Warning: This chapter contains spoilers to 'Last Hope for the Future'

Isaac and Sally were finally in their chambers, Sally having been discharged from the infirmary. Despite needing a few pints of blood, Sally was feeling better than she had felt in a long time! She felt an unusual energy, almost as if she hadn't needed rest!

"Sally, you really should rest. You were just complaining you were tired." Isaac said, cradling their daughter in his arms. Sally was smiling, suddenly balancing herself on her hands, doing push-ups with her feet suspended in the air!

"I haven't been able to do this for months! I feel great!" Sally responded, not breaking her stride. Isaac laid down on the bed, his daughter resting against his chest. Sally got back onto her feet, practically hopping in place.

"Tomorrow, Isaac. You, me, and swords! We're getting back into training!" Sally energetically exclaimed.

"Sounds great. Now, try to get some sleep. Jess says you need to rest." Isaac said. Sally walked over to the bed, settling in beside Isaac. Isaac quietly got out of bed, gently placing Camilla in her crib.

"Good night, Camilla." Isaac whispered, kissing her forehead. Isaac got into bed, holding Sally. As soon as he closed his eyes, a loud knocking came from the door. Isaac's eyes snapped open, sighing.

"Just when you get comfortable." Isaac commented, getting out of bed. He quickly made it to the door, opening it. He saw Harold Yurani at the door, looking distressed.

"Will you keep it down? I just put my daughter to bed!" Isaac quietly shouted.

"Sorry, Isaac! But we need you! That new guy, John, something's happened! Lily said she saw some kind of monster in his room! He's in the infirmary, so right now, we're investigating a security breach. And right now, you're needed in the infirmary to help investigate it!" Harold explained.

"If there's a monster in this castle, I need to stay with Sally! She and Camilla won't be safe!" Isaac said. Suddenly, a sword rested near his foot, the tip of it embedded into the floor. Sally was standing tall, grinning.

"I'll be awake, Isaac. And this sword is as sharp as a razor." Sally said. Isaac was silent, unknowing how to respond.

"Harold... I'll be there in five minutes." Isaac said. Harold smiled, patting Isaac on the shoulder.

"Good to have you back, bud." Harold said, walking back towards the staircase.

8 minutes later:

Isaac was wearing his leather tunic, his deerhide pants, his boots, and his green cloak. He was waiting outside of the infirmary, along with the Sonic Team.

"Doc, how's he doing?" Sonic asked from the hallway, none of them being allowed in the room.

"Still unconcious, Sonic. But I'll let you know when he's awake." Jess said from the infirmary room.

As they waited, Isaac was surveying the hallway, keeping an eye out for whatever monster was possibly lurking around. His hand was gripped on the handle of a dagger, ready to fight. Lily had her sword, sharpened, ready to fight. She wasn't about to be caught without it again!

"Lily, keep an eye out. I'm going to see if I can wake up John." Isaac said, entering the room. Jess was recording his pulse and blood pressure, keeping tabs on his condition.

"You realize you're not actually supposed to be in here, correct?" Jess said, not looking away from her clipboard.

"I was told to investigate what happened. Any injuries to report?" Isaac asked.

"Physically, no. Psychologically, that is yet to be determined. But from what Lily said she saw, he may have passed out from shock." Jess said.

"What did Lily say she saw?" Isaac asked.

"It... was pretty hard to describe, from what I got from her. She said it was crawling after her on broken legs. Blood, just slathering from its mouth! Blue, like Sonic. But dangerously thin, like it was starving! Had a crazy look in its eyes!" Jess described.

"I've never heard of a creature like that. But Lily isn't letting herself be caught off-guard again. She has her sword at the ready." Isaac responded. Isaac walked over to John, who was accompanied by Ruby, the bat-hybrid. He stopped at John's bed.

"I know Lily was the one who gave the statement, but I refuse to believe you didn't see anything." Isaac said.

"I... I promised John I would never tell anyone else. Prevent anyone else from seeing it. But... I guess it's too late, now." Ruby said. Isaac nodded, pulling out a chair and sitting down.

"Listen, I know how terrifying facing something you don't understand can be. I had to live for seven years, looking over my shoulder. I had to live under a false name, in a city I've never been to, while keeping an eye out for an armored badass on a rocket glider. In fact, just two days ago, I had to defeat Zeus, a Greek God, to protect my friends and family. Anything you tell me, I won't be afraid." Isaac said.

Ruby nodded, taking a deep breath.

"It's a demon. Followed us from the Haunted Zone. Been haunting our dreams for a while. John gave me a dreamcatcher necklace so it would stop haunting me, but John had to allow the demon to haunt him instead. It looks like Sonic." Ruby explained.

"Anything else?" Isaac asked.

"We saw it again last night. But this time, Lily saw it. Someone we didn't tell saw it. But it was dying! John grabbed it. Threatened to kill it! But as soon as he said it, it dissolved into nothing! Then, John convulsed and passed out!" Ruby finished.

Isaac didn't know what exactly it could be, but he had an idea, having gone through convulsions and passing out when he had gone through his Demonic Form before. But he could tell John had no such Demonic heritage.

"Well, if the demon is gone, then the security breach is over. I'll go tell Harold we can relax security." Isaac said, walking towards the door.

"Relaxing should be the last thing you do." A strange voice said. Isaac turned around, seeing John was the source of the voice. But instead of his normal voice, it was someone else's, could only be described as belonging to 'a master of fear'.

"John?" Ruby question, slowly getting out of her chair. John smiled, his white teeth having yellowed.

"John's not here, Ruby. But I am." He said. Ruby quickly got away from him, appearing next to Isaac.

"Who are you?" Isaac asked, slightly unnerved. The being that possessed John smiled wickedly.

"I've been known by many names, Isaac, son of Azazel and Gloria. But you can call me Rourke. I've always liked that name. Sounds... malicious." Rourke answered.

"Okay... Rourke. Why are you here?" Isaac asked.

"In my universe, I killed Sonic. I took his form, and then proceeded to kill all of his friends. First, I slaughtered Tails. Then, I disembowled Knuckles. And then I beheaded Eggman. After that, I tore out Amy's eye and allowed her to bleed out. Then I threw Cream into a wall of spikes. And then, and you're going to like this one... I placed Sally between two enclosing walls... and watched her be flattened like a pancake." Rourke described.

It took everything for Isaac to control himself, the description of his friends' deaths stoking the fire of his anger! Rourke could see his anger, taking enjoyment out of it.

"Of course, killing them all and laying waste to their world did one thing I didn't think of. I became forgotten. But then... something strange happened. A rip in space-time. Caused by some kind of wave of Chaos energy. So... I decided to come here. And I saw him in the dream realm. I attached myself to him, and here we are." Rourke explained.

"If you're thinking of doing the same in this universe, I won't let you." Isaac threatened.

"Oh, I would never do that in this universe! I couldn't risk being forgotten again! Instead, I will lay a trail of destruction! Death shall follow! And those who survive shall worship me as God! They shall use the bones of the fallen for the foundation of my cathedral, and I will be the one in control of their demise!" Rourke elaborated.

"You will do no such thing!" Isaac yelled, his body heating up! Rourke threw his head back and laughed, his wicked cackle echoing throughout the infirmary.

Isaac quickly grabbed the straps near the bed, securing Rourke in the bed. Rourke was too busy laughing to notice. After securing him, Isaac stormed out of the room, punching the wall across from the door, cracking it! The rest of the Sonic Team flinched at this, not knowing what could've happened to cause him to do that.

"Mr. Isaac, what's wrong?" Vanilla asked. Isaac was shaking his head, attempting to clear his thoughts. Ruby quickly stepped out of the room, her face having turned pale.

"John... some being possessed him. An inter-dimensional being. He capitalizes on fear and anger. I fear I'm too hot-headed to figure out anything to help him right now." Isaac explained.

"Then what do you think we should do?" Amy asked.

"John is still in there! He just needs to fight! Remember us!" Ruby said.

"So... if the thing that's controlling him feeds off of fear, then maybe... We just need to show him we're not afraid?" Sonic guessed.

"I... I need to sit down." Ruby said, sitting herself on the floor, her back against a wall. Rouge walked to the door, grabbing the doorknob.

"I'm gonna see what exactly this is about." Rouge said, opening the door. She stepped into the room, the air much colder than the air outside of it. Rourke's eyes were staring right through her, the irises of his eyes already having turned red. Rouge stopped at the foot of the bed, looking at him.

"Hello... Rouge." Rourke greeted, steam emanating from his mouth.

"John, can you hear me? It's Rouge." Rouge asked, trying to reach John. Rourke was chuckling, leaning forward as best as he could with the restraints.

"I remember you, bat. So, tell me... How is it to know that you shall one day die in a blaze of fire?" Rourke asked. Rouge smirked at this, already not believing him.

"Come on. You'll need to do better than that to scare me." Rouge responded, already feeling she had the upper hand. Rourke's smiled vanished, adopting a slight frown.

"She didn't tell you, did she?" Rourke asked. Rouge's smirk faded, almost curious about what he meant.

"Who told me what?" Rouge asked. Rourke's smile appeared once more, finding his opportunity.

"Your daughter. She failed to tell you something. Something about your future. Something very critical." Rourke said.

"She's not keeping secrets from me! I already know she's my daughter. What else could there be to surprise me?" Rouge questioned.

"In the future, Rouge... Eggman attacks and kills you. Knuckles only survives by pure luck. You didn't know that, did you?" Rourke answered, smiling wickedly. Rouge was unnerved, feeling something run out of her! She suddenly got out of the room, feeling the wind was knocked out of her! She slammed the door, the same pale color as Ruby.

"Rouge?" Ruby questioned, not knowing what he would've told her. Rouge's face soon turned into a scowl, backing away from Ruby.

"You lied to me, Ruby! He told me everything! Didn't care to tell me that I was dead in the future, huh?!" Rouge exclaimed, her face beginning to turn red.

"Wait, what?!" Knuckles reacted.

"Rouge, please! I can explain-" Ruby began to say, before Rouge stopped her.

"Just stay away from me, Ruby! I'm done with all of this!" Rouge yelled, storming out of the infirmary.

"Rouge! Rouge! Get back here! You can't yell at Ruby like that!" Knuckles yelled out, following her.

The entirety of the team were speechless, not exactly knowing what Rourke had told her. Isaac felt the air around him to be heavier, as if this was Rourke's doing. He looked back at the door, as if it were a barrier to his dimension. The one where he had killed everyone Isaac ever knew.

"Alright, I'm going in!" Sonic said, walking towards the door.

"NO!" Isaac exclaimed, freezing him in his tracks. Isaac composed himself, taking a deep breath.

"He knows you, Amy, Tails, Cream, and Sally. You all existed in his universe. We need someone who he had never encountered. Someone who is composed, calm, and doesn't give in to their emotions. Someone who doesn't allow fear and anger to take control of themselves. And unfortunately... I can't trust myself to be that person." Isaac explained.

As they talked, trying to figure out someone they know that could help them, Vanilla spoke up.

"I'll do it." She said. Everyone snapped their gaze to her, surprised by her volunteering.

"Vanilla, are you sure?" Amy asked, knowing she has most likely never encountered someone like this before. Vanilla nodded, walking towards the door. Taking a deep breath, she opened it, entering the cold room.

She saw Rourke in John's body, breathing deeply, steam billowing from his mouth. Calmly, Vanilla approached the bed, her maternal instincts taking over her actions. She pulled the blanket at his feet to his neck, tucking the blanket under him, giving him some shielding from the cold environment.

"Hello, Vanilla. It's nice to finally meet you." Rourke said, sinister intent in his voice. Vanilla was calm and quiet, finishing tucking him in and turning up the thermostat near his bed.

"Do you know who I am?" Rourke asked.

"You're John. A nice, very polite young man." Vanilla responded. Rourke frowned at this, not expecting her to react like this.

"No... I am not." Rourke hissed, venom in his voice. Vanilla warmly smiled, almost as if it was enough to warm up the frigid room. Rourke choked at this sight, feeling something in the pit of his stomach.

"We all have bad days, John. But sometimes, we just need to talk about our problems to overcome them. We don't need to hide our problems. Oftentimes, telling someone is the best way to face them." Vanilla advised.

"I am... not... John!" Rourke exclaimed, feeling something punch him in the back of his throat!

Vanilla only continued to smile warmly, fixing up the infirmary room, not paying attention to what Rourke said. As she walked around the room, tidying things up, she was humming a gentle tune, ignoring the cold temperatures.

"What... ARE YOU DOING?!" Rourke yelled, beginning to shake! Groaning, the cold room began to warm up. Soon, the red irises returned to their jade color, Rourke retreating from this strange, emotional assault.

"Holy crap, it's freezing in here!" John responded, trying to hoard the covers. But to his surprise, he couldn't move, being restrained.

"What happened while I was out?" He asked. Ruby walked in, relieved to see him coherent of his surroundings.

"You were possessed by Rourke. You... you told Rouge what happened to her in the future." Ruby explained. John clenched his teeth, furious the demon revealed details about the future they didn't want known.

"Anything else he said?" John asked.

"Well, besides revealing that he killed everyone in his home dimension and planned to do the same thing here, not much." Ruby revealed.

"This isn't his first attempt at a different dimension! I had to fight three variants of Sonic! And the last one was more threatening than the one we're dealing with now!" John revealed.

"More threatening? That can't be possible!" Ruby responded.

"Oh, it's possible!" He returned.

The door opened, others coming into the room. The ambient temperature of the room was now warming up, whatever cause for it to drop so low disspiating. As they came in, Isaac was last, keeping a cautious eye on John.

"Rourke may be gone for now, but he will resurface." Isaac said.

"Do you know the nature of him?" John asked. Isaac shook his head.

"I don't, but I know someone who has studied such subjects extensively." Isaac said, grabbing a phone off of the receiver. He punched in a number, waiting. After a few moments, his brightened.

"Dante, thanks for picking up. Yeah, sorry for waking you up, but this is an emergency. Yes, it's demon related. No, it's not me this time. Five minutes? Yeah, that'll work. But hurry. And bring that book you found." Isaac said, putting the phone back onto the receiver.

5 Minutes Later:

Dante had been looking in the tome he had used as a reference, but he couldn't determine what Rourke was! He didn't know what he was, or if anyone had ever encountered anything like him!

"Try looking for something that feeds off of fear." Isaac suggested. Dante nodded, sorting through more pages.

"I mean, a lot of these different demon-types feed off of fear. In fact, that's what makes them so dangerous! Fear is a natural response to the unknown, and right now, possession is still an unexplored topic." Dante said, flipping through pages.

As he sifted through pages, the ambient temperature of the room was dipping again, all eyes on John. But John wasn't showing signs of possession. Isaac discreetly took out a knife, looking around.

"Dante, get out of here, and start figuring out ways to stop him! Rourke's loose!" Isaac instructed.

Dante nodded, grabbing his tome and running out of the infirmary. Isaac walked over to John, cutting the restraints keeping him in bed.

"John, you know this thing better than the rest of us! What's the first thing he's going to do?" Isaac asked.

"He's going to induce fear into someone and feed off of it! He attempted to attack Lily the last time!" John answered.

"Quick, we need to get to the Children's Quarters! If he's going to go anywhere, he's going there!" Isaac said, running out of the infirmary.

The team began running towards the Children's Quarters, the air becoming colder the closer they got to the quarters. Soon, they ran into the hallway, seeing Rourke. He was holding a sleeping child, his slumber induced by the demon.

"Leave me to feed, and you shall be spared." Rourke bargained, rows of sharp teeth emerging from his mouth. As he prepared to feed, Lily silently emerged from her quarters, seeing the demon. She suddenly ran towards him, leaping onto his back! Rourke dropped the child, the child's slumber broken. Amy ran towards Rourke, Lily letting go as Amy slammed into him, quickly picking up the kid.

"Where am I?! Who is that?!" The kid cried, scared.

"It's okay, I got you! Just... don't look at him!" Amy instructed, running from Rourke with the kid.

Rourke stumbled, quickly vanishing into a red mist. Lily was confused, shaking her head.

"Alright, he felt real!" Amy said, putting the kid down.

"He's adopted a physical form. He's going to be more dangerous, now! But it also means he's going to be more vulnerable." John said.

"If he's going somewhere to gain strength, he's not going to come back here. Now, where could he be in the castle to gain fear?" Tails asked. After a few moments, Isaac's eyes widened in terror.

"Sally!" Isaac exclaimed, running out of the Children's Quarters. The others followed, Lily leading the displaced child back to his quarters. Isaac was running up the stairs, before a body was seen being launched over the railing, plummeting to the floor below. Sally was running towards the staircase, before seeing the others.

"Hey, did you... guys see some fucker that looked like Sonic?" Sally asked.

"You sent Rourke over the railing?" John asked.

"Rourke? Was that his name?" Sally asked.

The team quickly went back downstairs, seeing Rourke struggle to get back up, his left arm snapped, sporting an open fracture. He stumbled to his feet, backing up.

"This... this is only a minor setback! You do not realize what you have done! I may be defeated now, but this shall only the be the calm before the storm! I shall go into the universe, extinguishing the lights of creation! Entire worlds shall fall before me, and when the last known light of hope is extinguished, I shall return! And my return shall be brutal, and everyone shall be-" Rourke began ot rant, before a foul yellow liquid was dumped over him from a bucket by Dante and Desmond, the guard that frequents the wine room.

Rourke's body was showing signs of breaking out into blisters, as if it had severely burnt his skin! Flesh began sloughing off, as if it was actually melting his body!

"Aaahh! What was that?!" Rourke shrieked.

"My piss!" Desmond retorted, before using the bucket to smash it over his head. Rourke was sent sprawling to the ground, his skin still melting.

"Did... did you guys seriously just douse him in urine?" Amy asked, disgusted.

"Hey, it was in the book! And Desmond had been drinking, so we decided to kill two birds with one stone." Dante responded.

Rourke was groaning, beginning to melt into a puddle of viscera.

"I... shall see you... in Hell!" He gurgled, before finally perishing. The Sonic Team were standing before the puddle of flesh and blood that was once Rourke, not understanding what had just happened.

"Well... I'm not cleaning this up." Sally said, heading towards the staircase.