Warning!: Blood, knives, mentions of past injuries, chains, holding against ones will.

Janus felt funny. It was as if static was traveling throughout his body but also like he had been hit by a truck. He couldn't move. It hurt too much. A ringing sensation filled his ears. All of him hurts. 'Why does it hurt? Eh, it's probably not important', he reassured himself. He should just roll over and go back to bed. He's too tired to start the day. Maybe Thomas won't be too mad if he takes a sick day. Wait... sides don't get sick... Janus attempted to roll over, but only ended up hissing out in pain. His chest burned. With his hands secured to something hard and cold, rolling over seemed to be the least of his concerns. He heard a clanking. It sounded kinda like... chains.

"Welcome back, Deceit. Or do they call you Janus now?" A sickeningly familiar voice spread through the darkness. Janus froze, skin paling as he remembered that deep, full voice. His throat went dry, not unlike a desert, and his head started pounding as if powerful waves were smashing into his already bruised and bloody skull. He quickly thought back to when he last saw this figure. Four years ago. That's when Janus had left them for the others. He peeled his eyes open, taking in the sight in front of him.

There stood the Unknown. His sickly pale skin shone in the light glow that illuminated the room from the orbs resting on platforms on the walls. Their eyes shone behind the crooked glasses with madness and joy as he looked at Janus, not caring about the condition he was in. His thick long burgundy hair was swept back into a bun with two front strands framing his delicate face. Chains hung loosely from his pant pockets as his over dramatic black cloak swished with each step he took. His orange eyes glowed, causing a chill to travel down Janus's spine. "Tell me, Janie, did you have fun? How's the light side treating you?"

Janus set his jaw, anger stirring within him. Who does he think he is? Setting a monster on his friends, then acting all buddy buddy? No way in heck. He shut his eyes, attempting to get his anger under control.

He heard the man sigh before a searing pain erupted from his arm. Crying out, his eyes shot open to see the Unknown with a knife. Thick, warm blood trickled down Janus's right arm and splattered on his lap. He bit down on his lip in an attempt to stop from screaming at his attacker. He tasted the metallic liquid before spitting it at the Unknown's feet. This didn't faze the man as he circled Janus, much like how a vulture circle's it's prey. He bent down and whispered in Janus's ear, causing a chill to run through his bones. "I asked you a question, old friend. If I were you, I'd remember who is tied to the chair, and who isn't." He backed up as the smile returned to his lips. "Now tell me. Was it worth it? To leave, I mean."

Janus's eyes hardened as he gazed at the Unknown. "I've never made a better decision." The smile that once rested on the Unknown's face was gone. The Unknown started pacing around Janus.

"Of course you would prefer those stupid lights over me. Of course all of you would choose the pathetic Prince, Nerd, and father figure." A crazed, forced smile spread across his face. "Of course. Because you are too weak to handle being on the dark side." His smile dropped once again. "I tried to make you strong. To make all of you strong, but you ended up crawling back to the pathetic light scape because you couldn't handle getting a single scratch on your precious scales. Though..." He paused, smile returning and less forced. Janus felt his blood run cold at his tone of voice. "Though... it would be fascinating to see you without your scales..." Janus's mouth dropped.

"You-you can't be serious..." He snarled out, hate dripping from his voice. The Unknown trailed a finger down the pink scar that rested on the side of his face and lingered on Janus's lip. Swiping a droplet of blood off of Janus's lip, the Unknown placed his finger in his mouth as the other held back a gag. He then leaned close and whispered in Janus's ear, causing the hair on his neck to rise.

"Oh, Janie. You locked me away and kept me from the others. All because of the trait I'm in charge of. The light sides don't even know about me! Thomas doesn't even know about me! Simply because I am in charge of something that I couldn't control. And no one even knows what I represent besides you! I barely remember it, it's been so long since I've been called it. Now tell me. Why wouldn't I do it?" The Unknown's eyes were showing clear madness through his rectangular glasses.

Janus glared at The Unknown, gritting his teeth. "You're crazy. And you wonder why I locked you away. You're a disease, Malice."

The Unknown's smile grew, "And there it is! He finally said it! Malice. What a lovely trait to be in charge of... well, it would be. If not for you Janus. You made my life as simple as fitting a sewing machine in the eye of a needle. You never let me be free or allowed me to be myself."

"Then why didn't you just kill me?! You have that monster. Why not just end me?!" Malice smiled.

"Thomas likes you. What better way to get him down here, than to take one of his precious six sides. I was originally going for Thomas himself, then Anxiety... well, Virgil now. Then he got in the way so I took him. But you coming made it way more interesting." Janus's mind flashed to how Virgil escaped. He just sunk out. Maybe...

The familiar tingle filled Janus's body as he began to sink out. He felt as if he was reaching for the living room, almost there. Almost to Thomas.

A jolt of pain erupted from his limbs. Janus felt the air leaving his already shredded torso as he cried out in pain.

He opened his eyes to see Malice laughing, but he couldn't hear it. No, his ears were still ringing from the attempt. When the ringing died down, Malice had gotten his breathing under control. "Did you really think that would work?! You're even dumber than I thought! Look at the cuffs around your wrists! The cuffs around your ankles! Heck, even the bar around your chest! It's made of the very same material that held me for all those years. The only reason I got out was gaining the favor of Tenebris. Oh, that's right, you don't know Tenebris. He was the monster that you so horribly lost to. Remus's creation, actually. He gained favor with me because of what we have in common. We were both rejected by our makers. And we both want revenge." Malice slid the knife under one of Janus's scales under his eye and began slowly cutting it off.

Janus tried to swallow the scream before it left his lips, and succeeded with only a growl escaping his throat. As Janus trembled beneath him, Malice grinned from ear to ear. "And we are both going to get it."

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm going to tag the amazing blue_food100000000  ! That's all from me! Thank you for letting me be a part of this!

Maybay4
Le done!

Due to complications, bluefood cannot do the chapter. Instead, the amazing Lu-Jack is going to.