Joseph The Snake Ninja CH. 10 - The Tournament and the Assassin
By PhoenixAvengerDA
(Joseph's POV)
The day of the tournament…
Well, it's the day. Moscow, Russia. Well… let's see how it goes.
I was in the training room, training myself harder than anyone ever could, but I just could not stop thinking about Maya. I fucked it up out there… Joseph, focus on the tournament now, worry about her later! I kept saying in my head. As I kept training, the intercom system rang. But it didn't call my name just yet, so I still had time. A few minutes of training later, the system rang again, and this time, it was my turn. I got done with the training and I went outside to the ring. I looked around for Maya, and eventually, I found her, but she was looking away. I turned away from her to face my opponent when she saw me, still with the sad look on her face.. I'll do this for you, Maya. Just you wait, I'll wipe the smirk right off everybody's faces, I thought to myself. Even though she still looks sad, she was smiling at me, and I got some confidence. The Announcer in his native tongue, Russian, was saying, "Welcome to the King of the Fire Fist TOURNAMENT! Today, we have the champion of the fight between The Snake Warrior and the Blood Tiger, JOSEPH THOMPSON!" Everyone cheered. "And his teammate is the one and only Swift of Moscow!" Everyone cheered once again. So this is Swift? He looks powerful, energy-wise and strength wise too. Our opponents looked strong, too, but we both knew they were pretty much no match for the BOTH of us, so we got ready. I stretched and practiced my moveset and the countdown started.
10...
9…
8…
7…
6…
5…
4…
3…
2…
1…
"THE FIGHT IS ON!"
I went at it, while Swift was doing who knows what over there, but I could take them both on. After about a few minutes or so, fighting both of them, Swift charged up his attack and knocked them both out in one punch. "KO! Joseph and Swift wins this round easily! What a sight!" said the Announcer. We walked over to refreshments and he whispered to me, "You're that Snake kid, right?" "Yes. Who's asking?" I asked him. "My name is Nikolai Reznov, but I am Swift, the Moscow assassin." We both shook hands. Then, I see Maya, walking towards me. "Hey, Joseph." "Hey, Maya… I never thought you'd show up, but I'm sorry for what I did…" I told her and she kissed me. "It's ok… I'll support you all the way. ^^" The next round consisted of a trio, and surprisingly, MAYA was in the tournament. "Oh, you didn't know I entered the tournament? ^^;" she asked me while I had a shocked look on my face. WAIT… She APPLIED without telling me?! Dang, I'm so stupid… "No, you're not stupid, Joseph," Nikolai said. "She just didn't tell you." I turned around. "Oh, just like her, you can read minds?" I asked, but he replied, "It's the power of Swift," while he shrugged. The third round was starting, and Maya was dragging both of us to the mats. "Come on you two, the fight is starting!" she told us, and I was like, "Ok, ok!" Just like us, two men and one woman joined. "Alright, I'm so ready," Maya said, but I roll my eyes. "You're a warrior. You should always be ready." The fight was about to begin, when I noticed the woman having a suit covered in… I don't know what it is, but she had claws. And she looked ready to use them at any moment. Claws… What is she? I said in my head, but I never thought much of it, except when the announcer said "FIGHT!", she totally went at me, but I do a Super Kick. She got launched, but she kept going for me. And we both fight. Meanwhile, Maya fights a Mexican dude with the power to unleash Super Waves, which were powerful on their own, and can cut through anything, but like the smart warrior Maya was, she always had a pretty good backup plan when fighting people. He launched the Super Waves at her, but she rushes in and hits a pressure point while tying him up and swinging him around until she swings her lasso onto the ground, making him hit the ground hard and then stomping on him on his spine. "Oooh! Miguel is down and out for the count! Maya's getting pretty aggressive, Trysten! You might wanna do something!" She growled at Maya and then attacked her VERY AGGRESSIVELY. But I grabbed her leg and threw her into the air only to smack her back down with the Flash Kick Combo. "Thanks, Joseph!" said Maya. I flash a thumbs up to her, and then, Trysten tackled me and got ready to attack, but stopped suddenly. She looked at me with a look that says that she may have known me. But she picks me up and holds me there. Nikolai grabs her and does a Floor Wrap on her, which almost crushes her leg. But she gets back up like nothing just happened, and the other guy comes for me. But I sweep his legs off the floor and I do a combo on him and I put my hands together, closed them and I hit his chin so hard, his teeth shattered and I heard a crack on his jaw bones.
After FINALLY defeating that team, we made a stop for water. Man, that battle was so intense and so LONG, we were almost dying for thirst. But we got our energy back up and we saw more teams CRUSH each other. Which was pretty cool, seeing all these teams, whether they were from the US all the way to Korea, China, and Japan. We were just watching them, but we all agreed: They're nothing like us. We train every day of our lives, unlike these weaklings. Well, saying that sounds mean, and they're strong too, but not as strong as us. Taking a break, I turned to Nikolai and asked him, "So, Nikolai. What made you become an assassin?" He looked down in half anger and half sadness. "I… I had something taken away from me."
(Author's POV)
A flashback hits him, showing a raining thunderstorm in Moscow. It was a very cold December night, every citizen of the city were just minding their own business,as the rain wasn't bothering their work. But one father was running home, because he had just gotten word that psychopathic murders were in his home and aiming to kill Nikolai. He ran as fast as he could, and when he entered the room, one buff person was sitting at his desk, sitting right next to Nikolai. "Sit down," he said in Russian. His father refused, saying, "What are you doing with my son?!" "Well, I heard he's the descendant of the Russian Assassin, Swift, am I not correct? Then, I decide to come and look at his power, but bah. What a normal weak little human." "Don't you DARE call my son a weakling, you sick bastard," he said to the buff guy. "Oh really? And what are you going to do about it?" he asked in a sarcastic tone. "I'll show you." The lights went out and the murderers were killed by Nikolai's father. The lights come on and Swift has a grip on the guy's neck. Nikolai was in awe because his father had killed the bad guys and that he was the assassin known as Swift. And, little did the buff person know, Nikolai was a master at cutting chains in half and he was doing it while Swift 'interrogated' the guy. "Oh, making threats now, Swift?" Said the man. "What did you want from me?" Asked Swift. "Ok, you did not listen to anything I said. I wanted a look at his power, but no power. Just a mere human," the man said, "JUST LIKE YOU." That was the biggest mistake the man had ever made, because what he didn't know is that Swift used a Photon Punch and got him in the stomach. But the man just shakes it off and stabs Swift in the kidney. Swift spat out blood and couldn't move. "W...who are… y...you?!" Swift asked and he revealed himself. "I am the Mad Man." Josh picked him up by the head and Nikolai cut the chains as soon as Josh's hand closed, COMPLETELY crushing the skull, killing his father. "NOOOOOO!" Yelled Nikolai as he was in tears. But really quickly, he became angry, and tried to attack Josh, but he disappeared with a smile on his face.
(Back to the Tourney, Joseph's POV)
"Oh, that motherfucker!" I said. Maya was very shocked by the story. "I can't believe that! That's…" I cracked my knuckles. "Oh, no no NO! No one does that to my friends. NObody!" Nikolai was surprised to hear that I just called him a friend. But he didn't think too much of it. Maya told him, "We're so sorry for your loss, Nikolai…" "It's fine… It's just… I want to give him what he truly DESERVES…" I could hear the pain in his voice. He wanted revenge, but at the same time, he really misses his father. I put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, it's alright, Nikolai. I know you miss your father. But together, with us two, we can take Josh down. All of us will," I reassured him and he felt much better. "Thank you very much, Joseph. You too, Maya. Now, let's get going. It's time for the next round. We'll need to win this one to advance to the finals."
We stepped onto the mat and our opponents are… well, very different from our previous ones. For one, they look like they have trained harder than any of us. For two, they also look like they have NEVER lost a fight before, but today may be their first loss.
"Well, well, well. Hello, Joseph. It's great to see you again," a girl said and I recognized her. "Lucy…" "Who?" Maya asked me. "She was my first girlfriend, but she looks very different somehow…" "That's because I had joined an organization that Maya might so easily recognize." She showed a little badge and Maya got PISSED, knowing EXACTLY what she joined. "Oh great… Now you're in that organization TOO?!" she angrily asked. "Obviously so, Maya. She's just none other than our worst enemy," Nikolai said, but I was just confused. "Uh… Not to interrupt, but WHAT KIND of organization is she in?" I asked both of them, and Maya answered, "She's part of a tribe that is an enemy kind to my tribe." Nikolai finished the sentence for her, saying, "The Hell Crows are the worst of the worst. And she's one of them." The Hell Crows? They do sound familiar, but that doesn't matter now. We could defeat them to win the tourney. They get onto their side of the mat and we get to ours. They look absolutely ready to pound Lucy's face in.
"This battle is gonna decide if Joseph and his team win this tournament. Now, before we proceed, you must know that this tournament is sponsored by the EVILS OF THE HELL CROWS."
"Evils of the Hell Cr-" I started to ask, but then the lights went out and came back on a split second and blood was EVERYWHERE. Everyone watching was dead. It turned off and on again and Lucy and the others were knocked when the lights came back on. "What the hell?!" Nikolai said and saw someone that had the same power as Josh, but isn't him themselves. "I'LL be your opponent today," said the voice and Maya suddenly remembered his voice. "It can't be…" she said with nervousness in her voice. "Anpu…." She finally said his name. "So THAT'S him?" Joseph asked, and she nodded with nervousness. Maya knew about Anpu from her family since she was younger and that was when she first met Blake a long, long time ago. I clenched both my fists. "I feel like I know you somehow… I don't know how or why, but I feel like I know you…" Maya was very tense and looking at me because she's seeing that I knew Anpu. Well, not really, because I said I felt like I knew him somehow.
Anyway, we were in like a staring contest with Anpu, just seeing who makes the move. "Well? Aren't you gonna attack me first?" Anpu asked us, and Maya wasted no time, thus she made the first move, charging towards him. She brought a lasso with her and swung it at Anpu, but he catches it and brings her over to him and palms her down. I went over and sweeped his leg and did yet another Flash Kick Combo at him, but he caught the final kick. "Boy, do you not know that won't work on me?" he asked me and I tried to swing a Legend Fist at him. He blocks it yet again and swings me around and lets go of me, hitting the ground and I burst through the wall. "JOSEPH!" Maya and Nikolai yelled out and they both went for Anpu to make him pay.
But suddenly, they all see a dark mist from me. But it wasn't a Shadow mist. Oh no. Instead, it was kinda like a mist that was unfamiliar to me. An emblem that they saw appeared on my outfit. Anpu smiled. "Well, then." He used his magic to hold Maya and Nikolai in place. Even I felt like I couldn't move, but I wasn't held by his magic. He chuckled. "Oh, my. Looks like we got ourselves in a bit of a hassle. Now let's start again. My name is Anpu, and I'm the king of the Hell Crows. And your name is?" he asked me, and in extreme pain, I said, "Joseph…" "Ah! Joseph! What a great name. Anyway, seems you are a bit held up at the moment. Why don't we take this time and show them your REAL power that you should have alongside mine?" He snapped his fingers and I scream in pain and the dark mist started consuming me one by one. "Leave him alone!" Maya yelled out. Anpu sighed. "Really, Maya? Really? Acting like the same damn child you were MANY years ago, aren't ya? When you tried to help Blake in the same situation that Joseph's in now. Honestly, that's just pathetic. It's just like I said to ya during that time: You've been clinging on to the past. I think it's time to let it go and focus on the future." She looked angrily at him, never wanting to let go of the past. Nikolai looked at him with anger in his eyes as well. "You never had a heart for anyone you truly cared about, haven't you?!" He yelled and Anpu grabbed his shirt collar. "Don't you EVER say that again! I'VE BEEN THROUGH A LOT YOU DON'T KNOW!" growled Anpu. Maya was still pissed at Anpu. Since when did he care!? She said in her thoughts. All of a sudden, wind blew right by me and a man appeared and drop kicked Anpu from his grip on Nikolai. "Whoa!" Yelled Maya. Anpu hit the wall.
"AGHHH!" he yelled out and saw the figure standing right in front of Nikolai and Maya. It was my father, Deruko. He brought out the Poison Claws again and went after Anpu. Anpu couldn't see him coming and he got held by his throat. "Wait… Deruko?!" Maya asked, surprised he came to rescue us. "NIKOLAI! Let's get rid of this bastard!" my father yelled out. Nikolai nodded and brought out his own father's knife, which was hand made by the Bronze Heaven Warriors. Deruko held Anpu for Nikolai to strike him. "NIKOLAI! SLASH HIS CHEST!" Deruko yelled out, and Anpu couldn't get out of his grip. He tried to, though, and Nikolai went over to Anpu and made one good slash on his chest and Maya tangled Anpu in her lasso and brought him over to her and swung him around. By that time, the darkness went away very quick and my arm lights on fire with a white fire and I ran to Anpu. Maya let go of him, sending him my way and I pulled off an AWESOME Legend Lariat. He then fell to the ground and disappeared after 2 minutes of that.
"Whoa… A new technique?" Maya asked me. "Yep. Never tried a Lariat in my life. Well, at least I know who he is now." My father put a hand on my shoulder. "When we get home, I'm gonna tell you the story of Anpu."
How About It? Do you want a backstory of Anpu?
TO BE CONTINUED.