WARNING!
This chapter contains what I believe is brutal and cruel and… maybe some controversy. And… if any by the slightest that you feel disgusted, offended, and disturbed and want this chapter to be fixed, please tell me so I can take care of this chapter. This is serious, I'm not joking.
Speak to self
Speak to Ghost
Joseph and Melty exit the chariot as they walk to Joseph.
Joseph waves to Naofumi, "Heya! This kind and generous princess lent me a ride to you!" Joseph laughed.
"I see that…" Naofumi said with displeasure.
"Sir Shield Hero," Melty said as she passed Joseph, "I have a request. Please return to the capitol and speak to King Aultcray again."
"Not a chance." Naofumi swiftly said. Melty then was taken back at his answer.
"Heh, told ya so but no, nobody listens to turtle." Joseph said to Melty
Melty tries again, "I want you to apologize to your conduct, and reconcile." she said in a calm demeanor
"Forget it!" Naofumi said.
Melty's face was getting more annoyed, "We need your help Sir Shield Hero, we just can't stop the waves without you. Besides, you'd be nowhere without the king's financial help, don't you understand?" Melty tries to reason with Naofumi but he doesn't budge.
Naofumi just cracked a smirk, "what financial help? I'm the one who's graciously working with you guys, only until all the waves are gone, that is."
"Oh! shots fired!" Joseph chuckles.
"Joseph really?" Xeno said.
"What? Can I not enjoy myself with this funny bickerment?" Joseph said.
"Well… you can… just don't laugh so loud!" Xeno said.
"Heh."
"Why do both you and my father have to act this way? It's ridiculous!" she yelled.
Joseph, Raphtalia, Filo and Naofumi were taken back on Melty's change of tone.
"A Hero and a King can't be fighting among themselves! Absolutely not!"
She continues to yell at Naofumi while Joseph wishes he had popcorn. But that slowly dies down as he sees Naofumi looking past his shoulder, he notices his pupils start to shrink and Joseph is on guard instantly.
Joseph quickly draws Ace from his thigh holster and turns around to shoot a knight who was coming at them with the means to kill, through the brain and his whole body disperse in a solar explosion. Joseph quickly reloads as he pushes Melty to Naofumi. " Stay back and protect her!" Joseph said.
Joseph walks a few steps forward, he looked at the knights, giving them a chill down their spine "I knew something was wrong as soon as I told all of you to stay back…" Joseph said. He grips onto the glowing Ace, "So why? Why were you folks trying to attack Melty?" Joseph said.
"How dare you accuse us of such treachery!?" said the knight holding a crystal ball, "You shall pay for your sins Devil! For killing our brethren and kidnaping the princess!"
"For the King!" a Knight yells while the others follow.
Joseph started to get angry, gritting his teeth but he calmed down, his tone very different than his laid back tone. It was much more sinister and serious "You know, I'm going to apologize for what I'm going to do, Naofumi, Melty and it won't be your guys's fault, I'll make sure of that!" Joseph said to Naofumi. Joseph's eyes turning into a crimson violet.
He turns to the nine remaining knights, "and it's a shame, that you shitheads would still listen to that old man," Joseph aims Ace as he shoots three knights, including the man who held the crystal ball. They were shot in the head as they all explode. Joseph chuckles as he holsters Ace, "Y'know, I sure do miss the smell of burnt blood and Ether. You want to see a Devil? Then let me show you." Joseph said. He starts to walk closer to the cluster of knights.
The remaining six charges toward Joseph, Joseph catches one knight's arm and immediately breaks his forearm with his elbow, he takes his sword and impales him, he then pulls it out and slits his throat.
Joseph then throws the sword like a spear at a Knight who was charging at him, landing it through the knights head.
Joseph charges to another Knight who was about to do an overhead strike but dodges it and Joseph then wrapped his arm around the knight's neck and immediately kneeled down to get the knight off his feet. Joseph tucks his arm tightly to his side of his chest as he hears a crack, the knight choking as he tries to get free and a snap.
Joseph gets up to see the three shaking in fear, they have unleashed something they wished they didn't unleash.
"What are you two doing? Fight him!" said a knight
"That must be the captain… that's our guy." Joseph said. Joseph takes out his M1911 and immediately kills both if the knights leave the captain alive. Joseph starts walking closer to the Captain, he tries to run away but Joseph shoots both of his knees as he falls to the ground. Joseph starts walking to the crawling captain and starts to drag him to a place where they could 'chat'.
"Naofumi" Joseph called. "I… know that was sudden, my apologies but… just make sure that the princess is alright." Joseph said.
He continues to drag the Captain, he starts to panic, trying to get away from Joseph's grip, he then starts to cry for help. "Help! I don't wanna die! Sir Shield Hero! Help! Please! I beg of you! I'll do anything for you!" but Naofumi just stared at him, watching Joseph dragging a helpless human to his demise.
…
Filo and Raphtalia helped Melty with the traumatic events that occurred,
Naofumi looks at the bloodied road and then the stack of bodies that they had to clean up. The screams of pain in the distance as Joseph torchures the captain to get information from him.
"This is messed up…" said Raphtalia as she walks beside Naofumi. "They didn't have to die…"
Xeno flies to them, "Joseph knows that as well Raphtalia,"
"So why did he do it!?" said Melty "they didn't have to die, but yet he killed them!"
Xeno pauses, "your just like team RWBY… you don't understand at all… what he's been through…"
"So tell us! Tell us what he's been through! Because to my eyes, he's a cold blooded killer who enjoyed killing those knights!" Melty said.
Xeno doesn't like exposing Joseph without his consent but he thinks it's for the best to hear his story.
Xeno sighs, "ok, I'll tell you… sorry Joseph…" first he started to talk about his life before his Guardian life, "Joseph told me that when he was thirteen, his family were murdered by a cult called, the 'Blood Devils' his father Jackson Anderson passed down his sidearm, an M1911 heirloom dated since 1911 so its over a century old and that's the very gun that he let you used Raphtalia…" Xeno said
"Really? Wow…" Raphtalia said.
"Joseph swore to his dying father to get revenge. He really wanted to see the man who murdered his family, Roseblood suffer. He got that chance when the Blood Devils invaded his school. Joseph was able to kill a few cultists until he was impaled by Roseblood himself and was left for dead. When the doctors took him to an infirmary, they were able to heal him but an accident happened, since he was losing blood at a rapid rate, a doctor decided to inject him with a serum that had healing properties but only to later to give him powers."
"That must be how he got his light powers correct?" Melty asked
"No, he didn't tell you this but he has two other sets of powers, one to temporarily or permanently copy other powers and one to travel into different worlds. With that second power, he was able to find me, who gave him the power 'light'. When he recovered from his wounds, a general and the President Of The United States or King in your definition, admired his bravery of preventing anymore deaths occurring when the Blood Devils invaded his school, so they wanted to recruit him into the military."
"At such a young age?" Naofumi said.
"Well, he did some training until he was 16, then he started to join the fight. There have been some dark things that he has done, but… I believe it is best that he tells you what happened, not me…" Xeno said.
"What kind of dark things?" asked Filo
Raphtalia looked at Filo, "Filo, Xeno just said that-"
"It's fine, maybe one wound't hurt… he told me that… he… killed a little girl…" Xeno said.
"But why? What did she do?" Raphtalia asked.
"I'm pretty sure Naofumi would get what I mean. Joseph had to safeguard a tank and its crew, just think of war elephants. They were crossing a city, they made it through and so they settled in a nearby village. They rested up and it was the day that Joseph was also gifted with new glasses that could detect weaponry hidden under clothing and boxes. Joseph also saw a cheery girl who was running around, enjoying her day. He said he cracked a smile, happy to see a child with such energy even though the area they were in was surrounded by war. He put on the glasses and then looked at the girl, he saw that the girl had a bomb vest hidden in her clothing and was starting to run to the tank crew that Joseph had to protect. Joseph without telling his team, grabbed his rifle and took aim. Actually he has some footage of what happened." Xeno then reveals a holographic video of Joseph's helmet cam.
"Joseph! What the hell are you doing?" said a soldier who's trying to lower Joseph's rifle.
Joseph trying to lift his rifle, "She's going to kill Terry and his crew!" Joseph said.
"The hell are you talking about? She's harmless!" said another soldier.
"She has a fucking bomb vest!" Joseph said. Joseph jerked away from his ally and aimed for the child.
"Joseph no!"
Joseph fired as the little girl dropped to the ground, limp, blood spilling out making a puddle of blood.
Joseph dropped the rifle and went on his hands and knees. His breath is heavy "I-I can't see straight… wh-what the fuck did I do!?"
"You killed a fucking child sarge!" said a soldier as he pulled Joseph up.
"What the fuck man! How could you!?" said another soldier
Joseph looks at the dead child as the tank crew and a few of Joseph's team went to inspect the child. To their surprise there was actually a bomb vest hidden under her clothes.
They walked to Joseph as they pat him on the shoulder, trying to comfort him. "Joseph… that was fucked but you saved us… I... look, I don't know if I should say fuck you and kill you or thank you for saving us…" one of the tank crew said.
"let's just get the hell out of here, command told us we should be with the 56th battalion, they're just a few klicks from our position, they plan on liberating a palace that has supplies directly going to the BD we can't let them get to it."
One of Joseph's soldiers put Joseph's over his neck and assisted him up, "I got you brother."
Joseph, still in shock kept on repeating "what have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done?"
The video immediately stops as Joseph puts his hand over the hologram.
"J-Joseph! I-I'm sorry, but they just-"
Joseph's eyes went back to normal brown color, "Just… no." Joseph said to Xeno. Joseph takes a deep breath, "the area is clear in front of us… lets get a move on before they catch up." Joseph said.
Melty started to run to Joseph, "Joseph! y-"
"I'm a killer? Yeah I know, I choose to kill so I can protect those I care for. Do I regret killing humans? Yes. killing a human is like taking a stab wound to the chest and I lose a part of my Guardian identity. But, there are people in worlds who are capable of things that your people accuse Naofumi for but even worse." Joseph said.
Joseph puts his hand on his chest where his heart is, "I am a Guardian, protector of Humanity, no, protector of those who need it, but in the past, I was a soldier. There are sins that I made that I know I cannot atone for, but… heh, I dont give a shit about sins. If I should be burning in hell, then that's perfectly fine. All I care about is protecting those that I care and love." Joseph said.
Naofumi walked to Joseph and pats him on the shoulder, "we all have our ways to protect those we care and love. You're not alone in this." he said.
Joseph cracks a small smile and starts chuckling, doing short nods, "yeah, I am not alone. Heh, thanks Naofumi." Joseph said. He did a soft jab on Naofumi's chest, "I think I needed this." he said. He looked at the girls and did an apologetic bow, "sorry, for seeing a side of me that I should've kept to myself," Joseph said.
Raphtalia smiled, "No, I think it is best that you showed us that side of you… it shows us that you are troubled as well… but please don't kill unless it is necessary…" Raphtalia said.
Joseph chuckles, "Alright, I'll stop using guns for now." Joseph said.
Melty walked up to Joseph, "I'm sorry… I should've known that they-" Joseph then flicks Melty's forehead, "o-ow hey what was that for!?" she yelled.
"You don't need to say sorry and I'll be honest with you all… when people say sorry to me, it feels weird… heh, man… how I've grown over the years…" Joseph starts walking ahead, "Let's go before they catch us, I'll talk more about myself when we are safe." Joseph said.
"Yeah, Joseph's right, we need to get going before more headaches arrive." Naofumi said. Naofumi then hears an engine of some sorts, he turns around, to see Joseph on some hover bike.
"There are some ruins miles away from any checkpoint that Xeno detected, I'll scout ahead, and don't worry, I won't abandon you folks, I'm a wanted man as well." Joseph said.
"Alright, we'll be behind you." Raphtalia said.
Joseph nods and starts driving into the distance.
This chapter was quite fast, but I really wanted to make this its own chapter. I honestly don't have a lot to say… except that, I am sorry if I have made you mad, sad or any negative feelings and if you feel like this chapter should be fixed please tell me, I will make the decision on September 25, Friday.
