Dark straightened his tie as the crying kids huddled in a corner together. He teleported them into his void in the cabin. It was apart of his mind from the past he couldn't let go but decided it would make a good hiding place until Anti caved.

He stepped closer to the fire that was lit, trying to ignore the children sniffling and whimpering. He really didn't hate children but he was uncomfortable with the situation.

'If they would have just let me. . . Things really are different.' he thought to himself, furrowing his brow, 'He's either manipulated them into trusting him somehow or he really has changed his ways.'

He shook his head, 'Even so I can't let what he did go unpunished. I don't understand why they're being so defensive. I'll just kill him and everything will be fine. He'll go back to his void and pout and then he can come back again like the insufferable brat he is.'

Dark thought about Anti himself and how he looked, 'Seemed stronger than the last time we fought only more. . . .  distracted. Pft. Making me go through all this trouble.' he snorted.

He turned his attention over to the kids, tilting his head with a brow raised. The little girl was clinging onto her brother but they both looked equally scared. He DID just kidnap them after all.

"Stop your crying. I'm not going to hurt you. You're just bait is all."

Sammy flinched at his voice but grew brave, "B-bait? For who?"

Dark didn't answer, however. The plan was simple and he had it all mapped out in his head. The egos would try and get the power back up while trying to avoid him and anybody taking advantage of the outage. Dark took the kids so it would throw them off. That way they'd have to split up or at least that was what Dark was hoping. Chase, of course would try to find his children with either the magician or Anti himself. 

OR Anti would be restoring power with someone else leaving Chase with Marvin. But that was okay. It only gave him more leverage. If Anti really had changed, then he'd come for his family himself and accept the consequences of his actions.

Dark didn't care that Anti was drinking, drugged or depressed. It didn't excuse him from taking it out on him, his family and his manor. Although learning that the blood in his bathroom belonged to Anti from hurting himself was concerning . . .  . 

Fine, maybe he did have a soft spot for him. Dark wasn't completely cold and ruthless but Anti had to learn!

And if that meant he had to be the bad guy then he would BE the bad guy. . . . he was used to it after all.

"I wish static man was here" Kallie whispered, "Him and daddy would save us"

A pang ached in Dark's heart but he didn't dare turn around. If he did, he'd be sucked in distract himself from the task at hand. He had to remain cold.

"Okay, it's okay!" Marvin tried calming Chase down, "Chase, trust me, it's fine!"

"IT'S NOT FINE!" He shouted, "THAT SON OF A BITCH PSYCHOPATH HAS MY KIDS!"

The others seemed just as worried. Anti was. . . .  well he had a poker face. He didn't seem affected but on the inside, he was angry and he didn't understand why. These emotions were still too weird to understand for him.

"Chase" Marvin tried again, "You remember the other day when I did a trick for your kids and gave them suckers?"

Chase went still and turned slowly to glare at him, "What did you do?"

"Hey! You're gonna thank me! I laced those kitties with a tracker, my friend, and I'll know EXACTLY where they are!"

Chase sighed, exhausted from his panic attack, "Okay. . . . cool. WHERE ARE THEY THEN, MARV?!"

Marvin took a deep breathe and cast a spell. . . only. . .  he seemed deflated.

"Huh. . . well . . . I don't know, really."

"Dammit, Marv" Chase groaned again.

"Well how are we gonna do this?" Jackie shook his head, "It's obvious Dark's giving us an ultimatum but if we can't find the kids then the obvious route is to the power."

"Well" Marvin bit his lip, "I didn't say I didn't find them but . . . I have no idea where it is. It's like  . . it's not even on this planet, you know? A different dimension . . ."

They all seemed extremely confused but Anti sighed with a small growl.

"I know where they are. Dark's void. He took them there."

"Fuck" Marvin hissed, "That's bad."

"Vhy so? You know where they are, yes? You can go teleport to zhem and teleport back before he catches you" Henrik tried to reason but Marvin shook his head.

"It's not like that. The void is more complicated than any other place. It's in Dark's mind and right now Dark is IN his own mind making things VERY weird. If I miscalculate even a little, we could all end up stuck there. I'll need the time to concentrate. Not that we should all go in anyways. Maybe just me would be better."

'So we would still need to split up?' Jameson signed, 'What if we did? He would be expecting it but we would expect him to do something, right? Could we maybe plan for THAT?'

Jackie nodded, "Not a bad idea. Risky but not bad. Alright then, since Marvin can teleport to Dark's dimension, he'll go with Anti. Then me and Henrik could fix the po- OW!"

Chase shoved him, "No. Anti's not going with Marvin, Jackie. If he did that, it'd be giving Dark exactly what he wants!"

Anti had half the mind to just go by himself anyways. He could still travel in between dimensions but he didn't want to tell them that. He didn't want to get screwed over by one of them. So he remained silent, watching the plan unfold.

"Fine. . . . then how are we splitting up?"

"I'll go with Marvin" Chase offered. The others were ready to refuse but he had a look in his eyes, "Not a damn one of you can tell me no. Those are my children he has and I'm not going to just stand by as someone else saves them. I'm going to make sure they are alright MYSELF. Don't think I can't handle it. I may have been struggling with myself recently but my kids come first. Just try and stop me"

They backed off and Jackie groaned, "Alright. . . . Chase is with Marvin, then. Then Henrik is with me and Jameson and Anti can hold the fort here. Agreed?"

A moment of silence crossed by before they all agreed, "Alright then. . . now what do we do if Dark comes after one of our groups?"

"He'll most likely come here" Anti grumbled, "But you probably already knew that, didn't you Jackie? Still trying to get rid of me"

"That's why we're talking about it, asshole" Jackie defended himself, "Wouldn't you be fine hiding in a TV or something like you did when fighting Dark earlier?"

"He shut off the power and the juice I gave the house won't last much longer."

Chase took out his phone and handed it to him, "Take this, then. Hide in it if you need to, alright?"

Anti took it but still found himself arguing, "He could just smash it and besides, then how would we contact you if we needed to?"

"You won't need to. I'll be with Marvin. Now stop arguing. This is the plan. Once we get the kids back, Marvin will teleport us back to Stacey's to grab her and then go to grab Jackie and Henrik. We'll meet back here."

"And then what? Wait it out until Dark does something else we have to plan for?" Anti really wasn't that optimistic, "He's not gonna stop"

'We'll find a way" Jameson pat his shoulder lightly, 'It's what we do best'

"Well said, Jameson" Jackie smirked, "I mean remember when we went up against you, Anti? Didn't think we'd ever manage to get rid of you and yet we did. Together"

"And now I'm back. Full-proof plan, genius" he was really antagonistic but he couldn't admit he was worried. Dark had no cares in the world about killing them all and now with Anti's wild emotions . . . .  he didn't want to think about it.

"Enough arguing, Anti." Chase tried giving him a smile but it was more like a nervous forceful one. He was worried, too, "We'll get through this. And then once it's over. . . .  we'll work things out and everything will be grand."

Chase let him go before he could reply, "Let's go, Marv."

Eyes glowing, Anti hadn't realized that he had started searching, "The source of the power being taken out is in the middle of the plant. It appears to be Google's work so watch out for him. Take care of Basil for me, will ya?" And just like that, they were gone.

Jackie sighed, "Alright, Henrik, the middle of the plant. We should head out now. Need to stop anywhere for supplies?"

"My office has a basement vhere I keep my old tools. Ve should stop zhere first quickly."

"Right. Jameson if you need us just give me a ring. I'll have my walkie on." he gave Jameson the other walkie, "And that means if you need ANYTHING. Alright?"

Jameson caught on to what Jackie said but wished he was more subtle about it. Anti scoffed at the remark and went to pick up Basil who purred in his hold.

'I think we'll be fine. You go ahead now. We'll be safe here. I believe Marvin placed more wards after Dark left.'

Jackie nodded and turned his attention to Anti, "I may not trust you but try to stay out of trouble. If Dark comes here, you either hide in the phone or come to us through the walkie. Got it? No handing yourself over to him like a dumbass"

Anti rolled his eyes, "Figured you'd enjoy that, though"

Jackie just rolled his eyes, "Just because I don't like you doesn't mean I don't take my job seriously. If the others trust you . . . .  then I guess that's just gonna have to be good enough for now"

Anti watched Jackie and Henrik walk out, leaving him and Jameson alone together.

Jameson just smiled, 'Want to play a game?'

Anti raised a brow but sighed, "Fine"

Sean stretched at his recording desk, clearing his throat as he finished another video. It had been a while since he started recording for two videos a day but he had the motivation for it. It had been a while since he had that too. Motivation. Don't get him wrong, he loved his fans and he was willing to do a lot . . . . but the internet had been a bit toxic lately. 

He had to take a while to think for himself. Take a breather. The words he read seemed controlling and demanded things from him. They wanted the green hair. Long hair. Short hair. Do his old Intro. His old Outro. It drove him mad.

But the one thing that crushed him the most was the same questions over and over again.

Where's Anti? What's going on with Chase? What about the other egos? Are you ever going to do another video with them or not?

Did they just subscribe to him for the egos? 

He had to take a break from it.

Of course none of his fans knew. No one knew but him and a handful of friends that his egos were real. Very much real just like Mark's with a touch of differences. 

But ever since these questions arose, he had to take a break from them, too. So he pushed them away. Hiding himself from them to work on himself first. 

It hurt but he hoped they'd understand. Especially Chase. He had it rough the last couple years. Of course he knew everything that was happening with them. . . sort of. He was their creator, after all. He FELT their pain and their troubles.

He regretted leaving them after Anti's disappearance but he couldn't face them. 

And Anti. . .  he felt his pain the most. The glitch may be stubborn and just learning to deal with human emotions but the pain of loneliness hits hard. Sean hated throwing him into the abyss but it was better than killing him. He hoped Anti would come around and change his ways.

Yes, he knew that eventually Anti would escape. He didn't throw him away completely. He never wanted to hurt him but he figured it would be in everyone's best interest to keep him away. He could always feel Anti's rage inside of him and when he first finally escaped out of his head, he was unhinged, confused and in SO much pain. Sean didn't blame Anti for trying to kill him. Sean knew he was there and ignored him. Of course Anti would want revenge.

Sean felt it immediately when Anti returned. It was sudden and forceful when he got his own body but now the pain felt so much worse! Sean could feel his emotions so much clearer. He was changing. Allowing himself to change.

Sean groaned in his hands and wiped his hair back with his fingers, "Oh god" he sighed.

That's all he knew though. He knew Anti had returned and things were tense but he didn't realize how tense. At least he wasn't killing anyone. Unlike Mark's egos, his own wouldn't be able to come back. They were all lucky that Marvin knew how to heal with his magic and had always been there right in the nick of time.

Shutting down his computer for the day, Sean left his recording room and drifted off to the kitchen for a snack. Evelyn apparently was streaming so he decided not to bother her. Cracking his neck, he reached in the fridge for some leftover pizza.

Once he closed the door, however, a sudden pain stabbed in his head, "Ow! The fuck?"

It was recognizable though and he bit his lip. Perhaps things were more tense than he thought.

"JJ? That you?"

Anti watched as Jameson casually drew a Ouji board with chalk onto Chase's floorboards.

"You've done this before?" Anti was very concerned as to why Jameson would know the fine details of such a practice.

He merely nodded.

Anti nodded in turn, "And. . . WHY are we about to mess with dark magic? I don't think Marvin would approve Mr. Jackson"

Jameson grinned, 'We're going to contact someone who could help us'

"And who would that be? A demon? Not wise, mute-boy" Anti teased but he was interested.

'Nope. Sean.'

Anti's interest flung out the window, "WHAT!? And why the fook are you contacting HIM!? He'll fucking kill me if Dark doesn't!"

'Not true' he signed with such confidence.

"And how do you know that?" Anti tapped his foot anxiously, clearly worried about the situation.

'He's our creator, Anti. He knows your back and if he wanted you dead, you'd be gone'

"How would you know that!? Maybe he's just stupid!"

Jameson gave Anti a look, making the glitch sigh. It was the first time Jameson really saw Anti give in to his emotions. 

Anti thought about it for a moment and his nightmares rushed back in his head. The memories of Sean glaring at him with disappointment in his eyes. His creator pleading with him, asking WHY he'd hurt his fellow egos. Why he'd bring about so much hurt, fear and destruction.

Anti felt sick just thinking about it. He finally acknowledged the feelings as guilt and regret. He didn't think he was ready to talk to him, though.

"Why do you think he could help? What could he do?"

Jameson shrugged, 'The others might not trust him, either. . .  but he does care. He'll want to help somehow. Trust me'

"But how? What's he gonna do? Call Mark to put Dark in time-out? Mark barely has any control over him, himself!"

'You never know'

"I mean what's the point!? He gonna march here himself and defend us!? I fooking doubt it!"

'Anti' Jameson stopped him, 'Trust me'

Anti brought his hand up to his face and gnawed on his fingernails a little, pacing slightly.

What harm could it really do? Was Jameson right? Did he really know? But what if he didn't? Would it be easier to just die by Dark's hand or Sean's?

Anti sighed and groaned loudly, "Fine! Fine, Jameson. . . . .What else could happen today to make things worse? Call the bastard, then. But if he kills me, it's on you!"