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huffle-dork · 16 days

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Swap Across the CrystalVerse Chapter 8: PW Timeline

Read Swapboys | Crystal’s AUs | Read the PW Timeline

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It's an awkward drive to Marvin's house, as Chase and Jackie are still silently digesting the idea of alternate universes, but thankfully, it's a short one. Chase soon pulls to the side of the road in front of an average-looking one-story blue suburban house. "Here we are," he says. "Alright. Out we go."

Marvin is looking out his front window when they arrive. "Hey Alt? Are those your friends getting out of the car? I mean, I hope they are. If Chase and Jackie ended up picking up strangers it'd be fucking weird."

Alt almost glitches over to the window but restrains himself and peeks through it. He relaxes as he sees Bro and Jackie getting out of the car. "Y-Yeah that's them! Thank god..."

"Nice." Marvin walks over to the front door. "JJ, keep the cats distracted."

Marvin doesn't need to tell him twice, as he's already busy dangling a cat toy on a string for Luna to play with. Ragamuffin sits in the chair nearby pretending to not be interested, but his eyes are following the toy.

"Great," Marvin says, and opens the door. "Hey!"

"Hey!" Chase waves. "Fucking crazy, right?!"

"Fucking wild!" Marvin keeps the door open long enough for everyone to come inside and then quickly closes it.

Bro waves once inside, "Yo! How's it going?"

"Thanks for letting us come over, makes this all easier-" Jackieboy says with a timid smile.

"No problem," Marvin says. "Well... I don't usually like people coming over, but when the fuck am I gonna have the chance to talk to people from a parallel universe? This is probably, like, a one in a million years chance. "Also, hey Jackie! Good to be out of the hospital?"

"Oh god yes," Jackie says. "I was losing my mind in there. But I'm all good now!" He notices Alt, then. And he just... stares at him.

Alt blinks at Jackie's reaction and then finds himself glitching a bit around his shoulders. He hunches in his hoodie and then sheepishly waves. "Uh... hi? I'm Alt."

Jackie jumps a little at the glitching. Then he suddenly laughs. "Wow, you don't look anything like Anti. Hi, I'm Jackie." He smiles and holds his hand out for a handshake.

Alt brightens quickly and grins, going to shake Jackie’s hand. Jackie can feel a bit of a buzz underneath Alt’s skin when they shake hands- like touching a recently on LCD TV. “thank god for that…”

"Uh, I dunno if that comes across how you mean it to," Chase mutters.

"Oh, uh..." Jackie’s hand wavers for a second. "I just mean that you're clearly not a bad guy. Does that make sense?"

Alt laughs lightly, “no I got it. That actually… means a lot. Thanks.”

"No problem." Jackie looks at his hand after they're done shaking. "Wow. You're... buzzing? That's weird. That's so weird."

Alt flushes slightly and quickly puts his hands back in his pockets. “Uh… y-yeah I’m… k-kinda electric. Sorry I-it’s weird-“

He's very nice, JJ says from where he's sitting on the sofa. He looks at Bro and Jackieboy. He whistles You really do look just like Chase and Jackie.

"I'm flattered that you think I'm as buff as this guy," Chase says.

Bro laughs, “It’s probably more in the face. I guess!”

Jackieboy grins, “We’d look even more alike if I remembered my glasses.”

“Dr. j is gonna scold you so hard for forgetting again.” Bro snickers.

Jackie rolls his eyes.

Marvin blinks. "Dr. J...?" He looks at JJ. "That... wouldn't happen to be... an alternate version of you, would it?"

I can't imagine being a doctor, JJ says, frowning. Too much pressure. I always wanted to be an actor, actually, but stuff happens.

"Oh, grand, maybe I can put in a good word for you at the theatre," Marvin says excitedly.

“Oh yeah! Dr. J’s our JJ!” Bro grins.

“Henrik’s our actor,” Jackie smiles. “He’s very good too- despite being deaf.”

Chase's eyes widen. "Wait wait wait. You have a Henrik, too?"

JJ blinks. And he's deaf?

Jackie nods, “Yeah! There’s… a reason for that but that might be a bit much to get into.” He smiles nervously.

JJ nods. I understand. I'm similar. Not deaf, but still. The sign language probably gives away some stuff.

“Where’s your Henrik?” Bro asks with a head tilt. “I don’t think I heard you all mention him yet.”

Chase coughs. "Bit of a sensitive subject. He's... in a hospital called Silver Hills. It's, a, um... special hospital..."

"It's a psych ward," Marvin says bluntly.

"Marvin!" Chase gasps.

"What? You were getting nowhere tiptoeing around it! And everyone in the city knows Schneep's there, these guys might as well know, too."

"It's not even a psych ward," Jackie mutters. "That's a department attached to a main hospital. Silver Hills is an... institution all its own."

The swaps eyes all widen slowly.

“…oh…” Bro says quietly. “Is he… okay?”

“…sometimes going to a place like that is a good thing?” Jackie adds.

Alt holds his arms, looking uncomfortable.

"He's, um... getting better," Chase says slowly. "H-he's had some problems for a while, but, uh... a year ago—two years ago now, actually—"

"Seventeen months," Jackie corrected quietly.

"—things got... a bit worse, a-a-and then he got..." Chase is noticably not looking at Alt. "...he disappeared... for a while... People thought he was killing people, b-but he wasn't. When they found him again he was... really out of it. A-and a whole bunch of stuff has happened since then that hasn't... helped with that."

"But it's getting better," Marvin adds firmly. "I'm sure everything will be alright soon. The police just have to do their job." He huffs a little. "Competently, ideally."

“Oh man…” Bro whispers. “I’m… so sorry.”

"Thanks, other me," Chase says. Then laughs. "God, the absurdity of saying that really does undermine the moment for me."

“At least he’s getting better!” Jackie tries to add cheerfully.

"Yeah, he's getting much better," Jackie agrees. "It's great to see, actually." He smiles a little.

Alt, of course, noticed that Chase isnt looking at him. He grips his arms tighter and squeezes his eyes shut, trying to not let this random guilt eat him alive. He didn’t hurt this world’s Schneep- he wouldn’t. So why does it still feel like this…?

JJ notices Alt's expression. He walks over and taps his arm, gently getting his attention. It's not your fault, he says. Aneirin is his own person who makes his own choices. Just because you are related to him does not make you the same. And it does not make you responsible for what he does. There's a fierce light in his eyes as he signs this.

Alt slightly glitches anyway, even if JJ is gentle. He watches his signs and feels his vision get a bit fuzzy as he wipes at his face. "...thanks... It's just hard seeing... so many versions of you do horrible things... universe after universe." He grips at his jacket over his heart and takes a shaky breath, "...but I'm trying to remember... I'm not him. I just... can't help... feeling bad. It's like hearing your twin did a killing spree and now you.. have to live with looking like him. Seeing the... fear in people's eyes." He shakes his head, "S-Sorry... that's probably too much... I..."

JJ smiles gently. No, it's fine. I know exactly what you mean. That's literally what happened to me. I mean, Aneirin is older than me, not my twin, but still. The first time I met Schneep, he thought I was him. But I'm not. And you're not, either.

Alt returns JJ's small smile after a beat. He nods, "... yeah... Thank you JJ... that must be... really hard."

"Oh shit!" Marvin suddenly shouts. He looks around. "Sorry. I just realized. Don't you guys pop up near, uh, parallels of people you know? That's what you said, right? Does, uh, does Schneep count in that list?"

Alt startles slightly and glitches, looking over at Marvin. Bro and Jackie look at each other.

"...uh yeah? Probably-" Jackie says slowly.

Bro goes pale, "...Mag-"

Alt's eyes widen.

"YeahexactlythatswhatIwasworriedabout," Marvin says, voice squeaking.

"What, uh, what sort of stuff does your 'Magnificent' guy do?" Chase asks nervously. "H-how worried should we be?"

"Very worried-" Alt says quickly. "He... He does mind games, hypnotism- he might try to-!"

"Fuckkk that is not something good you should do to a psych ward patient!" Jackie squeaks.

"Jesus fucking christ!" Jackie goes pale. "Yeah, no, other me is right, S-Schneep's not good with that sort of stuff." He shivers at the memories that come to mind. "A-and that's--that's without all the weird magic bullshit you guys have."

Bro starts to race to the door.

"Whoa, hey, Chase!" Marvin shouts. "Other Chase! Do you know where you're even going?!"

"No! But we should hurry! I could fly there and-"

Jackie quickly grabs Bro and pulls him back , "You can't go flying here, Chase! You'll cause a panic!"

"I-I mean, go ahead and fly there if you want to be all over the news!" Marvin stammers. "But I don't think Chase wants to deal with the fallout of that, considering you two look so much alike."

"Oh yeah, no, I don't even want to think about the drama that'd happen from that," Chase says. "I'm a, uh, semi-public figure."

Bro pauses then nods, "Yeah I... I wouldn't want to do that to you... Okay."

Chase, do you think we can all fit in your car? JJ asks.

"Uh--if you all squeeze in, probably. It won't be legal, but fuck it."

Alt then suddenly glitches as his phone starts to ring. He blinks and then looks down at it with surprise.

Jackie and Bro give him a wary glance.

When Alt checks the number- it's just static. He almost feels- drawn to it for a second before he shudders and tosses the phone to Bro. He nods. "...You know who it is."

Bro nods gravelly and answers the call. It's a video call- of course and soon Mag's face appears. He frowns when he sees who's answering it. "Fantastic. Where is my cub?"

"Not here, Mag, so just-"

"Don't~ lie to me hero~! That's not in your moral handbook now, is it?" The mad magician cackles.

As soon as the guys hear Magnificent's voice, they all cluster around Bro, trying to get a look at the screen. "What the fuck?!" Marvin gasps. "What's wrong with your fucking eyes?"

"You have Schneep, don't you?" Bro spits.

Mag gets very quiet at the other end before he sighs dramatically, "Why must you always ruin my fun, Brody?"

"Fuck your fun!" Jackie bites at the camera.

"Oh yes- you're here too." Mag drawls with a bored eye roll.

"Where's Schneep, you motherfucker?!" Jackie demands, pushing his other self aside.

JJ studies the screen, trying to figure out what details he can gain from the background. A warehouse? he says, glancing at the others.

"Yeah that's like- one of his m-o's" Jackie mutters.

"Oh hello, new kittens! Are you worried about your poor doctor? Well don't worry~ He's right here." He shifts the camera to show he's gripping up Schneep by his hair as he dangles entranced between his claws.

Jackie cries out, all his bravado instantly disappearing. "No! Schneep, no!" he screams. "H-hang on! Okay?!" He starts reaching for the phone but Chase pulls him back, knowing that there's nothing grabbing the phone will do.

"What do you want?" Marvin asks. "People like you always want something."

JJ steps out of sight of the camera. There's only one place in the city that has warehouses, he says. We can find him if he won't tell us where he is.

Jackie nods to JJ and Alt seems to pick this up as well- even if he stays away from the screen.

Bro's eyes glow with anger as he yells out, "What the fuck, Mag! The people here have no magic! Nothing! Why are you doing this?"

"Because there’s nothing here, hero! So- I want to leave and I need you goody-two-shoes not to get too chummy with your other selves so my cub can come here and take us somewhere better already!" Magnificent giggles. "As fun as it is to see this one so docile and helpless... there's not much here. It wouldn’t even be fun to kill my other self… way too easy. So- Alt, I know you're listening~ You should hurry on down here quickly... before I get bored of this snack of mine."

Alt pales and curls his hands into fists at his side, shaking slightly.

"Or you know what? This world's Jackie's screams were so delightful just now~! Why don't I get this started early and-"

Alt yells and glitches to be in front of the phone, grabbing it from Bro, "Magnificent let him go or I swear I'll-!"

But, Alt only sees Mag's smug face on the screen for a spilt second before the phone fills with spiralling magic. And Alt is caught right away. His angry expression falls scarily blank as the magic fills his eyes.

"That's it, kitten. Come here."

Alt's shoulders buzz with glitches and his hands start to turn to pixels, sinking into the phone- "NO!" Bro yells and tackles Alt to the ground, making the phone go flying.

The guys from this world all reel back, stunned by what's happening. Chase scoops up the phone, covering the screen with his hand. "Y-you bastard!" he shouts, glaring at the camera. "I-I don't know anything about your magic shit but I know a dirty trick when I see one!"

JJ crouches by Alt, shaking him, trying to snap him out of whatever this is.

"You're gonna get what's fucking coming to you!" Marvin shouts.

Alt is weakly trying to fight Bro off him, trying to break into pixels but Bro keeps grabbing him before he can start to glitch. The static is so loud.

Magnificent laughs loudly from the phone. “You’re only making this harder for Henrik, kittens! Come now, let’s not delay this hm?”

“S-Shut off the phone!” Bro tries to shout, “Break it if you have to!”

Chase nods. He tries turning off the phone but it won't just shut off with the power button so he slams it against the wall until the screen goes black. He stands there, breathing heavily. There's a crack across the screen but it seems intact otherwise.

Mag’s laughter and the accompanying static cuts off and the room falls quiet.

For a scary beat, Alt stares out with another blank expression. But then the magic stutters out and he quietly gasps before breathing heavily, looking around in panic.

Bro slumps and sighs in relief.

“God…” Jackie kneels down by Alt and pats his shoulder. “You okay?”

“Y-Yeah… yeah I… fuck-“ Alt breathes.

JJ sighs once Alt comes back to himself. Take deep breaths. In for four, hold for seven, out for eight.

Alt nods dazedly and follows JJ’s encouragement to breathe. His heart starts to calm down.

Marvin stares at the phone in Chase's hand. "Well. That whole thing was uh..." He hisses. "...bad."

Jackie laughs. "Understatement of the year. We have to go get him!"

Chase nods. "Um... Alt?" He holds the phone out to him. "S-sorry."

Alt looks up at Chase and his phone and then he smiles had shakes his head. “No it’s… it’s okay. You helped me- mag would have…he was g-going to-“

“That motherfucker was gonna strand us here in this universe and just take you!” Jackie yells, throwing up his arms. “God he’s such a slimy bastard!!”

Bro gets up and helps Alt up too, “…I guess we gotta drive to the warehouse district now… we gotta help Schneep.”

"Let's not waste any time then!" Jackie snaps.

"No, let's waste some time so we can find stuff to beat that motherfucker to death with," Marvin says.

"Not literally, right?" Chase says.

"Course not."

"Okay, in that case I have a tool kit in the trunk of my car, there's definitely a hammer, a wrench, and a tire iron in there."

Are knives fair game? JJ asks. Can we use the knives from your kitchen, Marvin?

"Hell yeah. Normally I'd be upset with people using my stuff for what it's not supposed to be for, but this is a special case."

"JJ, you sit in the front and give Chase directions," Jackie says. "The rest of us gotta figure out places to fit."

The swaps all look to each other and nod. “We have to be careful though…” Alt says quietly, “Mag isn’t above trying to kill someone if he doesn’t get his way.”

“Well… we’ve faced the threat of death before,” Jackie says. “Unfortunately. So we can deal with that.”

“Who knows… maybe this’ll be over fast,” Bro shrugs, “Seems like he just wants out of here.”

“Let’s just focus on getting to Schneep fast- being controlled like that is not easy on the mind…” Jackie mumbles.

Alt perks up, “Oh- to fit and so… mag can’t get to me right away, I could hide in one of our phones. S’not the most pleasant but probably better than being squished in a car…”

“You can hide in… okay sure, guess this might as well happen,” Marvin says. “This day is already so god damn weird.”

Alt looks almost embarrassed as he hunches in his hoodie.

“Ha- John Malaney nice.” Jackie snickers.

“You can use mine, Alt,” Chase says. “Since I’ll be driving I won’t need to look at it. The other four of you can probably fit in the back seat.”

JJ had briefly disappeared down the hallway and now returns with a pair of chef’s knives from the kitchen, which he shoves in his bag.

Bro watches JJ and hums under his breath, “It’s always the JJs with a knife- maybe we need to teach Dr. j that…”

Ready to go when you guys are.

“Great,” Chase nods. “To the car, everyone. On the way there, tell us everything you know about this guy so we can prepare.”

Alt nods, “We’ll catch you up.”

————

In the warehouse, Magnificent yells in frustration as he loses contact with the others and almost throws his phone but thinks better of it. He sighs dramatically then hangs on the stack of boxes he’s sitting on. “Godddss! It’s so dull here!” He whines. He eyes Schneep and hums in thought then slinks towards him. “Say, Henrik- I saw a most peculiar figure in that head of yours… the man with the dual colored eyes. Why don’t you tell me about him, hm?”

Schneep shudders. He doesn’t want to talk about him, but the hypnotism makes him do it anyway. “A-An… ti,” he whispers. “H-he tricks me, lied to me, pr-pretending to be more powerful than he is. F-forced me to take the blame for him hurting people. Or making me do it. J-Jackie… Jackie was… I-I didn’t want him to hurt Jackie. Or that other man, Jameson. How cruel is it, to hurt your own brother…? Th-they say Anti is gone now, i-is that true? Sometimes I do not remember…”

Magnificent hums in slight interest, “Really? Huh… so my cub is also not extraordinary here… just a delusional killer. Pity.” Mag shrugs, “I don’t know anything about your Anti. Cruelty is often a useful tool against the weak. At least he seems to use that well.” Mag sighs dramatically again. “Maybe I’ll just start taking life forces from sure boredom…”

"Not... extraordinary? S-so many people have died, that is u-unusual." Schneep pauses. "But not like you..."

Magnificent makes a flippant gesture with his hand, “Death means nothing. Human lives are just collateral. Power is the thing that matters most. But, I’m sure I’ve taken more lives than a lowly human has- if we must measure by lives.”

Schneep blinks. "Really? I... only know of the thirteen th-that he made me help with. But I know there were many more. S-Since he was very young." Fear flicker in his eyes. "He told me once he killed Marvin. That was a lie, but Marvin says he did try..."

“Hm- amusing.” Magnificent chuckles, “I’ve lost count. Could be more than that… could be less. Not that many of them mattered. They just got in my way.” He laughs, “The humans at least. Magicians I spare… in a sense, at least.” He eyes Schneep and hums, “I wonder if it would be worth it to kill you- or your friends. Maybe it’ll spare you all this pitiful existence.”

Schneep's eyes flicker, the magic hesitating. "I-I like my existence, I don't want to--please don't--"

Magnificent laughs, and with a quick flick of his finger, magic catches the front of Henrik’s shirt and pulls him closer. “Oh… it is always fun to hear you things beg.” He giggles madly. “But, tell me, Schneeplestein…. What is it that makes you want to continue, hm? You’ll been ostracized, villainized for something you didn’t do. Institutionalized. Deemed crazy. Sure, you might get out soon, but your mind is forever sullied. Is that worth it all?” Magnificent hums with false sympathy.

Schneep breathes heavily. "I-it is not just for me. I don't live just for me. I have friends--and more to do. More to give. I-I don't care what the world thinks, if I know the ones I care about are safe, I-I cannot leave them. If I have hurt them, I must make up for it. I can make a new life. I can make a new life."

Magnificent growls and pushes Schneep away. “Blargh. You’re as bad as my own annoyances. Such human attachments. Disgusting.”

Schneep stumbles backwards and falls to the floor. "Human... attachments? You are not... human?" He shivers. This is all too much. He can't handle this. His mind drifts off and he goes silent.

Magnificent laughs, his burning green eye lingering in Schneep's mind as he drifts.

"Oh no child, I am so much more~"

-----------

"All these warehouses look the same," Chase mutters.

There are about six of them, and he drives down the road dividing them into two rows. "How are we supposed to know which one he's in? Not like this evil fucking magic guy has a car."

"I don't know, do you guys have magic shit to help find him?" Marvin is understandably stressed out by this whole thing. Not only is their friend in danger, but four grown men sitting in the back seat of a car is very crowded, and he doesn't like being close to people.

"Mmm we might...? Honestly we kinda just- stumble into him usually." Jackie mumbles.

"Or I fly around to look for signs of him. Like- green glowy shit-" Bro comments.

Alt is lurking in Chase's phone, the screen buzzing with green and blue glitches as he listens. He tries to feel out for Mag's presence- "Maybe... nearer to the edge." He voices calls out, like he's on the other end of a phone call.

"Alright, got it," Chase says. "Near the edge. Hang on." He pushes the gas down, speeding up. "We'll start there. Other me can look around for stuff. I don't think people come out here that much so flying probably wouldn't attract that much attention."

Soon, the car pulls to a stop and Chase parks it so everyone can get out.

"You said you had a tool box in your trunk?" Jackie asks.

"Yeah, go crazy."

"Ah- I hope someone gets Mag right in the face." Jackie laughs.

Bro chuckles and hurries out of the car, hopping into the air to look around. He seems almost relieved to be back in the air.

Alt buzzes anxiously and then glitches out of Chase's phone, his shoulders hunched as he tenses up in anticipation for danger. Where could Mag be...?

The others all pile out of the car, too.

Does anyone want the second knife? JJ asks.

"I'll take it," Marvin says, and JJ hands it over.

Jackie opens the trunk of Chase's car. "What in here has the most reach?" he mutters, rummaging through the stuff. "Aha!" He grabs the tire iron.

Chase joins him, taking a hammer from the box. "I wish Anti didn't take my gun," he mutters.

"We still need to talk about how the fuck you got that into the country," Marvin calls. "Uhhh anyway let's start looking around."

Alt starts to look around, keeping himself quiet as he prowls forward. Soon enough he shivers and hears static brimming in the air. He points towards the second to last warehouse. “…there. He’s in there-“

Jackieboy whistles for Bro who comes down to join them. He looks at the others and narrows his eyes in determination. “Alright- we out number him but let’s focus on getting Schneep out of there.” He braces himself in front of the door. “Ready?”

The others all quickly gather around.

"Ready," Chase says.

"Beyond ready," Jackie adds.

"Let's kick his ass and get Schneep," Marvin says.

JJ just grips his knife tight and nods.

Bro nods and then goes to burst open the door.

Magnificent quickly grabs Schneep from wherever he was before and goes to grip him by his hair. “Ah! The Calvary arrives~!”

Jackie and Marvin are the first guys from this world to run in.

"Schneep!" Jackie gasps. "I-it's going to be okay! It's going to be okay!"

Schneep's eyes flicker a little. "Ja...ckie?" he croaks out.

"Let him go you bastard!" Marvin shouts. Chase and JJ run up behind him. "I don't care what fucking magic you have, we'll take you out!"

"Whoa, h-hey, don't be hasty, Marvin," Chase says hurriedly. "Just, um... just please put Schneep down, uh, Magnificent..."

Magnificent looks bored as he sees the others file in. He throws Schneep at their feet with a huff of indifference. "I'm not even threatened by your pathetic bravado. Worst universe yet. Is my cub here? I want to leave."

Bro growls and steps forward with burning blue eyes, "Stop calling him that! He's not just some tool you can boss around!"

"Yeah and who died here to make you king, Mag, ya pompous asshole." Jackie snarls.

Alt sees Schneep thrown and quickly glitches over to help him up- and get him away from Magnificent and towards the others. "H-Here- you're okay..."

The guys are not expecting Magnificent to just hand Schneep over, but they're all relieved. "Schneep, over here," Jackie says, reaching out for him.

"J-Jackie...?" Schneep whispers. He blinks. "Chase? Marvin?" His eyes land on JJ and he stiffens slightly. "A-An--" JJ quickly moves out of sight.

"No no, Anti's not here," Chase says quickly. "He's not even in the city. You're fine. This is fine."

Jackie hugs Schneep tightly, glaring at Magnificent. "Yeah, we want you to leave, too," Marvin mutters. "Hurry up and get out of here."

Alt moves back quickly, letting Schneep's friends help him. Then, a hand reaches out and grabs him and he yells out, squirming in Mag's grip. "There you are, kitten! Trying to hide from me~?"

"Hey! Let him go!" Marvin shouts as Mag grabs Alt.

Alt growls and tries to glitch out of Mag's grip but he digs his claws into his skin slightly, canceling them out with his own magical current. Alt shouts in pain and then slumps though he glares at Mag.

Magnificent giggles and brings in Alt close. "Why are you fighting me so hard here, Alt? Can't you see someone like you isn't wanted here? You're only haunting these poor pathetic humans~"

"No-! I...!" Alt tries to argue but quickly deflates. He looks at the crew that's surrounding Schneep and feels his heart clench slightly. The past couple worlds... they all started to feel like friends when they leave. But here... they're all too different, aren't they? He's never felt so detached from people who share the faces of his friends.

"Oh you shut the fuck up," Jackie hisses at Magnificent. "Your fucking bullshit word games and your fucking bullshit power plays. There are people like you everywhere, you're not special because you're magic. All that magic does is give you a chance to act out your worst desires."

"You... i-if you guys want to leave... we won't stop you," Chase says slowly. "But... don't let him get to you, Alt. You're not 'haunting' us, or whatever."

"And we're not pathetic," Marvin adds.

JJ sighs. He rubs his eyes, looking tired. It's clear this man isn't worth our time, or yours. Don't indulge him.

"Yeah Mag! Just because they're human, doesn't mean they're worthless! You are not better than any of us cuz you sold your fucking soul to black magic! You're just a sad lonely loser who uses his power to bully people! Just so you have something to fill that empty void in your chest where your heart used to be!" Jackieboy shouts, and then breathes heavily afterwards.

Bro looks at him with wide eyes. "... that was brewing for a while, wasn't it?"

"Sooo fucking long."

Magnificent growls, looking ready to blast Jackie for daring to speak like that to him but Alt grabs his arm and bites him, making the mad magician scream and let him go.

Alt glitches away and back towards the others. He hesitates then looks to the side, not really wanting to look at their faces. "... I'm sorry for all the trouble we caused. But, thanks for... helping us. Even if it was strange." He says quietly. He looks to Bro and Jackie and tilts his head towards Mag. "...we should go. Before he somehow makes things worse."

The others glance between themselves, feeling vaguely uneasy.

"Did we... do something wrong?" Chase asks.

"I-I think it's just weird for them," Jackie says. "Being in a world without all their magic stuff."

Alt's stomach drops as he looks up and he quickly shakes his head. "No no- you..." He knits his eyebrows together, seeming frustrated. "... I feel... bad. That we exposed all of this to you all. After all the things you went through and not havin' seen it before I... I just hope we... didn't make things worse... for you."

Jackie smiles at Alt, Bro, and Jackieboy. "It's fine. It was nice to meet you. Worth all the strangeness, hah. Once Schneep gets back to himself he's gonna go insa—get really excited about the multiverse being real."

Schneep glances towards the three of them as well. His eyes linger on Alt for a second, confused, but that fades away. "Th-thank you."

Alt looks at Schneep and tries to give him a smile, but it looks sad.

Bro puts his hand on Alt's shoulder and pulls him in,

"Hey bro... we couldn't help it. They'll be okay- they're tough guys, even without all our shit. These guys were ready to beat the ever-loving shit out of Mag! Kinda wish we could have seen that-" He laughs.

"Maybe--maybe you can come back sometime?" Marvin says, laughing a little. "I-I mean, I'd like to hear more about all your magic. But, uh, if you can't, or even don't want to, that's fine, too."

JJ looks at Alt and nods sympathetically. Good luck. For what it's worth, I'm glad to have met you, if only briefly.

Alt is quiet for a second but does look a bit more hopeful at Marvin and JJ's goodbyes. "... it was nice to meet you all too. maybe... maybe one day we can come back. ...maybe."

"We'll have to figure that out another day though cuz Mag is gonna have a conniption-" Jackie grumbles.

"Heh." Chase gives them a small smile. "It's alright. This was... weird, but it's nothing we can't recover from."

"Yeah, we've recovered from a lot." Jackie nods. "Least this time no one almost-died."

"I... don't think I-I understand who you are," Schneep mumbles. "But... thank you for your worry. W-we will be okay. W-we are working on things."

"We'll explain everything to you later, Schneep," Jackie promises. "I think you need to process it first."

He laughs. "That is fair. I-I think I need to go back. They will be so worried where I went."

Alt nods and pulls out the TRVLR. He glares at the screen and whispers, "... let's hope this thing actually works..."

Bro lets go of Alt and goes to grab Mag by the front of his shirt and drags him towards Alt and Jackie. Mag hisses like an offended cat.

Good luck, JJ signs again. And goodbye.

"See you again, maybe," Marvin adds hopefully.

Alt nods and smiles a bit more.

Jackie grins, "Good to meet some normal lads, you all stick in there, alright?"

"Bye!" Bro waves with one hand.

Alt grabs everyone and then, after checking again, presses the jump button.

And they fall, as they always do. But their troubles are not over. The ripple happens again, and their course is diverted. Like a hand reaching out and plucking a feather from the air.

#SATCV #SATCV pw #alt anti #swap magnificent #bro fantastic #jackie mann #man all the action happens in this part XD #you can really see mag being a brat in this one #shorter universe but like cry said to me #hard to mix a magical universe with a crime thriller universe the tones just kinda clash!#i used to be a bit embarrassed i guess? by the ending?#but i still loved exploring this #and god i need to finish pw its sooo good #go read it if you havent!!

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