Hopefully I'll have this finished before Midnight. You yanks will get it just in time regardless. It's Halloween, the perfect excuse to write my characters death scene.
A great deal of Joz's Chapter is skipped for the time being. When I do the fic for real it'll appear between these death scenes. For now I'm just concentrating on the death.
Oh and to emphasise the Edward/Joz link my Halloween Pic on my DA has Joz dressed as Edward.
Happy Halloween.
Oh and please note I aint to fussed about proper spellings right now. Italics are Rouge speaking
All copyright info in first chapter
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PART 2 - Joz
After my venture into ENN'GHA it was years before I faced the ancients again. They are really evil and clever. They waited until the right moment. After Sapphire's Death you may recall I never really had you and your folks over Rouge. I feared for your safety, but your parents kept pressurising me to visit.
Once again my paranoia was justified as when I finally gave in to your parents they struck. It was a dark cold Halloween, raining so heavily you could hear every drop. We had all gone to bed but my paranoia refused to let me sleep. I ventured down to the pantry to get a glass of milk.
I knew something was going on as strange things started to happen. Blood began to drip from the walls. Statues seemed to follow my movements. The paintings of peaceful meadows became glimpses into hell. I had read about this, this was Xel'lotath's doing. She was twisting my sanity.
I opened the door into the main entrance hall and saw a man hanging from the ceiling. He seemed to be dead but then it looked at me.
"We're going to kill you", said the man before maniacally laughing.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath
"This isn't really happening", I kept telling myself over and over again. I looked up and things were normal again.
I continued into the pantry to find a Horror was waiting for me. I raced for my Blade and went back armed. The Horror had stayed waiting for me to return. I found this strange but I didn't really care. It was going down.
I raced towards the beast and used my Shadow blade on its arms. My attack was so fast it didn't stand a chance. With its hands sliced off I stabbed its ugly face killing it in one. It crashed to the floor and I scanned the room for more. There was nothing.
Then all of a sudden all I could hear were screams. Blood rained into the room and soon my feet were covered in it. The walls turned into flames surely I was in hell.
"THIS ISN'T REALLY HAPPENING!" I screamed
"Funny thing the mind. We take everything we see to be real unaware that what is real and what's not isn't as black and white", said a familiar voice.
"Ivus?" I called out and was rewarded by the pantry returning to normal and a ghostly vision of Ivus Eggustus in front of me
"Got it in one. I'm afraid I can't let the mistakes of the past repeat themselves," said Ivus
"You really pick your moments", said Joz, "I know what you want, and I won't let you hurt her"
"So she is here then…Hey at least let me finish", said Ivus.
I didn't care I was out of there, racing to your room and to tell you parents to get the hell out of here. The world seemed to twist around me but I knew they were nothing but illusions. My scream earlier had woken your folk up. They were reluctant to leave at first but the desperation in my eyes convinced them to leave.
I was soon off to your room, finding it full of Zombies. I sliced them all in two. Somehow you had remained asleep. I picked you up and handed you over to your folks.
I remember that. I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open but I saw you panicking as you ran down the hall. That was the last I saw of you.
I raced towards the front door, destroying all the creatures in my path.
"What the hell is going on?" your father asked but I was far too busy.
"Just go, now. You must protect Rouge above all else", I replied, "I knew bringing her here was a mistake, we're not ready yet"
"Look something's going on and I want to know…" said your father
"Remember always that I love you. Now go. This is something I have to take care of", I said.
I was scanning each of the doors, in particular the one leading to the basement. Your parents took you straight out of the mansion and I felt relieved. Unfortunately my focus on your safety meant my Sanity was shot. The Ancients effects had consumed me and I felt flaming ropes bind me.
I know now that there were no ropes but my mind believed that there was. I was bound by them. Held up above a pit of lava as Ivus reappeared.
"How come all these beasts allowed her to escape?" asked Ivus angrily
"They didn't have a choice, my blade took care of them", I replied
"Dammit they have gotten away. That means, my bat friend, that you will reveal their location", said Ivus
"Bite me. They are my family, I will never allow them to get hurt", I said.
"Oh like Sapphire", said Ivus
That was it. I tried to free myself of the binds but it was no use. I screamed in anger
"You murderous fuck I'll kill you", I shouted.
"Another Idle threat. You are mine now. Your spirit has been broken, the focus smashed. Your mind belongs to me", said Ivus
"I'll never talk", I said still defiant.
I held out against all his torture. It was all fake but it seemed so real. The pain was tremendous. Weeks passed and still I kept my resolve. I was a rock.
Shortly before I was killed I managed to escape. Weeks of regaining my sanity and focus allowed me to see reality once more. I was in a dungeon cell deep in the heart of ENN'GHA. Fortunately all that stood between me and freedom was a set of metal bars and those fools had left me with my Wing Upgrades. I had just managed to get them before you escaped.
I used the Jet Wing to melt the bars and flew straight back into the Mansion. I placed my Sword and Wing upgrades in the shrine and sealed it off, knowing you would get the password once I died.
As I left the shrine one of the beasts finally got me. I had just dropped my guard for a second and something pounced on me. It must've bit off my head cause within seconds I was dead.
I found myself inside a realm of nothingness yet it seemed familiar. It was then I realised I was dead and that my spirit was sealed inside The Annemuir. The old Joz had returned to the spirit world leaving me to teach the next wielder of the Blade.
I'm not quite sure what happened between the time you first found the blade and now.
Yeah I had spent weeks researching and examining everything but found nothing. Then I was called up by GUN to spy on Sonic and Shadow during the ARK incident. One thing led to another and well you know what happened.
Right well that ends my part in this tale but there is more you need to know and I think you'll be surprised who's involved in the next chapter.
Oh my god...It can't be…Knuckles? This just keeps getting weirder and weirder.
THE END….FOR NOW
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Dammit. It's 12:20 GMT. Oh well I hope you enjoyed that and hope you want more.