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Chapter Text

If Jv could feel his legs, he was sure they would be fiercely burning with the vigor of a thousand suns as he dashed down the pale halls of the facility.

He’d seen it for weeks, a staticy vision of a white enclosure somewhere beneath his feet. Every time he slept, he heard his own footsteps above ground as if he was the one trapped in the dirt instead. Guaxinim was hardly alive – hardly even conscious that he was – and Jv still wasn’t sure how he knew that, only that he knew it just like he knew the blood rushing through his veins and pounding in his ears like the thump, thump, thump of footsteps on the surface that he knew belonged to him.

The labyrinthian corridors he had found himself in seemed endless, looping and folding in on themselves to form an inescapable cage of blank walls. He reached out a sliver of himself, a lonely tendril searching the code for a familiar glance of something, anything that meant Guaxinim was down here somewhere. It slithered between the flickering squares of binary beneath the world matter, wrapping curiously around every specimen and committing their genetic makeup to his memory.

Another boy his age, mad with the itching beneath his skin from festering modifications to his frail body.

A young woman, her pained howls echoing through her cell over the unmistakable feeling of a heavy loss.

His code cried at him to help them; to pull them from their desolate enclosures and take them back to the warm gaze of the sun. He knew he couldn’t, though. He didn’t have the strength, the people, let alone any means to free them. Maybe it meant that one day these shells of people would crawl up from the underground with their beastly qualities and minds wired with animalistic instincts. Maybe it meant that then, Jv might be the target of their ire. You should have liberated us. Selfish.

He would likely hear the same thing from Guaxinim later, if he succeeded. That he was selfish for wanting to save his friend, and for leaving the others behind. He couldn’t bring himself to regret it if even for a second, encompassed by the shattering grief already manifesting in his bones. He hadn’t given up on Guaxinim, not once in the past eight months, yet it already felt like he was attending a funeral. 

Silently, Jv wondered if anyone would attend Guaxi’s funeral. Growing up, Jv had been his best friend. His only friend, and he had gradually figured out that it started and ended there. No family, no guardian, no nothing. And now he was dying because he was too stubborn to listen to Jv and instead chose to run off to god knows where and risk his life for a shot at a better life; a life without Jv in it. His stomach soured with an unrecognizable emotion as he rounded another corner, thoughts still buzzing.

There, right before him, was another door. Jv swore out loud, already cursing his negligence. He extended yet another bug into the code, willing the matter of the locking mechanism to splinter apart. Of course, it did so with a loud snap , but just the act of stopping had cost him precious seconds. The cold air carried the tangy scent of antiseptic as he stepped through and into what he determined was the main containment unit according to the map in the corner of his vision.

A dizzyingly long hallway stretched before him, and suddenly Jv despised himself for coming here at all. 

Rows upon rows of concrete cells lined the halls, observation windows displaying subjects from average looking humans to horrifically mutated animals. Jv didn’t know their names, or what they were meant to become. He didn’t want to know. Such a place would make a normal person’s guts turn, even someone like himself. The very code seemed repulsed by this place, shying away from each cell just as much as it longed to reach out and mend them. 

Ever so stiffly, Jv willed his legs to work again. His steps seemed impossibly loud, breaking through the thick cloud of misery hanging over the facility. Those who were aware enough to notice him shied away to the dark corners of their cells, and those who weren’t remained static as if he had never been there at all. 

Cell after cell – none of them looked like Guaxi. Jv couldn’t help the dreadful feeling slowly creeping up his spine the further he walked with no sign of the other. His code prickled as it stretched out once again in search of that familiar signature. Stormy blue eyes, messy dark curls, sunkissed ochre skin and a warm smile that made his chest flutter with warmth. It was maddening to recall what had been taken from him.

And then there it was.

Small, meek, and fluttering beneath the surface like a flag on a particularly windy day; Jv felt the presence of something that had been lost to him for ages.

His feet unconsciously carried him down the hall with a purpose this time, passing by the others as his eyes focused on one blinking light drawing nearer by the second. A red that looked almost magenta to Jv. Magenta made him think of Guaxinim. Magenta made him think of love. 

Before he even reached the door, it clicked open at the command of his code. Before he entered, he knew what he would find. Before he could even think to call out, he silenced himself.

The air inside the cell felt sticky and heavy in some odd way, but maybe that was just an effect of the body Jv was possessing. Human senses never felt quite the same outside of his own vessel. The nice shoes of the staff member he was possessing squeaked across the soaked floor. Regrettably, it wasn’t wet with cleaner, but some dark substance that smelled distinctly metallic.

He willed the incessant buzzing of his code to quiet as he stepped further inside, trying not to look down, or anywhere for that matter. There was a shabby cot shoved into the corner, the thin mattress soaked through with something that foamed where it touched the metal frame. Hazy blue eyes blinked lazily as Jv approached, and Guaxinim’s stained hands curled tighter around himself as if trying to appear as small as possible. It was an odd sight, to be sure. The Guaxi Jv had known had been big and strong and humble about that fact, but wore it well nonetheless. 

He looked… different, in more ways than one. The dark of his hair was splattered with an uneven off-white discoloration, and the skin around his eyes was almost graying. His expression was twisted oddly and his mouth was lined with dried blood. However, the most alarming of changes had to be the dark fur running up the backs of his arms and legs, along with the uneven ears twitching within that sea of curls.

Just like a raccoon. Just like Guaxi had always called himself. Just like he’d always acted, scaling trees and bounding around the forest with an ease Jv had never been able to imitate.

It was morbidly ironic, in a way, and briefly Jv wondered if this was what Guaxi had wanted. If a deep, insatiable part of him needed to be as close to nature as possible; like he wanted to run away into the woods forever. The thought made his chest ache with yearning, so he shoved it to the back of his mind resolutely. It didn’t matter. Whatever the reason, Guaxi was here, and he was hurting.

Jv extended a shaking hand and let his fingers gently graze Guaxi’s shoulder. The other didn’t respond, only staring blearily ahead like he had been before. Jv couldn’t help the sigh that escaped him. He really didn’t have time to play “help Guaxi stop dissociating” right now no matter how much he wanted to. 

“Oi,” Jv murmured, the sound lingering in the stuffy air. “We’re going home.”

One of Guaxi’s ears twitched, an unfamiliarly animalistic gesture that had Jv biting his lip and letting out a nervous chuckle. He was in way over his head. Regardless, he’d promised himself he would get Guaxi back, no matter how difficult it ended up being. Quickly confirming that Guaxi wasn’t actually strapped down or anything, Jv slipped his arms underneath the other and hefted him off the cot. An undignified yelp escaped Jv as Guaxi immediately tipped forward and went boneless onto the scrawny employee he was possessing. 

Normally, Jv would have no problem supporting Guaxi, but he hadn’t exactly chosen the optimal vessel for this retrieval mission and unfortunately, his real body was still hooked up to his setup back home. After struggling for a solid minute, Jv finally managed to balance the two of them so that they less resembled a mess of falling dominoes and more a wobbly house of cards. 

Guaxinim seemed to come back to himself a little more after that incident, much to Jv’s relief. His eyes had gained a note of clarity – however small – and for a second he looked a little bit more like how he used to be. Jv squeaked out a high pitched sound in his body’s poor attempt to alleviate some of the crushing pressure in his chest like an overfilled balloon. Later. He could freak out later. For now he just had to get the hell out of this place.

Guaxi lurched forward unceremoniously once they began walking, legs barely steady enough to carry himself. Luckily enough, it seemed some survival instinct was still intact, as he managed to keep his feet under him and his eyes forward. For what felt like the gazillionth time, Jv wondered what the hell had been done to his best friend. 

Before he had time to properly contemplate the matter more, he was pulled from his thoughts by a sharp tearing feeling all across the underside of his skin. Jv swore loudly, almost dropping Guaxi flat on his face as his arm spasmed. This body was rejecting him at last. Though not surprising, Jv had hoped he would get a little more time out of it. Yet it seemed the universe was bent on proving him wrong yet again.

“Xinim,” The nickname came out more mangled and breathless than Jv had wanted it to. “Jotinha’s gotta go soon, okay?” While Jv attempted a smile, it felt just a little pointless considering Guaxinim didn’t lift his head to meet his eyes.

As expected, no response, though his ears twitched again, so Jv took that as an affirmative. It was just a little panic-inducing knowing he would have to leave this situation in the hands of a single directive, but this had already been an extremely unlikely rescue in the first place. The only reason he hadn’t been caught was because of the haphazard double directives he’d planted in every staff identifier. It was only effective for as long as it was tied to the vessel he was using, so the facility would immediately locate them as soon as he was forced to withdraw. Not ideal, but Jv had a way of making these things work.

Once again, Jv pulled Guaxi forward, silently apologizing for the way the other stumbled with the sudden momentum and the fresh blood that dripped down his calf. Whatever had been done to Guaxinim, Jv was sure he didn’t even know the half of it. He sure could infer based on the extra body parts and the stains and the way Guaxi could barely stand up straight, but that wouldn’t do any good while they were still in the facility.

As they passed the other cells once again, Jv couldn’t bring himself to look at them a second time. He knew that if he did, he would have to save all of them, and he couldn’t do that – not in this state. He could still feel the ripping of invisible seams, tugging him from this vessel where he did not belong. Each staggering step brought them closer to freedom. Jv smiled at the lovely picture it painted in his head; it was something that spoke of laughter and smiles and bright sunlight. It spoke of a hand in his and a head on his shoulder. It spoke of something forbidden that he had never been allowed.

Jv kept going, Guaxi faltering along at his side.

Chapter Text

“Go, go, go,” Jv urged as he herded Pac and Mike through the haphazard crevice he had made in the wall. 

It was a tight fit, but Mike managed to make it to the other side without much difficulty. Really, how had that plan even worked? He didn’t exactly have time to deliberate over the odds of success, so he started down the dark passageway they had broken into instead.

Pac was ahead, his long legs carrying him much faster – despite his limp – than Mike and Jv whom he absolutely dwarfed. Jv, for all his brains, lagged behind a little. Mike half the mind to turn around right then and there to kick him in the shin and tell him to go faster, but he would rather leave this place alive. 

The shouts from the riot outside echoed through the space like a death knell, the sounds folding and contorting over themselves to form an awful distorted melody. If Mike had a heart, he was sure it would be beating furiously in his chest. They were so close to freedom that Mike could almost feel the sun on his back and see the empty sky above him. So close that maybe if he focused hard enough, he could pretend he was a kid again, chasing Pac in circles outside the orphanage. 

He missed that Pac. The version that smiled and laughed and did that funny thing with his eyebrows when he was about to tell a dirty joke. This version, clad in a prison uniform, only wandered listlessly and stared out through the bars as if his soul had already escaped and his body had been left behind. When they got out, then Pac would come back. His Pac. Even without his leg, if they could just get out, everything would solve itself in no time.

Mike glanced over his shoulder, itching frantically to get out of this horrid place. He hoped his expression conveyed that to Jv – hoped the other knew what he was doing and wasn’t planning to just run – but somehow he got the feeling his message didn’t get across.

Mostly because Jv was gone.

Mike staggered to a stop, pseudo-heart dropping to his pseudo-stomach as his mind raced trying to figure out what had happened. There was nowhere to go. It was a straight shot down the passage. There were no rooms or hidey holes and no way out except for through the wall where they had come in and where this tunnel let out. 

Pac, ever so attentive with his superhuman senses, stopped in his tracks the second Mike’s footsteps ceased, whipping around with his shoulders tucked up to his ears. Mike could practically feel the exact moment Pac realized why he had stopped, and drew in a deep breath that signaled to Mike that he was about to freak out. 

The air was buzzing in a way that made Mike’s slime feel like it was peeling apart. Whatever was going on here, it couldn’t be good. Before Pac could start wholly losing his head, Mike grabbed his hand and dragged him back the way they came. If Jv had actually told them where to go after this, he would have just kept going without him. But of course, Jv had chosen to be mysterious and neglected to elaborate.

Mike wasted no time peeking through the hole Jv had used to get them out of their cell, immediately searching for the other. Pac hovered behind him, calling Jv’s name with no small amount of urgency. Mike would have sympathized with his friend if he could feel anything other than cold dread settling into his stomach at the sight that lay beyond the collapsed wall.

Mike felt the chill of Cell’s gaze before he even saw him, the buzzing feeling intensifying to something toeing the line of pain . It hurt to be near him. It hurt to look at him. Likewise, it hurt to even think about running away. He wasn’t sure where it came from, only that it was burrowing deep into his being and making a home inside of wherever fear came from. 

Cell stood at half his height, crouched low in that position that meant he was on the hunt. His gaze was dizzying in a way that felt like a million needles being stabbed into your eyes the longer you looked. Cell wasn’t only known for his connections, but also for the very thing that had landed him in prison in the first place; not only his skillful and efficient killings, but also the process leading up to it. Cell was methodical, cruel, and terribly sadistic. He lived not only for the killing, but for each and every expression of hopelessness and terror on his victim’s face as they realized the carefully crafted web of manipulation and deceit he had cornered them into. 

At that moment, Mike knew they were the ones in the web this time. But more importantly was exactly which one of them had fallen first, marked out by the red soaking through Jv’s uniform as he slid off Cell’s knife with an awfully fleshy sound and hit the floor like a dead weight. Mike didn’t miss the way his fingers curled into defiant fists and his shoulders shook from the effort of staying silent. A glimpse of brilliant green eyes beneath his dirty blond fringe told Mike everything he needed to know in that moment. 

They were more alike than Mike was inclined to believe at first. Jv was cunning and persistent and if nothing else, he knew how to take a risk.

The jaunty cacophony of music hour had long since died out, leaving the cellhouse with nothing more than the dull drone of idle noise from other prisoners.

Mike could hear quiet sobbing from somewhere above his cell, and yelling from somewhere beyond that. If he was being honest, he much preferred Jv’s bluesy trumpet from next door, barely audible under the commotion just an hour ago. Jv was an interesting neighbor, even if he was no Pac. 

Over the past few days of his incarceration, Mike had noted few things about Jv, namely:

• He was a self proclaimed master escape artist and had attempted a prison break six times including when they had first arrived.

• He was allegedly a self taught musician, but Mike had a hard time believing that considering what few sad melodies he’d heard from the other were quite refined.

• He smoked like he was trying to land himself in an early grave, apparently having picked up that habit from an old friend.

Jv was a rather unpopular subject amongst other inmates as well, given how many times Mike had heard them call him ‘ball and chain’ during count. People seemed rather amused by his escape attempts, and took that as a source of endless humor. Mike was already tired of hearing it and he’d only been there for just under a week.

Jv seemed largely unbothered by most of the happenings surrounding it, and Mike didn’t doubt he’d learned to just tune out any noise at all. 

The man in question was leaning up against the bars of his cell, hands stuck limply through the gaps. If Mike stood completely still and held his breath, he could hear the ever-so-quiet humming on the other side of the wall separating their cell. Jv always sounded particularly melancholy at this time of night, and if Mike was being totally honest, it was just a tad bit annoying. He hadn’t expected someone like Jv to be so moody at times, but it became increasingly more apparent by the day.

“Sorry they took Pac away,” Jv sighed out after a moment, fingers wiggling uselessly where they hung out of the door. “It’s definitely Cell’s work.”

Mike raised an eyebrow, leaning up against the wall and crossing his arms. “How do you know?” he mumbled just a smidge distrustingly, even though he didn’t at all doubt that Cell had a finger in this pie. 

Jv went silent for a too-long moment before he spoke again, voice marginally quieter as if he were sharing a taboo secret. “Because I’ve seen him do it before. When he says he has connections, he doesn’t just mean other prisoners. That guard, the one with the curly hair and the piercings,” – Mike immediately knew who he was talking about. Not because he’d been paying attention, but because Pac had been gushing over that particular guard since he’d opened the cellhouse for count on their first day. – “Cell has that guy wrapped around his finger. He can get any of us put in D Block if he wants to. He definitely separated you for a reason.”

Something in Jv’s voice made Mike oddly willing to trust him. Maybe it was because he was talking like he’d seen this all before, or maybe it was because Mike wanted someone to blame for his best friend being taken away. Either way, Jv was the only one presenting an explanation anyway, and Mike didn’t have any other evidence to go on. 

For now, he would trust it. For now.

“...I have a plan,” Jv concluded firmly, hands withdrawing back into his cell. Mike stifled the humorous snort that threatened to escape him at that. If he’d learned anything, it was that Jv’s plans didn’t usually work out. Regardless, Mike was willing to try just about anything to survive this ordeal, so he decided it was his best bet.

Jv or not, Mike was going to find a way out of this place, and he was going to do it with Pac by his side.

A sound half between a dry laugh and a sound of realization escaped Mike’s throat as he watched Jv get his elbows under him despite the foamy mixture of blood and bile dripping from his mouth. Those words echoed in his head as if he was back there again, dusk slowly settling over the cellhouse while Jv hummed softly into the cold air. 

“I have a plan.”

Mike had come to know few things about Jv since that day they had spoken in the wake of Pac’s transfer, but one thing he’d deduced for certain was that Jv might as well have never even heard of giving up. Quitting didn’t even exist in Jv’s vocabulary as far as Mike was concerned, and he proved it with each attempt to get out of this godforsaken prison.

Jv struggled to put a smirk on his face as he met Mike’s eyes, and at that moment Mike knew that Jv had waited for this moment ever since they’d met. Cell wasn’t paying attention; his eyes were locked on Pac, standing stock-still behind Mike like a deer in the headlights. Mike felt like he was watching in slow motion as Jv pushed himself up off the floor just enough to reach up and grab Cell’s wrist – the one holding the knife nonetheless – and used Cell’s hand to stab his own leg.

Cell and Jv’s screams overlapped, Cell’s an exclamation of pain and Jv’s a command to RUN.

Pac, seemingly broken out of his trance, was immediately bolting down the hallway. Mike swore under his breath as he heard his friend’s retreating footsteps. He didn’t have time to think of why Jv had thought this was a good idea. He couldn’t begin to put together Jv’s intention for them; where they would even go. All he knew was that Cell was there, and if they didn’t run, they were dead.

By the time Mike managed to begin following Pac down the passage again, Cell was already tearing the knife out of his thigh and launching himself after them. The only thing fueling Mike’s legs at that moment was pure adrenaline like he’d never felt before. Nothing could stop Cell now, not even a knife to the leg, and it was horrifying.

Mike tore his eyes away from Cell’s wide jaws to focus on the ground below him, and he ran like he had never run before.

Thump, thump, thump.

Each step reverberated through Mike’s entire body.

Thump, thump, thump.

He could hear the faint sound of a sad harmonica.

Thump, thump, thump,

The farther they ran, the colder he felt.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

For what felt like the first time in his humanoid life, Mike screamed.

Chapter Text

There were two times Jv truly believed he had died.

The first was when he was 17. He’d stumbled home after one of his usual walks along the edge of the forest, only that time it hadn’t just been along the edge.

For the first time in months, Jv had looked at the treeline that he had long since deserted and decided to go back. He had ambled through the woods for hours, tracing the same path he’d walked so many times beside Guaxinim. Even as the sun dipped down behind the trees and turned the sky into a striking orange ombre, Jv continued.

The firepit was the same as he remembered. Two names were etched into the rocks – side by side – in fading blue wax. A few of them were painted, some in childish swirls of clashing colors and some in steadier strokes that belonged to much more mature hands. If nothing else, it was a measurement of time passing. The first and last rocks Guaxinim had ever painted were at the very top of the ring surrounding the pit. They were both raccoons, one much more sloppily done than the other. 

Jv wished he could have cried when he saw those rocks. He wished he could have sat next to the ring and wept for the loss of his only friend. He wished he would have cried and screamed and let himself be angry . One stupid mistake had cost him everything, and he could only stare vacantly down at the reminder of what ‘everything’ had been to him.

When he returned to his grandmother’s shabby house, it was in a blur of sorrow and homesickness. He was home, wasn’t he? He had kicked off his shoes at the concrete step and trudged down to his workbench in the next room over. So why did it still feel like he was all the way across the universe from where he belonged? 

That night, he had finished work on his project. It hummed beneath his fingertips, promising knowledge and foresight and closure. Looking into that blinking green light, Jv had stopped feeling afraid. He was done running and hiding and shoving away every problem he came across. 

That was where Jv had died for the first time, laying on the floor of his room with a hole in his skull and a green light radiating from beneath the trickle of blood. 

Somewhere beneath his skin, a fire raged, spreading out from the buzzing in his head and wrapping his bones in red hot agony. Somewhere deep in the fabric of the world, something in Jv split apart and fell to the wayside, tangled up in lines of code and staticy commands. But that hardly mattered anymore.

All that mattered was that despite being fractured in half, he had never felt so complete.

The second time Jv died he had almost been 20, shaking off the foolish wish that he could drag himself out of the cold walls of prison before his birthday.

If he was being entirely honest, he had known he would get himself killed over Pac and Mike ever since he’d seen them up on the walkway; ever since he’d asked them to come with him.

“Maybe next time we’ll escape together.”

Jv had never felt as stupid and euphoric as he did when he caught a glimpse of fluorescent lights reflecting off of bronze goggles in his peripheral. Maybe he hadn’t known when and maybe he hadn’t known how at first, but it had registered in that moment that Jv was not going to make it out after all. He let Pac and Mike pass him by, lingering behind and glaring out the crack in the wall. Mere moments later, Cell stalked around the corner, blotted out with a shadow that did not belong in the archives of his memory. Jv could never quite remember what Cell’s face looked like, nor anything exceedingly notable about his appearance. Sometimes it made his skin crawl knowing that if Cell looked him in the eyes in passing on a random street, Jv would never know.

But back then he had known, and he had remembered, and he could see the eyes of death staring at him from the doorway and he had smiled to himself. Pac and Mike, as rash and stubborn as they were, would almost certainly turn back when they noticed he was gone. The most he could do now was try to give them a head start.

And if Jv had wept silently at the sweet sound of that old harmonica lulling him to sleep on the cold floor of that concrete cell, Pac and Mike weren’t around to witness it. There Jv had felt like he was 17 again, sprawled on the floor of his room with buzzing machinery digging through his consciousness for a source to plug into. There Jv had mourned his insufficiency, wishing he had been even a little more helpful to anyone in his life. Guaxinim, Pac, Mike, maybe even Felps… But not Cell. Never Cell. If Jv could have done anything over again, it would have been to kill that bastard while he still had the chance.

That was where Jv had died for the second time, slowly suffocating on his own blood from the hole Cell had torn through his lungs.

The fire was dead, smothered to ashes. The buzzing had been drowned out by the thudding of his own failing heart. When Jv died for the first time, he had felt more machine than human. When Jv died for the second time, he had felt more human than machine.

So Jv had felt grateful, in the very least, that he was leaving this earth as close as he would ever be to how he entered it.

So then Jv was dead, but he wasn’t. 

Thump, thump, thump.

His heartbeat sounded closer, even though all he could see was an empty black void with the occasional flicker of green light. Is this what death feels like? It wasn’t too different from the first time he’d “died.” Only the first time he’d died, he’d woken up after.

The code was still there, flowing in organized waves under the surface of the world just like it always was. Streams of tags and commands lingered for only a moment under his eyelids before being whisked away to wherever they needed to go. Maybe death for Jv was here, inside of the code he had become a part of. 

Thump, thump, thump.

Jv reached out lazily, sifting through the squares of binary with the control he still retained over it. Ones and zeroes. White and black squares. On and off switches. Yes’ and no’s. Input and no input. 1. 0. 1. 0. 1. 0. 1. 0.

The world all stemmed from such a simple system. A language that existed in only the presence and the lack thereof. One; presence. Zero; lack. Even open ended questions had responses made up of both “yes” and “no” in their own right. If anything made sense, Jv would be the zero of this situation. The “no.” The black square. The off switch. The “no input.” To exist required a factor of presence. But he wasn’t.

Jv felt present, perhaps by his mind only, but that alone confirmed he did still exist.

If he had a corporeal body anymore, Jv would have sighed the most sorrowful and despairing of sighs. He didn’t even want to think of what came next. Was he just a ghost of the world now? A strikingly conscious piece of reality? If so, where did he exist? Could he… follow any piece of code? Allow himself to be taken anywhere?

Suddenly, continuing to repress the fact of his very real death and instead messing with his new predicament seemed extremely appetizing. He reached out gingerly in search of any familiar keywords, already feeling the familiar mechanical buzz return to his consciousness. A million different feelings washed over him as he touched each line of code. Cynical observation. Hopeless longing. Blinding joy. Jv had grown used to the feeling of so many other’s thoughts by now.

He latched onto one of them without really thinking, and immediately felt desperate rage flood over the curiosity. It was only a little disorienting as he was pulled along to wherever that code had originated, passing by the substance of trees, water, sand, and mountains. If Jv had to describe it, he would say it was akin to experiencing a breath of the entire universe in only a few moments.

Abruptly, Jv found himself plunged into another body. He couldn’t immediately gauge where he had ended up, considering how goddamn dark it was, but he doubted he would recognize it anyway. He could be anywhere in the world, really. Well, likely close to wherever he had died, if he had to guess. 

His hypothesis was shortly confirmed as Jv registered the familiar itch of the Alcatraz prison uniform. Had these pants always chafed so much? Maybe it was a little alarming how recognizable the garments were from texture alone, but Jv wasn’t exactly sure whether that was his own problem or an issue with prisons in general.

Before Jv could even think to try to figure out where he was, his chest hitched painfully with a dry sob. Every part of him felt itchy, now that he really thought about it. Suddenly, he was hyper aware of exactly how uncomfortable this was. There was sand in his shoes and sweat sticking to his forehead. Even worse, his hand couldn’t stop shaking around the handle of whatever he was holding. Unconsciously, he squeezed it tighter to reaffirm his grip on the object.

BANG.

Jv’s arm jerked backwards, and he stumbled a few steps away from where he’d been standing previously. Frantically looking around, he attempted to find the source of the sound. It eerily resembled that of a gunshot, and he held the object he was holding up in front of his face. As his eyes slowly adjusted, he found what was very distinctly the shape of a firearm in his hand. Jv decisively dropped the weapon on the ground, hearing the distinct clatter of rock beneath his feet. Despite the fact that nobody else was visibly present, he suddenly felt oddly embarrassed over the misfire. Better yet, why did he even have a gun? The sound was still ringing in his ears, and he could feel a foreign panic climbing up his spine.

He couldn’t stop himself from whipping around to look over his shoulder, catching sight of a small hole in the wall. Sunlight shone through in a thin beam, illuminating his face in pasty rays of light. The sight made him angry. Some feeling deep inside him reared its ugly head and suddenly he was throwing himself at the wall, standing on the tips of his toes to peer through the hole. “I’ll fucking kill you! I’ll kill all of you! You’re not leaving this place alive, you- you selfish bastards!” Jv was left reeling from the screams that tore out of his mouth in a voice that wasn’t his , even though that part was mostly expected. It seemed whoever he was possessing now still had control over their body. That was… odd. Jv had never experienced that before.

He took a step back from the wall, blinking harshly as his eyes attempted to adjust. “Hello?” he murmured in his own voice, crackling with static as if speaking through a radio. His own body flinched hard , staggering backwards like there existed a tangible object to distance from. Trembling hands found a knife strapped to his side and drew it frantically, pointing it at the darkness before him. Jv felt a smidge of pity for whoever he had possessed, clearly quite startled by his appearance.

“Who are you?” He tried again, though to any outsider it likely looked like he was talking to himself. Sharing a body was typically an odd phenomenon, even more so now that he could converse with the original inhabitant.

“Wha-what the fuck? Who’s there!?” They – obviously a very frazzled man – hissed threateningly. The voice was muffled and distorted to Jv’s ears, almost sounding underwater.

Despite the opportunity to act cool and mysterious, Jv forced himself to focus on the problem at hand. “My name is Jv. I take it you don’t get possessed much?” he teased lightly, using the small sliver of light to observe his body. Thin arms were mottled with red and white spots, skin tinged with pink splotches in some places. Scars marred the outside of his biceps, halfway between methodical and sloppy.

The man went quiet as he processed Jv’s words, and Jv could feel the malice and frustration radiating off him in waves interrupted by a prominent thread of shock and disbelief. “Get out of my head,” he demanded sharply, seeming to come back to himself a little.

“Who were you yelling at?” Jv questioned instead, wiggling his boney fingers in front of his face. The action was forcefully stopped by the other resident of his head, who instead crossed his arms firmly. 

“...nobody. They’re gone now,” the mystery man croaked hoarsely, eyebrows furrowed so deeply that it kind of hurt.

Jv blew out an exasperated breath, looking around the tiny stone space they were confined in. “Then where are we? A cave?”

He faintly registered the feeling of an idea springing up in the other man’s head, and suddenly he sounded much more intense. “Yes. I’ve been trapped here. People are coming to take me away I need to get out–”

“Alright, alright. Sounds like a crazy time,” Jv huffed, uncrossing his arms that his companion had so adamantly denied him access to. He walked over to the far wall, squinting at it in the dark. If he were back in his real body, he would most definitely be able to see clear as day, but this guy was evidently too lame for tech implants. Then again, most people didn’t even know that was possible outside sci fi movies.

A speckle of red caught the shine of the light for a brief moment, and Jv gravitated towards it. Redstone . Traces of it lined the underside of the rock, and Jv couldn’t help the smirk that overtook his face. “Seems someone’s really out to get you,” he mused as he tracked the dust to a small crevice in the wall. It was a simple mechanism with only one piston, so it seemed whoever constructed it was in a hurry. That meant sloppy redstone, and that was as good as a jackpot for Jv.

The owner of the body watched in confusion as Jv fiddled around with the connection, elbow deep in the wall. After a beat, the connection went dark, and Jv withdrew his hand just in time to spare his fingers from being crushed by the piston. The wall opened with a screeching sound, flooding the small cave with light. His consciousness was immediately pushed to the side and a triumphant cackle arose from his companion.

Faintly, Jv could hear sirens in the background, but he was too focused on the odd location they had ended up in. Untamed brush rose up to his knees and he could see the wide ocean stretching out before him. Despite that, the mystery man seemed overjoyed to be out, and immediately dashed down to the water. 

“Now can you get out of my head, parasite?” he grumbled as he trudged through the sand.

Jv shrugged, expression souring. “That’s a weird way to say thanks,” he peered over into the water, trying to make out the face of who he was possessing. “But… sure,” he mumbled distractedly as he traced the curve of the stranger’s jaw and the deep abyss of his eyes.

Just as Jv released his grip on this vessel, it registered in his head.

“Thanks. Jotinha.”

The last thing Jv saw was the rippling reflection of Cell staring up at him.

Chapter Text

Jv really hated the rain.

Water was nice and all, and Jv was actually quite the swimmer, but it was different when it fell from the sky. 

It was simple, really. First of all, his day clothes get wet, then his everything gets wet, then he’s cold and sticky and dodging puddles like his life depends on it. It wasn’t a great experience, as anyone with eyeballs should be able to tell. Well, everyone except this drenched dock worker that had just marched right up to Jv’s counter at the back of the store he worked at while dripping water into a steadily growing puddle on the floor.

The guy was certainly a sight to anyone, but most certainly to Jv, who had been dealing with nothing but cranky old ladies all day. A mop of dark and frizzy hair poked out comically from under his hat, no longer able to be contained from the humidity. His white button-up was soaked through enough that there was hardly a point wearing a shirt anymore, given how Jv could see directly through that wimpy thing. 

Most importantly, though, was that he was holding the mauled carcass of some sort of machine that was equally as wet as he was.

Jv blinked absently at his new customer for a moment before he remembered he was supposed to help them, then he immediately brightened. “Good morning, what can I do for ya?” he chimed politely, bracing his hands on the counter and leaning forward to get a better look at his newest project.

“GPS from my ship is broken,” the man replied, setting the hunk of tech down on the counter. Jv grimaced at the way it was handled. Furthermore, what did he mean by GPS? It looked like he’d ripped out a part of the ship itself.

Jv picked up the subject curiously, turning it over in his hands and staring at all the torn wires. “Where did this come from? Did you… tear this out of the ship or something?” he chuckled nervously, desperately hoping he was wrong. 

To his horror, the man only nodded sheepishly.

Jv made a point to breathe, eyebrows raised almost to his hairline. “O… kay. Well, this is tech services, not “heavy-duty-ship-machinery” services,” Even so, Jv knew he could figure this issue out, and it was a break from the mindless tasks he usually did. “But it’s your lucky day. You could say I’m just a touch overqualified.”

The wink Jv threw at the man was only partly out of habit. Really, he had been starving for a glimpse of entertainment at this job all day. It was corny and stupid but something about this guy made Jv want to be corny and stupid for once.

“Oh, good,” the man nodded, grinning softly. “I need it done by evening.”

That statement gave Jv pause, and he braced his hands on the counter with a pensive sigh. “Evening, you say?” It wasn’t impossible, but it didn’t give Jv a lot of time to decipher what was going on here by himself. “I’ll definitely need to take a look at where you took this out of then.”

The man scratched at his neck, water immediately soaking into his hand. “Sure thing. She’s docked at 26.”

Jv blinked dubiously at the reminder that he would have to walk all the way to the dock in the rain and abandon his job for a while. Still, a part of him was more than willing to take the hit if it meant he got to tinker with a ship with this cute and enigmatic sailor for the morning. What could he say – the guy was intriguing in a way that Jv rarely got to indulge in. Someone who was less inclined to follow pointless unspoken rules. Really, who said that you couldn’t walk into a store while dripping wet and ask for help with a hunk of tech from a cargo ship. Not that many of his coworkers would know what to do with it, but he admired the guy’s straightforward way of thinking at least.

Jv huffed an amused chuckle as he glanced over his shoulder at the only other person at the desk, fiddling with the printer lazily. “Hey Dio. Take over the desk for a bit, I’m gonna head down to the port real quick,” he informed, not exactly bothering to even ask the favor. “If anyone asks, I’m taking my break early or something.”

Dio hummed in vague acknowledgement as Jv shuffled out from behind the counter and took his coat from where it’d slipped onto the floor. It was clearly still pouring outside, and Jv wasn’t really intent on experiencing that without a little protection. His companion perked up about as much as his droopy cadence would allow, adjusting his slippery grip on the piece of the console as he picked it back up.

“Thank you. Sorry for all the trouble, I’ve just never had a problem like this before,” he babbled sleepily, hat slipping down over the tops of his eyes. Jv shrugged indifferently as he started to the door, grateful that the other could somehow see enough to follow him. 

“Sure. I was waiting for something interesting today anyway.”

The man laughed, his voice warm and suave with a paulista accent that sounded endearingly familiar to Jv. The squeaking of his wet shoes accompanied Jv’s footsteps until they stepped outside, Jv peaking apprehensively from the overhang of the storefront. His companion, however, didn’t seem at all bothered by the downpour and once again walked straight out into it without a care. How he wasn’t cold, Jv had no idea, but he supposed it was fine if he wasn’t bothered by it.

Thankfully, the store wasn’t too far from the seafront, so the walk wasn’t unbearably far. Dock 26 was unassuming, set just to the side of the street next to the water. The greenish waves – however disturbed by the rain – were knocking against the underbelly of the stilted walkway and spilling up between the cracks. Jv had absolutely failed in his duty to dodge that particular phenomenon, leaving his shoes and socks thoroughly soaked. 

The man, who still hadn’t bothered to tell Jv who he was or anything about himself, watched the cargo ship bob up and down in the water like a proud parent. Jv didn’t exactly get ships or the people who manned them, but he assumed it was just one of their quirks. Regardless, he wasn’t there to nitpick this guy’s attachment to his ship; he was there to fix it.

The thing sported a shade of navy blue in the sparse sunlight, stacked with a few shipping containers and the like. The sailor rubbed his eyes groggily as he turned to Jv with a mellow grin. “Let’s get to work then,” he murmured, crossing behind Jv to the other side of the ship to board by the flimsy metal that connected it to the port.

Jv trailed behind, eyeing the passage apprehensively before he swallowed his hesitation and decided that if he fell off, at least he’d been practicing his swimming lately. His steps echoed loudly beneath him even with the thunderous pounding of the rain assaulting his ears, and Jv could smell that particular scent that always seemed to linger over boats; something damp and fishy that carried itself on the biting winds rolling in from across the sea.

In front of him, the sailor stalled against the wind and glanced over his shoulder at Jv. It was a look that he had seen one too many times in Guaxinim in the times following the incident . A vacant stare, like the soul had been stolen right out of his body and the shell left behind could only echo its former master. Hazy brown eyes stared directly into Jv’s, and a flicker of recognition stirred inside of him if only for a brief second.

Jv watched him fall.

If he didn’t know better, Jv would have thought this guy had never stepped foot on a ship before, let alone stood on his own two feet with the way he toppled over the side like a clumsy drunk. It took all of 10 agonizing seconds for Jv to comprehend what he had just seen, and some gracious amount more to kick off his shoes, send up a prayer, and follow that idiot sailor down into the chilly water. 

Immediately, Jv was reminded exactly why he hated the rain.

Being fully submerged in water was significantly less appealing while wearing clothes. He hated the way wet fabric felt, regardless of what it was. That was far from the only unappealing thing about his situation though, as murky green flooded his vision and the jittering code beneath his skin wailed at the feeling. 

Somewhere beneath his feet, a pale glow radiated softly from the slowly sinking figure. Jv really didn’t have time to contemplate that particular happening, considering this man was either unconscious or trying to kill himself, but he made a mental note to inspect it later. Thankfully, the guy hadn’t sunk too far, and it only took a few practiced strokes to grab hold of him.

The moment Jv’s fingers grazed the sailor’s freckled skin, he saw white.

A white that didn’t exist; something so full and hollow at the same time. Beyond color, beyond light, beyond what the mind knew in some odd way. A stunning expanse of nothingness that burned into his retinas and sent his mind spinning.

It stayed only for a millisecond, a flash in the dark bluish-green of the water that briefly illuminated their faces then fizzled out between them like a doused fire. In that sharp beat of clarity, Jv could see the sailor’s face, eyes closed serenely and hair framing his crown like a halo. But most importantly was the split in the man’s forehead, flesh peeled back over a milky white iris blinking vacantly at Jv.

It was horrifying and unnatural, but also… beautiful. The longer he stared the more enraptured he became and– No. He had a job to do. No matter how heavy his eyelids suddenly felt and how sluggish his movements had become. Something odd was clearly going on here, but Jv was fairly certain it wouldn’t do any good trying to puzzle it out underwater.

Trying to pull himself from the warmth that seemed to radiate from that unnerving eye, Jv looked towards the surface where steady droplets of rain were sending ripples over the waves. The process of pulling the nameless sailor up was much more agonizing than Jv would like to admit, since the other seemed a complete dead weight in his arms. He was most certainly going to charge the guy extra for this. Playing lifeguard wasn’t exactly in his job description.

The dock was drenched and slippery where Jv grabbed hold of it, causing his hand to grapple helplessly with the material for a few desperate moments before he was finally able to haul himself and his impromptu companion up onto the wood. Jv flopped onto his back, chest heaving with each gasping attempt to catch his breath. He couldn’t even begin to unpack what had just happened. That man – the one who had presented so unassumingly if a little eccentric – was something like him. Something detached from itself in all the right places to let something else in. 

That thought alone had Jv pushing himself to his knees and peering over the prone body of the man, gaze scanning him for anything out of the ordinary. The eye Jv had seen was gone this time, leaving only a scar beginning right between his eyebrows and ending at his hairline. Briefly, Jv wondered if he’d been hallucinating, but the thought was quickly squashed because really, Jv didn’t do “hallucinations”. It sounded pretentious, sure, but having a brain that was artificial for the most part didn’t usually allow for such things.

As if he’d sensed Jv’s train of thought, the man shuddered and jerked upright like some kind of zombie. His eyes snapped open and immediately found Jv’s soaked figure kneeling next to him. That same sleepy smile curled at his lips and he gave a sluggish wave. He looked utterly unfazed and Jv noted blankly that he hadn’t even seemed the slightest bit out of breath from literally almost drowning.

“Sorry. I fell asleep,” he hummed, knocking his palm against his head a few times. Jv suddenly had the strong urge to throw this man back into the water.

With a heavy sigh and the most incredulous expression Jv was sure he’d ever worn, he shuffled closer to the other and squinted suspiciously at him. “Okay, let’s say I believe you. Why the fuck do you grow another eye when you sleep, and why the fuck do you have to do that in the worst possible place?”

The man blinked dazedly for a brief moment, then nodded slowly. “Um… I have a condition…?” he offered bluntly, sounding like he himself wasn’t even sure of the validity of what he was saying.

Jv couldn’t suppress a facepalm this time. He felt like years were being shaved off his life from this encounter alone. “Sure. The kind that gives you extra eyes. Uh-huh,” he commented sarcastically.

The man shrugged, and Jv dropped back onto the deck in defeat. Maybe he just shouldn’t question it. Trying to pry information out of this guy was like pulling teeth. “What’s your name dude?” he resigned to asking, staring up at the cloudy sky.

“Felps,” the man – Felps – answered easily, still smiling serenely, oblivious to how that name made Jv nearly jump out of his skin.

Curly dark hair that barely fit under the dark blue guard cap. Sleepy but intelligent eyes that raked over rows of prisoners during count. How had Jv not noticed it? He had known something was familiar about him, but somehow the very concept of Felps had slipped his mind long ago. In the grand scheme of things, Felps had been a pawn at Alcatraz; barely even considered a player in Cell’s miserable game. Even so, Jv couldn’t help a clipped laugh from escaping him at the realization.

“Felps, huh?” he drawled, gaze traveling up and down the sailor’s pathetic appearance in a new light. “Small world, I guess.”

Somehow, Jv had the feeling Felps knew who he was already. Somehow, Jv had the feeling Felps had known from the start. Suddenly, that third eye didn’t seem so odd.

Felps glanced back down at the water, eyebrows raised so far they disappeared beneath his unruly mop of hair.

“Um… Where’s my GPS?”