Marvin stared down at the shivering ego on the floor, completely taken aback on his actions. He had never seen Anti like this. No one had.

Jackie bent down on his knees in front of Anti, "Anti, hey Anti, it's okay n-now" even the hero's voice quivered a bit, "Open your eyes, kid. Come on"

But what they didn't know was that Anti couldn't really hear them. All he heard was a loud high pitched ring in his ear, similar to the noise that would come about when Dark showed up. It was so loud, he thought he was still in the darkness.

"I'll be good. Please" he whispered and Jackie nearly choked at the words. Finally, the hero shook Anti hard, making the glitch suddenly jerk and shout, flinging himself backwards.

He opened his eyes to the bright light in the room but immediately had to shut them again but it wasn't any better. The darkness he saw behind his eyelids scared him again and he started blinking rapidly, panicking.

Marvin could see this and quickly went to dim the lights in the room, "Hey, easy there, Anti. Just breathe, alright? You're okay now"

He still shivered and blinked fast over and over again but slowly he started to realize his whereabouts and calmed a little.

After a few moments, he was able to finally keep his eyes open but couldn't stop shaking. The ringing in his ears started to fade.

"Anti . . . " Jackie started.

"No" he croaked out, interrupting him, "Y-you. . . . why?"

"Anti, we're sorry" Marvin stepped in, "I . . .I didn't know it would be like that. I thought. . . I'm sorry"

A few more moments went by until Anti finally spoke again a little more clearly, "G-give me my power back"

"I don't think-"

"Just do it, Marv" Jackie intercepted, "Sean will understand. Anti didn't deserve this"

The glitch didn't say a word and as Marvin cast him his power back, he merely glitched out of the room to his own, desperate to get away from the awkward situation.

"Should we call Sean again?" Marvin asked, "He's gonna find out anyways"

"Nah" Jackie shook his head, "It's too late at night. We'll let him know in the morning."

"Should we try and go after Anti, you think?"

"Not sure. Maybe just give him some space for now. Hopefully he'll feel better in the morning"

"Alright . . .. you go get yourself some sleep, Jackie. You did good. You were right, Anti didn't deserve that. We should have known better where we were sending him beforehand."

"Hey don't blame yourself, Marv" Jackie pat his shoulder, "It's not on you. It's mostly Sean's fault . . . and mine. We all should have heard him out before accusing and punishing him so quickly. I'll see you in the morning, man"

"Yeah .. . . see ya"

Meanwhile with Anti, the glitch fell onto his bed, trying desperately to calm his shaking. He felt as if his whole body would convulse in on itself.

He was relieved to be out of that dark void but he was also confused. How long had it been? Why did Marvin and Jackie look so worried about him? Did Sean tell them to let him out? Why had he acted so weak?!

He shut his eyes tight but quickly reopened them when he was met with darkness. Gritting his teeth, he focused his energy and forced his light to turn on in the room, bathing it with a bright glow.

'Fucking darkness. Not gonna take me again, I won't let it. I'll never go back. Never. Please don't put me back' his thoughts were a jumbled mess and he hugged himself as he laid on his side in the bed, his knees to his chest. He felt like a child. So afraid of the dark.

He felt weak.

He hated it.

Anti couldn't sleep that entire night. He just laid there in the bed, his eyes open, barely blinking the whole time. He didn't care how tired he was, he wasn't going to let the darkness consume him again. Not again.

By the time the sun was starting to come up, Anti looked over at his alarm clock, '6am . . . I could go downstairs now' he thought.

Still a bit wobbly, he got off the bed and cautiously made his way down the stairs into the kitchen. He was worried that if he ran into someone, they'd throw him back out but he was also hungry. Lurking in the door of the fridge, he rummaged through the food until he came across the syrup and pulled out some pancakes from the freezer to microwave.

While he did this, Jameson had woken up as well and started to smell the breakfast being made down in the kitchen. Food-driven and not knowing of the new happening of Anti's return, the mute quietly left for the kitchen.

To say Jameson was surprised to see Anti was an understatement but he came to the rational conclusion that someone got soft and let him come back. With a soft smile, he went over to the coffee machine undetected.

However, a few seconds later, Anti had turned to flinched violently at Jameson's appearance, "FUCK!" He ran behind the table to create some distance and his heart raced. Jameson flinched as well at Anti's reaction but held his hands up defensively, surprised at the glitch's reaction.

There was a moment of silence before the microwave suddenly beeped, freaking Anti out again. But this time, his sudden panic had an effect and the microwave sparked a bit before exploding.

Jameson ducked away from the small blast and the two just stared at each other, unsure of what to do or say.

Fast footsteps could be heard running down the stairs and Jackie swung in like a bat out of hell, "What's up!? What's going on? What was that noise? WHY IS THE MICROWAVE SMOKING!?"

Anti flinched at the yelling but it wasn't noticed.

Marvin teleported into the kitchen and say the fuss, "Oh calm down, you drama queen" he rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers, repairing the microwave back into working condition, "Screaming like the house was burning down"

Jackie glared at him, "It could have! How did it do that anyways?" he looked over to Jameson who pointed over at Anti as an answer.

They all set their eyes on the glitch, making him uncomfortable, "Hey quite it! Stop looking at me like that! I didn't mean it!" he bowed just a little accidentally in submission.

Jackie noticed his strange posture, "Hey it's okay, Anti. . . . no worries. How you feeling? Better than last night?"

Anti swallowed and glared at the hero, "How long was I gone?"

"What?" Marvin chuckled but Anti wasn't amused.

"How long was I fooking gone!?"

"Easy there, feral" Jackie tried calming him down, "It was only a few hours. Maybe eight?"

"Th-that's it?" Anti gripped a chair and his expression softened. He looked like he felt stupid in that moment, "It felt like days."

"Well you're out now" Marvin said, "I won't make you go back, Anti. I'm sorry. I didn't realize how it'd effect you. I doubt Sean did either"

"Shut up!" Anti hit the chair defensively and glared at them all, "I'm not weak! I'm fine! It was nothing! Don't you look at me like that! Like you pity me! Fook off!"

"Anti-"

But in a flash, he was gone, having glitched back up to his room without his breakfast

Jackie sighed, "Well, he seems to be just fine"

"I don't know" Marvin hummed, "He seems a bit more on edge than usual I think." he took in a deep breathe, "Oh well. He'll get over it, I'm sure."

Jackie watched as Jameson poured himself a cup of coffee after having gathered all that information . The mute was very observant but preferred not to meddle in with things. Although he was curious to why Anti would be on edge and defensive. Did something happen he didn't know of in the void?

"Maybe" Jackie shrugged, "I'm gonna go back to Schneep's office today. Forgot that I gave him a rain-check on those meds he suggested for me."

The magician groaned, "You keep bothering him and he'll never come back, you know. We're lucky enough we know where he is at least."

"Don't worry about it" Jackie swayed away from that subject, "Have any potions you want me to take to him this time?"

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Anti had forgotten about his breakfast but he was okay with that. He didn't feel hungry anymore. He was pissed off. He knew they all thought he was weak. He had shown weakness and now they pitied him! He hated it!

Not that he wasn't grateful for being out of the void. He was glad they had went against Sean's 'orders'.

But now that bothered him even more. What would Sean do now? Would he force him back? Would the others just compliantly obey him like dogs!?

He felt himself panicking again. He didn't want to go back!

He had to do something and quick.

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Jackie left on his way to Henrik's office but he couldn't help but feel guilty still over Anti. How could he have just believed anything that Dark had to say?! Of course he'd lie to try and get Anti in trouble!

After what happened between them Jackie always felt a soft spot for Anti. He had been doing better with them after moving in years ago, resisting the urge to hurt any of them but apparently Dark hadn't liked the 'new' Anti, deserting him. Jackie wasn't for sure if Anti and Dark had even been friends at all before but he knew it had bothered the glitch. Even more so after Chase and Henrik left.

Anti always acted tough though. Jackie always thought Anti would make a good hero one day what with his power, stubborn attitude and general toughness but he knew Anti would kill him if he even suggested it.

Soon Jackie came up to Henrik's practice and walked in, ignoring the secretary's exasperated look.

"He's back again!"

Jackie looked offended but smirked a little, "Hey now, I just forgot my medicine the doc prescribed me. Took a rain check. You guys still keep it?"

She was about to answer when the doc himself walked in the waiting room, " Oof, I thought it vas you. Came back for your meds?"

Jackie smiled sheepishly and nodded, "Yeah. Sorry for running off like that before, Hen, you know how it is"

"First of all, don't call me that. Second . . . It vas about Anti, was it not? Want to tell me vhat happened? Nothing was on the news this time"

Jackie sighed, "For once, it wasn't Anti's fault. It was Dark and Wilford. They tricked him."

"Tricked Anti?" Henrik seemed surprised but then hummed, "Or perhaps he let himself get tricked."

Jackie refused to look the doctor in the eyes and that suddenly caught his attention, "Jackie? Vhat aren't you telling me?"

"Sean came to the house. Apparently Dark had tricked Anti into trying to destroy Mark's computer and files. He didn't get to and presumably got out just in time but . . Sean was pissed off. I didn't make things any better. We all really thought Anti did it on purpose. So . ."

Henrik sighed and removed his glasses to absentmindedly clean them. He always did this when he was disappointed, "What happened Jackie?"

"Sean had Marvin send Anti into the void without his powers."

The doctor looked appalled, "Vhat?! Are you all insane?! That place is a fooking nightmare! Tell me you got him out!"

"He's out . .", Jackie held his hand up defensively, "But how do YOU know about what's in the void, Schneep?"

"Don't worry about it", he sighed in relief, "I just know. I vas a different kind of doctor before, remember? Anti must have been frightened. Is he okay?"

"I think so. Still kind of shaken but we think he's fine. Haven't told Sean we took him out yet though. He wanted to keep him there for two days. It was only eight hours but by the shape Anti was in, you'd think he was in there for weeks"

"That is vhat the void does to you." Henrik nodded, "Perhaps . . Perhaps I should come and check up on him? Make sure he is doing okay psychologically? Only for an hour max!"

Jackie smiled, "Henrik, you're always welcome. Plus I think Anti and Jameson would love to see you again. Anti's not easy to gauge emotionally but he only started acting out after you and Chase left"

Henrik suddenly looked sad at the mention of his friend but grunted, "Yes, yes. How about I come over tonight after work? Probably around six?"

Jackie nearly bounced in excitement, " Yeah that sounds great! I'll tell the guys and maybe we can even order out? How about We order from that Italian place you love so much?"

Henrik almost looked overwhelmed but sighed, knowing that was just how Jackie was, "Fine. Fine." He smiled lightly, "I'll see you then. Don't forget your medicine, brat"

Jackie grabbed the muscle relaxers from the secretary and waved as he headed out the door, "See ya later, Schneep!"

The doctor rolled his eyes, "They all vill drive me mad again, I'm sure"

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Sean was driving on his way to the house that morning. He made the decision to take Anti out of the void, unknowing of the whole predicament that had unfolded the night before.

He felt guilty much like Jackie in not hearing the glitch out. Looking through the pics last night on his phone hadn't helped him but he still thought Anti was okay. He really thought he couldn't be effected by the void. Really he didn't know what the void actually was. Wasn't it just a place of darkness? Hadn't Anti been there plenty of times before? Dark was actually practically born there, right? It couldn't be that bad.

He pulled in the driveway but felt a strange feeling as soon as he did.

Something wasn't right.