The Septic Curse

Two

Marvin bowed to the crowd, soaking in all the applause and love.

The month of October had really been good to the Septic egos. It was like an endless streak of luck. Marvin had gotten so many jobs lately and so much recognition that he felt like a celebrity. He loved it.

The magician had just finished performing at the theatre JJ usually worked at, but the mute himself didn't seem to be here today. It was a shame, too, because Marvin had been hoping to talk to his brother about something. But it was fine if he didn't- he could always just pull Jameson to the side when he got home and talk to him then. 

As Marvin was walking home, he started kicking a stone along the sidewalk. There was no real reason, he was just bored. But he started to get a strange feeling... Like he should stop. There was a kind of uncomfortable warmth on his back... It felt like he was being watched. 

Marvin looked around warily, but he saw no one. Oh, what was he doing? It's not like any human could hurt him. They had nothing to worry about. Not anymore. 

So, the magician kept walking. He hummed a slight tune, trying to get his mind off of the feeling. He looked behind him a few times during the trip back home, but nobody was there. He was just being paranoid.

When he arrived home, he let out a sigh of relief as the feeling went away. He could use some sushi after that shit. "Hey, Chase! Are you home?" Marvin called out, making his way to the living room. But no one was there, it was silent. 

Marvin gave a hum, making his way to Chase's recording room to see if he was there. "Chase! If you don't come out, I'll tell Stacey that you don't want to see your kids this weekend!" Marvin threatened, earning a loud thump from inside the room. Marvin looked around, still not seeing the other reveal himself. "Chase...?" Marvin started to get a bit creeped out, remembering the old days... 

When it was still around.

Marvin went over to the closet, yanking it open. Only to see Chase slumped against the wall. His heart dropped.

"DAD?!" Marvin rushed to the other ego's side, not even processing the correct title. He trembled, trying to pull out his spell book. Suddenly, a hand was on his shoulder. 

The magician squeaked and whirled around, only to see Robbie blinking at him innocently. "Rob! Oh dear, you- never mind! What happened here?!" Marvin gestured to what he thought was Chase's corpse. "He... Chall-enge... Do... You made... Jump. Hit head... Knock out." Robbie grunted out. Marvin didn't question what kind of silly challenge they were doing, just glad that the other wasn't dead.

"Why... You say. 'Dad'?" Robbie tilted his head, not understanding. "It was just me freaking out, don't worry about it. Let's get the old man to the couch." Marvin sighed, leaning down to sling Chase's arm over his shoulder. The magician wasn't physically the strongest, so he had a bit of trouble getting Chase to the living room... But he did. 

In his eyes, that was an accomplishment. 

"Okay, Rob, you wanna play board games?"

---

JJ got home not long after Marvin, Henrik came after that, and then Jackie came back earlier than usual. Which was becoming the new normal. 

"Hey, Marv, I saw you today!" Jackie announced. "Huh?" Marvin turned to his brother briefly, before moving his piece on the Monopoly board. "Yeah, I was told that a wanted criminal might be in an area, and when I got there, all I saw was you walking home!" The hero laughed. 'Oh. THAT must've been why I was feeling watched.' The magician laughed to himself, realizing how silly it must've looked to Jackie- seeing him look behind himself a bunch and find nothing.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

The oven kept going off, making Chase go over to it. "Huh, that's weird... The oven shouldn't be going off for another ten minutes..." He opened the oven, seeing that the food wasn't done. He tried to set it for another ten minutes, but it just kept beeping... So, he opted to turn it off. 

Chase turned the oven back on, resetting it and putting it back at ten minutes. But when he clicked 'Start', something odd happened to the number screen. It flickered blue and then a neon green, before going back to the normal dark green. But it seemed to still be glitching, because there was a word on the screen.

(Two)

It stayed like that, just reading out the word 'two'- not even the number itself. Luckily, the oven itself was working and heating the food properly. So, Chase didn't really worry too much, telling Marvin to "magic it away or whatever."

Marvin scoffed, thinking this was a huge waste of his dark arts... But what the quote unquote 'parents' of the house said was law. 

The magician flipped through the pages of his book, getting up from Monopoly and going to the kitchen. He stopped at a minor mechanical repair spell, thinking that should do the trick. But even after he cast it, the oven still said 'two'. Marvin frowned, "stupid fucking... Thing." He muttered, tapping at the screen. 

For a second, he swore he saw it say 'cunt', but that was bound to be his imagination. It still said 'two'. "Welp. I can't fix it- go get an actual professional." Marvin slapped the book shut, shrugging it off with an 'I tried'. 

"Do we need to get Ghost Busters in here or some shite?" Jackie chuckled at 'professional'. "Oh! We could go get Dark to tell us if its haunted~ Who knows? He might actually make a friend!" The hero went on, making Chase snort but quickly cover his mouth. 

Unfortunately, that little joke got a scalpel thrown at the hero, missing his neck by just a thread. Henrik harrumphed, suggesting that his aim was a little off, "show a little more respect towards zhat man! He has done a lot vor us." "Uh, yeah, sure. But remember that one time he housed Anti?" Jackie rose a brow. "Everyone makes mistakes." Henrik defended, pulling the scalpel out of the wall. "But he never apologized, and he sure as hell didn't regret it! Did you see the way he looked at-?" Jackie argued, only to be cut off by a sharp yell as Henrik left the room, "EVERYONE MAKES MISTAKES!" 

"...Jackie, call a professional to get this thing fixed while I make dinner." Chase grunted, moving on to cooking. "What?! Why meeee?" The hero whined slightly but sighed and pulled out his phone. "AND TAKE A SHOWER! YA SMELL LIKE A SWEATY SKUNK'S ASSHAIR!" Chase called, making Jackie groan. 

Marvin chuckled slightly, but his mind was elsewhere at this point. He could feel it in the air... This was a warning. But a warning for what? 'Two'. 'Two' what? No, surely the magician was looking too deep into it. He seemed to be getting more paranoid lately... With the feeling like he was being watched, to Chase's 'death', to... THIS. 

He was just being paranoid.