Mark's breathing was shaky and not just because of the cold.

It all flooded back to him. Everything.

He was . . .. he had turned into such a MONSTER.

"I've ruined everything" he mumbled quietly, "I. . .  I  . . Sean, I didn't mean to"

Sean pat his shoulder, looking up at the wormhole, "It's okay. . . I know you didn't mean to. You weren't yourself"

"But I. . ." Mark sniffled, "I still don't understand. . .. why. . ." he stopped and gaped at Sean.

He was confused, "What is it?"

"Sean" Mark suddenly looked terrified, "There was one universe I wasn't going to destroy. . . I didn't now really why at the time, though. But if we don't stop the warp core. . . . that one will be destroyed, too!"

Sean nodded, "Yeah . . . I guess we're fucked. . . ."

Mark didn't like that thought, though, "We have to stop it"

Henrik snorted, standing up, "Oh really? And how? Nothing I did seemed to matter. It's no use"

"WE HAVE TO FUCKING TRY!" Mark shouted at him, "I'm not Dark anymore! I fucking care! I give a shit! I need to do this! I HAVE TO!"

Sean shook his head, "It's not use, though, Mark"

Sean had already given up, just happy that Mark was back before they were erased.

Mark suddenly grabbed Sean by his shoulders, "IF WE DON'T STOP THAT FUCKING THING, THEN AMY AND EVELIEN DIE!"

Sean blinked.

'Shit'

Mark's glare was steel, "It was OUR ORIGINAL universe that wasn't going to be destroyed. . . . . but if we don't stop it. . .then.. . . ."

Sean nodded, a new drive in his head, "Alright. You got a plan, then?"

Mark thought for a moment, looking around, "Uh . . . ." he thought back to when he had calibrated the warp core, "THE CRYSTAL! IT'S THE KEY!"

Henrik gasped, "FUCK! ZHAT IS VHAT WAS NEEDED!"

Jackie and Chase were lost but Marvin was hanging in there.

"Of course. Since the crystal supplied the warp core with power, it could be used to take it back and maybe even revert all the damage that's already been done!"

Jameson tapped hurriedly on his watch.

They had to hurry, though.

The world around them was already starting to disappear.

Darkness was closing in.

"We gotta get to the warp core." Mark decided, "Since we remember everything now. . . do we still have those powers?"

Sean snorted, "I kicked your ass with them, didn't I?"

"Eh. . ." Mark teased, "Did you, though? Anyway, we should both try and teleport to the machine. Doc, it's still in that other universe, right?"

Henrik nodded but he didn't like where this was going, "You're going to leave us all behind. . . aren't you?"

The realization kicked in.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Chase asked, "Leave us behind? We could ALL go and-"

Sean shook his head, "Mark and I can't carry all of you and neither can Marvin. Mark and I have to fix this"

"Yeah, no" Marvin stopped him, crossing his arms, "I didn't break a lifetime vow with the magic council just to watch you get all the action. . . Sean. You don't worry about us. I can manage to keep everyone safe. You and Mark will have to recalibrate the machine but we WILL be backup. No arguing"

Sean should have known better.

He nodded.

"Alright then. Let's go. Wilford, are you coming, too?"

Wilford was looking up at the wormhole in the sky. It currently in space ripping apart all fabric of reality, "Nah. . ..  I think I'm just gonna sit here and watch the lights. You guys go have fun"

Mark wanted to argue but. . . . if they were able to fix everything, then he'll be safe regardless.

Mark grabbed hold of Sean's shoulder, "Go"

Marvin was right behind them.

As they teleported back to the void, it was much different now than when Henrik had just been there with Wilford.

It wasn't just nothing and black darkness.

It was bright colors and waving lights similar to a lava lamp on drugs. It was mesmerizing but at also at the same time, it gave them all a headache. There was far too much going on.

The warp core was connected to too many multiverses  and was continuing to expand.

Marvin made a sort of platform and bridge for them all to stand on. They didn't think about if they'd be able to breathe there but luckily that wasn't an issue.

Marvin, however, was seeing a different problem, "Shit. . . . the warp core is warding itself. You have to get to it NOW! GO!"

Sean wasted no time and took the crystal from Mark, "Come on!"

They both teleported as close as they could get but it wasn't good enough and the core released a wave of energy, sensing the crystal near.

Sean tried to glitch directly into it but the core shot him away.

Mark tried consuming it with the shadows but it didn't work. The core's energy it was emitting was too bright.

They weren't going to give up but they were running out of options.

Marvin came in between them and tried casting a spell to try and do something.

ANYTHING!

Jackie ran up the platform Marvin had made and tried lunge at it.

Hell, Chase even tried shooting at it.

Once again, Henrik and Jameson felt useless on the sidelines.

Jameson held Henrik's hand and pat it gently. The mute gave Henrik a small smile.

'Thank you for finding me all that time ago. If you hadn't. . . I wouldn't have made such good friends as you all'

Henrik let down his guard and breathed out a small sob, "Jameson . . . . . I'm so sorry I couldn't fix it"

'It was never yours to fix'

Henrik hated that thought. . ..  but he knew that he was right. This was all up to Sean and Mark in the end.

It all started with them, after all.

Chase ran out of bullet, "NO! NO, no! Come on! We were so CLOSE! Come on! PLEASE!" He started to cry.

Sean shook. He didn't want to admit it. . . but it didn't look like they were going to win this.

Sean walked over to Chase and hugged him. The man sunk in Sean's arms, "All of this. . ..  all of it for nothing . . .  I don't wanna die. . .  I can never . . . make it up to them, Anti."

Sean didn't correct him on his name. It didn't matter.

"It's okay, Chase. I'm still here for you."

"YOU'RE ACTING AS IF WE'VE ALREADY LOST!" Mark yelled at him, "GODDAMMIT, SEAN, HELP ME!"

"It's too late, Mark" Sean tried but Mark wasn't hearing it.

"WHAT, YOU YOU'RE GIVING UP AGAIN, IS THAT IT?! JUST LIKE YOU ALWAYS DO!"

Sean flinched, "Mark, I don't wanna fight with you right now"

Jackie and Marvin stopped their own movements.

They finally realized that nothing they did would work, either.

"WELL, I DON'T WANNA FIGHT, EITHER, SEAN!" Mark kept yelling at him, "BUT FUCK! I JUST GOT MY MEMORIES BACK! ALL OF THIS IS ALL MY FAULT! I CAN'T FIX IT! I CAN'T FUCKING FIX IT! I CAN'T DO IT ALONE! PLEASE!" tears ran down his cheeks, "I KNOW I was a terrible friend before. . ..  but I can't just let things end like this. . . .. "

Sean's shoulders dropped, "I know . . .But it's okay, Mark. I forgive you. I'm sure Amy would forgive you, too. But it's not all YOUR fault, Mark . . . "

Sean glanced away, "If I hadn't brought up and started shit that day. . . . we wouldn't have gone into that forest at night. ..  we wouldn't have found the crystal. . . It's MY fault. I was selfish and angry and I wanted to put the blame on you even though you made the EFFORT to actually come and see me. . . . . I was the bad friend. . .. not you"

Mark bit his lips to try and stop himself from crying any more.

"Guys?" Marvin sighed, "The warp core is almost done . . . . . we're fading"

Sean whipped around to Marvin. . . . the magician was right.

The others. . .they were turning . . . transparent?

"I'd actually be. . . fascinated if this wasn't the end" Henrik sighed, " . . . . but since it is. . . Jackie. ."

Jackie met his eyes.

"You were a great hero" the doctor smiled at him, "I'm proud to call you my friend."

Jackie breathed out shakily. It was all he had ever been trying to wrench out of the doctor since they met. ..  but now it was just all too bittersweet. He couldn't save them. To him, he was no hero.

Henrik turned to Chase, "I'm sorry for treating you like a prisoner at Iris. I only wanted to help. I'm so sorry, Chase for the added grief I gave you"

Suddenly, Henrik vanished into thin air. Jameson had been next to him and he was fading just as quickly.

But he had nothing to say. Instead, he just waved with a small, sad smile as he, too, disappeared.

Chase started to lose it, "I can't. . .no, please. Not like this"

Jackie looked to Marvin, "I. . . .I'm glad I got to see your full potential. You're more of an inspiration than I could have ever hoped to be, Marv"

Marvin teared up.

This was really it.

Jackie looked to Chase, "Hey. . .it's gonna be okay, man. . .. . just think about it this way. . . it'll feel like you're just falling asleep. . . right?"

Jackie disappeared as did Marvin.

Chase shook his head, "No, no, no! Anti, please!"

Sean grabbed hold of Chase and hugged him tight, "It's okay, Chase. I know. I know you're scared."

"I just. . ." Chase sobbed, "I just realized I didn't want to die yet. . . . and now I don't even get the choice! I don't wanna die, Anti! I can't do it! I know I deserve it but  . . . I can't let this. . .. be IT!"

He pulled away from Sean, "Please, you can't just give up! Think of something! Anything!"

"But I. . ." Sean cried, "I don't know what to do. . . I'm sorry, Chase"

Just like that, Chase was gone.

Mark and Sean were all that were left.

Until they, too, started to turn transparent.

Mark's mind was still reeling, trying to think of a way to stop it all.

Sean just stared at his see-through hand, "We must be last to go since we were the first ones to touch the crystal."

Suddenly, Mark had an idea, "Sean. . .. give me the crystal."

"What?"

"Give the crystal to me. Now"

Sean gave it to him and Mark held it in his hand.

Mark had been the first one to touch it. . . .

"I can end this. . . . it's like it's telling me. . . ."

Sean stared at him, wondering, "What do you mean?"

Mark looked back to him, "It's telling me. . . . I can go into it. . . through it. The crystal will do the rest. At a price. But that won't matter, will it?"

"What? What do you mean by that, Mark? What price?"

Mark gave a small smile and pat Sean's shoulder, "I can fix this. . . . .. Do me a favor and check in on Amy, Chica and Henry when things go back to normal, okay?"

Sean didn't like that thought, "Mark, what are you saying? Hold on!"

Mark didn't listen, though and shot himself towards the warp core, crystal in his hand. It burned like hellfire but he wasn't about to stop now.

"MARK!"

Mark didn't listen and barrelled through the pain. This agony of the core tearing his very soul and atoms apart.

He was almost there.

So close.

The crystal was screaming at him.

But he was starting to fade away before he could even GET to it!

Suddenly, Mark felt something crash into him and glanced behind him.

Sean had glitched to him and blasted into him to give him one last good push.

Before, he too, faded away.

Mark crashed into the light of the warp core.

The crystal made contact.

"Mmmm" Sean groaned.

He had a massive headache.

He could feel grass underneath him.

The wind and the leaves rustling in the trees above him.

Sean opened his eyes and slowly picked himself up, looking around.

He couldn't really remember what had happened.

It was daylight out.

'Shit. . . where?. . .' Sean looked around more and spotted someone close to him.

'That's right. . . . the forest. . . .'

Letting it all come back to him, Sean spotted the hole in the ground in front of him.

It was empty.

'The. . . meteor?. . . .  Mark and I must have passed out after it landed'

Sean stumbled to his feet and walked over to Mark who still seemed unconscious. He shook him.

"Hey. . . hey, wake up, man"

"Mmmm. . . go away"

Sean snorted, "Yeah, yeah. Wake the fuck up, man. We're still in the forest"

Mark's eyes shot open and he grabbed hold on Sean's hand, "SEAN! WE'RE ALIVE!"

Sean seemed started at him, "Uh . .. well, yeah? Why wouldn't we. . . ."

Suddenly, like a current of electricity, all of his memory came back to him.

Everything that happened.

Sean looked around, "We. . . we made it. . . we're alive.  . you. . ." he grinned and lunged at Mark with a big bear hug, "YOU FUCKING DID IT! YOU DID IT, MARK!"

Mark laughed and they both cried, hugging each other, "We did it. . .. I wouldn't have gotten to it if it wasn't for you, man"

Sean let him go and frowned, "The others. . ..  do you think . . .. did it fix their universes, too?"

Mark sighed, "I hope so . . . . But I mean. . how would we know?" he opened his hands, "The crystal is gone. I think it got destroyed in the process. We can't go see them to be sure"

Sean deflated, "Oh  . . ."

Mark knew that the uncertainty was going to eat up at him, "Hey . . . it's okay. I'm sure they're fine now. The crystal brought OUR universe back so if HAD to of brought theirs back, too, right?"

"I hope so . . ."

"Come on" Mark stood up and helped Sean up off the ground, too, "Let's get back to your house. I'm sure Evelien is worried sick about you, right?"

"Yeah" Sean was excited at least, to see his girlfriend and BB again, "You might wanna call Amy, too and let her know you're okay.  . . wait. What's the date say on your phone?! How long has it been?! Shit!"

Mark checked his phone and his brow furrowed, "Huh . . . It says it's the tenth. It's only been half a day here"

Sean breathed out a sigh of relief and nodded, "Oh. . ..  that's good"

"I'm sure our Uber left without us, though." Mark snorted, "I'll order us one."

Sean was only half-listening, really.

He couldn't stop thinking about the others.

Were they safe?

Did they survive?

Did they even remember what happened?

How much time had passed for THEM?

If Sean and Mark appeared in the forest as if nothing had happened. . .  did anything actually happen in THEIR universes, then?

For them, if Sean hadn't turned into Anti, did Jackie have powers?

Was Marvin still following the magic council?

Was Chase still trying to kill himself?

Was Henrik still working on anomalies?

And what about Jameson?

Mark and Sean were both sort of quiet on the way to Sean's house.

Evelien had been worried sick and left Sean tons of texts and voicemails.

He was happy to be in her arms.

How could he have ever forgotten her?

That night, Mark had decided to stay for a while longer.

He didn't care about his movie or projects at the moment.

For now, he just wanted to hang out with his friend and be there for him.

Sean was hanging out with Mark in the guest room.

Mark sighed, laying down on the bed, "Sucks we don't have our powers anymore. Those were cool. We did NOT take proper advantage of those"

Sean snorted, "I was too afraid to use mine. . . well . . at least connecting to the internet. That part sucked. . . . . . . ..  I killed people"

Mark shook his head, "That wasn't you. Stop that. . ..  and besides. . . so did I.. .  sort of. There's nothing we can do about it."

"Right  . . . . . I just-"

Suddenly a piece of paper appeared in a crackling of fire in the air and landed on Mark's guest bed in front of him.

Mark narrowed his eyes at it, "I've learned not to touch strange objects"

Sean grabbed it himself and read what it had to say.

"Sean, it's Marvin."

"Oh shit!" Mark grinned, "They're alive!"

Sean continued with a smile, "I hope you didn't worry too much but I had to make sure you had remembered us before sending you this note. Mark and you succeeded and all of the multiverse was restored. I'm sure you're wondering how I even know about everything  since time barely passed for you? The crystal must have sensed your emotions and willed our universes time to have been unchanged. We're all okay. Jackie still has his powers and I'm still a rebel, of course😉. Chase, Jameson and Henrik AND Wilford are okay."

Mark sighed in relief, "That's good to hear. . . .Is there more?"

Sean nodded.

"I'm sorry, though. For now, I cannot come to your universe. I am not able to breach a sort of barrier left behind by the crystal. I hope you get this letter fine. Maybe one day we'll all see each other again. Until that day. . . . Thank you, Anti. . . . and good luck. You made an impact on us all and I hope you realize that we cared for you very deeply in the end. We love you. Take care."

Sean was tearing up and wiped away stray tears.

Mark sighed, "Nothing for me in there, then, huh?" he joked.

Sean rolled his eyes at him, "What, you didn't hear about Wilford?"

Mark smirked, "Sucks we can't see them . . . Might be for the best, though. The will of the crystal~ oooo" he uttered ominously, "You okay?"

Sean nodded, "Yeah . . .. yeah, I think I am"

"Good. . . you wanna play a game on the couch for a little bit? Get your mind off heavy things?"

Sean was thinking about Chase but he nodded, "Yeah . . . yeah, thanks. That'd be cool"

A week later, Mark and Sean's friendship had never been stronger but eventually, he DID have to leave back home to LA.

He was excited to see Amy, Chica and Henry again. He was going to spoil them all rotten when he saw them.

To Mark, it was all thanks to his love for Amy that they were back at all.

Sean saw him off at the airport and they hugged each other one last time for a while.

"You text back or call once in a while, alright?" Sean chastised him.

Mark nodded, "I'll be a better friend this time. I promise"

"I will, too" Sean smiled, "See ya, bud"

Mark smiled, "I'll text ya when I get to LA"

Things were better after that.

Days went by and then weeks.

Their friendship was still just as strong.

Sean DID miss the others, still, though.

He never told Evelien about what happened. He was sure she'd think he was crazy. She could tell something was different about him, though.

But that was okay. She'd be there for him, regardless.

Sean looked over Marvin's letter again, sitting in his recording room.

He figured it was time to get back to making videos.

He had really missed his fans.

When he went to touch the mouse, though, something strange happened.

A sharp green spark crackled in between his skin and the mouse.

Sean was stunned.

He brought his hand up, looking at it curiously.

A smile broke on his face.

Green electricity glitched over his hand.

Sean grinned, ". . . . I'll come to YOU guys"

The End.