"You %#*&ing traitor!" Janus roared. "You disgusting freak! How could you do this?!"
Remus swallowed. "I just wanted to show them how we solve things, Janny."
Virgil was reeling like a drunk, all the color gone from his cheeks as he folded to the ground and put his head between his knees, already hyperventilating.
"$&!#, $&!#, $&!#, $&!#," he moaned, rocking back and forth.
"Virgil! Calm down!" Patton called.
"Janus! Please!" Roman exclaimed, scared of the look on Janus's face.
A realization dawned on Logan when nobody reacted, and he shook his head. "He didn't take away the soundproofing." He beat on the glass, trying to get the Duke's attention. "Remus! Let us out! Now!"
The Dark Sides couldn't hear any of them. And Janus looked outraged.
"You wanted to show them us?!" he screamed, baring his fangs. "Like we're their freak show?! Oh, come on in boys! Pay to see the freaks! Look at their shame! Laugh at them as they're humiliated for your entertainment!"
"Janny, you have nothing to be ashamed of!" Remus exclaimed.
"Nothing to be ashamed of?!" Janus threw his head back and laughed, a manic, crazy noise. "Oh yes! Of course not! How was your %#*&ing potato, Remus?!"
Remus looked close to tears. "Janny, please! Just listen! Let's hear them out!"
"Oh, so I can hear them laughing at what a monster I am?! The snake boy's here! Come on! You'll get a kick out of him! Let's watch him! Let's see what he doesn't want to show! Let's trick him into showing a part of him that he's having doubts about already! That'll clear things up! Just force him to do something he doesn't want!"
Virgil was in tears, gasping for breath and sobbing as he rocked. The Light Sides were all banging on the glass now, trying to get one of them to notice them, but they were having no luck.
"This isn't working!" Logan shouted. "Roman! Make it disappear!"
"I don't know how to work in the Subconscious!" Roman wailed.
Patton was sobbing as he hit the glass. "We have to get out there!"
"He's right! They're self-destructing! This isn't healthy! Get us out there!" Logan cried. "Now, Roman! Please!"
While Roman tried to figure out how to connect to the Imagination from a completely new angle, Janus continued to have a meltdown. Tears were streaming down his cheeks, and his human skin was red with humiliation and anger.
"You know I'm having trouble! You know I hate myself! You know I despise that I'm part snake and you still did it! I've told you everything since Virgil left! And think about him! All his effort to put up a shield, wasted! They've seen everything we didn't want them to! We didn't want to do this but you insisted! And then you had the gall to invite them?! You treacherous little weasel! They've seen it all! And I %#*&ing hate you!"
Remus shrieked as he was grabbed by his hair, and he struggled. "Janny! Janny please!"
"What's wrong, Remus?!" Janus sneered. "You wanted them to see what freaks we are! So let's show them!"
"Janny, stop! I don't want to play this game!" Remus sobbed, struggling to get free. "Stop it! This isn't the good kind of hurt!"
"Oh, but you didn't ask! So why should I?!" He threw him against the glass wall and grasped the green bottle of clear liquid in one gloved hand. His face was hellish as he reared back.
Remus looked terrified as Janus swung the bottle at him. He winced before the impact, and the bottle shattered, spewing the liquid across Remus's upper body. And Remus screamed. His entire face instantly broke out into a red rash, and as he sucked in a breath, some got into his mouth and burned a path down to his stomach. He dropped like a stone, still screaming. The noise was terrifying, and Janus suddenly seemed to snap out of a daze. He blinked then looked down at Remus, who was writhing and clutching at his face. Then horror flashed across his expression. He slowly raised his eyes to stare at the Light Sides, standing right in front of him, watching him lose his fucking mind. They gazed in open-mouthed horror at him, and he knew that he deserved to be called a monster. His face crumpled in shame and he turned and ran to Virgil, his only thought to get them away from their accusing, disgusted gazes. He felt filthy and horrible, and he hated it.
"Get up!" he said, tears still streaming down his face. "Get up!"
He dragged Virgil to his feet and steered him down the hall to his room. The door slammed, and then all they could hear was Remus sobbing. He staggered to his feet, his face swollen and dark green essence pouring out of cuts on his face from the shards of glass.
"J-Janny! P-p-please! I-I'm sorry!" he howled. He stumbled toward the bedroom and threw himself against the door. "Janny! It hurts! It hurts bad! Please! I'm a-allergic! Don't leave me alone! You promised! You promised you wouldn't leave like R-Romy did!"
Those words twisted in Roman's gut, and he swore and slammed his fists against the glass, shoving all the power he had into ripping it down. It shattered, and Roman yelped then got his footing and ran down the hallway, the other two a step behind him. Remus was still crying hysterically, beating his fists against the door, but he was slowing down and looked very ill.
"Remus!" Roman shouted, grabbing his shoulders. "Remus, we need to get this off of you!"
"Janny! Virgil!" Remus cried, struggling in his brother's grip. "I n-n-need them, Romy! Please! Tell them I'm s-s-sorry! I j-j-just wanted to help! I wanted us all to be friends!"
"Shower! We need to wash it off!" Logan ordered. He turned to Remus's door and shoved it open. He gagged immediately and turned away as a wave of the most foul, putrid stench washed over him. "Dear Lord, how is it worse?!" he yowled.
Patton turned green and clapped his hands over his mouth as Roman shoved into the room. Logan coughed as he stumbled toward the attached bathroom. He glanced around and saw piles of stuff, most of it broken or dirty, just lying all over the floor. Everything imaginable, from destroyed books to broken toys to actual dead fish lay in messy, sometimes wet piles stacked high. The bed was the very opposite of neat, with wet, slimy blankets piled in the middle. And the smell! It was so much worse than before, and Logan still couldn't tell what it was.
"Good grief, Remus! It smells like week-old sushi and dirty underwear!" Roman gagged. He shoved his hands out, and instantly, all of the stuff disappeared. The smell was gone, too, leaving them in a bare room with nothing but a bed, some furniture, and a few surprises.
Patton yelped as something skittered toward the bed. "What is it?!"
Logan glanced over as he shoved open the bathroom. He blinked and for a moment was too stunned to move. "It's a raccoon…"
"Hello! Help me!" Roman shouted, elbowing past Logan and still dragging his sobbing brother.
Patton and Logan ran into the bathroom. Logan turned on a hot shower, noticing that the tub had more knobs than usual, which he found interesting yet irrelevant at the moment. He managed to get the hot water on, and Roman began to strip his brother's clothes off. Patton helped him, and Logan looked around.
"How do we clean him? We can't use soap!"
"Sand scrub," Roman grunted, holding Remus up as his knees have out. "Oil."
Logan peered into the shower and grabbed a strange sponge covered in gritty sand. "Fascinating…"
"Move, calculator watch!" Roman snapped and shoved his brother into the shower.
Without any hesitation, he stripped off his shirt and stepped into the tub, still wearing the rest of his clothes. Logan handed over the sponge, and Roman took a deep breath.
"This'll hurt, Rem."
Then he viciously began to scrub at Remus's skin. Remus hiccuped, wriggling uncomfortably, but Roman didn't let up. Logan stood there, feeling helpless, then Patton gave a cry.
"Here! There's more!"
And another sponge was shoved into his hands. Logan knelt down and began to scrub at Remus's legs. He didn't care about propriety, and seeing how it was an emergency, he didn't feel guilty. Patton had a third sponge and was trying to gently scrub Remus's face.
"Use more force!" Roman ordered.
Patton cringed. "Sorry Remus," he said then obeyed.
"R-Romy!" Remus moaned after several excruciating minutes. "F-feel sick! Swallowed it… G-gonna…" he turned green, and Logan looked up and dove aside just in time as Remus leaned out of the shower and heaved. Patton was knocked aside, and they stared in horror at the bubbling mixture that spread over the floor. Remus continued to throw up as Roman held him tight.
"Let it all out," he encouraged, though he looked disgusted. He stared at the mess for a moment then looked away. "I'm guessing there's some kind of soap in that bottle."
When Remus gasped in a breath and slumped over, he nodded. "Strong," he rasped. "With alcohol. Not the yummy kind…"
"No kidding," Roman said blandly. "Does it still hurt?"
"Hair. Oil, please," Remus wheezed. "It burns."
"Logan, rinse his hair with that oil," Roman said, nodding at a bottle. "He can barely stand."
Logan obeyed, and Remus began to cry again, softer and quieter, yet somehow it was worse than the panic.
"I j-just wanted to help, Romy. Why can't I ever do anything right?" he wept. "Why does everybody leave me?"
Roman looked pained. "Remus, I…"
"I can't help it," he whimpered, reaching up to scrub at his swollen, splotchy cheeks. "I-I tried to stop the thoughts for you, and you still left me. And Janny and Virgil didn't care about my intrusive thoughts, they loved me anyway, and then Virgil left and Janny broke down and things were so different and so bad. If they could be themselves around you, it would be better, and we could all be f-friends and it would be okay again. I thought I was helping. Romy. Why do I mess everything up? Why does everybody hate me? Why am I a %#*&ing monster?" Remus lowered his head and sobbed.
Roman couldn't wipe away the tears as he held up his twin. He and Remus had their fair share of disagreements, it was true, but he still loved him. They were two sides of a coin, and neither could live without the other. And yet he'd pushed Remus away, ashamed of him. And he'd never once stopped to consider how it had affected Remus. He'd left him alone in the dark, so why was he surprised that he'd only gotten worse over the years? Remus had needed a knight in shining armor, and Roman had left to help others who he thought needed him more. What kind of a prince was he?
Pushing away those terrible thoughts for later, Roman helped to rinse the oil out of Remus's hair. Then Logan turned off the water and Patton helped to towel him off. Logan went to parse through Remus's dresser to find something comfortable. He wasn't sure what he would find, but as he opened the bottom drawer, he saw something that gave him pause. He lifted out an old blanket, worn and frayed around the edges, red and green patches forming a heart wrapped in thorns, and he could feel the love pouring off of it. It was addicting. There was a strangled noise behind him.
"You kept it?" Roman asked, his voice cracking as he stood with Remus in the doorway of the bathroom.
"You made it for me, Romy," Remus said tiredly. He pulled away from Roman, and Roman reached out, aching from the honest reply. "And my clothes were on the floor."
He half-heartedly waved his hand, and he was dressed in a childish pair of pajamas. "These are all I've got," he said when Logan peered at him in concern. "I sleep naked."
"Yes. I very well remember that, Remus," Logan said, his cheeks turning pink.
Remus looked around his empty bedroom. "Where's Slither and Maskie? You didn't poof them away did you?"
"Who?" Patton asked.
Remus clicked his tongue and a furry face peeked out from under the bed. It was the raccoon, which glared at Roman, as if it knew he was to blame for the room.
"Ah, he never likes when I clean," Remus sighed. "Wasn't quite time, but… but I guess I should thank you anyway."
He shuffled over and dropped on the bed, reaching for the blanket in Logan's hands. Roman looked around at the bare room as his brother curled up like a child, clutching the blanket he'd made so many years before. It hurt to see his usually manic and wild brother so torn and broken. Roman cracked, and he shifted uneasily.
"Hey, bro. Why don't we have a sort of sleepover?" he asked.
Remus peered at him. "Wouldn't want to bother you. That's all I do."
"Hey, no," Patton said. "That's not all you do."
Remus didn't call him a liar, but his swollen face twisted with disbelief. "Yeah. Sure. I don't blame you for thinking that though. You should hate us. All of us. We're… we're monsters." He turned over and faced the wall but kept talking, muttering softly. "We do want you to like us. Even me. But you never will. And now they hate me, too. I'm a %#*&-up. Always have been. I shouldn't even exist. But I can't die because Thomas is still alive. And I've %#*&ing tried to end it. But I can't."
That admittance made Patton tear up. "Oh, Remus…"
"I know. It would be better if I was gone. I'm sorry I failed at that, too."
"No! That's not what I meant!" Patton exclaimed. "I think… I mean, I had no idea you wanted to… to go away! Logan says you have a place, and you always seem so happy! It's just… surprising that you'd want to go away."
Remus didn't answer, still facing the wall. Roman sat down on the edge of the bed, placing a hand on his brothers shoulder. "Come on. Let's go up to my room. This one is… cold. And I'd rather you be warm. Okay?"
"Just leave me alone. Shove me into the dark. Shouldn't be too hard for you a second time."
Roman flinched then looked to Logan. Logan adjusted his glasses. "Come upstairs. I want to monitor your allergic reaction. It's quite severe. And you didn't react this badly when you drank the soap in our anniversary video." Remus didn't move, so Logan walked over and grabbed his hand. "Come on."
Remus huffed but turned and got up. He lacked energy, and his eyes were dead. Roman took the blanket and wrapped it around Remus's shoulders.
"Remember when we used to play superheroes?" he tried again.
"I remember when I became the supervillain," Remus said dully. "And you went away to be the hero."
Roman looked away as Logan tugged Remus toward the Conscious. "Patton, you should inform the other two where Remus is."
Patton rubbed his hands nervously on his pants then walked to Janus's door. He hesitated then knocked. No answer. He knocked again.
"Hey, uh, Jan? Virgil? We… Remus is going to be okay. I know you're worried about him and you just kinda… kinda snapped because of what he did, so I just wanted to let you know, we're taking him upstairs." He paused. "And just so you know, we… we don't hate you. I know what happened with the fighting was normal for you, but, um, but Virgil was right. What you just did wasn't healthy, so, uh, maybe when you feel ready, you can come upstairs and talk to us about… things." He hesitated. "And about all the stuff we heard and saw…" Patton couldn't come up with any words, so he leaned against the door. "We want to love you. The real you. So… so we don't think any of it is stupid. Okay? So come out when you're ready, and we'll talk about it. See you later, kiddos."
Janus and Virgil listened to the speech silently. Virgil was huddled in a corner, sweat pouring down his face from the heat, and Janus was wrapped in layers upon layers of blankets, only his eyes visible in the dim room. They didn't react to any of the words Patton said, too exhausted from the emotional storms to move. They were stunned, shocked, and they couldn't process what had happened. Virgil began to rock back and forth again, and tears leapt to Janus's eyes at Patton's truthful statement about them wanting to know the real them. But how could they face the Light Sides after what they'd seen? The storm began to swirl again as Patton's footsteps faded, and both of the Dark Sides began to sob, overwhelmed with shame and disgust at what they were and knowing it would never be better.
