Title: Epic
Author: HMC
Rated: R for mature issues, and for horror in this chapter!!!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. Blah, blah, blah.
Notes: Wow, this series is almost done!
Summary: Silent Bob is put to the ultimate test.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bob tried to wrench himself out of Azrael's grip, but the demon held 
him with an iron fist, leaning in closer. The look of pure hatred 
that radiated from this being in front of him was enough to make Bob 
shut his eyes in horror. It was burning holes in him; Bob had never 
been so scared in all his life.

"You stupid fucking human." The demon hissed, nose to nose with Bob. 
"It's time to really show you where a blind faith in God gets you." 
And with strength Bob didn't know the demon possessed, he dragged the 
frightened Prophet towards the seventh door. The unmarked door. 
Azrael kicked the door open, and they stepped into oblivion.

The ground felt soft under Bob's feet, as he was hurried along. It 
was dark, but he knew they were outside, he could see the outline of 
clouds against the sky, which had taken on an unholy shade of red. No 
trees, no life; nothing resembling nature around them. Bob didn't 
even have the state of mind to catch himself when he was pushed to the 
ground.

He tasted a dry, sickeningly smoky taste in his mouth as he hit the 
ground. Whatever it was, it broke his fall, but he hit it so quickly 
that his senses abandoned him for a minute. When he opened his eyes, 
he saw what the ground below his was made of. Ash. They were in a 
giant field of ash, underneath a sky of red. Bob began to cry. This 
was too much....

A hand grabbing him by his collar pulled him upward, blocking off his 
throat and denying him of oxygen. Bob sputtered, pulling at his 
t-shirt, trying to get his air back when he heard Azrael's low, 
guttural growl in his ear. "Look. Look and see what God has done to 
him. Left him to be beaten by a group of lesser imps and demons. 
They worked on him, rearranged his body, and still She did nothing."

Suddenly, Bob could breath again and he gasped like a fish. 

At first, he couldn't focus enough to take in what he was supposed to 
look at. It felt like his brain was throbbing, and it took a while to 
regain control of his eyes. What came into his line of vision first 
was a giant 'Y' shape that stood twenty feet away. As his sight tuned 
in, he saw that this 'Y' shape were actually beams of wood nailed 
crudely together and stuck in the ground so that it stood upright. 
But something else came into view; Bob could see a human form hanging 
from the structure, arms stretched and tied above to form the top of 
the 'Y'. 

There, crucified before him, hanging limply by frayed, coarse 
ropes.... was Jay.

Bob's legs buckled beneath him as he laid eyes upon his forsaken 
lover, and he fell harshly to his knees. He swore at the moment that 
his heart had been ripped in half; he could almost feel his insides 
liquidating at the horrific sight before him. His head began to 
pound; noises from all direction assailed him, driving him to 
deafness, clouding his judgment. There was screaming, moaning, 
crying.... but it was all in his head.

What was he seeing? That couldn't be Jay. No, not Jay. What had 
they done to him?

Jay's head hung low, chin to chest, his hair falling past his temples 
in long, stringy waves. Ropes held him fast to the structure, tied at 
his wrists, chest, and ankles, preventing any movement. Not that it 
looked like Jay was capable of movement at this point. He looked 
horrible. Large, fist-sized discolorations decorated his body, 
accented with horrible cuts bordering them. His clothes were in 
shreds, there was barely enough for modesty's sake, but they didn't 
hide the injuries. The harsh ropes had rubbed his skin raw and his 
wrists bled, the red substance trickled down his arms in thin rivers, 
flowing down his sides where it was absorbed by whatever was left of 
his sweatpants. The rope that held his chest had almost the same 
effect, only that wasn't bleeding as much. 

Jay's lip was split, once half of his face was a giant bruise. That 
much Bob could see. His formally blond hair blocked the rest of his 
face, but he knew Jay's eyes were closed, and he wasn't moving. He 
just hung there like a rag doll, void of all the life and energy and 
child-like zest for life that Bob fell in love with the first day they 
met. 

"Oh Christ! You killed him!!" Bob screamed, burying his face in his 
hands. "You bastards! You fucking bastards!! You killed him!!!" 

"No, Bob you misunderstand!" Azrael bellowed, a vein visible in his 
neck. "He's not dead. You can save him. Go and take him down, you 
know God won't save him. Show Him that you control your destiny by 
rescuing the one person you love more than anything else. Show Him 
that you don't need God to rescue you! Go take him down!" Azrael 
kicked Bob in the side, sending him sprawling in the ashen ground. 
The black, burnt flakes floated up around the large body, landing 
delicately on the pale flesh of his face, disintegrating and blurring 
with his tears.

"You.... you're lying. He's dead...." Bob whimpered.

"He's dying, Bob. Any longer up there and he'll bleed to death. And 
still no sign of your God. Turn your back on Him, Prophet. God won't 
help Jay, only you can. Make your decision and make it fast. I 
figure those ropes have to hurt like a bitch, don't you think?" He 
smiled a sickeningly evil smile. 

Bob's limbs refused to obey him, and he fell limply into the ash, 
breathing in the decay. He could barely hear Azrael screaming at him, 
screaming for all he was worth, demanding that Bob get up before it 
was too late. But Bob's body had given out on him, his brain had 
begun to shut down, the strain of this test had taken its toll on him, 
and now.... at the most crucial moment of his life, he could not 
function. 

Jay's bleeding.... he's dying.... Jay.... Jay.... God forgive me.... 
Please.... somebody help.... help him. Oh, God.... Help.... What do I 
do? I can't.... I can't get up...

White hot pain ripped through his body, taking away his air, taking 
his sight, his hearing, leaving him an empty shell.

~~~~~~~~~

And then, all the noise stopped. The world seemed to end. 

~~~~~~~~~

When he finally managed to open his eyes, he could see a few blurred 
images. The first thing that got through the haze was Azrael's face, 
tilted upwards, and twisted into an expression of pain. He clawed at 
his chest with desperate fingers, making a sound that Bob had never 
heard the like of before. And then he fell, landing right next to 
Bob, the direct eye contact almost making his heart stop. Bob looked 
up, afraid of what he might find, and was met with a sight that damn 
near killed him.

Metatron. Clad in black-tinted armor and a silver chest plate, The 
Voice held the darkest and most determined look Bob could have ever 
imagined on any existing creature. With his stark black hair and his 
pale skin, he looked sinister. In his right hand he held a sword, 
glowing and emitting small blue flames that licked around the steel. 

"Right Bloody Bastard, he his." Metatron sneered, stepping over the 
freshly slaughtered demon to kneel by Bob's side, regarding him with a 
soft and understanding expression. "I don't think I've ever been as 
proud of a human as I am right now." He held out his hand to Bob, 
pulling him out of the ash and standing him upright. 

Bob's eyes were wide, tears still escaping as the shockwaves ripped 
through his body of what had just occurred. His legs buckled once, 
and he fell into the arms of Metatron, who patiently caught him and 
stood him upright again, holding him as the shakes went through his 
arms. 

Bob, famous for his habitual silence, could not have spoken now if he 
wanted to. What was Metatron doing here? Suddenly, Bob remembered 
Jay, and cast his gaze in the direction of the 'Y' structure. 

It took a second, but Bob finally recognized Serendipity and Rufus, 
gently untying Jay from his horrible restraints, casting that coarse 
rope aside. They brought him down, Rufus carrying the limp form over 
to where Bob stood with Metatron. Serendipity wiped a stray tear from 
her face.

Rufus held an expression of sorrow and pain. "I'm sorry, brother." 
The Apostle said, dropping to his knees and lowering Jay to the 
ground. Bob kneeled as well, laying a gentle hand on the side of 
Jay's pale and abused face. Tears dropped off his cheeks and landed 
on Jay's, mingling with the blood decorating his face. No air entered 
his lungs. No blood flowed through his veins.

He was dead. Dead.

He was dead.

Bob leaned down, wrapping his arms around the thin frame, pulling Jay 
upwards until he could hold him close, weeping and rocking back and 
forth. He pushed the blond hair out of Jay's face with his fingers, 
kissing him one last time. All he wanted was for Jay to wake up, to 
just not be dead. But Jay refused to respond. He was just still.

A soft hand on his shoulder alerted him to someone else's presence. 
*The* Presence. Bob lifted his eyes to meet the soft brown orbs of 
the Almighty Herself. Her lips were pressed into a thin line, the 
gentle wrinkles in her forehead creased slightly. She wore a gown of 
all white, folds of fabric lying all around her, ruffling in the 
slight breeze. She stared him dead in the eye, somehow, explaining 
with just a look, what no one else could have explained with all the 
words in the universe. 

After Jay had been set on the ground again, She pulled Bob up off his 
knees and into a hug. He buried his face into her shoulder, letting 
sobs wrack his larger frame. She held him with the utmost care, 
stroking his hair, holding him in a loving embrace.

She pulled away slightly, looking at him, staring deep into his soul, 
communicating without words. Then, she touched her lips to his in a 
chaste and loving kiss, and Bob was confronted with images.... Five of 
them to be specific.

*Bob's father, putting an envelope in the mail every week. The 
envelope always consisted of fifty dollars and a request that his 
children never know of his donations and his whereabouts*

*Two men in a bed, in each other's arms, sleeping blissfully. One was 
Hooper, the other was Banky. Even as he dozed, Hooper's fingers ran 
idly through Banky's hair, coaxing the bearded man to sleep. They 
were happy. They truly loved each other*

*Dante's family, in a new house, having dinner together. Friends also 
sat with them, admiring the house, complimenting what they'd done with 
it, laughing as the food was distributed*

*Bethany: exhausted in a hospital bed, but happier than she had ever 
been in her life, holding her baby girl in her arms. The newborn 
opened her big brown eyes for the first time in her life, looking at 
her mother, immediately forming a bond stronger than life itself*

*A teenage Jason, kissing Bob for the first time, in the apartment 
they had moved into together only a week before. Bob wrapping his 
arms around the thinner boy, pulling him close, thinking he had never 
been so happy in his life*

And God's lips left his, leaving him with a greater understanding of 
life then he'd ever been privy to. God smiled, touching his cheek 
with her hand in a simple gesture that meant so many things. She then 
led him to Jay's side, pulling him down until they both kneeled, one 
on either side of the martyred blond. 

Placing a hand over Jay's chest, She concentrated for what seemed like 
an eternity, but was really only a few seconds. Bob felt a force more 
powerful than anything he'd ever experienced simply radiating from The 
Being in front of him, and it filled him with energy, a pure energy 
and hope.

A monstrous gush of air into his lungs, and Jay arched his back, as if 
in tremendous pain. Then he jolted upright, right into Bob's arms, 
where he was assailed with a flurry of kisses. 

At first Jay had no idea what was happening and struggled against 
Bob's hold, confused as to what exactly had happened. But as his 
senses came back to him, he remembered what had transpired and threw 
his arms around Bob, holding him tight, letting tears escape. 

"Oh shit, Bob, it was so bad. They said you left me! They said you 
would never come, that I'd never see you again and I didn't believe 
them but they kept hurting me and.... Oh, Christ, Bob I'm so happy to 
see you!" Jay sobbed, babbling almost incoherently. 

Bob tightened his hold on Jay, kissing his neck, overcome with joy and 
relief. At this moment, nothing else mattered. Nothing else would 
ever be as important as Jay. He'd lost Jay once, never again. 

....tbc....

Epilogue coming next! ::::::Phew:::::::