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huffle-dork · 2 years

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Acting on Impulse (SwapBoys AU)

Previous Story| SwapBoys masterpost

(Hello Friends! New Swapboys chapter that actually continues the story! But uh... yall might be mad at me for this one- let's just sayyy Alt is gonna be making a bad decision ;3)

“Thank you for inviting me to do the ‘hanging out’ with you all!” Henrik beamed at the others.

Jackie laughed and waved him off before quickly going back to the match him and Bro were playing.

“It’s nothing Hen! Besides- now we can get you more accustomed to modern things- OH YOU FUCKING BITCH-?!” Jackie suddenly screeched as Bro’s character on the screen threw a projectile at Jackie’s car and sent him careening off screen. The hero had a shit-eating grin on his face as he just briefly glanced Jackie’s way. The father looked ready to strangle him.

“Oh- that was a bad move, yes?” Henrik asked timidly.

“For Jackie, yeah!” Bro laughed. Jackie quickly elbowed him and Bro had to fumble to keep his controller in his hands.

Jameson looked up from the top of his book and tsked quietly, “Don’t get physically violent over a game, you two.”

Jackie pouted, “Don’t use the dad voice, jayyy!”

“Maybe I wouldn’t have to if you didn’t act like a child~” The therapist teased light-heartedly.

The others laugh as Jackie grumbles and tries to focus on getting his lead back. He’s jerking the controller back and forth like he’s actually racing while Bro is leaned up against the couch, still and chill.

“Oh- did you all invite Alt over today as well?” Schneep asks.

“I believe so,” Jameson responded.

“Yeah I texted him- he said he’d be by after checking out a new venue-“ Bro responded, easily skirting the competition in the race, frustrating Jackie further.

Jackie quickly glances the hero’s way, “You gonna put your mask back on before he gets here?”

Bro fumbles with his controller again and reaches into his pocket. “Oh fuck- right!”

Henrik cocks his head to the side, “why must you do that? Alt is our friend now, is he not?”

Jackie shrugs, “he is but- Bro’s being weird about it-“

“It’s not being weird,” Bro mutters, “it’s being cautious.”

Little did they know… Alt hasn’t glitched to the office this time- he stood right outside the door as he heard the tail end of their conversation. His stomach dropped painfully- then he felt anger burst up in his chest. He slammed open the door and strode in, glitches dancing wildly around his frame.

“Being cautious about ‘what’ exactly?” Alt growled, his eyes sparking dangerously.

Jackie yelled and threw his controller down like he got caught doing something he shouldn’t. The game paused itself. Henrik and Jameson exchanged nervous glances towards each other.

Bro jumped to his feet, his mask on crooked as he looked to Alt in surprise. “A-Alt! You’re here! we uh- we didn’t hear you come in-!”

“Answer the fucking question, hero!” Alt spit, glitching closer. “You’re hiding your secret identity from me but- what? Henrik doesn’t count? He’s just as new as I am here!”

“It is n-no problems Alt! I do not even know his name yet!” Henrik tries to speak up with a shaky smile.

Alt doesn’t acknowledge Henrik’s input, staring Bro down. The hero rubs the back of his head as he stumbles over his words.

“It’s nothing Alt really! I just feel- more comfortable-“

“Bullishit!” Alt shouts, “why can’t you just come out and say it huh? You don’t trust me. That’s what it is, isn’t it?”

The room falls silent except for the sound of Alt’s glitching. Finally, Bro sighs and seems to drop his facade, his face becoming more serious and stoic.

“…you’re right. I don’t trust you. Not yet.”

Alt feels like he’s gotten the air punched out of him.

“…why?” He chokes out, hating out weak his voice sounds.

Bro grips his hands into fists at his side. “Alt… I know you mean well- and I’ve loved getting to know you but… you are… a criminal in some ways- and… Magnificent-“

“Magnificent has just as much a hold on Schneep as he does over me!” Alt argues, throwing his hand out towards the gentleman, who seems like he’s trying to hide his face so he can’t understand the argument. “But you’re okay with him knowing!”

“The… circumstances are different Alt-“ Bro tries to explain.

Alt’s glitches are now affecting the lights and electronics around them, making them flash with green and blue light as they flicker on and off.

“We’ve both been puppeted by that fucking cat bitch and you all agreed to help us! To be both of our friends… to trust us! But… you all just want to baby weak pathetic Henrik! You don’t know how to handle anyone else who you can’t coddle, is that it?!” Alt hisses.

“Alt, that’s not it!” Jackie tries to speak up.

“Please Alt just- try to take a deep breath.” Dr.J pleads.

Bro can’t look Alt in the eye as the glitch tries to hold back tears.

“…just- give it to me straight.” He pleads to the hero.

Bro sighs, going to hold his arms.

“…it’s how you both reacted… to Magnificent’s control.” Bro starts, “It’s… hard to explain but- when Henrik was under he… was more robotic and emotionless. It seemed like he was not himself at all. But you… you were… more wild and erratic. But- you seemed-“ Bro grits his teeth and then grunts in frustration. “I don’t know how to say it nicely! Just… all the things you said at the cafe… the way you acted just… how- how can I trust you after all of that?!”

Alt is shocked into silence. But then- the glitching reaches a crescendo and a high pitched whine fills the air along with the sharp sounds of static.

His eyes glow brightly as he snarls, “Say no more. I’ll get out of your fucking hair then.”

The electronics all snap and fizzle as Alt glitches away, leaving the air feeling charged and tasting of hot metal.

As he tries to leave though, Dr.J tries to push past Bro and reach out for Alt, “Wait! Alt!”

Once he’s gone Jameson whirls around and smacks Bro hard on the arm. The hero jumps. “Ow! J??”

“How could you say all of that to him, Chase?!” The normally kindly doctor shouts in anger, “He needs people now more than ever! And now all you’ve done is driven him away!”

“I… I never meant it in a way that we couldn’t be friends!” Chase tries to argue back shakily, “just… that I need time!”

“Then you should have just said ‘I need time’ and left it at that! All the things you’re holding against him aren’t even his fault!”

Chase looks lost and looks to Jackie for reassurance. The father shakes his head, “…I agree bro… I think you took it too far…”

There’s a sound of slight sniffling as Henrik looks up to the others, tears in his eyes, “I… I do not want special treatment! I do not want us to be broken apart…!”

Chase feels his stomach sink. Jackie goes over to comfort Henrik as Jameson gazes up to the hero.

“…I think you know what you need to do, Chase.”

The hero sighs and grabs his stuff.

“I’ll go find him and make this right, I promise.”

——

Alt yelled as he threw the scrap metal over his head and watched as it clang heavily against the hanger doors. He was in a scrap yard he liked to frequent for goods. But, he didn’t care about any of that right now. He just needed to break things.

He grabbed another piece and chuckled it and watched as it shattered against the ground. He then yelled again and pulled at his hair as a painful round of glitches overtook his body.

He hated this… he hated all of this! He hated that bro couldn’t trust him- he hated that he ran away! He hated being the odd one out! But most of all…

He hated that Bro was right.

He shouldn’t trust him. Alt knew this… Alt knew he was one of the most untrustworthy people ever. He was a pickpocket for fuck’s sake! Of course he couldn’t be trusted!

But… for a bit he thought… he thought things could be different. He’d always been the one left out of things. All his life people saw him as different… they excluded him. He thought that wouldn’t happen this time. He was really starting to trust them… so why couldn’t Bro trust him back?

Alt cries out in frustration and- a ripple of purple and green magic rockets out from him and explodes a couple piles around him. He backs up with a fearful expression and looks at his hands as they glitch green and purple.

That… was the other problem. After their last encounter… Magnificent had done something to Alt. He could hardly remember what but… his already unstable powers were even more so. He was getting headaches and hot flashes, visions of swirling eyes and constant deep laughter echoing in his head. The feeling of shadows looming over him constantly.

Magnificent may have let them all go after last time… but he wasn’t finished.

Alt wanted to cry. He didn’t know what was wrong with him… he couldn’t control what was happening to him. He almost blew up everything in Jackie’s office- he could have hurt them! How… can he let himself stay beside them when he was so… dangerous?

But- they promised to help him. They said they were friends and they’d help him get away from Magnificent! He’s tried a couple sessions with Dr. J but… he didn’t have the heart to tell the doc that nothing was working. In fact- it felt like it was getting worse.

Another sharp headache assaulted Alt’s head and it was enough to send him reeling. He leaned against the big iron doors to the storage hanger and closed his eyes. He felt hot and shaky again- like his blood was getting replaced with static. Laughter echoed loudly and painfully in his head. Little did he know, his eyes were flickering with purple light.

There was sudden movement around the corner- the slinking of something in the shadows. If it was one of Magnificent’s damn panthers again-!

Alt whirled around, holding out a charged green hand towards the movement. “G-Get the fuck away from me you-!”

His retort died down in his mouth as he saw the shadow though.

“Bro…?”

Bro Fantastic was standing in the flickering street light that illuminated the small space around the hanger, hands up in a hurried symbol of peace.

“H-Hi Alt,” The hero tried to laugh.

The glitch narrowed his eyes, “What are you doing here? How did you find me?”

“To be honest- your glitching is really easy to see from above if you know what to look for…” The hero admitted, rubbing his neck. “I also… came to apologize.”

Alt looks skeptical and raises an eyebrow at the hero, crossing his arms. Trying to put on a good show that his hands arent shaking like crazy and his head isn’t killing him.

“I… shouldn’t have been so…brash-“ The hero starts, looking uncomfortable. “Even if it’s true I… shouldn’t have said it like that. Cuz… none of that is your fault. It’s… a me thing… you know?”

Alt grips arm tight, nails digging into the skin though the fabric. He grits his teeth and looks away.

“It’s… fine, hero. I get it. I know I’m… I'm not someone people can just trust. I’m… im used to it- being the odd one out. So just… just drop it-“

“No!” Bro shouts, surprising the glitch. The hero looks at him with determination burning in his eyes. “Just because you’re used to it doesn’t mean it’s okay! In fact… no- I was wrong… we’re all friends- we’re all equals so…”

He seems to brace himself before he lifts up his hands to remove his mask.

Alt starts, holding out a hand.

“W-Wait!”

But Bro easily removes his pink mask. As he does his vibrant yellow green hair fades to brown and he looks up to Alt, his eyes a bit paler and more natural looking. He gives Alt an uneasy smile.

But, much to his surprise, The second Alt registered Bro’s face- the collection of freckles on his cheeks, the brown hair, his face shape, his pale blue eyes- Alt knew exactly who he was.

He stumbled back like he’s seen a ghost, face turning pale and glitches starting to build up around him wildly.

“N-No way… C-Chase?”

Bro’s eyes widen, taking a cautious step back, “woah woah what?! You- knew my name already? Who told you?!”

Alt’s mind was reeling- he was spiraling. All these years- and…

He just shakes his head, trying to form words but only hushed exclamations of confusion leave his mouth. He stumbles back before disappearing yet again in another barrage of glitches.

“Wait! Alt??” Bro tries to call after him then he curses, “That fucking kid…”

He looks down at his mask, gripping the fabric tight in his fingers. How did Alt know…?

———

Alt hardly cared that he glitched in some random patch of forest he didn’t recognize. He immediately went to punch at whatever was in sight. A tree ended up being his first victim.

He didn’t even try to use his magic- but his punch sent a pulse of green electricity that dented the wood and made lichtenberg figures that danced along the bark. He screamed in anger then started to hit the tree again, then turned around and kicked another. He clawed and tore at anything he could get his hands on- energy burning hot in the air. His eyes glowed neon and toxic with overflowing magic before he stumbled back and looked at the smoking carnage he left.

He heaved, chest tight as he tried to catch his breath. He didn’t even know what he was doing. He never… let his powers go out of control like that. He still didn’t know how they worked really.

The thought of that had him gnashing his teeth in rage. He yelled and sent another powerful punch into another tree trunk before starting to rant to himself.

“I bet ‘Chase’ has his powers all figured out. He always was Mr. Perfect…”

The pickpocket scoffed then kicked at the ground. “Perfect grades, perfect friends, perfect actual correct body… and now? He has fucking superpowers?!”

He roars again in rage and tears into the bark like a wild animal, green and purple electricity flying.

“Meanwhile what do I fucking get?! A shitty fucking life! Fucking powers I can’t control! No friends- no family- nothing! While he got FUCKING EVERYTHING!”

The glitch screams at the end, a sonic burst erupting around him. He covers his mouth in shock then shakily looks down at his glitching hands. He laughs- but it sounds like he’s about to cry.

“Just a fucking freak…. That’s all I’ve ever been…” He curls his hands into fists. “While my superstar brother got it all…”

Alt yells and then grabs at his head, trying to hold back the tears that want to flow. “I… I get fucking kidnapped and he gets the world?! He abandoned me!! They… they never cared about me!! They were probably glad a-a messed up freak like me was gone from their lives! N-Nothing to hold him back right?! No freak show brother slowing him down! Tarnishing his perfect fucking name!”

He sinks to the ground and feels himself hiccup, curling up into a small glitching ball.

“He… doesn’t even recognize me…”

How could he? It’s been almost 9 years… 9 years since Alt disappeared-since Anti disappeared. He has changed a lot… his life had to change him. While Chase lived the glamorous life of a superhero, Alt lived on the streets, hunting for scraps. Alone and abandoned… afraid to come home with these new dangerous powers. How come Chase had to get powers too? The one thing Alt thought he finally beat Chase at… and he’s still ended up beneath him.

Alt chokes on a sob, gritting his teeth to try not to make a sound. It was pathetic to cry. He knew better- crying doesn’t fix anything.

Alt sighs and leans his head back, resting against the ruined tree and looking at the brief glimpse of stars in between its leaves.

“…I wonder… if I had tried to find my way back home…if I could have changed something, anything from back then… could things have been… different?” He whispers- wishing the stars could answer. Could Alt actually have had that brotherly bond he wanted with Chase? Grew up together- made friends together? Become heroes together?

…no… Alt was too far gone to be a hero. All of this was just wistful thinking. After all- he fucked up. He ruined the only group of people who actually wanted him around… he’d never be more than a loner thief.

Suddenly, Alt’s ears pick up the tell-tale sound of static in the air. He jumps to his feet and pulls out his pocketknife, eyeing the approaching shadows that were forming into sleek feline bodies. Green and purple eyes blinked out from the darkness and the glitch growled.

“Magnificent. The fuck do you want? Or do you always slink around the forest in the middle of the night like the feral cat you are?”

There’s the sound of laughter above Alt- and when he turns he can see the cat masked magician lounging up in the tree’s branches, Cheshire-cat-like.

“My my kitten… you sure are testy tonight~!” Magnificent sings, smirking down at Alt as his panthers surrounded him. “Shouldn’t a master keep a close eye on his apprentice?”

“I ain’t your anything, cat bitch! Fuck off!” Alt screeched at the villain, power zipping around his body like a live wire.

Magnificent sighs and swings off the tree branch, landing on his feet with feline grace. He wipes himself off and starts to approach Alt.

“I think you’re failing to realize just how much I can offer you, Anti. How much I’ve already given you. And… How much I can help you… your so called friends can’t teach you how to use your magic.” He eyes the carnage Alt has caused with a smirk before looking back to address the boy.

“But I can~ I’m one of the only people who can help you.”

Alt looks away, biting his lip as he looks at his green and purple glitches around his hands. Then, he feels another sharp pulse in his temples and his eyes widen. He growls and turns around on Magnificent, spitting in his face.

“Fuck off with that bullshit, Mag! I know you’ve been fucking with my powers! Don’t act like you’re not the one giving me these fucking headaches!”

Magnificent blinks a bit surprised then smirks, impressed.

Alt snarls at the magician, glitches building wildly around him and splitting bits of his body in different directions.

“You really think I’m gonna believe a single word you say after all the fucking shit you put me through? What you made me believe? You gave me more powerful magic, sure, but I don’t know what the hell it is! You could be poisoning me for all I know! You just see me as a fucking tool- a shitty little puppet to use! So stop with this ‘pretending to care’ about me crap and wanting to ‘apprentice’ me cuz I know it’s all fucking lies!”

He then turns away from Magnificent and wipes at his face, muttering to himself. “I know I’m nothing but a mistake. I don’t need you to remind me how fucking useless I am. So just… fuck off, alright?”

There’s silence lingering after Alt is done but- Mag doesn’t leave.

Magnificent prowls closer, petting the heads of his panthers non-chantanently as he approaches Alt. His voice is buttery sweet.

“Alt… I don’t think that about you at all~! Why… I’ve been trying to keep such a tight hold on you because of your potential. I mean… look around you.”

The dark magician gestures to the magical blasts and radius of destruction around them.

“…I didn’t give you the power to do any of this. I merely gave you a power boost. And that… should have only lasted for that day. All these advancements… those are all organically you. You are finding your own strength.”

Alt blinks and looks at Magnificent in surprise.

“…really?” He asks, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

Magnificent nods.

“I never gave you specific powers. Like that sound blast? I couldn’t have given you that. That was all you, kitten.”

Alt stiffens. Just how long had Magnificent been lurking?

He bares his teeth again, stepping back from Mag. “You’ve been spying on me! See- how am I supposed to… to want to learn from you or whatever if you stalk me relentlessly! I’m not… some zoo animal you can study!”

Magnificent cocks his head to the side at this, looking confused.

Then, he sighs, dropping his shoulders.

“My apologizes, Alt. I fear that is… a part of my own past. A… fear- that lingers with me.”

Alt looks taken back. Was… Mag being- vulnerable?

Magnificent makes eye contact with Alt then nods towards him, turning and beckoning him to follow.

“Walk with me.”

The pickpocket watches his back warily before making his way through Mag’s panthers, who cleared the way. He followed a few steps back from Magnificent, studying the magician with a calculated eye. If this fucker tried anything…

After a few minutes of walking, Magnificent stops and turns to look at Alt. There’s none of his usual smirky cocky nature in his eyes. No, instead he looks… almost wistful.

“I see myself in you a great deal, Anti.” Magnificent spoke softly. Alt shivered and held his shoulders.

“You’ve said that before… is that just how you want to butter me up?”

Magnificent chuckles and shakes his head. “No. It’s actually the truth.”

The dark magician looks to the sky, crossing his arms behind his back.

“I wasn’t always… this, you know. I was once like you. Human… frail and weak and… underestimated. No one saw me for my true potential. For who I truly was.”

Alt looks away, grabbing slightly at his chest.

“I had… one friend. I struggled to make them because of my gifts. They all called me a freak. They all doubted me. And eventually… in the end… my only friend betrayed me. Left me in the dust like I was nothing. I was… abandoned. Alone and lost.”

He looks back to Alt and raises an eyebrow. “A story I think you could relate to… yes?”

Alt grips his hands into fists and looks at the ground. It- unnerved him. How similar Magnificent and him were. But… maybe- that didn’t have to be a bad thing?

He shook his head and looked back at Mag.

“Big whoop. You have the same sob story as me. That doesn’t make it okay. How you treated me… how you’re stalking me… it’s wrong! You’re treating me… more like property than a person!”

Magnificent hums at this, slowly nodding.

“I…see. Truthfully- I have only worked with my cats and… puppets.”

He sighs and looks down at Alt with a hint of sincerity.

“…forgive me, Alt. I… did not want to lose such a bright shining star like you. I feared if I was soft… you’d slip away from me. And your potential would be gone forever- eaten up by this cruel world that labels its brightest stars as ‘freaks’.”

Alt feels his chest get a bit lighter. Was… he really that special? Did he have the potential to be.. something great? Someone powerful? Like… chase?

Alt hides his flushed face with his mask and turns away.

“…those are pretty words, Mag. But- I doubt they mean anything. After all… there’s no changing the past.”

The air around them seems to spark with excitement.

“About that… I couldn’t help but overhear earlier… You had such a desire, didn’t you? Regarding your… brother?”

Alt freezes, his blood running cold. Shit-! He knew about Chase-!

He turns to shout at Mag but- He’s suddenly right behind Alt. He grabs one of his arms and whispers next to his ear like a seductress.

“What if I told you… that’s possible. That I know a way to do exactly that…? To change the past?”

Alt jumps away from the prowling villain and eyes him with a cautious glare.

“…it’s possible? How?”

The mad magician chuckles and plays with magic in his hands casually. “Anything is possible with magic, my naive kitten. Did you forget how my darling deaf mouse got here? If you stick with me… once we get your magic strong enough… I can send you back~!”

Alt hesitates. That again… he was really trying to get him to come back to his side. But… something did feel different this time. “…you’d… use such a spell on someone like me? Why?”

Magnificent smirks. “I wouldn’t be doing the spell myself. I’d just be giving you the tools and training to get you there. It would be a joint effort, not a hand out.”

“…what would I have to do?”

Magnificent shrugs, “More of what you’ve been doing… just including more magic training along with it. The targets would probably be on a higher scale however. Complicated spells need high quality materials… You may get more and more tangled with the law… and Mr. Fantastic.”

Alt’s eyes flash angrily as he grits his teeth and grips his hands into fists. “…that won’t be a problem.”

If he changes the past… Chase wouldn’t become Bro… at least-not this Bro. Alt would… get to stay with him. Maybe actually have a chance at a better life… a normal one. Is it worth it to keep working for Magnificent though…? And… the others-

As if reading his thoughts, Magnificent throws out his arms and laughs, “And it won’t matter if any of your friends get in the way! Because we will undo it all… so really- you don’t have to pick a side in the end. You just have to work with me for a little while longer…”

Alt narrows his eyes, “If the spell would just redo it all… what’s the point of getting me stronger? Just to… do the spell and hit the reset button right afterwards?” Alt stuffs his hands in his pockets. “That seems like an awful big waste on your part- especially after you’ve been blabbering on and on about my potential.”

Magnificent chuckles with a shake of his head. “A clever thought. However, just because time would be set back- doesn’t mean you would be. Even if you go back to live as your younger self… your magic would stay the same- in theory. I haven’t tried such a thing myself but- magic is etched in the soul. Souls don’t change like the body does. If trained- it will stay stronger than it was. So, Your soul and your current memories as well should stay intact if you choose to return and try again…”

The glitch contemplates this. He’d… be stronger. He wouldn’t have to hide anymore. Everything Mag once promised him could be his. He’d be able to control his own future… he could make sure his awful past never happened. He’d be able to go in with the knowledge to avoid everything- his kidnapping… he’d have his magic to protect himself. And if the others got hurt in the meantime well… you have to crack a few eggs to get an omelet after all… It wouldn’t matter. They didn’t trust him anyways… with this- He’d be able to become a better person… someone they all could trust. All he had to do was go back…

“If you had this power all along… why didn’t you use it on yourself?” Alt asks, eyeing the magician.

Magnificent shrugs. “I never want to go back to who I was. That weakling isn’t who I want to be anymore. I’ve changed too much. But… if you desire to restart Alt, I can give it to you.” He holds out a hand. “All you need is a guide, and stronger magic under your belt. Those friends of yours will only hold you back… especially if they can’t see just how special you truly are.”

Alt is quiet for a long time before he speaks up again, “…if I work for you again… this time it’s as an equal. No more brainwashing or puppeting me. Got it? I get to help call some of the shots.”

The mad magician grins, offering Alt a bright fire lit hand. “It’s a deal.”

Alt stares at the fire and Mag’s hand.

Another thought occurs to him and he blurts out. “Also- you can’t use Glitches against me! She… and the others- they stay out of this.”

Magnificent face hardly changes as he nods. “Consider it done.”

Alt stammers out one more demand. “And! You can’t… you can’t use Henrik anymore. He goes free.”

Magnificent ‘tsks’ at this, his hand curling up slightly. He’s quiet for a second before he sighs dramatically. “Oh alright. It’s a shame to lose such a good puppet but… It’s done. I will let Schneeplestein go…Now, come on… let’s make it official, apprentice of mine?”

The glitch nods at this, feeling a bit lighter. At least… if he’s signing his soul to the devil- he did one good thing before going down. Schneep didn’t deserve any of this.

Alt sets his expression before finally reaching out and shaking Mag’s hand firmly. The fire travels up Alt’s hand and then circles around his wrist, leaving a thin purple mark that wraps all the way around.

Alt brings up his wrist and studies it.

“What is this…?”

Magnificent smirks. “Proof of our deal. Evidence that I will not go back on my word of getting you to your goal.”

Alt stares at his wrist again before looking back to Magnificent and nodding.

“…alright. What do I need to do first?”

“I think… we should begin by sending Mr.Fantastic a message.”

——

Bro Fantastic checked his tracker device for what felt like the hundredth time that night. This message… It was so strange.

Being a hero for as long as he had meant he wasn’t a stranger to villain calling cards. Some minor villains wanted to face a big hero to prove they had the stuff. Most didn’t. Usually it was an easy arrest for Bro- a minor inconvenience. Sometimes it was funny.

But this one… it felt like it had real weight behind it. A legitimate threat. Which made the hero uneasy. Magnificent was already a new looming threat he was getting used to… could this one be on that level?

It had come to Chase right as he prepared for his usual patrol. A buzz on his phone- a video message from an encrypted number. That had Chase’s heart dropping. Usually, it was a spooky static-y message that came through his crime radio. That was easy enough for a novice villain to tap into… but this one- it was on his personal phone.

With his heart in his throat, wondering what the hell he was getting himself into, Bro opened the message.

The video crackled with static before a warped shadowed silhouette glitched onto the screen. It was hard to tell what features were what but… parts of its head seemed to be pointed like animal ears.

An obviously shifted voice spoke.

“Hello Bro Fantastic. Apologizes for reaching you at home but… I have an important message for you. One that needs us meeting face to face. Downtown Abbey Street. The train station. 30 minutes from now. Don’t be late.”

The video cut off, leaving Bro staring at the blank screen in disbelief. What… the fuck?!

The hero’s mind was racing as he flew down to the Abbey Train station. How had this villain gotten his phone number? Was it leaked? Was he careless? Or… did this new villain know his identity? Part of him is saying not to worry though. No matter what traps or setups these villains made- almost none of them really worked. He’d get this creep behind bars and learn the truth…

He touches down near the platform and looks around, carefully building up energy in his hands in case of a surprise attack.

He heard a crunch of gravel and spun around, opening his palm only to see-

“…Jackie?!”

The father in question had immediately put his hands in the air, looking at Bro with equal surprise.

The hero couldn’t believe it though…

“…what are you doing here? Did you leave this cryptic message?”

Jackie’s eyes widen.

“You got a creepy message too?” He breathed.

Chase lowered his arm and gave Jackie a confused look. Jackie pulled out his phone and walked over to show the hero the message.

“I was just about to call you… JJ and Hen got the same kind of message… all saying to meet here.”

Bro looked up to see Henrik and Dr. J walking towards them from the parking lot, looking around in dread. Chase swallowed and looked down at the video. Sure enough- it was the same creepy silhouette Chase got in his video.

Chase looked up to his friends with increasing fear. This villain wasn’t just targeting him… they were targeting his friends too.

“What could this guy want with all of us?” Bro whispered.

“Why don’t you ask him?” A warped robotic sounding voice called out.

The boys all jumped and spun around to look up. Sitting on the large roof of the train platform in front of a huge clock was a masked figure. They wore a cat shaped mask that was two toned in color, with a shiny green visor in the middle. They had an overly large purple and green jacket that fell off their shoulder, showing a skin tight turtleneck tank that concealed their neck. Gloved hands tapped on the concrete they sat on before they spoke again, a distorted chuckle sounding out.

“Color me surprised. Didn’t expect you to actually beat me here. Given your track records…”

Bro felt his cheeks heat up as he growls out, “The hell is that supposed to mean? Who the fuck are you anyways? If you’re a new villain, fine! But… t-this is too far! What the hell do you want with normal civilians?!”

Jackie grabbed Hen and Dr.J’s hands and pushed them to stand behind him, standing in front of them protectively. He wasn’t a great fighter like Bro… but if need be he can keep them from getting hurt.

The villain chuckles again before getting up to his feet and brushing himself off. He looks down at the assembly and Bro can almost feel the smirk in his voice.

“You really are bad at connecting the dots, aren’t ya Fantastic? I thought I was being rather obvious.”

They sigh and shake their head.

“I have nothing against the ‘civilians’ here. But, they are close to you… and well… I’d like to only say this once.”

“…Do I know you?” Bro asked hesitantly.

The villain laughs and then in a flash of green has teleported down to their level, bits of pixels lingering in the air.

“In a sense~”

Bro’s blood turned cold. There’s… there’s no way- He shifted to be in front of the others, who stared at the villain with wide eyes.

The villain seems to stare at the group before sighing.

“You know what- hold on this isn’t fair…”

He reaches up and unstraps his mask. He laughs- and with the voice filter gone… the four recognize it instantly.

“No…” Dr. J whispers.

The mask falls and a freckled face grins at them with malice sparking in his green blue eyes.

“I shouldn’t be hiding my face, after you showed me yours… right, Chase?” Alt chuckles darkly.

Chase feels disconnected from his body from the shock. Was this a dream? A horrible dream or…?

Henrik covers his mouth in surprise, muttering German curses. Jackie’s jaw drops, staring at their friend in disbelief.

“Alt?” The hero chokes out in confusion.

Alt laughs cruelly, holding his stomach. He then wipes at his eyes and grins, taking in everyone’s shocked faces.

“Damn, Mag was right, that was priceless to see!”

Bro bristles and then charges at Alt, yelling in rage. He grabs him by the jacket and hoists the smaller man up to his eyes, baring his teeth.

“The fuck?! Is this… just some kind of a joke to you?!”

Alt’s smile and joking demeanor drops on a dime as he stares Chase in the face. Hatred seems to burn strong in his eyes. He snorts then glitches out of Bro’s hold, going back to his perch on top of the platform. He stares down at the group coldly.

“‘Fraid not, Fantastic. But, thanks for reminding me to get back on track.” The glitch spit his way.

He stuffs his hands in his pockets and begins, letting his voice echo across the empty train station.

“You all are familiar with my… boss. In fact, he has eyes on every one of you. Some… twisted sense of curiosity, you could say. However, he’s allowing me to extend a warning…”

His eyes glow as he looks down to Jackie, Henrik and Dr.J.

“Stay out of my and Magnificent’s way… and you’ll be spared. Interfere… and well…” He grins wolfishly. “I guess you’ll share Bro Fantastic’s fate.”

“What?! Are- are you planning to kill him?!” Jackie shouts out, pushing to be closer to the glitch.

Alt throws his head back with laughter.

“Kill him? Where’s the fun in that? No… I plan to give the hero exactly what he deserves.”

Chase can feel a hole burning into his chest from where Alt is staring. The hero tries to move his mouth to speak but- nothing wants to come.

Alt sees this and ‘tsks’, rolling his eyes.

“Honestly, I expected a bigger response from such a hot headed oaf like you.”

Finally, Chase finds his voice. And he hates how broken it sounds.

“Alt… why…I thought- you were trying to get away from Magnificent! …why are you doing this?”

Alt looks back down and locks eyes with the hero. The glitch bares his teeth and growls, his blue green eyes sparking with electricity.

“…I’ll let you figure that out on your own, Chase Brody.”

Glitches start to build up on his shoulders as Alt turns and prepares to leave. However, he turns back to the others as he puts on his new mask once more, his voice becoming robotic and sinister.

“Oh and from now on… you will call me Impulse.”

With his message given, Alt then turns into green and blue pixels and glitches away into the night. Leaving the others to stare at each other in dread and disbelief.

Chase feels his knees shake and he crumbles to the ground, the others gathering around him to try to comfort him. But, no one can quite find the words.

#swapboys au #swapboys #hufflewriting #alt anti #bro fantastic #dr. jj #henny schneeplestein #silent film schneep #swap magnificent #manipulation #villain arc #oops- spoilers ;3c #alt's villain arc #acting on impulse #impulse alt #readswapboys

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huffle-dork · 5 months

Text

Swap into the CrystalVerse Chapter 19: Fantasy Masks

Co-written with @crystalninjaphoenix

Read Swapboys | Read Fantasy Masks | AO3 Link

Taglist: @brokentimewatch @di-diwata

There are puddles on the ground and a gloom of clouds overhead, but no rain.

"It looks like the storm stopped recently," Chase comments. "That's good. It means they got delayed but we won't be."

"Are you guys prepared?" Jackie looks back at everyone else, especially Bro and Alt. "We'll get there any moment now, I'm sure."

Alt seems to be a lot better now that he had that rest at lunch. He's practically buzzing with pixels and glitches, but not actually glitching around because he's saving up his energy. His eyes glow green. "Yeah- Yeah I'm ready."

Bro watches his brother and then rests his hand on the hilt of the sword he's borrowed. "Mhm. I hope Mag hasn't messed up too much around here..." He mutters.

I hope the King hasn't messed anything up, Jameson adds.

Henrik squints. "Is that something, or is it just an odd rock?"

"You mean the tower poking up from behind that hilltop?" Chase asks.

"Well, it is hard to tell from here."

"It really isn't," Marvin says.

"No, no, it could be a rock, I can see that," Jackie says, backing up Henrik.

"A strange shaped rock," Marvin mutters. "This is why I was the scout in the early days."

Bro looks at both and tilts his head. "huh... it sounds like you guys need glasses-"

"They probably haven't invented those yet, Chase," Alt points out. Bro winces, "Oh jeez- that sucks."

"What type of glass do you have in your world?" Henrik asks, confused.

"Wait, you mean you can fix the blurry distance?" Jackie's eyes widen. "I can't wait until someone invents that, elders."

Alt laughs, “It’s like- mega glass, and it’s curved in a way that can help you see better. All our friends back home have them.”

“And your boyyyfriend~!” Bro teases, leaning in close to Alt.

Alt turns bright red and shoves at Chase, “He’s not my-! S-SHUDDAP!”

They slowly walk up the hill, the town of Killithair coming into view. Marvin takes some light from his amulet. He closes his eyes, taps his eyelids, and when he opens them again his pupils are dilated wide and glowing white. "I think there's some movement in the streets," he reports. "I'll bet on it being people but I can't tell who. Are we sure the whole town was abandoned?"

"Mm-hmm." Jackie nods. "And four years have passed, I'm pretty sure any scavengers would've learned there's nothing there by now."

The siblings stop their bickering as Marvin does his spell and they both get their serious faces back on. “Then… that must be them- right?” Bro asks.

Alt’s eyes flicker brighter green, his shoulders buzzing a bit louder and popping with static and pixels- he looks like he’s ready to glitch down there on his own.

"Be careful, Alt." Jackie notices Alt's anxiety and holds out an arm to stop him. Then he suddenly grins. "You need to get home safe for your 'boyfriend.'"

Henrik leans closer to Alt. "They never stop this, by the way." He sounds like he knows from experience.

This gets Alt’s attention as his glitches stop- his face flushing red and his eyes widening. “H-Hey…!”

“Heh- nice Jackie!” Bro giggles.

Alt looks to Henrik with a moment of shared sympathy and then glares at the others with red cheeks.

Marvin, this seems like a good time to use one of those magic doorways, Jameson says.

The mood instantly becomes serious once again.

Marvin nods. He takes some light from his amulet and traces a rounded doorway in midair. The middle vanishes. On the other side of the doorway is a cobblestone street lined with white plaster houses.

Alt watches with bright eyes as the doorway is drawn. He looks to the others and then tries to take a step through.

Nobody stops him. Stepping through the magic doorway feels just like stepping through a real doorway. Jackie follows quickly, then Chase and Henrik. Jameson waits for Bro to go, and Marvin waits for everyone to be through before going himself. As soon as he does, the doorway vanishes, leaving a blank wall behind. Jackie presses a finger to his lips--apparently "shush" is inter-universal.

The city is silent. Except... for a pair of distant footsteps.

Alt holds his breath, trying to hold back his glitching to keep quiet. Bro bunches himself up, preparing to leap into action at that first sign of trouble.

Jackie puts a hand on his sword, ready to draw it at any moment, and starts walking towards the footsteps. Chase prepares his bow, Henrik and Jameson take out a knife each, and Marvin's amulet glows yellow-orange.

The group slowly makes their way towards the sound. After passing through a few rows of houses, Jackie stops, gesturing for the rest to as well.

They're in between two houses, a small alleyway. And walking down the street are two people who, even from behind, are clearly the two men that Alt say in the searching charm's vision.

Alt follows after, wanting to build up magic but not wanting to draw attention. Until- he realizes he can definitely tell who those people are. It’s Mag and the King. White hot dread and anxiety wash over him- clouding his judgement. He glitches out from their hiding spot and into the middle of the street- right behind the two figures. He draws the bow he has, lighting the end of the arrow with sparking magic as he barks out. “Hey!! Stop right there!”

The King turns first, surprised. Then he sees Alt and grins. "Not many people manage to sneak up on me," he says. "But now I see you all."

"Fuck!" Jackie shouts, pulling his sword free and lowering his mask. He runs up to Alt, backing him up. A moment later, Marvin moves as well, hanging back with a handful of light.

Alt feels a shiver go down his spine as the King talks. This really was this universe’s version of him. And he hates it. Electricity crackles around him as he bares his teeth at the King.

Henrik, Jameson, and Chase stay where they are, though Chase gets ready to draw and loose his bow.

Bro crouches down to protect the others still hiding, anxiously watching to make sure Alt, Jackie and Marvin are okay.

"I recognize the thoughts of three of you," the King continues. "And you--I can guess. Alt, right? Magnificent's 'cub'?" He glances at Magnificent. "Is that correct?"

Magnificent hardly reacts to Alt being here- he nods to the King. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Alt lowers his bow in slight surprise- something… something was wrong.

"Well in that case, you should take care of him. However you wish." The King pauses. "The others can die. Especially that deer-masked one. Except for that rabbit hiding back there." He grins at Alt, gesturing at Magnificent. "Go."

Chase gasps in shock and raises his bow in shaking hands. Jameson goes pale and immediately freezes. Henrik looks through his bags.

Magnificent’s moves fast, teleporting in front of Alt. Alt yells and tries to shoot his arrow but he misses. Magnificent comes at him with terrifying stoic ferocity, grabbing him by his wrist and instantly pumping him full of his influence. He grabs his temple and pumps that full of magic too, absolutely drowning any resistance. Mag’s magic is crazy powerful here. Alt gasps, his back arching as his eyes light up bright purple.

“No!” Bro yells, bursting into the air to try to stop Magnificent. But the mad magician shoots a bolt of green lightning at him, making him fly back into the building. Mag brings Alt up to his feet and then shoves him forward, “You heard the king, Kill the Rebels.”

Alt stumbles, eyes attempting to flicker but then glazing over completely. He stands taller, eyeing down the others with a distant expression. “…yes, Magnificent.” Then, he darts immediately towards Jackie, drawing one of the arrows from his quiver- but he doesn’t even load it, he tries to stab Jackie in the chest with it.

Everything happens so fast. Jackie tries lunging forward but then Alt is in the way and he stops abruptly. "Alt? No!" He's unprepared for the arrow attack, gasping and staggering back as it finds a weak spot in the chain. Luckily the arrowhead is too big to go through and cause significant damage.

"Alt, snap out of it!" He can't do much with his abilities in this situation. So he looks around and lunges for Magnificent, sword swinging. "Let him go!"

Magnificent grins, madness in his eyes as he draws out a sword made of green and purple tinted magic. He meets Jackie’s blade and giggles, “Hello, Jackieboy~” Once the sword has been stopped the magician lunges out his other hand to blast magic straight at Jackie.

Marvin takes Jackie's space, shaping the light he's holding into a rope that he tries to throw at Alt.

Alt glitches out of the way of the rope then his sights fall on Marvin. Energy crackles around him as he pulls another arrow and notches it- the arrow crackling with electric magic as he lets it fly towards Marvin.

Chase fumbles with his bow but then launches an arrow for the King, standing grinning in the background.

But Chase is too nervous and the King knows what he's going to do, stepping to the side. He stares at the alley where the others are standing and--suddenly--rushes around the conflict with Alt and Mag, drawing his seax as he runs at the others.

Bro groans and shakes out his shock , seeing Chase’s arrow go wide. He sees the King running towards the other and quickly grabs him by the arm and lifts him into the air with him. “hey Royal bitch! You gotta get through me first!” He growls, tightening his grip on the king.

The King laughs. "Alright." And he tries stabbing Bro.

Jackie does not fight wizards often. He tries to block the blast but it just hits his sword and pushes him backwards to the ground. "Oof!" He takes a moment to scramble to his feet and--well, he has one skill set. He draws his second sword ant attacks Mag again.

Mag disappears and reappears behind Jackie and tries to shock him with his magic.

But Jackie knows how to defend himself from behind. He spins around quickly and parries Mag's magic by slapping away his hands. "No you don't!" His eyes narrow. "What is wrong with you?!"

"Fuck!" Marvin curses, conjuring a magic shield to block the electric arrow. He forgot about Alt's ghlishing power. He grabs more magic and throws it to the ground. Sticky strands entangle the ground.

Alt glitches again and ends up in front of Marvin’s face as he tries to send a jolt of electricity into him.

Marvin yelps and quickly raises a shield all around him. He looks at Alt, thinking carefully. "I didn't want to do this, but maybe it'll knock some sense into you!" he says, and shoots a point blank blast of magic at him.

Alt isn’t expecting it- he gets hit full on and flies backward, bouncing on the cobblestone a couple times before rolling into a still heap. The magic flickers wildly in his eyes.

Bro yells out as the king tries to stab him, “Jesus dude!” He narrows his eyes, “So you’re a stab first ask questions later kinda bitch huh? Alright-“ He tries to wrestle the seax away from the King.

Unfortunately, the King's grip is firm. He grins. "I don't have to be," he says, and looks Bro directly in the eyes. "Put me down," he Commands.

Bro’s eyes widen as the command takes effect. He hardly feels his body as he lowers them both down to the ground, his grip on the King loosening.

"Hang on, Jackie!" Chase has another arrow nocked. He aims for Magnificent's leg and shoots.

The arrow hits true and strikes into Mag’s calf. He yells out in pain and crumples to his knee. He yells out in rage and tries to throw fire back at Chase.

Chase tries to duck back into the alleyway but the fire still hits him. He cries out.

"Chase!" Henrik shouts, pulling something out of his bag. He throws a glass bottle of some kind towards Mag then kneels next to Chase, patting out the fire.

Jackie tries to attack Mag from behind while the bottle distracts him.

"Thank you," the King says to Bro, grinning, and glances towards the cluster of others. "Jameson? Come here."

Jameson stiffens and starts walking forward.

"You too?!" Henrik reaches out and grabs Jameson, pulling him back with such force that he pulls him to the ground.

The dual attack works and Mag is slashed on his back, making him cry out in pain. He stumbles back, the arrow still in his leg making it hard for him to walk. He growls at Jackie, his eyes turning even more slitted as he body crackles with magic. In a flicker of colored static, Mag’s body shifts then changes into his black tiger form to try to tackle Jackie to the ground.

"Elders!" Jackie cries, trying to dodge and protect himself with his swords.

"Alt, come on!" Marvin says, crouching down and shaking Alt. "Wake up!"

Alt gasps and pants, sweat and tears falling down his face as he tries to fight off the magic. “H-h-hngh-!” It feels like his mind is getting eaten alive. But, he can hear Marvin, he hears the others in trouble. He grits his teeth and tries to fight the magic more. “M-Marvin…!” Green flickers more in his eyes- stronger.

Bro shakes his head out of the King’s influence and shouts out, pulling out his sword and holding it threateningly by the King’s neck. “The fuck?! You’re a freaky motherfucker!”

The King stiffens a bit when the blade gets close to his neck. "Do you want to see more? Stay still, then." He looks at Chase, recovering from the fire. "Shoot him."

"What--no!" Chase cries. The King blinks, confused. No time to think about that. He looks at Jameson instead. "Take his bow and shoot him."

Jameson hesitates for a split second and then lunges for Chase's bow.

"Nei!" Henrik shouts, wrestling with Jameson for the bow.

"Yes, Alt, wake up!" Marvin grabs Alt's hand, feeding him a bit of his own power in the hope that he can awaken Alt's own. "Everyone is--" Then Mag turns into a tiger and he gasps. "Jackie!" He rushes over.

The magic makes Alt’s eyes flare even brighter as he gasps more, getting more control of his body back. The purple is quickly fading. He weakly pushes himself up to see everyone’s crises.

Bro chokes a little as his body stiffens and refuses to move. “N-No..!”

Mag pins down Jackie and roars in his face. Then he lifts up a clawed paw to try to rip across his chest.

Marvin does something extremely reckless--he runs right at the giant cat that Magnificent turned into and tries flinging magic into his face.

The magic misses but at least distracts Mag enough to not slice Jackie open. But he does try to bite at Marvin.

"You," The King says, looking at Henrik. "Stop. Make sure he doesn't interfere." He points at Chase, trying to get up.

Instantly, Henrik stops fighting Jameson for the bow and instead pins Chase to the ground. "N-nei!" Henrik gasps, visibly shaking but unable to resist the commands.

“You fucking bastard! Too fucking cowardly to fight me, yourself?!” Bro snarls at the king.

Jameson picks up Chase's bow, grabs and nocks an arrow, and jerkily aims it at Bro.

The arrow flies truer than it should have- sticking itself in Bro’s chest. He gasps, a spray of blood spurting before he falls to the ground- right in front of Alt.

Alt’s world shatters. The sounds of fighting fade into nothing but static. He can’t breathe. Then, suddenly magic flares up in him so hot- he screams in murderous rage. An explosion of green electricity and magic rockets out of him, sending a blast wave out, which knocks Mag back into a wall. Alt’s eyes turn pure white and crackle with green electricity. He yells again and in another rocket of powerful magic, he’s launched into the air, heading straight for the king.

The two collide in a huge crash against the wall of a building, the foundation cracked. For a second it’s hard to see what happened. And then the dust clears- and everyone can now see it. Two green crackling pair of wings have sprouted from Alt’s back, made completely out of lightning.

“You-!” Alt’s voice is laced with static and glitches but echoes with power as he snarls to the king. “You and every other fucking Anti out there has hurt me- hurt my friends- hurt my brother… for the last f̶̧̏u̶͙͐c̸͚̽k̶͙͊ì̸̧n̷͍͐g̶͘ TIME!”

Marvin jumps backwards, avoiding the big cat's bite, and starts conjuring up another spell-- But then it happens. Bro gets shot, and Alt screams. Lightning explodes from him, drawing everyone's attention as they all see him fly for the King. Fly. Fly quite literally, as there are wings coming from his back. Crackling with the power of a storm itself. The guys from this world stare in shock and awe. They have never seen anything like this.

And honestly? Neither has the King. His face drains of color as he looks scared for the first time. He's rattled by being tackled to the building, bruised and bleeding--but he does not feel this body's pain. He wrenches an arm free and traces a line on the wall behind him. A line of green light arches around him, forming--a magic doorway. He falls through it, and before Alt can even look at what's on the other side, the doorway disappears and he is gone.

Alt watches the king disappear with wide eyes. He then crackles with more lightning as he punches at the building, screaming in rage as tears fall rapidly down his cheeks. The air smells like ozone, static electricity brimming in the air. He burns with power, his wings sparking like a storm.

The moment the King vanishes, all his commands fall away. Even the ones on Magnificent, which he had been monitoring so carefully.

When the command fades, it’s so much all at once that Mag’s tiger form fades and he crashes to the ground completely, staring wide eyed at the sky.

Jameson lets go of the bow and it goes clattering to the ground. He grabs Schneep's bag of supplies and rushes for Bro. I'm sorry, the subtitles say he's signing. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry--

Bro blinks blearily out at Jameson and gives him a shaky smile. He tries to grab one of his hands to get him to stop signing. “Hey hey… I-it’s okay- wasn’t your fault…” He coughs up a bit of blood but he still smiles. “I-I heal fast this… this shouldn’t kill me- just.. g-gotta get it out…”

Henrik helps Chase up and the two of them run over to join Bro and Jameson. “Normally I would advise against that,” Henrik says, “but if you have magic healing then that would be best.”

“I’ll do it, it’s my arrow,” Chase says. He grabs the arrow’s shaft and braces one hand against Bro’s chest. “On three. One… two… three!” And he yanks it out with one swift move.

On instinct, the hero cries out in pain as the arrow is removed.

“Heh… looks like the tip didn’t break, so there’s nothing else in there.” Chase gives a nervous little laugh, then glances at Alt. “I think your brother needs you right now…”

Meanwhile, Jackie quickly moves away from Mag as he transforms back. It’s strange, he’s heard all about how terrible this man is, but… right now he can only feel bad for him. Would it be different if he actually experienced what Bro and Alt had? Or is he still too kind?

Marvin has no such feelings right now. “Do you think we should tie him up?” He asks, conjuring a rope like he tried to throw at Alt earlier.

But, at Chase mentioning his brother, Bro tries to push himself up, blinking back his pained tears as he shouts out, “A-Alt!”

Alt had been clawing and tearing at the building like he can still get to the King, paying no mind to how it tears and scratches at his hands. But, hearing Bro’s voice gets him to stop. In a quick glitch he’s kneeled down next to him, wide white eyes staring at him as tears flow down his face.

Bro startles a bit, “w-woah!”

Alt tilts his head almost bird-like at Bro then looks to see his bleeding chest. He reaches out a hand and wipes at his face then presses it over the wound. In a bloom of light, the injury disappears like nothing happened.

Bro stares at his brother with wide eyes, “Alt-“

Alt turns his head to look at Chase- and sees where he was burned. He touches the spot gently- and it heals completely.

Then, they hear Magnificent whimper in pain and curl up, his injures catching up to him. Alt’s head raises at this and he then appears over by Jackie, Marvin and Mag in a fizzle of electricity. He says nothing as he bends down by Mag and does what he did with Bro. Wiping his tears he heals Mag’s back and then removes the arrow and heals his leg. The mad magician seems to relax slightly, blearily looking out but he doesn’t look like he’s registering anything.

Now, the power around Alt seems to fizzle and he stumbles back, gripping at his head. He gasps slightly in pain as the wings crackle then zip away into the air. The white in his eyes flicker- and just when you see his blue eyes peek through again, they roll back and he sways and then crumples to the ground with a dull thud.

“All above!” Marvin shouts, being the first to get over the shock of what they all saw. He kneels next to Alt, checking his pulse in his neck and wrist. “That’s probably just—that’s probably just exhaustion, that must have used a lot of energy—“

Alt’s pulse is high, his eyes squeezed shut in pain as he pants heavily, slightly whimpering. He’s pale and hot to the touch.

Bro pushes himself up and hurries over to Alt’s side, scooping him up into his arms and shaking him lightly. “A-Anti…!” Alt is limp in his brother’s arms, struggling to take in a deep breath. His veins pulse with bright green magic, making him look even sicker.

“Did he heal them with a touch?” Jackie whispers. “Henrik, Marvin, do you know of…”

Henrik walks over, also checking over Alt. “Nothing I know of,” he mutters.

“Even wizards can’t heal instantly like that, only speed the process,” Marvin agrees.

A moment passes in silence.

“O-okay, um… what do we do with them?” Chase asks shakily. “I think other me, Bro, is alright but these two…”

Bro looks at the others with desperation and nods, “Y-Yeah we gotta… we need to… Christ-!”

“Rest. They need rest,” Henrik says.

“I’ll repeat my earlier question in regards to him,” Marvin mutters, nodding at Magnificent.

“I really don’t think this is the time to worry about tying someone up,” Jackie says, a bit snappishly.

At Marvin’s muttering, Bro glances at Mag and then he nods to Marvin. “I… I would. He’s- he will probably lash out when he comes to… especially now that Alt…” He bites his lip and looks back down at the trembling glitch. He’s surprised Alt helped him at all….

“Got it,” Marvin says, using the conjured rope to bind Magnificent’s hands.

Magnificent doesn’t fight as he’s tied up, eyes hardly open as he slumps on the ground.

His veins don’t look good at all, Jameson says worriedly. I’m assuming it’s not normal for them to be green. Henrik, is there anything that could help? He hands Henrik his bag of medical supplies.

“W-well, I do not think I can do much about the coloring, but I might be able to help the fever,” Henrik says as he looks through his supplies. “Here. This is a cooling salve. There is a bit of witchcraft in it so it may help with the magic in his veins.” He uncaps the bottle and reaches in, withdrawing a quarter-sized amount of pinkish salve. He quickly applies it to Alt’s forehead. It does, at the very least, cool him down.

Alt whimpers quietly at the salve is applied. But, then he seems to relax some as it works it’s magic.

“Does he… do that wing thing… often?” Chase asks awkwardly. “Is there something to do when he… turns into a thunderbird?”

Bro shakes his head. “I… I’ve only seen it once before… but he… he was in much worse shape the first time…” He swallows shakily, pushing Alt’s sweaty bangs away from his face. “He… he got really sick… for a few days afterwards but- he was also corrupted by Mag’s magic so… m-maybe it won’t be as long this time… he didn’t use it as much as he did that first time either I think… it’s… it’s kinda a blur- I don’t remember much.”

Henrik nods slowly. “The best thing to do then is get inside somewhere,” he says. “Somewhere out of the weather. There are a lot of houses here, but some are missing the roofs or walls. Where is somewhere intact?”

Chase quickly scans the area. “There,” he says, pointing at a house a little down the street. “That looks good from here. We’ll have to get closer, of course.”

“Good enough,” Henrik says. “Chase—Bro, I mean. Will you carry your brother?”

“Yeah… yeah I got him.” Bro nods and gets to his feet, holding Alt in his arms and close to his chest. Alt’s eyelids flutter but he stays slumped against Bro. The hero hurries down the street towards the house Chase pointed out.

“I’ll get this man,” Jackie says, grabbing Magnificent and standing up. “Let’s get inside.”

Mag is easy enough to carry, offering pretty much no resistance.

Chase was right, this house is pretty much intact. There are three rooms: a central living area, a bedroom, and a room with a bunch of fabric and thread, some sort of dedicated sewing room. All the furniture is still there, though dusty, and there’s a fireplace and woven rug in the central room. Chase hurries over and takes out a tinderbox to light a fire.

“Hmm. We should keep Alt where it is warm,” Henrik says. “It would be better to take the blankets from this bed than leave him in here.” He and Jameson do that, making a small nest on the floor of the central room.

Bro hovers anxiously over Alt and as soon as the nest is set up, he sits down right by his side, taking his hand. Alt mumbles quietly in his feverish sleep, but his breathing seems to be calming down.

Jackie, meanwhile, unceremoniously drops Mag on the edge of the rug. “Have to keep an eye on him,” he says.

Slowly, a fire grows in the fireplace.

“Maybe Alt needs to sleep it off,” Chase says. “The sun is close to setting anyway. We should stay here for the night.”

Bro nods, "Yeah... probably... I just hope... I hope he's okay..."

Unfortunately for everyone- now Magnificent starts to stir. And he blinks open his eyes and feels the ropes on him and he writhes, baring his teeth like a feral cat. "W-What the fuck?! W-Where am I? Where is that fucking rat bastard royal?!"

Bro jolts and protectively curls up over Alt, flashing glowing eyes at Mag.

“The King is, unfortunately, not dead,” Marvin says, unfazed by Mag’s sudden recovery. He also doesn’t react when Jackie sighs, disappointed in his eagerness, or when Henrik rolls his eyes. “Even more unfortunately, we don’t know where he is. He’s an enchanter, he shouldn’t be able to make a doorway!”

Jackie doesn’t have time for this. He draws one of his swords and holds it up to Mag’s neck. His hand is steady. “We can knock you out,” he says calmly. “Do you think it feels good when the hilt of a sword hits your head?”

Magnificent stops his thrashing as the sword gets held to his neck. But he does growl at Jackie.

He then looks over to Bro and Alt, "What did you imbeciles do to my cub?!"

"He's not your anything, Magnificent!" Bro yells, "B-Back off! If you try anything- these guys will kill you- and I'm starting to think that might be a good fucking idea!"

The mad magician stiffens at this, and falls silent. But, he glares daggers at the others.

But, he does chuckle and look back at Marvin, a knowing look in his eyes. "mm... there might be more to your King than you know, wizard..."

“More in what way…?” Marvin questions.

Jameson tilts his head to the side. That would explain some things…

“Well if Jameson says that, that can’t be good,” Jackie comments.

Magnificent just chuckles but doesn't say anything more.

“This might be a bit selfish, but I don’t really want to talk about this right now,” Chase says. “We just went through a lot. Somehow those few minutes of fighting really exhausted me.”

“We will eat and rest, then,” Henrik says, looking through the food bag.

"It's not selfish..." Bro mutters, relaxing and going back to holding Alt's hand. "... let's just focus on resting. And Mag? If you cause any problems? It's night night for you, bitch."

Mag grumbles in response.

Indeed, though some of the guys seem to take issue with killing the King, it looks like none of them would be upset with killing Mag. At the most, some of them might be less personally inclined.

Jackie lowers his sword slowly but keeps it out and generally pointed at Mag. Henrik starts handing out food.

The room gradually warms up from the heat of the fire. There's still a breeze from the glassless windows but near the fire is warm and reassuring.

After a while of resting, Alt stirs and makes a pained groan before finally opening his eyes. Bright green pulses in them for a second before they dim- and it leaves his eyes looking dull and gray. He blinks blearily out at the dim house and starts to panic slightly. His body feels so heavy.

"c-c-chase...?" He whispers.

Bro is on him in an instant, squeezing his hand and holding it close to his chest. "Anti! Hey.. hey... I'm here... it's okay-"

Alt is starting to sweat and pant again, eyes flitting around anxiously, "t-the others...?" He asks quietly.

“We’re all okay,” Chase reassures him. “Well… a couple injuries, but nothing Henrik couldn’t take care of.”

Henrik nods, a bit smugly.

“Are you… alright?” Marvin asks tentatively. “You were… you used a lot of power.”

“It was incredible,” Jackie says in a quiet, awed voice. “Like the Winged Elder themself gave you wings of storm.”

“But it was a lot of power and we were concerned,” Marvin emphasizes.

Alt relaxes as he hears the others and turns his head to look at them. He smiles warmly. Bro squeezes Alt's hand again, and Alt can feel his own hands bandaged from where he tried to break the building. The glitch closes his eyes and takes stock of himself. He's very weak, shaky and has a fever. But, " i... i'm okay... b-better than I thought i'd be actually..." He laughs tiredly. "...i... i can't really c-control when that happens... but i think last time was... w-worse..."

Alt blinks at Jackie, "...winged... elder..?"

"yeah you guys say that a lot- Elders... what is that?" Bro asks curiously, "is it... like your ... gods?"

Mag snorts haughtily, like he expected them to know. And like he didn't just- invade minds and study books to know more than them the past couple days.

“They… are, I suppose, though that feels… hmm.” Marvin presses his lips together. “The term gods implies a… worldwide power? The Elders are only native to Glasuil. They’re tied to the land itself, all-powerful in their domains they guard, usually taking the form of animals.”

“Oh pffft.” Henrik rolls his eyes. “They are gods. It does not matter how local they are, you worship them and have holy days for them. That is what you do with gods.”

“Schneep’s are different,” Jackie says. “The Celestial Sisters. The sun and the moon as people. They’re very popular on the east continent.” “

As for the Winged One, their domain is wind and weather and storms,” Marvin continues. “And it’s said they take the form of a hawk or other bird of prey. So… wings of lightning… very reminiscent of them.”

Alt and Bro look very intrigued by this. Bro laughs, “Woah… like- land spirits. That’s really cool!” He looks to Schneep and smiles. “The sisters sound cool too! Man- I always thought mythology like this was cool-“

“Yer a nerd-“ Alt slurs with a smile. Bro very lightly shoves him.

Alt then falls quiet, “The winged one… heh- pretty cool to get compared to that…” He curls up, a shiver running up his body from the fever. “…I wish I knew what magic it was or… w-why it happens. It feels as elusive as a blessing from a god.” He laughs a bit bitterly. “If I knew then, maybe I could use it more… it seems to help people… “

“But it also leaves you really sick, Alt…” Bro adds with worry, smoothing back his hair.

Alt falls quiet again, gripping at the blankets and staring down at them.

“Hey.” Jackie leans forward. “I’ve been protecting people for a long time. Five years in the Phantoms, but I’ve been training for…” He laughs. “Well over a decade now. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that you can’t protect anyone if you wear yourself out. You only have so many hands, you know.”

Perhaps you’ll learn what causes this one day and you can use it more reliably, Jameson says. But until then, keep yourself safe.

Alt is quiet for a bit before he nods and smiles at Jackie and Jamie. “…yeah… thanks.”

“We’re not leaving until I’m sure you’re okay, alright?” Bro says sternly, “I’ll knock Mag out as many times as we need to.”

“Hey! I’m not even doing anything!” Mag growls.

Bro glares at him and he shuts up again. He then turns back to Alt and checks him over again. “So- do you need anything? We ate but we can get you some more…”

Alt closes his eyes to think. “…I think i just need some more sleep.., maybe some water…?” He blinks open his eyes but seems to struggle to do so- like he’s ready to pass back out again.

“Sleep is good,” Henrik says. He passes Alt his water skin to drink from. “One time Marvin passed out for days straight after using too much magic. It is normal.”

“Hey!” Marvin gasps. “That was private information!” The others laugh.

“Take a break, Alt,” Jackie says. “We’ll take turn keeping watch to make sure nothing happens.”

Alt takes a drink gratefully then allows himself to lay back down. He smiles dazedly and then laughs with the others. "at least I know m'not alone..." He mumbles.

Bro squeezes his hand again, "Never." He promises.

Alt hums under his breath and curls up against his brother before falling back asleep.

Magnificent watches the tender moment with hatred in his eyes.

The night passes. Jackie takes watch first, then tags out for Marvin, who then tags out for Henrik as morning approaches. It's a surprisingly peaceful night. Not even a cloud in the sky, much less a storm.

When morning comes, Alt fever seems to have broken and he wakes up with a renewed vigor. He glitches to his feet and stretches. Bro stuck to his side all night. The older brother blinks blearily and then sits up quickly at seeing Alt is up. "Alt!"

Alt grins at Bro, "Morning!"

Mag is curled up, not unlike a cat, actually asleep, even with his arms still tied up.

"Good morning you two," Henrik says. "Glad to see you're feeling better, Alt."

Chase rolls over with a slight groan and wakes up. "Oh... lightning man..." He mumbles.

Henrik laughs. "What did you just say?"

"...what did I just say?" Chase sits up. "I saw Alt ghlishing, and uh..."

"Y-you called him lightning man," Henrik giggles.

"Lightning man?" Alt smirks with a laugh, "Not the most clever nickname but I can dig it!"

This exchange has woken up Jameson and Jackie as well. It was amazing, actually, Jackie managed to keep his grip on his sword even as he slept. "Good morning," he says now, stretching.

Jameson nudges Marvin, dislodging Draco by proxy. Both cat and owner lift their head with a "mrrp?" sound.

Wake up, Fiona of Wyld, Jameson says.

"Shush." Marvin rubs his eyes.

Both Bro and Alt laugh at Marvin's cat-like noise. The noise wakes up Mag but he stays quiet, just glaring at the others as he very slowly tries to wiggle his arms to get blood flowing back into them.

"uh- you guys good with having breakfast with us before we go?" Alt smiles, "One last hang out! Plus, I'm starving-"

"Of course," Chase says, reaching for the food bag. "I'm glad we packed so much. Here, take what you want." He grabs a couple rolls and some jerky for himself before passing it to the brothers.

Alt quickly grabs a bunch and starts to stuff his face. Bro tries to get him to slow down, laughing quietly.

"Wonder if there's anything we can learn about the King in the palace," Marvin wonders, staring out the window at the tall towers.

"We can check that after they go home, before heading back to camp," Jackie says.

Bro looks out at the tower, "Oh yeah. I hope you guys can gain something out of this crazy mess to help you defeat that freaky bastard-" He mutters as he moodily takes a bite of jerky. "He has freaky ass powers-"

Alt quiets at this and looks down at his lap. He... had to stop feeling so bad- hearing bad things about the other versions of him. But, part of him cant help but feel... guilty? Confused? He's... not sure.

"Genuinely where did those powers come from?" Marvin says. "I understand you two and this bastard being different, as you're from another world, but him? Enchanter I could understand, magic sometimes strikes randomly, but all the rest?"

"I can only think something must have happened," Henrik says. "He was not a terrible king at first. Then, about five or six years ago, he started doing different, terrible things. Did he find this power and go mad from it?"

It must have been SOMETHING like that, Jameson agrees.

"Maybe... there's something more... like- I dunno... maybe he got possessed by something?" Alt mutters quietly, shrugging. "I think that can... give someone different powers- or something."

"I mean- you guys have spirits and stuff around... didn't you guys think we were that?" Bro asks.

“We thought you were Fair Folk, which do have a physical body,” Jackie says.

“But there are spirits…” Marvin mulls.

“When would that have happened though? Isn’t the King supposed to be well protected against magical threats like that?” Chase asks.

“We’ll figure it out after they leave,” Henrik decides. “Our first order of business is making sure they are safe. So everyone eat up,”

It doesn’t take long for them to finish breakfast.

After breakfast is done, the boys go to change into their old outfits. Luckily, back at camp they helped Bro fix his ripped shirt. Alt holds onto his mask, letting it hang around his neck. Alt glitches to his feet then pulls out the TRVLR, powering it on to check to see its status.

Bro double checks that they have everything and gathers up all the things they borrowed from the boys. He laughs lightly, "Man- despite everything... it was really cool to pretend that we were part of the Masked Phantoms for a bit..."

"If you ever want to come visit again, you are welcome to any time," Jackie says. "Hopefully by then we won't need the Masked Phantoms anymore, but if we do, you may join anytime."

"No need to be so formal with them, Jackie," Henrik says teasingly.

"It's tradition to welcome back guests like that!"

I agree with Jackie, come back anytime, Jameson says.

"And bring your friends--and try to keep this bastard out of it," Marvin says jokingly.

Bro smiles at them and nods, "If we can I totally wanna come back and bring the lads! You guys would love them!"

"Hopefully we will see you again," Chase says. "But if we don't, this has been fun."

The TRVLR still has that latency warning up, but the universe list seems to be working fine, just a bit slow. Clearly, this UF universe, while fun, is even farther from their home than the UAs. So back to trying those. Alt spots UA-0501019MM as a promising next place to visit.

Alt smiles and looks up from the TRVLR to look at the others, "Yeah... this was scary in a lot of way but... it was nice too. Thank you for taking such good care of us guys!"

Bro walks over and grabs Mag and tosses him over his shoulder.

Magnificent grumbles and hisses, trying to wiggle out of his binds now. "Cant you let me have a bit of dignity here?"

"Nope, you don't deserve that." Bro says, walking over and grabbing Alt's hand.

Alt laughs and then looks at the others fondly, "... We'll be back. But, until then? Give that royal bastard hell, alright?"

"We'll be sure to," Marvin promises. Jackie nods, backing him up. "Goodbye, then."

"Goodbye!" Jackie adds.

"Farewell," Henrik says.

"See you again, hopefully," Chase nods.

Jameson waves.

The brothers wave goodbye. and then Alt hits the jump button, praying that maybe this one will actually take them home.

Immediately, the three of them disappear. To them, it feels like they are falling again through that dark place with green globes of light. To the others, they simply vanish.

I hope they have a safe journey, Jameson says.

"I do as well," Henrik says.

A moment passes in silence. Then Chase takes a deep breath. "Well? To check the palace, then?"

"To the palace," Marvin agrees.

"Hopefully we'll find something to help us with the King's mysterious powers," Jackie says.

The group leaves the building, heading up the street.

#SITCV FM #fantasy masks au #swapboys #swap into the crystalverse #THE LAST CHAPTER!! :D #and like- this is spoilers for something alt will be able to do in the future oops agjbh #something i have planned for a future story |D #but!! loved this battle- it was so fun!!#and i love the fm world soooo much!#i hope you guys enjoyed it too :D #tomorrow- something spooky :3c #alt anti #swap magnificent #bro fantastic

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