Reptile - Janus Angst

Twenty One

Janus stared at the board with horror.

His king was surrounded on all sides: a bishop in the top left corner, a rook right next to him, a knight that could easily move next to him, a queen straight ahead.

He was trapped.

He looked up at Blü who had allowed a smug grin to grace his lips. His eyes shined with triumph.

"Hard luck, Janus," he told him, his grin not faltering.

Janus went to say something but then his breath caught in his throat. He grabbed at it as his throat started to close. He couldn't breathe!

Janus' body started to curl in on itself. His breathing was coming faster, sharper, scratching at his throat as he grabbed at his hair with his talons.

Pain stood up and ran to his body, unsure of what to do.

Fuck fuck fuck, what is this?!

The others came over almost as soon as they saw Pain stand up and noticed the look of terror on his face.

"Pain, what's happening?" Thomas asked.

"Is he ok?" chimed in Patton.

"I-I-"

More scales were started to protrude from Janus' skin, slowly encasing the rest of his face and hand.

"Pain, what the actual fuck is happening?!"

Virgil had grabbed him and pulled him down so they were eye to eye.

Virgil's eyes were filled with worry and an underlying anger.

Pain's eyes were filled with confusion. Though, one couldn't miss the surprise and frustration in them at Virgil suddenly grabbing him.

"I don't know," he said as he forced Virgil off of him.

He stood up properly and watched as Janus writhed on the sofa in pain. His hands had moved from his head and were clenching at thin air as if unsure of which part of his body they should hold - as if there was too much agony everywhere.

Blü bent over with his hands behind his back as he watched Janus, who had fallen on the floor, attempting to breathe and get back up, his eyes blank.

"What... d... yo..." Janus choked out before going into a coughing fit.

Blü tilted his head.

"What was that?"

"What did... you... do?!" Janus managed to gasp out as he looked at Blü with eyes that were starting to go distant.

Blü smiled.

"You lost."

He walked away from the suffocating man and looked around at the clouds and sky.

Janus lay there, struggling to keep getting oxygen into his lungs. The world was starting to darken in his peripheral vision.

No!

He wasn't going out just yet. There had to be something he could do stop his god forsaken snake half.

His eyes darted around the space looking for something, anything, he could do.

He heard Blü grunt softly as he stretched.

"I guess I oughta go introduce myself to everyone hmm? Since you're down for the count I'll be taking control of the body."

WHAT?!

Not even caring about his inability to properly breathe, Janus forced himself off of the floor and lunged at Blü, pinning him down before he had a chance to react.

"You're not... going... out there!" he tried to shout. It sounded more like a really hoarse whisper.

Blü seemed a little surprised that Janus had managed to get off of the floor, let alone have the strength to pin him. He tilted his head to the side.

Janus was getting real sick of him doing that.

"Why not? I'm a part of you, Janus. It wouldn't make any difference if I was in control of the body. It would still be Deceit wouldn't it?"

"No, it...  it... not me."

"Hmm?"

"Not... it wouldn't b... be... me out th-there."

"But you're not Deceit. I am too."

Janus couldn't respond as another coughing fit racked his body and his eyes began to blur. He had to convince Blü not to take over - fast.

Blü watched as his more human counterpart almost choked with a blank look on his face.

This was pathetic.

He took the opportunity to squirm out of Janus' hold and got up from the floor. He pushed his hair off of his shoulder and adjusted his robe then gave Janus one last pitying look before walking away again.

He tripped.

He only just kept his balance.

He looked behind him and saw that Janus had grabbed his leg in a last ditch effort to stop him.

He almost laughed at how sad the sight was: his human half barely alive and yet still trying so hard to keep him from his goal.

"What do you hope to achieve by doing this?" he asked Janus with a small, amused smile.

"Won't let you... let you near... them. Won't let you...without..."

Janus gripped his trouser leg tighter. Blü was almost impressed that he hadn't passed out yet.

"Why? You can't do anything right now. Someone has to-"

"Both of us."

Blü stared in surprise. What did he mean by 'both of us?'

"We can both... both..."

Another coughing fit. He had to let go of Blü to stifle it. It was much worse than the others.

Despite him now having his chance, Blü didn't move. He needed to know what Janus meant.

He kneeled down next to his human half and pulled him onto his lap. Janus flinched at the movement but didn't have enough time to process what was happening as his throat got even tighter and the world even darker.

"Janus, what do you mean by 'both of us?'" Blü asked softly.

He didn't get an answer.

Pain and the others stood around Janus' body.

Patton was crying into Virgil's shoulder who in turn had sad eyes and a grim expression. Logan had a solemn look on his face. Roman and Remus had pulled each other into an embrace - for the first time in years, showing brotherly love. Thomas was slowly shaking his head as tears trickled down his cheeks. Pain stood in sheer shock as he wrapped his arms around himself and tears threatened to fall from his eyes.

Janus' body had stopped moving - stopped breathing.