Just Stick to the Script
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Hey fellow Viewtiful Joe fans. I just recently got into this fandom a little more than a year ago because I always find the cool stuff later in life. But I was first introduced to the game when the youtube group Super Best Friends played through it. I instantly went to watch the anime, play the game, and just learn about the genre in general. I fell in love with the characters and story so I decided to make a fic.
I'll be using the anime and games as cannon
No pairings are intended other than the obvious Joe/Silvia
I promise he won't be too bad but there will be one oc because I needed a villain for them to fight, I just made him up on the spot because I didn't want any incompetent villains like Bruce or Fire Leo (who are both very cool, but not as intimidating as I'd like them to be)
Please give it a chance before you click away :)
Warning: Rated M for blood, language, and NEAR character death (no one dies I promise)
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Chapter 1: The Fallen Hero
"Is this the place?"
"Yeah, that's it alright."
"Okay, I'm gunna land her then in that opening."
"Try and make it smoother than your usual attempts please."
"Oh come on Junior, I've been practicing! Watch!"
"Joe watch out for that-"
"Woops."
"-Building...Blue's going to kill you if you scratch the paint again."
"Hey Six Machine is mine now, I can scratch the paint if I want to...but we don't have to tell him that I scratched the paint again."
"So far this rescue mission is going great."
"Hey we haven't even started dude!"
"When do you want to start then?"
"How about right...now." Joe set down the Six Machine nicely in the small clearing on the outskirts of town. He shut down the engines and sent a small smirk at his partner. "See, great landing to start off this great mission!"
"Whatever Joe." Captain Blue Junior couldn't help but smile at his friends' never ending optimism. He hopped out of the snug little plane and onto the asphalt.
Joe quickly followed him, looking around. The city was a desolate setting. The streets were bare; no cars or people, just small plants growing from the multitude of cracks that covered the asphalt.
"So this is the new movie place?"
"Yeah, this is where Blue told us to go." Junior said.
"This city seems deserted. You sure it's the right place?" Joe asked as he looked up at one of the tall decaying buildings that stood above them.
"Yeah, this is definitely the place." Junior confirmed. "We certainly haven't been here before, I would have remembered a weird place like this."
"Well, I guess we should just keep wandering around until we find someone. I mean, this place can't be completely empty can it?" Joe pointed out, taking the lead as the pair strolled down the cracked street.
Walking down the deserted streets made Joe a little more on edge. His V watch felt warm on his wrist, as if calling to him to suite up.
Joe and Junior quickly went about checking some of the places in the city. The buildings were super creepy. Some housed huge offices and others had nothing in them at all. But each one was more run down and deserted than the next.
It would have been impossible to search each of the buildings thoroughly though. They were much too big. It definitely reminded Joe of Los Angeles near his home, minus about nine million people.
They soon gave up looking in each building and decided to walk down the main road that cut through the city.
"I don't know about this Joe. This is so strange. There's never been a town in movie land that was completely empty before." Junior said, rubbing the back of his head nervously.
"Yeah, it makes it really hard to find a good food place." Joe added thoughtfully as they passed by what appeared to be an abandoned burger joint.
Junior just shook his head at this.
Joe smiled down at him. "I know, it also makes it hard to find Silvia."
"Good." Junior nodded once. "You really need to work on your heroic priorities."
"Hey Im getting there aren't I?" Joe laughed, putting his hands behind his head. "And besides, she's a hero too now. I don't have to worry as much about her. She's getting better at fighting."
"Yeah, but she still got herself captured." Junior pointed out. "If she really wants to prove herself, she shouldn't get captured."
"And how many times have you been captured?" Joe smirked down at his little buddy.
Junior elbowed Joe, cutting off the laughter that was about to follow. "That's not important."
Joe just shrugged. "She'll get there. I was bad at the beginning too."
"You can say that again." Junior met his smirk with one of his own.
"Hey you weren't so hot starting out yourself!" Joe said as he jumped over a large crack in the road.
"I didn't have powers, what's your excuse." Junior followed suite.
"Touche." Joe said. "But whatever dude. I'm just happy to be going out on hero duty again. It's been sorta quiet with gedow gone."
"Agreed." Junior nodded. Then something caught his eye. "Hey what's that up ahead?" He said pointing.
Joe looked up to where Junior was pointing. There was a large clearing in the middle of the tall buildings. It looked like a huge traffic circle. In the middle of the clearing was a basin surrounded by a small circle of dead grass.
Joe and Junior approached the basin.
Joe stood back a little, suddenly feeling very cautious. They were completely exposed in the clearing. If someone attacked they would have little room to hide.
He quickly shoved those thoughts to the back of his head though. There was no one here. No one would attack.
"It looks like this used to be a statue." Junior said, getting a closer look at the crumbled rocks on top of the basin. "Guess it must've broke like the rest of the city."
Suddenly a deathly cold breeze blew around the two, stirring some of the dead grass.
Joe shivered, not liking the vibe this place gave off at all.
Apparently Junior felt it as well because as soon as the thought ran through Joe's head, the younger hero spoke. "Hey, we should keep moving don't you think?"
"Yeah." Joe agreed. Fog was starting to rise up from the allies in which the street broke off into, giving the creepy place an even more ominous presence.
The two walked a little around the basin. Both could not seem to move faster than a slow walk. Something about the fog around them was hypnotising.
Before the two knew it, the fog completely engulfed them.
"Woah this stuff is really thick." Joe commented as he looked down at his hand. He could barely even see his fingers in the white blanket.
When he looked up from his hand, Junior was no longer standing in front of him.
"Hey, yo where did you go Junior?" Joe called out. No one answered.
"Dude, this is strange! Totally atmospheric though." Joe said, looking around at the milky fog around him. "It feels like a horror film or something. Like when those monsters jump out and try to scare you."
Joe saw something in the corner of his eye. He smiled, trying to look ignorant to the figure hiding in the fog.
"So I'm guessing that means, this is the part where the villain makes an entrance." Joe sidestepped, watching the figure rush past him.
The figure disappeared too fast for Joe to get a good look at.
"Right on cue! Good job guy, really making it believable." Joe said, sticking his tongue out to the side a bit. He was ready for a good fight.
A low laugh filled the air around him.
"Why don't you show yourself now so we can make our proper introductions." Joe asked.
His request was met with a fist flying at him quickly. Joe dodged under it, sidestepping once more.
"Alright then, allow me to go first!" Joe pushed up his right hand in his signature move. "Hension a go go baby!"
The V watch glowed happily in his hand, lighting up some of the dark atmosphere. In a matter of seconds, Joe was transformed into Viewtiful Joe. He struck a battle pose. "The name's Viewtiful Joe, defender of movie land and eater of cheezburgers."
He waited for the enemy to show his face. When nothing happened for a few seconds, Joe dropped his fists to his side lazily. "Okay dude, now it's your turn. Don't be shy."
Fog continued to swirl around his face. Joe waited. Nothing happened.
"Hey, you know I like fighting and all but do you think you could actually attack me so we can get this thing moving? I got a girl to get to and trust me she is not the patient kind."
He heard something moving behind him and he quickly dodge to the right. He put out his leg, kicking at the figure that flew by him but missed. "See, that's more like it! Now just slow down a bit next time and we'll be solid."
"How about this instead?" A sudden blow to the head caught him off guard. He stumbled backwards slightly but regained his footing quickly.
"Yeah, that's it! Now it's my turn!" Joe sent a kick in the area the figure had just came from and felt a satisfying blow. A brief exhale of surprise came from the enemy.
"Fool!" The enemy yelled. "You will pay for your insolence!"
"If I had a penny for every time that's been said to me, I'd be buying way more cheezburgers." Joe smirked. "Like that's bad guy line number one, let's try something else."
"FOOL!" More smoke began to cover the area, making it even harder to see. Joe coughed, fanning some of the mist away with his hand. The stuff was thick!
"Let's see if you can hit an enemy you can't see!"
Joe's head swivelled around. He couldn't tell where the voice was through the fog. It seemed to surround him in every direction. How was he supposed to hit something he couldn't see? Even if he used zoom or something all that he would see was white. He would have to play defense and wait until the enemy showed his ugly face.
Joe felt the air rush towards his left side. He quickly dodged to the right feeling the enemy rush past him. "Too slow!" He smirked.
"Not quite." The enemy growled back.
Something collided hard with his right foot. He let out a short gasp as he crumpled to the floor.
Joe got up quickly, dodging the fist that was aimed at his head. Jeesh, this guy was fast.
Automatically, his mind told him to go in slow motion. He would be able to see the attacker.
He quickly regretted that decision.
As soon as the words left his lips, the enemy pushed their heal into Joe's right ankle.
Slow is such a powerful attack because it breaks down the steps of your fight to make them more accurate and hit longer. Joe had used it so many times on his enemies for a quick way to immobilize them or throw them off guard.
Never had it been used on him before.
Joe bit back a howl of pain as the heel dug further into his own leg. He quickly sped up time to its original position, trying to get the endeavor over with.
He shifted his body so the enemy rolled off of him and quickly pushed off the ground with his hands. He pushed himself into a handstand and then pushed off again to avoid being punched.
As his body fell to the floor, he kicked his legs around in a fluid motion that hit his enemy dead on in the chest.
The enemy flew back away from him, back into the mist.
Joe attempted to land on both of his feet, but his injured leg gave out on him and he stumbled onto his butt at the last minute.
Automatically he rotated his right ankle around, wincing as the motion was met with sharp pain.
Yep...that had to be sprained. He had had a few of those in his life. The blow had hit him at the perfect speed and angle on his ankle. The enemy must be experienced to hurt him with a single blow.
He didn't have time to worry about it. The enemy was too fast to ignore for too long. Joe bought himself to his knees, trying to get up once more...
But a deathly cold hand wrapped quickly around his neck. Before he could do anything his helmet was thrown off. It clattered to the ground in front of him.
Then his face was slapped against the ground in a quick blow to the back of his head.
Joe's eyesight went blurry for a few seconds. He quickly blinked trying to reorient himself for the next attack.
However, the blow stunned him so much that he wasn't prepared as the hand once again came down upon him. It grabbed his scarf and started to pull him up.
Joe felt the scarf tighten around him. Once he was off the floor at least a foot in a half, the enemy put his other hand on his hat.
The enemy started to push down once more to reunite his forehead with the cement.
"Slow!" He practically screamed. The world went in slow motion around him. His head started to move down towards the pavement at a very slow pace.
He spun around, wincing as his foot protested against the sudden movement. His fist moved to collide with his attacker's face but the person had disappeared once more.
Joe changed direction in midair to get himself into a standing position. He landed softly on his feet. It would have looked impressive if he hadn't immediately stumbled as pressure was put on his aching foot.
Joe put a hand up to his forehead, a bit thrown off by the fact that his helmet was gone. He brought back his glove and found it bloody. Dammit.
"Hey, I thought this was supposed to be rated no more than PG 13. No blood." Joe muttered more to himself than the enemy.
"I'm changing the rating scale. Young movie watchers love to see violence." A voice suddenly hissed in his ear.
Joe smiled, clenching his fist. "Fine then dude. You know what they say, play to your audience."
He quickly span, screaming out slow in order to hit the enemy behind him. Unfortunately the comeback had lost him a little time and the enemy had already moved. Whatever, it was worth it.
Joe sped up time to its original speed and got into a defensive stance.
"Who are you!?" He yelled out the fog. "What do you want from me?"
Joe felt air rush towards him and he dodged just in time. The fist that had almost collided with his sore leg, hit the pavement hard.
Joe stumbled, regaining his balance from that awkward dodge. He shifted his weight to his left foot.
The figure in front of him, slowly stood. The enemy glared up at him with cold blue eyes. It was dressed in something that looked like a large scarf that had wrapped its way around his body. The dirty white scarf covered everything but his blue eyes and a sharp set of teeth.
The figure opened his mouth. "I am Mist." The deep voice came from all round him, even though the enemy's mouth was open. "And I have come to kill you!"
Viewtiful Joe smirked, trying to look like he wasn't in as much pain as he really was. "Oh yeah? Well get in line, I've got dudes trying to kill me everyday."
"Yes, I have heard of your extensive reputation." The figure started to circle around Joe. His movements were fluid like the mist around him.
Joe turned with him, trying not to wince as his foot hit the ground. "You have fought some of the best that Movie Land has to offer, Viewtiful Joe. The forces of Jadow, Gedow, and the big blue himself."
Joe didn't like the way that Mist was looking at him; like a lion looks at a gazel. "Yep, I've been pretty busy. What's your point?"
Mist smiled with his sharp teeth, making him look kinda like an albino shark. "Those fools are nothing compared to me."
"Is that so?" Joe asked. His mind was currently occupied by watching Mist's movements carefully, trying to plan out his next attack. Clearly the enemy was fast. He seemed to blend in with the mist around him, probably where his name came from. He would have to force this dude to stay in sight if he was going to land a hit on the guy.
"Yes." The voice whispered in his ear so suddenly that Joe flinched to the side. The Mist had switched locations in a matter of seconds.
The Mist smiled at his confusion. "And now I have come to do what they have all failed at."
Joe pushed away from the Mist, putting up his fists in a fighting stance.
"I'm going to KILL YOU!" The Mist screeched, filling the air with unbearable noise. Joe covered his ears in agony. His already pounding head felt like it was going to split in two.
Smoke engulfed his vision, seeming to pour out from every direction. He knew what was going on...the Mist guy was trying to disorient him. He had to focus.
Joe shook his head, ignoring as blood slowly dripped down his face. He focused on the mist around him, but saw nothing.
Why couldn't he land a hit? This fight was quickly taking a turn for the worst. Joe never had experienced a fight quite like this before. It felt like the enemy was cheating.
Air rushed past his head and he quickly dodged, throwing a punch. Nothing connected. Laughter came from all directions. He couldn't figure out where to hit!
"A little confused are we?" The voice came from behind him.
Finally fed up with not being able to hit a target, Viewtiful Joe swivelled around screaming "mach speed" and tried to hit the figure before it could disappear.
Only to run straight into the blade of the enemy's dagger.
The next thing Joe knew was that the Mist was standing over him like a grim reaper, digging the cold knife down the right side of his body.
He didn't stop with just inserting the blade though. Mist grinned wildly down at the boy as he dragged the knife slowly from the bottom of his rib cage to the top his hip. Once he was done, the Mist disappeared from his side, back into the shadows.
Joe tried to scream but nothing escaped his lips. The world felt like it was melting around him. Pain enveloped him and he felt himself falling to the ground at a rapid pace. His mind went numb, unable to think of anything but the pain. He was barely able to push his hands out to stop himself from falling directly on his already bleeding head.
"I personally thought you would have been a bigger threat hero." Mist cackled around him.
Joe ignored the piercing voice behind him. He raised a shaky hand to the knife that was dug into his side. He gingerly wrapped his fingers around it but as soon as he did so pain erupted from the wound and he tried hard not to pass out.
His mind was running faster than his mach speed. But none of those thoughts were able to make it through to him. What should he do now? He was injured and definitely needed to retreat.
"They told me of your greatness. They promised me a hero that needed to be shown his place in this cruel world." Mist rambled on.
Oh shut up. Joe wanted to stand and punch that loser right in his big mouth. But the pain was too intense to even move. Blood poured out onto the ground around him.
"But instead, I get you." Mist hissed. "A pathetic young boy who goes down without landing a hit."
"You only won because you played dirty you cheating bastard." Joe let his thoughts flow into words and filled them with as much venom as he could muster.
Mist seemed surprised by the hero's use of language and tone. He smiled toothily. "Is that so?"
"You're too cowardly to fight me head on." It was hard not to make his voice quiver. He could feel himself losing consciousness as more blood spilled to the floor below him. He needed to think of something quick.
Mist laughed amusingly. "How do I know it is not just you who is an awful hero?"
"Trust me dude, Im the most awesome person you'll ever fight." He pulled his head up to meet the stormy eyes of his enemy. Maybe he could use the bad guy's ego. Every villian wanted to feel powerful.
"I see." Mist seemed to be enjoying every second of this. "So dying is all part of your strategy for taking me out?"
Joe didn't have an answer for that. It hurt to much to think. The world was starting to tilt around him, making his head and stomach swim.
"Well, I guess we'll never know now then." The enemy started to pull out another knife from his belt. "I would say that it was nice knowing you, but that would be a lie."
Joe's instincts screamed at him to do something as Mist started towards him. In mild panic, he yelled out "Slow!"
The Mist's fluid movements became easier to see. Joe knew it was time to make a move to attack. The world wouldn't stay slow for ever. But he felt exhausted. The wound in his side was throbbing and his head felt groggy. He just wanted to rest...
No. He scolded himself. He couldn't rest until the fight was over. He couldn't lose without landing a hit. Imagine what that would do to his reputation.
His fans would be as disappointed with him as he had been with Captain Blue.
Joe slowly pushed off of the ground with his left foot, jumping into the air. Mist slowly dodged backward with a confused expression showing on his face. Joe smiled, trying to ignore the pain that the jump had cause him. He pushed his fist into the Mist's chin landing a satisfying blow.
He then changed momentum in midair, using his good leg to kick Mist in the chest.
Exhausted, but still anxious to win, Joe started a sloppy looking windmill kick with only one foot.
The Mist let out an annoyed hiss somewhere in the stream of attacks which made Joe smile brighter.
Joe finished the attack by pushing away from the Mist. He landed wobbly on one foot and resumed time. "How's that?"
The Mist spat and whipped his mouth off. "Fairly impressive hero."
Joe was breathing deeply now. He felt his hension fade for less than a millisecond. He couldn't afford to attack once more. "Why don't you say we call it even and head our separate-"
Much to his embarrassment, he wasn't able to finish that sentence. His legs gave out on him and he landed once again on his knees. He breathed in deeply, feeling as if he couldn't get enough air into his lungs.
The Mist laughed. "Is that the only fight left in you? I was hoping for something a little more challenging."
"If...you had fought fairly..." Joe couldn't finish that thought. He took in a deep breath and smiled up at Mist, saying the word that he knew no villain could resist. "Rematch"
"A rematch? But I've already proven my superiority. What more do you want?"
The ground around him looked like it was tilting. He swallowed dryly. "A fair fight."
"Well I do like to crush people's dreams. It would be so good to give you the smallest bit of hope and then rip it away." Mist laughed loudly. Joe winced at the noise. His head was pounding.
"I'll give you a week exactly. If you're still alive, I'll come kill you 'fairly'" he mocked. "If not, you'll still be dead so no pressure on your part."
Joe closed his eyes tightly. "Don't you know dude? The hero always wins. You're going down."
Mist put a foot on Joe's unprotected head. "I'm looking forward to it."
And with that he slammed his foot down and sent Joe's face into the cement below.