A Breakdown

What Kind of a Mess is This?

~~~~Deceit Name Spoilers!!!!!~~~~~

(Anxiety's POV)

"Oh goody, you're awake~"

The eyes moved back, and I got to see the wonderful face of the one and only Insanity. His signature smile plastered on his face, demented eyes twinkling.

"Anxy! We've been waiting foreeeever~! You look so disgusting when you sleep."

Ah. Cool. Yeah, my looks used to be a pretty big weak spot, so of course he would bring it back up. Coolcoolcool. Still, I managed to lift my head and stare him down. Bad move, really. Apparently he drove some Dark Side to the edge a while ago just by staring at him, and nobody's seen him since. It's like staring into the void, but cotton candy edition.

He quirked an eyebrow at my defiance, pinched my cheek, and withdrew. Annnnd then my stomach fell to the core of the Earth. Four people stood in a loose semicircle around the chair I was tied to, half hidden in the shadows of the small, dark room. I knew then that I was about to be reacquainted with the members of the Boss's inner circle, his elite team of delinquent powerhouses. The DIRE Four.

You know the first two components, Deceit and Insanity. The dream team, the Boss's right and left. Then there was their own personal lackeys, the second part of the equation. Rage and Envy.

Rage, in all his disheveled, sweatpants-and-tee-shirt glory, "belonged" to Deceit. This guy was the muscle, the one they turned to when the normal psychological tactics failed to work. My face ached just looking at the guy. Evidently his personal goal is "beat Anxiety up until he can't see anymore."

Then there was Insanity's underling. Envy. This guy was kinda like the kid brother of their little quartet. Useless, compared to the others, but stubborn. Oh so stubborn. He's more of a power amplifier for the other three, extending their reach just that little bit further. Because what goes better with insanity than a bit of jealousy? Insanity can be beaten, especially by someone like Logan. If you don't have any faults or insecurities for him to manipulate, Insanity can't do a whole lot. But anyone can fall victim to a bit of "harmless" jealousy. Wish you had that one guy's effortless style? That can easily be turned into an obsession over him or the way you look. The other two take advantage of the way Envy tends to slip quietly into a person's mind and whisper to them.

Envy slunk up to me, smiling softly. "Hey Anxy, I missed you. You never came to see me, I was beginning to think you found someone better than us." The smile turned into a frown. "But you didn't, right? The Lightners couldn't be better than us- better than me, right?"

I didn't deign to answer, avoiding his pale grey gaze. For some reason, I couldn't ever bring myself to fully hate the guy. He just gave off that kinda vibe. Quiet, reserved, always in the background, it felt like he really didn't want to be there. At one point, I related pretty heavily to that.

Insanity rolled his eyes "Of course he thinks they're better than us, Anxiety always idolized those dreadfully pathetic do-gooders, didn't he~? But now we've got him back, and we're going to have so much fun!"

"Go fuck yourself," I spat.

His smile froze a bit. "Oh please love, I'm only being friendly."

Deceit spoke up. "Anxiety is looking rather comfortable, don't you think? It's lovely to know he has no interest in knowing where his dear friends are."

I froze.

"Did you really let yourself forget about them?" His smirk grew. "And here I was fully convinced that the now 'good' Anxiety wouldn't forget about his charming, sweet friends for even a second."

I stared him down. He lifted an eyebrow, still smirking. Fine.

"Where are they?"

"Oh, you know; around."

"Deceit-"

"The boss has them. Well, most of them."

"There was one that we couldn't nab of course," Insanity added, "that would've been violating a whole bunch of those pesky little rules" 

'What rules?' I knew about the border, but apparently that was more of a suggestion than an actual divide these days.

"Didn't you know about it?" Envy had the gall to actually look concerned. "The boss and one of yours- Morality, was it? Made a deal about a year or so ago, something about keeping us all separated- OW" Rage cut him off with a swift slap to the face.

"Shut UP! You wanna go ahead and tell the guy every detail of our 'plan' like some goddamn cartoon villain??"

"No..." Envy mumbled, rubbing his cheek.

I would've almost felt sorry if my mind wasn't reeling. Why would Pat of all people go and talk to His Dark Assholishness? And make a deal with him?? How much did he not tell me??

And on top of that, since when was the band back together? I thought Insanity had been dismissed along with Envy after he lost a lot of his power? I never found out why he had a sudden drop in influence, Logan had just dropped that bit of knowledge on me and that had been that. Come to think of it, I never really questioned it. Or much of anything, once I was safe.

"Once you were safe?" I blanched at the realization that he was listening in to my thoughts again, and Insanity laughed. "My God, you really thought the Lightners meant complete and utter safety from us, a paradise of good and peace, didn't you? And they let you stay blissfully ignorant, telling you nothing. Ah, what a fantastic time that must have been!"

He spun in a lazy circle, arms flailing, and glanced over his shoulder at me. "Well guess what Sunshine? We've got you now, and I can guarantee you're going to have a lot more fun."

The pink nightmare linked arms with Envy, dragging him merrily towards the door. "Let's give dear Anxiety some alone time, hmm? We do have some guests to catch up on after all!"

Nearing desperation, I called out. "Wait! What the hell are you doing with the others??"

He looked back, smiling. "Ta-ta, Anxy." And thus, they disappeared around the corner.

"'Guests.'" Rage grumbled, following the pair out.

Deceit stalked towards the door, pausing at the threshold. He stared at me for a second, and it was just enough.

"Deceit please. Just- let me know they're okay."

"Of course! It would be my pleasure and honour to do that." He turned, ready to walk away.

"Janus, please-"

"Don't ever call me that. Ever." He left, slamming the door behind him.

I heard the lock click, and I was alone.

"How am I going to get us out of this?" I asked the empty room.

I half expected it to answer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm back y'all.

look okay i did say i would try to get this chapter out before the end of July, i just didn't bargain that it would be the end of July, 2020. hope y'all are doing well during the world's burning, but quarantine has been nothing if not a motivator for writing.

well anyway, we'll see how long this spark of motivation lasts! love you guys! (and i'm sorry!!!!)