#sympathetic logan
…
“Well, that coulda gone better.” Remus gasped out, trying to hide his shaking hands behind his back.
“What in the name of the universe did you do, Remus?” Logan asked, clearly shaken. Remus shrugged, smile trembling, eyes tired.
“I pushed him. Wanted to see what would happen. What was going on behind those deep, dark balls of gelatin in his eyeholes. Didn’t expect… that.” He muttered, flushing slightly as Logan hesitantly reached out, resting a hand on his.
“are you ok?” Remus hesitated, taking a moment to catalogue himself. The fear was already fading out, it was more the images that still flickered behind his eyes.
“Think so. Just gave me quite a good… scare.” He said, lingering on the last word. It felt odd, on his tongue. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had really truly scared him. Only Virgil, it seemed, could shake him to his core, and it was maddening that he couldn’t predict it.
“It hurt. He’s hurting. I… there was so much buildup. That kind of power doesn’t come out of nowhere, Lo. His negativity is spiraling. Growing. Someone needs to get through to him, or he’s going to be completely consumed by his own darkness. He’ll turn into a shade or a shadow person, he’ll be completely lost.” Logan’s eyes widened and his face paled.
“We need to speak to Patton and Roman immediately. We need to make a plan, we need to figure something out, we need-“
“Easy, teach. If you start panicking, everyone’ll start panicking, and that’ll make me lose what little self control I have, and no wants to be a part of that shit show.” A small smile slipped across Logan’s face as he rolled his eyes, getting to his feet before reaching a hand out to help pull Remus up. Instead, Remus took his hand, and pulled Logan back down, vanishing in a swirl of neon green and midnight blue, reappearing moments later in the living room.
“remus.” Logan said, scoldingly.
“What? It was faster, wasn’t it?” The poltergeist replied, idly bending his fingers so they laid flat against the back of his hands, before popping them back into their sockets. “Soldier boy, Daddio, JayJay, get your asses up here!” Remus yelled, and Logan rolled his eyes, sitting down in a chair, hands steepled as he thought.
“Remus, we’ve talked about the swearing.” Patton scolded, appearing on the couch, a slight frown on his face.
“Oh yes, because he always follows instructions so well.” Janus drawled, appearing a moment later, tugging at his gloves.
“It’s so much more fun to be surprising!” Remus exclaimed, bouncing on the balls of his feet, face flickering for a moment to reveal bone and muscle, dark blood and viscera. Patton shuddered, saved by Roman appearing between them, raising an eyebrow. Remus backed off quickly, scowling.
“Is it? The last surprise you got was less than pleasant.” Logan chimed in, Remus’s scowl deepening as he stalked across the room, climbing up the wall like a spider, extra tentacles emerging from his back and latching onto the ceiling, forming a swinging seat beneath him as he kicked his legs.
“Please don’t stain anything with your ectoplasm, it’s an absolute nightmare to get rid of.” Janus said, watching him idly swing, noting the strange green aura starting to swirl around him.
“What surprise? What’s wrong?” Patton asked, easily picking up on the tension radiating off of Remus, the soft fear from Logan, who hesitated.
“It’s Virgil.” Logan said quietly.
“Did he come out? Did he talk to you?” Roman asked, gaze flicking between Logan and Remus.
“Yes… and no… “
…
It was dark. It was so, so dark. And cold. So cold it burned. He was curled in on himself, swirling and sparking, folding and crashing like waves against the shore, thunder through his soul, he was falling apart, shattering into pieces, the dark eroding him piece by piece.
“Worthless.
Stupid.
Idiot.
Why do you care? Why should you? Just give in. Just let us take control. Just let us help.” The shadows whispered, circling him like panthers, fangs bared and claws sharp, ready to tear him to shreds.
“N-no. Y-you’ll hurt th-em.” He whispered, voice shaking.
“you already have. We can’t possibly do worse than you. Think about it. You pushed them all out. You hurt Remus. You scared Logan. Patton and Janus think you’re pathetic, and Roman just wants you gone. You don’t want this either. Just let us take control. You never have to feel. Never again. Don’t you want that, sweetheart?” He flinched at the soft caress of his cheek, so possessive, that term of endearment, the one He always used.
“don’t-“ He hissed at the sharp slap of his cheek, the shadows coalescing into His form, His face, leering down at him with disgust and disappointment.
“You don’t tell me what to do, Sweetheart. You’re mine. If you weren’t so stupid, maybe we wouldn’t need to have this conversation again.”
“Not him. You’re not… not real…” He gasped, frozen in place with fear as He leaned in, gripping his chin.
“I’m as real as you make me, Virgil. I have as much power as you feed me. And right now? I’m realer than you.” He whispered in Virgil’s ear, who shuddered at the cold grip on his chin, forcing him to look up into those voids of eyes. “let. Me. In.” Well. He’d never been able to refuse, had he?
He was weak, always had been. He’d never been able to say no. He never had. Because He was right. Always, always, right, and if Virgil had just been better, been good, maybe He wouldn’t have needed to remind him so often of his shortcomings. Of how much a failure he really was. The fingers gripped his chin tighter.
“Say. Yes. This will all be over.” He could feel the tears rolling down his face, even as he knew he couldn’t fight this. Wouldn’t fight this. So he opened his mouth to say yes.
“Get away from him, you fiend!” Instantly, the shadow was ripped away from him, numb surprise sparking through him for just at moment at Roman, sword drawn, stance determined, facing down the now swirling, rippling, monster of darkness.
“You’re nothing, compared to me. You think you can stand against me?” The shadows growled, their voice a screaming, howling wind storm.
“You aren’t real. You’re his fears come to life. You’re the reason he died. You’re the one who’s worthless.” Logan, stepping beside him, voice scathing, and the shadows howled louder, though they shrank just a tad.
“Kiddo.” He blinked, Patton stepping in front of him, obscuring his view of the room. “Kiddo, can you hear me?” He nodded, eyes trying to look past Patton, trying to see further into the maelstrom that was becoming his room. He could hear them whispering in his ear, still, the chorus of useless, worthless, waste, echoing in his ears.
“No. Listen to me darling. Not that thing, over there, to me. You need to come with us. You need to get out of here.” Janus, running a hand down his arm, just barely touching him enough he could feel it. “You can’t let the dark win, Virgil. Not again. It already stole your life. Don’t let it take you entirely.”
“I c-can’t. I-“ His fear spiked, and he heard Roman’s sword spark, go flying, Logan yelp, be thrown backwards, then the monstrous shadows were hovering over him, clawed hands biting into his shoulders, too many toothed mouth gaping open in a twisted grin.
“Miiiine.” It hissed, and Virgil gasped, ice flooding through him, vision blurring and fuzzing, mind going hazy, freezing over. “He’s mine. He made me. He built me. He is mine.”
“-il. Ki… ease…” the words barely slipped through the cotton filling his ears, the numbness filling his head. He knew more words were being spoken, but he couldn’t hear them.
He looked up sharply at the short gasps of pain. The monster held Patton and Janus in writhing tentacles of shadow, their ethereal forms flickering and fading. Logan was slumped against one of the bedposts, looking dazed, another tentacle around his ankle, another was wrapped around Roman’s wrists, pinning him against the wall, though he still snarled, fighting the grip.
“Virgil! Stop this!” Roman called, catching his eye, and he shook his head.
“I can’t… I c-can’t! I-I-I-“ He stuttered, voice cracking, terror making the beast grow bigger.
“kiddo. You can. You’re so… brave, sweetheart. So brave.”
That’s what broke him.
Patton. Calling him sweetheart. So different, from His cold, cruel voice. So warm, and loving and kind, even now, even in pain and with him being the one causing it, Patton was calling him brave, calling him…
Calling him…
Sweetheart.
It was like all the air was sucked out of the room. Like the calm before the storm. Like the eye of the hurricane. Then Virgil screamed.
Loud, piercing, glass breaking, light bending, earth shattering, gut wrenching, scream.
And the shadows recoiled, the sound breaking it apart, hissing and wailing and fighting, but the scream pierced it to its core and with a final hissing scream to rival Virgil’s own, it dissipated into thin air.
And Virgil crashed to the ground.
