Anti already hated his life all over again.
It had been a long day and he had seen some shit he didn't want to. Cleaning the egos rooms was horrid by itself but CLEANING THEIR BATHROOMS!?
'I swear they've never cleaned their own toilets before. How fucking disgusting!'
Not that he could talk. He didn't have to use the bathroom if he didn't eat or drink anything AND he never had his own bathroom before so why would he have ever needed to clean one before?
The cleaning supplies was the worst part for him.
'I feel like I'm gonna puke out my stomach in one piece. The bleach is burning my fucking insides'
But still, he scrubbed, trying not to get sick cleaning these bastards' toilets.
When finally finished, it was about time for dinner but he wasn't in the mood for food. Or to be around anyone. Not like he had a choice, though. He had to do the dishes again.
Subconsciously, Anti flitted his fingers around his neck to feel the 'choker' but sighed heavily, 'I need to find that device. It can't be too big or else I would have seen it by now here in the house . . . . . it's not in any of their rooms but Marvin DID seem defensive about earlier. I don't see why he wouldn't be, though. I wouldn't trust me, either'
He smirked slightly but left Jackie's room. He had finished cleaning all their rooms, the laundry, the lunch dishes, dusting and picking up around the house and now he had just finished all the bathrooms. He was ready to just go back down to his basement cage and call it a day.
But he couldn't. Because of his 'torture'. And boy was it torture.
'I really did underestimate them. They really are pretty evil bastards. And I thought I was bad. Cleaning their shit and nasty stains has fucked me up quite a bit. I'm traumatized now' he joked to himself.
Waddling down the stairs, Anti shoved his hands in his pockets, taking his time to meet them down in the kitchen for dinner. Thankfully Jackie really did order out again so he didn't have to worry about cooking.
Not that he'd worry about it. He couldn't really cook so that was gonna be their own torture whenever it came up and he'd have great satisfaction in not knowing what he was doing for once.
He grinned just thinking about it.
"Hey, what's up, Anti?"
Anti flinched but looked up to meet Jackie's eyes.
Anti growled like an angry little dog and really he was compared to him but just as feisty, "What?"
Jackie smiled wide, "I don't know if you like Chinese but that's what we're having tonight if you want some."
Anti hated the idea of joining them. He wanted nothing more than to-
Jackie winked at him and smiled gently, "OR. . . . if you want, I could make you a plate for yourself and you can eat it downstairs by yourself?"
Anti blinked and squinted his eyes at him distrustfully, "But what about-"
Jackie shrugged, "I'll do the dishes. You've done pretty good today about cleaning and doing all those chores without much complaining so I'll take this one off your hands"
Anti didn't know what to say but his face softened a little.
Until he remembered the mess he had to clean up in his bathroom, "By the way, you need to clean your own toilet more often because that was DISGUSTING, you nasty motherfucker"
Jackie looked surprised but still smiled, "Oh it was that bad? Sorry, man"
"Honestly" Anti rolled his eyes, "All of you are pretty gross. At least I don't have BASIC human needs to make myself dirty like you all"
Jackie smirked down at him, "Oh wow, you better watch out there, Anti. You're starting to sound like Dark all pompous and full of himself acting so much better than everyone else"
Anti just crossed his arms with a frown, "And?"
The hero just chuckled, "I'm just teasing! Anyway, you go on downstairs and I'll bring ya your dinner, alright. And don't worry about what the others will say. I'll let them know! Go relax, dude"
The glitch snorted, "Hard to relax when I'm a prisoner. Can't even have a TV or computer to glitch into and rest in"
But before Jackie could ask for clarification on what that meant, Anti turned heel and walked away from him.
He 'pompously' strut into the kitchen where everyone else was and started fixing his own plate, uncaring of everyone's stares on him. And then he turned heel again and walked downstairs into the basement with his food.
Marvin was the first to speak, "The fuck was that?"
'Why'd he go downstairs?' Jameson asked.
"Yeah I mean if he's actually gonna eat, shouldn't he eat at the table? I mean he'll still need to do dishes, too"
Jackie popped in, "Nah, I told him he could have the rest of the night off. I'll do the dishes"
Marvin looked pissed, "You did what?! What's the point in torturing him like THIS if you're gonna take the load off him anyway?!"
Chase smirked, understanding Jackie's motive, "Because . . . it's like Jameson's idea. The more we're nice to him, the better he'll respond back to us. Jackie's just trying to earn his trust is all"
"And Bingo was his name-O" Jackie finger-gunned him and Chase did it back.
Henrik rolled his eyes, "You are both dumb. He's not going to fall for such a silly tactic"
Jackie just shrugged, getting his own plate, "We'll see"
Meanwhile, Anti was eating his sesame chicken and fried rice, curled up in his new cage with Chase's pillow. He even closed it already for them. Might as well have the satisfaction of doing it himself rather than give it to them.
Plus he found that putting the pillow up against the bars prevents it from shocking him when he leans on it, so there's that loop-hole he found out being on his own.
'Why's he being nice all of a sudden? It has to be a ploy. A tactic. But then again, Jackie's always been stupidly nice. It's always been aggravating. Nicey-nice prick. . . . . I guess I'm happy about not doing the dinner dishes, though'
He shook his head, 'No, don't feel grateful! That's what they want, dumbass!' he chastised himself, 'Gah, this is so ridiculous. Where else could that device be? It can't be too big else I would have seen it already. And it can't be too small, either. Something so little with so much power . . . I wouldn't believe it. But perhaps . . . no, Dark said I'd know it when I saw it. So . . . I probably haven't seen it yet'
He stuffed a piece of chicken in his mouth and munched on it, 'I fucking love Chinese food'
The next day, it started up pretty much the same as yesterday but Chase came down to unlock his cage.
And man, did he look beat and he yawned, "Oh man. . . . I didn't get much sleep last night. How about you?"
"I don't sleep"
"Weird. Want breakfast?"
Anti blinked at him but growled softly, "Pop-tarts"
Chase nodded, "We got those. What flavor you-"
"Oreo"
Chase smirked softly, "Kallie loves that flavor, too. I bet you and my kids would get along great, you know"
"What?"
"We should arrange a play-date sometime. Then you can get to know kids your own age, huh?"
Now Anti knew he was teasing and he just glared death at Chase who just snickered at him, leading him up the stairs.
Breakfast wasn't too eventful. Jackie had to leave for patrol while Marvin left to work at his store and Henrik left to the clinic for work.
That left Jameson and Chase at home with Anti alone but they didn't seem worried to be without the magician or hero. Not with the bands working.
Anti stood in the corner of the room like a creep munching on the pop-tarts both at the same time not bothering to eat them one at a time like a normal person would.
But Chase and Jameson didn't seem to care. They drank tea together at the table and Chase munched on a bagel with Nutella while Jameson ate some sugary cereal with marshmallows.
Anti just glared at them eating, 'How disgusting. They'll shit that out later on the toilets and I'll have to clean it up . . . . . then again, I'm eating, too, so I guess I can't talk'
Anti shrugged to himself, 'Today could be a better day to search, though . . . . . find out where the stray is keeping that device. The sooner I find it, the better. I KNOW Dark is counting on me. He must know that I'd look for it here. He MUST know I'm the best shot at finding it now!'
At least he hoped that was the plan.
After the dishes, Anti went into each of their rooms to pick up their dirty laundry again but this time, it wasn't so bad since he just cleaned yesterday. They were able to make as much of a mess if such a short amount of time.
Except for Marvin. His room was still a disaster but what do you except out of an adventurous magician? There's gonna be accidents!
And apparently he really wanted Anti to suffer and Anti KNEW it. Especially since Marvin had caught him yesterday snooping around his room.
'It's gotta be in here, though. Where else could it be?' when he was done actually cleaning, Anti set to work trying to find what he was looking for again, big and small. But again, it was a loss. He really was starting to think he was screwed.
Until a certain piece of paper caught his attention.
Anti narrowed his eyes and looked down at it.
He recognized that handwriting anywhere.
'What is this?' he picked it up and actually read it.
But he wished he didn't. He wished he had a better explanation or something.
'Host . . . . this is Host's handwriting. . . .' Anti placed the note back where he found it.
'But why are Host and Marvin writing each other? This doesn't make sense'
Was Dark using Host to get to Marvin all this time? Was Anti never important at all?
But he had an idea and even thought Anti never was good with ideas, that didn't mean he wasn't NOT going to follow through it.
'I should tell the hero about this. Show it to him and see what he thinks about his precious magician brother. . . . . and why he's working with the enemy'
Anti set the note back down completely where he found it and walked away. It'd be a while until Jackie got back home but he could wait.
'This is gonna be interesting'
________
Marvin,
They are coming for it. Something that will put an end to all of us if used for the wrong reasons.
If the Host was you, he'd hide it carefully.
We both know what will happen if it is in the wrong hands.
Tread lightly, magician. He's more clever than you or he realizes.
_______
'He' Anti tried to decipher it but he imagined the Host was talking about him, 'At least the narrator thinks somewhat highly of me. And here I thought he hated my guts. . . . eh, he still probably does'
But there was still something Anti didn't understand, 'But if Host is trying to help the Septics, then that means that he's betraying Dark. HE'S the reason we couldn't find the device at Marvin's store in his room! Ooo, when Dark finds out, though, he gonna be SO pissed!'
He snickered just thinking about it. Awful things happen to those who double-cross Darkiplier!
There was something still bother him in the back of his mind, though, 'Put an end to all of us' but he snorted at it, 'Idiot just doesn't see the big picture and here I thought he was supposed to see all! Ignorant buffoon can't see past his own nose sometimes, I swear'
But instead of just staling around in Marvin's room, he decided to move on. He couldn't let the others think he was up to no good . . .
But now he couldn't wait for Jackie to come home. He felt like a dog, all excited. He couldn't wait to rat Marvin out for this! Sure Host was helping him but Anti was SURE Marvin hadn't told the others any of this otherwise they would have used it against HIM before.
'Time to throw back some payback, stray'