Work Text
Anti was ushered into a fancy-looking office. If it wasn’t for the tracked-in sawdust from the ring it could almost be the office of some city official.
A black- or maybe dark brown, he couldn’t tell in the light- haired man looked up from some papers.
The Irishman who had led him there gave a wave to the man, smiling like old friends.
“Heya Mark- I found him.”
The man’s- Mark’s- eyebrows rose. “You found…” There was silence. Then a palm to the face in resigned tiredness, as if he’d been brought people every day and was tired of it. “Who did you find, Jack?”
The man grinned and gestured to him. “I found your guy. Acrobatics, knife throwing- you name it.”
Mark leveled a look at him in curiosity. “Do you have a name?”
He nodded then pointed at his throat. He hoped that wouldn’t be a dealbreaker...
“You can’t talk?”
He shook his head, hands knotted together behind his back. That was it. The final straw-
A hand slid a piece of paper and a pen before his nose. He looked up, shocked. Not one employer had tried-
“You can write, yeah?”
He gave a hurried nod and scribbled down his name faster than he thought he ever had, sliding it back. Both men looked at it, then at him.
He started to sweat.
“Anti? Unusual name.” He just gave a sort of awkward shrug. Not like he had control over it.
More silence. This was more nerve-wracking that that one time he-
“Can you give us a demonstration?”
He gave a start. Of what? He reached a hand towards his trusty
s
atchel, then jumped as Jack banged a fist on the wall. A fist banged back. He repeated the motion, only with a different series of bangs. A minute or so later a tall, thin man in a blue vest came in holding a wrapped package. He opened it silently, and passed a- damn those had to cost more than he did- silver knife towards him, hilt first. Anti mouthed his thanks. The man looked confused, his eyebrows scrunched up, before pointing at his own throat. Anti nodded. The man seemed disproportionately happy for that news. Jack laughed and slung an arm over the tall man’s shoulders- they were about the same height- and raised a brow at Anti.
“Seems you two might end up becoming not-speaking buddies.” Anti looked at the man in a new light. He couldn’t talk either-?
Mark took a picture off of the wall to reveal a painted target, indentations from knives puckering the surface. They all stood back. “Go right ahead.”
Anti tested the weight of the knives. While he preferred his own… they weren’t too bad. He brought his hand back-
The knife landed in the center with a thud. Cue silence in the office.
Jack whistled. “
Daaaamn
.” The man in blue clapped and Mark grabbed a few papers from his desk as Anti went to pull the knife out of the wall.
He suddenly had to juggle a series of papers as well as the throwing knife as Mark placed them in his hands.
“You want the job?”
His face broke into a big grin.
Hell yeah.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
He soon became known as the jack-of-all-trades. If someone had a job, he’d do it, and do it well. Whether it was help Jack with the animals or help JJ- the other mute man- clean his weapons for his act, he’d do it.
He met the other performers in a matter of days. The clowns, all named Jim, and their leader Wilford, also used for his expert gun skills. Bing and the other four, the five-man-band who helped make props and pitch the tents. Common nickname of the others were the Googles, which they seemed to find amusing. Yandere, head of security and general badass with a katana. King, the food vendor. Dark, the expertly-dressed ticket seller, and part of the trio who ran this place. Jack and Mark, the other two bosses who were remarkably cool with everything and rather hands-on with the whole gig- one with the animals and the other the face of the company who handled most of the recruits. Chase, the strongman and honorary clown. He was cool. Jackie, the head acrobat. Marvin the magician. And a number of others. Like the band. And the people he had yet to meet. This was a large show after all.
He already felt at home despite his… quirks.
He watched the first few shows, waiting until the next place they went to to develop his act. He was a newbie after all, and still learning the ropes.
He hopped up a nearby ladder to watch. JJ was doing his sword dancing act. Damn, if he wasn’t so good he should have nicked his fingers there. Granted, he had had years of practice, but he was sure that he should have a few nicks and slices from practice every so often. But he’d only seen his fingers wrapped once. He was a pro. Anti tried to make a mental note to write him something about it later. He was super good at what he did.
He looked up to see Wilford and the Jims sitting in the rafters above him. He climbed up, making sure he didn’t send one of them falling into the crowd below. Wilford ruffled his hair and he rolled his eyes back, trying to convey as much snark and sarcasm as possible. He wasn't sure how well he did, but… eh. He dug a small pad and pen out of his pocket and went to scribbling, handing it towards the clown next to him.
Doing the kite bit?
Wilford read it in the dim light and nodded. “It’s fun. ‘Specially when we get to the knives.” He whispered.
Anti grinned and leaned back against a nearby pillar, slipping the pad and pen into his pocket and watching the crowds below. They seemed to like it. Oh, hey, Yan was doing their thing. Nice. Those dudes were being asshats. Ooh, popcorn. He really needed to go buy some off of King later.
He went back over to the ladder and slid down by the side-rails.
He should help Jack with the animals now that they’ve done their bit in the opening. They needed to get the plumes off the two horses or they’d hate it the next time they had to put it on because all they remembered was itching. Or something of the sort. He just followed the rules, and it was faster with two people working.
He walked towards where Jack was whistling a tune. He wondered- could he whistle? He blew tentatively, and a pitiful high-pitched squeak came out. He winced. Huh. Technically that did count as a whistle… maybe his vocal cords weren’t too damaged the air couldn’t flow through. Or whatever made it so he could whistle. Was it even using the vocal cords at all, or was it just blowing through his mouth in a certain way?
Jack looked over from behind a few bales of hay and saw his confused and/or shocked expression.
“So you can whistle, huh?”
He nodded and shrugged, shaking off his confusion and moving to take off Sam’s plume and brush him down.
There was nothing but the sound of the curry comb and Jack shoveling hay. Soon enough whistling filled the air. He’d have to practice later when he could embarrass himself in peace.
Soon enough Jack went to go muck the stalls while the horses grazed on the feed he had set out for them after shoveling the hay. Anti slipped on some boots and joined him.
“Hey Anti?”
He unloaded a shovel and looked at him. What did he want?
“Uh- you don’t have to answer this, but what happened so you couldn’t talk?”
There was silence. Anti shifted, thinking of the best way to tell him.
“You don’t have to answer if it’s uncomfortable I just-”
He shut up as Anti grabbed his hand, took off the work glove, and traced the man’s squished fingers along the thick scar hidden just under the top of his jacket. Jack’s eyes widened.
“How-?”
He let go and passed him his glove before scooping up another shovelful and depositing it in the bin.
Jack was silent as he thought. “Does that mean that-” He trailed off, not wanting to proceed.
He took out the pad.
That I tried to kill myself?
Jack nodded, uncomfortable.
Anti nodded his head minutely and slipped the pad into his pocket, picking the shovel back up. He gave a sort of shrug. That was years ago, and it didn’t really bother him that much when he was in this- nevermind. He couldn’t talk like this. That was all that mattered.
They worked in silence. Would things be awkward between the two? Oh, god, no…
“You’re alright now, right?”
He nodded quickly. Yes, yes, he’s fine, stop giving him the silent treatment please it’s awkward as hell-
“Good. You want to lead Sam and Tim back here?”
He nodded and left Jack to finish smoothing the hay while he got the horses.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The season was over. They were packing things up and taking them to the trailers out back. The little caravan was almost cute in the sheer number of them trundling down the road, their cloth covers keeping the cargo inside from blowing out and getting lost, the logo of the circus painted on the side.
Whatever it was, it would get them to the train taking them to the next city. That was all that mattered, really.
He hadn’t been on a train in… way too long.
But in the meantime he’d take a nap. Bumpy as it was, he’d have a better chance on the road than anywhere else.
Good thing he only needed a few hours of sleep. The others were going to sleep on the train. That was not for him. He’d rather play cards or something with Dark instead. They tended to have similar sleeping schedules. How a normal person only survived on three hours of sleep a night he had no clue. How was he even functioning??? Or maybe they could play chess. Dark was good at chess, and it was nice to have someone to play against who was actually good.
He leaned against a nearby crate and closed his eyes, flipping off Wilford, who was laughing at the thought that he could actually sleep.
Just for that he’d sleep for the whole trip just to fuck with him. Yeah, that’ll work.
……
He woke up just as they got into the station. He grinned at Wilford.
Couldn't sleep? Hah!
Wilford rolled his eyes and they got out to help put the stuff on the train.
…….
He looked out the window as they sat in their compartment. Mark and Jack were telling jokes. Marvin was doing card tricks. Dark was setting up a game of chess. King took out some snacks. A lot of the others went to bed.
He scooted over to Dark’s chess board and raised a brow, gesturing to the setup.
Could he play?
Dark nodded. “You enjoy chess?” He moved a pawn. Anti did the same and nodded. They played in silence for a while. The others soon went to bed. Anti moved his remaining bishop and snagged a rook. Dark then stole the bishop with his queen. Then Anti stole the queen with his knight.
They both looked at the board as His pieces stared at Dark’s. It was a draw.
Dark seemed mildly amused. “That was unexpected. What else do you enjoy?
Hmm… let’s see. He opened his mouth out of habit, not noticing the electric feeling running over his skin as he glitched, the wound on his neck tearing open. “O̸h̷,̴ ̸y̵o̴u̶ ̶k̴n̸o̴w̶,̴ ̸s̸t̶u̷f̷f̸.̷”
He froze. “F̷u̵c̷k̴.̷”
He looked to see if anyone had woken up. Dark looked at him unimpressed. He forced the glitching to stop, the wound on his neck sealing as if by magic. He waited for Dark’s reaction. Ohhhh fuck.
Dark stared back at him. Well?
“So you lied.”
He jolted back.
What? No!
He shook his head violently and pulled out his notepad.
No- I didn’t want to! It’s not like any of you would trust me if I was a glitchy mess, now would you?
Dark looked at the paper and back at him then gave a shrug, subtle red and blue afterimages following in the movement’s wake. There was a faint crackle of static not unlike his own.
|It’s not like they know.|
He blinked, a slow grin enveloping his face.
“But Mark and Jack- they might take the news badly.” Aaand hope crashing to the floor. Great.
He willed the glitches to overtake him. “D̷o̴ ̶t̴h̵e̴y̶ ̶k̷n̵o̵w̵ ̶a̶b̷o̵u̴t̶ ̶y̶o̸u̸…̵?̸”
An emotion almost like regret filled Dark’s face and he shook his head. “No.”
Well shit.
He stopped glitching immediately as someone shifted in their bed, the sudden change feeling as if he’d been punched in the face.
Ow his head…
now he was all dizzy and shit...
“Wha-? What’re you guys doin’ up still? It’s like one in the morning…?”
They looked at Jack. Anti shrugged. Dark gestured to the chess board. “Our game went longer than we expected.”
Jack flops back to his bed and was out like a light as soon as his head touched the pillow. Damn. That’s an envious skill. He turned to Dark and raised a brow, moving the pieces back in place with a series of quick movements. The air crackled slightly with static.
“W̸a̸n̴n̶a̸ ̸p̴l̸a̴y̴ ̸a̴g̵a̴i̸n̶?̸”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Anti threw the knife, it landing in the middle with a dull thunk. What kind of act should he do…? A knife throw was boring by itself…. Maybe add something to it? Some kind of death-defying stunt? That could work- it’s not like he can really die anyway…
No, no- that would be too easy to pick apart. Stick with something simple for once. Hmm…
Maybe some food would help. He went over to where King was cleaning his stand.
“Whatcha want?”
He pointed at the popcorn. King grinned and went to go grab it for him. He heard footsteps, then a hand grabbed his arm. He turned to see Jack.
“Hey, you want to help me set up something?” He nodded. Sounded like fun. He grabbed the popcorn with a grin and followed Jack to the- he was working on the water chamber? No wonder he wanted somebody to help him. It was hard working on that thing without somebody to hand you stuff from the outside.
Jack knelt down. “Bing said something about there being a crack in the base. I’m going to go and look inside. You mind handing me that filler?”
He nodded and grabbed it as Jack climbed inside, the sound as he landed on the bottom echoing in the space. Nobody was around them. It was almost eerie.
He waited with the things as Jack looked for a crack. A few minutes passed. “I don’t see anything, do you?”
He moved closer. Just as he was going to take a closer look the top slammed down, the rope holding it open from the rafters cut. They both flinched from the noise, eyes widening. What the fuck? Jack jumped to try and push it open, but it was too tall for him to reach without the water. He was going to have to haul him out after he had done the job- what was that sound?
He and Jack both froze as a stream of water poured down from the connected pipes. Jack shouted something, but the sound was trapped inside. Anti immediately went towards the valve that let the water into the tank to close it- but it was stuck. He couldn’t even budge it without glitching- the valve that let the water into the tank, but it wouldn’t budge. He couldn’t make it move without glitching-
The water was at Jack’s chin, and showed no signs of stopping. His inner monologue was a myriad of curses. What could he do?! He knew he couldn’t lift the top, and it was either that or glitching-
Nobody was around to hear a thing.
Fuck it.
He glitched just enough to shift the valve. But the water was still rising. Jack was starting to have to swim. He grit his teeth and poured his all into it. He was not going to let him die!
Slowly, ever so slowly, the valve closed. But it was too late. The water had filled the chamber. Anti glitched his way in, grabbing onto an unconscious Jack before glitching them out and setting him down in the floor. He turned him over, hoping he would recover on his own. He checked his pulse. His heart was still beating-
Jack coughed, his eyes fluttering open. Anti just about hugged him, not caring that he was still glitching slightly. He was safe! Holy fuck he was alive!
“Holy- *
cough
*- fucking
hell
-! What the *
cough
* fuck?!”
Anti stiffened before getting up and moving towards the tank in a blue of motion so fast Jack almost thought he teleported. He must have been seeing things- oh my god.
“Anti! Your neck!” Jack grabbed him as if he needed support. He wasn’t going to faint, jeeze- “We have to get you to a hospital or something-!”
“Anti? Jack? Why are you over here?” Oh, hey Dark. Anti pushed away from Jack, secretly relieved.
“Dark, Anti’s not letting me help him and I think he’s managed to open the wound on his neck-”
Dark raised a brow. “Have you thought to listen to him?”
Jack about screamed. “HE’S FUCKING BLEEDING YA ASSHOLE!”
“S̵H̶U̶T̴ ̶U̴P̴ ̷I̷’̸M̴ ̵F̷I̴N̶E̵!̶ ̷J̴e̴s̸u̴s̸…̴”
That did it for Jack. There was a thump as he landed on the dusty ground.
“Well. That was efficient in shutting him up.”
“N̶o̵t̴ ̶h̵e̴l̵p̸i̶n̴g̸ ̵D̸a̷r̸k̵.̷ ̶W̴e̸ ̴n̷e̷e̴d̸ ̸t̷o̴ ̸t̵a̴l̸k̸ ̷t̶o̵ ̴M̵a̶r̶k̶.̸ ̸T̷h̴e̵ ̷f̵o̷u̶r̶ ̸o̸f̴ ̴u̵s̶.̶ ̷T̷h̶e̷r̸e̸’̴s̵ ̷a̶ ̶m̵y̷s̶t̵e̴r̵y̸ ̵a̴f̸o̵o̶t̷.̵”
“Did you just say afoot? You’re not Sherlock Holmes.”
“S̴h̵u̸t̴ ̵u̷p̸p̵p̸p̸…̵”
------
Mark jumped as Anti kicked his door in, holding Jack with Dark following close behind.
“Hello Mark.”
“Dark? Anti? Why’s Jack unconscious? What happened to your neck?!”
“I̶’̷m̵ ̷f̵i̷n̸e̷,̶ ̶c̴h̴i̵l̶l̴.̴ ̶I̴t̴’̴s̸ ̴J̴a̵c̸k̷ ̵w̴e̴ ̵n̴e̷e̵d̶ ̸t̸o̴ ̸w̸o̴r̵r̵y̷ ̴a̶b̷o̶u̵t̶.̶” Mark’s eyes widened.
“I- you can
talk
?!”
“L̶i̸k̸e̶ ̶t̴h̵i̴s̷?̷ ̵Y̴e̴a̵h̶.̴ ̶B̵u̵t̶ ̸t̷h̵a̸t̴’̶s̶ ̸n̴o̵t̸ ̷i̴m̵p̸o̸r̵t̴a̴n̴t̶.̸ ̴W̵h̴e̷r̶e̷ ̴c̸a̶n̴ ̷I̶ ̴p̴u̷t̴ ̷‘̷i̶m̴?̴”
He gestured to the man in his hands. Mark gestured to the two chairs on the other side of his desk. Anti put Jack down in one of them, letting Dark take the other. He stated to pace.
“What happened?”
Dark sat up straighter. “Indeed. What’s going on?”
Anti continued to pace. “O̶k̶a̸y̶,̸ ̴l̸o̶o̶k̴.̴ ̷Y̸o̴u̶ ̷k̷n̵o̵w̸ ̶t̵h̵a̶t̷ ̷b̵i̸g̵ ̵w̸a̵t̸e̸r̶ ̸t̵a̴n̷k̷ ̵t̵h̵a̷t̴ ̸M̸a̵r̵v̶i̶n̶ ̷d̴o̷e̴s̷ ̴h̴i̵s̵ ̸e̴s̷c̶a̷p̶e̶ ̵t̴r̷i̶c̴k̶ ̶i̵n̴?̸”
“Yeah? What about it? Is that why he’s-”
“S̷o̵a̷k̴i̷n̶g̸ ̸w̵e̷t̵?̶ ̵Y̴e̷a̸h̸.̸ ̷J̵a̵c̴k̵ ̴w̷a̵s̴ ̸c̵h̸e̷c̴k̶i̷n̶g̸ ̶o̸u̷t̷ ̴a̸ ̷c̷r̶a̷c̷k̴ ̷i̸n̶ ̶i̷t̸ ̷a̴n̶d̵ ̷t̶h̴e̶ ̴l̸i̴d̵ ̶s̶l̵a̸m̸m̸e̸d̴ ̵d̶o̵w̴n̷.̶ ̴W̴a̶t̴e̴r̵ ̶s̵t̸a̷r̸t̷e̵d̸ ̴c̷o̵m̵i̴n̶g̸ ̵i̴n̸.̴ ̴I̴ ̶m̴a̴n̸a̴g̷e̶d̸ ̴t̶o̵ ̵g̵e̷t̸ ̵h̴i̷m̴ ̴o̵u̴t̴ ̴o̵f̴ ̸t̸h̸e̶r̴e̶,̸ ̵b̵u̸t̷ ̷n̵o̶t̴ ̴b̴e̸f̴o̷r̵e̷ ̴h̵e̴ ̴w̵e̷n̶t̷ ̷a̵l̴l̵ ̴u̵n̷c̷o̷n̶s̸c̴i̵o̶u̴s̷ ̴a̷n̷d̵ ̵s̶h̶i̷t̷.̶ ̷H̴e̸ ̵w̸o̵k̷e̶ ̷u̵p̵ ̴a̸n̴d̷ ̴a̷l̵l̸,̷ ̸h̶e̸’̶s̴ ̷f̸i̷n̴e̵-̶ ̵I̷ ̸j̵u̵s̷t̸ ̸s̸p̸o̶o̸k̶e̸d̵ ̶h̷i̸m̷ ̷a̷ ̴b̸i̵t̸ ̸w̵i̶t̷h̶ ̸t̸h̵e̷ ̴w̴h̸o̴l̵e̶,̷ ̴y̵o̵u̵ ̴k̴n̸o̷w̶.̸” He gestured to his throat. The other two nodded.
“I must add, it was mildly surprising to say the least.” Dark shrugged. Mark frowned.
“How’d you get him out of there?”
He shrugged, still pacing. “G̶l̸i̶t̷c̷h̶e̵d̸ ̵h̷i̶m̶ ̸o̸u̶t̶.̷ ̵N̵o̷t̷ ̵t̵h̷a̸t̷ ̴c̵o̶m̵p̶l̵i̶c̵a̴t̶e̴d̷.̵ ̵B̴u̸t̷ ̷w̵h̸y̸-̶” He froze.
Who would do that?
He disappeared in a swirl of pixels, reappearing at the tank. He looked all around. Nothing… nothing… good place for someone to hide, but- wait, what was that? He picked up the single teabag lying on the ground. Why would they have left a tea-
He only knew one person who liked tea other than Dark. Chase. But why-?
He was tempted to find him and shove a knife in his face, but- that would be silly. And wouldn’t probably get anywhere. Even with his glitching abilities… yeah, Chase was strong as hell even if he didn’t look it.
He growled and slipped it into his pocket before glitching up to the top of the tank. The rope had either been cut or… shot. Cut was more likely, but it looked surprisingly clean except for a few frayed ends. Had it been sabotaged? Was it deliberate? Or had the rope just frayed? It didn’t seem like an accident, not with what happened to the water tank…
He glitched back into the office, ignoring them all jumping, and dropped the teabag onto the table.
“A̵l̶l̷ ̸I̵ ̴c̷o̵u̷l̸d̴ ̶f̷i̴n̸d̸.̶ ̸T̶h̶e̸ ̷r̸o̵p̴e̶ ̴w̶a̷s̷ ̷d̷e̴f̵i̸n̶i̸t̷e̷l̴y̶ ̸s̷a̷b̷o̷t̴a̶g̴e̷d̷,̴ ̸b̵u̴t̷ ̶i̵t̵ ̸c̴o̸u̸l̸d̸ ̷h̵a̶v̷e̸ ̵e̶i̸t̷h̸e̸r̴ ̴b̵e̷e̶n̸ ̴c̶u̸t̴ ̴o̶r̸ ̶s̷h̷o̷t̴.̸ ̵I̸ ̸t̷h̴i̸n̸k̶ ̸I̴ ̴k̶n̶o̴w̴ ̸w̸h̸o̶ ̴m̵i̷g̵h̶t̸ ̶h̸a̶v̵e̵ ̷d̷o̶n̶e̸ ̴t̵h̸i̶s̵.̸ ̶A̶n̴d̶ ̸I̵ ̸d̸o̶n̶’̶t̶ ̴l̶i̷k̷e̴ ̵w̴h̵a̴t̵ ̴I̸’̷m̶ ̶t̸h̸i̵n̴k̵i̷n̶g̷.̴”
“What? Who?!”
Dark turned the teabag in his hands before sniffing it and frowning. “That’s almost like Chase’s tea… but he doesn’t drink herbal…”
“He doesn’t?” Jack was awake, and very confused at what was happening. Mark whispered something into his ear and he looked much more informed.
Dark shook his head. “No, we both use it for caffeine, not the taste. Who else drinks tea around here?”
“We’ve all tried it at some point, but most prefer coffee. However, that doesn’t narrow the pool at all.”
Anti growled. “B̶u̵t̷ ̸w̷h̷a̶t̷ ̸c̴a̴n̷ ̴w̵e̸ ̵d̸o̴?̸ ̴I̶n̷t̵e̴r̷r̵o̶g̷a̸t̴e̷ ̴t̶h̴e̸m̴ ̸a̸l̵l̴?̴ ̷T̵h̴a̵t̴’̸l̸l̴ ̷t̷a̶k̸e̴ ̸
a̴g̸e̸s̶
.̸”
They sat in silence and tried to formulate a plan.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Dark growled. “This is ridiculous. We should ask Host.”
What could Host do? Jack jumped up.
“Great idea! I think I saw him by his station-”
Anti was already holding the door open. “A̷r̶e̸ ̵w̸e̶ ̵g̶o̸i̶n̵’̵ ̴o̵r̸ ̶n̶o̵t̵?̸”
Mark held up his hands. “Slow down. We’re going. You might want to… er-”
The glitches slowly faded. Anti spread his hands.
Happy?
Dark moved past him, and it was only then that he noticed Dark’s fists were clenched, and tinged slightly blue and red. Oh. It disappeared in less than a second. Nobody else seemed to see.
They walked over to Host’s station. He’d barely talked with the man. Something about him had just… unnerved him from day one. Not just the bloody bandages around his eyes that never really seemed to heal, but his whole demeanor. He spoke in third person, somehow knew exactly what was happening in the room, and generally was… strange.
“Dark, Anti, Mark, and Jack walked into the room. Host offered his greetings and coffee.”
Anti swallowed. Dark nodded. “Thank you Host, but we’re in a bit of a hurry.”
Host tilted his head slightly before speaking as if asking a question- slow and cautious. This was the first time Anti had heard him say something without his usual certainty. “Host sensed worry in Mark’s features. Jack was still damp from the… sabotaged water tank?”
“Exactly. Can you find out who did it?”
Host went very still before taking a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiping away a drip of blood. “Host can find out, yes. Is Dark certain he would like to know?”
“Yes.”
Silence. Host took in a breath as if to steady himself. The room was quiet as Host muttered under his breath at a volume almost too soft to hear. “- the rope was cut and the lid landed with a heavy slam as-” He broke off.
“As what Host?”
Host licked his lips. “As Bing pressed the button on the other side of the tank to let the water in.”
Anti jolted to attention on the other side of the room with a violent glitch. “Y̸o̵u̴ ̸s̷u̶r̵e̶?̴”
“Host speaks the truth.”
His face twisted and his disappeared in a jagged flash of pixels.
They were were in shocked silence for a second before Dark moved towards the door, throwing it open just as a shout echoed from the other side of camp.
“B̸̧͝I̸̩͐N̸̲̚G̸̏͜!̷̙̐”
--------
Anti had his eyes locked on Bing with an almost predatory glee, knife in hand.
“S̸o̵,̵ ̶B̵i̶n̸g̵,̸ ̴r̷e̷g̸r̷e̶t̸t̶i̸n̵g̵ ̶y̷o̷u̶r̸ ̵c̷h̸o̵i̸c̸e̵s̷ ̶n̵o̵w̵?̸”̸
“Woah woah woah! What the hell’s going on?!” Huh. He was in the bunk Bing shared with Chase. Hey. “And who the f- Anti?!”
“I didn’t do it!”
“B̸̞͆u̷͉̕l̸͍l̵̛̤s̷̙͂h̶̪͆i̷͙̎t̷̜͑!̷͙͐”̷̩͗ He snarled.
“What’s going on?!”
He ignored the question, instead leaping at Bing.
A pair or arms wrapped around him and lifted him up off the ground, pinning his arms to his sides. He thrashed. “
Ḽ̷̈E̴͕̓T̷̯͋ ̴̰͒M̴͙̉È̷̤ ̷̨G̶̮͝O̷̼͊!̵͖̃
”
“Sorry buddy, but I can’t do that.”
“Oh thank god. Wil, can you just hold him for a second?”
Dark? What the fuck man?! He kicked out, trying to free himself. He couldn’t move his arms… couldn’t use his knife…
“Anti, this is all circumstantial at best. Host has been wrong before. We all look rather similar to each other, it could have been anybody.”
Was that supposed to calm him down?!
“Come on and listen to me. I know it doesn’t look good, but we have to find out everything first.”
But- but… He stopped kicking.
“We will find out who did this.”
He slowly stopped glitching. The knife disappeared. Wilford let go.
“Okay, now that Anti isn’t trying to kill Bing, what’s happening?”
“Someone tried to kill Jack.” It would look like his hands glitched to anyone else, but they were just shaking.
“
WHAT?!
”
“No wonder he was so pissed. They’re really close.”
Damn right they were. He snuck a glance at Bing.
The surprise on his face didn’t reach his eyes.
In fact, they looked angry.
He whirled around and stormed out of the bunk.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Jack found Anti in the stables, lying on a pile of straw.
“Anti? Why are you in here?”
He was silent. Jack came closer. “Anti? Did I do something wrong?”
Oh for fuck’s sake- “N̶o̷.̶”
“Okay… do we need to take you to Schneep or Iplier? For your neck?” They were the only people on the grounds with any medical training.
“N̴o̵.̵”
“Is there anything I can do?”
He was rewarded with silence.
“Anti, I need you to talk to me.”
“Y̴o̴u̴ ̵a̵l̷m̴o̵s̸t̵ ̸d̷i̵e̵d̴,̴ ̶a̷n̵d̶ ̸w̸e̷’̸r̶e̴ ̶a̷c̸t̷i̸n̴g̵ ̶l̶i̸k̴e̵ ̴e̷v̵e̶r̶y̴t̶h̸i̸n̶g̸ ̵i̷s̷ ̸n̶o̶r̷m̵a̴l̸.”
“Is that what this is about?”
He didn’t answer. That was an answer in itself.
“Anti…”
|Anti- oh, hello Jack.|
“Dark. You too?”
Anti stared at the ceiling. You too? What was that supposed to mean?
|Yes. It was… a long time ago.| His voice did sound a bit different. Distorted.
“Not going to press it. You want to talk to him alone?”
|If you wouldn’t mind leaving.|
“No, not at all.”
Jack disappeared from his peripheral vision. Dark entered instead. |Hello.|
He stared past him and towards the rafters. Dark poked him. |Hey. Anti. Talk to me.|
“N̴o̴.”
|You’re still mad about the Bing thing.| It wasn’t a question. He nodded. Dark let out a groan.
|We can’t just act on impulse. Believe me, I know. If I truly believed the Bing did it, I’d be first in line to exact justice. But he’s never been anything but nice, Anti. I’ve known him for years. He was one of the first people who was willing to help with the circus. He’s a good guy.|
Silence. Dark cracked his neck with a small sigh. |Okay, fine. I’ll leave you alone. If you want to talk, you know where my trailer is. But Anti?|
“W̶h̵a̸t̴.̵”
|We’ll find some way to find out who did do it, okay?|
He hummed. The footsteps led away through the hay.
Some time later, Tim clopped over and nudged his shoulder. Huh. When had he gotten out? Had he fallen asleep?
He patted Tim’s head and gently nudged him away. “N̴o̵,̴ ̸b̴u̴d̴d̵y̵,̷ ̸’̸m̸ ̷f̵i̷n̵e̵.̴ ̸D̵o̶n̴’̸t̷ ̶g̷o̶ ̴w̵a̸n̸d̶e̴r̵i̴n̸’̵, ̵o̴k̴a̷y̴?̶”
Tim nudged him in the shoulder again with a snort.
“C̷’̴m̷o̸n̷,̴ ̸I̴’̴m̸ ̵f̸i̵n̸e̶.̷”
Nudge.
He got onto his elbows to go and lead him back to his pen when-
He smelled smoke.
Now, random smells weren’t unheard of, but there was never,
ever
smoke by the animals. Robbie, the other hand who only worked part-time, would have a cow. His last job had burned down because somebody left a candle unattended.
When there was smoke, that mean there was fire.
He leapt up and started searching.
He had just rounded the back of the barn when there was a whoosh of air and he was surrounded by flames.
Gasoline. He should have smelled it, but with the smell of the barn-
The animals!
He glitched over an breathed a sigh of relief. Tim and Sam were out of the way.
And the tent was on fire.
Fuck.
He had to warn people.
---------
Mark blinked in surprise as Host of all people, calmly knocked on his door.
“Yeah? What’s up?”
“The Host wished to inform you that the tent is on fire. He will be going towards the entrance if Mark needs him.”
And he was gone. His brain registered what he’d said. Fire. There was a fire. Oh shit.
He grabbed his phone and started to dial.
--------
“F̸I̴R̶E̴!̴”
Bing cursed from where he was packing up his things. Blue, or ‘Jackson’ as he was known around everywhere but here, looked over.
“What is wrong?”
“He woke up. He wasn’t supposed to wake up. Dude, that guy has been so much trouble-”
Oliver frowned from where he was polishing his shoes. “I still think we shouldn’t have done this. Jack has done so much for us-”
“Did you not hear him guys? There’s the fire, we have to go.” Green, or ‘Aiden’, was standing in the doorway of their trailer.
“Where’s Red?”
“
Lukas
is destroying evidence.”
“Not that there’s much to destroy. Just the gas can.” Blue.
“Your names are stupid.” Oliver.
“Says the one who already had a name and didn’t have to change it.”
“Hence why I say your names are stupid. I’m unbiased.”
Bing rolled his eyes. He was fortunate to be in that group too, but he wasn’t dumb enough to irk Blue.
“Those names were in the top 5 for 2016. You shouldn’t be complaining.”
“We’re not!” Green.
“You have to admit that they’re hard to remember!” Bing took in a deep breath, trying not to flip out.
“A) You’re an android. You don’t need to worry about not being able to remember things. B) IS THIS REALLY THE TIME TO BE ARGUING?!”
That shut them up quick. He rarely yelled.
With a shift in movement he slung the bag onto his back and walked out of the trailer.
He didn’t want to hang around and get his clothes burned. Or worse, his wire casings melted from the heat.
Now how to trap Jack…
He grinned as a piece of beam splintered overhead from the strain of holding up the collapsing tent.
Perfect.
----------
Jack was just finishing up a couple of smaller projects he had to do when his nose ticked. What the-? He placed the scent. It was smoke. Shit. That wasn’t good.
He saw something out of the corner of his eye and turned. Nothing… he swore that had been a person. Maybe it was just the smoke getting to him.
Either way he had to help Mark get the others out of there.
He started to head towards the animals. He might even be able to find Anti along the way to be able to-
-CREEEEEEAK-
He froze. The beams. They were cracking. He had to hurry this up or one of them could-
There was a splintering sound and his left leg screamed in agony as the ground rose to meet him and his vision went dark.
-fall.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Mark looked around at the people gathered. “Where’s Jack?” Everyone else had made it out… even Sam and Tim.
Anti whirled around and walked back towards the inferno.
“Anti! What the hell are you-”
“I̶’̶l̸l̴ ̷b̷e̵ ̵f̴i̸n̷e̶!̸ ̸G̵e̸t̷ ̶t̵h̶e̶ ̸r̶e̸s̵t̶ ̶o̸f̴ ̵t̸h̵e̴s̶e̷ ̷g̸u̷y̴s̴ ̵o̸u̸t̶ ̵o̵f̸ ̴h̷e̵r̵e̵!̶”
He jumped through a line of fire and disappeared from sight.
-----------
Anti searched for Jack, occasionally stopping to put out the edges of his clothes.
“J̶A̸C̴K̴?̶”
He noticed that a part of the tent had collapsed. If he’d gotten caught in that-
He glitched over and searched the ground.
Then he saw the hand sticking out from under a partly-burned beam.
“J̶A̸C̵K̵!̵”
He set to work getting what he could off of Jack. He seemed fine, if a bit burned-
Except for the massive beam trapping his left leg. When he tried to shift it, Jack let out a somewhat-coherent groan.
“C̷’̸m̷o̶n̵…̷ ̴C̵’̸M̴O̶N̸!̶”
In what seemed to mostly be a sheer force of will the beam lifted enough to be off of Jack’s leg. Okay… what now?
Really the only thing he could do was throw it to the side. So, with a grunt of effort, he did. It fell in a shower of sparks. He grabbed onto Jack’s arm and hoisted him onto his back. He didn’t think he could glitch all the way out of the tent, with Jack being injured-
Jack awoke with a weak cough. “Anti?!”
“I̷n̴ ̷t̸h̷e̷ ̷f̵l̸e̷s̸h̴.̸” He hoisted Jack up and started to walk amongst the embers. Now to plot a path that wouldn’t hurt Jack any more…
“How did you-?”
“Now
that
is what I’d call a good question.”
Anti paused at the voice. “H̸e̷l̵l̷o̵ ̴B̶i̴n̸g̷.” The figure could be faintly seen through the flames. He could faintly hear more creaking overhead.
Could he teleport out of here? He hadn’t done it with an injured passenger before-
“Could you two just stay down and out of the way?”
“S̵o̷r̷r̵y̶,̷ ̸n̵o̸ ̵c̸a̸n̴ ̴d̶o̴.̶”
Even if he could teleport out, there was a high chance Bing would be able to get out before the whole thing collapsed on them. He’d managed to get in here, anyway.
So how to keep him from following?
The only warning he got was a yelp from Jack as another beam fell, this time narrowly missing Bing. So Jack tried to bargain while Anti tried to think.
“Bing, please! I don’t know what I did, but-”
“Shut up! Just shut up! You-” He darted forwards.
Anti reached up and pulled on a half-burned rope, dangling from the supports.
There was a crash, and Bing said no more.
Jack was silent.
“Why did you do that?”
“L̶e̸t̶’̵s̵ ̶g̵e̴t̷ ̷o̷u̶t̴ ̵o̴f̴ ̴h̴e̶r̶e̶.̵”
He took a chance and teleported out, just before the tent caved in.
----------
Anti was drinking coffee with Dark, watching the burning wreckage.
A fireman came over, holding… some twisted lump of metal.
“We managed to scavenge this out. You want it?”
He looked at the metal before a shape registered.
Then he nodded.
Dark raised an eyebrow at him but let it go.
Anti simply grinned and grabbed the twisted armature of metal, gesturing for Dark to follow as he walked towards where the others were sitting, blankets around their shoulders.
The main computer in the chest seemed to be intact, somehow.
He had something to give to the Googles.
“What is-”
“Bing?!”
Oliver rushed towards Anti, who silently handed over the armature. Oliver set the chasse on the ground and pried open the casing, giving a breathless cheer as it opened to show a pristine motherboard and circuitry. Bing’s heart and memories. All transmitting to the server.
“He survived?” Jackson said, completely in shock.
“Well damn. Good for him.” Aiden.
“Wait, wait, wait- he’s a robot?” Marvin was fiddling with his mask.
“Android, technically, but yes. We just have to build him a new casing and he should be as good as new.”
“It’ll take us a few months to get all of the parts and stuff, but yes.”
“Do you guys even sleep?”
“Nope.”
Mark just groaned into his hands.
“ARE NONE OF YOU NORMAL?!”
“No
.
”
“Not really.”
JJ looked up.
*I think normal is all a matter of opinion, isn’t it?*
The irish voice reverberated in their heads.
Mark’s groan sent a flock of seagulls flying away in the distance.
Anti smirked, not surprised in the least.
Normal wasn’t one thing in his vocabulary, that was for sure.
But it didn’t seem to be in theirs either.