You guys have been patient, so I'll keep this short.
Enjoy.
Joe was sitting on nothing yet again in his dreams, sitting criss-cross.
"When am I going to have a normal dream? You know, one that my brain can give me, instead of these omnipotent voices." Joe pondered.
Have you become annoyed by me?
"Well, no, but rather than enjoying a dream, and actual dream, I get nothing but a dark void, and a voice out of nowhere. Kinda gets old."
So you are annoyed by me.
"I'm not saying that! I'm just saying I want to dream something from my mind, rather thanomnipotent beings."
Then why didn't you say so in the first place?
"...Come again?"
If you really wanted the bliss of dreaming, I can give it back to you.
"It's not like I don't appreciate the help you have been giving me. Its a lot better than that creepy bastard…"
I understand. What would you like to dream about?
"You can give me dreams?"
Not quite. I can go into your subconscious and you can experience what has been on your mind lately.
"No matter how good that may sound, with my current situation, I don't think it would be a good idea."
Then I shall find a happy thought of yours.
"Oh?"
Yes. Give me a moment.
"A-Alright...If you say so." Joe said, before the voice went silent.
A few moments pass, as the voice returned.
Ah, I have found a good thought of yours.
"Really?"
Yes. I will send you to it soon.
"Well...Ok. I guess."
I'm sure you will have a good dream about that girl.
"...Wait, what?"
Enjoy your blissful dream. You deserve it.
"W-Wait, What do you mean 'about that girl'!?"
In that moment, a bright light enveloped the darkness around him, nearly blinding him.
The light then went dim, as he opened his eyes.
He could see a white ceiling and with a fan spinning on top.
"Wait…" Joe said, looking around.
He turned his head, and could see shelves of video game cases, a television with a entertainment stand filled with consoles, and a computer.
He was back in his room in the real world.
"N-No way…" He said, absolutely shocked.
He then realized he was laying on his own bed, with the blanket covering him.
"I'm in my old room…" He said, looking at the ceiling.
He tried to sit up, but something was anchoring his arm down.
He pulled the blanket to see a person holding his arm, blissfully sleeping.
"C-C-C…." Joe stammered, beet red.
Better yet, Cupa was the one holding his arm, sleeping peacefully on his pillows.
"C-Cupa….W-What are you…" Joe stuttered, shaking from embarrassment.
In that moment, The creeper-girl, opened her eyes, and looked at Joe, smiling.
"Morning, Joe." She said, looking at Joe, smiling brightly.
This confused Joe. Why didn't she use the suffix "-kun" like she always does?
"M-Morning, but...W-Why are you in my bed?" Joe asked.
Cupa had a confused look on her face, as she sat up herself, revealing herself from the blanket.
She was wearing her green tank-top, along with a lighter green pair of short-shorts. This was all she had on, besides underwear, as her signature sweater was nowhere to be seen.
"What do you mean? We always sleep together." She said, her head tilted.
"W-What!?" Joe said, falling off of his bed.
He then realized that he too was sleeping in his sleeping clothes, with a dark-blue muscle shirt and loose sweatpants.
"H-How did…"
"A-Are you alright?" Cupa asked.
Joe looked up, and saw Cupa looking at him with worry.
"Y-Yeah, just hit my head a bit…" He said, as he sat back up on his bed.
Cupa then grabbed Joe's head, and gave him a quick peck on the forehead.
"Feel better?" She asked, smiling.
Joe went a tad pink at this, as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Y-Yeah, a little…" He said, smiling back.
In that moment, Cupa then grabbed Joe's hands, holding them.
"So?" She asked.
Joe blinked his eyes in confusion. "W-What?"
"Where's my Good-Morning kiss?"
Joe fliched at this.
"G-G-Good-Morning k-kiss?" He stuttered.
"Yeah. You know, the one you give me every morning?" Cupa replied.
"I-I….I do?"
Cupa tilted her head again. "Of course you do! You forgot?"
"W-Well...I…..I guess I must be a little more sleepy than I thought…" He said, in an attempt to appease the creeper-girl.
Cupa giggled at this, as she then closed her eyes.
"Well, I'm waiting." She said, slightly puckering her lips.
Joe went red at this, as he looked at the girl's face.
Guess I better go with it...I guess…
He then closed his eyes, as he leaned his face in closer to hers.
It won't be too bad…
He leaned in until he was mere inches away, when he heard a word from Cupa.
"Joe…"
Joe heard this, and cupped his hand on Cupa's cheek.
"C-Cupa…"
Joe then inched his face as closest as he could be, as he could nearly feel his lips touching hers.
Meanwhile, back in reality, Joe snaps awake before the climax of his dream.
"Ugh, my neck…" Joe groaned, popping the joints in his neck.
He the opened his eyes to look around himself.
"Still in the dungeon…" He said, examining his surroundings.
He then realized he was laying on his side, seeing the floor parallel to also could smell a familiar scent to him.
He looked down and saw Cupa's sleeping face in front of him, facing him, and blissfully slumbering.
He went red at this, as he also found out he had his arms curled around her side.
He was reverse spooning her.
S-Shit...
In that moment, Cupa adjusted herself in her sleep, her face closer to his.
He could only stare in embarrassment, as Cupa's sleeping face faced him.
She looks so peaceful...She must have been through a lot...
He then took his free hand and pulled her head to his chest, in which she nudged her head to a comfortable spot.
Don't worry...I won't let anything else happen to you...
He stayed in this position for a few more moments, until Cupa then opened her eyes.
"J-Joe-kun?" She muttered, still half asleep.
"Mornin, sleepy." Joe teased, smiling.
She went a tad pink, but smiled in return.
"Morning..." She said in return.
Joe then sat up along with Cupa, and popped his back and shoulders.
"Joe-kun..." Cupa croaked, looking down.
"Yeah?" Joe replied, looking at Cupa.
She seemed to hesitate, but then spoke.
"Are...Are they really going to take us to the Nether?" She asked.
Joe chuckled. "I think I'd rather die than have them touch you again."
"Does that mean we are getting out?" She asked in return.
"Yeah, I've got a plan. It's a bit dangerous, but I'm going to need your help." He said.
Cupa then nodded. "Alright, I'll do my best."
Joe nodded back, as he looked out of the cell, then back to Cupa.
"Ok, here's how it's going to go down..."
A few moments pass, as one of Yan's men started walking down the hall towards the cell.
"Wakey Wakey." He said, banging on the cell doors.
He then opened the doors to see Joe and Cupa sitting away from each other.
"The Boss wants the girl first. Then we'll be on our way to the Kingdom." He said, walking towards Cupa.
In that moment, Cupa looked towards the guard.
"Alright, but there's one thing..." She said. "Wouldn't...You like to have me first?"
"Huh?" The guard asked.
Cupa then grasped the zipper to her jacket, and slowly started to pull it down, exposing her neck and nape.
"He wouldn't know..." She said, starting to breath heavily.
The guard then smirked.
"I guess a quickie wouldn't hurt" He said, grasping his pants.
At that moment, Joe went into action.
He quickly stood up and ran up to the guard and pulled out his own sword from his side.
"What the-" The guard said before having the blade pierce his throat.
With a gurgle of blood, the guard collapsed, dead on the spot.
"Bastard..." Joe said, before removing the sheath from the guards side and strapping it to his.
Cupa zipped back up her jacket and stood up.
"Ok, it looks like he left the door open." She said.
"Good. Follow me, and stay quiet. We don't know what these guys might be up to." Joe said.
Cupa nodded, as she followed suit after Joe, tip-toeing behind him.
They exited the cell, and started down the hall.
"I need to find Susano, and then we get the hell outta here." Joe whispered.
"S-Susano?" Cupa asked.
"Its the sword I got while I was in the Nether. Long story, I'll explain later." He replied, leading Cupa through the dark hallway.
They eventually creeped along the hallway until they reached the large room Joe was in the previous day.
"Is it around….There!" Joe said, finding his sword up against a chair. "I just need to grab that, and we'll get out of-"
SMASH!
Joe was immediately interrupted and sent flying from some unknown force as he reached for his sword.
He crashed to the ground, grunting in pain near Cupa.
"J-Joe-kun!? Are you okay!?" Cupa cried out, tending to Joe.
Joe sat up, rubbing his aching head. "What the hell was…"
"You two are sly, I'll give you that."
Joe and Cupa looked to the shadows, and could see the general himself stepping from the shadows.
"But it looks like we'll have to apprehend you both again." Yan said, crossing his arms.
Joe then stood up, hiding Cupa behind him.
"You don't have to do this Yan. The King is just mad his son lost in a fair duel." Joe announced, locking a dead stare at Yan.
Yan chuckled at this. "You don't seem to understand. The King's orders are absolute. Now we can do this the easy way, or the hard way."
In that moment, one of the guards placed his hand on Joe's shoulder.
"We'll do it my way!" Joe said before grabbing the guard's hand and throwing him over his shoulder.
He then grabbed the guard's bow along with his arrows and attempted to fire it at Yan.
He released the arrow, only to have it stop in front of his face.
Yan caught the arrow in mid-air.
"Nice try, but that won't work." He said, as he snapped the arrow in half with his fingers.
Joe then pulled his sword, and readied his stance.
"Pretty selfish King you serve." Joe said, locking stares with Yan.
"But I kind of agree with him" Yan said, as he reached over his right shoulder, and gripped something.
He then pulled out what he was gripping, to show a rather large cleaver-like sword, and pulled it over his shoulder.
"Shall we?" He said, smirking at Joe.
Joe took this taunt, as he dashed towards Yan, his blade ready.
As soon as he swung it, Yan swung his blade down on Joe.
He reacted by bringing his sword up in the knick of time, the blade just nearly taking his head off.
Their blades were locked, but Yan had an upper hand, due to his size.
He pushed Joe onto his knees, the young man struggling.
"Big...Son of a...Bitch..." Joe croaked in his struggle.
Yan could only guffaw in laughter, watching Joe squirm to keep himself up.
"You asked for it!" Yan yelled, as he brought his other hand, and swiftly clobbered Joe in the face.
He flew a few feet, but got his footing back. He had little time to react, but he managed to closely dodge a swing from Yan's sword.
Joe slid across the ground, holding his bruised face.
What's with this guy? He can swing that huge ass sword easily!
Yan then rested his sword back on his shoulder.
"What, tired already?" He chuckled.
Joe looked around, finding ways to help himself.
If only I had Susano back...
Yan then immediately went into action, as he dashed towards Joe, swinging his blade.
Joe managed to dodge a few of the blows, but one of the strikes sliced into him, cutting his left arm.
"S-Shit..." Joe said, as he collapsed to the ground, holding on his bleeding wound.
"J-Joe-kun!" Cupa screamed in despair, as she could see a small pool of crimson below Joe's left arm.
Yan could only laugh, as he watched Joe slightly writhing in pain. He walked over to him, looking down upon him.
"So, you'll go smoothly?" Yan asked, with a smug grin on his face.
Joe remained silent at this.
Yan then chuckled, as he turned his head towards the guard holding Cupa.
"Get him tied. We're late for his-gaghh!"He said, as he was interrupted by an unseen force.
Joe had managed to stand up, and swing his blade forward, cutting into Yan's torso.
While Yan flailed in pain, Joe then swung his sword again, managing to cut Yan's face and shoulder.
Yan stepped back, covering his own wounds.
"Slippery bastard..." He said, looking at Joe.
Joe stared at Yan, with the most angry yet determined face he could make.
"I don't care what the King wants. No one messes with my friends like that!" Joe screamed, as he readied his stance.
Yan then made a chuckle. "Yeah, but without your sword, you won't do a thing!"
Joe had no idea what the General was talking about, but he looked at his own sword.
He found it had snapped about a few inches off the cross-guard, only a few inches of the blade attached.
"How did..." Joe said to himself, looking at his broken sword.
"Guess you're out of luck without a weapon." Yan smirked.
Joe threw aside the broken sword, and readied his close-combat stance.
"What, you're gonna take me on with your bare hands? Don't make me laugh!" Yan laughed.
Joe clenched his readied fists at this. "Laugh all you want. I'm not down yet!"
Yan then raised his blade, and pierced the floor, standing the blade up.
"Alright, I'll play along." He said, cracking his neck and fingers.
In that moment, Joe dashed towards Yan, as they engaged in close combat.
Meanwhile, Cupa could only watch as Joe and Yan scuffle in battle, both evenly matched.
Something caught her eye, as she looked over to her right.
She could see the little boy from yesterday, looking at watching the battle with a worried face, carrying a blue sheathed sword in his arms.
"Psst...psst! Hey!" Cupa whispered to the boy.
He looked over to the creeper-girl, with a confused face.
"Is that Joe-kun's sword?" She whispered.
Yaebi nodded at this rather shyly.
"He needs that blade! I saw how Yan treats you, I know you don't like him either!" Cupa said, keeping her voice down.
The boy seemed indecisive at this, as he seemed to be balancing his choices.
"We could help you!" Cupa said, but accidentally letting her voice out a bit too much.
The guard responded by yelling for silence at her, as they continued watching the fight.
Yaebi thought to himself, then looked back towards the scuffle.
Meanwhile, back at the fight, Yan had delivered a swift kick to Joe's side, sending him back, sliding on his feet.
Joe was at his limit with this fight, as he was panting, with bruises and bloody spots all over him.
Meanwhile, Yan had little to no bruises on him, practically unscathed.
"That can't be all you have." He said, his smug look back.
Joe could do nothing but barely keep himself standing, panting with each breath.
"That's what I thought." Yan said and we walked over to Joe and picked him up by the collar on his clothes.
He then proceeded to repeatedly clobber Joe in the face.
Meanwhile, Yaebi watched in horror along with Cupa, watching Joe receive each brutal strike at a time.
Cupa looked over to Yaebi, with a horrified face, which prompted him to look back at her.
"Please..."
The boy then looked to the ground, lost in his thoughts.
He then made his choice.
"Hey, General Yan!" He yelled to the man.
Yan then stopped his beatings, and looked over towards Yaebi.
"You're ugly and you should rot in the deepest prisons of the Nether!" He yelled.
Yan's anger skyrocketed at this, as he dropped Joe and started to step towards Yaebi.
"What was that, boy?" He growled.
"You deserve to burn forever in the magma of the Nether!" Yaebi yelled out.
As soon as Yan was close enough, Yaebi tossed the sword in his arms towards Joe, only to have Yan's leg meet his stomach with an intense impact.
"When I'm done with you, I'll-"
"You'll what, General?"
Hearing this, Yan looked behind him, and grew even angrier.
Joe was standing up, despite his earlier wounds and beatings, with his blade unsheathed. At that moment, his Wayfinder began to glow.
Meanwhile, Cupa noticed a glow in her pocket, and pulled out her own Wayfinder, which had a bright glow to it as well.
"Men! Kill him!" Yan yelled out, prompting the other guards to go into action.
They both lunged after Joe, but he was easily able to dispatch them, leaving only him and Yan.
"Your move." Joe said, pointing his weapon at Yan.
He growled to himself, as he reached over and pulled his blade from the ground.
He charged at Joe, sword ready, and swung down his blade on Joe.
Clang!
At that moment, Joe had quickly reacted to this attack, and parried Yan's charge, in return completely snapping Yan's sword by the base.
He could only look in horror at the display of power Joe had shown.
"H-Hey, you weren't this strong before! What the hell happened!?" Yan yelled.
Joe only smirked at this.
"What's wrong, Yan? Getting scared?" He said to the shivering General.
"Why you little!" Yan screamed, as he charged after Joe.
Joe remained still, but when Yan was close enough, in the blink of an eye, Joe swung his sword upright.
Yan fell back, but fell that he wasn't even hurt at all.
"Hah! What's that sword gonna do if it can't hurt me!?" Yan screamed again.
Joe then swung his sword down, and lined the blade with the sheathe. He slowly started to sheathe the blade, until a few inches were left.
"Shut up." Joe said, as he fully sheathed the blade with a loud clang.
At that moment, Yan froze. He looked along his clothes and saw a line of crimson across his body.
He then fell forward, dead instantly.
The glows from the Wayfinder then subsided, as Cupa ran to Joe.
She said nothing, as she embraced Joe, tears welling in her eyes.
"I thought you were going to die..." She said, as she dug her face in Joe's chest.
He chuckled, as he returned the embrace. He then looked over his side, and saw Yaebi looking at him.
He let go of Cupa, and walked over to the boy.
"Thank you for that. I'm sure I would have been a goner if it weren't for you." He said, smiling.
Yaebi then smiled back. "Thank you, Mister..."
Joe knelt down and patted the little boy's shoulder.
"You ok?" He asked, noticing from silence from Yaebi.
"Can...Can..." He stammered.
Joe tilted his head, and looked at Cupa, who shrugged her shoulders.
"Can...I come with you guys? The others were very nice as well..." The Zombie boy asked.
Joe then chuckled at this, as he lifted the little boy and placed him on his shoulders.
"I don't see why not. You must be hungry, huh?" He asked.
Yaebi only nodded, as Cupa walked up to him.
"Maybe we could get you some new clothes too. I'm sure you don't like going barefoot." She asked, smiling.
"Yes please...Yan never gave me any other clothes..." He replied.
"Well, we shouldn't keep the others waiting then. Let's get going." Joe said, as he started after the exit, with Cupa following after.
Cupa went to Joe's left side, and grabbed his hand, in which he returned the gesture.
The three then all went out, Yaebi on Joe's shoulders, and Cupa holding his hand.
Funny... Joe thought.
We almost look like a family like this...
And it's done. I'm sorry if this took a while, the only free time I had was during my break at my job...I'm sorry if you all waited a while, but I finally pulled through.
Thank you for your patience, And I will see you all in the next chapter.