Janus Nocturne

“Well, gentlemen.” Janus entered the room, pushing a woman in a wheelchair towards the closet side of the dining table, moving her into the slot on the end of the table that had been left open. Professor Pyg and Waylon Jones, who were now staring at the pair. A grin sat upon the host's face, looking between the pair in front of him. Each had a full plate in front of them on the table, while the woman only had a small amount of mashed potatoes, peas and some of the roasted pork already cut up into pieces on her plate. 

“I do so hope that you enjoy the meal I've prepared for you tonight. After all, it is awfully difficult to get Long Pork, especially to have it so….fresh.” A wicked grin sat upon their face, Pyg releasing a squealing laugh, while Waylon chuckled darkly. The woman in the wheelchair looked down at her plate, wide-eyed and full of fear. Her arms strapped down to the wheelchair, the left arm attached to the IV drip hanging onto the back of the chair. She looked towards the monsters that sat before her, whole body shaking with fear. Janus removed the restraints from her right arm, so that she would be able to eat her meal, before making their way over to the heat of the table, where their own plate sat. 

The gothic monster happily started eating from their plate, carefully cutting up a small piece of leg meat on their plate before sticking it in their mouth. Their shoulders relaxed, letting go a content sigh as they began chewing, as if they had missed the taste of human flesh. Of course, they had. It had been SO long since they had had the opportunity to do so, remembering how tender and juicy it had been. They looked up towards the opposing end of the table, where the wheelchair bound woman was still staring at the plate before her. 

“Whatever is the matter, Mother dearest? Not hungry?” A sinister giggle erupted from their throat, as the woman, Janus’ Mother, turned her attention to them. She had no way of escaping, and that’s just how Janus had wanted it. No one knew that she had come to visit her child, nor that she would be visiting Gotham City. Mrs Nocturne hadn’t thought there would be any risks, visiting her mentally unstable child in a place where they thrive as Kingpins and Super-villains. How foolish. Both Janus and her knew what had happened to the dearly departed Mr Nocturne, Janus’ father, after all. 

“You need to eat, don’t you want to keep your strength up? For me? Your one and only child, who is graciously looking after you, out of the kindness of their heart?” Janus smirked, eating a little more off of their plate, as their mother looked down, towards where her legs used to be. There in their place now bandages, wrapping up the ends of her legs, where her knees once resided. Nocturne moved a shaky hand to her fork, struggling a little to stab at a few of the peas on her plate. Her hand remained shaky as she ate, Janus watching her every move intensely, like a predator watching their prey. “Good. I wouldn’t want all of my efforts to go to waste now, would I?”

This, of course, would  not be the case. Waylon had one leg to himself, as it had been cooked to be on the rare side. Pyg, Janus and their mother were sharing the other, with the left overs in the middle of the table, with the other extras that Janus had made, knowing that their guests had much larger appetites than Janus themself.

By the time Janus had finished, Pyg had had seconds, nearly having finished his third plate, whereas Waylon had finished his second plate, consuming the leftover pork that the others had been eating. Mrs Nocturne had finished nearly half of her plate before Janus had to step in. They wiped their lips on their napkin, a little bit of their black lipstick came off, and moved over to their mothers side. “Do you need me to help you, or are you going to be a good girl and do it yourself?” They lent back against the table, watching as their mother just stared at them. “Pity, looks like you need help.” 

Janus took the fork from the plate, stabbing a few pieces from it before holding it to her mouth. Nocturne clenched her jaw, tight enough to shatter teeth. They tutted disappointingly, “You do rather like making things more difficult for yourself, don’t you? It’s a good thing that you didn’t bother trying to raise me, otherwise think about how much of a pathetic creature I would have become. Useless. Just like you.”

In one swift movement, Janus stood behind their mother, moving their free hand to her throat using it to hold her head up. Pyg and Jones watched as Janus started squeezing Nocturnes’ throat, it didn’t take much for her to start gasping for air, doing so in a desperate manner. The host used this opportunity to force the fork-full of food into the womans’ mouth, removing their hand from her throat to cover her mouth, so that she could not spit it out. 

Of course, this caused the woman to panic more. All eyes being on her, trapped in a room full of psychopathic cannibals. Who in their right mind wouldn’t be scared?

“The little piggy must do as she’s told~” Squealed Pyg, snorting like a pig. His plate now empty, his face oily from having spilled some of his dinner down his face. This earnt a giggle from Janus, who kept an intense gaze on their mother. 

It took a few seconds of hesitation before she started chewing, a twisted smile of delight now resting upon Janus’ face. Only moving their hand away once their mother had swallowed, they repeated the motion, filling the fork up with food from her plate, moving it to her mouth, and forcing her to eat it. This was repeated again and again, over and over until her plate was empty. 

“See, that wasn’t so hard now, was it?” Janus stated with a huff. They moved away, placing the used fork on the now emptied plate, going back and sitting back down in their abandoned seat. They grabbed their glass, swirling it before taking a tentative sip. Squirming in her seat, Mrs Nocturne locked eye contact with her child. Eyes of the devil. That’s what she and her husband used to say about their child, those unsettling luminous green eyes that always stared. 

The middle-aged woman mumbled something under her breath, glaring daggers at Janus. This action made the other chuckle, twirling the wineglass between their fingers. “If you’re going to speak, do so louder. I would oh so love to hear what you’re saying.” Janus rolled their eyes, taking another sip of their wine.

“I should have aborted you.” Nocturne spat venomously, trying to move her arms against the restraints. “Why would we ever want you? You were made from tainted seed, made of the devil. A cuckoo in our nest. How could a man like you come from the perfection of me and my dear husband? And even after all the generosity that we so graciously gave to you, he did nothing wrong to warrant the cruel actions that you did to him. You’re a pathetic excuse for a man-” Cut off by a fist slamming against the table, Janus’ eye twitching in anger. 

“What an insolent little pig~! If only I could take you with me, cut you open and make you perfect! A little doll, that would finally be worthy of those made of your flesh and blood~” Pyg snorted, speaking in his usual sing-song voice. Surprisingly enough, Pyg had been the one to cut the woman off. He may be a psychotic villain, but he was no monster and did not take too kindly to those disrespecting fellow Rogues, especially those of whom had been so hospitable towards him.

Taking a few deep breaths, their eyes closed while doing so, Janus calmed themself down. Why should they let the words of someone blinded by ignorance affect them? Face relaxing, they opened their eyes to face their mother once more. The woman in question was now as white as a ghost, her gaze fixated on the older man sitting much closer to her, his snort like giggling blocking out the music that had once filled the room. 

“I’m afraid she’s too far gone for such a generous offer to be valid. The only thing that she could ever be good for now is supplying us with what little nutrients resides within that withered husk.” Janus gave a small sigh, looking towards the older man, leaning on their face against three of their fingers, their elbow settled on the table. “Besides, even with such expertise, she could never be made perfect. Not that she would be deserving of the perfection that you would grant her.”

A dissapointed look rested upon the older mans face, looking between his host and the frightened woman in the wheelchair. Pyg would have delighted in the opportunity to change such a disgusting hag such as her, although she did make such a tender roasting joint. After all, it would be an awful shame to not finish the work that had already begun.

The older woman squirmed uncomfortably in her wheelchair under the watchful gaze of the two much larger men. Waylons' gaze not having broken from looking at the old hag since her outburst. "I reckon tha' tongue o' hers ought t' be next…… Too mucha tha' disrespectful yappin'."

The squirming stopped, Mrs Nocturnes eyes meeting the beast-like man. If she had thought of a retort, she kept it to herself. If there was any chance that the beast would follow through she wouldn't take the risk.