Jackie managed to sneak out of Sean's house that night when he was asleep and unsuspecting.
He traveled across the town quick until he reached Anti's apartment window, opening it up and sneaking inside.
'I really hope he wasn't lying. But Marvin's feelings are usually never wrong. He better not be hiding in the dark getting ready to attack me . . '
He had his doubts, though.
The hero almost slipped in the dark until he realized he stepped in something wet.
'Ew! What the hell was that!? Better not be any more of his stupid traps!' but he also had his worries of what else it could be.
He tip-toed to the lamp to turn it on only to pale.
It was blood.
'Shit. The fuck happened?' Jackie didn't know why but his heart started to pound in his chest.
He looked around the living room but didn't see Anti anywhere.
He then ran into the bathroom only to see medical supplies. There was gauze strewn about the counter, some blood in the sink and some on the floor.
There was clearly a lot of work that had to be done and that didn't help Jackie's anxiety.
Where was he? The encounter with Sean wasn't that long ago!
'Did Sean actually really hurt Anti? This is a lot of blood . .'
Finally Jackie opened Anti's bedroom door and saw the glitch in his bed, the TV on but on mute.
A sudden wave of relief washed over him and he let out a heavy breathe he forgot he was holding.
Jackie walked in slowly as if making sure Anti was actually asleep and not passed out from blood loss or dead.
But as he got closer, he noticed a few more things.
'His . . neck is wrapped. From his neck bleeding . . . that's right. Why did I forget that was a thing he could do? Every time he 'attacked' us, this would be a signature look of his . . . . or what Sean wanted him to look like . . . ' Jackie took a few breathes to calm his nerves.
He saw the bottle of Nyquil by his nightstand and was slowly starting to put it together.
Plus the tears stained on his cheeks . . . . he had been crying.
Marvin was right after all.
There wasn't going to be any talking to Anti right now, though, how he was.
Having seen how much of the bottle he had drank, Anti would be out until mid-morning and Jackie could only stay out of Sean's head undetected and unnoticed for a few hours.
Jackie didn't even notice.
He didn't even realize his hand had moved of its own accord and went into Anti's hair. He felt. . . bad for Anti.
'Marvin was right. Anti did fight it. So much that it totally exhausted him. Sean was trying to make him attack us. But for what? He didn't have a camera that I saw OR his phone out. . . not that I could see, anyway'
As Jackie stroked Anti's hair, the glitch leaned into his touch and the hero smiled, 'Chase would be better at this. He's way more of a brother figure than me since he has dad traits. He'd spoil you rotten if he knew the truth, Anti'
Jackie frowned and moved his hand away, 'But after today, I doubt he'd ever question Sean. Hen will be harder to convince, too, now'
With an uneasy groan, Jackie sighed and started to walk out of the bedroom. Until something else caught his eye.
Jackie noticed a piece of paper sticking out from under his closet door. Intrigued, Jackie found himself walking towards it. He knew he probably shouldn't snoop but then again, Anti was out cold. What would be the harm in taking a peek?
He opened the closet door and he actually expected to feel bad for being nosy. But he was just confused.
Jackie chuckled a little, 'He likes to doodle, huh?' he picked up the piece of paper that had been sticking out from under the closet door. It was a picture of Sean's Septiceye logo.
Jackie saw where it had fallen out of, 'Must have dropped out of this sketchbook. Wonder why he has it hidden away like this?'
He took it in his hand and opened it to put the drawing back inside. But then he saw why it was hidden away.
He felt awful.
There were more drawings. Some repeated. Jackie's curiosity built up and he flipped through the pages only to see drawings of the Septic egos. And Anti had drawn himself in with them as part of the group.
And here coming to Anti's apartment, he had wanted to be angry at Anti from the start all over again.
'I need to do something for him. Make him see everything's alright between us since I can't stay until he wakes up'
Jackie stared at the multiple drawings of the Septiceye logo. Anti seemed to really love the Septiceye Sam Sean had made up. Even if the eye wasn't real, they were actually happy it wasn't. It was a little creepy but Anti really seemed to have liked the idea of it.
Jackie hesitantly closed the sketchbook and put it back in its place in the closet. He left the room and closed Anti's bedroom door and set to work.
The next day, Anti woke up foggy and lazy. He felt like BB and stretched in his bed, not wanting to get up or do anything.
'What's the point?'
But he DID want coffee . . . so . . . .
Anti hopped out of bed albeit slowly and trudged to the kitchen.
He stopped himself and stared at the floor in the living room, 'I could have sworn I didn't clean that blood up last night . . . Did I, though, and just don't remember?'
He didn't notice the note on the fridge yet.
Anti made his cup of coffee, added his sugar and cream and sipped on it a couple times before cracking his back and going to the bathroom.
Only . . . his bathroom was clean.
'Now I KNOW I didn't clean up my mess last night. There was gauze and blood literally EVERYWHERE'
He narrowed his eyes suspiciously and walked back out to the living room to inspect everything again.
'What's going on?'
He turned towards his small kitchen and finally saw the bright green post it note on the fridge.
"Hm?" he walked over and read it, realizing it wasn't his hand-writing.
Dear Anti,
Don't worry about yesterday. I know now it wasn't you. I know Sean was controlling you and Marvin thinks so, too. He could feel your emotions or something like that. Anyway, we'll still hang out sometime this week. I'll nag Marv into making more of that potion since I doubt Sean'll just LET me out to do whatever anymore.
I cleaned up your blood on the floor and the bathroom, too if you hadn't noticed yet. Try not to down so much of that Nyquil shit. It's not good for ya. I know you're gonna probably be depressed and wore out today, so I got you a pint of our favorite ice cream in the freezer.
See ya later, bro.
-Jackie
Anti smiled, his spirits lifted and chuckled at the last bit.
PS, Thought you'd like to know Sean was mad he didn't get what he wanted. Good job for getting away when you could.
He sniffled and bit his lip, 'Don't worry, Jackie . . . one day you'll get away from him, too. I'll make sure of it'
Anti then broke open the freezer.
He didn't care that he just woke up. He was a grown ass adult and he'd have his favorite ice cream for breakfast. He deserved it. Or at least Jackie seemed to think so.
'Yeah, I'll just go with that. That's a good excuse'
Plus it made him giddy that he was able to piss off Sean.
So . . victory ice cream!
Sean sat at his desk editing the footage he managed to get from earlier. It wasn't much but it worked.
But then again . . . he kind of did feel bad.
'Was it really worth it? Why did Anti struggle so much like that?'
He was sure Anti would jump at the chance when given it.
But if he didn't want to kill them, then what did he want? He couldn't just ask him, either.
If he did, there was the chance that Anti could kill him then and there. Perhaps he actually wanted him by himself and Jackie was in the way.
But he felt something wasn't right.
'And Jackie and Marvin haven't really spoken to me in a while. What's their problem? They've been acting so weird, lately.'
Usually Jackie would have jumped at the chance to attack Anti rushing into battle. But this time, he didn't.
Not to mention he hasn't been working out lately. Why was that?
Sean groaned, leaning his head down and pulling at his hair, 'Why does it feel like I did something wrong? I didn't, did I? What's changed?'
He set his head down by the keyboard, resting his eyes and silent contemplating with himself.
For a moment, at least.
"MEeeeeooOWOOOW!"
Sean snorted and giggled under his breathe, "BB, what you want?" he lifted his head to see the large and fluffy cat staring at him with big eyes.
The cat chirped lightly and rubbed his side against Sean's legs, making him laugh.
"What? You want food? I don't think it's time yet, Big Boss." but Sean was always a sucker for this furball, "Come on. We just won't tell your mom, okay? Come on buddy!"
He stood up and turned towards the door, leading the way out as BB ran around his feet excitedly.
After giving him a little treat, Sean didn't feel like editing any more, deciding to send the rest off to Robin.
Evelien was still streaming so he decided to go off to his room.
He didn't know what to do but he was getting tired.
'Maybe just a little nap before dinner. Gab will still be a while, anyway' he laid down on his back looking up at the ceiling.
For a while, he just laid there in thought but the more he just laid there, the sudden feeling hit him of not being tired at all.
'Stupid body playing tricks on me' Sean turned his head, looking over at the shelf of memorabilia he had. Plushies, posters, figurines and some games.
Then the little Septiceye Sam caught his eye.
'Simpler times . . . . .' grief hit him like a truck and he turned away.
He couldn't bare to look at the little plushie anymore. He could barely stand his own logo. Being reminded of the way things used to be.
It was all too much for him.
'Why'd he have to ruin it all?' he thought to himself, 'If Anti would have just listened and followed through . . . . then none of this would have had to happen. That fucking plushie. I remember when he had ripped it all to shreds. Marvin found it and fixed it but it doesn't change anything.'
Sean rolled his eyes and stood back up, walking out of his room, 'Why am I suddenly starting to feel bad? It's not like Anti deserves anymore chances. I know I wanted him to make the story more dramatic but this has gone too far.'
He slammed the door behind him, 'It's about time to end this. Soon. I won't let my other egos suffer anymore. For his or my mistakes'