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It's with a tremendous crash that Genzou's world goes bottoms up. Wood chips flying. Black coils painting the sky. As the ship shudders, bucks, tilts all the way up on its bow like the fucking Titanic or something. And all Genzou can think about is that string quartet playing its melancholy dirge on deck as people plummet to their deaths in the water around them. Except those on the Titanic didn't have to deal with the motherfucking kraken spilling up and over the side of the ship like some kind of inky Eldritch abomination. And they sure didn't have to deal with a roiling froth of acidic water waiting for them at the end of their plunges either.
All of this runs through Genzou's head like firecracker synapses bursting from every which side of his brain as he goes tumbling down the length of the small boat. Only for his thoughts to get abruptly lashed out of him the moment his backside slams against one of the pillars holding the boat's cheery red awning aloft. There's a crack as the wooden beam buckles, snaps at the impact. And he has just a moment to gather his wits enough in order to grab at one of the benches before the wood gives with a crunch, nearly sending him back into the black brink of the river.
"Iggs!"
It's the first word out of his mouth.
It's always the first word out of his mouth.
He hasn't even managed to take stock of his situation, brain still spinning like a cymbal, yet his lips form the single syllable all the same.
Reaffirming his grip on the bench, he chances a glance skyward at the raised back of the boat and the writhing mass of tentacles curling up and over the boards where the waterwheel had once been. He catches sight of Iggy within the throng, almost invisible in that damn coat of his but still peeking out in intermittent glimpses thanks to the spot of orange against the black.
Fuck.
It has him. The damn thing has him.
Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.
He watches the teeming mass rise towards the sky. For a moment the tiny boat tipping so far backwards he fears it'll flip over completely. Before gravity seems to win and the whole fucking thing starts slanting back down, hull groaning and creaking as it slides back across the length of the tentacles.
Genzou nearly urps as it hits the water with a sloshing bounce, sending waves of black acidic muck up and over the railing to splash against the floorboards with hissing crackles. But at least his world is upright again. And once the boat stops buoying enough for him to catch his breath, he wobbles back to his feet, latching onto one of the still-intact beams for support.
"Iggs!" He screams again, because of course he does. Despite being one inch away from imminent death on all sides of him, his fucking stupid brain is only concerned about the scrawny sap currently being held fifty feet overhead by a motherfucking tentacle creature from hell. What kind of hentai production has he gotten himself into?! If this weren't the least weird thing that had happened to him since this time loop purposefully engineered to cause him pain (TLPEtCHP) had begun, he'd probably have been more in awe of the situation. As it is, he gives it no more than a passing thought before he's running, stumbling, pellmell towards the stern of the ship and that pornographic mass of inky appendages.
He doesn't have time to think.
Doesn't have time to question this or that or even what the hell he's doing.
"Iggs!" He screams more desperately this time as he looks up into the throng, eyes frantically seeking out that bobbing dot of orange. He spots Iggy's frame limp and strung between two of the thick tendrils. Panic shoots through his veins like electrified ice. He can't even tell if Iggy is still alive, horrifying images of that thing squeezing his friend to death flashing across his mind. So he does what any sane man would do and charges straight at one of the offending tentacles with a warcry that could rival Braveheart.
"You fucking drop him this instant you motherfucking octorok!"
He flings himself onto it. Thick arms wrapping around the stalk. The surface of it slick and slimy against his skin. He tries to squeeze it. Shake it. Grapple with it. But it's too thick for whatever it is he thinks he's trying to do and seems unfazed by his (somewhat lewd-looking) assault, Iggy's body still dangling overhead like a bouncing ragdoll.
Genzou grunts and rexamines his strategy. Pulls out his screwdriver. Then promptly stabs it into the slimy tendons.
The response is immediate. The whole mass of them bucking upwards against the side of the boat as the shaft of metal pierces the thick skin.
"Oh yeah? You don't like that, do ya?" He grinds the screwdriver deep into the flesh of the tentacle, coaxing a gush of inky black blood to bubble up through the slit and squirt onto his cheek. "This sting a little? Don't tell me this nasty little mosquito bite's got you all hot and bothered, huh?"
He yanks the screwdriver back out before immediately plunging it back in, harder and grinding it back and forth with painful twists of his wrists, widening the hole and sending more black ooze across his fingers and hands. The thing bucks again, a jolt against the side of the boat that nearly sends Genzou sliding off onto the deck. Then the other tentacles begin to move. They sling towards him, whipping across his shoulders and back and head in crisp cracks that send fiery lashes of pain up and down his skin and stars across his eyes.
"Fuck!"
He clenches his eyes shut, jaw so tight he can feel his teeth chip. But he renews his assault even through the snapping crackles of pain threatening to loosen his grip. His fingers clench tight around the handle of the screwdriver as he begins rapidly stabbing the metal end into the flayed opening, wielding it like some kind of shiv.
"You let… him… fucking… GO."
His arms are coated with it now. His hands burying themselves deep inside the oily flesh with each rapid-fire piston of his elbows and wrists.
This must quickly become too much for the creature because the tentacles start to coil and twist in erratic spasms. And when he looks up, he just catches sight of the one around Iggy's waist go limp before retracting back like an injured snake.
Shit.
Iggy's body.
Falls.
Shit shit shit.
Genzou yanks the screwdriver back out so fast he nearly goes slip-sliding backwards. Managing to catch his balance with only a moment to spare before the cushiony lump that's his friend's passed-out frame comes plunging down towards the floorboards.
He leaps.
Hands outstretched.
And lands with a painful thud on his stomach as Iggy tumbles into his arms.
Shit.
He goes rolling across the wet planks, his body instinctively curling around Iggy's. Then allows himself a second of reprieve before hoisting himself back to his feet with Iggy curled in against his chest.
In any other situation, he might have felt quite gallant at this moment.
Maybe even a little flustered. A little hot around the collar. The soft feeling of Iggy's spindly form folded in against him so neatly. So perfectly.
But the writhing tentacles still whipping around him quickly rob him of any and all warm feelings he might have selfishly been harboring. And Iggy's passed-out face, looking horrifically pale and lifeless peering up from the thick collar of his jacket, doesn't help things either.
"Fuck, I gotta get you outta here, you fucking idiot."
He half stumbles towards the railing, still off-balance and reeling from the lingering pain shooting up and down across his back. But before he can take even a few steps, a tentacle comes crashing down in front of him, completely decimating the awning of the boat and forging a massive divot of snapped planks that bulge out across the deck to his either side.
"Fuck."
His knees nearly give. But he turns back. The throng is going balls to the wall crazy behind him. Thick tendrils flying and whipping across the stern of the ship as it starts to buck up against the hull like some kind of squid in heat, sending a creaking groan up through the floorboards as the boat begins to tilt again.
"FUCK."
He spins back and forth, Iggy's arms and legs swatting against his legs and belly as he rapidly attempts to plot out some kind, any kind, of course amidst the chaos.
A glance to his left. Out past the railing. The trees on shore so agonizingly out of reach. And yet. What other hope do they have? A few more seconds on this crumbling galleon and they'll either become tentacle fodder or acid-plucked skeletons.
"Iggs…"
Genzou grits his teeth together, pulling Iggy's twiggy little body in tight against his paunch.
"I'm about to do something really really stupid." He can't take his gaze off that shoreline. Off the tantalizing glimmer of hope and freedom coaxing his feet. "So please don't hold it against me, eyyy?"
Another horrific groan from below. Thick sizzling muck is starting to seep through the broken planks of the deck, the whole ship shuddering and creaking. One of the tentacles whips just past his head and hits the remaining chunks of the awning, sending them flying out across the hissing surface of the water.
The ship's going down anyway.
It's now or never.
And Genzou's looked never too many times in the eye at this point for his own good.
So he grabs the side of the railing.
Hoists himself up and over, Iggy squished against his belly.
And.
Jumps.
Genzou would like to say he'd had some semblance of preparation for what he'd been about to experience. A sort of mental readiness. Girding the loins of his tolerance, as it were.
But nothing could have prepared him for the pain that shoots up and across his lower half the second he plunges down into the sizzling brink.
It's too much to even swear. His body frozen as his every pore is stuck with a hundred thousand needles. A hundred thousand knives. Stabbing stabbing stabbing—
He chokes out a sputtered, phlegmy cough of equal parts shock and pain.
Oh fuck.
The water hisses, sizzles, pops around him, thick froth gathering along his pelvis where his skin meets the acidic broth.
Genzou has faced pain before.
Genzou has faced incredible pain before.
His whole body submerged into boiling water, the steam nearly melting his eyes right in their sockets.
The slice of a knife. Digging out chunks of him. The sight of his guts. Slicing through the thick fat of his thighs. The white of bone the last thing searing his vision before passing out from sheer overwhelm of his senses.
The type of pain no one else would remember.
Because anyone else would be dead.
But he's not dead.
He's reliving it again and again and been made to remember every excruciating detail.
But at the very least.
At the very fucking least.
He'd eventually been able to succumb. To close his eyes and let it all end, at least for that loop.
Now though.
Now he's gotta fucking force himself through this shit or they're both gonna die. Possibly again and again and again if they can't get past this. He can't succumb. He can't give up. Let this fucked up wonderland take him for the umpteenth time. He has to—
—walk.
And so he forces one leg forward.
And then the other.
Fuck, his entire lower half is on fire.
He can feel it eating away at the skin of his calves. Smell himself burning. Tangy and pungent and sending nauseating roils through his stomach that aren't fucking doing him any favors right now.
A rolling wave of water from behind nearly sends him toppling forward, but with a panicked jolt of his heart, he manages to catch himself before they both go plunging fully into the sizzling black. The boat has completely capsized behind them, sinking down beneath the thick froth as the tentacles coil around its shattered frame.
But Genzou pays it no mind. Focused only on forward. Forward. Gotta move forward. Keep moving forward.
He glances down at Iggy in his arms. And only realizes when he can barely make him out through the warbling veil of his eyes that tears are pouring down his cheeks. He instinctively hugs Iggy's frame closer in against his chest, wanting to ensure no part of him touches the black ripples hissing and sparking around him.
"Iggs…" He croaks out as he pushes his right leg in the direction of the shore. He swears he can feel a big chunk of his thigh float off of him, but maybe it's just his imagination. Maybe.
"Iggs, you remember that time you flipped over that fucking huge rock when we were biking up to Honey Creek? And you went flying into the ditch and completely fucked your knee up? Huh?"
Another wave of pain rushes up through him, cutting him off as he lets out a strangled, panted gasp. He can no longer sense where his feet are. Everything's just a blur of fire and pain. But he somehow manages to pull his other foot forward all the same. Fuck, he's so nauseous. His head is swimming. He focuses on the way Iggy's cheek feels pressed against his chest. The way it sinks into the squishy fat, warm and soft.
"And then… and then I tried to fucking carry you? But back then I was…" A laugh. "Back then I was a fucking twig. And I kept falling over so much you told me to stop cuz I was making it fucking worse."
He laughs through the warbling pools cascading from his eyes.
Left.
Right.
Left.
Right.
"This take you back?"
Left.
Right.
Left.
"Hopefully I'm… doin' a bit better this time… eyy?"
Right.
Left.
"Though I still…"
Right.
"Still…"
Left.
Genzou's vision is warping.
For a moment, he seems to drift in and out of consciousness. Is the water turning red around him or is he starting to hallucinate? Does he even have any skin left beneath the water? His mind is flooded with images of his bare tendons and bones maneuvering through the thick black. The bottom of his belly eaten so thin that his guts spill out into the river for the fish to feast on.
Fish? There aren't any fish in this! The fish have turned to bones in the water. Just like he'll be soon.
"…still always manage to make things worse… don't I..."
His voice catches as the words stumble past his lips.
"I'm sorry, Iggs…"
Left.
Left.
Move, you damn left!
"I'm so sorry…"
He finally manages to move his left leg. But the momentum sends him tilting forward. And his mind is too muddled to realize until it's too late.
Tilting.
Tilting.
Tilting.
He topples forward.
But rather than sinking into the boiling soup.
Land catches his fall.
Tumbling up to meet him.
A whoosh of air leaving his lungs and belly as he collapses and sends Iggy's limp form rolling across the wet dirt.
Oh.
He'd been almost there and he hadn't even noticed. Couldn't even see it past his warped vision and hazy thoughts.
For a moment, he simply lies there face down in the dirt, his arms splayed at his sides as the water continues to prick and bite at his calves.
Then the thought of those tentacles potentially following them and dragging them back into the brink spurs his hands into motion, and he shakily pushes himself up.
Fuck, it hurts.
He crawls forward. The dirt and rocks clawing at his blistered knees.
Fuck, it hurts.
He pulls himself to Iggy's side. Scoops him back into his arms. Wobbles to his feet.
He hasn't even looked down yet. Too terrified perhaps of what he might see. But he can feel it. The tattered edges of his pants slapping against bloody skin, scarred tissue stretched into bloated pockmarks eaten through clean to the muscle.
He only lasts about ten steps. Just enough to get him past the line of trees. Before his legs give out beneath him.
Down again.
Sweat and salt stain his cheeks.
But he rolls Iggy onto his back. Checking for signs of life.
"Iggs…" Even his voice sounds like it's been eaten away.
Iggy's face is gray and cold. His eyes white. Completely and utterly white. Staring blankly up at the trees overhead.
"Iggs." He says again. A bit more urgency to it this time. He slaps the side of Iggy's cheek with his fingers, slap slap slap. Rise and shine. Time to wake up. They're safe now. They're safe now.
But Iggy doesn't respond.
Doesn't move.
Doesn't blink.
"Iggs, stop messin' around." But tears choke Genzou's voice this time. And he gives Iggy's shoulders a shake.
Again.
And again.
And again.
"Iggs, stop…" This time he can't even finish. His face curls in on itself as snot drools down from his nose.
Iggy looks like a fucking corpse.
A beautiful but lifeless fucking corpse.
Genzou's body crumples, his face pressed against Iggy's chest as his shoulders start to quake. Sobs rack his lungs. Tear at his throat.
"…don't leave me all alone…"
He lies there and cries.
Cries as his body convulses and his mind swims with pain.
Cries as his thoughts flood with guilt and fear and desperation and—
—heartbreak—
—fuck.
Fuck you, Iggs.
Fuck you and your sweet fucking perfect cheeks and your sweet fucking perfect smile and your sweet fucking perfect eyes. Eyes he could still see in his mind even during his short return to the darkness when all their memories had come rushing back in.
"…don't leave me all alone…" He whispers again as the hopelessness encases his heart and floods his soul.
Nothing.
There's nothing they can do.
Nothing he can do.
Destined to fail again and again and again.
Watch the man he loves die again and again and again and again.
They can cut off his legs a million times over if it would only mean not having to experience this.
Experience this cruel, hopeless heartbreak.
As he loses him again.
He sniffs.
Blinks.
Wait.
He positions his ear closer to Iggy's chest, biting down on his tongue.
No, that's.
That's a fucking heartbeat.
And when he rises up, fingers desperately feeling at Iggy's cold, limp lips, he feels air, too. Breath.
Iggy's fucking alive.
Then. Then what's…?
Genzou stares down in confusion at Iggy's motionless form, tears still dangling from the tip of his nose.
His eyes.
His eyes are fucking white.
Like he's just.
Gone.
Or something.
"Iggs, I don't know what to do…" Genzou's voice trembles.
Because sure Iggy may not be dead. But Genzou doesn't know what the hell he is. Or where he is. Or how the hell to get him back.
Another futile shake of the shoulders.
What did that thing do to him?
Genzou sits up.
Looks around.
Nothing.
There's nothing around them.
Only trees. And a slowly darkening sky overhead.
He clutches at his hair with a groan, a futile panic setting in. His head is starting to throb even more than it already had been, pain marbling with the growing desperation in his chest.
"Figure it out, Genzou, figure it out, you useless sack of shit!"
He claps his hands against his cheeks, feverish sweat breaking out across his brow.
Then he leans back over Iggy's inert form, cocking his head to the side with a grimace.
Fuck, why is he so…
He bites the back of his knuckles, heart twisting with a nauseating snap.
Even passed out cold, Iggy is the cutest fucking thing he's ever seen in his entire goddamn forsaken life. So much so that it brings tears to his eyes. And he brings his hands to Iggy's dirt-and-sweat-slicked brow, shaky thumbs gently attempting to push back the gnarled clumps of his bangs.
"You gotta tell me what to do, Iggs. I'm too stupid for this. Where's Mr. Hot Shot Programmer to come tell me how to fix this?"
He rests his forehead on Iggy's, letting out another small, silent sob that sends a tear down to the tip of his nose. It wavers for a moment. Until he lets out a shuddered sigh, which sends it onto Iggy's ashen cheek.
A hum catches his attention.
Soft and melodic.
Then he realizes it's his own.
Humming the fucking Doraemon theme song as he cries over his dying friend in the middle of the fucking woods.
"God, fuck, look at me, Iggs." He chokes out a phlegmy bark of laughter beneath his breath. "You've gotta wake up so you can see what a fucking mess I am right now."
His body is starting to grow strangely numb. His head fuzzy. A chill sweeps up his spine and makes him shudder.
"But no, you gotta be… gotta be fuckin' Snow White over here…"
He bats his eyes open softly. Blearily. God, he feels so fucking heavy.
"Where's your handsome prince to come… kiss you awake, huh? You big stupid… stupid…"
He stares down at Iggy's lifeless face.
At the round upturned nose, too big for his features.
At the vacant glassy eyes, staring at nothing from behind the thick rims of his glasses.
At the set of lips, now a bluish gray, limp and ever so slightly parted.
And then he does something.
Something he'd probably never have done in a million years if he weren't rapidly succumbing to a mind-numbing fever and bleary with pain.
He leans down.
And so.
So.
So softly.
Presses his lips against Iggy's.
It's cold.
Cold and shuddering and tasting of something sour and dank.
But to Genzou it might as well have been like kissing a motherfucking angel.
He could almost cry from it.
And nearly does.
Holding it only a chance few moments before leaning back.
Blinking.
More quiet and more still than he's ever been in his life.
Nothing.
Nothing until—
—Iggy's chest seems to convulse. As though suddenly sucking in too much air all at once. Then he gasps. Coughs. Thin frame spasming until those eyes, those fucking pale purplish pink irises roll back into place and lock straight onto his brown ones, wide and trembling and looking fifty shades of confused.
Genzou's own eyes widen just slightly.
"Damn…" He whispers beneath his breath, his lips barely moving. As though that might somehow break the spell. "Didn't think that would actually work."
Iggy looks so cute looking up at him like that. Like a spooked fieldmouse. Those fucking eyes of his so wide he could get lost in them for days. Years.
Genzou's lips curl upward in spite of himself.
"Guess I'm good for something after all…"
But with those words, his body, his mind, his very spirit itself, somehow having pushed through well beyond its limits already, gives.
And his body collapses with a feverish slump, his mind finally succumbing to the black.