Mark's POV

After I had finished rinsing the milk out of my hair, I changed back into Dark's clothes and was greeted by Anti at the door. "Mark, we need to talk to Jason and Nate."

"You mean you, Dan, and Phil do? I can wait in your room, I guess."

Anti smiled awkwardly. "Uh, actually, I meant you, me, Dan, and Phil." I sent him a confused glance before he continued, "We need to fill them in on what's going on. They pay attention to practically everything going on down here. They're likely our best bet to finding out where Jack is."

"Couldn't you just ask them about human sightings instead of explaining to them that I'm here?" I asked.

After a short pause, Anti answered, "It'll be easier for you to get around without having to worry about them seeing you. Plus, there's something else you should probably know about."

Before I had the chance to ask him what he was referring to, he grabbed me by the hand and dragged me through the maze-like house. He didn't say a word to me while we walked. I couldn't help but get the feeling he was nervous about something.

We entered the living room to find Dan and Phil sitting together on the couch. They had both rinsed the whipped cream off of themselves. "Where are Nate and Jason?" Anti asked.

Dan and Phil turned around to face us. "Nate's doing as he was told and cleaning the kitchen. I'm pretty sure Jason's in there too, but I'm not sure," Dan answered.

"Are we doing this right now?" Phil asked hesitantly.

"Yeah," Anti replied. "Go get the others and I'll meet you in the kitchen."

After Dan and Phil agreed and walked off, Anti and I entered the kitchen. Inside, I viewed Nate carefully placing cereal boxes back onto the shelves they belonged on. He stopped once he noticed Anti and me. "How did four adults manage to make this big of a mess in under twenty minutes?"

Anti shrugged. "Pure talent. Is Jason in here with you?"

Nate sat down on top of the counter. "Nope. He and Reagan left to ask around about–"

I had been standing beside Anti in silence and tensed up upon the mention of Reagan. They hadn't mentioned her before this, and I couldn't help but wonder why. It also made me think about if Percy was here or not.

"Hate to interrupt you," Anti cut him off, "but I'd rather not hear what they're doing. It'll honestly just freak me out. Where'd they go and when will they be back?"

"They went to town, I think. They'll probably be back in around an hour," Nate replied.

"Can you call them and get them to come back any sooner?" Anti asked.

"Depends, will you tell me why you need them here?"

Anti paused for a moment before answering, "We need to talk to you three about something really important."

Nate's eyes widened. "Oh shit, who proposed?"

I grinned as Anti blushed. "N-No one proposed!"

"It was Dark, right?" Nate smirked.

"No!"

"Then did he ask to be your boy–"

"Nate, shut up before we disown you!" Dan yelled from the other room.

Disown?

"What? I'm not allowed to tease Anti?" Nate called back in a genuinely confused tone.

Phil peeked his head in the doorway. "Not unless we're there to help."

Nate rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Can I tease Dark or do the same rules apply for him?"

Phil made eye contact with me before stating, "I'm interested to see how he reacts to it, so knock yourself out."

Nate smirked at me and seemed prepared to give a speech before Anti stopped him, "Save it for when you get a genuine reaction. Now, go call Jason and Reagan and tell them to get their butts back here."

"What do you mean 'genuine reaction'?" Nate asked.

"Go call Jason and Reagan, now," Anti demanded.

Nate sighed, "Sure."

He jumped off the counter and walked toward the living room. Dan and Phil came into the kitchen. "Reagan and Jason aren't here?" Dan asked.

"According to Nate, they went to town to ask around about something," Anti replied.

"What're they asking about?" Phil questioned.

"Probably the same thing they've been trying to figure out the past couple months."

"Which would be what, exactly?" I asked.

Dan and Phil glanced at each other before Dan answered, "Basically, political stuff."

"There's politics in the Underworld?" I questioned skeptically.

"Oh, you'd be surprised," Anti mumbled.

"Do Underworld politics and that timer in your room have any correlation?" I asked Anti.

Anti froze while Dan and Phil stared at him. Dan looked back to me. "Timer?"

"I saw it this morning, but Anti never told me what it was for. He just said that I'd be gone before it affected me." I glanced at Anti.

He regained a bit of his composure. "Which is completely factual. I imagine you'll be out of here in two days at the most."

"What was the timer at?" Dan asked Anti.

I look of sorrow filled Anti's eyes as he murmured, "Under three days."

Dan's eyes widened. "What do you mean under three days?! There's no way that his ex–"

"Guys, worrying Mark about this is definitely something we should avoid," Phil put in.

"No offense," Anti added.

"None taken, but why would I be worried about something happening down here?"

"I've known you for less than a day and I'm absolutely positive this is one of those things that would scare the crap out of you. It's best if you just don't ask about it," Phil answered.

After a few seconds of silence, I decided, "Yeah, alright."

Anti smiled at me. "Thanks. Now, where the heck did Nate go?"

"You told him to call Reagan and Jason, didn't you?" Phil asked.

As if on cue, Nate entered the kitchen. "They said they'll be back in around ten minutes. What were you guys talking about?"

"Not much," Dan answered. "Good job cleaning the kitchen by the way."

Nate smiled victoriously. "Thanks for recognizing my skill. Be honest though, what the heck did you guys do to make such a huge mess?"

Anti glared at Dan and Phil. "Ask them."

Nate glanced at Dan and Phil before Dan answered, "Don't look at us! We were innocently flinging cereal at each other until Anti and Dark decided to show up."

"Screw you! We were hungry! You're the ones who decided dumping syrup on me was a good idea!" Anti defended.

"After you dumped milk on me," I commented.

"Not to mention after we did that, you poured whipped cream on us!" Dan yelled.

"In my opinion, you more than deserved it," Anti mumbled.

"You guys act like three-year-olds," Nate stated.

Dan looked ready to start a fight, but before he had the chance to say anything, we heard a knock on the front door. We all glanced at each other before Phil left to answer it. He returned a moment later with Jason and Reagan.

Nate smiled and ran over to them. They began chatting and exchanging photos, but were soon stopped when Anti instructed, "Guys, sit down for a second. We need to have a talk real quick."

The three of them glanced at each other before walking to the table. "What's up?" Jason asked.

Dan and Phil sat on the counter while I followed Anti to the table and sat down next to him. "We're about to tell you three a huge secret," Anti started.

The three of them glanced at each other before Reagan asked, "What secret?"

"You guys can't tell anyone about this, understood?" Dan questioned from the counter.

They nodded their heads, intrigued.

Anti glanced at me. He must've expected me to explain everything. "You want me to tell them?" I asked.

I heard Phil chuckle, "What could go wrong?"

I sighed, "I'm not really sure where to start–"

"Spit it out! The anticipation is tearing me apart!" Reagan exclaimed.

"Okay. My name isn't Dark. I'm Mark, his human version, I guess."

All three of their jaws dropped. "What?" Jason asked.

"I'm Dark's alter ego, and I'm going to need your help."

"With what?" Nate asked with a trembling voice.

"We need to save Jack," Anti answered for me. "And if anyone knows where he is, it'd be you three."

A/N

I just realized that I have a habit of ending chapters on cliffhangers.

I swear I don't try to do this, it literally just happens. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyways, BUH-BYE BROTATOES!