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He hadn't intended for this to happen. He hadn't been serious when he'd said those words but standing here looking at what they'd caused, he couldn't ignore the small sense of satisfaction from creeping in.
He wanted to deny it so badly but, deep down he knew that this was exactly what he'd wanted all along. The others may consider it a bit extreme but a little tough love was good now and then.
Patton schooled his expression into one of concern as the figure in front of him let out a quiet grunt and shifted slightly, the chains keeping them secured clanking.
One of the figures eyes opened and a humourless laugh escaped their lips.
"Of course. Back to make sure the horrifying monster is still safely locked away?"
"Now kiddo, that's not a good way to talk about yourself. I'm merely here to see how you're doing." Patton said in a soft voice full of concern.
A raspy cackle filled the room and Patton took a step back as the figure strained slightly against the chains to change positions, looking up at him with pure contempt.
"We both know that's a load of bullshit. Don't pretend you're not enjoying seeing me like this."
"Remus I..."
"Don't! Just... Don't."
Patton fell silent, watching as the form of Remus slumped into a heap, whether from exhaustion or defeat he wasn't sure.
Remus's eyes darted up from the floor to meet Patton's and Patton felt the urge to step back from the intensity of them as Remus once again spoke in his raspy voice.
"I bet things are going perfectly now you've put a leash on the monsters under the bed, huh?"
"That's not what this is, I'm just doing what's necessary to protect Thomas."
Remus snorted derisively. "I'm not Janus but even I can tell that was a big fat lie. Is that what you tell yourself so you can live with what you're doing? That it's 'protecting Thomas' so it's forgivable?"
Patton frowned and felt his hand twitch slightly, something Remus noticed as he laughed again.
"Wow, who'd of known that telling old Morali-tits the truth would make him violent?" He taunted, sending an infuriating grin at Patton who was clenching his fists and unclenching them again.
"You're in no position to be taunting or attempting to goad me, you're not the one in control."
"I guess not, but that's ok, I'm into it." Remus sent a wink at Patton.
"Stop doing that."
"Or what? Gonna punish me? Oh I'm so scared, daddy's gonna punish m..."
Before Remus could finish his comment, a burst of electricity coursed through him from the bands around his arms and neck and he bit down on his tongue to stop himself crying out.
When it was over he panted and looked up at Patton who had a blank look on his face but the remote for the electric shock held in one hand.
"If you don't want that to happen again then don't give me a reason to." He said as casually as if he were discussing the weather.
Remus glared at Patton, his body still spasming slightly from the after effects while he tried to ignore the tang of iron from where he'd drawn blood from biting down on his tongue.
"Do the others know about this side of you daddy dearest? Or are you hiding it away, keeping me your dirty little secret?"
Patton didn't respond and Remus grinned.
"They don't know do they? I wonder how they'd react knowing just how twisted their precious paternal protector is. I'm surprised you've managed to keep this so well hidden from good old Janny boy, that's not an easy feat. Him and scaredy-cat Virge are the best at sensing when someone's hiding something, believe me I know from experience."
Patton's expression shifted towards worry for a second before the blank mask was back and he spoke in a calm tone. "It doesn't matter if they know or not. This is a necessary precaution. They'll understand it's for everyone's own good."
"Will they though? You're keeping someone chained up in a dark room and every time they do something you dislike, you shock them and threaten to crank that Soulja Boy higher. I know I'm joking around and purposefully pissing you off, but you're literally torturing me because you don't agree with who I am as a person. You're worse than I have ever been."
"That's not true."
Remus scoffed. "Yes it is! I've spoken about shit like this but I've never actually done it. Remember what hot boy Logan said? Who am I kidding, you never listen to the poor dude. Logan said "Thought isn't always a precursor to doing" So me thinking stuff doesn't mean I've done it or will do it. You on the other hand, woo boy are you fucked up my guy. Just look at what you're willing to do to 'help' Thomas. A necessary evil is still an evil."
"Stop talking." Patton growled, hand twitching again.
"What's the matter? Can't handle the reality? Don't like when your little torture subject is talking back? What are you gonna do about it? Gonna shock me again? Gonna shock me until I stop shoving the truth in your face?"
"I said stop!"
"News flash for ya Cow-Pat, I'm not going to stop and you're one twisted motherfu-!"
Remus was once again cut off, this time with a higher voltage as Patton pressed the button and held it so it went on longer.
"That... Was... Nothing." Remus panted once it had stopped, attempting a grin just to annoy Patton further.
"You won't be able to keep this act up for long, I suggest you just comply now and make things easier for yourself." Patton said, sounding for all the world like a mildly concerned parent trying to impart life lessons on their child.
"Go fuck yourself with a rake, sideways." Remus sneered, already bracing for the electricity.
"I'll give you one last chance, this is your final warning."
Remus took a deep breath before looking Patton dead in the eye and saying "The Angry Cheeto would be a far better morality than you."
Patton let out a snarl of anger and pressed the button, turning the voltage up to max and holding it.
Remus tried his best to stay silent and not give Patton the satisfaction, but after a minute or two he couldn't hold back and a loud scream of pure agony ripped from his mouth.
His screams bounced off of the walls and Patton felt a surge of satisfaction at the knowledge Remus wasn't able to shrug off the pain this time and held the button longer, relishing in the knowledge he was actually effecting him instead of the other way around.
It was only when blood began to bubble out of Remus's mouth from where he'd bitten through his tongue, that Patton let go of the button, the screams still ringing in his ears.
"Not so tough now, are you?" Patton asked in a light teasing voice as Remus lay gasping on the floor.
Patton leant closer with a falsely sweet smile and said "I guess we'll have to start from that level next time as it seemed to work so well."
Remus forced his aching body to lunge forwards, spitting a mouthful of blood in Patton's face and feeling a vicious smugness at the shriek of horror and outrage it resulted in.
"How dare you, you vile creature!" Patton shouted and once again Remus was screaming, not having had enough time to brace himself this time.
Patton glared down at where Remus lay writhing amongst the chains on the floor, feeling his anger dissipate to satisfaction the longer he listened to the screams.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Janus had a frown on his face as he searched the other mindspace for Remus, even going so far as to bother Orange.
It had been a week or two since he'd last seen him which wasn't too unusual as he tended to lose track of time in the imagination, but Roman had been adamant that he'd not seen him in there.
With his search once again failing Janus decided to enlist some help.
"I'm leaving, I don't want to hear anything he has to say."
"Virgil, at least hear him out, he said it's important."
Virgil hesitated before rolling his eyes and reluctantly hovering by the doorway. "Fine, but make it quick."
Janus sent Logan a grateful look and quickly launched into the problem.
"The thing is, I can't find Remus and that wouldn't usually be a problem but it's been nearly two weeks and Roman says he's not seen him in the imagination, which is usually where he disappears to so now I'm worried. I've tried to search for him and even asked Orange, but still nothing, so I thought asking for your help was the best way to find him."
"I will admit that I haven't seen him in the imagination so, Deceit does appear to be telling the truth with this one." Roman said, a conflicted expression on his face.
"Well I will help with the search, although there's not much harm that can come to him outside of the imagination."
"Thank you Logan."
"I guess I'll help too, my brother could be doing all manner of dastardly things with no witnesses for two weeks." Roman said, shuddering at the idea of what Remus might be up to.
Janus nodded and looked over to Virgil who was frowning at the floor.
"Fine, I'll help, just stop looking at me like that." Virgil sighed looking up at the sudden silence and seeing everyone's eyes on him. "Why isn't Patton here anyway? I'm sure he'd love to help look."
Janus frowned. "I couldn't find him actually, but there are plenty of us now to search, he's probably busy."
Virgil rolled his eyes again as the group started heading down the maze-like corridors, but refrained from any of his usual comments as he felt the slow rise of anxiety that he knew didn't belong to him or Thomas.
They split up down the interweaving halls and scanned for signs of Remus for what felt like hours until Virgil heard something that made him freeze in stunned terror.
A distant scream.
After a few seconds of standing still Virgil quickly messaged Roman and Logan, relying on one of them to message Janus as he'd deleted his number years ago and not cared to replace it.
Several tense moments later the scream stopped just before Virgil was joined by the other three.
"Did you find him?" Janus asked immediately and Virgil shook his head, pointing in the direction he'd heard the scream.
"I think he might be down here though, I heard screaming."
"Why would he even be down here? As far as I remember this area has been unused since before the split..." Logan trailed off, his eyes flicking to Roman who had a haunted look in his eyes.
"It doesn't matter, lets find him quickly." Janus snapped, pushing down his own worries as he took the lead.
A few minutes of silence passed before a loud ear piercing scream echoed down the halls, making them all exchange concerned looks before Janus set off in a dead sprint, everyone else running after him.
Janus skidded to a stop at a large grey door, the screams very clearly coming from the other side due to how loud they were.
He gulped and opened the door just as the others caught up to him so they were all able to witness the nightmarish scene within.
A beam of light shone into the dark interior to reveal a familiar figure with his back to them while another figure writhed and struggled on the floor, red pooling around him and the clear source of the screaming.
Janus felt white hot rage fill him at the sight and lunged forward, his extra arms coming out to help increase his chance of restraining Patton as he yelled for the others to help Remus.
Patton struggled and lashed out but Janus pulled him out of the room and maintained his grip, like a snake constricting it's prey.
At Janus's yell Roman leapt into action, diving to the floor and trying to figure out how to free his brother of the chains, trying to ignore the red everywhere.
Virgil stood paralysed by disbelief as he tried to absorb what he was witnessing. Janus was wrestling with Patton and Remus was the one screaming in apparent pain, restrained and locked away in a dark isolated room.
Logan helped Roman, quickly searching for where the chains were fixed to and waited for someone to find a way to stop the electricity so he could start the process of picking the lock to free them.
"Virgil! His hand!" Janus yelled and Virgil snapped out of his dazed state, his eye's zeroing in to Patton's hands where he was clutching some strange remote.
He ran forward and started tugging the remote from Patton's hand, letting out a frustrated cry as Patton held onto it with a vice like grip.
"Let it go!" He shouted and almost let go in surprise when Patton growled "No! It's what he deserves!"
Remus's screams continued to echo around the hall and Virgil grit his teeth, using all his might to yank the remote from Patton's fingers, causing the button to be released.
Remus's screams finally stopped and were instead replaced by quiet sobbing and spluttering.
"It's alright, I've got you. Remus, can you hear me?" Roman said, his voice shaking as he tried to comfort his brother.
"R... Ro..." Came the croaked response and Roman quickly reassured him he was there.
Logan finally managed to unlock the chains and pulled them free, carefully unwinding them from Remus's limbs as gently as he could.
"What the fuck?" Virgil shouted as soon as his ears stopped ringing from the screams.
Patton had stopped struggling against Janus now, his gaze still focused in the direction of where Remus was.
"We need to get him out of here so we can better assess his injuries, Roman do you think you're capable of carrying him?" Logan asked, taking charge.
"Maybe..." Roman said, his voice trailing off as the reality of the situation started to get to him.
Logan sighed and reached down for Remus himself, effortlessly lifting him and gesturing for Roman to follow.
"Janus, bring him too." Logan said, a frown on his face as he watched Patton's eyes follow Remus's form intently. "But keep him away from Remus."
"Noted." Janus said through clenched teeth, the now visible fangs the only real indicator of how angry he currently was.
"I'll help." Virgil said, his eyes surrounded by shadows as he looked at the person he'd considered like a father to him for so long.
They travelled in silence, too lost in thought or trying to process what had just happened.
Janus and Virgil lead Patton to the living room, pushing him to the sofa and standing watching him with their arms crossed, neither of them capable of speaking as they surveyed the usually caring trait.
Eventually Logan reached the room he wanted and gently laid Remus down on a bed, quickly beginning to assess the full scope of the injuries.
Roman stood awkwardly to the side, unable to do much but stare at his brother and wonder why.
"Remus can you hear me?"
"H... Hey hot stuff." Remus managed to pant in response to Logan's question and Roman felt like he was going to cry, not used to seeing his brother so helpless and vulnerable.
"I'm not hot, I'm of regular temperature but that's beside the point. Can you tell me what hurts? Do you have any serious injuries I should know about, other than your tongue and the fact you've been subjected to electrical shocks multiple times?"
"Don't... think so." Remus panted again, wincing a little as his tongue throbbed.
"Ok, well could I see your tongue so I can assess the damage?"
Remus managed half a flirty grin. "All you had to do was ask Logan." He managed to get out before shuddering a little, the after effects of the electrical current still causing his muscles to spasm occasionally.
Logan shook his head but was relieved Remus seemed well enough to attempt his usual antics, which helped him at least rule out the potential for brain damage from the electricity.
When Remus opened his mouth Logan grimaced at the wounds he could see, already knowing he'd have to start the complicated task of stitching them due to their severity.
"You'll require stitches but it's going to be a long process due to the fact it's your tongue and it'll have to be dried and kept very still for me to do so."
"If I'd known this was what it took to get my tongue on you I'd have done it ages ago." Remus said with a wink and a chuckle that ended in him coughing as he tried not to choke on his own blood.
"Shouldn't we... Shouldn't we try to get the bands off his arms and neck?" Roman asked in a quiet voice.
Logan eyed the bands with a frown and carefully felt for some kind of release mechanism but found nothing. "I'm not entirely certain how to other than potentially cutting them, but considering Remus is still experiencing spasms and these have been used for administering electric shocks, that seems too dangerous. At least for the time being. I don't want to risk accidentally catching him with something sharp or suffering an electrical shock myself."
Roman nodded, taking a shaky breath to try and calm himself down.