Chapter 2: Anti and… Angus?
A week had gone by ever since the camping trip. Henrik managed to bring Angus to his cabin after that night, and kept his promise by having a movie and snack night with his son. Some of the other egos joined in, which Angus appreciated. Even so, that peaceful moment was short lived as Angus kept having those vivid dreams. All he could think about was that strange hospital and that creature he saw in the woods. They haunted his nightmares, to the point he was even afraid to close his eyes. He hardly got any sleep and though he was doing his best to keep it from the others, there were two figures that watched over him who were aware of what was going on.
"A-Angus, are you sure you're feeling okay?" A soft, angelic voice called out to him. Angus was currently sitting at the edge of his bed in his home. It was getting dark out and he was practically alone. The other egos were currently off having some fun, but he wanted to be home to attempt some more sleep. Even though he knew it was in vain. The moment Angus heard that voice, he looked around himself and saw two floating souls. One of which had small angel-like wings that looked similar to what Angus had on his back. The other one didn't have wings, but instead had a pointed tail. Both orbs were pure white, but they were complete opposites when you see them interact.
Angus took in a deep breath before sighing. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine… Posi" Even though he tried to reassure the angel, he seemed unsure himself. The positive half of the soul noticed this, manifesting into his more humanoid form. He kind of looked identical to what Angus looked like as Anti, though there were some noticeable differences. Mainly that fact that the top part of his hair was a calming green mixed with teal highlights. He had black scleras that held sparkling light blue eyes. He also had a stitched neck wound, which really separated them. Freckles dotted his face to made up for his lack of facial hair. His blue fluffy wings sprouted from his back as a halo that matched his eyes rested on his head. The outfit mostly consisted of different shades of blue, while he had black gauges in his ears.
When Posi appeared in his more human based form, he pouted as he stared at Angus. "Don't you lie to me, I know that's not true." He practically scolded Angus for not being honest with him.
Before Angus could object, the other floating soul, which was the negative half, manifested his appearance. He looked more closely to Angus's disguise, but again there were some differences. He had red eyes in black scleras with dark green hair that had red highlights. His ears were more pointy, unlike Posi, but held the same gauges. He had demonic features as well, such as curled red horns, crimson leather bat wings, a black pointed tail and even fangs. Unlike Posi, his neck wound was open and still bleeding. Aside from dark crimson boots, he wore all black. "The nightmares are affecting you a lot." Nega pointed out. "Ever since that camping trip-"
"I'm alright!" Angus cut him off while trying to stop their conversation. It wasn't doing them any good according to him. "I probably just… didn't eat well today o-or something. I don't know!"
Nega raised a brow to Angus, like a parent judging their child. "You already weren't eating well. Long before the trip."
As much as Angus wanted to object, he only sighed and sat back. "M-Maybe it just took a while to catch up to me!" He still tried to defend his actions.
There was a bit of silence between the three for a moment. Posi was the one to break it. "Angus…" He looked at him worriedly. He wanted to help him out but didn't know how.
"B-Besides, the nightmare doesn't b-bother me as much as… who I saw out in the woods…" Angus admitted, once again having mental images of that grinning demon out in the clearing as well as on the table.
"Y-Yeah, that was strange…" Posi admitted, shaking as he saw that creature as well in the forest with Angus. Yet for some reason, he wasn't as terrified of it like Angus had been. If anything… he was kind of curious.
"Jackie said he didn't see anything, though. Maybe it was some sort of hallucination, considering how unkempt you have been." Nega suggested.
"Nega, we saw it as well." Posi pointed out.
The devil soul sighed. "Yeah… that is true. It could have been a glitch."
"Mmnn… Maybe." Angus shrugged at the thought. After all, if Sean was able to be in this world despite his timeline not existing, who knows what else was brought here. Maybe Sean and that creature were connected in some way? Then again, he didn't seem like the type to want to team up with such a terrifying monster. Sean may have made some mistakes, but he doubt he would stoop that low. "But, I feel like there's so much more to it, though."
Posi gave a smile as he tried to be the optimistic one in the situation. "But! Even if someone is out there, they'd have to get through us first! We'll protect you, right Nega?"
The negative half nodded. "Yeah, we will. You have the other guys as well, remember? Anything happens, they'll help you out."
"Y-Yeah, I… I guess so." Angus still seemed hesitant, even with the reassurance.
"That's the spirit, Angus!" Posi beamed at him, being proud.
Angus sighed as he looked back over at his large bed. With it getting late, he may as well attempt to rest up a bit. "I-I guess I'll try to sleep, but I can't promise anything…" He told them.
Nega shrugged. "Hey, at least you're trying."
Angus looked back over at the positive half of his protective soul. "Mnnn… Posi, you're sure nothing's going to happen?"
"Of course! You could say I'm Posi-tive!" He smiled at Angus.
He snorted a bit, hearing that pun which did make him feel better. "Pfft…"
Nega smirked as he looked at the positive soul. "Good one, Toothpaste." Posi giggled at his remark.
Angus yawned, stretching his arms out before laying down on the mattress. "Anyways, I'm going to bed…"
"Night you loaf." Nega smiled at him as he and Posi sat at the end of the bed. They were planning on watching over Angus just in case he had another nightmare. The former hunter rolled his eyes at Nega's comment, turning over on the bed and closing them before starting to drift off to sleep.
Angus moaned as he opened his eyes, feeling the downpour of the rain hitting his body. He looked up to see that he was once again face to face with the glitched out, distorted building that was supposed to be a hospital. "Mmmnnn… this place again?" He sounded more annoyed than scared. Why was he coming back here? It wasn't like there was anything he could do. Even so, he headed inside to get out of the rain. It was just as bad as he remembered it. Flickering lights, the floor and walls missing certain chunks, and even though it looked empty he had the strange feeling he wasn't alone. "Let's just get this over with." He groaned, knowing what he had to do but dreaded it. He went to the hallway that had many of the doors locked, except for a break room. Once he went inside, he saw the secret passageway between a few vending machines. Angus walked down the stairs in a more dimly lit hallway to a sub level. He looked around once he was in the halls, expecting something.
"Okay… I'm here!" He called out to the void. "Show yourself so I can follow you and get through this nightmare." He stood there, near the stairs as he kept his eyes peeled for anything that would move. He was actually expecting one of those glitching figures to come down and begin to lead him on a wild goose chase. But the longer he stood there, he noticed that no one was around, which made him grow suspicious. "That's weird… there should have been someone here by now. Maybe they're somewhere else?" Begrudgingly, Angus started to make his way down the hallway, looking over some of the metallic doors. Not that any of them would open for him. He turned down a couple of corners, at least the ones that weren't blocked by debri. He noticed though that he was heading away from that room he went into last time. The one with the table and glass prison. "Okay… this is new…" He admitted.
Eventually he made it to the end of a hall, where there was a white elevator waiting for him. "Woah, I didn't see this before." He stared at the elevator, it seemed like it was actually working than the one on the ground level. The lights were shining on it, which meant it was operational. Angus figured this was where he had to go. He didn't like this new set up, but if this was the only way out of the nightmare, so be it. He headed over to it, trying to find the buttons to unlock it. But, there was no panel. "No buttons? How does this elevator operate?" He wondered. His eyes drifted over to what appeared to have been a small panel with a line slot, showing two bulbs, one of which was red the other was green. The red one was currently lit up. "Looks like I need a key of sorts. Hopefully it's around here somewhere…" Angus turned around, starting to look for what he needed. He wasn't sure what it was, but hopefully with how many locked doors there were, his search would be limited.
He wandered around the halls for a little bit, trying to open all the doors he could. Oddly enough, they wouldn't budge. It made sense, they appeared to have been a different type of door with sliding metal rather than the usual solid oak one with a golden knob. "Hey! I know you're there!" He called out as he looked around. "You know, you are the one that probably trapped me here! Least you can do is give me a hint to tell me where I'm going!" He shouted, believing that the one that usually led him down these halls was there, but didn't want to show themselves for whatever reason today. He grunted as he turned around, attempting to head back to the elevator and wait there. However, his eyes caught a figure in blue running down a corner just a few feet ahead of him. "Gotcha!" Angus smirked, hurrying over to where the figure ran off to. He turned around, cursing as he saw that they were nowhere in sight. "Fucking teleporting bastard…"
He went down the said corridor anyways, figuring that they wanted him to come here for some reason. Angus looked around, checking out the doors when he took notice of something off putting. One of the entrances to a room was opened up wide, meaning that Angus could enter. "Guess I should thank them for the hint." He admitted. Hopefully this wasn't a trap, so he cautiously went over, keeping his eyes on every corner possible just to be sure no one was going to jump him. It appeared that distorted figure was nowhere to be seen, so Angus took his chances and walked into the room.
Inside, he found himself in a strange area. There were a few tables that had certain items, such as microscopes, petri dishes, and some plants. Poster of various life forms from vegetation, to animals and even humans were plastered across the walls. "Well… this is the most lively room I've seen since I've been here." Angus had to give credit for that. He began to search around, hoping to find what he needed to get him to that elevator. On a desk that held a computer, he saw two things. The first thing was what appeared to have been a strange plastic card, looking like a credit card, but it had a strange logo on it. Angus recognized it as a purple iris. "This looks like something that would fit in that slot near the elevator!" He realized. Picking it up, he believed he came here for what he needed. That was, until he noticed that next to the key card, there was an audio tape. "One of these things again?" He remembered seeing one on the table in the break room when he first got here. It left him with some questions about a vessel and core, but… perhaps this one would spread a bit more light on that? Couldn't hurt to give it a listen, at least. Angus pressed the button and waited for the voice to speak.
This time, the voice was not from a gruff male, but rather a more calmer guy with a bit of an accent. "Everytime I turn around, there's more work to be done. Once again, the higher ups are just using me to ensure that their project is finished. They came to me because they wanted me to create a new vessel for the core due to the fact that the last one failed. Did it ever occur to them that perhaps the reason why it didn't work was because they constantly rush me and always look for something different! It isn't my fault that this core of there's doesn't become compatible with my work! If they actually told me what they wanted, I would be happy to obliged. But they have kept me in the dark about their true project for so long now, even though I have been the one helping out! You'd think they would even be kind enough to give me back the bodies I created. Instead, they take them away. Say that they want to keep them to be reminded of their failures. I don't know what they did with them at this point, all I know is I'll probably never find them."
Once the audio log ended, Angus blinked as he tried to piece it all together. "Vessel? Wait… was this the guy who made this 'vessel' the other scientist wanted?" Angus suddenly realized. What was the name of that guy they gave this tasked to? Doctor… Nate or something? He felt like he should know it, but for some reason it slipped his mind. "What the hell were they making?" Angus could only ask. He decided to leave that room before something else could happen. Hopefully this key card was what he needed. He walked back over to where the elevator was, sliding the small card down the slot. The panel light turned from red to green, and the shaft doors opened. "Look at that. Progress!" Angus actually smiled as he walked inside of the elevator. Though when he tried to hit a floor, there were no buttons either. He was about to become frustrated again, but the doors closed and he felt the elevator going down. Angus held onto the railings, taking deep breaths as he tried to mentally prepare himself for what would happen once he reached the destination.
Once the machine stopped, the doors slowly opened to reveal a new room to the glitched hunter. Angus slowly peeked out, looking around for any life that would try to attack him. So far, there was no one, so he stepped out. He looked in to see what this room held. It was much bigger, with many more equipment. The room had some steps that went to the lower level of the center. The higher levels had large desks and panels with many buttons, switches, levers and monitors. Chairs were scattered to push up against the desks, while in the center of the crater in the room was a large glass box that had lights on the floor. "This… room." Angus took a step inside, looking around to get a feel of this area. It was an improvement from the room he saw back then, but there was still something off about this one.
As he was at the last step of the indented room, he looked to one of the tables and saw another tape recorder resting on the surface. Again, he was compelled to play it in the hopes to figure out more of what this world was about. The moment he pressed the button, he was greeted by that familiar gruff voice. "October 10th, 2013. Project Core day 1,063. Dr. Nathaniel was able to create a new vessel to house the core in. He ended up using some new animal DNA to infuse into the body. A bit questionable, but so far the vessel seems to be holding the core without any issues. It appears we now have a stable host that will be able to hold the power, though it's still too early to determine. Even if it can hold the core with no problems, we still have to get the vessel to unleash the power before we can begin the final test. One thing to note though, due to the DNA Dr. Nathaniel had put in, it appears that the vessel is capable of becoming… aggressive shall we say. If provoked or startled, or if the negative energy is greater than the positive one, then the vessel will go into a state where it will act like a feral animal. It will attack anything in its path if it feels they are a threat. We are currently creating procedures to try to handle this state. In the meantime, the vessel is to be kept under containment and ensure that it has handicaps to keep it grounded."
"Talking about this vessel again… just what were these people doing?" Angus questioned as he listened to the audio log. "This is starting to sound like a horror sci-fi movie gone wrong!" He shuddered as he was still in the dark about this place and what the people here were trying to accomplish. He didn't have much time to think though, as he suddenly heard a large thud right next to him. "Fuck!" He jumped as he turned around, seeing the large glass box and what was inside. His eyes went wide, once again being face to face with the half-faced, perma-grinning creature that he saw twice before. "I-It's that thing again!" Angus backed away from the glass. "How did it- wait…" He lost himself in his thoughts as he looked closer at the creature inside. It pressed its hands against the glass, pawing at the prison as if it were trying to get out. The closer he looked, he noticed that out of the one eye socket that was visible was leaking green tears. That grin was also changed to a frown and the creature sounded like it was… whining?
"Is it… crying?" Angus wondered as he took a cautious step forward. He figured since there was a barrier separating the two, he should be fine. Upon closer inspection, it seemed that the creature was indeed sobbing as it shook while looking up at Angus. He still had no idea what it was though, but at the moment it didn't appear to be hostile. "Uh… hello?" Angus tried to engage in conversation, wondering if it could even speak.
"SXQgaHVydHMsIGdpdmUgaXQgYmFjawo!" Once again, it spoke in that strange language. It sounded like code, but Angus could not understand it. Even so, as it spoke it kept letting the tears roll down while it's hands slid on the glass.
"W-what? I-I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're saying. What are-"
Angus was caught off as the creature raised up a hand, pointing behind the other. "UGxlYXNlLCBmcmVlIG1l." The former hunter looked behind him, seeing a panel with a large red button that said 'Emergency release'.
He looked between the button and to the creature in the cage, but it didn't take long to put the pieces together. "Do you… want me to free you?" The creature nodded, still shaking as it looked terrified. Angus turned back to the button, believing that pressing it would help to release the creature trapped inside. He slowly walked over to it, staring at the red button only to hesitate as he thought to himself. "Hold on…" He looked back over at the strange glitching mess in the chamber. "How do I know it won't attack me the moment I set it free? For all I know, this could be a trap!" As he wondered that, he still could see how upset it was, holding onto the glass as it fell to its knees. Angus jumped as he saw the strange abomination in such a state. "Hmmm… then again, it doesn't seem to be angry or violent. It just seems like it wants to be freed. It could have attacked me or followed me back to camp in the forest, but it didn't. Maybe it's just as cautious as I am?" It was a huge gamble, but on the other hand perhaps freeing this monster was what he was supposed to do. And even if it tried anything, he could always run. This beast didn't seem to have been very fast.
It was a lot of thinking and hesitation on Angus's part, but eventually his hand pressed up against the button, pushing it into the panel. He watched as the glass suddenly revealed a double door outline where the creature was. Those hidden doors swung outwards, giving the one inside an opening. It picked itself up, still shaking somewhat. As it stood up, the glitching mess placed one foot in front of the other, before it began to walk out and managed to finally escape the prison it was confined in. "Okay, you're free…" Angus told the strange figure while being close to the wall. "So… can you let me out of this dream now or tell me how to get out?"
The creature still approached, holding onto its chest as it shook. "Give… back…"
Angus jumped, looking directly at the figure as it approached him. "W-what? What did you say?"
"My… back… soul… give…" It was speaking in gibberish, but at least it was English now. Angus could understand what it was saying, but didn't understand the meaning.
"Y-you're what? What are you-" The former hunter gasped, as he suddenly felt his shirt being grabbed from the front. When he looked up, he gazed up into the face of horror. Seeing the distorted face, with that wide smirk and bullseye pupil. Seeing it up close made it all the more unsettling. His fears began to rise as he felt how tight the grip was. There was no chance of him escaping this!
"It hurts… give back… my soul!" It demanded, starting to sound a bit angry now as it stared down Angus.
"Hhhhhh…. Y-your soul… what are you-" Angus shook as he spoke, holding onto the hand that kept him in the monster's grip. Was he… going to die in this dream?
"I…Am...Hollow…"
"H-Hollow? W-What does t-that mean? I-I don't - Aaaaghh!" Angus gasped, suddenly he felt a pain radiate from his chest. He looked down, seeing that the free hand of the creature had inserted itself into Angus's chest. He felt blood trickle down his mouth as the pressure began to increase. All he could do was look up into the creature's eye, seeing the tears still cascading as his body was shaking from the impact. "H-HHhghhh! S-S-Stop- Ggggh!" Angus tried to speak, but his blood was caught in his throat. "W-Wha… W-What's h-haa-happen...ing?" He began to lose strength, feeling his energy being pulled out of him. Eventually, he closed his eyes as he felt his body hit the ground.
"You had no right to destroy our world!"
"What the fuck?!" Nega called out as Angus could only see blackness.
"Angus?!" Posi sounded nervous. "Oh no… Angus! Are you okay!?"
"Holy shit - Ohhhh this is bad…" Nega noted in concern.
" Oh, no no no no no! Wake up, Angus! Please! Angus!" Posi begged.
"U-Uuggghhh…" Angus groaned as he started to open his eyes, his head was throbbing and his chest felt heavy. It took him a while for his vision to be adjusted, but he managed to see both the angel and devil souls that protected him leaning over him. They both were staring at Angus, perplexity written on their faces with a mix of fear.
"A-Ah! Nega… he's…" Posi trailed off, as his eyes went wide while keeping them on Angus.
"Mnnngh… G-Guys? What…?" Angus felt sick, though he wasn't sure why. His back arched as he laid on solid ground instead of a comfy mattress. He probably fell off the bed.
"Angus!" Nega gasped, seeing that his host was alright. "Are you with us, mate?!"
"Nnngh… Nega? Posi?" Why were they so concerned all of a sudden? It was like they saw a ghost.
"Oh Angus! Thank goodness you're awake!" Posi said in relief, though it was short lived as he continued to explain. "Look, we don't know what happened! One minute we were sitting here, watching over you. Then all of a sudden, you-"
"S-Slow down you two." Angus begged, too many things were happening all at once that he couldn't keep up. "I just…" He paused, taking a moment to listen to his own voice. It… didn't sound distorted like it usually is when he's Anti. "W-Wait… my voice, why does it…?" He placed one hand to his throat, rubbing it. It felt fine so why did he sound different? He took the hand holding his throat away from him, jumping a bit as he looked over his fingers. Was he wearing… gloves? And his skin… it looked paler? He brought his other hand up to see that it matched. No… it couldn't be!
"Ah! Angus, wait!" Posi called after him, but the former hunter stood up and rushed over into the bathroom. He shut the door behind him, stumbling as he reached the sink. He nearly fell onto it, but managed to steady himself. He felt so disoriented, dizzy, nauseous, confused, nervous, panicked, all of these feelings made him want to throw up but he held back. He took in a few deep breaths, trying to prepare himself for the worst. He slowly lifted his head, taking in his reflection in the mirror
Sure enough, there he was: Angus Irwin, the Survival Hunter. He no longer had the physical appearance of his persona, Anti. His brown fluffy hair separated him from all the other egos, with his emerald green eyes. He had on his brown vest and tan undershirt along with his cargo pants. He had on his gear from before as well. The scleras were no longer black, but fully white. He couldn't believe it… he was himself again! The most noticeable difference was that he had a scar on his eye and behind him were glowing, fluffy wings that matched his pupils. Other than that, he looked the same as he did before he was forgotten. "M-My body…" Angus gasped. He didn't know how to process any of this. It felt like a dream, or maybe it was! Maybe he was still dreaming. The Hunter reached up to his face, rubbing his cheek for a moment. In a test, he pulled on the skin to give himself some pain. He winced, but nothing else happened. He was not dreaming. "I-I'm… T-The hell happened?!" He had so many questions, but not a lot of answers. Whatever happened in his dream had to have caused this, right?!
"Uh… guys… we have another problem." Nega called out to both Posi and Angus.
The Hunter quickly pulled himself together as he heard Nega's voice. Now what else could go wrong? He opened the door to the bathroom, heading back out to his bedroom to see the two of them staring at a certain spot of the cabin. "What's going on?" He asked. He followed their gaze, and when he did he got his answer.
Laying on the floor between where the kitchen and living room were, a familiar creature stood up as it looked around with only one eye. It's green, serpentine tail flicked around as it used only half of it's non-glitching face to look at its surroundings. It was panting and shaking as the eye scanned the area. Posi's expression was one of honest-to-goodness shock. Nega seemed confused as he watched to see what the creature would do. Angus backed up slightly, seeing the creature that was from his nightmares materialize in the flesh. "W-What the…?!"
"Hhhh!" The creature looked as it stayed where it was. Clearly it was trying to figure out where it ended up and whether this place was safe or not.
"I-it's that thing from before…" Nega realized as he stared.
"H-How…?" Posi questioned.
The creature panted, shaking in fright. Angus kept a distance and watched. He rubbed his eyes, at the moment the Hunter was confused beyond belief. Not only was he no longer Anti, now he brought this monster from his nightmares into his home? Wait… did that thing do this to him? Was it the reason he looked like his old self again? But what did it do to him to turn him back?!
Eventually, the creature was able to take a look at Angus and the other two beings. It gasped as it's one eye looked directly at Angus. Suddenly, it began to tremble, backing up to the wall. Posi was the first one to notice this. "He… looks so scared…" The angel referred to the creature by gender.
"N-N-No…" He spoke in a hushed whisper.
Nega jumped at that. "And he can talk too…"
Angus tried going over to the figure, wanting to get some answers. "How did you get here? What did you do to me?!" He demanded to know the truth. He had a feeling whatever this thing was, he was responsible for what happened to him.
The creature's one bullseye pupil shrunk in the black socket, as he looked over at Angus. The loud tone, and those hateful eyes. "N-Not again!" He screamed as the tears ran down his eyeball. The Hunter was actually confused. Not again? What did it mean by-. Angus didn't have time to finish his thoughts as the strange figure looked behind and saw a window. It took the chances and ran over, jumping out the exit and shattering it.
"What the hell?!" Angus did not expect that. He tried to run over to the window, but was not used to the height or body, so he just stumbled a bit and looked at the broken glass. "Shit! It's escaped!"
"That thing was from the forest a week ago!" Nega pointed out.
"And in my nightmares…" Angus added a bit disgruntled.
Posi shook as he turned to the Hunter. "You don't think… he was the reason you became like this?"
Angus hummed… it was the only logical conclusion he could make. He was certain that the glitching figure was the cause of his nightmares and the reason behind him becoming the Hunter again. "We have to find it! If it gets loose in the Mindscape, who knows what kind of trouble it will cause. Especially to the others!"
"But Angus…" Posi didn't think it was safe for him to go after the figure alone. Especially with how different he looked and… another factor.
"I'll worry about my looks later, if it comes into contact with the others, who knows what it will do." Angus seemed set on his decision. He picked himself up, steadying himself and sighing.
"You sure you'll be okay?" Nega asked.
"Yeah… just give me a minute. Not used to being this height… I think I might have shrunk." He admitted. Thankfully, he was able to get his footing down and started to slowly walk, making sure to use the wall as support at first. He mastered the walk cycle in no time, which meant he could finally go track down that beast. He headed out of his cabin, looking around the perimeter to try and locate any trace of it. He managed to find the window that it had broken out of. Beneath the square were shattered pieces of glass as well as a trail of blood.
"Oh dear… he must have gotten hurt when he busted through the window." Posi realized, looking down at the crimson puddles.
"If that's the case, then it probably won't get far with those wounds." Angus noted. "And we have a trail that will lead us to that creature." He was dead set, like a predator following its prey he followed the trail into the forest. Angus still remained on guard, he didn't know what this creature was capable of now that it had escaped the confinements of where it had been. After all, if it could change his physical appearance back to his former self, then it could hold more power than Angus thought. They walked through the woods, keeping an eye on the ground to follow the splatters of red droplets. The metallic smell was fresh in Angus's nose, the scent was getting stronger as they got closer.
Angus, Nega and Posi stopped as they saw that the trail ended at a tree. The Hunter looked up, seeing a ladder that was attached to the bark as it led to a small hut inside the branches and leaves. "A treehouse?" Strange, he didn't remember this thing in his side of the Mindscape.
Posi gasped as he looked up at the house. "I know this treehouse!" Angus and Nega turned to face the angel for a clearer answer. "This was the treehouse that Sean and the others looked into to try and find Marvin! They found part of a bridge that helped to get to the magician!"
"So… this was in Marvin's territory?" Angus raised a brow. If that was true, then why would it be here?
"It must have gone up there to try to escape." Nega stated as he looked up to the wooden house. Angus grunted at that statement. He would focus on the whys and hows later, for now he had a creature to apprehend. He climbed up the ladder, growling as he was prepared to face that beast head on. When he managed to get to the top, he walked inside and got a better look of the place. It wasn't a big tree house, but there were a few things. A large couch with some chairs, some bookshelves with reading material and even a desk. But Angus's eyes landed on what he was really after. There, cowering in the corner was the said glitched out creature, looking over its arms which had some cuts and glass still stuck in the skin.
"There you are!" Angus declared. The moment the beast heard that, he whimpered and stayed in the corner, shaking and crying. "Now, you are going to tell me what you did you… you…" Angus trailed off as he now noticed how visibly upset the monster was.
"Hhhhh…. Mnnnnnn…. Hggggggghhhh…" The creature started to cry green tears from the one eye again as it just stared up at Angus in pure horror. Why was it so scared? It clearly had the power to kill Angus back in the dream world, so what made it so afraid?
"I don't think it wants to talk…" Nega pointed out as he seemed indifferent about the creature.
"Well, we have to get it to." Angus declared.
"Alright then, do your thing." Nega told the Hunter.
"What are you talking about?"
"You're a survival hunter… tame it!"
Angus stared at the devil in disbelief. "I hardly ever tamed anything. Besides, I don't even know what this creature is. I've never seen anything like it."
"Well then what do you propose we should do?" Nega questioned.
"Enough you two!" Posi pouted as he looked at them. Angus and Nega jumped as they saw the angel looking at them judgmentally. "Can't you see he's in pain!? He's probably upset because he's in a new world and knows nothing about it. And don't call him an it!"
"P-Posi…?" Angus was taken aback by the fact the angel was defending this creature. Even though it… he was the cause of Angus turning back to his former self, Posi was clearly seeing no one at fault here.
The angel walked over to the creature, as he jumped when the angel approached. "Hey, it's okay…" Posi assured in a gentle tone. He sat on his knees as he was only a few feet away from the glitching figure. "Don't worry, I won't let those two meanies get to you. We don't want to hurt you… we just want some answers. But you should feel better before we talk… okay?"
"Hhhhhhgh… hhhhhhh… hmmmmmm…." Again, he made those strange noises of distress. But they seemed to have faded as he breathed deeply.
"There, is that better?" Posi asked. The creature nodded slowly. "See? We're not gonna hurt you." The angel assured. The creature panted more slowly, his tail lowered as he seemed to have let his guard down. Angus and Nega watched as the positive half was calming down the figure. What was mostly surprising to Angus though was the fact that not only could he see Posi, but the creature can talk to him as well? How was that possible? Only Angus had the power to see and talk with Nega and Posi. Was it another ability this creature had? "Can I see your arms?" Posi asked. The creature held them closer to his chest, shaking once more. "Don't be afraid… I just want to try and heal them. Please?" He begged.
With slight hesitation, the creature held out his arms and Posi gently looked them over. Sure enough, there were some bleeding cuts with glass in the skin still. "It hurts… doesn't it?" He nodded, whimpering in more pain. "Don't worry, I'll heal them for you. Sit still for me okay? I'll try not to make it hurt…" He promised. The glitch sighed, allowing the Angel to do the work. Posi used his ice and light powers to slowly remove the glass that was lodged inside, all the while closing up the cuts. Once that was done, he slowly took his arms away, examining how they looked. "Is that better?" Posi asked.
The Glitch looked down a moment, fiddling with his fingers before looking back up at the angel. "Y...yes…" He whispered in a horased tone.
Posi smiled at him. "You were scared, weren't you?"
The Glitch looked over at Angus, which made the Hunter blink. He once again trembled as he hid behind Posi. "D-Don't… let him hurt me again… I don't have anything left for him!"
"Hey, hey…" Posi reached over and gently held the figure in his arms, petting his head as he hushed him. "It's okay… I know he looks scary, but you have my word I won't let him hurt you. But you have to talk with us and try to answer some questions. Is that fair?"
Again, the creature seemed hesitant to give an answer. But at the same time, the gentle and cool touches Posi gave to him somehow was enough to convince him. The creature began to purr gently, embracing the touch. "Familiar…" He said with a half lidded eye. "This feels… familiar…" One thing was for sure, he appeared more blissful as he laid against Posi's chest. Angus and Nega watched in awe as the positive half of the protective soul managed to relax the creature.
Angus took a moment to step forward, which instantly made the creature jump. The Hunter stopped, looking at the glitching figure. "Uh…. l-look…" Angus sighed. If he was going to get anywhere with this… him, then he had to play the peaceful approach. Show that he was no threat to try and keep the other at ease. "I am… really confused about all of this." He admitted. "I have so many questions and I don't understand any of this so…" Angus rubbed his temple as he tried to get his head to stop spinning. "Look, how about we start off… with simple introductions?"
The creature blinked in surprise, still a bit on edge but gave a nod. At least he was letting Angus speak. "Okay," the Hunter took a breath. "I'm Angus Irwin… the Survival Hunter. The one that's holding you is Posi and this is Nega…" Angus introduced. Nega gave a wave but remained silent. "And… you are?"
The strange beast stood up, sitting on his knees as he adjusted his posture. "Ah… ah…" He breathed a bit, doing his best to answer in his glitched out state. "A-Anti…"
Upon hearing that, Angus's whole face turned pale as he felt his body freeze. "Wh...what? What did you say your name was?"
The creature pointed to himself as he spoke clearly. "M-my name is Anti…" Angus took a step back as he uttered that name. No… no that couldn't be possible! He was not the only one who seemed shocked by the revelation. Nega stared at the one called 'Anti' as well, having the same expression as Angus. Posi kept his eyes on the Glitch, wide pupils but at the same time he seemed more understanding.
"That… explains the connection…" The angel realized.
Anti was confused, looking between Posi and then to Angus. The Hunter looked between the two souls, the ones he stole from the real Anti… this Anti! But, how was this possible? "Oh shit… oh fuck fuck fuck!" Angus held his head as he leaned against the wall, sliding down as he sat on the floor. This explained everything! "No… this can't be right! I mean… I knew I took the Anti soul but… I mean…"
When Anti heard that, he stood up suddenly and pointed at Angus. "So you DID take my soul!" Anti cried out as the tears came back into his one eye. "You thief! You stole my soul! You took my life and turned me into this!" He gestured to his glitching state. All the while, he bared his teeth as his hands turned more into claws. Angus noticed this, slightly flinching. Crap, was Anti about to attack the Hunter out of rage?
Posi got in between the two, trying to settle the situation. "Wait, please! Anti, I know you are upset, but let us explain!" The Angel begged.
"He took away my soul!" Anti growled, eyeing Angus as his tail raised up in defense. Angus stood on his legs, glaring at the Glitch as he took out his sword. He was ready for a fight if he had to defend himself.
"Stop it!" Posi declared, setting his hands on the floor of the treehouse and summoning a wall of ice between the Hunter and the Glitch. They jumped back as they saw the barrier stand between them. The two turned back to look at the Angel, who seemed slightly pissed. Even Nega was taken aback. He'd never seen the positive half get so defensive, usually that was his job.
"Posi…" Angus was about to speak but when he saw how cold the Angel looked at him, he was silent.
Posi sighed, letting the ice melt as he looked between them. "I know that the tension between you two is high… and I am sure there have been some mistakes made. But fighting is not going to do either of you any good. Anti…" He looked over at the Glitch. "I'm begging you, hear us out. If not for Angus… then for me? The one half of your soul?"
Anti jumped at Posi's request, especially after hearing the title he gave himself. "W-Wait… you mean… you two are…" He trailed off, looking between Nega and Posi in confusion while clutching onto the hole in his chest. The one Angus now noticed.
Nega soon approached the Glitch as he sighed. "Look, hear Angus out. Let him tell you his side of the story, and then we can hear yours? I mean… he did free you from that prison and brought you here. Don't you think you could at least know why he did what he did?"
Anti turned back to Angus, the two were still a bit hostile towards one another. Even so, Anti wanted to know why Angus took his soul. And maybe if he played his cards right, he could get it back. The Glitch gave a nod, letting the Hunter explain. Angus took in a deep breath as he put his weapon away. "I used to be part of a series on YouTube… wait, do I have to explain what that is?" He realized, wondering how much information that Anti actually knew.
"Just tell me…" Anti sounded annoyed, he wanted to get to the main reason. As confused as he was sure he'd be with certain references, he would ask about them later.
"Right… okay, I'm what people call an ego. Basically I was created by someone who used me to be part of a sketch or video to upload online for others to see. My creator, Sean, who many people called Jacksepticeye, used me to be part of a series called 'The Survival Hunter'. I was created from those videos and the Mindscape was born, this whole place. It's a realm where the other Ego's and a few other characters either from Jack's videos or other characters live here."
"Egos?" Anti raised a brow. "Oh… I know of that stuff. Kind of. All I know is that there are two types of Egos. The canon ones, which were created by the creator himself. And the fan-made ones, by the community."
"So you do know about that stuff." Angus admitted that he was surprised. "Alright, that should make things easier… Anyways, the thing about us Egos is that if we don't get enough attention from either Sean, the community or both… eventually we… die." He said the last word a bit bitterly, looking at the ground. He still felt the bile rise in his mouth as he remembered the fate he went through. Angus sighed, needing to get back on track as he went on to tell the story. "My world was crumbling, and my body began to get physically wounded. Eventually, I could feel my soul breaking apart. I would have died if I didn't do something. So… in a desperate attempt to save myself… I ended up taking something to help keep my soul stable."
Anti once again clutched onto his chest, where that hole was. "My soul…" He noted as he bit his lip.
Angus stepped forward, a bit of guilt written on his face. "At the time, the community was creating you! So I ended up taking that as an opportunity to save myself. But I thought you were just forming! I didn't know you already had a physical body at that point or was fully living! And when I took your soul, I was given your form, but… I lost any memory of who I used to be. The only thing I knew was the name Anti… so I went with it."
The real Anti glare at Angus, though it wasn't as hateful as he tried to make it look. "Anti…" Angus spoke more. "I'm sorry for what I did! I admit, it was out of selfishness and I wasn't thinking of the consequences. All I cared about was survival… but I swear if I had known you were already a fully formed ego, I would have hesitated! I would never kill someone else for my sake! If I had known, I would have tried to make it up to you! I know I may have ruined your life and put you in such a bad state, but it wasn't on purpose or because of any bad intentions!"
Nega and Posi listened to what Angus had to say. All the while the Glitch had his ears down as he looked to the floor. He seemed much more calmer and even… somber like. "Anti… believe me, I've been with Angus for a good while now. And he means every word." Nega tried to vouch for the Hunter. "You can't blame him for his actions…"
Anti sighed, as his tail slowly wagged on the floor. "...I get it…" He finally admits. They all looked at him while he turned away from their gazes. "I don't forgive you for what you did to me… but I understand why you did what you had to. You wanted to live and you did what was convenient. I would have done the same if I was in your position." He admits. Angus had to be honest, he was not expecting that result. He didn't blame Anti for not fully forgiving him, but he also was surprised that he could sympathize with his reasonings. It went way better than Angus thought. Anti approached Angus as he then held out his hand, the tears formed in his eyes again. "Please…" He started to beg. "Please give them back… Please give me back the halves of my soul! I've been hurting without them for so long, and this corrupted state I'm in has only gotten worse! If you hand them back, I swear I'll leave you alone and never bother you again. I just… I want to be me again!"
"Oh Anti…" Posi could see how desperate the Glitch was. If he could, he would go back right there to the young child. But…
"I…" Angus also wanted to do the same, yet something held him back. "I… I can't. I'm sorry." He turned away, clenching his fists.
Anti cried out, almost sounded enraged. "Why not! You're alive now, aren't you! Why do you still keep them when they aren't even yours?!"
"Anti… it isn't that easy…" Posi sighed as he was close to the Glitch. "He was looking for someone or something to help stabilize his soul, it's not in a good state even now. If we leave him now, his soul will break and… if the soul breaks he will die."
Anti gasped, looking back over at Angus. The Hunter nodded slowly, confirming Posi's answer. "If I could give them to you now, I would. But if I do… I will die."
"And not even you would stoop so low as to kill someone for that." Nega pointed out.
Anti's tail went down with his ears flattened. Nega was right, even if he wanted his souls back, to kill someone in the process would be something he couldn't do. The tears kept falling down Anti's face as he fell to his knees. The young child shook as he held himself. "So… I'm really just going to stay like this? I'll forever be in this state until… until…"
Angus watched Anti fall to the ground, he looked like he was having a breakdown, and it made the guilt in Angus rise. "Dammit… Why couldn't we just fight?" At this point, he would have preferred a death match than this, because he wouldn't feel so guilty. He didn't want to die, he was getting used to being with the others and finally making better connections with them. Even so… he didn't want to be the reason why an innocent child died.
"Angus… we can't leave him like this." Posi declared, staying by Anti's side.
"Well… what do you propose we do?" Angus questioned.
Nega looked over at the Hunter. "Why don't we ask Henrik?" He suggested.
Posi and Angus gasped while Anti stared at the group in confusion. Angus seemed a bit hesitant, though Posi smiled at Nega. "Good idea, Neggy! If there's anyone that can help, it's him!"
"Hen...rik?" Anti tilted his head as he heard that name.
The Angel looked at his former host and smiled. "He's a doctor here in the Mindscape. He helped Angus with his soul awhile back. If there's anyone that can help you two, it's him!"
Angus looked down at the ground, biting his lip as he seemed very reluctant on the idea. "You guys… hold on…" He tried to stop them. If they went to Henrik, that would mean he would have to reveal himself as the Hunter now instead of Anti.
The devil raised a brow towards the brown-haired man. "Angus, we have to do something! We can't just leave you two here like this! The only option we have at this point is that we either stay with you and leave Anti to be corrupted for life. Or we go back to him but kill you in the process. Either way, one of you is going to die." Nega eased up on his glare as he tried to be reasonable with his words. "You both have suffered a lot, and the last thing either of you want to do is hurt each other. If there's a way where the both of you can come out happy, we should take it."
"I-I know that but…" The Hunter looked down to see his hands, which were covered in fingerless gloves. He sighed, being reminded of who he was once again. "None of them will know who I am now… expect for…" He trailed off. They never knew Angus Irwin, they only ever knew Anti. The Antisepticeye that he had been pretending to be for so long. What would their reactions be when they see him like this? How will they react when they find out what he did to the real Anti? What would the other ego's make of this situation? And his father? And… his sunflower. His eyes casted over to where Anti was, seeing him sitting there as he was still weeping. Just seeing that distorted yet pained face made Angus all the more aware that they couldn't leave things like this. With both of them in such a state, they would be in more pain if they didn't get help right away. Plus, everyone would find out eventually. "Haaahhh…." He rubbed the back of his hair. "Alright." He finally gave in.
Nega and Posi smiled over at Angus, glad that he was starting to see things their way. The Hunter walked over to Anti and knelt down. The Glitch jumped and backed away, but Angus kept himself steady. "Anti… I'm going to need you to come with me. If we're going to figure out how to help you, then we'll need Henrik to see you as well."
Anti backed up, his tail raised as he glared at Angus. "N-No way! I don't trust you! Taking me to a doctor! After you took my soul and made me this way… I bet you're just planning on using me!" He was still defensive, though Angus didn't fully blame him. He did question why he didn't want to go to a doctor though, but put that question aside. The older man reached up, placing a hand gently on Anti's fluffy hair. This caught the Glitch off guard, as he believed Angus was going to smack him, which made him flinch. But when he felt the fingers tangle in his locks, he just stared up at the Hunter in confusion.
"I know you don't fully trust me, and I don't blame you." Angus reassured him. "If I were in your position, I would act the same way as well. But you have my word, I'm not going to let you fade or be corrupted anymore. If there is a way for the both of us to make it, then we should take it. I'm not asking for loyalty or friendship… I'm asking that you let me try to fix what I did. Please, let me make it up to you. Okay, Anti?"
Anti stared into Angus's green pupils, showing how sincere he was in his wording. It had been far too long since someone used such kindness and a gentle demeter to him. The Glitch sniffled as he wiped his eye from the tears. He shuddered still, but gave a small nod up to Angus. The Hunter smiled, picking up Anti so he stood up on his feet.
"So it's settled! Let's go find Henrik!" Posi declared.
"I think Dad's with the others over at Bing's place tonight." Angus said.
"Oh yeah, it's weed night, isn't it?" Nega question. Angus nodded.
Posi gasped as he heard that. "The Devil's lettuce!"
Nega glanced over at Posi with an unamused expression. "Are you trying to offend me?"
Angus rolled his eyes as the two bickered like an old married couple. He looked back to see Anti was close by him, but kept at least a foot apart. "Bing's place isn't too far from here, but you'll have to stay by me. Last thing we need is you getting lost."
"O-okay…" Anti didn't object. He walked with Angus as they began to head out of the treehouse to make their way to their destination. Along the way, Angus would need to figure out how to explain this mess to everyone else.