Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay with this chapter, I could never get it quite right: and I refused to upload it without being happy with the final result. Hope the wait is worth it!

This chapter is pretty dialogue heavy, which I apologise for, but it is a necessary step.

Just a small note for everyone, as I have been getting PM's after the last chapter: Alix is going to feature quite heavily, but she is not a main character in this story. She is a supporting character, and NO, she is not going to be a romance option for any of Mark/Jack/Matt, as some of you have asked. Think of her purely as a plot device. And a piece of this grand puzzle.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything relating to Markiplier, JackSepticEye or Matthias/Hi5 Universe. If you wish to use anything relating to my own universe, please ask first.

Enjoy!

Chapter 6: Madness Is Never Far

The pair stared at Alix in disbelief. Jack had no idea where to even begin after that statement; it was Matt who first managed to form his thoughts into a coherent sentence. "What do you mean, you were left here on purpose?" he asked slowly.

Alix sighed sadly and leaned against a table, giving both Matt and Jack a distant stare. "We were all thrilled with the progress of the Dreamscape, it had been coming together better than any of our greatest hopes. All our simulations had been running flawlessly for weeks when we made the call to send someone inside. As lead developer, I volunteered. I was excited to see the world we had made! Glaysha was the most complete of all our projects, so we decided upon that."

Jack looked at her in confusion. "Glaysha? Is that what this place is called?"

She nodded back at him. "Everything went great. The simulation ran perfectly, I had no programming issues whatsoever. The NPC's were all working as intended, the landscape rendered with no issues and the tasks generated as programmed. When it came time for me to use the exit portal however it just…broke. I couldn't touch or interact with it in any way. I tried for about a day at various locations before I started looking through the game code to see what was wrong." Her face morphed, expressing a mix of sadness and anger. "I developed the exit system myself, I knew every line of code that went in to making sure any player could escape. So…imagine my shock when I went in to find out what was wrong, only to find that all of the code was gone. Not even a trace of it remained. To delete all of that, without destabilising the rest of the simulation…it had to be planned."

Matt's face relayed his concern. "Are you sure it was that way before you entered the Dreamscape? I really don't like the idea of someone trying to…"

Alix chuckled darkly. "Trying to kill me, you mean? Yeah, it disturbed me as well, it took weeks to get my head around that idea myself. I personally checked everything before I jumped in, I know that code was intact. For it to have changed after so little time…can either of you come to any other conclusion?" Matt and Jack both shared a look, hoping the other might have some idea, but the silence spoke volumes. Alix understood all too well, she'd been there and come to terms with the knowledge. "This does beg an interesting question, however. Why did Damien invite the two of you here? Or-" She suddenly stopped herself, something just occurring to her. "Please tell me there isn't anyone else in here with you two."

"I wish that were true. There's one other person in with us, but we haven't been able to find Mark anywhere."

A groan escaped Alix as she closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. "Please don't tell me you mean Markiplier?" The pair nodded. "Fuck, with his luck he's going to be right in the heart of trouble."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Speaking of which, Alix, how do you know who we are? Are you a fan?"

Alix blushed lightly. "Yeah, I am a fan, of all three of you in fact. I started out watching Mark, then came across you, Matt. It was about a year later that I began to follow you, Jack. It was watching all of you that inspired me to follow through on my idea for the Dreamscape: I never would have dared attempt this had you not given me the courage to. I'd been working with Damien for a while before I told him the full scale of what I wanted to accomplish. He was the one who saw the same vision I did, see the wondrous world we could build in this place. There are no limitations to what you can create. Normal laws don't apply here. Things like physics, time…it is all relative. What we wanted to be the limit, we made that the boundary. Once we started the process…it was hard not to get lost in it."

Both Jack and Matt nodded. "I can see why you feel so passionately about this, the Dreamscape is a marvel. But at what cost has that come to you, and potentially to us?" Matt asked.

Alix's gaze sharpened. "What happened to me will not befall you. I re-wrote the exit program months ago, just in case…" They could see the broken hope in her eyes, the belief that had once existed there. Just in case she could go home, thought Jack sadly. He could only imagine how lonely she had been in here. As quick as the expression was there it was gone, hidden behind a carefully crafted mask of professionalism, determination and neutrality. "The Glaysha simulation is built upon one sole principle: complete your assigned task and escape through the exit portal. That is all there is to it. Everyone's task is different, and can be found in this place."

They watched as she marched over to a bookshelf, retrieving a scroll and a small chest. "Wait, so defeating Dark isn't necessarily what we are meant to do?" Jack questioned.

Midway through clearing a space on her large table, Alix paused in thought. "Dark isn't meant to be here. He was never part of the original programming."

Both Jack and Matt stared at her in disbelief. "What?!" Jack exclaimed.

"I think Dark was an addition made by whoever trapped me here. He appeared in Glaysha a couple of weeks after I was first stranded, and then began to change the world. The Dreamscape…is all but sentient. The NPC's and world have basic functions, but the basic programming is designed to have an element of randomness to it. I can have the same conversations with the characters around me a thousand times, it would not only give me 999 different answers, but it would also remember them all. Dark…has changed this place."

Alix opened the chest and began placing eight stones of varying colours along the table. Four were black, while the other four were red, white, green and blue. "When he arrived the NPC's began to react in fear. Something new, not in their programming variables, was present. Not a player or another program; he's almost like a virus, feeding off the world around him. He has powers we never created and can change the landscape. The Ancient Castle, his base, used to be nothing more than an information point for the players. He's taken it, and has used it to launch assault after assault against Glaysha. His presence has altered the lore of the game: the NPC's had their memories replaced to make them believe he has been here all along. And it terrifies me. What purpose does that…thing have here? Why is it here?

"I can't help but come to one conclusion: Dark is something created to destabilise the simulation and cause maximum difficulty in escaping. Why someone would go to all this trouble though…I do not know."

Matt's mind had gone into overdrive at the assault of information, and he had come to a rather troubling realisation. "Alix…I have a theory." She turned to face him just as she had finished rolling out the scroll on the table. "What if…Damien…what if it was he who did this to you?"

She looked at him wide-eyed, before regaining her passive look. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, Glaysha was Damien's choice of simulation and we noticed no-one else in Digitalia when we visited. Also, we can't reach him. We've been on our own since we woke up in here."

"Hang on," jumped in Jack, "don't tell me that we are some sort of crazy part to a master plan Damien has. That's just nuts, Matt!"

Matt stared at him steadily. "Can you say I'm wrong? All of this feels like it isn't adding up."

"I agree with you, Matt," added Alix, "but it doesn't explain why all of you are here. Or why he would do this in the first place."

Silence overtook the room for some time before Jack spoke up again. "Then…maybe the only way to find out is to get out of here? If we escape Glaysha and get back to the real world, we can confront Damien." Matt and Alix both looked at him, confused. "Well, all we're going to do in here is come up with theories. We won't get any answers, and the longer we hang around here, the more likely we are to become Dark's next victims. So, I say we find Mark, complete the task, and hightail it out of here!"

Matt and Alix stared at him in stunned silence before Alix began laughing. "Trust you to make it sound so easy, Jack. You really are just the same as in your videos."

The trio shared a look and then nodded at each other, deciding to follow Jack's plan. "All right, now, let's find out what it is you three have to do," Alix continued, guiding the pair over to the table she had prepared. "In this world, the Lorekeeper is the master of all knowledge, and is the guide to the players. It took some time, but I managed to rewrite the code so that the town accepted me as the Lorekeeper, rather than the original NPC, though I did borrow her image. With all of these tomes and runes, we should be able to find out your task."

Jack turned his attention away from the table to her for a second. "That's a good point, how were you able to change your appearance like that? Is that your reprogramming?"

Alix laughed lightly and leant over, reaching under the table. She then reappeared with a single sided halberd, which was crafted from the same black metal as Matt's bow. In the middle of the shaft was a series of metal cuffs, and the opposite end was sharpened to a deadly point. The pair watched as the same silver writing which had described their classes appeared on the metal.

Combateer: Halberdier/Illusionist

Adept, quick-thinking and stealthy. Master of deception and close combat. Unafraid to charge into danger to protect their allies.

Matt was the first to turn his attention away from the weapon. "What does 'Combateer' mean?"

She smiled as she answered. "Combateer is the secret secondary class system. There is no set threshold to unlocking it, the conditions vary from player to player. What it essentially means is that you learn a second set of skills, based off your original class. If you are a melee specialist you gain ranged capabilities, and vice versa. Or you can deviate from an offensive style to a defensive one, as mine became.

"My basic class is a Halberdier, as chosen by the Dreamscape, but after I discovered I was trapped, I used my programming skills to unlock my Combateer status. I also managed to pick what I became. An Illusionist can change their appearance at will and create clones of themselves, but they are good for distraction only. As soon as the clones come into contact with anything physical, they vanish. It also means I can blend into the surroundings, though if I move it breaks the illusion. Hiding from Dark became a lot easier with those skills."

"So, can you help us unlock that as well?" Jack asked as Alix took her weapon back, replacing it back beneath the table.

She shook her head sadly. "Sorry, but I can't. My power as an Administrator is limited, and I can only affect myself as a general rule. There are a few things I can do, but I don't want to tip Damien off to the fact that I am alive, if we are right in that theory. As soon as I access the game codes again, my status will come up as active. We're probably better saving that."

Alix then lit four candles at each corner of the table. "The coloured stones represent the classical elements: fire, water, air and earth, while the black stones are the four compass directions. If one of you touches the scroll while all the runes are active, it will reveal your task. I'm just hoping it isn't something like defeating Dark…" She turned her attention to the other two. "Who wants to do the honours?"

Jack and Matt both looked at each other before Jack gave a sigh. "Guess I'll do it. I've just got to touch the scroll, yeah?"

"Yep, it's as simple as that. Just…don't freak out at the show." The two men gave her a questionable look. "Just a friendly heads' up is all."

With a great deal of hesitancy Jack touched the parchment, startled when it then began to glow. They all then watched as the four elemental stones began to glow, Jack and Matt's eyes bulging at seeing what followed. Each element seemed to branch out from its respective stone – water, fire, earth and air collided in the centre of the scroll, at which energy began building in the directional stones. Electricity began to crackle between them, building until it finally discharged over the culmination of the elemental energy. Both men shielded their eyes from the resulting flash, slowly opening them again when calm seemed to return. They saw Alix standing over the paper, and she had a small smile on her face, though it had a slightly forced nature to it. Their attention shifted to it, and the words which had appeared on the page.

Return the Overseer's Staff

"Wait, Overseer? As in Eamon?" Matt questioned. Alix's gaze showed she was surprised they had picked up on that detail, but she then nodded. "That doesn't seem too hard…but where is it? Lost somewhere?"

She winced. "That's the problematic bit…it was given as an offering to Dark several weeks ago. God knows where it is now."

Jack groaned loudly. "Fan-fucking-tastic. How are we meant to solve that?!"

Alix hummed in thought. "Well at least we know what it is you are meant to do now, we can worry about solving this later. Right now, I'm a lot more worried about where Mark is. I'll work on tracing him, but I can't do it here, I don't want to draw any unwanted attention to the two of you. Here." She opened another chest and threw a sack of coins at Matt. "Take this and head into town. Buy yourselves some serums and max out your inventories, you'll need them. There are three types you'll need: the health serum is blue, amber is stamina, and the one you won't have seen yet is red. That is for mending broken bones and…healing critical injuries."

Matt stared at her. "You mean the sort of injuries that would kill, right?" She nodded. "How many of each can we buy?"

"You can take ten of each, but buy upgraded packs in Glaysha. You'll find it with the same merchant. That'll allow you to carry fifteen of each serum, as well as boost how many other items you can carry too. I'd also see about some camping equipment, tents etc. If we end up travelling you'll need them. The merchant is in the town square, his shop has a sign with a moneybag over it. Tell him Ayala sent you, and you won't have any problems. There should be more than enough money there for anything you want to buy.

"Once you've done that I'd probably go look for Eamon, see if he can point you in the direction of the bounties' board. If you take on a few of the small fry on there you can practice your skills a little while I look for Mark. I imagine combat is relatively easy for you, Matt, but you'll need a lot more training, Jack?"

Jack glared mildly at her while Matt chuckled. "Let me guess, game design?" the Irishman asked sarcastically.

Alix raised an eyebrow at him. "Jack, you can throw lightning and create shields out of light. You'd be overpowered as all hell if you had full control without hurting yourself in the process. We had to nerf the mage classes to level the playing field when you first enter the game. Don't worry, as you use your magic more you will feel less of a drain and steadily gain control of your lightning…but there will always be a chance of it backfiring on you. That is the nature of magic in this world."

"Fucking joyous."

She smiled at that. "Sorry, I really wish we'd changed that now, but it can't be helped. I'll train all three of you once I've found Mark, but for now this will just have to do. The bounties should be a good starting point. Just make sure you don't go beyond one star hunts right now. And be careful out there…Glaysha is a dangerous place." Alix's smile dropped slightly, before turning shy. "I really wish it hadn't been like this, but it is awesome to meet the two of you. Sorry, I just had to get that fan-girl moment out."

Jack and Matt laughed earnestly, Alix's admission having cut through the tension. They both gave her a hug, making a bright smile appear on her face. Both men knew she had been a great help, but couldn't help but feel sad at knowing the fate she had befallen. If only there is something we can do…

The two of them had stocked up fully in town, as well as researching what the bounties board involved. It turned out the system behind that was relatively simple, and they had soon taken a contract for a pack of wolves causing chaos just outside of the town. Barely ten minutes had gone by when they found said wolves, which were easy prey for Matt's bow. He'd taken out six of the eight without breaking a sweat, the other two falling to Jack's lightning. The Irishman had concentrated mainly on controlling his shield without suffering too much. It had taken three big knocks before he first felt the strain, and he was a bit more confident by the time they were done. As proof of completing the job they had taken a tooth from each of the beasts before setting back towards the town.

Matt and Jack had been in pleasant conversation when Matt heard tree branch snap behind them. He gave Jack a nudge to brace him for a confrontation, but hadn't even drawn his bow when Jack felt a massive energy surge. Throwing up a shield behind them, Jack felt like a sledgehammer had slammed straight into his chest as lightning collided with their light barrier. Matt watched in horror as the force threw Jack backwards, straight into a tree. "Jack!" He was shocked when despite being barely able to see straight, Jack still cast out another barrier in front of Matt, saving the other man from another bout of lightning. The young man's breath contracted painfully in his chest as he held fast, giving Matt time to scramble away and into cover.

The archer dove behind a tree, using it as natural protection while trying to find their assailant. He had to duck further behind it as several knives implanted deep within the bark, barely a few inches from his face. Matt saw Jack hurtle lightning of his own to protect him, but the blue energy clashed with the opposite green version in mid-air. Through the aftermath Matt saw a shadowy figure in the trees above them and fired an arrow, watching in horror as the figure shifted away in what looked like a…glitch? What the-

A scream cut through the air and Matt saw as Jack crashed to the ground, several feet from where he had just been situated. He was halfway out from the tree to help Jack when he realised his mistake. Jack saw through blurry vision as Matt screeched when a burst of lightning hit him, watched helplessly as he crumpled against the trunk in a shuddering mess. "Matt!" Jack shouted, unaware of the kick which was then aimed at his chest. He crashed on to his back, coughing painfully as he stole a look at Matt. The other man was skimming through his inventory subtly, looking for healing items, when Jack cried in agony. Unimaginable pain raced through Jack's biceps and he turned to look at his left arm, finding a knife had embedded itself there. He had no doubt the other was in the same way. Both arms had been pinned to the ground, leaving Jack defenceless.

The mage gasped as a cloaked figure glitched to appear crouched over him, kneeling across Jack's legs to keep him pinned. A hand soon clamped over his mouth and Jack's heart filled with dread. He looked up at his attacker, but then his whole body went rigid. Shock, fear, confusion…it all flooded his veins as he came face-to-face with something he'd thought was nothing more than a figment of his imagination.

Green hair, green soulless eyes, the psychotic smirk…

What the fuck is Anti doing here?! How the fuck does he exist?! Oh fuck- He's going to kill me!

Anti laughed insanely, tossing another knife in his free hand as he stared down at Jack triumphantly. "Too easy, Jack…this almost isn't fun," he hissed quietly. "Then again, I've always wanted to see a broken look on your face. Shall we find out how long it takes?"

Jack fought back all he could, screeching in pain and terror as Anti began to slice slowly across his neck. Knowing he had nothing more to lose, Jack released a powerful lightning burst from his hand. Anti shouted in pain as they were both left to the attack's mercy, the glitch teleporting away to avoid any further damage. He reappeared several metres away, turning with a snarl to stare at Jack's now-immobile body. "Fucking bitch," he snarled. "Stubborn as fucking ever." Before he could return to his previous task, however, an arrow implanted itself in Anti's chest.

He roared in anger at the distraction and recoiled from the impact, but three more soon followed. Anti growled lowly as he saw Matt fully recovered, firing mercilessly to defend his grievously injured friend. Knowing that he could only do so much while injured, Anti swore and teleported away. Another chance would manifest itself soon enough. You'll be mine soon, Jack.

Matt stood rigid and alert as he saw Anti glitch away, not knowing what had happened but unprepared to think it was over so soon. After a few seconds of using his enhanced sense to scan their surroundings he realised they were safe for the moment. Not wasting another second Matt raced over to Jack, seeing the horrendous state he had been left in.

Oh Jesus…

His stomach turned at the various wounds and he pulled out the knives pinning Jack to the ground. Drawing both a blue and red healing serum from his inventory, Matt plunged both into the skin just above Jack's heart, praying it would work quicker. He watched as the skin stitched itself back together on both Jack's biceps and sucked in a breath at seeing the deep gash on Jack's neck slowly seal. That was fucking close…if Jack hadn't let loose that lightning, he'd have been a goner. The various burns on Jack's skin from the lightning blast returned to normal and his skin took on a much healthier colour. After another half a minute Jack jerked back to consciousness.

The Irishman jolted upwards and leant over on his arm, heaving in deep breaths as he gripped his neck desperately, confused when he found unblemished skin. A look at the ground beneath him found two empty syringes, helping to alleviate some of the confusion. He turned towards his companion, seeing Matt's slightly shell-shocked expression. The other man couldn't help but stare at the mix of deep fear and shock on Jack's face. "Matt…Jesus man, you saved my life. How did you fight him off?"

Matt took a couple of seconds to regain some of his senses. "A few well placed arrows, but I'm sure your lightning gave him a bloody good whack. I think the combination of the two led him to retreating. That attack was…demented. Why the hell did that happen? How the fuck do we fight something like that?" Jack sprang back to his feet and was running all but full speed, intent on making it back to Glaysha. "Jack! Slow down! Fuck." Matt stood and gave chase, completely confused as to Jack's behaviour.

Jack didn't give a damn, however. He was just intent on putting as many walls between himself and his psychopathic dark side.

How to fuck is he here? What does he want?

What does this mean for us getting out of here?

Sorry, I just couldn't get the ending right, but I'm finally happy with Anti's introduction. Please let me know what you all thought of this chapter, it was a big challenge and I'm anxious to know how it came out!

I'll doubt I'll manage to get the next chapter up for the 2nd, but keep our eyes peeled for the next part on the 9th!

*Smooch*