#alt needs to meet more uh semi-nice antis ajghak

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Swap Across the CrystalVerse Chapter 6: Merms

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The boat is crossing a stretch of open ocean. The sea floor beneath them is mostly sand with clusters of rocks and kelp. 

As the merms continue swimming, Chase dives down to grab some of the kelp, yanking it free and chewing on it. 

"Hey, can I have some?" Jack asks. Chase nods and hands it over. 

Jackie is getting better as he moves, hiccupping here and there but at least getting into a stride. He blinks down at Jack and Chase and tilts his head. "...does that taste good?" 

"It does to us," Chase says. "I don't know if it will to you, since you're human even if you're technically a merm right now. My kids say that it tastes like salad? And they're halflings which I think is similar to what you are right now. So... take what you want from that." 

"You can't eat fish, though," Jack says. 

"Right, yeah, even halflings need to have the fish cooked, they can't just eat them like we do," Chase agrees. 

"Oh really? Huh... that's interesting." Jackie says with a hum. 

"Are you all enjoying yourselves?" Schneep asks, tentacles clinging to the bottom of the boat. The bag he's wearing--human-made by the look of it--hangs upside down from his shoulder.

Alt can't help but laugh. "Are you, Schneep? cuz you look like a grumpy gills-" 

"Boooo!" Bro calls to Alt. Alt flicks him with his tail.

"Me? Oh, I am fine," Schneep says. 

Jackie swims back around to say, "That's just his face," before heading back to the front of the pack. 

"Hey!" Schneep snaps. 

Alt giggles. 

"Oh just like Alt!" Bro grins. 

"Hey! I've been getting better!" Alt snaps. 

Bro looks back to Schneep and then tries to swim upside down so he can look him in the face. "Does that make you dizzy or anything? You're also gripping on so well- but I guess that makes sense- cuz... octopus."

Schneep chuckles. "The non-octos are always so surprised." One of the tentacles peels away, showing the suckers on the other side. "It does take effort to grip, but I can hold on for a while before I need to stop." 

Jackie circles back around again. "Careful, Chase. If you swim with your dorsal upside down for too long it messes up your balance." 

"Oh? Really?" Bro rights himself and shakes a bit of vertigo off, dipping in the water before gaining his height. He laughs, "Thanks for the warning man."

Mer-Jackie looks at Schneep. "Talking about how great it is to be an octo again? How's it feel to be slow?" 

"Oh shut up." Schneep rolls his eyes. 

"Some octos can change color, y'know," Jackie says to Bro. "Like Schneep's neighbor." He looks at Schneep and grins. "Vea." 

"Yes, she can do that." Schneep's face is straight, but strangely, his tentacles shift color to a lighter blue. 

Bro looks very interested in this and then blinks at Schneep's tentacles and points. "Oh!! They kinda changed colors! woahhh" 

"Y-yes, that happens sometimes," Schneep says. 

"But it's not like what Vea can do," Jackie says, grinning. "She can camoflague into anything. Isn't that cool?" 

"V-very cool." The shade of blue is deepening now... like a blush. 

"Oh that is cool!" Bro says excitedly. He eyes the color with a slight knowing look. "That'd be such a useful skill!" 

"Like Peeta in the hunger games!" Jackieboy says, catching up to them. Bro laughs. 

Schneep blinks. "I don't know what that means. Chase? What human stuff is this 'hungry games'?" 

Chase frowns. "I don't know everything about humans. It's been years since I was one, things change so fast up there. Don't get me started on the way phones went from colorful flippy things to slabs." 

"Woahhh you were human once??" Jackie asks, looking at Chase with fascination. "Wait no okay that makes sense- cuz you said you had halflings- dude though that so crazy! It's like- real life little mermaid!" 

Bro bonks Jackie on the head, "Stop dropping pop 

culture references we gotta explain!" 

"Oh we know about The Little Mermaid," Jack says. "Stacy showed us." 

Chase gives a little laugh. "It was more like the fairy tale than the animated movie with the redhaired girl. I-I saw a cute human on the beach one day, a-and I kept coming back to see her. Until I decided I had to get to know her so I got Marvin to cast a spell on me to make me human for a year and a day. I-it was tough. Walking was hard, and I didn't know any human knowledge. But w-we got really close, and started going out, a-and um..." That blush is back. "But, uh, w-we were just seventeen so when the spell wore off she said I probably shouldn't turn human permanently until she finished school. And then stuff happened, and... now I have two kids." 

Mer-Jackie circles back again. "So romantic!" And back to the front. 

Jackie awwws, "That is the sweetest story I've ever heard!!" 

"I thought you always said nothing would beat how you met Zara-" Bro teases, bumping into him. 

"Well- getting my ass kicked isnt really romantic on my part-" Jackie snickers. "She did look like an angel that day though~!" 

"She beat you up?" Chase asks. "Oh, was it like--like a fight class?" 

"I'd like a partner who could kick my tail!" Jackie contributes. 

"Not many people can do that, though," Schneep mutters. 

"Oh!" Jack looks over at Jackie. "What about that orca? Margaret?" 

"Maggie likes girls, but she could kick my tail, so that's the idea." 

"Yeah it was a martial arts class." Jackie laughs, "First day- she and me were the only ones with fighting experience and I wanted to seem tough because well- I had recently decided I wanted to be more of a guy. That was a mistake and she humbled me realll quick. But... looking at her look at me so smug- ah... it was love right there." He sighs, looking up at the light filtering through the ocean. "So yeah- I guess you liking to be beat up by strong women is a universal thing!" 

Bro giggles. "The heart wants what the hearts wants, dude!" 

"Be more of a guy?" Jackie asked. "What do you mean? Just change to a guy." 

"I may not know as much about humans as Chase," Schneep says. "But even I know that they cannot change their gender so easily." 

Jackieboy bursts into laughter, "Oh man! If only it was that easy!" 

"I mean- technically it was for you- and Alt." Bro points out. 

"Shush- we still went through most of the things other people do! We just- skipped the surgeries." Jackieboy adds, touching the light purple scars on his chest- ones that were very similar to the ones Alt has. 

"All it takes for us is some will and a good night's sleep," Jackie says. "It just kinda... happens. We're very different." 

"No, what gave it away?" Schneep drawls. "Was it the tails or the fins?" 

"No, I get where Jackie's coming from," Chase says. "Humans think that merms are just like them, but underwater, but it's not like that at all. But you guys can probably feel the differences, right?" 

Bro chuckles at the sarcasm before looking to his other self. He swishes his tail as he thinks. "..Yeah- it's weird. You don't really think about how it would be, living underwater. But- even the way you breathe is different. The weight of the water and ebb and flow of everything around you. It's... really cool. But so so different from how things on land work." 

"Tell me about it," Chase mutters. "Balance is hard on legs." 

"It's hard even if you're used to having legs." Jackie grins. 

"Only for you, clumsy." Bro snorts, knocking into Jackie. 

The two of them start playfully bumping into each other, trying to throw the other off course. 

Meanwhile, Anti is swimming sort of near Alt, still trying to figure out if he should approach.

Alt feels a presence near him and he tilts his head, deciding to look back. He smiles slightly as he sees Anti. "Doin' alright?" He asks.

Anti blinks. He opens his mouth, closes it again. Blinks again. "You've... been... giving off... waves since you transformed," he says slowly. "Do you... know that? I-is it helping you... see?"

Alt blinks back and then looks down at his tail. He... kinda felt that. ...is that how he knew Anti was near? "...huh... I... I think I kinda noticed but... I didn't realize what that was." He tilts his head at Anti, "...see?"

Anti nods. He's sort of awkwardly playing with his hands, claws clicking together. "I can pulse electricity and... it helps me see. When I can't. M-my eyes aren't good. I'm supposed to be in dimmer light. But I can tell where things are. Is that what's happening?"

Alt looks thoughtful as he takes stock of himself. Experimentally, he tries to pulse some electricity out as well- though he's not quite sure what he's supposed to see. "Huh... like- echolocation almost. But, with electricity." He grins, fascinated. "I didn't know it could do that! I wonder if you could do that on land or- does it only work cuz we're underwater? dudeee that's so cool!"

"I-I don't know, I've never tried it on land," Anti says. "M--maybe? You need the inside parts to work." He gestures at his tail. "That's, um, all stuff to make electricity. So... if you turn human, pr-probably not." 

Alt hums in thought, "I'll have to try that some time... I can generate electricity normally. hm..."

"Oh right. I forgot." Anti smiles a little. He pauses. "It... probably doesn't really come through with your eyes open."

Alt blinks down at Anti and then laughs, "Oh yeah- I guess that makes sense. Lemme see..." Alt closes his eyes and tries again to pulse out his electricity.

Alt is momentarily blind, but then he realizes--the faint wave he's been giving off is bouncing back to him. It's like a sixth sense, like radar on a submarine, telling him the shape of the ocean floor below him, the outline of the boat above him, and the movement of the merms and fish around him. When he actively pulses out, the range increases. 

Alt is almost tempted to open his eyes, not liking the fact that he can't see when... he feels it. The wave of his senses reaching out, making sense of the darkness. 

"So... you can still see, see?" Anti says.

Alt starts to give off a bit more electricity in his excitement, laughing breathlessly. "Y-Yeah! Oh wow this is- this is so cool!"

"Y-y-yeah, it--I guess it is, I never... thought about it. It's always how it's been for me. I-I don't think you can shock like I can. Or... if you can, i-it's with your magic, not your insides. Right?"

Alt opens his eyes back up to look at Anti and smiles. "uhh no I don't think so... seems like I can do that to see but still- that's so crazy. I like it-" He grins. "I can't wait to see if I can still do that on land! ...thanks for showing me, Anti."

Anti blinks. Then he grins slowly. "Y-you're welcome. Gl-glad I could help." He clacks his claws together some more. "I... think I like... helping."

Alt's expression softens and he loops to be a bit closer to Anti. It's... weird. This Anti seems... more like him than the others he's seen recently. One that's grumpy and prickly but deep down... there's something good in there. He smiles at Anti. "...it's hard at first- but helping is kinda an awesome feeling. Especially if you have good friends who help you too."

Anti stares at Alt. "Friends..." He glances at the others. "I'm... not sure if I'm one of those. I, um... hurt them. A while ago. I was... scared. But I still did... more than I needed. But... they don't hate me. I-it's hard to understand." 

Alt's expression softens more and turns sympathetic. He looks up at Bro and Jackie and breathes, "...I know how that feels. I hurt my friends too. My brother, even. I was... angry. And confused. And I took things way too far. But... despite all that... they're still here." Alt laughs, shaking his head. "Somedays... I don't get it. Why they stick around... why they don't see me as... just a bad person. A monster. But... if somebody wants to see the good in you... I think you should let them." He looks back at Anti and smiles. "I think they can see that in you, Anti. That want to help. And that makes them friends. Cuz they're still here."

Anti listens to this intently. He lets out a breath, the gills on his neck visibly opening. "I... have a hard time understanding this," he says quietly. "I-I didn't think any of that was possible... for a long time. H-helping people, I mean. But... I like it. A-and I like that they're... willing to... help. I can... I can try. To be 'better.' I think I'm doing better. I-if they see that, I sh-shouldn't push that away." He nods. "Thank you. Not... I-I don't talk about this a lot. I don't think others understand." 

Alt smiles more and lightly bumps his tail against Anti's. "... I get it. I didn't think it'd ever be possible for me to help people but... I'm here. Trying to be a hero like Chase is. It's... insane. But deep down, anyone can change for the better- especially if they have people willing to stick around for the journey." 

Anti pauses. "Can you feel that? When you pulse. The land is sloping up. That means the coast is coming. We're getting close."

Alt pauses too and blinks trying to feel the slope. "Oh yeah- I do feel it." His eyes pulse with his magic as he starts to focus back at the task at hand.

"We're getting close," Anti announces to the others. 

"Really?" Chase says. He swims up to the surface, only his tail showing for a while, and then comes back down. "Ollie says he'll try to find somewhere on the coast to dock safely but it's pretty swampy." 

"Swampy? Sounds like we are getting close," Jackie says. 

Schneep detaches from the boat, flipping around right ways and swimming along with the others. "We are either going to find Jameson, or, perhaps, Marvin and that stranger. They may have beat him here." 

"What was his name again?" Jack asks. "Excellent, or something like that?"

The swaps laugh. "Magnificent," Alt says, grinning. He then looks at the water and squints. "...I don't know what to expect of him here... from what I knew- he hated water." 

"oh my god- could he be anymore like a cat?" Jackie groans. "Like- I get it, it's his thing but C'monnn"

"Jameson's message said he transformed into a merm," Chase recalls. "So, uh, I guess he knows the same sort of spell you guys do." 

"I wonder what he would become," Jackie muses. "You all didn't choose your merm forms, did you? Because if you did, he could become something pretty bad." 

"I can take him," Anti says. This doesn't sound like a brag, more like he's stating a fact. 

"We'll see," Schneep mutters. 

“Hmm… I wonder…” Alt muses, thinking. “He probably has more freedom… I wasn’t thinking when the spells were cast- I think it’s based off the soul. That’s usually how animal transformation works. Unless you’re mag and you deal in black magic.” 

The sea floor begins to slope upwards around them, but they stay in a slight dip of an area. Beneath them is a sandy floor with lots of green plants shooting up. The boat pulls to the side, not wanting to head down the river. 

Bro swims forward, momentarily fascinated at seeing the boat pulling off. 

Jackie looks down at the sandy floor and tilts his head. He dives down curiously. 

Is there something moving down there? Beyond just the plants and fish.

Alt blinks at this and uses his new skill as he follows after Jackie. Closing his eyes he- he senses a human like shape. “Oh! I think there’s a mer down here!” He announces.

"Huh, what?" Jackie says. The others all look down. 

"Jameson!" Chase gasps, and everyone dives down. 

Jameson jumps in surprise at the strange merms appear--but then relaxes when the others do. He swims up to meet them. The swaps see a merm styled after a stingray, with wings stretching from his arms to his torso and a narrow tail. His belly is pale yellow-white while his back is brown and speckled. He clutches a bag in his hands. 

"Are you okay?" Jack asks. 

"Do not worry, these are our friends," Schneep adds. "They are here to help." He pauses, then continues in a softer voice. "We are here to help. So... how are you?" 

Jameson tenses slightly, then rushes forward and wraps his arms around Schneep, squeezing him tightly. He looks visibly shaken.

The swaps all exchange worried glances. Alt approaches and adds in a quiet voice, “…I’m so sorry he took Marvin… but I swear- we’re gonna do whatever we can to get him back. I promise.”

Jameson looks at Alt curiously. He backs away from Schneep and starts making gestures. It’s lucky that Alt’s translation spell now works for non-spoken languages. The swaps see subtitles in their mind as Jameson speaks. Who are you? Do you know about that strange human?

Alt looks timid as he answers, “oh yeah s-sorry. I’m Alt- and this is Chase and Jackie. We’re actually from a different world- the same one that the strange human came from. And we know all about him… he’s hurt all of us before.” His eyes glow with anger, “We’ll make him pay for taking Marvin.“

Jameson blinks. World?

“It’s complicated, we can talk about it later,” Chase says. “The point is, they know this guy. He’s called Magnificent.” 

Jameson laughs—it sounds strained, and it’s not clear if that’s from the stress or if it’s just how his voice sounds. How arrogant. Well, he did seem the type to act like that. 

Bro and Jackie laugh. “Man I love how everyone points out his name is stupid and shallow. Ohh the vindication!” Jackie cackles. 

“So this guy is coming down the river soon?” Jackie asks. “And he’s bringing Marvin, who’s hypnotized?” 

“Oh they’re not even in the ocean yet? Okay good! We can get the jump on them!” Bro says cheerfully. 

“Yeah, let’s jump them!” Jackie agrees, whooping. 

Nodding, Jameson says, I brought some things that might help. He reaches into the bag and pulls out a couple things. A pair of round stones, some sharp, bone-like objects, and something pale red partially wrapped in a woven kelp blanket. 

“I know you said you were bringing the siren stone, but are you sure?” Jack asks. 

Maybe we can combat his hypnotism with it.

Alt looks down curiously at all the objects Jameson brought. He swims closer, “A siren stone? What’s that? Are these all magic?”

No, not all of these, Jameson says. He picks up one of the bone like objects. These aren’t. I brought them for the merms who don’t have natural weapons. 

Schneep makes a face. “Those are made from stingers, aren’t they?”

They don’t have venom in them after they fall off, but they’re sharp! 

“Oh, you all are going to love that,” Schneep says, glancing at the visitors. 

“Ohhh neat!” Jackieboy says, reaching to grab one. He experimentally jabs it through the water then giggles. “Like a knife!” 

“I’ll just stick with the stone.” Chase picks up the siren stone. For a moment, he touches it without the blanket acting as a barrier, and patterns of green light appear on its surface. So pretty… Then he realizes what’s happening and quickly adjusts his grip, the light fading as soon as he stops touching it. 

“The siren stone is something that merms with siren blood can use,” Jack explains. “It lets them have the hypnotic powers sirens did. Only Chase and Anti have siren ancestors, so only they can use it.” 

“N-not that I will,” Anti mutters, folding his arms. He seems a little… guilty?

Alt’s eyes widen at the explanation, glancing at the stone. He blinks at Anti then smiles softly at him, as if he understood. He nods to the others, “Mag isn’t used to others having mental magic- or using hypnosis. We should be able to catch him off guard!”

Jack grabs one of the stinger-knives as well, and hands another to Schneep with an insistent look. 

Schneep sighs, gills fluttering, and takes it. “If we are to catch them off guard, we should hide ourselves. Especially the brighter colored ones of us.” 

Bro nods, “Jackie that means you should hide- you’re like super bright.” 

Jackieboy grumbles but nods. 

“I could be a distraction,” Chase offers. “Maybe try to catch them with the stone.” 

What if his hypnotism is faster than you can speak? Jameson asks. 

“Well… that’s why you guys hide!” 

“Sounds like as good a plan as anything to me,” Jackie says.

Alt looks nervous but nods too, “an ambush… that could work. Just- tips for dealing with Mag- his magic is very powerful and is like a tidal wave… it’s very hard to resist. But like- if you try to fight it think of like random things! I do colors to help me- it makes it harder for him to latch onto something.” He looks around trying to see if there’s any hints of them coming. “…me and Anti could get closer to the mouth and warn y’all when we feel them coming.”

The other merms nod at Alt’s advice. 

“That’s a good idea,” Anti agrees. “I know where there are small alcoves in the rock. We can hide inside.” 

The brighter merms should find clusters of plants to hide inside, Jameson says. The rest of us can hide behind rocks, we’ll blend in more there. 

“Let me guess, you’re going to bury?” Jackie says. 

Jameson grins a little. It’s what I do. 

“Alright, that’s a plan, then,” Chase says. “What signal should we look for, Alt, Anti?”

Alt hums in thought, flicking his tail. 

Bro perks up, “What if we use Sam? She’s small enough that she can swim around to start alerting the others? Or-at the very least- I have very good hearing. Any knock or signal you all make I can probably hear- I can stick by other me to make sure he doesn’t get hurt.”

“Oh, uh… thank you,” Chase says. 

Jack blinks. “But I didn’t bring—” 

And then his bag starts fluttering in an unusual way. He looks down at it. “…no. No, you didn’t.” 

He opens it up and out swims Sam. 

“Seriously?” 

She bumps against him. 

“Oh- I wondered where she went.” Bro laughs, messing with his hair and looking embarrassed. 

“Awww she’s so cute though!” Jackieboy says.

“Well I don’t want to put you in danger. So back in the bag you go.” Jack says to Sam.

“Besides, Sam can’t swim that fast, right?” Jackie says. 

“Here, let’s test how good your hearing is. Anti, can you go find one of those alcoves and make some sort of noise?” 

Anti nods, darting away. He’s soon out of sight. After a moment, Bro picks up a faint—very faint—clicking noise that the spell translates as “Hey! Listen!”

Bro nods and listens. He perks up and then grins, “Yes! I heard it! Ha- you sounded like Navi-“ 

“Nerd-“ Alt coughs with a laugh.

"Alright, if that's sorted, let's all get into position, then," Jackie says. 

Good luck, everyone, Jameson adds. 

And the merms scatter. Jack takes Jameson's advice and hides in a patch of kelp where his green color won't stand out as much. Jackie and Schneep crouch together behind a rock, Schneep's darker tentacles helping them hide into the shadows. Anti stays where he is. Jameson finds a patch of sand and partially buries himself under it. And Chase hovers around, unsure where exactly to go.

The swaps all nod and scatter too. Alt follows Anti into one of the alcoves, closing his eyes and settling into the dark. Jackie searches around and finds a deep enough patch in the kelp to hopefully hide most of his tail. 

Bro rounds up next to Chase and puts a hand on his shoulder, smiling confidently. “Don’t worry- we got this! He won’t expect all of you- especially with that stone thingy!”

Chase smiles back at Bro. “Thanks. I-it has come in handy. Now you should get somewhere out of sight. I don’t think the distraction will work if there’s two of us and one is a shark. No offense. You’re just more intimidating than a clownfish like me.” 

“Oh- you know what that’s fair. I’ll be close by though! Just in case.” Bro grins and then ducks down to go hide by some of the rocks. 

Some time passes. Thankfully not too much. Hidden in the small alcove, Anti sends out regular pulses… and eventually two large shapes swim into range. “I think that’s them,” he whispers to Alt.

Alt feels the pulse and studies the new shapes closer, trying to see if he recognizes the feeling. The waves coming off one of them feels almost sinister- like the water is afraid of him. That could only be one person. He opens his eyes and nods to Anti. 

“It is. Get ready-“

Anti nods back and makes that same “Hey! Listen!” clicking noise to alert the others. 

Marvin has been perfectly complacent for Magnificent ever since that brief encounter with Jameson. He hasn’t said a word until now, when he simply says, “That’s the ocean in there.” 

Magnificent can see the widening of the river as the shore on either side turns away. And he’s been able to feel it coming for a while, too, as the tight feeling of freshwater fades away when more salt enters the picture.

Magnificent giggles and stretches out his tail, enjoying the feeling of the salt water. Much better. 

"Very good~! Now- how much further to this source? Should we pick up the pace? Or can you not handle that, little fish?" He asks with a hint of sweetness, almost mimicking concern. But, his condensation is palpable in his voice. 

Alt growls quietly, bunching up and feeling electricity bright in his veins. But, he needs to wait. Bro and Jackie brace themselves too, watching the water and Chase warily.

Magnificent can faintly sense magic in the distance, but it’s hard to gauge how close it is. 

“We should pick up the pace,” Marvin says. “It’s still far.” 

“Hm, alright- try to keep up-“ He starts to order Marvin before he slows and stops in the water- who is…?

Chase takes a deep breath. He’s been thinking about what to do, and decides the best approach us to just swim up to them. Which he does. “Hey Marvin, I was just coming to see you, who’s your—whoa!” And yet he stalls for a moment, taken aback by Magnificent’s appearance. He wasn’t expecting this stranger to look like a deep dweller! He clutches the wrapped siren stone close to his chest. “Uh—h-hi?” 

Marvin blinks. “…Chase?”

Mag glares at Chase and bares his sharp teeth for a second before his expression eases into a charming and charismatic one. “Oh! Marvin, is this a friend of yours? Chase is it? Well- how fun to run into you! Marvin was just helping me find some magic nearby~” He chuckles. His eyes flash briefly with spiraling magic, trying to subtly influence Chase to back down. “Nothing to worry about.”

Chase blinks. Is he... supposed to be feeling something right now? Is Magnificent trying his magic? Well, he doesn't want to be too suspicious right away so he'll play along a bit. 

"Oh. Yeah. Of course. Well... if you want to find some magic, I have something right here." He moves the kelp blanket away from the stone, not quite touching it yet but revealing its surface.

Magnificent raises an eyebrow skeptically. A chase? Knowing magic? Hard to believe… But he can’t deny the pull of whatever magic is coming from that stone so he swims a bit closer, tilting his head at it curiously. “Oh? Is that so?”

"Yeah. Watch this." Chase presses a hand against the stone, and the green light appears, dancing across its surface. "And if you keep watching, that'll be great."

Magnificent tilts his head more, gazing at the stone. For just an instant- he seems almost captivated. But, that quickly fades as he throws his head back with laughter. The pressure around them in the water starts to increase- and magic starts to bloom behind Mag is a bright spiral pattern. He shakes his head as he chuckles sinisterly, 

"Oh Chase... You're playing a dangerous game~" He looks up at Chase fully now- the same magic spiraling his eyes as he slams his magic down on Chase's will. "I think you'll find that watching and obeying me will be much more favorable for you~"

Chase is smart enough to not look directly at the pretty lights, but he does gasp at the wave of magic. He blinks for a moment, then struggles through. Alright, time for Plan B! He dives down to the ground. "Guys! Now!" 

Immediately Jackie bursts out from his hiding place and darts for Mag. 

"What?!" Magnificent snarls, backing up and then growls for Marvin. "Marvin! Keep your friends from interfering!" He orders. 

But, then, Bro comes rushing out with the same speed and roars in anger, diving to try to stop Mag too.

Marvin's attention darts to the side and he fires off a beam of pale green light--but he's not holding a power stone so it's weak and Jackie powers right through, shoving Marvin to the side. He gasps, drifting for a bit before recovering, reaching into his bag for a stone.

Alt gasps and narrows his eyes and goes to try to help Marvin and Jackie.

Bro for a second, startles Mag who whips to look at him with surprise. "Fantastic?!" He then whips out some magic to knock him back, making Bro summersault through the water. He soon rights himself and tries to charge at Mag again. Magnificent blasts Bro in the face with his magic, sending Bro back again as he curls up and holds it- the water around his face burning. 

While Bro is distracting him, Magnificent feels something grab his tail. It's Schneep, gritting his teeth with determination. 

Mag startles at being grabbed and growls at Schneep, flicking him off and back down towards one of the rocks. 

Marvin grabs a power stone and flings out a wave of magic, strong enough that it causes a current.

Alt tries his best to fight the current and tries to grab Marvin's tail- trying to give him a small shock to hopefully wake him up.

Schneep lands on the rocky ground, silt flying into the air. Jameson rushes over to check on him but luckily he recovers quickly and gestures for Jameson to go on. Jameson nods and quickly swims over to Marvin. 

Jack hands his bag--with Sam inside--to Chase and decides to rush Magnificent with the stinger blade. While Jackie is pushed back by the magic and the current, 

Alt reaches Marvin and grabs him. He yelps at the shock but his eyes don't even flicker as he looks down and blasts Alt with magic.

The magic hits Alt and he yells out in surprise and pain and tumbles away, disoriented by the water. 

Jack manages to stick Mag in the tail and he yells in anger, blasting magic towards him.

Jameson tries to grab Marvin from behind, his eyes glowing slightly blue, but Marvin whirls around and throws him off before he can do whatever he's trying to do. 

Meanwhile, Jackie helps stop Alt from tumbling, then rushes for Marvin as well. "Snap out of it!" he shouts as he tackles him. "He's in your head, Marvin! Like a siren!" 

Alt oofs and then thanks Jackie, following after him to try to stop Marvin too. 

Jack gets thrown back by the magic, landing next to where Schneep did earlier. "We're gonna get nowhere if we're separated!" he gasps. 

Chase looks at Jack. "I-I'll see if I can help get Marvin free!" he says, swimming over. 

While Mag is distracted, Anti darts for him, grabbing him from behind.

Magnificent laughs and then seems to feel the water shift as Anti darts out and he dodges out of the way. He growls and then snaps, making another big swirl of magic appear behind him, humming with power- lighting him up from behind in an eerie light. He growls, "You simple minded little fish aren't worth the water you swim in! You all will bow to me!"

But the merms know the ways of sirens by now. All of them looking at Mag--Jack, Anti, Jameson, and Schneep--quickly look away. 

Schneep's a bit slow, as he's too busy shouting "You cannot* bow in the water, idiot!" but he remembers. 

Anti laughs. "Let me tell you something you clearly don't understand. You're fucking outnumbered!" And all at once, the four of them rush Magnificent. 

Magnificent growls at Schneep and the others, trying to back away. Jackie- still hiding, springs up and throws his stringer blade and its slices across Mag's arm- distracting him as he yells out. Bro grins and headbutts him from behind- pushing him into the frenzy of the other merms that tackle Magnificent into the sand. Magnificent screeches like an angry cat, flailing and clawing to try to get free. 

Marvin throws Jackie off--something he normally wouldn't be able to do, but Jackie just can't bring himself to use too much force against his friend. 

"Marvin! Chase shouts, grabbing the siren stone. "Look at me!" And Marvin does. "Don't listen to Magnificent! He doesn't control you!"

Alt sees the others have things with Mag handled and goes to help Chase, leaning down by Marvin. "Hey yeah- l-listen to Chase, you don't ever wanna work for that psycho- trust me! Your friends need you, Marvin."

"Fr-friends...?" Marvin repeats. "Friends..." 

"Your friends," Chase repeats. "Us!" He swims closer, pointing to the side. "Look, we need help!" 

Marvin follows Chase's pointing finger. He sees the others all tackling Magnificent to the ground. And suddenly, everything snaps back into place. 

"No!" Marvin screeches, darting on over. The power stone in his hand glows brighter and brighter, and as Marvin plunges into the pile the others back away from Magnificent to make room for him. 

The water suddenly gets very cold and there's a flash of bright light--

When the light recedes- Mag is trapped, squirming on the sandy ground, his arms frozen to his sides. He growls and snaps like an cornered predator. 

"Miserable whelp! Unhand me! I'll fry you for this!" He hisses at Marvin. 

Jackie cheers and pumps his hand into the air. "Yeahh!! Go Marvin!!" 

Bro laughs and looms over Mag- "Best watch you say, Mag- a lot of us have veryyy sharp teeth." He playfully chomps towards Mag- making the mad magician flinch ever so slightly. 

Alt sighs in relief, letting himself sag in the water.

"Fucker," Marvin snaps, trembling with rage and adrenaline. "Fucking fucker fuck--oof!" He's cut off as Jameson suddenly tackles him, knocking him to the side. "Who--Jameson? Jameson!" Marvin laughs and hugs him back, the two of them flying head over tail through the water. 

I'm sorry I couldn't help you, Jameson says. I tried but he was too strong and I was so scared I'm sorry I'm sorry-- 

"No, no, it's okay! I would've felt horrible if he hurt you! O-or if I hurt you." They land in the sand, their tails wrapped around each other. 

Chase watches the two of them and chuckles, smiling fondly. 

Anti stares at Mag. "Can I shock him? Just a little?"

Alt grins, "Go for it, make it hurt." He tells Anti. 

"Just... don't kill him?" Bro asks timidly.

"I can stun him?" Anti offers. 

"That'd be helpful probably-" Jackie giggles, "We gotta get him back onto the boat to get him back home, right?" 

"Oh fuck right... we gotta get home." Alt sighs.

Anti grins. "Got it." He swims up to Mag, grabbing him by the shoulders. "Back away," he tells the others. And once they're out of range--ZAP! Magnificent slumps unconscious. 

The swaps all watch Anti shock him with wide eyed but impressed expressions.

"I underdid it a bit to avoid killing him," Anti says. "So he might wake up quickly. Get him on land soon, then." 

"Got it." Jackie grabs Magnificent--not touching him, just holding him by the ice--and starts hauling him up to the surface.

"Man... that was satisfying to see." Jackie grins. 

Bro laughs and then swims after Jackie, "I'll go help Jackie!" 

Alt looks down and then slowly goes to swim over to Marvin and Jameson. He hesitates then settles down in the sand next to them. "Um... hey Marvin- I know we didn't really get a chance to meet... I'm Alt and uh... I just wanted to see if you were okay?"

Marvin looks at Alt, then at Jameson. Jameson nods and scoots a little bit to the side but keeps one arm around Marvin, the connected wing acting like a blanket. "Hi, Alt. I'm not hurt. If I'm okay, though... l-let's say that I-I'll have to think a lot about what happened." 

Alt looks very sympathtic and he nods. "Yeah... I get it... it's not a great feeling." 

Marvin shivers. "But not now. You, um... know that stranger, then? He was human at first." His eyes dart up and down Alt then land on his bracelet. "Are... you, too?"

Alt blinks at Marvin's questions and then nods again. "Yeah... Mag comes from where he came from. We're human but... me and him are magic. Like you and Jameson. That's why he wanted to... to use you. I'm so sorry that he did..."

Marvin nods. "It's not your fault. W-we never expected something like that. You must come from somewhere very far, I've never seen a human with magic before." 

Jameson squeezes Marvin from the side supportively. Sorry, he signs again. 

"It's really not your fault. I know how you are with nets like the one he conjured." 

Jameson nods slowly, then looks at Alt and smiles. Thank you for help saving my life friend.

Alt looks surprised and then flushes slightly but grins. "I-It's so problem really... that's... that's what I do. Me and my brother, of course. G-Gotta try to use my magic for good, right?" He glances up at the water and deflates a bit before looking back at them. "... If we didn't have to deal with him... it'd be so cool to learn about all the magic and stuff you guys have here. You seriously havent seen any human magicians? All the magic is underwater? And that- that siren stone thing?? That's... so cool-" He grins, bouncing a bit. "Plus... swimming around like a merman is... really really brilliant." He laughs, "... gonna be hard to go back to being just- human." 

Just behind him, you can see Jackie just swimming around the area, like he's trying to make the most of the time they have left.

"My teacher told me that once, humans knew how to draw magic from the water like we do," Marvin says. "But they stopped around the shipwreck era--um, a-about four hundred human years ago. Maybe they can learn how to do it again." He laughs a little. "I-I'm happy you're enjoying it. I think merms don't have nearly as much fun when we turn human. Or at least, Chase and Anti didn't." 

Alt blinks, "Woah... that's so fascinating..."

Speaking of Chase, he swims down to join the others. "Hey... i-if you guys are okay, we're all going to the surface now," he says slowly. 

Marvin nods. "We'll be right up there."

Alt looks back towards Chase and smiles, "Yeah... coming." He sighs and floats up, flicking his tail. "Welp- guess it's time." He smiles at them then whistles for Jackie. 

"Hey speedy! We gotta get going!" Alt calls. 

Jackieboy stops a little bit aways, "What??" 

"WE GOTTA GET GOING!" 

"AWWW REALLY??" 

"YES REALLY YOU DORK- C'MON!" 

"FINNEEE" 

Alt rolls his eyes with a small laugh and then he surges up to the surface and Jackieboy reluctantly follows.

Back on the surface, Bro and Jackie have helped Ollie haul the unconscious Magnificent back onto the boat. 

"I hope you all have magic to dry people's clothes and stuff," Ollie is saying. "This is dripping all over my deck." 

Alt laughs and grabs Bro and Jackie and glitches all of them onto the boat's deck. They all still have some of their scales and fishy aspects but they at least have their legs again. Alt mutters a quick spell word and all of them get dried off and he beams at Ollie. "There you go! No issue!"

One by one, everyone else surfaces. 

"Ahlee!" Marvin says, delighted. 

"Hey there." Ollie smiles at him. "The others said you went through some stuff. So here. I know this probably won't help much but here." He crouches down and hands something out for Marvin. A paper bowl of ice cream with a spoon. 

"Oooo." Marvin takes it. "Than' yoo than' yoo!" he says in English. 

Alt  crouches down by Mag and pokes him slightly. "... guess Mag is stuck as a fish until he wakes up." 

"Can we leave him to suffoc-" Jackie almost says excitedly before Bro bops him on the head. "No Jackie-"

"He'll probably wake up soon," Anti says. "I didn't shock him that hard." 

"You know we can breathe air, right?" Jackie says. 

Schneep nods. "There are gills, but there are also lungs, though the airways close instinctively once the gills submerge." 

"Ohhh yeah- that makes sense." Jackie says. 

"Does that mean technically fish can breathe a bit of air?" Bro asks curiously. 

"Some can! Upwards of 30 minutes!" Jackie beams. "Just gotta keep their gills wet." 

"We're not fish, though, we're merms," Jackie says. "So we can breathe air for as long as we want!... but we'll dry out eventually. Like whales." 

Poor whales, Jameson comments sadly. 

"So... you guys are really leaving now?" Jack asks. "Are you... going to come back? W-we don't have too many human friends. It's just Ollie, Stacy and Roxy, and Lise... They all end in 'ee' sounds, weird." 

Alt smiles sadly and then nods. "Yeah... we gotta go. This one is real squirmy." He lightly kicks Mag, who grumbles a bit. But, his expression does light up. "...I... I wanna come back- someday. For sure this was... really fun." 

"I wanna take Zara and the kids sometime!!" Jackie shouts, stimming. 

"You'll need to get me sooo much food and energy for that to happen," Alt responds, but he does smile. "...but that would be awesome." 

"Do you guys need me to drop you off somewhere?" Ollie asks.

Alt then blinks and looks at Ollie before shaking his head. "Nah, we should be good. All we need is-" He finds his bag and digs out the TRVLR, "-this. Though- we should all change back into our clothes and shit." He giggles.

"Well, we'd love to see you again!" Chase says. "If you ever have a hard time finding us, I'm around Maya Beach a lot. That's where I met Stacy.” 

"Oh! Was that the beach I showed up on? Sweet! That'll be easy to remember then!" Bro grins. 

"Oh, no you showed up at the lagoon where I live," Jack says. "I don't know if it has a human name. None of them have showed up there... uh... ever?" 

"That one's called Brightwave Lagoon," Chase adds. "Because the waves glow bright with all the phytoplankton. It's hard to get to but they know about it." 

"Or if you want to stop by Jameson and me, we live in Lough Baintrie," Marvin says. 

Just wait on the beach, we'd rather come up to you, Jameson adds. 

“We, um... can't exactly call you. Phones don't work underwater." Chase says.

"I have a tablet," Anti says. "I can make the screen go white if I pulse." Not sure what that has to do with this. Maybe he just wanted to mention it.

Jackie blinks at Anti, "That'sss great?" He tries to say encouragingly. 

"Don't get near my tablet!" Alt says, slipping on his hoodie and shoes again. He grabs his marker and scribbles out the runes and soon enough his fishy scales and stuff turn blue then disappear. 

Bro and Jackie follow his lead, getting back on the clothes they took off and Alt makes quick work of getting rid of their runes too. 

Pretty soon they're all back to normal. Around the time they finish, Mag suddenly gasps loudly and then coughs, flailing like the caught fish he is. 

Alt glitches down by him and grins sinisterly. "Oh look guys! We caught a catfish~!" 

Mag growls and with a snap of his magic- he's back to his normal self but he's still caught up in Marvin's magic. 

Bro makes quick work of picking him up and holding him on his shoulder as Magnificent spits profanities and threats. 

Jackie leans over the rails and grins. "We'll be back to see you all again, for sure! And next time, we can all just have some fun, alright?" 

Alt grins and nods, "Yeah, for sure." 

Bro leans over Alt and looks at the screen as he sets up the TRVLR. "...any idea what got us sent here instead of home last time, Alt?" 

Alt frowns, "No idea... I was sure I had the right address." He makes sure to mark this one down in their favorites before finding theirs again. "Maybe... Anti-Virus just- shorted it out or something. I'm sure it'll work this time."

"I do hope your device works," Schneep says. "I do not understand it, but I am sure it was just a mistake." 

"Maybe pulse it extra hard," Anti suggests. 

"But not too hard, you don't want to break it," Jackie says. 

Alt can't help but laugh at Anti's suggestion but he nods, "I'll try."

Jack laughs lightly. "Well. I hope we'll see you again, wherever you find us." 

"Um... bye, I guess," Ollie adds with a wave. "Nice to meet you." 

Alt takes a second to smile at Ollie, his expression softening. "Yeah... nice to meet you too."

"And we'll remember all those places!" Jackie says, tapping his forehead. "Got it all up here!" 

"So it'll be gone in 5 minutes!" Bro jokes. 

"Hey! You're one to talk!" Jackie pouts, hitting Bro. 

"Hey careful! Holding a very squirmy villain here!" 

"I will cut all of you to ribbons!" Magnificent spits.

Alt rolls his eyes and grabs the others, "Yeah yeah- we've heard that before." 

"We'll make sure to find you again next time too, Ollie!" Bro grins cheekily. 

Alt elbows him in the ribs. "Okay we should go! Bye you guys!" And Alt tries to add a bit more of his energy and magic into the TRVLR as he pushes the jump button.

And they fall into the darkness and greenlight once again. But, just as last jump, their fall shifts slightly. Like leaves caught in a breeze, their course is diverted for a second time. 

#SATCV #SATCV Merms #alt anti #swap magnificent #bro fantastic #jackie mann #i love mag getting his fishy ass kicked #he deserves some humbling XD #also i loveee all them interacting #especially anti and alt :') #alt needs to meet more uh semi-nice antis ajghak #new world tomorrow! another familiar one for cry's fans :)