Curiosity Killed The Cat (Part 2)

Curiosity Killed the Cat (Part 2)

Something Dark

Anti throws Marvin onto the ground and the magician flies across the floor, his head knocking into the metal frame of a bed across the room. Marvin has barely a second to breathe before Anti glitches over and grabs him and pulls him up by his shirt. Marvin chokes and weakly grabs at Anti’s arms as the glitch leans in and growls.

“You got some explaining to do, kitten whiskers,” He snarls, his eyes flashing green. Marvin tries to swallow as he chokes out, “I-i haven’t done… a-anything-!”

“Exactly!” Anti shouts, throwing down Marvin again. The magician hits his head against the metal on the bed and his vision goes black for a second. He quickly shakes it off, rubbing his head as Anti draws closer. A quiet mumble behind Marvin has his shoulders tensing and he looks behind him to see Jack shifting in his sleep, a look of pain furrowing his brow. The heart monitor next to the youtuber spikes slightly as another quick exhalation escapes Jack’s mouth.

“Explain to me why he’s n̘̬̂͘ổ̧͖ẗ̛̪͔́ ͇̭̊̐a̙̱̐̀s̗̭̔͑ḷ̗̉̊ḙ͙̀̉e͔̞̓͘p̳̠̅̒,̨̡̈́̽ ͈̱̐̐k̞̭̓̾ị̪̎̿ṫ̩̻́ ̮̝̉͛k̡̗̍͊â̛̘̤ţ̿̔͜!̳̥̀͝"̬͓̋͌ The glitch snarls. Marvin scrambles away from both Jack and Anti as he tries to speak.

“I-i i dunno!” Marvin wheezes, “I-i’m trying the strongest m-magic i can!” A collection of glitches strikes Marvin in the face and his head snaps to the side, throwing his face into the wall. Marvin massages his face with a groan and gasps as he pulls his hand away to reveal blood. A knife sinks itself into the wall behind Marvin, snapping the magician’s attention back to the angry glitch.

“You need to try fucking harder!” Anti screams. “I can’t have him waking up!” The demon’s eyes seem to display a quiet desperation that doesn’t match his enraged expression. Marvin swallows and tries to stagger to his feet, blood dripping from his nose onto the tiles beneath him.

“I’m… doing…what I can…” Marvin rasps, holding his side as it burns from being tossed around. “I don’t know…what you want me to do…”

Marvin’s wrists fly up as Anti yanks on the green strings attached to magician, causing the man to be dragged across the floor, his face scrapping painfully against the tiles. Anti’s scruffed up sneaker cracks against Marvin’s skull as the glitch leans down to his level.

“I want you to do s̢̤̋͠ö̧̙́̄m̪̱̔̎ę͍̄͝t̙͓͒͑h̬͙͒̽i̛͖͍̇n̡̻͛̏g̡̜͑̃!͉̼͋̔"̨̹̈́͋ He barks darkly, digging his heel into Marvin’s head. “Or do i need to kill those pathetic friends of yours to get you working?”

Marvin coughs and looks up at the glitch. But his expression seems almost apathetic to Anti’s threat. Anti bares his fangs and reaches down to grab Marvin’s hair and he yanks it up roughly. Marvin cries out, pin pricks of tears clouding the corner of his vision.

“Or do i need to make you d̥̺̏̚i̧̱͗̕s͉̝̀̽a̹̫̔̆p̤̓̚͜p͙͖̊͝e͖̼̽̈́a͎͉͊̃r̰̖͑͘ ͇͖͐́ä͓̲́̿g͕͕͒̕a̮̦͑͆i̢̯͋̓n͈̣͋̈?̨̟̾̔"͉̻̅̅ ͚̤̊̚ he adds quietly, letting his words sink in slowly. Marvin’s eyes widen as he shakes and curls his hands into fists.

“Y-you can’t… You wouldn’t…” The magician mumbles brokenly.

“Oh but i can,” Anti giggles slightly, “Even with my little host waking up i still have enough power to make you fade in the most painful way possible.” Marvin’s shoulders shake violently as he tries to hide his terror.

“I could then go in and erase you from Jack’s mind… erase you from the fans’ minds… So you could never come back~” Anti whispers with glee, “ Or i could leave just enough of you floating around that you would be around but not enough you could reform…oh that sounds like it would be so much fun~!” Anti laughs madly, throwing Marvin’s head down as he stands up to full height, watching the small magician cower.

“And since you couldn’t do what i needed… I’ll just go get another puppet! I’m sure with JJ’s feeble little powers he could do something.. Maybe I could suck Jackie’s powers and-”

“Stop!” Marvin sobs, rising up on shaking arms. ”Just… stop… please…” He chokes out brokenly.

Anti regards the shameful display with a cold expression.

“Alright, but what will you do now Puppet?’

Marvin grits his teeth. “I… I’ll figure something out… He won’t wake up.. I’ll make sure of that.”

“You better,” The glitch snarls. He then turns heel and starts heading back through the door that leads to whatever room he’s locked the two up in. But before he stalks out, the demon pauses before he reaches into his pocket and pulls out an object. He throws it Marvin’s way.

“See if that’ll help you, kitten,” He calls out as he starts to close the door behind him, “And you better have something figured out soon. I’m not a patient man.” The door slams loudly shut behind the glitch, making Marvin flinch and curl in on himself.

Marvin peeks open his eyes to see what Anti had thrown him. Marvin crawls to the small item, his entire body sore from the beating he just took. Marvin carefully scoops it up and studies it.

It’s a small crocheted doll. With blue buttons eyes. The hair looks like it’s made of dark brown felt. It’s a Jack doll. Just holding it in his hands sends shivers down Marvin’s spine.

What the hell was he supposed to do with this?

Marvin settles his back against Jack’s bed frame as tears threaten to fall from his eyes. He listens to the quiet breathing and gasps from his creator with a heavy heart. He shouldn’t even be doing this. Jack didn’t deserve this. But if he didn’t… everyone would suffer. And he would disappear.

Marvin chokes on a quiet sob at the thought, curling in on himself and hugging the tiny doll to his chest.

His magic wasn’t meant for this. He trained his magic to either dazzle or help people. He never wanted his magic to hurt anyone. He didn’t want to control people.

He could hypnotize people, sure. But he never wanted to. And this was far beyond that now… Anti wanted Jack in a coma. Alive but asleep. Out of the way.

Marvin’s brain struggles to think of a solution. He thinks back to his time of studying magic. Hadn’t he read something similar to this?

A hazy memory swirls in Marvin’s head.

He’s younger, hanging out in the Phantom Dream Emporium after a training session with Phantom himself. The other figment had gone to get them food for a job well done. Leaving Marvin to man the shop while he was gone.

Marvin had gotten curious and decided to leaf through some books lining the book shelves. He felt drawn to the spine of certain book. The color of it was the blackest black Marvin had ever seen, bound with purple trim. There’s a certain hum of energy and power emanating from the book that sets Marvin’s nerves on fire as his fingers brushed against the tome, carefully sliding it from the shelf. The cover is blank, the pages yellowed by time and dog eared. Carefully Marvin pries the book open, almost with difficulty.

As Marvin skims through the pages, time seems to still. Marvin’s brain is on overdrive, trying to process as much information as he can from the book. Something inside him is screaming at him that this is wrong. He shouldn’t be reading this. But, there’s so much to learn from this. So much he had never known. Magic he hadn’t realized existed-

Suddenly the book is being pried away from him and Marvin cries out in protest. Phantom’s usual dark eyes spark with crimson fire as he glares at the young magician. Marvin swallows.

“You shouldn’t be reading this Marvin,” Phantom scolds quietly. He slams the book shut and slides it back into place.

“Why not?” Marvin bites back. “You’re teaching me magic, and that has magic i’ve never even heard of!”

Phantom purses his lips and growls slightly, “You aren’t powerful enough to use this magic. Nor is it suited for you.” Phantom shakes his head and loops his arm around the cat masked boy, putting on a dazzling smile. “C’mon kid-”

Marvin’s eyes shoot open as the memory fades. Sweat drips down his face. That book… he remembers some of the spells.

He knows what he can use now.

The magician swallows as he looks down at the doll Anti gave him. Who knew this would actually help him…. But he needs something else.

Marvin stands up on shaking legs and makes his way to the head of Jack’s bed. The youtuber is still sleeping quite restlessly, his eyes moving rapidly under his eyelids. Marvin feels numb for a second as he stares at Jack. His creator was never going to forgive him for this.

The boy swallows and reaches out, quickly taking some of Jack’s locks in his hand and yanking. Jack whimpers slightly as Marvin pulls a chunk of hair away from his head. Marvin takes the hair and stuffs it within the holes that make up the doll’s body.

Marvin then cradles the tiny doll in his hands, slowly concentrating on filling its body with his magic. He shuts his eyes, trying to think of Jack in his mind. Marvin’s fingertips feel like they’re being filled with electricity as he opens his eyes back up. He sees a small green glowing ball rising out of the doll and it floats gently above where its heart would be. The neon green color of the orb sets Marvin’s heart racing, the color too similar to Anti’s. Then he realizes it’s softer, bright but not blinding.

A gasp from behind him has Marvin turning around rapidly. Jack’s eyes have opened but they’re glowing the same soft green as the orb from his doll. A green light echoes the color on his chest. Marvin swallows and shakily turns his attention back to the doll.

Marvin reaches out and carefully takes the ball in his hand. Immediately Marvin hears Jack’s voice. His loud energetic cadence fills Marvin with warmth. His laughter echoes in Marvin’s ears and he smiles slightly. But Marvin quickly shakes off the smile, a serious frown taking its place. Marvin grips the orb and starts to push it back into the doll. He struggles to push it back however, the orb resisting the path. Marvin grits his teeth, his eyes flowing blue with power as he presses harder. The voice from the orb starts to change into something less pleasant.

Still the orb refuses to move. Marvin’s magic starts to fade from green blue to slightly purplish as Marvin forces it down with all his might. Suddenly Jack’s voice is screaming in Marvin’s head as the orb starts to disappear from the surface and dissolves back into the doll. The heart monitor beside Jack starts rapidly beeping in distress as the irishman grits and cries out in pain. Marvin shoves the orb down forcefully. A burst of purple magic rockets from the space, sending the doll flying out of Marvin’s hands.

The heart monitor’s sirens cut off. Jack quiets, his head slumping limping on his pillow, his eyes shut once again. His breathing is so quiet now, almost as if he’s not breathing at all. But the heart monitor continues its beeping, even though the heart rate is frighteningly low.

Marvin tries to catch his breath, his fingers alight with magic still. They feel like they’re burning. Marvin swallows, his arms shaking. He slowly turns around and looks down at Jack, wondering if his spell worked. Gently, Marvin brushes his fingers against his creator’s forehead.

Suddenly, Marvin can see what he seems to know is inside Jack’s head. It’s dark and silent. Expect for a slight noise. Marvin recognizes it though. He’d know that deranged glitching laughter anywhere.

The magician draws his hand away, guilt burning painfully in his stomach. Then his stomach actually begins to burn, the sudden change unbearable. Marvin cries out, his knees cracking against the tile as he whole body seems to be alight with a terrifying pain. Like the magic flowing through his veins had turned to liquid fire. Marvin shakily looks at his hand, trying to understand what could be happening. He sees his veins seem to glow a sinister looking purple under his skin.

The edges of Marvin’s vision is turning that same purple as well. The feeling of his chaotic untapped magic seems to capture Marvin in its grasp. The swirling essence claws around Marvin’s throat. Mavrin chokes, unable to breathe as he clumsily grasps his hands against his neck, his scar burning. Marvin feels like he’s being swallowed whole by this strange power as his vision tunnels, everything being tinted dark purple as his vision fades.

A strange strangled laugh is the last thing Marvin hears as his eyes begin to roll up into the back of his head, his body shutting down from the pain. Marvin’s blood runs cold as he realizes the laughter sounds like it came from him. Then he hits the ground with a sickening crack and everything falls silent.