Brothers

Chapter Seventy-Seven- Grand Entrance

"The... What... How... Fuck... What the fuck...?" To say Dark was a little confused and disoriented would be quite the understatement. 

He tried to use magic to destroy whatever this cage around him was, but nothing happened. He was slow to process that and was a little too tired at first to realize what it meant. 

And then, as he blinked and laid his hand on one of the red bars surrounding him, it clicked. He was trapped, King and Host were severely injured, and Actor had a device that could both keep him contained and keep him awake. 

That was bad. VERY bad. 

"Oh, it worked?" Actor looked at the device the other him gave him, baffled. "Uh- I mean- yeah. Of course, it worked. Ahem... Wow. I think that's thew first time my plans worked exactly as they were supposed to." The fact that Actor obviously hadn't expected this made Dark even more worried. 

Dark pondered telling Actor that this wasn't very well thought out, considering he was trapped but in his own yard still. Char and The Court would get him out soon enough, and probably rip Actor a new one if he stuck around. But Dark knew better than to mention that.

"Alright then, we'll be going now! I just got to get this baby attached to the cage, and I'll be able to bring you with me..." Actor took a step forward, but Illinois and Yancy were suddenly in front of him. Unfortunately, they were the only Ipliers available. Magnum couldn't move without it hurting like shit- he probably had a few broken ribs- and King and Host were definitely out of the picture, with Edward and Bim trying their best to take care of them with no way to get them to a hospital or even inside. 

But they were a good two to be in the game. They had good teamwork and they both knew how to fight and had weapons. Though, that didn't mean they were any match for Actor. Said actor snorted as they got in his way, "you two SERIOUSLY think you're a match for me? You two couldn't land a hit on Dark even if you tried, and you've seen how WEAK he is compared to me!" He huffed in amusement, but the Ipliers weren't disturbed.

"You can't hurt us, remember?" Illinois smirked, pulling out his whip. Actor's grin faltered as he remembered that thing that had happened only a few minutes ago. "Perhaps not..." His grin soon came back, canines gleaming brighter than ever.

And then suddenly, he was gone. 

Actor reappeared behind the two, almost right in front of the cage Dark was in. "-But I CAN outsmart you, imbeciles!" He laughed at their stupidity, reaching out to quickly connect the device in his hands to the bars of the magic cage. But then something odd happened. 

"Eh. It's easy to outsmart idiots. You haven't really accomplished much. Me, on the other hand..." 

Actor's eyes widened as he recognized the voice speaking. 'What the hell?!' was his immediate, and very reasonable reaction. But that little shock wasn't the reason he was scared. He was scared because there was something off about the bars. Something that he hadn't noticed before because it was nearly camouflaged by the red- but harmless- electricity zapping off of the bars.

"Let's just say that I'm known to be far more intelligent than I lead on."

The device made contact with the bars and bounced back. But Actor was still lurching forward, and the rest of his body made contact with the cage that seemed to have something protecting it.

"And so is my dear friend... King."

Actor reeled back with a scream, clenching his teeth to try to muffle the sounds of pain as he was engulfed in electricity. He backed away from the cage and everyone else as quickly as possible.

"How..." Actor seethed, "how are you alive?!" Somebody hopped down from on top of the cage, somebody no one had noticed until now. "Oh, but I just told you! Heheheh... Sorry bud, but that last dose King gave me WOULD'VE killed me... If he hadn't given me the antidote." 

It was Antisepticeye, standing there in all his glory.

"Anti!" Dark called out in relief and joy seeing that Anti was alive and had heard his call for help. 

There was confidence in his step and cockiness in his gaze, and he was sparking dangerously. Unlike Dark, he seemed to be at full power and had no problems with teleporting while Actor was there. 

Also, unlike Dark, Anti wasn't interested in talking.

The glitch launched forward, knife appearing in his hand. Actor snarled, putting the device back into its gun mode and pulling the trigger. Red and green sparks met with a clash, Anti writhing as the red dug into his skin. But the mad glitch shook it off like a dog shaking off water. He twitched but gave a wide grin anyway. 

He continued to lunge at Actor head-on, slashing at him. Anti's knife caught Actor's arm and dragged down as the other pulled back, creating a hook-like wound. Actor hissed, eyes locked on Anti, "you want to fight me? Alright. Let's fight."

The two menaces collided, Actor putting the device away in exchange of the translucent knife. They clashed again and again, slowly drifting away from the Ipliers. Anti glitched here and there, trying to confuse his opponent and lashing out at the actor with knife and magic whenever he could. Actor would use his own, raw aura and the knife as his weapons and defense. Anti was quick and stealthy, and able to get good hits in before Actor could even see him, but Actor's aura was powerful and the knife more deadly than a normal one.

As they drew away, the Ipliers relaxed slightly but got to work on trying to get Dark out of there. Or, at least, Illinois and Yancy did. With Actor not in their way anymore, Edward slung Host over  his shoulder and had Bim grab King, going to bring them to his office. They needed emergency care... 

But the door to the inside was locked. "Fuck!" Edward cursed quietly. Actor must really want these two dead... Well, Host would probably be fine. He wasn't actively bleeding anymore, and his breathing was fine, they just needed to find out what was wrong with his throat and hook him up to a blood bag. But King wasn't doing so well. The knife was still in his eye, and he was FEELING it now. Nobody even knew how deep it was- which was also very bad. And he was still bleeding.

Illinois had figured by now that the cage couldn't be opened without that device, but he didn't know where Actor put it. So, he called to the one person who was smart enough to predict an idiot like Actor without a problem. "Anti! Actor has a device that's keeping Dark trapped!" 

The glitch shot a glance their way, but that was a mistake. He gave a sharp yelp as Actor plunged the knife just below his chest. The air was forced out of his lungs as he was punched in the stomach and thrown on his back to the ground. "Hey, Dark! I hear you don't like people touching what's yours! Let's see how you like THIS!" Actor's cold laugh above him sent a chill into his heart, but Anti wouldn't cower. 

Actor's hand reached down, but Anti wasn't giving him the chance to hurt him or touch him. The glitch snarled and snapped upward, biting Actor's hand all the way to the bone. The actor howled in outrage, repaying the other with a sharp right hook. He bounced back, wary of the feral virus. 

"How's it feel to be property, glitch-bitch?" Actor taunted, eyes glinting maliciously. But the answer that came out of Anti's mouth was so genuine it caught him off guard.

"Pretty damn good."