#filipino!creativitwins | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

soysaucevictim · 2 years

Text

“todo da vueltas como un carrusel”

(See warnings/summary on Ao3. This one gets pretty violent.)

Chapter 3: Change The Formality

Leaving the Lair was jarring. It was like parts of himself pulled away, yet they remained within grasping distance.

Roman reconvened with his brother on the rooftop, the sun was still visible, but he didn’t have a sense for how much time passed.

Remus shouted and waved at him, “So, how’d it go?!”

Roman dropped down onto the ceiling, hugging himself, “It went… well?”

Roman was growing confused about his feelings, looking down at his hands, half-expecting to see his claws again. No, they were merely “human”. Remus noticed him appearing to space out, “A trip, huh?”

“I-I wish I could hold onto before– but I’m starting to question that.”

Remus beamed, “Good enough for me!”

Roman was again glad Remus was there, experiencing these things. He had no idea how he would have been able to cope if he had to do all of this alone. His thoughts circled back to his childhood, how he tended to push the other kids away from him due to his predilections. His intensity frequently scared them away. He was taught that these games with classmates were just that, games. Lighthearted romps for an hour or two and you moved on, come what may. He understood this, but he couldn’t describe just how much he felt the need to win.

Roman was suddenly overcome with feelings of profound loneliness and started to cry. “I-I guess never had the chance to–”

Remus was concerned and confused. For how much he understood his brother, he was never great in the Dealing with Feelings Department. “… ‘chance to’ what?”

“… be a normal kid.”

“I have no idea why you still latch on to that. Especially after everything. After revisiting yourself, just now.”

“I mean. I know that now, I guess. But I think… I wanted to believe I was like them, so I didn’t have to feel so alone.”

“Well. You’re not now! You still have me! And there’s probably a lot of other Beasts like us!”

“… y-you’re right.”

Why haven’t they noticed others like them? Why was Janus the only one who reached out to them for this? Roman felt weird about the notion of meeting more monsters like himself.

He felt weird calling himself one.

“... never seen anything like this in their careers. Here’s our reporter on the ground, Dani Wexler, to tell you more.”

“… Thank you. I am at the Golden Delicious Orchards. In recent memory, this could only be described as the strangest case of burglary this community has experienced. I am with the district chief of police, Scott Dennis.”

On the screen was the reporter in front of a building, with what looked like law enforcement and a family of three. It was mostly obscured, but Roman could see scorch marks and a gaping hole through one of the building’s sides. It was unmistakable.

Remus left the news on when he left their house. Roman got antsy when they announced the Fair being around the corner, but almost paid it no mind until he remembered everything. Roman immediately sat down in rapt attention.

“What can you tell me about what happened, sir?”

“Well. We think the perpetrators entered the community from over there,” the officer pointed roughly in the direction where the twins entered.

As the cameras swiveled, the officer continued, “They then entered through the back door of the property…”

The officer was interrupted by a livid, rude and unfortunately familiar voice, “MONSTERS! Monsters did this! They fucking blew up my house and took our STUFF!”

It was Steve. Roman couldn’t help but snort, especially after the expressions the officer and reporter gave him.

The officer cleared his throat, “Yes. We are pretty sure the culprits were thorough in their endeavor, since they haven’t made it easy for us. We admit that whoever they were, this was either carefully planned or that they had extensive prior experience.”

Roman almost spat his drink.

Steve was practically screaming, “What happened when you dusted for fingerprints!?”

Steve’s parents and the officer were trying so hard to stay composed in front of the camera, “Excuse me. Those details are sensitive, as this is an active investigation. We aren’t at liberty to furnish details such as that.”

Steve was clearly having none of this, “Have you heard of a burglar stealing random ass trophies from someone? Or-or–”

Steve looked like he was about to sob, “… my precious Woody doll. And PEZ Dispensers...”

Seeing and hearing the abject distress in Steve sent a thrill through Roman, far more intense than when they initially made their getaway. Was this one of those Beast things? Who was he kidding, he knew it was. There was something about the obvious grief he felt from them losing prized possessions, that was absolutely… intoxicating?

Roman shook his head and muttered to himself, “You really ARE a monster, aren’t you?”

Elizabeth, Steve’s mother, interjected quietly, “Yes. Officer, don’t you think this was beyond bizarre? Who would have any need for a bowling trophy?”

The patriarch barely contained his fuming, glaring at the camera man and occasionally looking down to Steve. The officer looked somewhat defeated and addressed the reporter, “I’m afraid that’s the only information I’m at liberty to discuss here. If any of your viewers have any leads to offer, the tip line is...”

Roman turned off the TV.

He was still euphoric over Steve’s suffering, but he felt a twinge of something else. Worry.

Roman kept going back to the sensation of his Hunger being appeased. He thought the initial sensation was something, but this was in a different league. He wanted that again, he never experienced something so exciting and gratifying before. Remus took notice, “Am I missing something or–?”

“I-I saw the news and-and-and–”

Remus giggled. He recognized where this was coming from, since he caught the rebroadcast. So, he let his brother stammer on jubilantly. “Oh MAN, the look on Steve’s face! Priceless!”

Remus waited for Roman to catch his breath before talking, “Sooo… wanna do something like that again?”

“YES! I mean, I don’t know. I-I don’t want to be caught, now that they’re back in town and–”

Roman ran his hand through his hair dumbfounded, “I-I… ¡Ch-chancecito!”

Roman took a seat on the sofa, feeling overwhelmed again. Remus sat next to him and awkwardly patted his shoulder, not verbalizing anything.

Roman’s thoughts returned to worry, “Do you think Steve knows?”

“You’re gonna have to be more specific.”

“About us?”

Remus shrugged carelessly, “Do you really want to know, though?”

Roman slumped into the back of the sofa, frustrated, “We just graduated. And he still hates our guts! I don’t think it’s a great idea. What would we even say to him, anyways!?”

Remus shrugged again, not really inclined to press the issue either.

Roman grunted, wanting to go back to savoring the treasure in his mind, “Whatever. Table it, I guess.”

The twins were strolling toward one of the many downtown coffee shops, it was midday.

Despite trying to avoid him, Steve was there. They stopped in their tracks, short of Steve noticing them.

Steve had a similarly athletic build to Roman and both happened to wear their jerseys from school. Steve also wore clear signs of stress in the dark circles around his eyes, mirroring Remus’s default bedraggled look.

This was the first time in months that they saw him this close, and noticed he had an obvious five o’clock shadow. They couldn’t help but compare that to Roman’s clean-shaven face and Remus’s patchy mustache that was growing in. A slightly disturbing blend of both of their looks, all told.

Steve was drinking an iced coffee. Roman guessed the drink had dangerous amounts of caffeine or that Steve probably shotgunned a bunch of energy drinks earlier in the day. Steve was twitchy as he fiddled absentmindedly with his phone. Luckily, he didn’t seem to notice the twins about to round the corner into his view.

Roman whisper-shouted at his brother, hoping to not be heard and barely joking, “This is the first time I actually kind of regret what we did.”

Remus chuckled, “Suuure… but, now what? We can’t be standing here forever, like a bunch of camotes, Ro.”

“I know! I’m just– I’m just thinking…”

“Thinking? Pffft.”, Remus was starting to fidget restlessly in Steve’s blindspot, “If you don’t do something, I will.”

Roman saw Remus had produced some of his tentacles. He watched as they went for the table where Steve was seated.

Roman’s eyes widened, “Oh no. What are you doi–?”

Remus winked at his brother before he lifted the table, knocking Steve’s drink all over him. They heard a clipped, “What the–!?”

Remus obviously wasn’t done, holding aloft the glass and metal piece of furniture, rocking it like a cradle. Roman smacked his own face, “Are you– are you serious right now?”

Roman stole a glance around the corner seeing just how utterly confused and upset Steve looked. Steve scrambled to record this phenomena. Before he could, Remus struck Steve’s hands holding his phone with the table. In the same action, Remus smashed the table into the side of the cafe building.

Steve stood there wincing at his hand, scowling. Everyone that was there besides Steve ran away screaming, at that point. Remus loved that, wearing an extremely manic grin.

Roman was getting concerned about why Steve didn’t run off like the rest, “Should we turn around?”

Remus was getting lost in the haze of destruction and was about to grab at Steve. Roman tried to snap his brother out of it, “DUDE!? I think the guy’s hand is broken, we should really–”

Steve heard them and faced them. “YOU.”

Roman nervously laughed, noticing something on Steve. A holstered pistol, barely concealed. “H-Hi there, Steve. Didn’t expect to see you here!”

Remus didn’t seem to care as he grabbed a few more pieces of furniture and threw them every which way. A table landed on a parked car, a few chairs and the trash bin into the street, and a potted tree at the building again. The indoor customers and staff could be seen cowering for cover at this point. He was clearly feeding on their fear, completely distracted.

Steve’s eyes widened as if he could see what Remus was doing, “You have t-tenta–?”

Roman moved to shake Remus by his shoulders. That seemed to work to reorient Remus, “What just–?”

Roman grabbed his brother’s wrist and started to make a run for it, “No time, Rem!”

Steve took off after them, shouting and panting, “I KNEW IT. I KNEW IT! YOU’RE GOING TO PAY.”

Roman didn’t know where they should go, he might be able to carry his brother off in the sky. But there were too many people staring at the three of them and he wasn’t actually sure he could. He was internally going, “Think. Think. Think.”

He made the split second decision to have them duck into an alleyway. Ahead, there was a fire escape stairwell next to them. “Rem?”

“Yeah?”

“Would you be okay if–?”, Roman gestured up to the sky.

Remus gulped, with a rare expression of hesitation. He heard enough of Roman’s nightmares and was keenly aware that he was built for the ocean, not the air. Roman sighed, as if he understood and expected it. “Okay, let's get up that fire escape then, get to the roof, and–”

“– go from there?”

“Yeah.”

Remus lifted himself up by his tentacles to get into the stairwell, knocking the ladder loose as he fit himself in the space, and ran up the stairs. Roman jumped up, boosted by his wings. Once Roman’s claws grasped the railing, his weight lightened on the structure with his wings, to scale the thing…

They could see that Steve entered the alleyway.

Steve screamed at them, recognizing immediately the unnatural abilities the twins were displaying. The twins sped their way up toward the roof of the complex, Steve closing the distance.

Steve managed to barely grab the bottom rungs of the ladder, mostly with his good hand, pulling it down and scrambling his way up toward them. Once in the well himself, there was about a three-floor distance between him and the twins.

The twins moved faster upwards, too focused on the task to get chatty. Steve found the ability to keep shouting up at them, “COME BACK HERE.”

The twins had no interest in stopping once they got to the top of the stairs. Roman was the first on the roof leaping from the top floor railing toward it. It was an open balcony, so Remus lifted himself up over to him, shortly afterwards. The twins then began scanning the nearby buildings for a path to lose Steve.

Steve was scarily adept in scrambling onto the roof, muscling himself up to them. How was he able to summon that strength, with a busted hand no less? Roman knew something was very wrong about Steve.

Steve seethed as he reached for his pistol, “I KNEW you two weren’t normal. I-I just didn’t realize just how HIDEOUS you actually were!”

Roman stood next to Remus, feeling torn up about what was happening. “It’s not like we asked to be this way!”

“I. DON’T. FUCKING. CARE. Your evil must be STOPPED!”

Steve took aim, and without thinking, Roman boomed, “NO–”

From Roman’s mouth, an enormous gout of flame erupted instantly. Steve, in a blinded panic, aimlessly fired a shot and dropped his pistol. The wall of heat and light was so intense, it forced Steve to back away towards the edge. Before Roman could register it, he heard Steve scream as he tumbled over the ledge of the roof.

When the flames dissipated, the twins stared at each other. Roman especially, not wanting to look until they heard a sickening thud.

They looked over the edge. Even from as high up as six stories, he saw Steve in gruesome shape down there. There was a lot of blood. This was a moment where he wished he didn’t have this new enhanced sight. He turned back towards the roof and began hyperventilating, “O-oh God. Did we– did I– oh God.”

Remus was looking like he was attempting to process what just happened. Looking over the edge, it was not quite as clear to him just how bad off Steve was, but he could only imagine. Remus looked at Roman again, who was shutting down in front of him.

Remus wished he was better at helping his brother, only to realize a dull pain from his cheek. A small mercy that the bullet only grazed him. He didn’t know if he could’ve bore it if either of them…

His thoughts interrupted when he heard some noises from the body, it sounded like groaning. Remus shook his head and looked over the edge again. “Uuum, Roman? What’s happening down there?”

Roman was hugging his knees and barely registered what Remus said, “¿¡Qué más podría ser!? We– I killed–”

Remus didn’t want to make his brother see it again, but he needed him to. Remus carefully nudged his brother to face the edge. “Ro, vamos.”

Roman hesitated as he submitted to the cajoling. He had to blink away his tears and rub his eyes, when he peered down at something unspeakable unfolding. Steve’s twisted limbs flinched until they slowly relocated themselves. Steve rolled over and he heard another grotesque scream erupt from him.

“A-am I seeing things?”

“I definitely heard that. How in the fuck?”

They peered over and Roman could see the bones mending and the wounds stitching themselves together. They watched with alarmed confusion as Steve slowly got up to his feet. Steve’s breathing was labored, so he didn’t have it to yell anything at the twins.

Roman saw the intense hatred in the scowl Steve held, as they made eye contact. It was unlike any other moment they had as kids. He felt like he was dunked in ice.

Steve limped away, with no choice but to retreat. He’d allow the twins to have this one.

Roman slumped back down onto the roof and sat against the ledge. He hugged his knees, shaking, before erupting into pained laughter. There was another small surge for Roman winning this fray, but it didn’t abate his feelings of disgust and terror.

Remus just sat next to him, feeling a similar sense of madness. Both swept up in a newfound fear and the highs they felt.

Roman weakly asked, “W-what… Just happened, Rem?”

Remus only shook his head.

Feel free to ask to be on a tag list, if you wish!

#sanders sides #roman sanders #remus sanders #janus sanders #begotten au #spilled musing #(this chap is one reason why the fic IS a horror fic)#(quothe roman in next chapter 'tHAT'S WHAT A HERO IS!?')#(not gonna spoil anything tho)#(but steve is a /menace/)#(been inc translations for all the filipino/tico/spanish stuff in ANs)#creativitwins

2 notes · View notes