Chapter 7

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The house shook again. Jackie took off towards the stairs with no hesitation. Henrik cursed under his breath, "Dummkopf! He's going to get himself killed." The good doctor bounded after the hero. Chase tried to get up to follow, not wanting to leave his brothers to their own devices, but a tug on his wrist stopped him. He whipped his head around to find a hand on his wrist belonging to JJ. Chase could tell he was pleading for him to stay.

"Sorry, little dude. I have to go help. Marvin is still up there. We have to save him." Chase looked back towards the stairs. He thought about everything that could be happening to the young magician. Chase was supposed to help keep his family safe, and now his little brother was involved with Anti. He was gonna need more than a few drinks after this.

JJ shook his head and signed, "Too late. Marvin is gone." JJ had been helping Marvin with his magic for years. His magic was only ever purple, except for one time when it nearly blew up the entire house. JJ didn't know as much as Marvin, but he knew enough to know that this blue and green light was extremely dangerous. Not anything that Marvin would try if he was in his right mind. His best friend was gone.

Chase's eyes widened, "You don't know that. We have to try. We- We have to do something." He backed out of JJ's grip and booked it for the stairs. He wasn't going to let any more of his family slip between his fingers. He promised to protect his family, and he wasn't going to let some glitch stop him from doing just that.

Chase raced up the stairs to the landing. He looked around wildly until he caught sight of Jackie and Henrik. He was about to run to them, but then he realized that they weren't fighting. They were just standing there. It almost looked like they were in a trance. Cautiously, Chase made his way to his big brothers.

He walked in between them and turned to see their faces. Their jaws were slack and their shoulders relaxed. It was the exact opposite of the defensive posture Chase was expecting from the two. They both had a purple haze over their eyes. He fruitlessly tried to wave a hand in front of their faces, anything to get them to snap out of whatever was affecting them.

" That won't work, you know, " a broken voice came from behind the young father. Chase dragged his attention from his brothers to the man behind him. As soon as his eyes shifted, Chase's whole body went stiff and his face paled. Anti stood at the end of the hall. He had a sadistic smirk plastered across his face. His hand lingered on top of another figure standing beside him, petting his long hair. His face was obscured by shadow, but Chase had a bad feeling that he already knew who it was.

" Do you like my new pet, Chaser? " the glitch asked, taunting Chase. Chase didn't move out of fear of what he would see if he did. That fear didn't last long, though. " Here. Let me introduce you. " Anti laughed as he commanded his newest puppet to conjure blue fire within his hand. It lit up the figure's face so that Chase could see him perfectly. Chase took a step back as he looked upon Marvin standing there. His mask covered his face, but he could still see the magician snarling at him with hate-filled eyes.

" I know it's usually dogs that do the hunting, but I think I'll make an exception for my little kitty here. " Anti's laugh rang through the halls, and all Chase could think of was how grateful he was that JJ was still downstairs and not here to see this. Anti turned to Marvin and said, " You know what to do. " Marvin raised his other hand and started casting another spell.

Chase wanted to run away, but his legs wouldn't move. One look down at them explained why. A blue current surrounded them. Chase knew instantly it was a variation of the leg-locker jinx Marvin used to cast on Jackie whenever the hero got on his nerves. Frozen to the spot, Chase looked back up at Marvin, trying desperately to find any trace of his little brother left in those eyes. All he found was a purple haze as the magician recited an incantation. Then everything went black.

He was falling in the darkness, deeper and deeper. After what felt like hours, he landed and the darkness faded away. Chase tried to get his bearings and found that he was back in the house he got with Stacy.

Two sets of laughing voices started drawing nearer, and Chase knew immediately who owned them. It was his kids. They bounded over to him and pulled him into a hug. Chase's heart ached from how much he had missed them. He was still be showered with "I love you"'s and such when Stacy sauntered into the room. She came up behind Chase and draped her arms around him.

"Where have you been, darling? We've been waiting for you," she whispered into his ear. Chase bit back the sob rising in his chest. His family was here. They were whole again. Stacy sounded so sweet and his kids were so comforting, and yet it felt like something else was slipping away. Chase tried to pull on that loose thread, but his daughter tugged on his sleeve and grabbed his attention.

"Will you tell us a story? We wanna hear about all those trophies we found in the garage." his eldest daughter asked. His son jumped up and down in agreement. For a second, Chase was completely confused. He didn't have any trophies. He was just average. But then fantastic memories of all these accomplishments filled his mind. He was an MVP athlete. His own YouTube channel had tens of millions of followers who all adored him. Chase smiled down at his children, nodded, and began describing in detail events that just a minute ago he could've sworn never happened.

JJ felt shivers shooting up his spine as he heard the upstairs quiet down. He had hid behind the sofa after he heard Anti's laughter. It was a terrible sound, one that sent him back to when JJ was first created. It was the same sound he heard anytime he saw blood or he was alone. It was the same sound Marvin had once helped him tune out.

Marvin. Marvin was up there, alone with the glitch demon. JJ was terrified, but his desperation to save his brother won out in the end. Slowly JJ raised his head up and looked to the stairs. The blue and green light was still shining bright. He carefully made his way to the stairs and ascended. What he saw when he reached the top nearly caused his legs to give out. A bit down the hallway were his big brothers, but they weren't moving. All three of them were on their knees with their heads drooping down. Their eyes were pointed towards the ground but ultimately unseeing. In front of them were Anti and Marvin.

JJ ducked back down the stairs until he could only just see what was happening. Anti was walking in between the three egos and inspecting Marvin's work. " And you're sure they won't wake up? " Marvin walked behind him with his head bowed.

"No, master, they're in their own perfect little universes. They won't even want to try to fight it. I can end it at your command." Marvin answered in an obedient, monotone voice. JJ shivered again at the lack of inflection and emotion in his voice. He seemed so hollow.

Anti laughed again, " I want to break them, and what better way than to destroy each of their paradises? Well, pet, it's time to go. "

Marvin hesitated and looked up, "What about J- the other one?" JJ felt like he had been stabbed through the heart hearing Marvin refer to him like that, but at least he didn't sound mindless in that moment.

Anti glitched over to the magician and roughly yanked his hair. " Do you still care what happens to him, hmm? Don't you dare question me! " Anti's glitches increased exponentially as his volume grew louder. He tossed Marvin to the side and continued, " We'll deal with him soon enough. He'll come to us. He wouldn't dream of leaving his favorite brother with his worst nightmare after all. " Anti walked back over to Marvin and caressed the side of his face. When Marvin looked back up towards Anti, JJ could see that his eyes were filled with static.

Marvin nodded once and began the ritual that JJ vaguely recognized as one of his teleportation spells. Usually he would use it for small tricks or to spook one of his brothers, but this time the spell was bigger and far darker. In a blink of an eye all five of them were gone, and JJ was left alone amidst the suffocating silence.


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