Heroes and Villains

XVI

Remus and I were making our way through the city. I was following the footprints, but they kept warping and changing directions, so I had no clue if we were even remotely going in the right direction

I was starting to get worried now

It was around half six. Remy hadn't messaged to say that he was home or to ask where we were, Virgil hadn't messaged either and Janus was missing 

Remus was getting more and more fidgety too. I could tell that his intrusive thoughts were starting to encroach on him

"Remus, I'm gonna be honest with you," I mumbled, "The direction of these things keeps changing," 

Remus nodded, gulping lightly 

"Are we gonna find him?" He asked, "I- I would like to get back to the house to make sure the other two are okay," 

I nodded

"As soon as we find Janus, we'll head back, okay?" I said, trying to be encouraging 

Remus nodded and stayed silent, looking around nervously 

The footprints had stopped shifting around. It seems they'd decided on a spot 

"They've stopped moving if that's any help?" I said, smiling 

Remus didn't respond

"Hey," I said stopping. I turned around and took Remus' hands, "He's okay, okay? He probably just got caught in the rain and is taking shelter for a bit," 

I smiled gently at him

"C'mon, I'm sure we'll find him soon," I exclaimed, smiling optimistically at Remus 

He gave me a weak grin and nodded, squeezing my hand gently 

"How about I make chicken quesadillas tonight?" I offered, squeezing his hands back

"Yeah, that sounds nice," He mumbled, smiling

I smiled and took a deep breath, Remus mimicking me 

"Right, let's go find this idiot,"  I said, smiling 

Remus grinned and started walking beside me as I followed the footprints 

We were walking for around half an hour, so we talked to try and pass the time

"So, my meeting with the superintendent seemed to go well-" I chuckled, "To be fair, I did use three wishes making sure that nothing that went wrong would be my fault-"

Remus chuckled and sighed 

"So you used three on the meeting, one on disguising me and one to find Janus?" He asked 

I nodded

"I'm up to using five in one day, but like I said they can get wonky," I said, smiling 

Remus nodded

"With me, I'm getting better at using my powers, but it drains me like nothing else when I use them for around an hour," Remus explained to me, "So I'm good for like an hour before I need to go into a coma," 

I laughed and smiled at Remus

"We need to get you outside more, maybe you can up that time," I offered

"I'd love to get outside more often," he confessed, "Going on walks in the morning and in the rain... Maybe get a picnic with Janus and you three?" 

Nodding, I took a mental note to bring this up to Remy and Virgil

I looked back down at the footprints and saw that they turned off into an alleyway

I smiled

"See? He's just getting some shelter from the rain," I said, happily

Remus smiled and nodded

"He probably fell asleep," he mumbled, a hopeful look in his eyes

I nodded, walking around the corner into the alleyway 

Looking around, there didn't seem to be anyone there. I was confused

"Janus?" I called, "You there?" 

I followed the footprints further into the alleyway

Behind a dumpster, there was a glowing yellow circle around a small object

I picked it up and my blood ran cold 

It was Janus' hat. It was soaking from the rain 

I turned around to face Remus, the hat in hand 

Remus' gaze lowered onto the hat and his face went pale 

I gulped

"I wish to know what happened here," I whispered, terrified about what I might see 

Pale blue holograms appeared around Remus and I 

Most of them were just people walking into the alley to throw away something or to smoke

But after a while, someone wandered into the alleyway, grumbling about something 

"Fucking Remy and the fucking wild goose chase," I heard them grumble

"Janus," Remus and I whispered in unison 

We watched as he took off his hoodie and started to wring out the water 

I glanced at the entrance to the alleyway and saw three people standing there

Two of the three seemed to be in hero costumes. I recognised Lightspeed, but not the other one. They were tall and were wearing a steampunk-themed outfit with a clock in the right eye of the goggles they were wearing. The other guy was in business attire and was holding a taser.

The uniformed man fired the taser at Janus and Janus crumpled to the floor, screaming in pain, his appearance flickering between how he actually looked and what he had disguised himself as

The hologram shut off and Remus and I were left standing in the dim alleyway 

Thunder sounded from above and the rain started back up, heavier this time

There were tears rolling down Remus' cheeks 

"I should have been awake so I could have gone with him-" he whispered

"Remus, This isn't your fault-" I tried to say

"We need to go home," he cut me off, "We need to go home and find out where the other two are,"

I gulped and nodded

"I wish for us to go home," I mumbled

We appeared at the corner store down the road from the house 

Remus grabbed me and used his power to basically teleport to the house 

He opened the door and set me down 

"Phone Remy," He told me, "Phone Remy then Virgil," 

I nodded and grabbed my phone, starting to phone Remy

I sat down on the couch as it rang

It rang

And rang

And rang 

"Hey! This is Remy, I'm probably busy at the moment, call again later or leave a voicemail!"

"He's not picking up-" I whispered, "That's not like him and his meeting should be over by now-"

Remus yelled in frustration as he was pacing around the living room, clutching Janus' hat tightly 

"Phone Virgil. Where is he normally at this time on a Thursday?" Remus asked

"He should be home-" I whispered, dialling Virgil's number, hearing it ring 

And ring 

And ring...