The Academy of S.I.D.E.

No. 10: Drama Club, or Just Plain Drama?

"It must not be denied that I am a plain-dealing villain," Janus sneered, stalking across the stage. "If I had my mouth, I would bite. And if I had my will... I would do my liking."

"Aaaaaaaaand CUT!" the drama teacher called.

He stopped and grinned. "Did I do good?"

"Amazing as always, Janus," he answered amid the cheers from the other kids. "Just keep up the good work."

"Thanks, Larry."

Larry clapped his hands. "Break time! Everyone out!"

Virgil got up from his seat and walked up to Janus as he hopped down from the stage. "You never told me you were that good of an actor."

"Well, it's a necessary skill for undercover work," Janus said casually, scratching the back of his neck. "And playing the villain is always the hardest part, y'know? Anyone can be the hero. Anyone can make people love them. But you need to be really good to make people root against you. You need to make them believe that you're up to no good."

"Yeah, you don't need acting to do that," Virgil said dryly.

Janus let out a little offended laugh, pressing his hands to his chest. "Bitch!"

"Oh my goodness gracious, you two know each other! That's perfect!"

Virgil turned around to see Patton beaming at them.

"Patton, I brought him in," Janus reminded him. "Of course we know each other."

"But you two are actually friends!" Patton sang, hugging them both.

"You guys are friends?" Virgil questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, we've been friends since he found me in Atlanta," Patton told him. "The minute I saw him, I knew that we were going to be friends for life!"

"He forced me into telling him every little detail about myself," Janus explained, rolling his eyes with a smirk. "Much like you did, except with a lot more energy and homemade chocolate chip cookies."

Virgil cocked his head to the side. "I didn't think that anybody else on my crew liked this guy."

"Logan's friends with him, too," Patton assured him. "It's really only Roman that has a problem with him. Logan doesn't like Remus for some reason---I mean, he can be a little much sometimes, but he's okay once you get to know him."

"The thing you have to understand about little McLain here is that he is physically incapable of hatred," Janus said. "I've attempted to teach him the secrets of revenge and blackmail, but he is impossible."

"I've always said that the best revenge is letting go and living well!" Patton chirped.

Virgil thought back to all those times he'd pranked the Trolls. "Oh, I wouldn't say that."

"Ah-HA!" Janus crowed. "See? This one understands!"

"What are you three nerds chatting about?" Remus asked, slinging an arm around Janus. "Hey, Patton-Cake."

"Hi, Lupin!" Patton said, giggling.

Virgil snorted. "Lupin?"

"Yeah! He has the same name as a Harry Potter character, right? So I call him Lupin sometimes."

"I mean, I'm obviously Sirius Black, but it's fine," Remus said, shrugging.

Janus scoffed. "Darling, don't lie to yourself. You're clearly Peeves."