Vices and Maces

Chapter 89: Guess Janus Really is a Backstabber

CW: blood, gore, betrayal, death

Skullsies smashed into the ground where Dahlia stood just a moment earlier. She was about to stab him, but Janus's whip came at her and she barely got away, her stomach being cut but not deep enough of an injury.

"Oh come on, surely you can do better than that!" she teased. The water from the sprinklers made her hair stick to the side of her face, occasionally flinging off water. "A gang leader and a traitor, what a fitting combination."

"You're not better than me!" Janus told her, his whip coming back at her. She pulled out a desk drawer and used it to block it. The blades sunk into the wood as papers spilled out and were immediately soaked, and she tossed it to the side before rushing towards Remus.

He tried to smash her face with his morning star, but she shifted to a bunny to avoid it, jumping as she shifted again, staying low as she cut deep into his side. He shouted in pain as she ran behind them.

Janus pulled her whip that still had the drawer stuck on it. She turned back around to look at them in time for it to hit her. The wooden drawer broke apart and she fell down with a shout of pain. A cut was on her arm where she was hit, but no major damage.

"Damn, you should have aimed for the head," Remus told him, holding his side. Red stained his hand which made Janus's stomach turn.

"I'll keep that in mind," they replied, looking back at Melany.

She got back up, knife still in hand as she looked between the two of them, trying to decide on her next move. Remus being Remus didn't want to give her that chance and raced forward. He swung with his morning star, and she dodged as expected. He let go of the handle and reached forward, setting his hand ablaze. Sure his fire magic wasn't as good as Romans, but it was still fire.

However she kicked his hand away fast enough to not get burned. He was going to grab her with his other arm but she shifted into a cat and jumped out of the way, running to the other side of the room, grabbing her knife in her mouth.

Janus tried to hit her again with his whip but they missed. Dahlia took a sharp turn and ran towards them. She shifted back into her human form and, moving the knife from her mouth to her hand, tried to slice his throat.

But Janus moved faster and turned into a snake, jumping and biting her in the leg. She shouted in pain and tried to kick them away on instinct. He held on tight to not be flung off, and she stomped on them with her other foot.

Remus tackled her to the ground as Janus let go and shifted back into her human form, groaning in pain and holding their side. He looked over to see Dahlia punch Remus in the cut on his side, making him shout in pain as she pushed him off of her.

Dahlia grabbed her knife and was going to stab him while he was down, but Janus shifted to his hawk form and flew towards her face, talons out. She screamed as they scratched her up, trying to push him away or stab them.

"Fuck yeah!" Remus shouted, grabbing his morning star. "Aster!"

Janus didn't need to be told twice and dived out of the way. Dahlia gasped when she saw the spiked skull come towards her, barely shifting into a pangaloon, rolling out of the way like a marble.

Once she was out of the way for the morning star, she shifted into a grizzly bear.

"Shit," Janus frowned in worry, but Remus just smiled.

The halfling swung around his mace. "Bring it on, mama! I've fought worse!"

She charged on him and he took the stance of a baseball player, teasingly so. Janus ran at her and jumped on her back, lifting his dagger and digging it into her shoulder. She roared in pain and almost crashed down, but Remus hit her with his morning star first before jumping out of the way barely in time.

Janus jumped off her, landing next to Remus as the bear stood up. Not too far away, there was an explosion, but none of the three could be worried by that.

Blood soaked Dahlia's shoulder, and there were deep gashes in her face. For a moment Janus wondered how many scars she really had, as shifters can hide them. She was an experienced fighter after all.

There was hardly any room for one bear, so Janus didn't want to shift into another one. Remus would be caught up in that fight, and it wouldn't be pretty. If he was going to shift, they had to be smart about it. An animal that was small and fast and that a bear couldn't kill...

Remus blinked in surprise when Janus shrunk in his vision. He turned to see what the shifter turned into, but didn't get the chance to see as something as small as a dart flew towards Dahlia. He couldn't see what it was at first, but it clearly annoyed Dahlia since she roared and swiped at her face. Then he saw it hover for a moment, a hummingbird?!

The bear stood up on its hind legs only for its head to hit the ceiling and fall back down. She continued to swipe at the small hummingbird that pecked at her eyes and nose. Janus avoided the gashes, because they were obviously poisoned. That would kill her eventually, but it wasn't fast enough.

Eventually Dahlia had enough and shifted back into her human form, her face littered with cuts, one arm slower than the other. Janus was behind her in no time, she should have shifted into something else like a cockroach. That was her mistake, really.

Remus smiled when he saw the blade go through her back, poking from her chest. Her gasp was strangled and a hand traveled towards her chest, stopping just inches from the blade. It pulled out and she fell to the ground, coughing hard and gasping for air with a gurgling sound.

Janus slashed through the air and the blood on her blade splattered against the ground. She stepped away from his mother, walking over to Remus and not looking back.

"You did it!" Remus shouted in joy, but Janus didn't smile.

He sighed instead and mumbled, "Killed my own mom. I'm going to need some therapy."

"Oh for sure we all do. Now come on, we need to go find our brothers!"

"Brothers?"

Remus shrugged. "I figured you and Virgil were so close that you might as well be siblings. I mean, you've both said you're like siblings, why not just call it that? Now let's go find them!" He grabbed Janus's hand and pulled them towards the door. "They're probably wherever that explosion was!"

"Wait, what about your side?"

"What about your back? That bitch stomped on you!"

"Have you forgotten I can heal? I'll be fine," they reassured him, though they haven't healed it yet. "You can't heal right away!"

"Meh, I've had deeper. Kinky."

Janus rolled her eyes. "Just hold on." They slowed down and grabbed the bottom of his shirt, tearing at it. Remus's face turned dark green and he looked away as Janus pulled him close enough to wrap up and tighten the makeshift bandage.

"There, it's not the best, but it'll have to do. Now we can go."

Remus hummed in a high voice, face still burning as he nodded.