#notarzt | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

huffle-dork · 3 months

Text

Swap into the CrystalVerse Chapter 20: Horror Septics

Co-written with @crystalninjaphoenix

Read Swapboys | Read Horror Septics | AO3 Link

Taglist: @brokentimewatch @di-diwata

This time after the fall, Alt finds himself in a city. And, despite the slightly older architecture, it is clearly a modern city, with asphalt streets and electric lamps and a group of three people hurriedly walking past wearing jeans and t-shirts. The sky is darker, with just the tinge of orange sunset to the west.

One of the people in the group stops walking and stares at him. "Hallo du! Tourist!" she shouts. "Was machst du? Es ist Nacht! Gehen Sie zurück in Ihr Hotel!" They're speaking a different language, but unlike landing in the last universe, it's a language he at least recognizes.

Alt sways on his feet and shakes out his head. He blinks at the people and then casts his translation spell on himself- but now it feels familiar. He's done this a couple times on Henrik. He asks the woman is shaky German, "Um hi? Can you repeat that please? I don't think I caught it." As he asks he looks around the city, trying to see if there's anything familiar. Though, the fact that they're immedately speaking German to him is not a good sign.

The woman glances him over, then looks back at her two companions. Before she can say anything, though-- EEEEP! EEEEP! EEEEP! The TRVLR starts letting out a loud beeping noise. When Alt turns on the screen, it shows the following message:

WARNING

Lethal ALTRs detected in Current Location: (!)UA-1031019HS. Please jump as soon as possible.

But even if Alt wanted to do that, he can't, because the message and beeping barely lasts long enough for him to read it before it's replaced by the low battery icon.

Alt glitches in surprise as the TRVLR starts to beep and he pulls it out. He goes pale as he reads the message. "No- w-what?!"

The three Germans have decided to have a conversation between themselves while Alt reads the message. The woman from before seems to be insisting something. One of the others, a man, looks concerned, while the second woman stares at the west where the orange light of the sun is fading.

Alt looks desperately at the group and now shouts with more determination, "Please! Where am I?! I-Is there something dangerous around here?"

The three of them jump, surprised, and seem a bit more wary of him. The second woman says in halting English, "Mister, go back to your hotel room, you should not be out on the streets at night in Achmatze." And then, abruptly, they all hurry away, turning the nearest street corner and vanishing from sight.

Alt looks close to panicking as he starts to glitch and run down the street. He pulls out his phone to see if he can message Bro- he needs to warn him!

It seems WiFi and cell signal works in this universe--though he seems to be in a bad reception spot. But before he can do anything, there's something behind him. Footsteps. Approaching rapidly.

How fast can you react, Alt?

Alt almost freezes then he starts to glitch as fast as he can, rushing down the road in a blind panic.

But even glitching, he's not fast enough. Somehow, impossibly, the sound just gets closer and closer, until something grabs him from behind, wrapping an arm around his torso. He feels a pain in his neck.

Alt screams and tries to thrash away, glitching wildly. "N-No! LET ME GO!" He tries to glitch out of their clutches even as his surroundings start to dim and blur.

He does manage to glitch out of the grip holding him back, but he doesn't get far, stumbling down the street and losing his balance. The footsteps behind him approach--not as fast as before, but still quickly--and simply grabs him again, dragging him back towards an open doorway in a nearby building.

Alt stumbles as far as he can before he's grabbed again and now he can feel himself slowing down. His body tries to fizzle and pop with glitches but not enough for him to free himself again. "No! S-Stop...! H-Help...!"

But nobody comes. He's dragged backwards through the doorway. It leads into a hallway with stained white walls and stained white tiles on the floor. And then he blinks. And the doorway leading outside again is gone. Instead there's simply more of the hallway, extending forward, seemingly endless. His vision is starting to waver.

Alt whimpers as the door disappears, terrified tears in his eyes. Is this how he's gonna die? He can't even warn Chase...! He tries to glitch out again, desperate to get away.

His body fizzles for a moment then reappears a little down the hallway. If he was trying to leave by glitching through the walls, it doesn't work. There might as well have been solid rock beyond.

Alt scrambles to try to glitch through the walls but finds himself blocked. Which only makes him panic more.

But as he glitches he turns around, and sees what grabbed him. Stitches mar skin and clothing. One bloodshot blue eye stares at him from above a blue surgical mask. It vaguely looks human, wearing a white coat that is red on the inside, but it is so clearly not.

Then, whatever was injected into him as his legs shaking and then crumpling underneath him.

As he loses his balance, it walks over and crouches down next to him. "Geh ins Bett."

Alt tries to scramble back but he's starting to lose feeling in his limbs. He pleads to the figure. "p-please... d-don't...!"

It simply tilts his head to the side, watching him. Waiting. It knows it won't have to wait long, but this is longer than it expected.

Alt sobs as the darkness threatens to swallow him whole. He whimpers and cries out for his brother. “c-chase…! Chase! H-Help…!”

Darkness soon drags Alt down.

-----------

Bro falls for a second, and lands in a field--no, not just in a field. He's right next to a motorway. Asphalt with cement bounce walls lining it and cars driving quickly down the road. A clearly modern environment. But it is quite isolated. There's nothing but this field of waist-length grass for a while. There's a forest on the edge of the horizon and some sort of building slightly closer than that? It's dark, though. Maybe abandoned. The sun above is dipping near the horizon but not yet touching it. Something rustles in the grass.

Bro startles as he hears the motorway. After a couple days of being in a fantasy land, the sudden noise was a lot. He whirls around to see the field and scratches his head. “Welp… not home again…” He sighs. Then he jumps and hovers in the air for a second as the grass rustles.

A figure pops up. He gasps, then laughs. "H-hey, it's just me!" It's Alt.

Bro relaxes and floats back down to Alt and laughs shakily. “Jesus dude you scared me! Finally we got better luck and actually fell together huh??”

"It's about time, isn't it?" Alt grins and looks around. "Uh... where are we, though?"

“No fucking clue, dude.” Bro answers. He looks out at the horizon and sees the building. “Looks like we got two options, either going to that building or we can try to follow the motorway to see if we can find a town or landmark.”

"Hmm." Alt pauses, thinking. "Well... we could check out that building first." He points. "I-it's not like there's anything stopping us from coming back to the motorway. Besides, haven't we been appearing near, uh, you know... people like us? Maybe someone's in there?"

“Hm! Good point, lil bro!” Bro grins and then takes off into the air. “You wanna race then? The sun is setting and not gonna lie- it’s getting kinda creepy out here!”

Alt grins right back. "You're on!"

Bro laughs and then rockets off towards the house, very briefly checking behind to see if Alt is catching up.

Every time Bro looks back, Alt is a little bit closer. But despite clearly glitching in order to keep up, he's not passing Bro yet. He must still be tired from powering the TRVLR. The building is some ways away, but they steadily approach it.

Bro seems a bit worried but- he also does want to win. Alt’s been beating him a lot lately. So he bursts in a bit of a faster flight and focuses on getting to the house.

--------------

Magnificent appears in a forest--not a good sign for the modernity of this world. But the ropes binding him have disappeared. Since they were made of that world's magic, they must not have been able to last the jump. The forest is full of tall trees with dark bark, a few beams of late-day orange sunlight shining between the rare gaps in the branches. There isn't as much undergrowth as there usually would be in a forest, but there is a lot of fog, curling around the roots of the trees, strands catching around Magnificent's legs.

Magnificent rights himself and then rubs at his wrists. He glares at the forest and then groans, “Another fucking forest- okay…” He sighs and then changes his appearance back to his normal one, scanning the area- is there any magic around here? He’s not lacking… but you know. New world- probably.

It hits him like a truck. Not like the last world, where the magic was everywhere but somewhat distant. Instead, he is standing on the edge of an ocean. Draining power from this source would be like trying to fill a bucket with its water. Even if he can do it without being bowled over by the waves, he would only be able to take a fraction of a percent of a portion of it, and the ocean would not notice its absence.

Magnificent gasps and stumbles against a nearby tree trunk, eyes wide as he registers just how much magic there is. "W-What the hell...? This- this power-!" He pushes himself up to try to look for the source. This- he must try to harness this- control the source! if he did... he'd be unstoppable!

He reaches out. It's all around him, and its power slowly fills him. Around his feet, the fog swirls faster, circling around him like a whirlpool.

Oh.

Oh, he was wrong.

The ocean did notice.

And now it is watching him.

"You're very lost."

Magnificent stiffens and whips around to look for the voice. "Who's there?" He lights green fire in his hand." Show yourself!"

"I think you're just not looking hard enough." As his eyes scan the forest, he suddenly sees it. A tall figure--certainly taller than him--that blends in easily with the trees. Most of its body is hidden even as the light from his fire falls upon it, but the flames dance upon a skull-like mask with two triangular ears. A Chesire grin sits wide beneath the facade. "Where did you come from? And why are you here?"

Magnificent snarls and then he freezes as he sees the figure. He then narrows his eyes at it, "... I come from a world beyond here. And I'm here to gain power." He says plainly. Something feels... off here. "What are you, specter?"

"They call me Cait Coill down in the hollow," it says, taking a step closer, moving so smooth that it almost looks like it's gliding. "You come from the worlds beyond? We haven't had one of those in a long, long, time. And not one so... fragile."

"Fragile?!" Magnificent growls, "You clearly don't know who you're dealing with, Cait Coill..." But- a nagging voice in the back of his head seems to shrink back, wondering if he can even face this thing.

"You have a heart that beats. You have lungs that breathe. You have a liver that filters. You have nerves that sing." Cait Coill raises a hand. The ends of the fingers are sharp. Maybe they're claws. It's hard to tell. "How easy it would be to stop those all." It laughs. Probably. The smiling mouth doesn't open. "But very well. You are... sturdier than most. And you seek power. Is that why you reached out? To take it?"

It is so very quiet in the forest.

Magnificent feels a shiver run down his spine and he staggers back, actual fear flickering in his heart for a second. "Yes..." Magnificent admits. "O-Or perhaps... we could form an alliance?"

"You're not used to offering that, are you?" Cait Coill says quietly. "But if that's what you wish, I can provide."

Magnificent is suddenly very aware of a... loosening. Like he had been held in a tight grip that was now relaxing.

"What can you provide?"

Magnificent falters. "I-I can provide... magical knowledge! Or my unique form of mental magic." He tries not to shudder. He feels like he's making a deal with the devil.

"Why would I need that?" Cait Coill's head tilts to the side. It moves again in that smooth gliding gait. Is it... circling him?

"But... hmm, there is something you may be able to do. I cannot leave my forest, you see. Which is a problem when some of my... not enemies, that is too harsh a word. But we can use it for now. Some of my enemies exist outside my domain. You can leave. Take the power you can carry. If you agree to seek out something in a red hood. You will know it when you see it. Seek it out, and attack when you find it. Intend to kill. Does that work for you?"

"Um... s-sure." Magnificent says slowly. He feels like refusing could get him killed. "I can do that."

Cait Coill nods. The grip disappears entirely. "Take what you will, then." Some of the fog clears, forming a perfectly straight line heading to the left. "Follow that to the road. Once you reach it, you can head wherever you like."

Magnificent breathes and then nods almost reverently. He skids around Cait Coill and starts to walk down the path, taking the power he needs as he walks. His chest feels cold- that distant voice in his head fearfully telling him he's made a grave mistake.

Don't you know Marvin? You never agree with the fae...

Cait Coill stays where it is, watching Magnificent walk away until it feels him step off the forest floor and onto the asphalt of the single road cutting through the trees. "Follow him," it says. The branches above rustle as something moves, skittering limbs and swinging strings. It's the sort of movement that would cause a lot of rustling leaves and creaking branches. But it's so silent in the forest.

Magnificent breaks into a sprint after a second to breathe, using his magic and now this boost to help him teleport away faster.

Why was it so quiet?

-----------

Bro reaches the building first. It's not a house, it's... some kind of concrete box. A radio tower? A cell tower? There's a metal spire sticking out of the roof.

Bro stops in front of the building and stares at it curiously. "Huh."

Alt isn't far behind. "Hah... another win for the great Bro Fantastic, huh?" he says.

Bro turns and grins down at Alt, "Hey! You made good time though~" He lightly teases. He then touches down to the ground and looks around for an entrance. "Whatcha think this place is anyways?"

Alt shrugs. "I don't know. Radio, maybe? They have to have antennas all over the country to broadcast everywhere. People still live in the middle of nowhere and they need to reach others." He walks up to the door, testing it. When it swings easily, he pulls it open. "Come on. Might as well see."

"Oh huh yeah- never really thought of that." Bro admits as he follows after Alt. "... still feels weird though-"

"Yeah, I know." Alt shivers. "It... does give me the creeps a little."

The door opens into a wide room, almost empty. The only real things of note are a desk--reception, of some kind?--and a couple chairs around the edges of the room. There are three doors, all ajar--left wall, right wall, and straight ahead.

"Hello?" Alt calls. There's no answer. "Uh..." He glances at Bro uneasily. "You... want to check out the rooms?"

Stuff might be in there. People might be in there. Might as well.This is creepy, but it's kind of fun to explore with his brother.

"Yeah... might as well," Bro mumbles. "Stick together though... just in case there's like... something bad hiding in here." He starts to go forward, to the door straight ahead of them.

"Right." Alt is suddenly ahead of him. Glitching again, haha. It's good to see after the lack of glitches in the last world. He reaches out and pushes the door fully open. "Hello?" he says, stepping inside.

As Bro starts to follow, someone grabs him. They were hiding behind the desk! And now they pull him back there as well, one hand covering his mouth. "Don't go in there," a voice whispers in his ear.

Bro jerks as he's grabbed and tries to elbow the person holding him.

The person bites back a yelp and immediately lets go of him. When Bro turns to look, he sees an older man--no. Wait. Not older. Despite the streaks of grey in his brown hair, his face isn't actually too much older than Bro himself. He's wearing a couple different layers of shirts and jackets, ending in a green parka with fur around the hood. An eye-patch covers his right eye. Bandages are wrapped around his neck.

"Sorry!" the man whisper-shouts. "But don't go in there! Don't follow it!"

"Chase?" Alt's voice calls.

Bro's eyes widen as he takes in the man's appearance. But, then he growls and starts to push himself up, "It? That's my brother, asshole! What are you playing at? Hiding out back here?" He whispers.

"Yes, I am, actually!" The man hisses back. He gestures around him, and Chase notices that there's a sleeping bag and duffel bag beneath the desk. "I-it was working out, since the tower doesn't work anymore, but it was still freaking me out so I was going to leave--you're so lucky I didn't, oh my god."

"Chase? Is everything alright?" Alt's footsteps turn around and head back into the main room.

The man's eyes widen. He grips Chase's jacket. "Listen, Chase--that's your name right? What color are your brother's eyes? What does he usually wear? Don't go off memory, look at him and think about it!"

Chase takes in the area with widening eyes. Something- something's not right here. He stiffens slightly as he hears Alt coming. "W-What? I... I know what my brother looks like!" He whispers in slight panic.

"Yes, I'm sure you do, that's why I'm telling you to look, and I mean really look," the man insists.

Chase pushes himself away from the man, a feeling of dread heavy in his gut.

"Chase?!" Alt appears in the doorway again, looking worried. "There you are, why--" When he notices the man he stiffens slightly. Why? He was surprised, right? But... why does it feel like there was a split second of something else there. "Did this guy attack you?!"

Bro whips around to look at Alt and then throws up his hands, "N-No! No he... he just startled me- I'm okay."

With the man's warning in mind though, Chase starts to study Alt a bit closer, trying to see if anything is off.

"Are you sure? Did he grab you?" Alt asks.

Nothing much is off. Alt's hair is brown as always and his eyes are blue and he's wearing his jacket.

...

Wait. Alt's eyes are green.

No no no, wait, they're both. He has central heterochromia.

Is that what he's looking at?

Alt has freckles. He usually uses his mask to hide them and his scar. Where are his freckles supposed to be? It's like... as he's staring at this face, it's like they won't... settle?

Imagine talking to someone on the phone. Imagine instinctively picturing them in your mind, and then changing and adjusting that picture as they describe themself to you. That's what Chase is looking at. Except the picture is constantly changing. It's Alt, right? His hair is brown and his eyes are blue and green and he has freckles and a scar and he's wearing his red jacket--

...

Alt's jacket wasn't red when they started jumping through universes.

Why is it red now?

As Chase stares he slowly starts to realize that something is off. But, mostly he's thrown off by the jacket.

Alt's jacket has always... always been blue.

He staggers back, eyes wide. "You're... you're not Alt-"

Alt's face drops. Almost literally, as all of a sudden this human-shaped thing does not look like him at all and Chase isn't sure how he ever could've mistaken it for his brother. It looks at the man with the eye-patch and scowls. "You ruin everything."

The man laughs, a hysterical anxiety-fueled edge to it. "I'm happy to r-ruin things for you! What fucking bad luck, that you decided to go here!"

"I had a plan, I didn't know you were here! It's a radio tower, you know. The spire can still be used even if it's been disconnected."

The man grips Chase's arm. It's unclear if this is for comfort, or if he's trying to pull Chase away from... whatever that is.

Chase staggers back, closer to the man as he watches this thing take away the image of his little brother. Tears gather in his eyes as he suddenly shouts, looking ready to punch this imposter in the face. "W-What did you do with Alt?! Where is he??"

It shrugs. Do shoulders move like that? "I don't know. He wasn't anywhere near you when you popped out of nowhere. I simply... took advantage of the situation."

"You are so lucky," the man is muttering behind him. "You are so fucking lucky. It got you fast, didn't it?"

Chase feels like he can’t breathe. He- he was just willing to believe this thing. But- it looked like Alt! It acted like him- it glitched like him….

Hadn’t it…?

“W-What are you?!”

"That's a good question," it says, and smiles. A moment passes. Then it turns away. "Well. I'll see you later." And it walks right out of the building like nothing had happened at all.

The man lets out a shaky breath. "...maybe you're not so lucky."

“W-Wait! Fucking- Bastard! Get back here!” Bro shouts at the retreating figure, bunching up like he’s ready to go chasing after it.

"Nope!" The man grabs the back of his jacket and pulls him back. "Really think about what you're going to do. Do you want to go after that?!"

Chase oofs as he’s pulled back, then he jerks his arm back and glares at the man. “I… I don’t know! I just- want answers! What’s going on here? What is that thing? Why did it know my brother and I-imitate him so well? Who are you? Why do you know that thing?!” He asks in rapid succession, trying not to panic.

"Yeah well, it isn't going to give you those answers!" The man sighs. "Okay, look. I'll try to explain some. That thing is called Sangria. You know, like the wine, or the shade of red. I-I'm pretty sure it can mildly read minds? Just enough to know what you want. I-I guess you really wanted your brother. And it... does whatever it can to get close to people. As for me, I'm..." He hesitates. "My name is ä±ÞėŎ, but that's... hard for people to remember, so call me whatever you like. I've met Sangria a couple of times... and some others like it." Hard for people to remember indeed. Did he mumble his name?

“Sangira…” Chase repeats, knitting his eyebrows together. “Uh… y-yeah I do… we got separated when coming here… n-now I’m even more worried then I have been. If that t-thing is just walking around, tricking people-!” He then pauses as he tries to process the man’s name. “I’m sorry.., what was your name again?”

"×ķěńĢï," the man says, sounding almost sad. "Look, don't worry about it. Just give me a nickname or whatever, I'm okay with almost anything." He laughs. "As long as you don't call me 'shitface' or something." He quickly becomes serious again. "As for your brother... well, there's no guarantee, but people alone are bigger targets for these things. What... what did you mean by you 'came here'? There's not many places around here."

Chase looks distressed that he can’t understand the man’s name but he nods. He tries to laugh but all he feels is dread. “I… I’m not sure if you’ll believe me but… I’m from- another universe. Usually they’re parallel but I… I have no idea how we relate here… Sangira doesn’t remind me of anyone I know… except you know- when he tried to look like my brother…”

The man blinks. Then laughs. “Sure. Why the fuck not? Other universes.” He shakes his head. “Maybe this is your first one without any parallels. I don’t know. I certainly don’t know a version of you. Chase with a brother named Alt? Doesn’t ring a bell. Or maybe Sangria only vaguely resembles someone you know. Do you know anyone who usually wears red, maybe a hoodie? Its red hood is its most distinct characteristic.”

“I mean… Alt is his preferred name now but… he used to be called Anti. If that helps.” Chase mutters. He pulls out his phone, wondering if he can get a message out to Alt. Though… by now his phone might be dead. When the man mentions the red hoodie, Chase freezes and suddenly pales. “…no- no no no there’s no way… there’s no f-fucking way…!” He whispers in disbelief.

"I don't know anyone named Anti, either--huh?" The man looks down at Chase's phone as he pulls it out. He goes a bit pale and quickly walks away, around the desk. He looks like he wants to go further, but then Chase starts freaking out. "Wait, did you actually find a connection?"

Chase whips his head towards the man and then panics more, “No! Cuz there’s… t-there’s so way that thing is Jackie! There’s no way that m-monster is my best friend! No no no- this… this is fucking—!” He grips at his head and shakes it.

"Oh. Um..." The man hesitates, then reaches across the desk and awkwardly, almost comically, pats Chase on the shoulder. "It's... probably just a coincidence. I mean, there are a bunch of people out there who wear red hoodies. I like hoodies. Maybe I'm your Jackie." He laughs, also awkwardly. "I-I don't mean that, really."

Chase blinks up at the man and tries to breathe, “uh… r-right…” He laughs a little and shakes his head. “…maybe I can call you… not Jackie but similar… Jack, maybe-“

The man’s expression brightens. “Y-yeah! You can do that! N-no problem.”

Chase looks around and furrows his eyebrows, “Hey why… why are you in this radio tower anyways?”

And just as quickly, Jack’s expression darkens again. “Well I uh… I don’t like… being around technology. So this place out in the middle of nowhere seemed perfect. I know, I know, huge radio spire, but everything else in here was stripped away so I thought it was good enough. Like I said earlier, though, it was still kind of freaking me out so I was going to leave soon. Decided to spend one last night here, and… well. You’re so lucky I did.”

"Yeah... i think I am..." Chase hugs himself tightly and then checks his phone again. Definitely dead now. That's what happens when you're in a world without electricity for 3 days. He sighs and shoves his phone in his pocket. "Well you don't have to worry, my phone is dead. But, why are you like- avoiding all that stuff? Usually to do that people like- go off the grid in the woods somewhere."

“God, I’d love to go live in the woods somewhere but I do not have the survival skills for that.” He points to the left, vaguely down the motorway. “There’s a town an hour or two’s walk in that direction, I go there to get food and stuff. As for why… it… has to do with something like Sangria.” He takes a deep breath. “I got targeted by one of them a while ago. I-I escaped, but it… might still be looking for me. It… uses technology. Computers and stuff. So… the less time I can spend around it, the better. Sometimes it can’t be helped though. Like I said, I don’t have the skills to go off grid completely.”

“Oh damn…” Chase mutters, “That’s… terrifying- I can’t imagine trying to… cut myself off from tech. And all alone…“ He sighs and then pushes himself up. “…are- are there a lot of things like Sangria around here? I… i gotta go find my brother…”

“Ha!” Jack laughs, then abruptly covers his mouth to stop himself. “I’m sorry. That’s not funny.” He lowers his hand again, unmuffling his mouth. “To sum it up… yeah? I think so.” He pauses. “If you need help looking for your brother… I’d be happy to join you. I know about a few of them and can probably spot them even if I don’t already know them. I could… be helpful.”

“That’d… that’d be great, Jack.” Bro sighs, “If there’s these bad things around here… I gotta find Alt as soon as possible. He could be in serious trouble…”

Jack nods. “I’m sure your brother can handle himself. You seem tough. I bet he is too.” He walks back around the desk and starts putting away the sleeping bag. “I bet he didn’t pop into this universe—god that sounds ridiculous but why not? Anyway he probably isn’t too far from here. I think the best bet is to walk to that town I mentioned. Even if he’s not there, you can… find somewhere to charge your phone. A-and call him.”

Bro slowly nods and makes sure he has all his stuff. “Yeah… I hope… I hope he’s okay… he’s tough but- he’s been having the worst luck in these worlds…” He holds his arm and grips it right, worry churning in his gut.

Jack pauses. He takes a deep breath. “Well, better hurry then.” He attaches the rolled sleeping bag to the duffel bag and slings it over his shoulder as he stands. “Come on. Better get moving while there’s still light.”

Chase nods, “Yeah I’ll… I’ll follow your lead.”

—————-

Alt awakens slowly, finding himself in a room with white stained walls and a single wooden door. He’s lying down. But when he tries to stand he can’t. He’s strapped to a bed with leather restraints on his wrist, ankles, chest, and waist. Besides the bed, the only other furniture in the room are two large lights, like are used in hospital operating rooms. They’re not on. But somehow the room is evenly lit.

Alt wakes up and when he tries to move- when he feels the tension of the straps- he immediately starts to panic. He starts to hyperventilate as he yanks and writhes, trying to break out of the straps. “No! No no no no! Fuck!!”

The restraints are very secure… but there’s no magic on them. If he could just calm down maybe he could—was that screaming in the distance?

Alt pauses in his panicking to hear the screaming and his blood turns cold. He tries to glitch out of the straps- hopefully whatever he got drugged with didn’t mess with his powers! Please- he needs to get out of here!

It takes a couple tries—he still feels a bit off—but eventually he reappears next to the bed in a flurry of pixels.

Alt gasps as he gets out and then feels his knees shake and he has to lean on the table. He whimpers in fear, he’s shaking so much. But- he needs to get out of here! He stumbles forward and tries to glitch outside of the room.

Again, it takes a minute. Not as long, but longer than he wants. But he soon glitches through the room’s one door and ends up in the hallway outside— And leaning against the wall with folded arms is that same… thing that dragged him in here. One hand holds a bone saw in a loose grip. The other raises, a short wave. “Guten Tag.”

Alt glitches out and stumbles against the wall, holding himself up. He stiffens as he sees the thing- there. He staggers back, heart threatening to beat out of his chest. “no- no no! G-get away from me…!” He yells and tries to push himself away from the wall, stumbling back. He-He should have grabbed a weapon or-can he reach his magic? It feels so- fuzzy. Hard to reach. Electricity crackles around him in small sparks.

It laughs, an amused chuckle like a parent watching a child try to grab something they can’t possibly reach. It doesn’t move. Just watches Alt stagger and scramble. The hallway extends to the left and the right. Left ends in a T intersection. Right ends in a pair of doors.

Alt heaves in panic. He looks between the two options in the hallway. He makes a quick decision and rushes down the right in a clumsy sprint, nearly running into the walls or tripping over his own feet. He rushes through the doors and then tries to look for something to jam against them.

Now this is an operating room. Or… is it called an operating theatre when it’s this old fashioned? The room is circular, with a table in the middle that has the same restraints as the bed Alt woke up on. Around the edges are more lights and trays of sharp instruments. There’s a sink built into the wall but it’s so rusted that it doesn’t look like the knobs will turn. A couple old fashioned wheelchairs are pushed to the side. They also have restraints. If he’s trying to jam the door, maybe… maybe the lights? Or the chairs? The trays are on wheels. Nothing looks too heavy in here…

Alt chokes on a terrified sob as he scrambles to find anything that can help him. He hurries and grabs some of the sharp instruments and then tries to push the wheelchairs up against the door.

As he does that, the doors start to open, pushing into the room. There are locks on the chairs’ wheels that prevent them from rolling, so the doors are blocked for the moment. There’s muttering on the other side. It sounds annoyed. He doesn’t have that long to prepare—!

Alt staggers back and he presses up against the farthest wall. He shakily holds out the tool he found, trying to spark it up with electricity.

The doors burst open, pushing aside Alt’s crude barricade. The stitched up thing stands there. What little Alt can see of its face is irritated, and it’s exchanged the bone saw for a syringe with a long needle. “Du kannst dich hier nicht verstecken,” it growls, approaching him.

Alt yells and then throws the electric charged scalpel at the thing. A distraction. He doesn’t even see if it hits, he then closes his eyes and tries to glitch into the overhead lights. When it doesn’t work though he jolts and looks around. There’s- there’s no overhead lights?? no no fuck-!

The scalpel leaves a small cut in the thing's chest, but that just annoys it more. As Alt stands there trying to find lights that don't exist, it lunges forward, plunging the syringe into Alt's arm. This feels different than the last time. He doesn't feel darkness pulling at him, but his body becomes more and more tired...

Alt screams out in pain and tries to push the thing away. But, his body- he’s losing strength. His knees shake and waver, threatening to give out. His head feels heavy. He chokes on a sob.

“Fuck no-! W-What do you want with me?!” He wails, clumsily hands trying to pry the creature off of him.

"Du bist so faszinierend," it says in a quiet voice, a strange note of awe in its words. It clutches tighter at Alt, dragging him over to the table in the middle of the room. "Dein Schmerz wird köstlich sein." And it pushes him onto its surface.

Alt recognizes two of those words: fascinating and pain. He yells out and tries to fight the thing as it pushes him down, even as his heavy body tries to work against him. “NO! NO LET ME GO! STOP IT!”

But his struggles are of no use. He's too weak and this creature isn't even bothered by him as it applies the straps, keeping Alt's arms spread to either side. There's even one that goes over his neck, preventing him from lifting his head without choking. The creature hums, satisfied, and then starts searching through the sharp implements around the edges of the room—

Alt sobs in terror and tries to struggle but he can barely lift his weak muscles now. He feels like his heart is gonna leap out of his chest. His lungs are working overtime, making him heave breath after terrified breath.

There's... a knock. Like a knock on a door on some other floor of a building. Where did that come from?

Alt hears the knock and tries to turn towards it but he chokes on the strap. So he shuts his eyes and screams out, “HELP!! SOMEONE HELP! PLEASE!!”

The creature raises its head, looking confused and annoyed. It stares at Alt for a long moment...... Then it sighs, disappointed, and quickly leaves the room. The double doors remain ajar but there's nothing Alt can do to reach them right now. Whatever was in that injection is making it hard to glitch.

Alt quietly cries, hating how his body won’t fight anymore. Everything is too heavy. But he’s still awake- he can’t glitch. “C-Chase… chase please w-where are you…?” He whispers to the quiet air.

Not long later, it returns. And there's someone with him. At first, Alt thinks it looks like Jackie--his friend, his friend--but there's something... off about his appearance. The doctor creature from before folds its arms and leans against the wall, while this new person walks up to Alt, looking less and less like Jackie the closer... he... gets.

Alt’s eyes flit to look at the door, and he breathes out in surprise. “J-Jackie?” But then he cuts him off with a gasp and tries to shrink away as the new figure approaches. “…w-who are you…?” He whimpers.

He--it crouches down next to the table so that it's at eye level with Alt. "Who do you want me to be?" it says. "Jackie, you said? Do you want to call me that?"

The thing by the door sighs, irritated. "Dies ist nicht die Zeit für Ihre Spiele!"

"Right, right. Sorry." It flashes a smile. "By now your brother probably knows what I'm called these days, so I'll tell you. Sangria. That's the color your blood is. I assume. I haven't seen it." Its head jerks to the side. "That's Notarzt, if you're curious."

"Hey!" The other one--Notarzt protests. "Ich habe nicht gesagt, dass du es ihm sagen darfst!"

"I-I don't... y-you're not..." Alt stammers in confusion. Then, his eyes widen as this thing- Sangria- mentions his brother. He yells and tries to push against the straps, the air around him trying to glitch. But, he can hardly move. "W-Where is he?! Did you- did you hurt Chase?!"

"I didn't get the chance to, if I'm being honest." Sangria glances back at Notarzt. "£©¥Ĩ was there. He snapped him out of it."

Notarzt stiffens slightly but says nothing.

"But here's the strange thing, Alt," Sangria continues, looking back at him. "I saw him appear out of nowhere. Notarzt said it saw you do the same thing. Why?" It lowers its voice to a whisper. "And you should probably answer. The longer I talk to you, the less time Notarzt gets with you."

Alt shudders and swallows shakily. "I...! W-we're from a-another world-! We... we jumped here- u-using a... a device and- w-we just pop up..! We were trying to go home- we didn't mean to come here-"

"Another world? Fascinating. That would explain why he could fly. You people aren't supposed to be able to do that." Sangria grins. "Let me guess... coming here was an accident? Or... you didn't know what you'd find? I don't think you'd come here if you knew. Unless you were very confident."

"Yeah I... I don't know how- how I picked this one but I... I didn't mean to-! And if.. if you let me find my brother... we- we can get out of here!" Alt pleads, weakly trying to push against the straps, "We didn't know... w-we didn't know...!"

"Do you think we want you to leave here?" Sangria gestures at Notarzt again. "It'd be perfectly happy to keep you here forever... or as long as you last." It sighs. "But it doesn't really make any difference to me. There's already billions of you. And I got bored of death a while ago. This could be something new. Do you think it'll be fun to help you leave?"

Terrified tears still fall off Alt's face as he stammers, "I...I-" He closes his eyes then whimpers out desperately, "I-I can make it fun...!" He shoulders glitch and fizzle and pop, reacting to his emotions.

It's hard to read Sangria's expression as it tilts its head.

But Notarzt seems unhappy with this whole thing. "Das hilft mir nicht, wissen Sie," it grumbles.

"Oh shush, think of this as repayment," Sangria says. "Alright. Alt, did anyone else come here besides you and your brother?"

"M-Mag... A m-magician named Magnificent...! He's here too- I.. I don't know where he is though-" He whispers, eyeing Notarzt and trying to control his shaking.

"Hmm... you don't seem to like him," Sangria says thoughtfully. It grins. "But if you're going back, then he has to go back, doesn't he? Alright." It stands up. "I can make this work. Don't worry. You and your brother and that magician will be going home."

Notarzt cries out, and Sangria hurries over to it. It says something in a quiet voice that Alt can't make out from here. Whatever it is seems to calm Notarzt, which nods.

"This won't take long," Sangria says to Alt. And without another word, it leaves the room through the double doors.

"W-WAIT!" Alt shouts after him, fighting against the straps with a new burst of terror. "I-I thought-! D-D- DON'T LEAVE ME HERE!!" He screams- and a burst of sound waves comes off him, pushing some of the medical trays and equipment back. But- it doesn't do much besides that as Alt sobs, absolutely petrified with fear.

But Sangria is already gone. Notarzt takes a moment to straighten out the equipment, then picks something up and walks over. "Sind Sie bereit?" it asks, holding up a long, thin blade.

Alt stares with wide eyes, breathing rapidly and shaking like a leaf. “n-no… no please-“

Notarzt laughs. It slowly lowers the blade, slicing through Alt's shirt. It pushes the fabric aside and takes a moment to examine things. And then it lowers the blade again and slices a pair of clean lines, tracing the shape of Alt's collarbone.

Alt bites back a scream, clawing fingers into the table below him.

It follows it up with a long line tracing down his sternum, then two more at the bottom where his ribcage ends.

Notarzt exchanges the long blade for a smaller scalpel and some sort of long needle-like object. It leans close and pokes the needle into the cuts it made, occasionally using the scalpel to... hold it open. The needle goes deep. Is it poking against the bone?

Alt does scream now, attempting to kick his feet and claws deeper into the table as he feels something poking his bones! it feels fucking awful. “S-stop- Stop!”

"Hör auf?" Notarzt looks at him, blue eye alight. "Das ist erst der Anfang." But after a while--too long of a while--it does stop, exchanging these tools for a smaller needle and some black thread. "Sie werden dafür stillhalten wollen."

Alt sobs, closing his eyes and trying to calm his breathing but all he can feel is searing pain in his numb body. He can’t help but panic.

And it doesn't end. It's a small piercing at first, and then it goes deeper, beneath the skin into the flesh and muscle. And then comes the pulling, the feeling of something passing through. This is going to take a while. And there will be more after.

Alt screams himself hoarse, screaming and writhing and crying out for his brother. “Help- HELLPPP!!” His screams echo down the hall, sometimes vibrating the walls and shaking the ceiling.

#Swap into the crystalverse #SITCV Horror #warning for whump and uh- lab experiments in this one #Notarzt is a freaky motherfucker and does really lay into alt ajhbak #alt anti #swapboys #swap magnificent #bro fantastic #this is another chapter of mag gets whats coming to him! sghjbka #and alt gets whumped so hard cuz im a dirty whumper and cry gets me JGHBK #this one was really really fun- i hope you guys enjoy the spooks :3c #tw: medical whump

8 notes · View notes