Patton woke up two days later. 

They had all been taking turns sitting next to the blond’s bed, waiting for his bluebell eyes to open. The rest would all spend their day not too far away from the room, minus. Logan who was constantly in his lab. 

Remus hadn’t been able to find that ball of light, having lost track of it in the city.

The one who got to see the hero’s eyes open was Virgil, and he quickly called for the others.

When Janus entered the room, Patton was sitting up, his knees tucked to his chest and his arms wrapped loosely around his legs. He was staring blankly at the wall, a grief in his eyes. 

“Patton?” Roman asked as Logan, the last person, entered the room.

“They’re gone.” Patton whispered, not turning to look at any of them. 

All the heroes froze, though they weren’t even sure what he meant. 

After a moment of silence, Janus shakily spoke up. “What’s gone?” 

“My powers.” Patton looked at them, and Janus almost wished he hadn’t. A small, self-loathing smile was on the blond’s face, and his eyes were glassy with unshed tears. “My powers are gone.” 

Janus’ eyes widened, and he felt sick to his stomach. “What?” 

“You--” Virgil shook his head. “Are you sure?” 

Patton frowned. “I can feel it. It’s like a hole in my chest. They’re not there anymore.” 

Before anyone could say anything, Remus had pulled a pocket knife from nowhere, flicked it open, and sliced a thin cut into his index finger. He roughly shoved it towards Patton. “Heal it.” 

Roman inhaled sharply. “Rem--” 

“You didn’t test it, right?” Remus’ voice trembled. “So, heal it. It could work, and you just don’t know it.” 

Patton stared wide-eyed for a moment, before he slowly lifted his hand above Remus’ finger. 

They all waited with bated breath.

But nothing happened. 

Janus had taken his powers away. 

It was cruel. It was calculating. It was seemingly senseless. 

It was just like his mother. 

“Come on, Pat. I know you can do it.” Remus’ eyes were wet now too. “Just heal it.” 

“I can’t.” Patton whispered, looking up at him. The tears spilled over his eyes, and he shrunk in on himself, slapping a hand over his mouth as a small sob escaped him. Roman quickly shot forward and wrapped his arms around the smaller man protectively. 

“Who did this?” Roman questioned softly, looking up at the rest of them. 

“I tested the tea.” Logan spoke up. “Countless times. As well as the mug and the tea leaves. Nothing. It was like whatever they had put in it vanished from thin air.” His expression darkened. “Like…magic.” 

“The Dragon Witch.” Roman breathed, eyes widening.

“Those bastards.” Virgil snarled, glaring at the floor. “I’m going to fucking kill them.” 

“How did they even get in?” Remus asked, closing his pocket knife and putting it away. “They’ve never managed to do that before.” 

That was Janus’ fault too. Simply by existing, he had sealed Patton’s fate. “They clearly found a way.” Janus said instead, his voice sounding dull to even his own ears. 

“We need to up our security measures.” Logan told them sternly. “It seems our current ones are not enough to stop one of the villains from breaking in here.” 

Janus held back a wince. The problem wasn’t the security measures, it was the fact that the villain had already been inside the building. 

“I’ll work on that.” Logan pressed a hand to his chest. “The rest of you will need to search for that light. There’s no doubt in my mind that the light was the physical manifestation of Patton’s powers.”

“So, if we get it back, then we get Pat’s powers back?” Remus perked up. 

Janus grimaced. There was no way they would succeed. His mother always got what she wanted and kept what she gained. Then again, the heroes were always subverting his expectations. Who knows? It was up in the air.

“We are in very dangerous territory here.” Virgil scowled. “We need to be careful. We should go in groups.” 

“Right.” Logan nodded. “Virgil, you’re with Roman. Remus is with Janus.” 

“Way to feed the articles, Logic.” Remus gave him an unimpressed look. “Just wait until Twitter catches wind of these pairings.”

“Ew.” Virgil cringed. 

“The fuck you mean ‘ew’?” Roman narrowed his eyes at him. “I am absolutely lovely.” 

“Okay.” Virgil snorted.

“Well, what are we waiting for, then?” Remus asked, already beginning to leave the room to put his suit on. “Let’s go!” 

---

Remus took Janus to the last place he had seen the ball of light.

“--then it rounded this corner, and poof. It was gone.” Remus explained, crossing his arms. They were on top of some building in the center of the city. “I asked around, but no one saw where it went.” 

Janus furrowed his brow. How did his mother manage that? She couldn’t make portals, as far as he was aware. The only way he could imagine her doing that was having a villain on standby. Even then, how would she know where it went?

“This is so strange.” Janus murmured, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. 

“It just makes my blood boil.” Remus sneered. “Going after Morality, why would you do something like that?” 

Janus understood his mother’s reasoning, honestly. You take out the healer, and the rest of the team is soon to follow. After all, the heroes always relied on Patton to heal their injuries. They wouldn’t have that privilege until they returned his powers, which meant they needed to be more careful.

Still, though, it would probably be more beneficial to take away the powers of someone like Roman or Logan. Someone whose powers gave them a huge advantage in battle.

“I don’t get it either.” Janus shook his head. 

“I’ve never seen him like that before.” Remus huffed, looking down at the people walking along the street. None of them had noticed the two heroes yet, surprisingly.

“Me neither.” Janus frowned. 

“It scared me, Dee.” Remus glanced at him, before returning his vision to the street. “He’s not meant to be like that--He’s Morality! He’s supposed to be telling silly jokes and baking cookies, not--” He stopped, searching for the right words to say. He couldn’t find them, Janus guessed, based on the way he sighed in defeat. “We have to figure out what they’ve done with his powers, and return them to their rightful owner.” 

“And we will.” Janus told him, though he didn’t really believe that. “We can’t let them get away with it.” 

“I know.” Remus sighed, shoulders slumping slightly. “I just--I dunno. This all feels weird.” 

“Weird? How?” 

“Taking our one healer away, right before ‘something big’ that they’ve planned? The timing is too perfect to be a coincidence. It’s like they could get in this whole time, and just haven’t. Like we’ve just been a plaything they could eliminate with a flick of their wrist.” He furrowed his brow suddenly. “Actually, now that I think about it, why didn’t they just kill all of us when they got in? We were defenseless, asleep, most likely.” 

“You’re starting to sound like Logic.” Janus chuckled weakly. “So, you think we’re just a game to them?” 

“I do, and that pisses me off.” Remus growled. “They’re toying with us, like--like we’re nothing!” He sighed. “If we can’t even protect each other, how are we expected to protect the city?”

“Hey,” Janus placed a hand on his shoulder, “don’t think like that, okay? Everything will be fine.”

“I just feel so useless.” Remus frowned, shaking his head. 

“I’m sure we’re all feeling that way.” Janus said. Well, everyone besides him. He was just feeling overwhelmingly guilty. “We need to get his powers back, and then everything will be fine.” 

“Okay.” Remus took a deep breath. “You’re right. Of course you are.” 

The sound of a camera’s shutter cut through the air, somehow audible in the busy street.

Janus and Remus glanced down, finding a paparazzi with his camera standing on the sidewalk. 

Remus scowled. “Damn it. That’s a journalist from Your Voice. He works with Susan Wojcicki.” He grumbled. “No doubt we just contributed to this week’s gossip.”

“Oh.” Janus blinked. “Huh. Like with Princey and Paranoia?”

“Exactly like Princey and Paranoia.” Remus groaned, burying his face in his hands. “I was doing so well! I hadn’t gotten involved in rumors like this my whole career!”

“Have the others?” Janus furrowed his brow.

“Well, there’s Princey and Paranoia, as you know.” Remus crossed his arms. “But before that, it was Morality and Logic. They were quickly overshadowed by the whole ‘rivalry’ between The Prince and Paranoia.”

“Rivalry?” Janus’ eyes widened. “Since when did they have a rivalry?”

“Since those two decided to bicker during a battle. Rumors only grow.” Remus shrugged. “It’s best to just ignore it.” He rolled his shoulders. “Now, c’mon. I’m sure whoever grabbed it wouldn’t stray too far from their buddies.” 

Janus opened his mouth to reply, when a loud buzz cut through the air.

He glanced down at his pocket, pulling out his personal cell phone. Someone was calling him. The contact name was enough to make his blood run cold.

Mother. 

Remus could see it too, based on the way he paused. He met Janus’ eyes, something oddly serious in his expression. “Don’t answer it.” 

Janus frowned. “I have to.” He whispered, already hitting accept and putting the phone to his ear. Remus sighed in exasperation, sitting down on the ledge of the building.

“Janus,”

“Hello, mother.” He kept his tone polite, despite the fact that her voice alone had him on edge.

“I shouldn’t have to explain why I’m calling.” She hummed. “It’s time for you to prove yourself, Deceit.” 

Janus’ heart sank. “Okay.” He murmured, all too aware of the fact that Remus’ was paying attention to everything he said. 

“In about ten minutes, you will see a man in a yellow coat. Ask him what he knows. He will give you directions, follow them. It is imperative that you bring The Duke with you.” She explained. “Your choices here will determine what path you choose. Don’t make the wrong decision.” 

“Of course, mother. Thank you.” He told her, heart beginning to pound faster. “Goodbye.” 

She hung up.

Janus put his phone back into his pocket, turning to Remus. 

The hero had gotten up at some point, leaning against his mace boredly. “You done?” He asked. 

“Yeah.” Janus choked out, feeling his breath constricting. 

“Well, we need to get searching while it’s still daylight.” Remus gave him a smile, lugging his mace over his shoulder. “Come on.” 

Janus took a shaky breath, mind running wild.

Right now was where he made his choice. A choice he wouldn’t be able to turn back from. It was either search for the villains with Remus and leave as a hero, or question the man in the yellow coat, and leave a villain. 

“Deceit?” Remus tilted his head, his smile going a bit confused. “You good?”

Janus hesitated. 

And then…

“...I think we should keep questioning civilians, it’s more reliable than just running around wildly.” He forced out. 

Remus frowned. “But we’ve been doing that all daaaaayyy!” He whined. “But fine! I see your point. Anything for you, Dee-Dee!”

Such a small moment, such big consequences. 

---

Finding the man in the yellow coat was easier than Janus’ would have liked it to be.

The directions given led Janus and Remus to an old parking garage that was set to be torn down. 

“This place reeks.” Remus commented, furrowing his brow. “I can see why it’s being demolished.” He glanced around. “Perfect for a villain hideout, though. This seems promising.” 

“Oh, it’s more than promising.” A voice called out from the darkness.

In a second, Remus had whipped out his mace and was searching for the source. “Who’s there?!” 

The voice laughed, and Janus clenched his fists. 

The Dragon Witch stepped into the light, and Remus’ eyes widened in surprise. “You--!” 

She waved her hand

Scar practically appeared behind the hero, quickly wrapping one arm securely around his torso and using the other to cover his nose and mouth with a cloth. Remus’ eyes widened even more, and he quickly began trying to push the villain off. 

The Dragon Witch gently shushed him, walking closer. “Don’t fight it, dear. It’ll only make it work faster.”

Remus looked over at Janus, and the latter could see the confusion in his eyes as to why he wasn’t doing anything besides watching. Soon, however, that look became cloudy, and his movements turned sluggish. 

“Good work, Deceit.” Ms. Libelle placed a hand on her son’s shoulder. “You’ve done well.” 

Remus’ brows slowly furrowed together at that.

Janus didn’t respond, unable to tear his eyes off of the struggling hero. 

A moment later, Remus fell limp in Scar’s grasp, and the villain quickly heaved the hero over his shoulder. 

Ms. Libelle chuckled, leaning over to whisper in Janus’ ear. “Your work’s not done yet.” She chuckled, causing Janus to shiver. “On the contrary,” 

She turned, walking further into the darkness with Scar not too far behind her. 

“We’ve only just begun.”

A/N:

Next chapter is 29 😈

Also he like finally betrayed them or whatever lol