Hades launched a fireball at Janus, who barely had time to dodge it. 

“Can’t we talk about this?” Roman asked with a tilt of his head. “I mean, I get it. He shot you, you’re trying to kill us and take over the city. I’m sure we can just talk it out?”

“You’ve never been one to use your words.” Hades narrowed his eyes at Roman. “What are you planning, Prince? Trying to distract me?”

“Distract you from what?” Roman blinked innocently. “There’s no one trying to harm you.”

Hades turned around. “Aha!” He exclaimed, but then furrowed his brow when he saw no one there. “There really was no one--”

He turned back around, and was met with a punch to the face from Roman. 

Hades flew back crashing into the wall of a building.

“Ooh! Yikes!” Roman flew over to him, hovering in front of the villain. “That looked like it hurt.” He smiled smugly.

Janus turned his focus to Remus and Patton, who were now helping Logan take down Dr. Facilier.

“Use your illusions.” Logan told Remus, firing metal shards at the shadows with rapid speed. “Make a light.”

“That’s why you’re the smart one, Logic.” Remus replied, and suddenly there was a giant lamp shining down on them. 

Even Remus recoiled. “Okay, didn’t think it would be that bright.” 

The shadows hissed, retreating into a nearby alleyway.

The second Virgil’s mouth was uncovered, he shouted: “All villains freeze!”

Immediately, all the villains stopped moving. Hades had frozen while trying to form a fireball, Shan Yu had frozen while trying to stand up, and Dr. Facilier had frozen while shielding his eyes from the light.

“Damn.” Remus gave a low whistle, resting his mace on his shoulder. 

“We’ll leave them to the cops.” Logan told them, all the metal fragments hitting the ground as he released them. 

“Should we even bother? We all know that they’ll just break out again.” Roman ran a hand through his hair, huffing. 

“We can’t just leave them here, dumbass.” Virgil scoffed, standing up. “I’m sure the police can manage for now. Even if they do break out, we can just catch them again. It’s like a game of cat and mouse.”

“The question is, who’s the cat and who’s the mouse?” Janus mumbled under his breath. 

“We should head back to the base, it isn’t--” Logan paused suddenly, his eyes widening. When he didn’t continue, Janus furrowed his brow.

“Uh, Lo?” Patton waved a hand in front of his face. The taller hero didn’t react, eyes glazing over. Patton sighed, frowning. “Why now?”

“What’s going on?” Janus asked, a bit concerned. “Is he alright?”

“It’s The Mind.” Roman huffed, his voice bitter but quiet. “The Voices.” 

“...What?” Janus asked incredulously. “What are you talking about?”

“We can’t talk about this here.” Virgil hissed. “Morality, teleport us back.”

“He’s not a dog.” Remus grumbled, placing a hand on Patton’s shoulder. 

“No, he’s right. We need to head back.” Patton nodded, taking Logan’s hand in his, and extending his free hand toward the rest of them. 

---

When they appeared in the living room of their base, everyone instantly began moving. 

“Logan,” Virgil began, taking off his mask, “go lay down.” 

Logan, eyes still glazed over, obeyed and walked over to the couch. 

Remus took a deep breath, and suddenly the room’s ceiling became the night sky, stars shining down upon them all. Remus swayed where he stood, before falling to his knees.

“Are you alright?!” Janus exclaimed, rushing to sit down next to him. 

“Yeah, ‘m fine.” Remus nodded. “Big stuff makes me sleepy.”

“You made the lamp earlier and you seemed fine?” Janus tilted his head.

“That was easy. To make that, however?” He pointed toward the stars. “I had to make it last up to five miles, otherwise it won’t convince Logan that it’s real.” He yawned, rubbing at his eyes. 

Janus looked out the window, and saw that it was night out there too. When he looked at his watch, however, it only said it was 3 P.M. 

“That’s very impressive.” Janus told him, looking back at Remus.

Remus hummed, eyelids drooping. He forced them open again, standing up and stumbling over to the couch.

Patton walked in with a jar full of jam and a spoon. Roman followed him in, a glass of water in his right hand and a plastic shopping bag in his left.

Logan was still unresponsive, eyes staring blankly at the wall as he lay on his side. Virgil was sitting near his head, his left hand idly running through Logan’s hair. Remus was sitting near Logan’s feet, trying to keep himself awake.

“Fuck those guys.” Virgil snarled, the amount of venom in his voice startling Janus. “Why can’t they just leave him alone? He’s done everything they asked.”

“They think he owes them something.” Roman said simply, placing the glass of water on the coffee table. “They ‘blessed’ him with his powers, after all.”

“What’s going on?” Janus asked, pushing his mask up so it rested on the top of his head. “Who are you talking about?”

“The Mind.” Patton supplied unhelpfully. “The Voices.”

Janus stared blankly at him. “Patton, that doesn’t explain anything.” He said. 

“They’re the ones who gave Logan his powers.” Remus filled in, drowsiness lacing his tone. It was clear to everyone that he was only talking to keep himself awake. “They do this sometimes.”

“And what is ‘this?’” Janus gestured to Logan. 

“The Summoning.” Roman spat, glaring at the floor. “They do it when they want something from him, or sometimes they do it just to remind him that they’re there.”

“I don’t understand why they feel the need to remind him.” Virgil shook his head. “It’s not like he’s going to forget. He has nightmares about it twice a week.”

Janus blinked. Logan had trauma related to the origin of his powers. He would have to file that away for later.

“Remus,” Roman snapped his fingers in front of twin brother’s face, causing him to jump, “wake up.” 

“Sorry.” Remus mumbled, brow furrowing as he shook his head. 

“You shouldn’t have made it so early.” Virgil lightly scolded. 

“I didn’t know when he would wake up.” Remus protested, sitting up a little straighter. “Better to be safe than sorry.”

Roman rolled his eyes, ruffling Remus’ hair. “Idiot.”

“Is Logan going to be okay?” Janus asked, sitting down next to Remus. 

“Hopefully.” Patton sighed.

Suddenly, Logan released a terrible scream, his eyes sharpening. He sat up quickly, his breathing heavy. 

They all jumped, staring wide eyed at him.

Janus felt like his stomach had turned to lead. He was born with his powers, so he could never imagine what it would be like to gain them. Was this what Logan had to go through?

“Oh god--Logan? Kiddo?” Patton tried to touch him, putting the jam and spoon on the coffee table.

“Stay away!” Logan shouted, using his telekinesis to slam Patton into the wall.

Janus jumped away from him. Logan’s eyes almost seemed to be glowing as they darted around in a panic, seeing everything but processing nothing.

“Logan, it’s us!” Roman didn’t move to touch him. “It’s your friends! The League of Heroes, remember?”

“I have no friends.” Logan snarled, hands remaining in a position that made them easy to move quickly. 

“Yes, you do.” Remus insisted, seeming a bit more alert than he was a few seconds ago. “You have me, Virgil, Janus, Roman, and Patton!”

Janus felt a sharp pang of something at the mention of his own name, but didn’t say anything.

“You’re lying to me.” Logan spat, his face contorting into an ugly scowl. “You’re not--!”

“Logan, calm down.” Virgil ordered gently, slowly moving towards him. 

Instantly, Logan’s breathing began to mellow out, and his features smoothed. “Wh-What are you--?”

“You know what I’m doing, Logan. You’ve seen me do it hundreds of times.” Virgil told him. “I just need you to relax for me, can you do that?” 

The glow in Logan’s eyes began to fade. “V-Virgil…?”

“That’s right, Lo.” Virgil nodded, cautiously sitting back down on the couch. “It’s me.” He glanced up at the night sky. “Look at the stars, Lo. Aren’t they pretty?”

“Oh my god.” Logan went pale, arms going slack. Patton instantly rushed to his side, ignoring the blood dripping down his own face. 

“Roman,” He said simply, holding out his hand. Instantly, Roman placed the plastic shopping bag in Patton’s hands.

Not even a moment later, Patton gave the bag to Logan, who began to vomit violently into it. 

Janus looked away, a bit grossed out. His eyes fixed themselves on Remus, who had sat himself on the floor.

He was pinching himself in the arm to keep himself awake, leaving red angry marks on his skin. Janus frowned, kneeling down in front of him.

“Don’t do that.” He told Remus, who jumped at the sudden attention. 

“What? Why not?” Remus asked, tilting his head. 

“There’s other ways to keep yourself awake. Don’t resort to hurting yourself.” Janus scolded. “I don’t think the others would like that very much.”

Remus blinked at him, stunned.

Janus turned his attention back to Logan, who had finished vomiting at some point. He was sipping on the glass of water Roman had gotten, leaning against Virgil as the latter ran a hand through his hair. 

Logan was touching the gash Patton had gotten when he slammed into the wall, frowning guiltily. “I did that.” He croaked. 

“It’s okay, Lo. I know you didn’t mean it.” Patton smiled at him. He made his hand glow, and brought it to his own forehead. In a matter of seconds, the gash was completely gone. “See? All gone.”

“I hurt you.” Logan whimpered, his hand retracting as tears began to build in his eyes. 

“No, no, no, I’m fine!” Patton reassured him, taking Logan’s hand in his. “Really, kiddo. I’m alright.”

Janus tilted his head, a bit confused. Roman provided him the answer he was looking for. 

“His emotions go haywire after The Summoning.” He told Janus quietly. “All the stuff he represses comes out full force, usually it’s worse than this.”

“The stars are pretty, aren’t they?” Virgil spoke up, still running his fingers through Logan’s hair. “They’re shining just for you, Lo.” 

Remus grumbled something unintelligible.

“I’m sorry!” Logan sobbed, burying his face in his hands. “I almost--I would’ve--!”

“No, Lo. You don’t need to apologize.” Roman shook his head. “It’s okay, you didn’t hurt any of us.” 

“I didn’t recognize you!” Logan hiccuped, curling up into a ball. “I didn’t know who you were!”

“It’s okay!” Patton rubbed a hand on Logan’s arm, a weak smile on his face. A moment of silence passed, before Patton grabbed the jar and spoon off the table. “Look what I have, Lo.”

Logan peeked out from his hands. When he saw the jar, he wiped his eyes, sniffling. “...Crofters?”

“That’s right!” Patton grinned brightly, nodding. “A whole jar, just for you!”

Logan took the jar and the spoon, muttering his thanks to Patton. Upon the first spoonful entering his mouth, Logan absolutely melted, a smile finding its way to his face. 

Janus tilted his head. That just looked like jam to him. 

“What’s Crofters?” Janus asked.

The entire room froze, before their eyes slowly made their way to Janus. Logan’s eyes, however, remain glued to the ground.

“‘What is Crofters…?’” Logan echoed, his voice low and menacing.

An indescribable sense of terror struck Janus. 

"U-Uh--Well--"

“Crofters is only the most delicious fruit spread to ever be made.” Logan’s eyes snapped to Janus. “It was crafted by the gods, gifted to us mere, unworthy mortals.” 

“R-Right--Sorry--” Janus stammered, rapidly regretting the decision to ask.

“They even gave me a flavor when they heard how much I liked it. Can you believe that? It’s called Logical Berry, and guess what? They used loganberries!” Logan looked angrier, even though his tone was excited. “Can you believe it? They put my face on it! How would you not know?! It made headlines!”

“I-I don’t know, man--I just--”

“What kind of hellhole have you been living in to not know what Crofters is?!” Logan shoveled a big chunk of jam onto his spoon, then held it out to Janus. “Eat.”

“What?” Janus furrowed his brow.

"EAT!"

Janus was shoving the spoon in his mouth in a matter of seconds. 

“Well?” Logan was staring at him intently. “Isn’t it amazing?” 

Janus nodded slowly, fear coursing through his veins. He looked around for help, but found that the rest of the heroes seemed to be laughing at him. How dare they?! The Dragon Witch would make them pay for this.

He was struck for a moment by how ridiculous that thought was. 

Then, his thoughts were focused on how this jam was actually pretty good. 

A/N:

I posted that Origins chapter at perfect time, huh? 😩