Joseph the Snake Ninja CH. 9

by PhoenixAvengerDA and SlayerMaya

Chapter 9: Joseph vs. Deruko

(Joseph's POV, a couple days later)

Well, today's the day.

Saturday. The fight between me and Deruko.
It's finally time for the fight to begin. As I pack up some stuff before the big match in Borisu Sensei's dojo, Maya gives me a pendant that had a pearl and green jade inside of it. "This is from me. This pendant was given to me by my father and now I want you to have it. Just… think of that as an early birthday present," she told me, and I smiled. "Thanks, Maya. I really like it," I said to her. "It's pretty, isn't it?" asked Maya. I nod. She gives me a hug for luck. "Good luck. I'm counting on you." I nod, and I run to Borisu Sensei's dojo. It only took me 2 minutes to get there. I could hear him practicing in there and scaring the other students by asking if they want to fight him. "C'mon, don't be shy. I'm waiting," said Deruko, but some of them were too scared. Some were so scared, they backed off from him. "Tsk. Okay. Now where is Joseph?" he asked. I opened the door. "Right here," I said. I toss my bag onto a chair and crack my knuckles.

He smirked. "Finally. I was training with your fellow peers, and they always complained that I 'hurt them' pretty bad," he said, but I reply, "It's because you scare them, Deruko. They know how much of a villain you are, and since I'm here, I'm gonna beat the ever-living shit of you. To prove you wrong." Deruko just scoffed at me. "Oh please. Josh was never toyour real father. He never was." I clench my fist. "Whatever. Let's just get this fight started so I don't have to listen you talk about him 'not being my real father'," I said in a gruff voice and I get into a fighting stance. He scoffed again. And then, the announcer for the fight began to speak. "In the left corner, a boy with powers so great he just might be the future hero Japan needs, Joseph Thompson!" Everyone started cheering. "And in the right corner, the reigning champ of the Fiery Fist Tournament from 8 years ago, Deruko Nakamura, the Blood Tiger!" Some cheered, while some booed.

"READY… SET… FIGHT!" I and Deruko went at it. He tried to make me flip over too much, but I did a backflip kick and got back on my feet. He wiped the blood off his head and tried to pull a pressure point combat trick, but I dodged and I got him with a backfist on the jaw. He growled and tried to do a back kick in the air, but I grabbed his leg, swung him around and I smacked him into the ground and I did a pro-wrestling move and gave an elbow to his stomach.

"OOH HOO HOO HOO HOO HOO! Joseph comes flying in with an elbow! Now that's fighting dirty!" said the announcer. Deruko puked blood on the ground and Joseph grabbed him and gave him a smackdown with both his fists. "And that's a smackdown, everybody! Joseph wins the first round! The second round will begin in a short time!" said the announcer again. Deruko healed very quickly because of his power, and I knew I had to be careful. That fast, huh? Well, I can feel his energy rising. Just like Maya's… The second round begins, but it's weapons this time. I grab my kunai knife set and my katana with iron, stainless steel, and a metal that has been discovered called Josiphium.

As we get ready for the next round, I noticed a little shiny mech in his pocket, but I never really took it into account until this round. "The second round now begins! Joseph and Deruko, AGAIN! This fight will take 3 rounds. If Joseph wins this one, he wins this fight. But if Deruko wins, we'll have a tie-breaker," said the announcer, who was eating some popcorn up in the room. Really now? Popcorn? Tsk. He just doesn't care, I said to myself. I do some exercises before the round starts. "Will Joseph take this round!?" We went at it again.

I blocked all of his attacks, but he let in one attack on me, getting me in the side. I clutched my side in pain but I let it slide for a bit. But it quickly heals and I let in a kick to his knee and I hear a crack. "AGH! FUCKING-!" He grabs my neck and slams me down with his broken leg.

"Grrgh!" I grunt, but what surprised me was that he used the leg that I just broke to pin me down. Deruko pinned me down and put me in an arm bar. I try to get my arm out, but he sees this and he shifts my arm in another direction. "AAAAAAAAAGH!" I yelled out in pain, but not before I gave him a killer backfist that makes his nose bleed. I got up and re-shifted my arm into normal position. He took the blood, smiled and clenched his fist. "All that for a drop of my own blood. All that for a nosebleed? Really now?" he asked me, but then I went to attack him, but he got me with a knee to the solar plexus. Blood comes pouring out of my mouth and he got one punch in. "Oooooh shit! Deruko's turning this around! It's not gonna go well for Joseph!" And before I could get a punch in, he beat me to it, giving me a sweep kick and a side kick. I fall on the floor. "K.O! Deruko wins this round!" I get up after a minute hits. I heal myself up. Well, I haven't been using the techniques the gods and goddesses have taught me… Let's see if I can put them to the test…

My thoughts turned immediately to Shinoki, the technique he taught me, Sky, and the technique SHE gave to me. I got back in the ring and cracked my knuckles louder than it should. Deruko smiled. I had some black stuff from my football coach and I wiped it down from head all the way to the jaw. "Getting serious, aren't ya?" He asked me. I chuckled. "You know me so well, Deruko. However, I know some things you DON'T." He didn't smile after that. He just got into a fighting stance. "3RD ROUND, FOLKS! WHO WILL TAKE THIS FIGHT FOR THE 'W'?! JOSEPH? OR DERUKO?! FIND OUT NOW!" The announcer for the fight said in Japanese, "READY… SET… FIGHT!" We went at it and I used the Bolt Punch on him and he was FLYING. He came back after he hit the ground. "WHOA WHOA WHOA! What kind of punch was that?! It just sent DERUKO flying! Oh, shit, man!" the announcer said. Blood started pouring from his mouth very slowly, but he noticed it. He started growling. "TWO times you made me bleed…" "Sucks to be you," I remark. But maybe I shouldn't have said that, because I was the only one to see purple energy coming from him and my hands were glowing as well. A voice told me, "Better let me take over if you want to live… And I'll make sure we'll get out of this alive." And I just let it take control.

(A NEW P.O.V TAKES ROOT: Shadow!Joseph!)

Ahh… This is much better. As soon as I take control, I take a look at my hands. So powerful and… dark… I take a look at the man with the purple energy surrounding him. Perfect… This man has a shadow side he wants to let out. This should be fun. But then, before we got to it again, a girl with Amazon looks and blood comes in. And then, she sees me. "Shadow!Joseph…" she quietly said. I just shrugged it off. The man went straight at me, but before he does anything, I hold him up by the neck. And I slam his ass back down to the ground and I deliver a punch with white fire. "OOOOOH! Joseph delivers a Legend Fist right at Deruko's door! What a nasty trick!" Legend Fist… Now I can have fun with this.

I go in for the knock out, but then I get stopped by someone. I look behind me. Who I saw was someone who I never thought of being here. "What is going on? Someone has entered the ring! Is this gonna be a free-for-all?!" said the announcer, but I don't hear him. I just focus on the person who stopped me. It was the same girl who saw my new form. "Are you going to stare at me or are you going to let me help you?" Her voice sounds so familiar... Then, that's when I realized who she was. But I just push her away. "I don't need your help, Maya. This doesn't concern you. This is MY fight! Back off!" I scolded at her. "Oh ok, fine! I'm just wanted to make sure that you were not dead right now and I was testing out my human form, ok?" "Oh, I'm not Joseph. I'm not your boyfriend. Ok?" "Oh I know that you are not Joseph right now, I can sense your energy but I will be rooting for you, ok?" She goes back to her seat, still pissed but ok. "That's fine." I pick the man up and I drop kick him.

But the man just comes straight at me, and he gets a kick to my knee. "AGH! BASTARD!" I yelled, and I take him down and I hear a crunch from his arm. "AGGGGGGGHHHH! FUCK!" he yelled. I get back up, and I keep punching him in the face, but he kicks me up into the sky. But I had something that will probably end this fight. I went straight down and did a Flash Kick Combo, a flurry of kicks that are side, back, front and round, and they go fast, too. And for the final kick, I swept it in his ugly face. It knocked him out very quickly and he couldn't get back up. And I'm just laughing to myself at this point, seeing that he went down very easily, and I'm pretty sure he won't be coming back from that point, although I didn't actually kill him. "OHHHHHHHHHHHH! K.O! K-freaking-O! Joseph wins this fight!" said the announcer. I let Joseph take control.
(Joseph's POV)

I could hear the crowd chanting my name in Japanese. Even Maya was screaming my name also, and I actually felt like the better fighter. I had a medal and a badge with my name and my two hometown flags: USA and Japan, stitched onto my outfit. Two minutes later, when I get back home, there was something on the kitchen table. Wow, all these surprises just for me. What else, a invitation to a tournament I'm not prepared for? I thought to myself. I picked it up and I read the note. But the thing was, it WAS another tournament, but it wasn't for another month, so I could take some time off training. Then, a little while later, someone knocked on the door and I knew who was at the door. So I opened it and it was Maya. She came to see me about something I felt uneasy about, because she looked absolutely PISSED at me, but I didn't even know what I did. "Ok Joseph, or are you still not Joseph inside? I can't believe you actually dissed me like that! I mean, who was talking through you? Do you have a split personality I don't know or something?!" she was yelling at me, but I was taken aback by her words. "Uh… I don't know what you mean by "split personality". I'm always me!" I told her. "Ok then... sorry I yelled, I'm just stressed right now, especially since you just defeated Deruko in the fight...please forgive me?" she said while looking a bit down. But I just smiled. "Joseph?" she said. "Well, I was stressed enough as it was, after Deruko kept saying that Josh wasn't my real father. Although I don't believe him fully, I may be thinking he may be right all along," I told her. "I mean, all I would need at this point is love and attention, because you can see that I'm also stressed, too." Then suddenly, Maya had a seductive smirk on her face. I was a bit confused and pretty much a bit… uncomfortable, but she just smiles and says, "If you wanted love and attention, you could've just said so!" She brought me in close to her. And what she did would change my life forever. Out of nowhere, she kissed me. It was the greatest thing that ever happened to me... She tastes like the strawberries and bananas from the Amazon itself. It felt… really nice and stress reducing. Then, suddenly, Maya made a sweet churring sound that kinda shocked me. That sound… It sounds very familiar to me… Then she pulled away from me to take a breath, leaving a trail of saliva from my mouth. "So… you had a crush on me the entire time… That's what you were hiding…" I said, putting it all together. "Yeah… I've got to admit, I was pretty nervous about telling you. ^^;" she told me. But I just smiled and hugged her. "Thank you, Maya. Now besides my brother, now I have someone to confide in." "I'm always here for you and will always be there," Maya assured me. Just at that moment, Blake, Joniku and Juniko were at my door. I opened it, and they had a little something for me after I won the fight. Juniko tackled me with joy in her soul. "You won, Joseph!" she told me. "Oh, I know, Juniko. Thank you for cheering me on." "You did great out there, but he'll always come back, ya know?" said Joniku. "True. And when that happens, we'll be ready for him."

Meanwhile at Deruko's Nakamura Clan House… (Author's POV)

Deruko staggered home in pain. "Shit… SHIT!... This is not what I expected at all…" "Well, you shouldn't have underestimated him," said a female voice. It was Maddie. She changed to Julia. "Deruko… You shouldn't underestimate our son. He's as powerful as you. He'll figure it out on his own. Trust me." "I hope so, Julia… Because he was our very first son, and yet, he's still brainwashed..." "Yes...but what about that girl who is with him?" Julia asked him. "Well, I don't know about her… I know that she's a warrior from a tribe in Menkragnoti, Brazil, but she's more powerful with him by his side…" Deruko told her.

"Well, let's just see how this goes. Maybe a final battle could decide if Joseph gets his memories back."

10 months later…

Another tournament was being held, but this time, it was being held in Moscow, Russia, one of my most favorite landmarks. But it wasn't until next month. So I decided to just relax for a while alone. Maya was gone with Blake to the store, and that gave me time to dream my normal dreams, but this wasn't any dream.

(Joseph's Dream world, full of Japanese and American trophies for fights he was in)
Something was very wrong with this dream. All I saw around me was nothing but pure fog of DARKNESS. I looked on and Maya and Blake were NO WHERE to be seen, so I was all alone. But then, suddenly, I hear a little voice that I immediately recognized. "Well, well. Here he is." I turned around, and it was my father. "Father…" I said. "Father? No, no, no. Although I may be the father that took you from your original home, DERUKO is your real father. I only took you in so that you can be like me: a mighty and powerful warrior.

"Oh, that fateful day where I took you from your father, and your brother and mother… Ooh hoo hoo! I just loved the screams!" he said and now it all made sense.

HE WASN'T MY REAL FATHER FROM THE BEGINNING!

I got PISSED. I clenched my fists. Just like when Borisu Sensei got pinned on a tree by Deruko, I let my anger get the best of me and my true Shadow form unleashed.

(Real World.)

While I was dreaming, I clenched my fist and growled as Maya and Blake came in, and they got worried. Blake knew what I was dreaming, but Maya didn't. "What's happening to Joseph, Blake?!" she asked him. "When Deruko pinned our sensei to a tree, his anger rose, but he couldn't rip Deruko to shreds, because he had magic with him. But, I'm seeing that he's dreaming about our father," he said. "Oh him… But wait… Why's he clenching his fists?" she asked as I got up. I looked at my hands in anger. I slam my fist on the table. They heard some things I said, while the rest of it was inaudible. "Deruko… Josh… not my real…" is all they heard. Maya came to my side, but I gently pushed her away. "Joseph, what's wrong?" she asked me. "It all made sense…" I said to her, but she was confused, as I expected her to be. "Huh? What do you mean by that?" she asked me again. "Deruko IS my real father… I just remembered this now. He brainwashed my mother and Blake." The memories came back to Blake as well. "So what you're saying is that the arch nemesis I hoped would die by either our hands is your real father all along?" Maya said. I nodded. "Oh… I'm… I'm sorry, Joseph," she told me and kissed me on the cheek and put a hand on my shoulder. "C'mon, let's go."

We went over to a building that I noticed on my first day here. I assumed this is where Deruko is right now, but before we went in, we got teleported in there. I see my mother in a cloak. "Well, hello, Joseph. Nice to see you once again." "Well, it hasn't been long, and I see that you have changed," I said. "Hi there!" Maya said, and Julia waved back. "So, we saw your dream. You finally realized that Josh was your fake father, am I not correct?" she asked me, and I nodded, "Yes. But the thing is, I never knew about me being brainwashed in order for me to think that Deruko is a bug on a windshield, but that's just me." "Hey, come on now, don't be so harsh, Joseph. I was your real father ever since you were born. Heck, when I was little, my great great grandfather went to a tribe called "The Bronze Heaven Warriors" and he told me stories of how he met Caedmon and Bianca. But enough about that. Josh is coming back to Japan, in about a month after the tournament in Moscow, Russia," Deruko said to me. "Oh my God! In Russia!? I always wanted to go see snow for the first time since it's always hot at my Homeland," Maya said. I just chuckled. "It's gonna be very cold there, just so you know," I assured her. "I know that, just because I'm a cold blooded turtle, right?" Maya said, and while she and Blake left, my father wanted to say something quick, something he only wanted me to know.

"Ok… Just so you know, Joseph, you'll be paired up with an assassin from Moscow, Russia. His name is Swift, just to let you know," he told me. After he told me, I left with Blake and Maya. "So what did your father said about the tournament?" she asked, but I just said, "Oh, no one important." "Oh ok...but I'm thinking you are lying to me about the tournament, but I'm going to let it go for awhile," she said, but I debunked her, saying, "Oh, please. When do I lie?" She didn't say anything after that. Blake started to chuckle, but she just stared at him, so he shut up. We went home. I told them that I had to go to this tournament alone, as I knew that "you two would just be in the way from me defeating Josh, ok? I don't want you guys hurt." But Maya refused to back down from that. "Oh no, not this time! I'm not just going to back down from a war! That's not who I am! I fought in many wars, so I can stand right by you whenever I want!" she exclaimed. "Do you even know how many SHITS I GIVE?!" I yelled. Then she stood there, she realized that he had been through a lot like finding out about his true parents. "This is MY FIGHT, not yours, Maya! Why do you want to come with me to this tournament?! Besides, I'm gonna be paired up with an assassin for the tourney!" I told her, but she STILL refused. "You know why I can't do that, because I love you too much to let you do this alone!" "How about you just watch the tournament like last time? How about that?" Lemme tell you, I shouldn't have said that to her. This is what she said: "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!? THE REASON I WAS THERE AT THE TOURNAMENT IS BECAUSE I WAS TRYING TO HELP YOU WITH "THE FIGHT BUT YOU JUST DISS ME LIKE THAT!" She was screaming her head off at me. She kept screaming, but I wasn't having it. "SHUT UP! JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!" I yelled. She suddenly stopped. "..." She didn't say anything at all. She was shocked by my words, but since she didn't say anything, I kept going. "You don't know JACK SHIT about what I've been through! I've been through a lot worse than YOU! It's not fine to yell at someone who has lost EVERY FUCKING THING that he ever loved! Yet, you don't fucking understand," I said, but I wish I hadn't said anything after that, because I saw tears and she still looked pissed at me. "You know what, you're right, I don't know anything about what you are going through….but if you want me to stay out of your way... I'm leaving," Maya said while sobbing, and I knew I made an immediate mistake. "Maya… I…" She waited for me to say something, but I couldn't speak. "It's ok….I get it, you can't talk right now...I get it...just tell me when you win the tournament..." She left, and I never got to say I was sorry. I could hear her sobbing, and I made a mistake that she will hate me for…

Still, I got the tournament win to look forward to, and hopefully, Maya will come…

The day of the tournament…

Well, it's the day. Moscow, Russia. Well… let's see how this goes.

TO BE CONTINUED...