. “Odd, but not unusual. It could be a trauma response.” Or perhaps the work of a creature that could influence minds, but neither Jackie nor Anti were going to say that out loud.

“It’s just like a fast forward!” Michelle said. “Like we got in the car, then boop! We were standing outside home and we walked up and Ren told us it was two weeks later!”

“Yeah, it was weird,” Will agreed. “Do we have to make up school?”

“I don’t know,” Anti said. “We’ll have to ask the school about that. Hopefully not.”

“So can we go now, detective?” Jackie asked.

“Yes, go ahead,” Detective Laurens nodded. “If any of you remember anything, or come by any new information, please let us know. You already have our numbers.”

“Marvelous.” Anti rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I’ll call the guys who shoved me out of the room when my son was emotional.”

“They didn’t shove you, Dad,” Will corrected. “Jackie pulled you.”

“Well. It’s the principle of the matter.”

“The what?”

“The, uh...I don’t know how to explain right now. Ask me again later, once we’re home.”

Will nodded, a determined look in his little eyes saying that he’ll definitely be doing that.

“If we can go, then let’s go,” Jackie said. “And get that ice cream we promised!”

“Whooo!” Michelle threw her hands in the air and waved them around. “Carry me!”

“Alright, fine, but just to the car.” Jackie bent over and picked Michelle up, then looked to Anti. He gestured towards the exit with his head. Anti nodded, looking down at Will in turn. Will didn’t request a ride, but he did grab Anti’s hand, holding it tight as the group headed out.

———————

Anti, Jackie said you were going to say something in the station but got cut off. What was it?

Yea he was gonna say something about Stacy. It sounded important

Anti leaned back in his desk chair, watching the messages from JJ and Jackie pop up in the group chat. Oh right I forgot, he typed.

Anti you better not be saying bad things about her, Schneep warned. She is a very nice lady.

Why is everyone friends with her except me??? Anti asked.

Marvin says “Because you hate people”, JJ replied.

Anti snorted. It wasn’t that he didn’t like people. It was that he didn’t trust most of them. But that was beside the point. Yeah anyway Stacy picked me up and gave me a ride to the address because I was almost late. I thought it was weird she knew where she was going so i asked her about it and it turns out you know the family that died in that house? The mom was her sister and the kids were her niece and nephew.

Quiet for a moment. And then everyone started typing at once.

I am sorry but WHAT. WHY. HOW.

IS THAT WHY SHE WAS THERE TO PICK ME UP THAT DAY?!?!

Marvin just made the loudest “OHHHHH” of realization but I have to say: WHAT?!

Yeah exactly!!! Anti sent. Its a hell of a coincidence right? Unless its not.

What are you implying? Jackie asked.

Its weird that Distorter wanted to meet me THERE, right? Almost like...he has a connection to it.

Schneep was the first to put the pieces together. Are you saying he might have been the father from that case?

Its a possibility. Stacy also said that she was sticking around because of us. Maybe some supernatural shit is telling her weare involved.

But youre right, thays a hell of a coincidence, Jackie said. *thats

We need to confirm this, JJ said. Do you think Stacy would object to meeting with us if I asked her? Told her it was related to Anti’s meeting and we need to know more about her family?

I dunno, Anti said. It’s worth a shot.

———————

The next day, all five of them were crowded into a booth in a small diner called the Cup and Platter. They were waiting for Stacy to arrive. JJ had contacted her and asked her for information, as he said he would, and her reply was essentially “only if you tell me why.” After a brief discussion, they agreed to tell her the bare minimum, and Stacy had said that she’d be meeting them here early in the morning.

So now they were sitting, waiting anxiously. Jackie had ordered a plate of fries for the group but he was the only one eating from it. JJ was texting on his phone, arranging details for a show with his stage manager Darla. Schneep stared out the window, watching for Stacy. And Marvin was slowly shredding the napkins for stimulation. He looked over at Anti. “Y’keep glarin’ at that boy, Anti. What’re you doin’?”

“Hm?” Anti looked away from his constant staring at the teenaged employee behind the counter. “Nothing.”

“D’you know him?”

“No.”

“Been here before?”

“Once.” 

The engaging conversation was interrupted by Schneep saying, “Oh there she is! She’s coming inside now.”

The door opened, and Stacy stepped into the diner, looking out of place in her dress pants and matching blue jacket. She quickly caught sight of the group and walked over, grabbing a chair from a nearby table and bringing it over to the booth to sit down. “Alright, let’s get to the point,” she said, her tone all business. “Since you’re so interested in my family, I brought this.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a photograph, slapping it down on the table.

The photo showed five people standing in front of a house’s front door: three adults and two kids. One was Stacy herself, standing a bit to the side, her hair longer and clearly younger. Next to her was another woman, taller and with long brown curls, a big smile on her face. She didn’t look too much like Stacy on her own, but when they were standing next to each other like this, the familial resemblance was clear, especially in the hair texture and shape of the eyes. The two kids stood close to each other. The girl looked older, with darker brown hair, while the boy had blonde curls.

“Aw, they were so cute,” Jackie couldn’t help but gush. But then his smile faded. “Um...sorry.”

“It’s fine. They were really cute, you’re right.” Stacy sighed. “That’s Isabelle and Trevor. They were eight and six. Not in the picture, that’s when they were five and three, but when they...you know.”

“And that is your sister?” Schneep asked, pointing to the other woman in the photo.

“Yeah, that’s Roxy. She was younger than me.”

“You’re standing in front of the house on Aspen Street,” Anti muttered. “But when it was actually repaired and shit.”

Stacy nodded. “Yeah. This was the year after they moved in. Everything was great, as you can see.” She gestured vaguely at the happy smiles on everyone’s faces. “Now, please tell me.” She leaned forward, fists clenched. At first she seemed angry, but her voice...the tone of her voice was laden with strange desperation. “Please tell me what’s going on with you and my family.”

The boys glanced at each other. We’re very sorry for what happened, JJ wrote. But we think the story of your family might be important for things that are happening to us.

“Happening to you?” Stacy repeated.

“Can I say somet’ing?” Marvin suddenly asked. “We all noticed the mam and the kids. None of us talked about the dad.”

Almost in unison, they all looked back down at the photograph.

“T’at’s strange, isn’ it? Because isn’ t’at what we think is important?”

“What do you mean?” Jackie asked. “He’s just a guy.”

Marvin stared at him. “Tell me what he looks like.”

“He’s...uh, he’s...” Jackie’s voice slowly faded away. “Uh...”

“Well he looks normal,” Anti took over.

“How so?” Marvin prodded. “Is he taller or shorter t’an Stacy and her sister? By how much?”

“He’s—they’re uh—ta—shor—I, um...shit.” Anti shook his head slowly.

“What color is his hair? Or his eyes?”

The others were all thoroughly confused by now, staring at the picture in puzzled silence. So Marvin looked over at Stacy. “He was your brother-in-law, d’you know any of t’is?”

“O—of course I know!” Stacy spluttered. “This is ridiculous! We’re looking right at a picture of him!”

“But it’s not helpin’,” Marvin pointed out. “Stacy. May I ask you somet’ing?” He paused. “What was his name?”

“His name was...” The frustration faded away from her expression. “Um...i-it was...was...” Stacy trailed off, her eyes widening in the horror of realization. “I don’t...know.”

“Exactly. T’at’s strange, isn’ it?” Marvin leaned back in his seat. “D’you know who else we couldn’ describe, even while lookin’ at him?”

“No,” Jackie whispered.

“But—h-he’s just a guy!” Anti protested. “Look at him! He’s clearly human!”

“Wait, what do you mean, ‘human’?” Stacy asked. 

The group looked at each other. And they nodded. Jameson waved to get Stacy’s attention, then snapped his fingers. A flurry of blue sparkles flew away from his fingers.

“What?!” Stacy gasped. Then she laughed, a bit hysterically. “Oh, very funny. You all decided to prank me.” She looked around at the serious faces. “Joke’s over. It’s not cool to keep with it after you’ve been had.”

If you want me to prove my magic, request something, Jameson wrote.

“Request—okay, fine.” Stacy set her purse on the table. “Make it float.”

Jameson looked a bit worried, but nodded. He leaned forward, staring at the purse intently with his palms flat on the table. A thin sheet of ice covered the surface around them. Then, slowly, the purse wobbled into the air before dropping. Levitation is hard for me, Jameson explained. But I assure you. I am a magician with REAL magic. His eyes lit up blue.

Stacy just gaped.

“Magic exists,” Jackie stated. “I know, it’s crazy.”

“I didn’t believe it either,” Anti muttered.

“But it is true,” Schneep added. “And there is something...some sort of magic creature hunting us.”

They took turns giving Stacy the gist of what Distorter was. They didn’t explain specifically what he did to them, just that he wanted to hurt them. And that he seemed to have some sort of mind abilities. Stacy sat, dumbfounded, at all of this. Until finally, she took a deep breath. “W-well...if it wasn’t that—that I couldn’t remember his name...” she said slowly, picking up her purse. “Or describe him in this picture while—while looking at him, then I would...wouldn’t believe you. But...now I do.” She shook her head. “A-and you think that this Distorter is Roxy’s husband?”

“Well, we do now,” Anti commented. “But the question is—how? And why? What happened to him?”

“I don’t know.” All Stacy could do was shake her head again. “I mean—didn’t he die? I went to the funeral.”

I hate to be morbid, but do you remember seeing his body? JJ asked tentatively.

“...no,” Stacy whispered. “I-I remember R—th-the others, but...not him.”

“Honestly he kind of looks like a corpse already,” Jackie said. “With black eyes. And that rictus grin.” He shuddered. “And the blood.”

“I...don’t know what to tell you,” Stacy continued. “I mean, my brother-in-law. He was...as you keep saying, just a guy. Not the best put together, and I don’t think he and Roxy should’ve gotten married, but he was alright. Cheerful. Good with kids.”

“A murderer,” Anti said bluntly.

Schneep reached over and swatted him.

“It was such a shock to hear that,” Stacy said dazedly. “I mean, nobody would’ve thought...something must’ve happened to him. Maybe, now that I’m hearing this from you...maybe something supernatural?” She was still reluctant to say it. “But look. Surely, if it was such a big case over here, the police would have records? Can you check those out, or something?”

“I don’t think we’re able to—”  Jackie started to say.

“I can handle that,” Schneep interrupted.

The others paused for just a moment. Then, after having a silent debate, they decided not to let Stacy in on that particular secret.

Luckily, she didn’t ask. “Well in that case, that’s...that’s probably the best thing to do.” She paused. “Can you, um...tell me what you find out?”

“We’ll make a group text with you,” Anti muttered.

“He mean o’course we will,” Marvin said.

“Great.” Stacy’s expression was an odd mix of relief, confusion, and dread. “I’d...like to know what really happened.”

So would we, JJ said.

If they knew the story through all this distortion, if they could finally get a clear picture of what exactly was going on, maybe they’d be able to figure out how to stop it.

———————

It was...worryingly easy to get into the police station. Most detectives and plain clothes officers didn’t even wear their badges, so all Schneep had to do was dress professionally and act like he belonged. It was surprising how many times doing something like this had gotten him into areas he shouldn’t be in. Not just as a vigilante, either. One time he was visiting Jackie during his work hours at the hospital, and on the way out he’d accidentally grabbed Jackie’s spare white coat instead of his own. He got a bit lost, and quickly realized that nobody had stopped him from going into staff areas, simply because he was dressed correctly and didn’t act suspicious.

The same principle applied here. Schneep walked into the station shortly before it closed to the public, bringing in a briefcase and a manila folder full of papers. The papers themselves weren’t much, just random words typed up on pages and then printed out on white sheets. They wouldn’t pass a closer inspection, but from farther away, they looked sufficiently official. He found the door to the records room for past cases, and leaned against the wall next to it, looking through the papers as if they were very important records. It wasn’t long before someone came over to unlock the door and head inside. At that moment, he put the papers back in the folder and slipped in right behind them.

The records room was extensive. Shelves of boxes, all labelled with dates and types of crimes. It was pretty big, too. Schneep quickly headed to the back, pretending to look for the right box to put his folder into. The person who’d let him in—also professionally-dressed, without a badge in sight but likely a detective—paid him no mind, and headed for a shelf right by the door.

Now comes the tricky part. Schneep knew that the hard copies of the cases weren’t supposed to be taken out of the station. That was what the online database was for. They also weren’t supposed to be copied. The station didn’t even have a copier, or at least not one that he saw on the way in. So he had two options: take the whole folder and hide it in the briefcase, or take pictures of the contents with his phone and print those pictures out later. Which one would he do? It depended on how big the file was, honestly.

With the appropriate labels on the boxes, he found his way to the shelves for past homicide cases. Anti had texted him the date of the Aspen Street incident—April, five years ago, almost six—so Schneep quickly found the correct box. “Da bist du ja,” he muttered, pulling it off the shelf to the floor.

The files inside were all colored green, tabs sticking out with identifying labels. After a bit of shuffling, Schneep found one with “68 Aspen St” written on it, along with the date. He quickly pulled it out. This file...was rather thin. And when he opened it, there were only a few papers to flip through. Incident report from the detective on the case, autopsies of the four victims, short statement from a neighbor...and that was it. It would probably be easier to take pictures of this, and it would arouse less suspicion if it was found missing. So he spread the pages out on the floor and took out his phone.

He managed to snap one picture when he heard the sound of a door opening. “Um...you aren’t supposed to do that.”

Stiffening, Schneep refused to turn around. God, he was stupid. There was a doorway connecting the records room to the evidence locker. He may have been out of sight from the main entrance, but not from that one. Slowly, he glanced over his shoulder.

“Hang on...don’t I know you?”

Oh, and just his luck. The person who’d entered the room was one of those two detectives. The ones who were working on Jackie’s disappearance and the case of the missing kids. What was her name? Oh yes, Detective Kikelomo. And it sounded like she recognized him.

Alright, time to throw the plan out the window. Schneep shoved the pages and folder into the briefcase, held it tight to his chest, and bolted.

“Hey!” Kikelomo called after him, quickly giving chase. Schneep didn’t look behind him. He was too busy pulling the scarf he was wearing over the lower half of his face. Hopefully she wouldn’t realize who he was if she didn’t get a second look.

He threw open the records room door and just kept running. “Stop him!” Kikelomo shouted, immediately drawing the attention of every single police officer in the station.

“Scheiße,” Schneep muttered, ducking under the nearest officer who tried to grab him. Speed was important here, not subtlety. Luckily, he’d thought to worn gloves. Very particular gloves, in fact. As another policeman grabbed his arm, he slapped the man’s shoulder with the electric pads of the gloves from his hero costume, shocking him enough to make him let go but not enough to do permanent harm. And any other officers who managed to grab him got the same treatment afterwards.

Up ahead, there were officers blocking the main entrance to the station. Okay, that made sense. But there was also a huge window in the lobby. Luckily, he was on the first floor.

Schneep threw the briefcase at the window, immediately shattering it moments before he jumped through. He landed rolling on the other side, then picked up the briefcase and started running.

———————

“This better have been worth it.” Later that night, the five of them met up at Marvin and JJ’s house, gathered in the front room. Schneep grumbled as he opened the briefcase and pulled out the green folder.

“What happened to your forehead?” Anti asked.

“Stray bit of glass,” Schneep explained vaguely, absentmindedly reaching up to touch the band-aid on his forehead.

What exactly happened? JJ wondered.

“Well, it is a long story,” Schneep said. “Suffice to say, they saw me, I had to run, and I ended up climbing up to the rooftops and hiding for a few hours.”

“A few hours?!” Jackie repeated.

“Is fine, I can deal with it. All they know now is that Von Voltage was in their records, they do not know that it was me.” Well, there was that detective, Kikelomo. She’d recognized him, though she might not have remembered from where. But he’d have to handle that on his own time. “This is more important.” Schneep spread the few pages from the folder out on the coffee table.

The others gathered around. “That’s it?” Anti asked skeptically.

“No, it makes sense,” Jackie said. “There’s the police report, the autopsies, and...that looks like a statement?”

“Exactly!” Schneep nodded, impressed. 

Still, there’s not a lot of information, JJ said. 

“Well, does it have the name?” Marvin asked. “The name of—of him, t’at man.”

“The father,” Anti said, picking up the appropriate autopsy. He quickly scanned the paper, then looked up, mouth open as if to say something...and then didn’t say anything. Frowning, he looked back to the paper. “He—he’s—” His brows drew close in confusion and frustration. “Fuck, I’m looking right at it! Why can’t I remember any of this information?!”

“Can I see?” Jackie asked. Anti passed him the paper, and he quickly scanned it. The same confusion soon clouded his features. “They have...they have all the spots for the right information. Height is...is...uh, weight is...h-hair color...” He slowly shook his head. “I’m trying to read it out loud, and I just...can’t.”

Schneep leaned over. “Oh...oh I see. The information is there, it just—isn’t...remember-able.”

Marvin and JJ quickly crowded around as well. That’s so strange, JJ said. Let me try to copy it down. He looked back and forth between the page and his paper, transcribing the information. Yet when he down at what he’d written, and was surprised to find only scribbles where the information should be.

“It’s as if...t’ere’s just some sort of...placeholder t’ere,” Marvin said slowly. “But it’s in our minds, not on the paper itself.” He paused. “But y’know what I can read? T’at note at the end.”

The bottom of the report was devoted to any notes the coroner might have. At the very end is written, Body suddenly disappeared the day after the initial autopsy. Report to the detectives.

“I’m guessing they never did anything about the missing body,” Anti said. “Because it’s walking around.”

Marvin shuddered at the thought, tightly holding onto his cane.

It’s as if this man, whoever he was, has been erased, Jameson said grimly. And just like erasing on paper, there’s only the vague remains of the pencil marks to tell us that, yes, something was there.

Jackie shook his head. “That’s...well, I guess it explains a lot about why Distorter is...the way he is.”

Schneep looked over at him. “What do you mean? You cannot actually be sympathizing with this—this creature! After what he did to you?!”

“No! Not at all,! I-I couldn’t—not a-after —I just mean—well, h-he’s always talking about having friends, right?” Jackie reasoned. “And...if you were all alone...Everyone who knew about you can’t remember you, like Stacy. Anyone who sees you can’t recall any details, and they forget what they do remember after enough time passes. Even official records can’t describe anything about you. It’s...it sounds terrible. No wonder he always says he’s lonely.”

Silence. Outside the window, it started to drizzle, droplets falling through the dark sky.

“It doesn’t change anything,” Anti finally said. “He’s still tried to kill us. He’s still—still done awful things.”

“I’m not denying that,” Jackie said, raising his hands.

“Was getting the file any help at all?” Schneep asked. “If it cannot remember details?”

“We can use it for somet’ing,” Marvin suggested. “It’s always good to know about the incident. What really happened. But we shoul’ prob’ly return it.”

“Here, give it to me, I’ll copy it when I get home,” Anti said, checking the time on his phone. “Speaking of which...I-I should get back. I don’t want to leave Will alone for long, even with a babysitter.”

“Oh, I should call Rama,” Jackie suddenly said. “And check on Michelle.”

Alright, sounds like we’ll have to discuss this more at a later time, JJ said. Anti, if you’re going to copy the file, make enough copies for all of us, then give it back to Volt to give back.

“Ah yes, I will have to...drop that off at their station or something,” Schneep mumbled.

The group dispersed for the night, promising to meet again. After all, there was still much to discuss. They’d found out a lot, but the answers just left them with more questions. The story would be harder to grasp than they initially thought.

[dailyaudiobible]

4/1/2022 DAB Transcript

Deuteronomy 18:1-20:20, Luke 9:28-50, Psalm 73:1-28, Proverbs 12:10

Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible, I’m Brian and today is April 1st, it is April Fools' Day. So, I bet a lot of people are tricking each other. Today, on this very good day, today is the first day of April, it's the month of Easter the day when Jesus rose from his tomb. Today, we are reading in the today we’re reading in Luke 9:28 through 50. And we’ll be doing that right after we read from the book of Deuteronomy in the Old Testament. Had to change my voice back from my childhood voice. Strange things happen around the Daily Audio Bible on the first day of April, so let's dive into our reading for today, Deuteronomy chapters 18, 19 and 20.

Commentary:

Thanks for being here today's Ezekiel. Ezekiel: You’re welcome. Brian: Do you think we fooled anybody? Ezekiel: I think so. Brian: I think we might have fooled people. They may be like, what is this, what’s going on here. But you’ve been reading for Daily Audio Bible Kids now and this is your second year. How’s that going? Ezekiel: Good. Brian: Things are going really, really well at Daily Audio Bible Kids. Have you learned a lot now that you’ve read through the whole New Testament? Ezekiel: Uh huh. Brian: A lot of things about Jesus. Ezekiel: Uh huh. Brian: I loved what you read from the Gospel today because Jesus was with little children and he took the little child and he had a little child stand beside him and then He said, whoever welcomes this little child in my name, welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me, welcomes the one who sent me. For it is the one who is least among you all, who is the greatest. And so, you are very, very valuable. All the kids out there very, very, very, very valuable in God's kingdom. I like that part today. Ezekiel: Yeah, me too. Brian: Well, thank you for being here on April 1st. Ezekiel: You’re welcome. Brian: And sharing your reading with us. We love you. Ezekiel: You’re welcome. Brian: And we’ll have you back again soon. Ezekiel: Okay. Brian: All right, bye. Ezekiel: Byyyyye

Prayer:

And father, we thank You for Your word and an opportunity on this day to switch things up a little bit of fun. Thank You for that. Thank You for the rich reminder of children in your kingdom and how valuable they are and may we pay attention to that as grown-ups, as adults, as parents that we are holding the future of God's kingdom in our hands. You have entrusted us in such a way that we love it, but we don't deserve it and may we really truly embrace the fact that this is what comes next. These children of ours, they are what comes next, not only in this world, but in Your kingdom and so may we store this treasure well, we pray in the precious name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Prayer and Encouragements:

Hello, this is Ben from Minnesota. Say I called about six weeks ago and was talking about how my wife and I are heading to Liberia to adopt a child. And we are still here and it's taken quite a bit longer what we anticipated and there's some, some challenges on the US immigration side and our case has been sent to Washington DC to be reviewed and we’re kind of holding steady here. We've had some health issues that my wife had a health scare and I had some health challenges probably partly because of the stress and we we’re really hoping that will hear something this week and it will be good news and we’ll be able to head home soon. Some things in DC are probably delayed because of the War in Ukraine so there's, there's lots of moving pieces but we’d appreciate prayer for the US consulate here and whoever's reviewing our case in DC for favor and blessing and grace to move forward quickly and for good news soon. So, thanks very much, we appreciated it or we appreciate it again. We were, we were expecting to be here about 3 to 4 weeks and were at 5 ½ and kind of no end in sight or no clear end in sight. So, thanks again. All the best, love ya’ll, bye.

Hello, this message is for a gentleman who called to show that he and his wife have been married 59 years. And I want to say congratulations and God bless the two of you. You asked for prayer for your, yourself and your wife because you’re up in age and you mentioned that you never know when you’re gonna go, but sir, I am praying for you and I and your wife and your family children your 38 grandchildren, that's amazing. God bless you sir, God bless you, your health, body, mind and spirit, all that you are, you and your wife. And your children are so blessed to have the two of you together in their lives. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, you have longer days with your family. I pray for your heart. I pray peace for you and I pray that you just feel amazing renewal in your body. I pray for your heart and your mind, sir. God bless you. Also pray for Alisha, your father just passed away at 92 years old. That's a long time. It's a blessing to have your father in your life and you had a hard time with religion and violence and so forth. And I pray for your heart as well. Pray for restoration. I pray that your blessed with great memories. I pray for healing. I pray for your days ahead and that yes, you know, the Lord deeply more deeper as your father God in heaven and earth that you will be reminded your loved by our heavenly Father. Jesus name. Amen.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family this is John O’Connor. I usually call in from South Sudan but right now I am at Heathrow airport in UK, in London to on my way back to South Sudan. I've spent two weeks in the US and two weeks in UK with my family and that has been glorious. Thank you for everyone who pray for me and the I am also following with the I am so excited to hear Michael the son of Diana Davis that passed away about two years ago. And I'm sorry that their struggling at this time with the Elijah having issues but I am standing with you guys in prayer and God is not asleep. He is awake and He will do what He does best. He will step into your situation and bring to bear the grace of God in your life. May God bless you and also I would like to announce that my retirement has been determined and that will be June 30 2024. So, I have a little over a year, two years to go and I need prayer for that.

Hello, Daily Audio Bible. So, I have been listening for over a decade and you can just call me, I’m a Lady and my mom is really, really not well. I’ve never called before, huge supporter of DAB. But I'm asking all the prayer warriors to please pray for her. She's unable to eat and she is very weak. So, I would really appreciate if you guys would pray for her. I’m not ready to lose my mom ye. I'm fairly young, this came up kind of out of no where. But she's also being heavily spiritually attacked and so I've been fasting and me and my sisters are really, really exhausted. Just up all night so I’m begging and asking for you guys to pray for her and that the power of prayer for a speedy recovery in a supernatural recovery and to release from spiritual attack. Ask the Lord, tell her to eat and to allow her to drink. She is a Devine Saint. And very amazing and loves us very much. So, this kind of came out of nowhere so I’m asking everybody for mercy please. Thank you, guys very much and thank you for the DAB, for all that you guys do. It’s been over a decade, I listen every morning, quietly. And so, yeah, for the first time calling. Cause I feel like I need a prayer warriors and step into this matter to ask the Lord to intervene. Okay, thank you.

Hi, Daily Audi Bible family. My name is Vicky from Texas. And first, I’d just like to tell everybody how much I appreciate being part of this community. There’s a number of you who have called in over the last few years and I’ve written your name down on my prayer list and I continue to pray for you, every time I look at that list. I’d also like to ask you please to hold me and my family up in prayers. My mom has mild Alzheimer's. She wasn’t an easy lady to grow up with any way but the Alzheimer’s has definitely not made it any easier. Our family is living the path that God told us about in the Bible, about how the sins of the Father will be visited upon the children for generations. I don’t know how far back it stretches but I know my great-grandfather was an alcoholic who left his family and that scarred my grandfather. And those scars in turn, made him a rough person for my mom to grow up with, just emotionally unavailable and explosive. And so, my mom is a thousand times better than the parents she grew up with but she even admitted to me once, just after my father died that she walled off her heart, even to my father, even to my brother and I. So, now here she is with her mild Alzheimer’s which only accentuates a lot of the personality traits that she had and it’s very difficult. Her love is unconditional, but her affection is definitely. She's always seen me as a rival and somebody to be jealous of instead of someone to be proud of. So, the harder I strived to do well and overachieve in life and gain her love and affection, the more it pushed her away. So now that I'm doing everything I can to take care of her, it's just even harder to have that affection withheld. So, I would just ask you to hold my mom up, pray for restoration and pray please for me to have the strength to keep carrying on. I love ya’ll.

[mrevaunit42]

This is happening, isn’t it? (Nova vs chapter 22

Hello everyone, Mr.E here with the newest Nova chapter which took forever to finish because life was like “hey can we talk” and i was like “Umm can i have a...” and i was then headlocked out of my room and away from my laptop but it’s here, it’s done and I hope you all had a greet week while i was writing this. 

So this is the next chapter that takes place directly after the previous one. A special thanks to my good friend @axis2600 for letting me borrow his ocs. and if you are a fan of his work, you might just spot a few references from his epic story which you can read right here https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11219962/1/Nothing-comes-easy (seriously read it, it’s great) 

That’s it for me I hope you enjoy this, have an amazing weekend and stay awesome everyone!

here’s the full story of nova vs, a SVTFOE future au  https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11773524/1/Nova-Butterfly-vs-the-Forces-of-Adolescence

Notification squad: @hipster-rapunzel @artgirllullaby @ladyxgilex @nerdymetalhead @isolated-frequencies @minthia-ren @thefandombytes  @burstingamerworld @edward-human16

Nova shifted guiltily under her father's stern gaze as she slipped a dollar into the swear jar he was holding out.

“Sorry dad....”

Marco let out a tired sigh “I know you had a rough few days sweetie but rules are rules.”

Nova gave a muted nod, still shell shocked at what she just witnessed

Her little bother was able to create a dimensional portal at will. No magical artifact, no need to dip down deep within himself to connect with the fabric of reality and the magical energies that surrounded everything. Just make a little motion with his hand and viola they were home not a moment later.

This bothered Nova greatly. Sol already seemed more attuned to his magical nature than she was and evidently he had been able to use this power for some time now to gain such a mastery over it. The little strange little mysteries were solved in that moment: How he could disappear between rooms so quickly, how hard it was to keep track of where he was at all times.

All of it made sense.

She felt hollow: Her family had kept this from her. She was completely in the dark about Sol's true nature and it upset her greatly.

“So” Marco spoke up while making eye contact with Katrina “Was everything okay?”

Katrina's stance was rigid as she fell into a salute “Of course your majesty! Nova and Missy spent most of the day at the park. No one stopped by to bother them.”

Marco gave unconvinced nod, wondering if Katrina was the reason why no one came by the park today “And Sol? Did he behave?”

“He tried to chase after a rouge butterfly or two but it was all acceptable behavior.”

Marco looked visibly relived “Thanks, I know how much of a handful he could be.”

“It was no problem my liege.”

Marco shook his head “Alright, alright you're off duty. Enough with the knight speech.”

“Umm” Katrina blinked in surprised “I..do not...”

Marco gave her a deadpanned gaze.

“Right” Katrina coughed timidly “Sorry. It's habit you know.”

“I know” Marco beamed “But seriously Katrina you need to relax some more. You're family.”

“I'm the Queen's Bodyguard” Katrina answered bluntly

Marco sighed dramatically “Alright. Well I'm glad everyone's safe and sound. Sorry for making you spend all day secretly tailing Nova.”

“Haha it's okay” Katrina laughed, sucking all the tension out of the room

Nova could feel her cheeks burn with embarrassment as Katrina wrapped her in a vice-like headlock and playfully ruffled her hair

“She's my little sister, of course I'd look out for her”

Nova pulled away, giving a mock frown towards the chuckling monster “It's not secretly following me if I know you're there. Just saying.”

Marco let out a small laugh “So did Star let you borrow her scissors? I didn't see her hand you them. I half expected I had to go pick you five up.”

Nova frowned “Actually, Sol...”

“Actually” Katrina interrupted “She handed them to me before I left. Said to take extra care of them.”

“Oh” Marco seemed unsure of himself for a moment but quickly paid the thought no mind “They are her favorite pair. It was a wedding gift from Heckapoo after all!”

Missy and Nova shared a concerned look with one another. There had been something off about Katrina's carefully chosen sentence but before either of them could question it, their mothers entered the room.

“Novy!” Star cried, locking her daughter in a tight embrace.

“Mom” Nova whined softly but wrapped her arms around her mother all the same.

“Had fun you two?” Jackie asked curiously, noticing how much more calmer and friendlier the two girls were around each other. It was subtle but it was obvious through their body language that the two of them had a much clearer understanding of one another.

“Yep” Nova answered “It was nice to go outside and not lie in a pool self pity all day.”

Missy nodded in agreement “Yeah though maybe we should pack snacks next time.”

“Sure” Nova shrugged indifferently “But you're bringing them.”

“Fine Nova”

Jackie smiled softly. The girl's once barbed banter was more friendly, more relaxed.

“Okay we need to be going now” Jackie spoke up after a moment “See ya Nova”

“Bye Miss Lynn Thomas” Nova replied politely, giving the older woman a hug.

She turned to Missy who seemed unsure about what she was supposed to do next.

Nova offered her a hand “See you later Missy.”

Missy grinned back, firmly grasping Nova's hand and giving it a friendly shake “See you later princess.”

Jackie laughed gently “Bye Marco.”

Marco gave her a quick nod “Bye Jackie.”

“BYYYYYE JACKIE!” Star shouted as she practically leapt into her arms.

“haha okay okay. bye guys!”

“Bye!” The Diaz-Butterfly family waved farewell as the door closed behind the two Lynn Thomas's

“So” Nova spoke slowly, her head twisted this way and that as if searching for somebody

“Connor” Marco began, smirking lightly at how quickly Nova jumped at the sound of her best friend's name “and Jack went home. Connor's been bunked on our couch long enough and Jack has his magic competition tomorrow.”

“Oh right” Nova muttered blankly “I forgot about that....Ugh, probably gonna drag me to it. ”

“I think you should go, it has been a long week.”

“Yeah” Nova agreed quietly.

“You should sleep sweetie.” Marco offered.

“You're right...but I need to talk to someone first...”

Nova dropped the magical spellbook onto her bed.

There was a sleepy yawn as the magical tome turned on its side, opening quickly in a flurry of ancient and well worn pages until Glossaryck lay there, dressed in his pajamas with an avocado mask on his face and cucumber peels over his eyes.

“As much as I enjoy helping my magical students” Glossaryck said with an irritated tone as the peels popped away from his sockets with a comical sound “And basically live here rent free, I do enjoy sleep. So unless this is important...”

“Sol can create magical portals” Nova stated bluntly.

There was a momentary air of awkwardness as Glossaryck blinked once, twice, a third time, soaking in what Nova had just said.

“...oooooookay?” an eyebrow raised was his response.

“Seriously? Okay? That's it?! My little brother can cut through the fabric of reality and travel to any dimension at will and all you can say is okay?!”

Glossaryck pursed his lips “I could also say huh?” The magical being glanced up at the princess “Would that help?”

“No!” Nova snarled “He can change his hair at will. He can open portals at will. Why?!”

Glossaryck scratched his chin thoughtfully “That is a very good question and one I wish I had the answer to.”

Nova covered her mouth before letting out the most strangled yelp she could muster.

“I'm sorry princess” Glossaryck spoke plainly “I don't know what you expect from me. I'm here to train you, not your brother. Whatever he has going on with him is a Sol problem, not mine.”

Nova stared silently at her tutor, thoughts and ideas churning in her head but she voiced none of them.

Nova took a calming breath, allowing the rage and frustration to drip out of her.

“Glossaryck” she started slowly “Teach me how to dip down.”

“No”

“No?” Nova repeated “No?! Why not! You taught my mom when she was my age.”

“Exactly” Glossaryck nodded in agreement “I taught her when she was ready and I taught your grandmother when she was ready. I've taught every Butterfly when they were ready. You are not.”

Nova angrily placed her hands on her hips “Am I not ready? I'm Nova Analise Butterfly and I am ready to learn how to dip down!”

Glossaryck's pink eyes searched her face for a moment.

“No, you're not.”

Nova clenched her fist furiously

“You are not Nova Butterfly.”

That shook Nova out of her rage.

“What?” She questioned softly.

Glossaryck snapped his finger and just like that, a pudding treat formed into existence.

“You” He emphasized as he pulled the covering from the cup “Are not Nova Butterfly.”

“I....” Nova began but the magical tutor went on

“You” he gestured with his spoon before dipping it into the soft dessert “sound like her. You look like her. You dress like her. You even act like her but you are not Nova Analise Butterfly. You are a near perfect copy of the princess of Mewni but you are not quite her.”

“I'm not?” Nova was utterly lost by what Glossaryck was trying to say.

“No” he chewed eagerly on his snack “You are not.”

“Then who am I?” Nova asked, slumping to her knees

Glossaryck's diamond pupils fixed themselves onto hers “That is what you need to concern yourself with. Who are you?”

Nova let out a frustrated yell, slamming Glossaryck's book shut before flinching apologetically

“Sorry” She murmured before gently placing the book on the drawer next to her.

“That's alright!” Glossaryck's muffled voice called back “The pudding is safe!”

She laid on her bed, staring at the ceiling blankly as Glossaryck's question and snores danced in her mind.

If she wasn't Nova Butterfly, who was she trying to be?

Nova sighed, the thoughts twisting and turning in her head for countless moments before sleep came and claimed the princess.

“Bags under her eyes” a voice spoke softly near Nova.

Nova groaned, instinctively clutching her hand against her eyes tried to block out the gentle rays of the sun.

She felt a smaller hand grip hers for a moment before giving a pinch and a pull on the back.

“Hey!” Nova shouted, pulling her hand away and rubbing the pulled skin.

“She's not dehydrated” the little voice went on “but she seems a little pale. Probably didn't eat much over the last few days.”

Nova groggily wiped at her sleepy eyes as the sounds of light scribbling filled the room

“Dignosis” The voice muttered with a hint of confidence “minor sadness. Solution, sun!”

Nova hissed in reflex as the curtains were pulled back and a flood of the sun's bright rays basked over her entire being.

“Ah! What the?!” Nova shirked, wildly flailing at the air before finally noticing the person in the room with her.

The person was wearing a pink hoodie and baggy pants with adorable matching sneakers . Her brown shoulder length hair looked as it always did (which was exactly like her mother's.) as her blue and green iris beamed in a mixture of joy and timidness.

“Hope?” Nova tiredly murmured before her brain kicked into full gear “Hope!”

“Novy!” The younger 7 year old cheered quietly as Nova leapt out of bed and plucked her from the ground, hugging her tightly “Novy stop, I'm up from the ground!”

“Haha don't worry” Nova smiled “I got a good hold on you”

Nova couldn't stop the laughter from escaping her lungs while she gently placed Hope back to the floor.

“It's so great to see you Hope!” Nova couched low to get a better look at the little girl “I've missed you.”

Hope gave a small smile in response “I missed you too Novy.”

“Are your parents downstairs?”

Hope gave shy nod “Yep! We came to visit, Dad's got some business in town.”

“Awesome, let's go say hi”

Hope held onto Nova's hand as the magical princess led them downstairs.

“So how long have you been here Hope?” Nova asked the young girl.

Hope's face squinted in an adorable pose as she thought long and hard “10 minutes or so?”

“Wow and it took you this long to wake me up?”

“Well...” Hope began nervously “I'm practicing to be a doctor. I noticed some bags under your eyes and I couldn't help it...”

“Oh? And what did you discover Doctor Hope?”

Nova was caught off guard how serious the younger girl's face became “You were sad. For a few days at least. Recently I'd guess. I could tell by the lack of food you've been eating and the bags under your eyes.”

Nova's face softened “You're right Hope, I was sad.”

Hope's fell at once as she anxiously fidgeted

“But I'm much better now.”

“Really?” Hope's eyes widened “I'm happy to hear that.”

“me too” Nova repeated with a grin “Me too.”

Nova and Hope made it downstairs in time to hear Star snort loudly as Marco tried to hold in his chuckle.

“Marcus!” Marco playfully scolded “Seriously?”

“What?” Hopes father shrugged in response “it's not my fault”

Marcus was the same age as Marco with messy barely combed medium length brown hair and green eyes. He wore a simple black long sleeved shirt with white stripes tilting diagonally across to one side and dark denim jeans with his favorite brand of sneakers.

“and I said” Marcus came to a complete stop “Honey.”

His wife shifted nervously under his gaze as she replied “yes sweetie?”

Faith was the same age age as Star though though you could see Hope's resemblance to her very clearly: Shoulder length blonde hair instead of her daughter’s brown, matching right blue iris and left green pupil. She wore a simple red blouse and black jeans for the trip with comfortable walking shoes to add to the look.

“You know better than to wash dishes” Marcus lightly scolded, rising to his feet and making his way across to his wife “Let me handle them.”

“no no no!” Star butted in, lifting herself out of her chair and pulling Marco alongside her “It's our house, you are our guests. Marco will wash them.”

“Oh really” Faith held fast to dish in her hand “It seems such a bother.”

“Honey” Marcus whispered but Marco cut in “It's fine Faith, you can tell me more of the methods you've been using on your students. Sometimes the 6th period class is too rowdy waiting for the bell.”

“Well” Faith shifted guiltily but Marco had easily pried the dish from her weak grasp “Alright.”

Star shook her head before noticing who had entered the room in their distracted state “Look who's up!”

Marcus and Faith turned around with wide smiles on their faces “Nova!”

“Hi” she gave a cheerful wave

Marcus and Faith Dixon were old family friends though when or how exactly they met her parents was always a bit of a mystery. They went way back and while Faith couldn't do much adventuring and Marcus wasn't the biggest fan of adventure, Nova couldn't help but imagine them in their younger days. Especially Marcus. Using fireworks. Butting heads with some girl that used to room with her father named Stella. Fending off spiders and obsessive demons. Feeling uncomfortable about keeping a secret for Star and away from Marco.

Oddly specific but Nova always had a crazy imagination.

“How are you?” Faith asked softly, slowly making her way over to the magical princess.

“I'm okay” Nova partially admitted “It's been a chaotic week to say the least.”

“I bet” Marcus agreed “Did Hope play doctor again?”

Hope pouted but Nova playfully ruffled her hair

“Play? I think she's going to be a great one when she grows up.”

Faith beamed with a quiet pride at her daughter “I bet she will be”

Hope gave a toothy grin as another figure made their way into the room.

“Morning everyone!” Sol gave a cheery greeting before narrowing his eyes at Hope “Morning Hope....”

“Morning Solius” Hope answered quietly.

“It's Sol....” Sol murmured under his breath while he took a seat at the table.

Nova couldn't help but wonder about her little brother: How did he gain such a power? Did her parents know? Did Heckapoo? The magical council member in charge of dimensional scissors wasn't fond of anything that could bypass her permission and ability to regulate dimensional travel especially now that the airports now offered interdimensional travel between Mewni and Earth....

Before Nova could go on with her thoughts, the front door slammed open with a mighty kick.

Marco and Star fell into a fighting stance, reaching for the closet object they could find.

“Who's there?” Marco called out, butter knife held tightly in his hand.

“We're armed!” Star warned, holding Mr. Spatula high “Dangerously armed.”

“Relax!” Jack's voice called out though it was laced with strain “I'm just here to grab Nova and head over to the magic show.”

Everyone shared a look as Jack made his way into the dining room, sweat dripping down his brow as he dragged half-groggy Connor by the collar.

Jack was dressed to impress which wasn't too surprising given he was set to compete today: His hair was slicked back with only his demon gangs remaining free of whatever gel he used, he wore a brightly colored and well kept midnight purple bowtie and collared shirt he claimed he kept cryogenically frozen for only the most important occasions, his trademark vest had been been replaced with a dark blue variation that shimmered brightly with dozens upon dozens of sequins giving the illusion they were twinkling stars with a rose tucked neatly in the pocket. His pants were black and his loafers were shined to an impossible luster.

Connor, the poor inventor, did not look as well prepared. In fact he looked like Jack just dragged him out of bed: He was wearing black faded t-shirt that had seen better day and plaid sweats, his glasses hung off his left ear and he generally seemed utterly confused what was going on at the moment.

“Wha?” Connor mumbled tiredly “Whazzgoinon?”

“Ugh!” Jack gave a dramatic groan “Come on buddy, you got to look presentable.”

“Jack” Connor murmured “You literally broke into my house and dragged me to...” Connor groped for his glasses “Is this Nova's?”

“Hi Connor” The room greeted.

Connor gave a sleepy wave in return.

“Yes!” Jack said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world “I can't take you like this four eyes.”

“Whose fault is...?” Connor began only for Jack to drape a large, elegant red cape over him “Whazzthis?”

“Just hold still” Jack scolded as he gave the fabric a mighty tug.

Connor stood there shell shocked as he carefully glanced over his new outfit: A dark red collared shirt, beige khakis over his trademark sneakers, his glasses realigned perfectly with his eyes.

“...did you just...?” Connor slowly turned to Jack who waved him off.

“Yes, now eat something and let's go!”

“.....were you carrying those clothes this whole time?” Connor questioned as he took a seat.

“Like I'm going to tell you.”

Nova shook her head “I know it's your big day but dragging us to your show isn't very gentlemanly of you.”

“Nonsense” Jack gave a flourish with his hand “You two agreed to it.”

Nova rose an eyebrow “When?”

“Weeks ago.”

“I don't remember this ever coming up” Connor chimed in.

Jack scoffed “Of course it did, read back. I mentioned it.”

Nova and Connor both reached for their cells to check their previous messages only for Jack to snatch them out of their hands and with a flick of his wrist, sent them vanishing into thin air.

“Hey!”

“Not again” Connor muttered in defeat.

“You'll get them at the show” Jack said with a finality to his voice “Now get ready!”

“Magic?” Hope's voice piped up out of nowhere “I love magic.”

“Sweetie” Marcus began, the worry evident in his face “We came all this way to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Diaz, I don't know if....”

“Please dad” Hope pleaded

Marcus seemed torn when Faith gently placed her hand on his shoulder.

“She would have fun” Faith explained “And she wouldn't be bored listening to us adults talk especially it's very clear Nova is going.”

“I'll go too!” Sol added, pushing back his chair and racing upstairs to get ready.

Marcus's lips turned into a frown “Now if Sol's going....”

“It's fine” Nova spoke up quickly “I'll be there watching over Hope.”

“That's true” Marcus mumbled “and Connor will be there so I really don't have anything too....”

“I need the biggest cheering squad I can get” Jack added “and I've got like 5 tickets.”

Thunk, the sound of something pressing against the glass window filled the room.

Everyone turned to see a wide eyed Katrina staring excitedly through the clear glass

“I love magic shows” She stated eagerly.

“Looks like Katrina's going too” Nova added “A magical princess, the most responsible inventor and the Queen's bodyguard, she'll be in safe hands.”

“Alright” Marcus conceded “but make sure Sol doesn't convince her to go on any crazy backstage adventures.”

“We won't” Connor rose his hand “I promise.”

“Besides, it's a magic show” Nova said with an air of confidence “What could possibly happen?”

Jack slowly turned his head towards the magical princess. You could hear the crunching of his bones as he gave her the deepest glare he could muster.

“Great” he answered with an exasperated whine “Now something's bound to happen! Thanks Nova”