Disclaimer: I do NOT own The World Ends With You OR the lyrics to I Will Follow You Into the Dark.
(If I did, IWFYITD would probably be a Death Metal song. Get it? Death?)
Shirley: Enough with the lame puns and get to work on killing off major characters!
JF: But I like lame puns....
Shirley: YOU'RE gonna be lame if you don't shut up and get on with it!
JF: Fine, fine, *sigh* Can I at least do my A/N first?
Shirley:Make it snappy...
Chapter 1: The End
This idea is a recently new one, but one that I really like! I'm not 100% how well it will turn out, but I'm gonna give it my very best shot and see what happens! I know writing fics like these isn't exactly my forte but I feel like it's one of those stories that NEED to be told. If for nobody but myself. So, without further ado, here we go!
Rhyme stared at the ashen haired boy in front of her, her eyes filled with tears.
"You just don't get it, do you Joshua?!" She shouted, her voice quivering.
"If you truly love someone, you just don't treat them like everybody else!"
Joshua didn't reply. He stood with his back to her, leaning against the jukebox in the Dead Gods Pad, punching aimlessly at the buttons on the music players console. One arm was draped over the top of the jukebox, a tumbler of vodka hanging from his fingertips.
"That's your problem, Joshua!" Rhyme continued, tears streaming down her face. "You're a schemer, a manipulator. To you, everybody's equal, expendable. Nothing but cogs in the machine of your great plans! If you really do love me, you can't just treat me like some tool!"
Rhyme continued to stare at the back of her lover. Joshua hadn't made a move during her impassioned speech, except to take a drink from the glass in his hand.
Rhyme's eyes filled with even more tears and she began to sob.
She quickly began to fumble with the brooch on her shirt, an orange squirrel, made entirely of jewels, given to her by Joshua when they had first started dating.
Despite her tear-filled eyes, she managed to get the brooch off and hurled it onto the nearby table.
"I hate you." She whispered loudly, before turning and running from the Reaper headquarters, the falling tears forming a trail behind her.
Joshua still hadn't moved from where he stood, even when he heard the door slam. He remained motionless for several minutes before, in a sudden burst of energy, he spun and hurled the glass at the wall where it shattered.
Joshua gave one last aimless stab at the jukebox's control panel, before walking over to the couch and collapsing on it. He leaned back, his hands over his face.
He remained like that for several seconds before letting his arms fall limply to his sides.
He opened his ears to the Music, listening to all the emotions and thoughts of the teeming masses of Shibuya, only vaguely listening to the song being played from the jukebox speakers.
Love of mine,
Someday you will die,
But I'll be close behind,
I'll follow you
into the dark
Suddenly, Joshua's eyes snapped open. It was only a whisper, but one of the voices that sounded in his head roared louder than any he had ever heard.
...cold...
Rhyme?
...so cold....it hurts...Please, Joshua, help, please, I'm so cold...
Joshua was off the couch and out the door in a heartbeat. He raced down the Trail of the Sinner and emerged into southern Shibuya in a matter of seconds. It was snowing heavily, and he had no coat or gear on, but he took no notice of the bitter cold. He cast about desperately in the Music, searching for Rhyme's signature. He located it and rushed off. Swarms of Noise rose in his path, attracted by his panic and fear, but he blasted them into oblivion, not even noticing them.
The nearer he got to Rhyme it seemed, the more her presence faded, like a lightbulb being turned off after it had been on for a while. He looked about wildly, searching for her. Suddenly. he spotted a small bundle half buried in a snowdrift. Joshua hurried over and tore through the snow like a madman, eventually uncovering Rhymes huddled form.
Her frail body was shivering pathetically, and she was covered in still freshly bleeding cuts and bruises. One eye was swollen shut.
For a split second, Joshua was frozen. What could have done this to her? He wondered blankly.
Then Rhyme stirred. "Joshua?" She mewled, and Joshua was galvanized into action.
"Don't talk." He said shortly as he brushed the snow away from her.
"I-I'm sorry..." She whispered.
Joshua ignored her, wrapping Rhyme in his arms, trying to get her warm as he pumped healing energy into her body, but it was too little, too late.
Joshua struggled to remain calm, fighting the urge to panic.
It's ok, He thought, desperately trying to keep the fear at bay. If she dies, she'll enter the Game, she'll actually be safer there, I'm the Composer so I can protect her and make sure nothing happens to--wait a minute...
Joshua's eyes widened in horror. Rhyme wasn't being taken to the UG, she was being Erased. The word 'why' had barely flashed through his brain before the cold knife of realization stabbed into his gut.
When Rhyme had came to the Dead Gods Pad earlier, Joshua had elevated her vibe so she could enter, but he had neglected to reduce it when she had left. This left her stranded in the UG, without a partner. All the sorrow and fear she was experiencing had drawn Noise to her which had attacked her mercilessly, only the influence of Joshua's mental probe of the Music had driven them from her.
"Joshua..." Rhyme shivered. "I'm so...cold..."
She's fading faster and faster! Joshua's mind thrashed about for a solution, but none came to mind. There was absolutely no time.
Rhyme's eyes began to glaze over as Joshua tucked her head underneath his chin.
"No matter where, when or how," He whispered. "Until the stars turn cold and the last dream dies, until we are a heartbeat away from eternity, our souls shall know no rest until we are one once more."
Joshua's body suddenly began to grow cold too, and his mind grew dim.
Wait for me, Rhyme... That last thought had barely pierced through the fog of his mind before her lifeless body slumped to the snow, followed a split second later by his own.
In the cold night, nobody was around to notice the twin trails of shimmering static reaching up from an obscure snowdrift, towards the sky.
And there you have it! I originally wasn't intending for this to be a song-fic, but the song fit so perfectly, I couldn't resist putting it in. In case anyones curious the song is called 'I Will Follow You Into the Dark' by Death Cab for Cutie.
Major thanks to Jestry for Beta Reading this chapter for me! If not for your help, I doubt this chapter would've been half as good as what it is now!