Jackie  had helped Anti up on the couch, trying to be careful of the stitches.

"Fuck, it hurts" Anti whined.

Henrik rolled his eyes, "Vell it was either be quick or let you die again, so . . ."

Anti smiled tiredly, "Well I'm glad you chose the other option heheh"

Marvin eyed the stitches on the glitch's stomach, "You're gonna have to take it easy for a few days. I can't go back to my room and get any potions or else Sean might trap me there or something"

"It's fine" Anti nodded. He knew the risks they all took, "Don't worry about it."

Jackie pat his shoulder lightly, "Hey, don't feel bad or anything. I'd do it all again in a heartbeat, Anti. So would Marv. If Sean has something to say, he can yell at me all he wants. It won't change a damn thing"

Anti was touched by that. He expected to die but they came running to him, even Henrik and Jameson! He felt . . .warm inside. . . . . . did he have internal bleeding or was that just happiness?

Jameson was suddenly in Anti's face eyeing him like an intriguing specimen, 'You're a lot skinnier than I imagined'

Anti blinked, not really expecting that.

Henrik snorted and poked at his ribs, "Doesn't exactly scream threatening, does it?"

Anti was actually offended, "Hey! I'm plenty threatening!"

Marvin swat him on the back of the head, "NO, YOU'RE NOT, YA DAMN TEDDY BEAR!BESIDES, THAT'S NOT THE KIND OF THING YOU WANNA SAY RIGHT NOW!"

"What? . . .oh"

Henrik rolled his eyes, "I guess I can believe Marvin, now. You are not at all vhat I expected. Not that I forgive the possession"

Anti swallowed, looking sheepish, "I'm sorry . . . it wasn't my intention to hurt any of you. I was trying to contact you guys to talk to you but I was getting infected within you with your guys' connection with Sean. It was . . ..  forcing me to do things I didn't want to do"

Jameson nodded, 'Seems good enough for me'

"Anything's good enough to you!" Henrik snapped at Jameson and continued his conversation with Anti, "Vhat are your intentions now? You still don't have Chase here. Vhat are you planning with us?"

Anti raised his brow at him, "Nothing. . . . after I help you all break free from Sean, you guys are FREE to do whatever the hell you all want to do"

"You don't want us as your slaves?"

"What? No. You're my brothers"

"What about Sean? What do you plan on doing to him?"

Anti shrugged. He hadn't . . actually thought about it, "I . . . well as long as he doesn't try and chain you guys to him again . . . I won't do anything. I don't plan on killing him, though, if that's what you're concerned about"

Anti suddenly cringed, holding his stomach. He was moving around too much.

Henrik nodded, "Very well . . . for now  . . . I'll believe you."

"REALLY?" Anti was excited, don't get him wrong, but he hadn't expected Henrik of all people to be on board so easily.

"I vant to become a real doctor" Henrik answered his question, "But Sean vill not allow this to happen. If vhat you say is true . . . I don't vant to just live my life meaninglessly as the family healer. Not zhat it is a bad thing. But I vant to do more"

"I'd like to perform for an audience" Marvin stated. 

Everyone stared at him. Even Anti was surprised. Marvin had never talked about what he wanted to do when he was freed.

Marvin noticed all their stares and glared, "What?"

Jackie chuckled, "Nothing . . it's just . . you're not exactly sociable"

"You don't have to be sociable to be fabulous"

"Hehhehehe-Ow! Shite . .. " Anti groaned, "Damn, Marv. Don't make me laugh."

Marvin looked serious, though, "It is NOT a laughing, matter, Sparky"

Jackie chuckled at the interaction. Henrik and Jameson had never seen the hero so relaxed. 

But something still bothered Henrik. How did this all happen? 

"Anti?"

The glitch looked up to him. He looked really tired but forced himself to stay awake. The doctor had a feeling Anti was afraid he'd die again if he fell asleep.

"I know you're probably not going to vant to talk about this. . . . but vhat happened?"

Anti shuddered, remembering. He held his stomach again and squished himself further into the couch.

Jackie sighed, "Isn't it obvious? It was Chase, wasn't it?"

Anti didn't say anything so he knew he was right, "You must have said something at the bar about where you lived without realizing it"

"Bar?" Marvin asked, not having heard this story yet.

Jackie stared at Anti seriously, "Dumbass here went to the bar last night to be drunk and depressed. Only to find out Chase was ALSO at the same bar! I was worried about this moron because he wasn't answering the walkie talkie. I tracked him to the bar to find him leaning his head on Chase's shoulder like a child"

Marvin snorted, "Brody probably liked it. While drunk, that is. Anti's innocent nature probably reminded him of his kids. That's probably why he didn't kill him then and there. .  that and being around other people."

Anti blushed, "I don't even remember any of that"

"That's because you were wasted, too." Jackie grunted, "If I hadn't grabbed and run off with you, there's no telling what could have really happened."

"Well we do know, now" Henrik rolled his eyes, "Obviously, Chase remembered something and came here to kill him"

"And where is he now?" Marvin asked. 

The question was rhetorical. They all knew where Chase was right now.

With Sean.

Chase didn't know what to feel.

At first, he was happy to be rid of the bastard.

But as he had watched Anti tremble and fall, looking terrified and crying . . . . . it didn't sit right with him.

But he refused to think he did anything wrong.

'He's been trying to kill me and my entire family since his damned existence. He deserved what he got. Doesn't matter. He's dead now'

He tried to be happy about it. He avenged his wife and kids . . . right?

But he remembered something else from his conversation with Anti last night.

'He tried telling me that Sean was the one that made them disappear.. . . . but that can't be right. Sean wouldn't do that. He's my best friend . . and he created them, too'

"Hey Chase" Sean came up to him in the living room, knocking him out of his thoughts, "Sorry for the wait. I was recording a new Scary Games vid and- . . . hey, what's wrong?"

"Huh?" Chase's voice cracked but he tried to keep himself composed.

"You're pale and . . .  please tell me that's ketchup on your shirt?"

"Uh"

Sean groaned, "Fooking hell, Chase, what did you DO?"

"I uh . . ..  I went to the bar last night."

Sean was about to yell at him when Chase finished.

"I found Anti there"

Sean stood there, stunned, "What? What happened? Did he attack you?"

"No"

'He didn't. . . he just . . . . talked and ate. He wasn't. . . hostile at all' but Chase kept that thought to himself.

"I was already drunk when he came in. And he started to get drunk. . . . .  he told the bartender where he lived . . . ."

Sean's eyes turned from shocked to angry very quickly, "What did you do?"

"I went to his apartment this morning and shot him. I killed Antisepticeye"

Sean immediately felt his heart drop and his hands went into his hair. He faced away from Chase, afraid he'd punch him if he didn't look away from him.

"Sean? What's wrong? Isn't that what you wanted? For him to be gone?" Chase was confused. Anti had tormented them all so much. Was Sean actually angry Chase did what he did?

Sean turned back to face him, "You fooking idiot . . . . do you have ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE DONE!? WHY'D YOU KILL HIM!? I COULD HAVE GOTTEN SO MUCH MORE FOOTAGE OUT OF HIM!"

" . . . .what?"

"Fuck! I KNEW something didn't feel right! I should have known not to let you out! I was so stupid!"

"Wait" Chase stood up off the couch, "What are you talking about? You were keeping Anti alive for . . . for videos?"

Sean ran his hand through his hair, teeth grit, "You wouldn't understand. . . . Anti's played a very important role. Even if he was unstable, I was able to manipulate him! Just like at the park! Until the bastard caught on and fooking ran off!"

That didn't sit right with Chase, 'What is he saying? Am I hearing this right?'

"Have you really been just using our real life drama with the bastard for VIEWS?"

Once again, Sean didn't seem worried about Chase's feelings and rolled his eyes, "You don't understand. None of you would. And that's not it! I just. . . I just figured when Anti starts shit, I might as well get something out of it!"

That still didn't make sense to Chase but before he could ask any further questions while Sean was being so open about it, his creator stopped pacing.

He stared at the floor.

"S-sean?"

Sean glared hatefully at the floor, "He's not dead . . . . . you're lucky, Chase."

"What?"

"I said you're fooking lucky! I was gonna put you back in my head for the next fooking year but you're lucky because Anti ISN'T dead!"

That's not why Sean was angry, though.

"The bad news, though . . . is that all of my OTHER egos are GONE!"

"Wait, what?! THEY'RE DEAD?!"

"No, I would have felt that. They're just all. . . gone from my head."

BB came into the room but sensing the tense atmosphere, turned straight around, leaving.

Chase didn't like Sean being angry with him. But he remembered more from the bar!

"Jackie and Marvin have been sneaking off to go see Anti lately. Anti told me that last night. And it makes sense since they've both been acting so weird lately. Maybe they took Hen and Jameson, too with them to Anti"

Sean nodded, "That could be it . . . Henrik's probably the one who was able to save the glitch. By now, though, he's probably manipulated them all to his side"

"Shit" Chase couldn't believe it. He kept thinking to himself that maybe he should have shot him in the head, "What now, then? Are you gonna get them out of there? Force them back into your head?"

Sean finally walked over to sit on the couch, thinking, "No. . . . That'd be a waste of time. How was Marvin and Jackie able to leave before without me knowing about it? They'd just do it again. I need to think of a way around it. Marvin probably came up with a spell or something. . ."

Chase swallowed, "Then what are we gonna do? We can't just leave them with Anti! He'd-"

"For now, we'll have to. It'll take me some time but I think I'll be able to gather them all in a few days. Besides, if Anti just got shot, he'll be out of commission as well for a while. The others will be fine for the moment"

Chase had nothing to say to that. It sounded pretty logical.

"And then  . . " Sean sighed heavily, "And then after I help the others come back home, I'll finally take care of Anti myself. . . . . he needs another much needed tune-up anyway" the last part was mumbled.

But Chase heard it.

'Tune-up? The hell does that mean?' he was too afraid to ask any more questions, though. He already wasn't in good graces with Sean right now as it was. Which he STILL couldn't wrap his mind around.

But there had to be a deeper reason to it all . . . . right?

"Well, Sean hasn't forced us back yet" Jackie noted, "He must know by now, though"

Henrik nodded, "Of course. Chase must have told him"

It had been a good few hours since the fiasco and finally Marvin had gotten Anti to fall asleep. It took a while but Marvin only had to start rubbing his forehead for a while to get him to fall unconscious.

And now the magician was in Anti's kitchen trying to make some potions from scratch, Jameson was exploring Anti's apartment and Jackie and Henrik were in his living room with him watching TV. A medical drama as per Henrik's request.

But the doctor was watching anything but the TV. He couldn't keep his eyes off of Anti.

Jackie, having been sneaking glances at the doctor, smirked at him, "What you thinking about?"

Henrik caught himself but shrugged, "Nothing"

"Liar." the hero snickered, "It's obvious you're thinking about Anti. . . You should be proud, Hen. You saved him"

"And Jameson helped. You all did. You saved him ultimately in the end, though"

Jackie shrugged it off, "I wouldn't have been able to it Anti hadn't told me I could do that this morning. Good timing, I say"

Henrik just nodded, "It makes a lot more sense now. Why you've stopped working out so much. You seem better off, though"

He nodded, "Yeah . . . Anti warned me when we first talked over a month and a half ago. That if Sean really had my best interests at heart, he wouldn't care if I stopped working out for a couple days to rest. Well guess what? He cared. I got yelled at for stopping"

"That's when you knew? That Anti was telling zhe truth?"

Jackie shook his head, "Nah . . not then. It was after the park incident. The plan was to get you on your own and talk to you then. Then of course, Sean figured out where Anti was and forced some amount of control over him. Thank god Anti was able to escape"

Henrik hadn't known any of this yet but he appreciated the information.

"When I came back to Anti's apartment that night, I was prepared to yell at him. Ask what the hell he was doing. At the moment, I thought he had tricked me and Marv. Marvin did say though, that he felt Anti's emotions. That he felt so helpless"

Henrik noted, watching Jackie's hand unconsciously thread itself into Anti's hair softly.

"Then I found him here in his bed having drank a bunch of Nyquil. There was blood all over the floor and in his bathroom. Tears streaked down his face. He had been crying. I knew then, he hadn't wanted that to happen. I trusted him completely after that"

"I see . . . . Vhat about you, Marv?" he asked towards the kitchen.

Marvin snorted, "I trusted him the first day I saw him at the furniture store. He defended me against this homophobic prick. Not to mention he was scared shitless of me"

"Vhy would he be scared of you?"

Jackie chuckled, "Oh yeah, you don't know! Sean lied about that, too! Anti's even weaker than Chase! There was never any reason for me to keep up my muscle at all!"

Henrik didn't know what to think about that but his thoughts were interrupted when the smoke alarms started going off!

"FUCK!" Marvin cursed and rushed to turn off the alarm but it was already too late.

Anti jumped awake, "The. . . hell?"

Jackie tried pushing him back into the couch but it was no use, "Don't worry. Marvin just burnt his potion is all"

"NO, I DIDN'T!"

Anti groaned, "What . . . what potion? Please don't set off the sprinklers"

Marvin started putting the potion in vials he kept in his cape, "It's a potion to heal you, ya jerk! I had to go around knocking on all the doors in this apartment building for all the ingredients you didn't have!  . .. the hardest was finding live chicken liver but I got it"

Anti looked devastated, "NO! NOT PEPPER UPSTAIRS!"

"No, it was Cluck Vader. Trust me. That one had to go"

Anti flopped his head back on the pillow on his couch, "Couldn't you just have gone to the store?"

Henrik and Jackie stared at Marvin but the magician shrugged, "This was quicker. Besides, I gave the owner money for him! It was YOUR money but everything worked out! Now you have food in your fridge, too!"

"Maaaarrrrvvv!" Anti whined.

The magician walked over to him with the vial and forced it at his lips, "Shut up and drink this. You'll thank me later"

Anti whined again but didn't have a choice as Marvin practically forced his jaw open.

As he swallowed the horrible liquid, his stomach started to feel strange. He started to feel  . .  better.

"Feel any different?" Marvin asked.

"Yeah . . my stomach feels better"

"Good" Marvin proceeded to rip off the bandages Henrik had put on him.

"AH! YOU MAGIC FOOKER!"

Henrik groaned, "Do you know how long it took me to wrap those on him?!"

Jameson suddenly popped out from Anti's bedroom, a large soft plushie in his hands.

Anti cringed when Jameson threw it at him and grinned, 'I found this in your closet! You can cuddle with it to make you feel better! I never met Sam but I imagine he was probably really cute'

Anti held the plushie in his arms, staring at it.

The others didn't know what this character meant to him.

It scared Anti to hold it and he started to shake.

Jackie noticed and took it from him, "James, it was in his closet for a reason. Maybe he doesn't want it right now"

Jameson looked a little crestfallen but Anti took the eyeball plushie back, "No . . . he's just what I need right now. Who knows when Sean will take you all back again. . .  I'm gonna need this little guy for comfort" 

Anti tried to laugh it off but truthfully . . . . they were scared of what was going to happen next.

They were curious, though and Jameson was the one to ask, 'What really happened to the Septiceye?'

"Jameson" Jackie shook his head, "Maybe now's not the time to-"

Anti sighed heavily, "It's fine . . . . . . . I don't know if you all are ready to know everything. I'm not ready to tell you all everything. . . . but I can tell you this . . . it wasn't me that killed him" Anti hugged the plushie.

He remembered Sam well.

The others took that sentence as enough. They could go from there what he meant by that.

There was a reason Sean didn't use Septiceye Sam in his videos anymore. He had killed him off himself.

Marvin sighed loudly and outrageously to blow off the sad atmosphere, " . . . . . . Anti,  you have money left over to buy Pizza for dinner?"