deercountry | it catches up eventually

Entry tags:

it catches up eventually

Who: Oz Vessalius, Xerxes Break, & Close CR
What: Oz becomes corrupted and dies, then Break gets stuck in a miserable timeloop.
When: June 15th (forward-dated)
Where: Pandora House & The Forest Around

Content Warnings: Suicidal Ideation, Beasthood Suicide, Child Endangerment

A Cycle of Misery

Please use the top-levels below, because there are timeloop shenanigans to keep orderly!

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[He knows.

He knows!

Oz knows that he needs to control himself. He remembers the frenzy that he's gone into before, where he calls for Alice and slaughters anyone who makes her cry. That's what makes this so terrifying, actually. When Oz gets in that state, he's joyfully oblivious to anyone but his imagined Alice. He doesn't worry about hurting those around him, but now..?

He cries out, trying to force his power under control. The result is that he disconnects from the B-Rabbit, regaining his human appearance and instead manifesting the B-Rabbit behind him. But the loaming creature is literally chained to him and Oz can feel those chains fusing with his skin. He may look like Oz, but he can't divide himself from the B-Rabbit.

It's part of me. We're chained together. That's why, even if I started this to help people... The mental buzzing is worse than ever and Oz has to shout to feel like he's above it.]

Stay back, Baltus!

[Chains spread out from around Oz and the B-Rabbit, slashing at anyone nearby. This does include the original beast, but it could also include Baltus and Break.]

Stay back... Stay back! I'm okay..! I can be okay!

[A chain hits the beast and it yowls in pained anger. Baltus ignores it. He also ignores the chain that slashes at him. It's a simple matter to go completely intangible as the chain strikes through and step easily away from it in a waft of shadow as he solidifies again, though he does respect Oz's request that he not get too close.]

Yes, you can. Remember your priorities, Oz. Remember what those you love wish for you.

[Even as he speaks, he's sending the image of what's happening through to Xerxes. Forewarned is forearmed. Baltus has no idea if his words can get through to Oz, or if Oz is too far gone already, as sometimes happens in Trench. But he can't not try. If there's even a chance he can steal them more time --]

[He's trying. Oz tries to remember every encounter from that morning as a means to chain himself to his family, but it's too late. He tries to remove Gil's packed lunch from his bag. He needs to return home to have dinner with everyone. It's what he wants more than anything--

But he can't. He needs to defeat that beast first, right? He can't sit at that table if he isn't protecting them.

So Oz summons his scythe, struggles against the B-Rabbit chained to his back, and takes a swing at the beast. He wills his own red chains to hold it down tightly, his body moving on its own, and brings the scythe down on the creature's neck with all of the B-Rabbit's destructive power. The static-like buzzing in his soul becomes unbearable, until it stops.

Oz is gone. The scythe may have hit the beast, but the spectator of the B-Rabbit has torn the puppet of Oz apart. Oz himself is in shock, as he didn't notice he was the B-Rabbit stuck to the human until his Beast form destroyed it. How long has it been fake? Was he always an illusion? Was he a monster from the start? Oz's mind slips and he's in a panic the entire time.

He's a beast now, and he can't get back to his old form. Oz doesn't remember how. As his conscience begins to slip away, all Oz has to hold onto is the sight of Baltus. What remains of the 'puppet' of Oz reaches out to Baltus desperately and a scared voice whimpers:]

Break. Help me-

[Baltus does leap out of the way then. There's nothing he can do for Oz, he sees that now, and that means it's time to fall back to the duty he exists in this world for: Protecting Xerxes. The man in question dashes onto the scene, neatly avoiding chains, right in time to watch the B-Rabbit manifest itself fully in the carnage left of the beast. Right in time to hear the sliver that's left of Oz's voice, calling out to him.]

-- Oz?

[He has his sword drawn already, the cane in his other hand, and he skids to a halt in a fighting stance behind Baltus. But the look on his face is one of anguished horror, and his heart is so frozen in his chest it won't shock him if it never beats again. Regardless of the why or how, he knows what he's seeing: Oz's Chain form, one way or another. Oz out of control, and what Break is facing now is a fear he held long before they arrived in Trench.

Is he going to have to kill Oz, something he already realized he wouldn't be able to bring himself to do?]

[The beast that has replaced Oz rises from the carnage, coated in blood and living up to his name. And he's in chaos. Deep within the whirlwind of his corrupting mind, Oz can feel himself stand. He sees Break like he's in a blurry photograph and Oz's body goes cold. What is that expression..? Is he angry? Disappointed..? Oz wanted Break to be proud of him. He craved the stability of a mentor and he wanted for that person to acknowledge him. That expression is the last that he wanted to see. He hears the distant sound of a bouquet hitting the ground, but he doesn't know if it's real or-

Oh. I'm doing it again.

Oz cannot will the beast to speak. The most he can manage is a roar that sounds vaguely like Break's name. Though not carrying a scythe, the beastform of the Bloody Black Rabbit has scythe-like claws that he uses to take a swipe at Break. And he's a Chain: Normal attacks won't do much to him. His growls almost sound like cries as he focuses on Break as a target.]

[That Oz is striking at him at least gives Break time to think, in a very strange and stupid way. He doesn't need to make any other immediate decisions if all he's doing is dodging and parrying. If he can drag this out and stall for time, then -- then what? Oz would never attack him like this in his right mind, and Break knows this is simply the sort of thing that happens in Trench sometimes. Dipper had to be brought down, this past winter. Others have been pulled back into humanity, but is that something Break could do for Oz at all? Should he call the Alices, call Gilbert? If he does, what if bringing Oz down becomes necessary all the same? Then they have to watch, maybe even participate. Break would much rather spare them all that burden, after everything those poor kids have been through. So if he's on his own here, then, then --

...it is not impossible to kill a Chain with a regular sword. Not if the Chain is weak enough, not if you're as experienced as Break is. A weak, ordinary Chain. Oz is not weak or ordinary at all, and Break does not have the Mad Hatter.

And that's where the real trouble is in this moment, isn't it? Break thinks it to himself helplessly as he narrowly avoids slash after slash, cringing at the sounds Oz is making. Maybe he does need to bring Oz down. Probably Oz would thank him later, for keeping him from hurting anyone in such a final way. But to do it by way of repeated hacks and slashes, inflicting wound after wound, the idea is so disgusting it turns Break's stomach. If he had the Hatter he could fell Oz in one blow, and it would be kind inasmuch as it would be merciful. But his tie to the Hatter is long gone and it's not as though he can simply pop into the Abyss to fish it out again, so it's useless to even --

-- but Break's darkblood powers seem to center around belief. Around familiarity, and understanding things. It's not like he's ever going to forget the way the Hatter's power felt when it coursed through him. He wielded the thing for over a decade, and Alice made it for him just as she made Oz. If Break doesn't have the Hatter, could he be the Hatter, just as Oz is the Bloody Black Rabbit? In such a stressful situation with his heart hurting so badly at every option he can find, could Break manage to convince himself he can conjure that old power up on his own, and end Oz's suffering in the blink of an eye?

Does he even dare to try it...?]

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it catches up eventually

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CW: Horrific Imagry, Mutilated Body

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