Always With You (Caejose)

An Ending (5/7)

.....Joseph POV....

"I never did get to ask," he started, glancing behind us as he flicked yet another fish out the window- transformed from the shards of shell Kars had shot at us earlier- "What happened to my headband?"

I opened my mouth, closed it. Hesitating.

"Ah- grab that parachute-" Caesar did as he was told, reaching behind the seat, lean body stretching taut. "About that. Umm- yes, now tie this to it-" I continued, handing him a roughly body- shaped bundle of cloth. "You see- yes to the end of it, idiot- " I shot as he gave me a sharp, confused look. "I kind of....- now throw it out the window." He stared at me. I waved a hand. "Burned it."

He froze as the parachute fell out, turning to me with narrowed eyes.

"You did what?" His accent only served to accentuate his distress, thickening as it did when he was upset with me. Which, really, was most of the time.

I gave him a sheepish smile as Kars shot past us, shouting as he shot for the parachute. Caesar gave a soft, appreciative grunt as I aimed the plane straight for him, though seethed,

"You idiota! That was my favorite one! They're so hard to find!"

I just grinned at him in response, attention diverting to the bird man on my windshield.

"Hey Jojo?" he asked, face going a bit pale as he watched Kars rage at the head of the plane. He seemed to realize that this was it. I reached over, slipping my hand into his. He didn't need to say anything.

His fingers tightened around mine, teeth closing around his lower lip.

Kars moved, and I froze as he made to push off-

A metal hand slammed into his neck, holding him there. I froze, leaning out the window.

"Stroheim?" I blurted, shocked. A hard sting of relief shot through me as I realized that he was here.

Caesar moved as Kars spat at us, half in my lap as he craned for a better look. Before I could say anything else, Stroheim had us by our collars, hauling us out the plane and jumping to the ground. Air hurtled around us, and I screamed as we fell.

The sound of splintering metal breached my ears, and I screwed my eyes shut as I went flying over the ground.

My eyes popped open, glancing around me-

The first thing I noticed was the plane- slowly sinking into the boiling magma. I had no words for Kars as he burnt, too busy checking on my companions-

I stumbled to my feet as I saw Stroheim, the bottom half of his body sacrificed for our landing.

Caesar was on his hands and knees a few feet away, a trickle of blood dripping from his lips. My heart froze, and I scrambled over to him.

"I'm fine," he said, spitting out blood on the ground, watching it steam. I hauled him to his feet, watching the lava as the man in it screamed.

"Did we do it?" I asked quietly. Caesar watched him, taking a half step forwards- as if to make sure he was truly dead.

"I- I think we did," he said faintly. I stared at the boiling lava for a long beat.

"We need to move," Stroheim shouted from behind us as the lava shifted. The ground underfoot cracked, steam boiling-

Pain flashed through my arm, hot and sharp.

It took me a long few moments to recognize what had just happened- staring at my forearm on the ground next to me.

A dark shape rose from the crack as the pain hit me in an agonizing burst. My knees buckled, and I screamed in anguish as that white-hot pain laced through every part of my body.

Black dotted my vision as I stared at the man in front of me.

Sudden hopelessness dragged at me, and I stared at him, feeling sudden tears prick my eyes.

Life was so shitty.

So damn unfair.

I'd gone through so much- just to have it back to bite me in the ass.

Because he was alive.

And there was no way in hell we were defeating him now.

I closed my eyes as that pain rode up to a higher level, entering every iota of my being.

As I ceased to think beyond that anguish running through me- ceased to think beyond that yawning pit welcoming beyond my consciousness.