"WHAT THE HELL, JACKIE!?"

"What?! It's not like I just opened the fucking door for him!"

"YOU LET HIM GET AWAY!"

"What'd you expect me to do!? GLITCH after him!? I can't do that and you know it AND I have no idea where he could have gone!"

Chase was in full on panic mode and as a parent, it wasn't pretty to see. However, he was considerably calmer knowing his kids could probably hear them yelling.

"You shouldn't have kept his stuff in the closet so easily to get to like that" Chase criticized him, "Fuck, you shouldn't have even terminated his lease at all . . . You have no idea what kind of pain you could have just put him through"

Jackie honestly did feel bad but he thought Chase was going overboard a little, "That place was a shit-hole anyway-"

"I know what it's like to not have a home, Jackie!" Chase lost his temper with him, banging his fist on the wall, "REMEMBER!? I was evicted and you KNOW the pain I felt! You KNOW what you did! You wanted Anti to feel trapped here well guess what!? You broke whatever form of trust there was at all and shattered it to pieces and now he's gone! Probably forever!"

Jackie didn't say anything. He couldn't to that. Chase was right.

He fucked up . .but what was he supposed to do about it now? Anti was gone.

Chase sighed, "In the morning . . . we'll go to the apartment and see if he glitched there anyway. If not . . . you better pray nothing bad happens to him while he's still a child"

Leaving Jackie with those words, Chase walked out of the room, going back downstairs to comfort his children who were worried about Anti's safety and where he had gone.

The whole house was woken up but what could they do? If Anti was able to escape by glitching, he could literally be ANYWHERE.

But it was as Chase had said.

The very first place Anti glitched to was his apartment.

He stood in front of the building, staring up at his window.

It was just raining now, the thunderstorm having ceased a while ago. The drizzle soaked his clothes, though, making him shiver.

There wasn't a light on in his apartment so he hoped that meant no one lived there now.

Taking the chance, Anti glitched up inside.

It was dark . . . just a little chilly. But . . . . empty.

All his furniture was gone, having been moved out by the landlord. Probably into his own place.

'He really did it' Anti thought to himself.

Anti hadn't been particularly fond of where he lived but it was still his home.

He felt safe there.

And now that net was gone, having been severed by the very person he thought was least likely to do so. The man that had actually been alright to him the whole day. What had happened?

Anti sat on the wooden floor, folding his knees up to his chest for a little extra warmth and comfort.

He didn't have a home anymore.

'What should I do?' he was still a bit to tired to think straight, though. Too tired and upset.

He'd think more on it in the morning . . . .

Of course, Anti wasn't expecting there to be another thunderstorm rolling in that night.

Able to glitch again, he was familiar with the ongoing pain it came with, the lightning clashing with his energy and being.

He just hoped the other residents in the apartments couldn't hear him scream and cry.

'It hurts even more than when I was bigger! Why does it hurt so much!?'

The buzzing within him was electrocuting, coursing through his bones, even.

It felt like he was having a seizure, he was flailing so much.

The entire time, he wished Jackie was there.

Why did he want that?

He'd never want that!

But when Jackie had held him earlier that night during the last storm . . . . it took so much pain away. He felt so . . . safe.

He just wanted to feel safe again.

'Help me'

He woke up cold and shaking, his stomach growling. Hoping one of the morons just left a window open, Anti opened his eyes only to be disappointed.

It wasn't a dream.

But instead of crying about it, he got up on his feet. Maybe there was still some non-perishables in the cupboards?

Climbing on the counter, he opened them.

Nope.

His asshole land-lord really did take everything. His stomach growled again but he thought of an idea quick.

'Maybe since I'm a kid, it'll be easier to steal from people!'

He felt sick and achingly exhausted from last night again but maybe it'll be even better to use to trick people.

Anti didn't want to cause a scene out front in the daylight, so he took the front door this time to leave.

He had a few looks from other residents but otherwise, he managed to sneak out just fine.

'Wonder where I should hit first' he giggled to himself, 'The mall would be crowded enough again. I can't go to that fancy hotel since there's not as many people. A crowd would be best. I could always trick someone in thinking I'm a cute lost little boy!'

That was the plan.

Everything seemed . . . so much bigger though outside.

People were taller and there were so many more people around he didn't know. Strangers.

He felt more like a kid then than he'd ever realized. He was scared and alone . . .

Anti shook his head roughly, 'Get ahold of yourself, dumbass!'

He gripped his fists together and kept walking towards where the mall was. Just a few more blocks down.

'You've never been scared before, why now? It's not like you need your fucking mommy with you!'

His thoughts briefly ventured on to Chase.

He shook his head again and started running.

Anti didn't realize that he was being watched.

When he finally made it to the mall, he felt anxiety well up in him. It was so big and crowded.

But he was brave and strode inside. Immediately, the smell of food filled his senses and he calmed a little. The food court and the smell of pretzels made his mouth water.

But first he'd have to earn some money!

He went to his usual spot by the food court. There was a bench that he chose to climb up and sit on, looking out for potential suckers.

'I gotta come up with a plan first!' he swung his legs on the bench. Since they could reach the floor, there was a cuteness that was added to him.

'I got it!' he hit his hands together, 'I'll find some older woman and tell her I lost my mom! She'll let her guard down in plenty of time for me to pick her pockets!'

He thought it was a brilliant idea and looked around for someone like that.

Then his eyes landed on a woman dressed in nice clothing. She looked like a young grandmother. Classy but sweet looking. Perfect.

Anti put his game face on. This tactic was different from what he was used to but he had to give it a shot! For his tummy!

She was by herself, so Anti hopped off the bench and waddled up to her, "Um . .. excuse me?"

The woman turned sharply and looked down, "Oh! Hi there, sweety! Where's your mommy at?"

Anti shuffled 'shyly', "I don't know . . ."

She took his hand in hers, "Oh well now don't you worry sweet thing! I'LL be your new mommy!"

'Uh-oh' Anti tried to get out of her grip but she was a tough old bird. She grinned like an old cat that caught a fish. Anti could see now that HE was the victim!

"Hey! Let me go!" but she held on tighter.

"Hey now don't be so rude, young man! Else you won't get no dessert tonight!" And now SHE had claimed him as her victim. But Anti wasn't about to be bested. He shoved his hand in her pocket and grabbed her wallet.

"HEY! Give that back, you little shit!" she slapped him hard across the face, making Anti drop the wallet.

'Okay, that's it! No money's worth this bullshit!' he tried to glitch out of her grasp to run away.

Only . . . .

It wouldn't work.

"FUCK!"

"Watch your language, young man!"

"FUCK YOU, YA OLD HAG!" he was pissed.

Did the last storm last night actually take away his glitching ability AGAIN!?

The two started scuffling in the crowded area until a loud booming voice stopped them.

"Excuse me!? What's going on over here?"

It was a security officer! Once used to be Anti's enemy here to be his . . savior?

"This weird old lady's trying to kidnap me! HELP! MOMMY! DADDY!!"

The security guard seemed shocked but pulled out a taser, "Mam, I'm going to have to ask you to let go of the child!"

"He's my grandson! He's just being a pain, is all!"

"Let go of the child!"

"DADDY!" Anti milked it as much as he could until the older lady finally let him go but instead of bolting to the officer, he ran the opposite direction.

"Kid! Wait! Come back here!"

But he didn't listen and he didn't care. He bobbed and weaved around other different crowds for a few minutes until he was on the other side of the mall and he was WIPED.

'Well, that was a fooking bust.' he growled under his breathe, 'Who knew there'd be sick fucks like THAT around here!'

Of course now with his face being recognizable, his cover would be blown. He'd have to go somewhere else to trick people and hopefully not run into anymore kidnappers.

What Anti was really pissed off about, however, was his inability to glitch again. That was the main reason he was able to do these sort of tricks and now he'd have to completely redo his style! Not only that, but it also took away his means of getting away easier.

Walking down the mall parking lot, he kicked over some rocks on the side walk in thought.

He could always go downtown but it was a rougher area.

His stomach started to growl again.

Then again, he could steal food a little easier downtown.

'When was this stupid curse supposed to end anyway?' he thought to himself, 'Did Marvin lie and it's actually permanent? For his sake, he better hope it's not!'

He wanted nothing more than to have his glitching back AND his adult body. He just felt so powerless like this. So fragile and weak. Being aggressive and angry can only get so far. Anti could feel other feelings bubbling up inside of him now that he usually shoved down.

He was. . .lonely. Scared. Anxious.

He felt some tears prickle in his eyes but he wiped them away quickly. He refused to believe that he actually missed the idiots.

They cared for him as a child so well. They were nice and comforting. Jackie was rough around the edges but Anti had been fine with that. . . . at times. Other times he was just as scary as some of these other strangers he used to make deals with on the streets to get by.

He didn't know if any of them would try to kill him. Just like he didn't know if Jackie would ever just lose his temper and kill HIM.

He missed Chase most of all.

His stomach growled again.

Then again, maybe he just missed his food.

Trigger warning: unsavory lgbtq+ talk between two absolute pigs. Sorry if this triggers you but this section is necessary. Trigger ending will be labeled.

"Hey!"

Anti flinched and looked around for who made the sound to see some guys standing in front of the hardware store.

'Hardware store?'

"Hey runt! Where's your parents? You can't walk around these parts alone, kid!" a big burly looking man grunted down on him.

Anti huffed strongly, though, "Mind your own business!"

"Ohhhohoho! Mr. tough-guy, huh?" the other man snorted, "Whatever, kid. Just make sure you don't get caught or anything."

"Whatever, losers" with that, Anti started to walk away but he heard more of the conversation.

"Hey, you remember that freak that came in here a couple weeks ago? Looked like a fucking girl with all that glitter and makeup?"

The other chuckled, "Yeah . . I mean if it wasn't a guy with a dick, I totally probably woulda hit that"

"You sick fuck. You into those trans freaks or something?"

"Long as they got the right hole, I'm good, man. I don't see the problem. They wanna be and act like a woman, they getting fucked like one"

"I don't see the appeal. Whatever, dude . . . .Do you even remember what happened that day? One moment I was trying to buy a part for my car and the next I was in jail. They said I tried to rob the place"

"I was with ya, moron. I don't fucking know. Maybe it was the freaky magician"

The other snorted again, "Yeah and pig's fly"

Trigger warning end

Anti twitched and his breathe hitched, 'These are the fuckers that insulted Marvin . . . .'

They STILL were.

Anti turned around to look at their faces better.

He couldn't attack them as he was now. But perhaps he could later . . . .

He couldn't wait to make them SQUEAL like the pigs they were.

Anti kept walking down the street. Luckily it was cloudy but not rainy so he wasn't in any risk of thunderstorms again. Then again . . .maybe he WANTED a thunderstorm. That way, he might gain his power back again!

"Hey kid!"

Anti groaned and growled under his breathe, turning around sharply, "WHAT?!"

He paused . . . it was a group of men. They looked like the type of guys that'd kill someone without a thought. That'd relish screams and begging and probably even scalp somebody. Tattoos everywhere, dirty looks in their eyes. Sick perversion and a look of testing.

Anti used to think he was similar to these kinds of guys . . . . .

"Watch your tone, brat . . . " one of them growled, "Where's your parents?"

Anti was getting fed up with that question and shot some spice their way to try and ward them off, "Up your ass!"

The small gang chuckled at his response but the leader wasn't too impressed with his bravado.

"You hungry?" he threw a bag of what seemed like leftovers at him, "Just came out of a diner . . you look famished kid"

His tone was somewhat sinister but Anti chose to look past that. Some people just happened to have a weird tone about them and actually be the nicest people in the world.

Carefully, he opened the bag and low and behold, it was a big burger. But he was still a little distrustful, "Why?"

"Why give you food?" the leader chuckled, "I've been where you are, kid . . . . eat up. See you around, ya little fuck"

Anti cringed as he walked past him, dragging his hand strangely through his hair. The others walked by behind him without a word just following.

Anti wouldn't admit it . . . but he had never felt more terrified.

But he watched them go and when they were finally out of his vision, Anti pulled out the burger.

He was just about ready to dig in when a thought scraped in the back of his mind.

He had never done it before but Anti opened up the burger, pulling it apart and he was glad he did.

There in the center of the patty under the condiments and lettuce, onion and tomato . . . was a small pill.

They had been planning on drugging him.

How would it service them, though to do that and not be around? Or were they actually watching more closely than he realized?

Whatever the case, Anti picked off the pill and threw it and searched the burger even more.

It didn't look like there was anymore more nefarious on it so he ate it, being too hungry to worry if anything had been cooking INSIDE the patty.

It didn't ebb away his worry, though.

The streets were way more terrifying than he remembered. Perhaps being a kid around these parts wasn't the best thing.

And things were only starting to get worse.

It was starting to get dark already and he was nowhere near his old apartment.

He was scared to death inside of what would happen if he bumped into anyone again that he had met today . . . . .