Anti was still fighting the demon back. He didn't know how he was doing it but something was working.

Sam was strong but something had severed his full control over Anti.

Anthony was coughing up blood and holding his broken arm, his one empty eye socket oozing out fresh blood from Sam's dirty jab in it earlier.

He wobbled on his feet, "A. . .. anti? What's happening? Are you fighting back?!"

"FUCK OFF!"

Anthony stayed back. He didn't know what to do. 

Should he take the moment to attack or was Anti able to push him back?

Anti fell to his knees, angry tears in his eyes, screaming and yelling at Sam and himself and Sam yelling back. It was quite the sight.

"GET BACK THERE!"

"FUCK YOU!"

"I'LL KILL THEM ALL!"

"I WON'T FUCKING LET YOU!"

"YOU CAN'T STOP ME!"

Anti bolted over to the knife he flung away before and held it to his chest, "FUCKING BET!!?"

"ANTI, NO!" Anthony cried out.

Anti DID try and stab himself but Sam was fighting back, preventing it.

"YOU . . .LITTLE . . . DISOBEDIENT FUCKER"

The knife shook in Anti's hands, edging closer and closer and then back away again.

Anti's face was red and wet, streaked with new and old tears.

He shakily looked up at Anthony, "An . .. Anthony. . . . Do it"

Anthony shook.

He wasn't asking . . . .

Anthony started to panic.

No.  . . . no, he couldn't be asking him to . . . 

Flashes of Chase, Jameson and Marvin's deaths plagued his mind. Stacey, Jack, Emily, Sammie and Chad . . . .

Anthony swallowed. It was getting hard for him to breathe.

When . . .when did he get THIS attached to all of them? 

The thought of killing Anti . .  he'd rather die, himself.

But he couldn't let the others down, either.

"ANTHONY!!!"

Suddenly a blast of light hit Anti, coiling around him like a strange rope, making him drop the knife.

Anthony looked over at where it came from and he relaxed, "EVAN!"

Evan stomped over to Anti, the intent to kill in his eyes.

Anthony realized his thoughts and hobbled in front of Anti as fast as he could, "WAIT! Don't kill him!"

Evan stared him down, "Get out of my way, Anthony"

Anthony shook his head, "He's fighting. He can do it. Just give him a chance!"

Evan rolled his eyes, "Dammit, Anthony! I'm not going to kill him!"

"Should I do it?" Wilford popped next to them and glanced at Anthony, "Wow. .. you don't look too good there, champ"

"Anti" Jackie walked up to them. He felt bad. Both Anthony AND Anti looked terrible. But it looked like Anti was still fighting which was good, "I'm glad you're still alive, Anti"

Anti refused to look at him. He just couldn't do it.

Meanwhile, Dark was shoving Mark off of him nearby, "WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING!? GET OFF OF ME!"

Mark happily took a few steps back, "Relax, I'm not here to HELP or anything!"

"Oh good, I was SO worried about that. God forbid you'd have ANY decency in your fucking soul, right?" Dark scoffed sarcastically.

Mark raised his eyebrows at him, "Hm . . .that was actually very spiteful  . . . I'm kind of impressed"

Dark growled, "Why did you hitch a ride in the first place, Mark?"

"Don't worry about me, go help your little boy toy. I'll just be over there looking under rubble"

Dark gave up and did just that. He had enough of Mark's arguing and ran over to where Anti and the others were.

Anti's infected eye was fading in and out from green to normal.

"What's going on? Did you fix him?" Dark asked.

Evan shook his head, "No, the magic council severed the initial hold, remember? But the strings are still there. We can't detach Sam completely from him otherwise he'll die. The council wanted me to kill him but I have no intention of doing so yet"

"Yet?" Anthony snarled.

"That thought shouldn't even BE in your head, Evan" Jackie scoffed, "You try and kill him and I'll beat the shit out of you"

"And what if the time comes where we won't have a choice?" Evan snapped back at him, "What if he went after Benny next? Or Henrik and the girls? You'll just slap him on the wrist?!"

Jackie didn't have a rebuttal for that but that didn't mean he'd let Evan kill Anti.

Dark took notice of Anthony's condition and took out a healing potion, giving it to him, "Here, take it. You really need it."

"Thanks" Anthony chugged it, whipping it back. Immediately, he stopped bleeding and his arm healed but what surprised him the most was he had a new eye.

"The fuck?" he started to panic but Evan hushed him.

"It's okay. When you had healing potions before, it was too late for a new eye to grow. You JUST lost your 'new' one and your body recognized that. There's no traces of Sam's DNA in it"

Anthony calmed down and looked back down at Anti.

He was still struggling against Sam even tied up as he was, "What is that spell?"

"Just a containment spell" Evan answered, "It'll keep him detained so he can't glitch out of it like normal rope"

Dark scoffed, "That would have helped earlier. We lost seven friends and family earlier because he was able to do just that!"

"I'm sorry." Evan apologized, "Convincing the council was harder than I thought it'd be. They like to take their time"

"Yeah well if I ever fucking see one of THEM, they're dead." Jackie threatened, "Half of my family is DEAD and I'll blame them and the demon for that"

Evan sighed and cast another spell on Anti, "Since it doesn't have FULL control anymore. . . Sam and Anti are now separate auras which means I can dull Sam a little so Anti doesn't have to struggle as much."

Slowly, Anti stopped shaking and crying.

He looked a little more relaxed but still twitched here and there, mumbling curses at himself and Sam.

Anti blinked hard and his eye was back to normal . . . for now.

He looked around at Anthony, Wilford, Dark and Evan standing over him.

"Why . . .why aren't I dead?"

Dark leaned over him, "Anti . .  Anti, sweetheart, it's okay. We're gonna help you"

Anti shook his head, refusing to even LOOK at Dark, "You need to kill me"

Dark shook his head, "No. . . No, we're not doing that. We're gonna figure this out. I promise"

Anti's eye flickered green, "You promised him you'd protect his family, too, lying bitch"

Dark flinched as Sam laughed but then Anti returned.

". . . .  I know you tried your best" Anti whimpered.

Jackie clenched his fist but he wouldn't say anything. It was partly HIS fault too for letting down his guard earlier.

Evan sighed, "We can't just keep him HERE. We need to take him with us. I need to research a way to help him but I can't do that here."

"NO!" Anti spat, "I'M NOT GOING WITH YOU WHERE HE CAN KILL MORE PEOPLE! NO!"

Anthony put a hand on his hair, "It's okay. Evan's got a hold of you. You won't be able to hurt anyone"

"NO!" Anti struggled, trying to squirm away from them, "DON'T TOUCH ME! DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME! YOU CAN'T! YOU CAN'T TAKE ME WITH YOU! PLEASE!"

Dark bit his lip, too afraid to say anything or else his voice would crack.

Wilford pat Anti's back, "Oh it's okay . . . I accidentally hurt people all the time. They're not mad at ya, kiddo"

Anti growled like a wild animal and cried, "You can't . . . .I'll kill them . . . . please. . . I can't go through it again . . .. again . . please . . .blood everywhere.  . . . scared"

Jackie ran his hand through Anti's hair, "Okay, Evan. Let's go. It looks like Anti has a pretty good hold on himself for now."

"Or else Shitty Sam is biding his time" Mark appeared behind Dark, " He WANTS us to take him where the others are"

Dark made a double-take, looking at what Mark had in his hands, "WHERE THE HELL DID YOU FIND THAT!?"

It was Mark's cane, the one that had his old powers in it.

Mark shrugged, "I knew you hid it in the attic. I could feel it where it was in the dirt. It's a part of me like your cane is for you."

Dark glared at him, "I'm not giving you yours powers back"

"That'd be pretty stupid, wouldn't it?" Mark argued, "I mean, couldn't you USE another ally that is also just as ruthless as the demon?"

Wilford jut out his bottom lip, "He's got a point"

"No he doesn't!" Dark spat, "The moment I give Mark his powers back, he'll either join up with the demon, leave us defenseless AGAINST the demon or kill us himself"

"Wow, you have ZERO faith in me, don't you?"

"Absolutely none!" Dark agreed, "Just because you've LET me play chess with you and talk to you in the last year doesn't mean I trust that you've changed, Mark. You've done a lot of crazy and horrible shit over the years to me, William and the REST of your family."

Mark clutched his cane, "Damien wasn't supposed to be there in the morn of the next day of my. . . death  . . . he was supposed to leave when I told him to"

Dark glared at him but held his tongue. He chose to ignore that statement and turned to Evan, "Let's go. Should we give him a healing potion, too, for Anti's body? He's still riddled with bullet holes and bleeding a lot"

Evan nodded in a silent agreement and Dark leaned down next to his boyfriend.

Anti clamped his mouth shut, shaking his head.

He still wanted to just die. If he was dead, he couldn't hurt any more people he cared about.

But Dark wasn't going to LET him die.

Dark pried Anti's mouth open and quickly poured the potion in his mouth and began stroking his throat with his hand clamped over his mouth so he couldn't spit it out.

Unwillingly, Anti finally swallowed and his body healed even though he couldn't hardly feel the difference.

He cried again as Dark's hand left his mouth.

Once he was fully healed and calmer, albeit, still crying, Jackie picked him up in his arms.

"Let's go"

Evan teleported them to Sean's.

Everyone got quiet.

Henrik stood in front of Eva and the girls with the Pheno gun in hand and Gab hopped up, ready to fight if she needed to.

Yancy growled, "Youse brought him HERE!?"

"Vhy the hell did you do that?! Henrik agreed, "This is a very bad idea!"

Jackie set Anti down in a chair. He was still tied up tightly and bound by Evan's special glowing spell rope.

"It's okay. Anti's in control now for the MOST part" Jackie reassured them, "Until Evan can figure something out on how to save him, he's bound by a spell so he can't escape with his glitching or hurt anyone on accident."

Dark nodded, "We can relax a little bit for now. Just. .  no one talks to him. Let him concentrate and rest a little bit"

Henrik finally relaxed a little bit bt still gripped the gun tight. With Chase dead now, it was up to him to fire the gun if it came down to it.

And if it came down to either Eva and his daughters or Anti . . . . he was sad to say that he'd rather kill Anti than watch his family die in front of him AGAIN.

He already had to watch Anthony kill his first family years ago. . . .

Anti was still crying  and leaned his head back on the chair, listening to Sam talk about all the creative ways he'll kill the REST of his family.

Everyone made sure to stay a good distance away from him. Anti wasn't upset by this. It was a good idea.

Sean couldn't stop staring at him, though.

"He looks. . . so much different than when I last saw him. . . I mean ..  still depressed but now. . . so hopeless"

Anthony crossed his arms, "Can you blame him? This morning started off as a good day with family and friends hanging out and now eight people he loved are dead."

Sean stared at Anthony, "You're VERY different from the last time I saw YOU, too." he mentioned, "The last time I saw you, you were trying to kill me and the others. And now Jackie says you're a part of the family? . . . . . . Good for you, man. I'm happy for you"

Anthony blushed a little bit, "I have Gab to thank for that" he nodded to his girlfriend who looked exactly like Sean's girlfriend, Evelien, "She found me, dug her claws in and just wouldn't let go . . . she changed me for the better. . . and now I'm gonna be a  . .. . father"

Sean's eyes widened like an owl's, "WHAT!?"

Evan nodded to Dark, "I have to go home to get some books but I'll be right back. A lot faster than before. Think you'll be okay while I'm gone?"

Dark nodded, "We should be fine. Do you not have faith in your own spell?"

"Of course I do. . . . . I just don't have faith that the demon is that weak . . ." with that, Evan left again, leaving Jackie, Dark, Wilford, Gab and Anthony as the first line of defense. And Henrik, too, if you counted him with the Pheno gun.

Anti glanced over to where Evan disappeared.

Gab walked over a little hesitant towards Anti and sat down across from him, "Hey Anti . . . how you feeling?"

Anti slowly glanced over to her, a deep frown on his face, "You shouldn't be near me, Gab. . . . .  especially after what the demon threatened to do to you"

Gab was confused and worried but more worried about him, "Why? What did it threaten to do to me?"

Fresh tears fell down Anti's face, "I don't wanna repeat it. . . ."

Suddenly his eye turned green for a moment, "I told Anthony I'd fuck you and then rip your fucking baby out of your fucking stomach, you filthy whore!"

His eye back back to normal and Anti refused to look at Gab, "Go away. . . .please, Gab, go away. I'm sorry"

Gab looked a little horrified but didn't move, "No, Anti . . . I'm not going away. The one thing you need right now is someone to trust you and I trust you, okay? You're SO strong, Anti. We'll all get through this"

Anti shook his head, "Chase. . . Jameson . . Marvin .. . they're all dead because of me . . .. AGAIN.. . ..  Because I wasn't strong enough"

Gab shook her head and took Anti's hand in hers, "It's going to be okay. . . . maybe Evan can figure something out to bring them back?"

Anti scoffed, "If that were true, the first batch of Septics would be alive again. They're gone, Gab. . . . and it's on ME"

Gab sighed . . . . but she wouldn't give up on him. Not yet.

Eva watched Gab and Anti's interaction. She wanted to join her and comfort Anti but she had to think of her daughters, too. They had to watch Anti kill their aunts, uncles and cousin Jack. She had to stay with them.

But she wasn't exactly forgiving, either.

She knew Stacey, Emily and Sammie for a very long time. They were like sisters. And now they were dead by Anti's hand.

Anti was the one that fought his own programming and changed because of the kids and them. And now the demon destroyed all of that miracle in just one day.

She hated the demon.

But also . . . she didn't know if she could ever look at Anti the same way ever again even if Evan did find a way to kill the demon and save Anti.

And did she just hear Anthony tell Sean that Gab was PREGNANT?!

Sean and Evelien looked around, a bit unsure of what to do with themselves. Evelien held BB in her arms, listening to everyone talk.

She felt she was pretty caught up on the big story but it didn't help.

Now she was just as anxious as everyone else.

Sean  cleared his throat, "Should I. . . .. should I order food for everyone?"

Evelien snorted, laughing a little suddenly, surprising even herself.

Even  on a day like this, Sean was still going to try and be a good host.

She nodded, "Probably. Maybe get pizza just to be safe? Ooo! Get one with goat cheese and pepperoni"

Sean nodded and took out his phone.

He needed SOMETHING to do to keep himself busy or else HE was going to be the next person to throw up.

Dark watched Anti like a hawk, ignoring the fact that Mark was right next to him.

Mark was twirling around his cane and tapped his cane against Dark's, "You have all of Damien and Celine's memories . .. right?"

Dark blinked and glanced at Mark, " . . . yes?"

He half expected Mark to make a inappropriate joke about him and Celine and he was ready to punch him if he needed to.

Mark hummed, " . . . . . . . why didn't Damien leave that morning when I told him to? . . .. He visited me in my room right when he woke up before I staged my death. I TOLD him to leave and that I didn't want him there. I told him I was only ever using him since we were kids to get to Celine. That we were never really friends. After all of that. . ..  why did he STAY?"

Dark snorted. He remembered Damien's point of view that day very clearly, "Isn't it obvious?"

"Not really, no"

"We were never really FRIENDS, Mark"

Mark blinked, confused.

Dark smiled, even if he was solemn, ". . . We were brothers. And that really meant something to Damien . . . he looked up to you. He loved you so much, he was willing to get himself burned continuously by your callous words on the hope that maybe one day, they could all be happy again together."

Mark didn't know what to say. He looked away from Dark and tapped his fingers on his cane, thinking.

Dark didn't know what he could have possibly be thinking about. Why did he ask something like that all of a sudden? Was it because of all the sudden emotional deaths happening?

Was he reminiscing?

Dark sighed, breathing out heavily. 

He was so TIRED.

He hoped that maybe soon this nightmare would finally end.

But something told him it was just starting.