A/N: Well, I got the new games and I'm kind of disappointed by their outcome. Red Hot Rumble is very limited in gameplay while Double Trouble just doesn't live up to the original Viewtiful Joe. But oh well, they're still fairly good games. I now wait for a true sequel to VJ2.

Note: This chapter has been revised hopefully for the better.

- - Chapter 2: What's the Use of a Girl Jailed Next to You? - -

"Al."

Damn, he could hear her voice. That's good ... she was all right.

"Say something!"

Although, it was nice when everything was black and silent …

"Come on … anything ..."

But now, it was too noisy and bright. A loud buzz sounded off somewhere from above and the light faded, returning him to darkness. He would have allowed himself to drift out of consciousness if the light hadn't noisily returned.

Ugh … What the hell?

He cringed when he tried to see what was going on. The brightness stunned his eyes for a moment before the only light bulb in the smelly cell blinked out again. When it came back on, he let out a painful groan and quickly averted his sight from the light.

There was a gasp in the room. "Al! You're alive!" the girl cried, her voice sounding ten hundred times louder than ever.

Wincing, Alastor drew a deep breath and forced himself to get up. His whole body was tingling and twitchy that it made moving rather difficult. "Of course … I'm alive," he mumbled, managing to avoid cursing at the sudden pain that shot through him as he rose into a sitting position. "That wasn't … 50,000 volts at all," he added between sharp breaths. He leaned heavily against the back wall of his holding cell. It was the darkest part where no light could reach which was at the moment his favourite spot. That damn light bulb was annoyingly bright.

That said bulb flickered off for a few seconds before flashing back on, causing him to flinch.

"It felt like it … to me," the girl quietly said from wherever she was. He couldn't see her; it hurt to look through the light. He didn't need to since he knew she was directly across from him in her own prison. "Are you okay?"

A short, positive grumble was the demon's reply. The girl said something else soon after but he instinctively ignored her; not being in the mood for a conversation when he felt absolutely terrible. It was all that ugly purple kraken's fault. No wait, that stupid lightning beast's fault. Twice, he was struck by its electricity.

The first time, he hardly remembered how it happened but he was certain that it was before he and the girl had ended up as prisoners. The second time was partially clear. Only the girl's scream and his sudden rise in hatred towards Gedow were clear in his mind. The pain as well. White light and pain.

That damn bastard of a cat …

That animal must really be stupid if it didn't know how much electricity 50,000 volts was. But no matter how low the voltage was, it still hurt like hell. Unlike the other two respectful feline brothers Alastor had faced off, that cheetah was a dirty fighter; attacking from out of sight and picking only on the girl.

It was no wonder that she couldn't remember a thing about their first encounter with that hungry beast; she didn't see the animal attack. Everything happened all too fast for a human like her to react. The cheetah moved so damn fast, hence its animalistic and elemental nature. (Its speed could possible match Alastor's if the devil had his full demonic powers.)

She never saw it coming, but Alastor did. His eyes could see the feline's lightning-fast movements only if the cheetah remained in his line of vision. However, that was impossible with the 'fake environment' Dr. Cranken somehow produced with only a push of a button on top of his cane. (Trees and rocky cliffs suddenly appeared out of nowhere! Back then, the girl had said something about a 'hologram'. What exactly was a 'hologram'?)

The fake environment left the pair at a huge disadvantage. Alastor could not predict where the cheetah had attacked from; it had lunged for the girl's side and the dark-haired devil had barely made it in time to save her.

Why did he do such a thing again? Why couldn't he explain his risking his own life to protect her?

He clutched his wounded side where two-and-a-half out of five, six-inch claws slashed right into him. It was a fatal wound for a human but not for a demon. Such a wound would be absolutely nothing to him if his demonic powers weren't greatly hindered by the cursed V-Watch. It would've completely healed by now. (It has healed somewhat though and he was greatful for that.)

Well, he certainly wouldn't be in such a mess in the first place if it weren't for that girl's carelessness. His V-Watch wouldn't have been malfunctioning either. Unlike the blonde, he still had a V-Watch (unfortunately) strapped around his wrist but for some stupid reason, he couldn't call forth any of his powers. That dumb feline must've fried its circuitry.

"Hmph," he silently exhaled. His V-Watch was nothing but a hunk of junk.

That Dr. What's-His-Face and that freaking cheetah were going to pay for all of his trouble. Seething, Alastor had enough of sitting around and doing nothing. He had to break out of the iron prison in order to get revenge.

There was nothing he could use to smash open the gate. If he had his beloved sword, slicing through the bars would be a breeze but unfortunately, it was taken away from him.

Looks like the only way out was by sheer force. His wounds have healed enough for him to stand with minor pain.

A loud clang sounded when his foot connected with the old rusted prison gate. Right then, the light flashed off.

"What are you doing!"

"What's it look like?"

"Have you even been listening to anything I said?"

"No."

When the light came back, he forced all his weight into another kick, getting the same result; the stupid door wouldn't budge. At least he didn't see it move, but another kick made a new rattling sound.

The girl was clearly visible now, gripping at the bars of her cell and frowning at him. She seemed paler than usual and a little frizzled too. "Are you even all right to be doing that sort of thing?" she asked after seeing the demon slightly falter backwards from the last kick.

"I'm doing it, aren't I?" he answered bluntly; too focused on knocking the rusted gate open. Each force he applied on the metal was pretty excruciating. Something warm trickled down his wounded side after a couple more attempts. He tried one more time, but it seemed weaker than the last and his balance was way off.

"Aw, man," he groaned when dizziness struck him. Silently, the young devil cursed as he felt himself fall against the side wall.

"Alastor!"

"Huh?" the boy weakly moaned in confusion. That was the first time she had ever said his full name in a while. He blinked at the girl, seeing her rise to her feet with a look of blurred determination.

There was a pause as she looked him over. She then pointed at him and smiled assuringly. "If you think that I'm going to allow you to beat up that octopus first, you're wrong!"

After shaking the dizziness away, he stared at her for he had not expected her to say something like that. Slowly, the demon grinned. "Oh, is that so?"

"You got that right, darling. I'm not going to let you win our little deal."

Little? It wasn't little! Come on, whoever wins gets to pummel that ugly octopus freak and his sidekick. That wasn't a small deal. It was a huge, revengeful anger-driven deal.

Just thinking about it made the demon lust for battle. Argh! He wanted to get out and kill something! Something like Big John. Annoying as he was, that big dino and his tank-like contraptions seemed like a good thing to demolish at this point in time.

Alastor snorted at the girl's remark and sneered. "What're you gonna pull?"

Shrugging, she gestured to the iron bars before her. "Well, a plan to get out of course," she simply answered in a matter-of-fact tone. "Seeing that brute force isn't doing you any good, I think I'll go with a more logic approach."

"What?" The demon raised an eyebrow, not seeing how anything but brute force would get either of them out.

The girl rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "It's a lock, Al. Locks need things called 'keys' to open."

He glowered at her. "I'm not stupid, woman. If you hadn't noticed already, there aren't any keys lying around."

Waving a finger while "tsking" at him, she let out a snide chuckle. "That's why we improvise; use something else as a key or close to it. You know, a lock pick." As she spoke, she was searching the floor and herself for anything useful.

The light flickered off at that moment only to return noisily after a short while.

Bah. However logical her plan sounded, it was more boring and less fun than breaking down a gate. Although, Alastor supposed that picking the lock was a less painful idea.

Sighing, he slid down the wall in exhaustion, (his hunger for battle had quickly diminished), and watched the girl use the metal clasp of her belt to pick the inside of the keyhole. It was barely a minute when the girl let out a growl of frustration as she fidgeted with the lock.

"Stupid thing …" she muttered to herself, deep in concentration. "Come on … Unlock, damn you! …" She continued to grunt little insults as she worked and the demon internally groaned at her stupid plan.

Was a belt buckle even capable of unlocking an old key lock?

Ignoring the girl's frustrated sounds of effort, Alastor focused on his own ordeal. His wound had been bleeding ever since it had reopened. Clutching at it tightly, the demon closed his eyes and drew in deep breaths to relax his body.

Healing the huge gashes in his side was the devil's number one priority. The injury was making him suffer and worse off, it terribly weakened him.

Just how was he going to fight if he couldn't even throw a good punch?

Ha. Laughable; embarrassingly laughable. No way in hell would he ever show his weakness to his opponents. He had to be at full strength to confront any foe.

Time was the problem though. Healing such a large wound required a long period of rest. A full day at least. And Cranken was not likely going leave his dear 'guests' alone for that long.

However long he had, Alastor would make use of it.

A loud metal screech threw the devil out of his trance. Alastor blinked in the darkness – since when did the bulb go out? – and turned to where the girl should be. It sounded like she actually succeeded in her plan. "Finally got out?" he asked mockingly.

"No … That's not me," he heard her say in a cautious whisper.

"Huh?" Right then, the thick metal door to the prison room swung open. Light poured through, causing the devil to cringe away from the sudden brightness. Alastor had caught sight of a human silhouette standing in the doorway. Whoever it was would have been a mystery if it weren't for the easily noticeable glowing red eyes …

"It's Rachael …"