TW: Violence, Swearing, Almost Character Death

The sound of metal clattering to the ground echoed after Remus' scream, almost drowning out his scramble to get to Janus' side. "Hey, Hey, I'm here, I'll get you out." His hands were shaking as he tried to undo the knots and binds tying his best friend down.

"He thought I was on his side," The fake Janus spat, breath heaving. Malice knew there were multiple ways that this could go, but his best option was just to keep the group distracted long enough.

"Something is wrong with this room," Logan said looking around, eyes landing on the large mirror that spanned the length of the room. In the mirror, he could see it better. This room was, in its own way, a twisted version of Thomas's living room. At least it seemed that way, but the mirror was strange, and the dimensions weren't quite right. Still, he had enough information for his next statement.

"This is a side's room." His comment was largely ignored as Virgil had pulled one of the daggers out and ran with Roman to Janus' side. Logan clenched his fist, the thought of doing something inexplicable crawling through his mind. He wanted to hurt them for not listening. Why did they never listen?

A chain appeared, linked to his pants, but he didn't seem to notice as the door they came through slammed shut.

He should sink out, get away from this energy, but all he wanted was to hurt someone. If they wanted to belittle his contributions, he could be cruel right back. Each dark thought in his head formed another link on the chain that had appeared, glowing slightly orange in the darkness.

Virgil was fairing no better. He was trying to rescue Janus, he really was, but the ropes were thick, and cutting through them wasn't easy. The sound of Remus' voice cooing over Janus was grating on his every nerve. Remus had never shown him this much care. Neither of the two dark sides had. He had been vulnerable and angry, and their time together always felt cold and alone. Virgil had been hurt and Remus never cared.

"Will get you out. I'm sure Virgil didn't mean to leave you snake face."

That was the last straw. Virgil snapped.

"Will you shut up!?" He shouted, throwing the dagger at Remus. "I don't know why you care so much about him. He is a liar. Nothing about your friendship was probably real." Virgil threw his hands up, walking away from the chair where the fake Deceit was tied up. "We should just leave him and let him die, Thomas would be better without him." A chain appeared on Virgil's clothes as well, the links solidifying the more malicious his words got.

Remus growled, standing up. "Oh, and you are so blameless in all of this."

Janus, the real Janus, had stopped fighting. He was preserving what little energy he had left. He hated hearing this, listening to Virgil's corrupted words. No matter how untrue they might be it still stung. Still, he had a job to protect Thomas, and he couldn't do it from here. He was waiting for the right time, a moment he could use to his advantage. He just wasn't sure how to use the last of his strength. An idea itched in the back of his head, but it seemed too dramatic, even for him.

"Beautiful isn't it?" The voice was just a whisper in Janus' ear, a quiet sound that sent a shiver down his spine.

Creativity, the full creativity. He looked like a god and a pirate all at the same time, orange chains hugging his body in multiple areas, but he didn't seem bothered.

"I made such beautiful replicas of them, Roman and Remus, no one even noticed, not even the lord of the lies."

Janus felt his heart rate increase. It had already been a problem when Malice was impersonating him, it was even a concern when he could see the corruption falling over Logan and Virgil, but now, now Janus couldn't see an outcome where they could win.

"I'm glad he gagged and chained you, it's so much easier to monologue when I don't have to worry about my captive running away. You know you are the one who set the ball in motion right? If both of the twins were evil, then there was nothing keeping me apart."  He watched as Creativity paced in front of him, back and forth. "At first we... they... I... just wanted an adventure. Something to take my mind off of the drama of everything, but then I found Malice. Quiet the secret you managed to keep.

Creativity finally stopped pacing, looking Janus directly in the eyes as he ran a finger up his jawline to tilt his head up. "It was Malice's idea, to pay back all of the hurt you have caused, to finally take everything that we, that Thomas, deserves. No more era of kindness, it has gotten us nowhere."

The sound of the others arguing and screaming at each other was background noise to the raging sea in Janus' mind. He didn't like showing his weaknesses, but it was hard to keep up a mask when everything seemed to be falling apart.

"Just look at them." His face was grabbed until he was forced to look through the one-way mirror; Virgil kneeling over Remus, no, it wasn't Remus, it was a puppet Creativity had created. His knife was pressed to the puppet's neck, vitriol seeping from Virgil's mouth until he went to shove his knife into Remus' chest.

Janus couldn't take it, he couldn't watch this, even if it was fake. He screamed into the gag, and a blinding golden light filled the entire room. Drastic times, drastic measures. Logan, Virgil, Creativity, even Malice were all coated in this golden light, the signs of corruption leaving the sides who shouldn't have been here for so long. The chains broke and faded from the three displaced sides and Janus slumped in his own. His chains were not a form of corruption, they could not be dispelled by a spell of self-preservation. He was left to hang, unconscious once again.

"Janus." The voice next to him was much softer and much gentler than it had been, but Janus couldn't hear it. He had used the last of his strength to save the others who balanced his host. "Shit."

With the corruption gone, Virgil was in control of his own mind, and the anxiety flooded in. He had almost hurt Remus. He had almost hurt his... they weren't really friends, but he didn't want Remus dead. He reached out his hand to help Remus up but instead he watched the chaotic side fade into green mist.

"What is happening? What is happening?" This had already been an exhausting day with the amount of fighting and anxiety he had been going through, maybe his brain was just misfiring again.

"Maybe the two of them went to the imagination to heal, for now, we need to get Janus somewhere safe as well." Logan wasn't sure what was going on, but he had a few theories. Either way, they needed to regroup.

"Two?" He turned to look around the room, Roman was nowhere to be found. Virgil bit his lip. This was really strange, he wasn't sure what was happening, but he could hear the beast outside of the room and Virgil nodded. They needed to get out.

He quickly made his way to 'Janus's' side, finally getting the rope cut from his wrists. "Let's get you home." He linked an arm under 'Janus' doing his best to lift the man to his feet. He was ready to sink them all out, but something was off. The way his face was twisted in frustration rather than pain or anger.

Something wasn't right.

AN: Thank you for reading! ~ Raven (They/Them)

Also, I nominate sylversamthefae