Chapter Two: Unwanted but Necessary Allies
"Joe! Where did you go?" Junior called out through the fog but got no response. He couldn't see anything. How could they have split up so fast? Joe was literally standing next to him a second ago, but now it seemed like he had completely disappeared.
After wondering around in the mist for a while calling out, Junior finally caught sight of someone.
"Hey! Joe is that you?" Junior called out.
The figure didn't answer. Maybe he couldn't hear him...
Junior ran towards the figure. As he got closer, he realized that it was definitely not Joe. Not unless Joe had suddenly grown wings, horns, and a tail.
"Alastor?" He asked as he approached the figure.
"Hmm?" Alastor turned to meet him. "Oh hey."
"Uh hi?" Junior said confused. "What are you doing here?"
"I heard a new place in MovieLand was just created." Alastor said, crossing his arms across his chest. "I came here to check it out. I figured I might find something interesting to do, but this fog suddenly rolled in. What about you?"
"Well Silvia was captured and we got a tip that whoever was behind it was in the new zone...we figured that a new villain must have stolen her." Junior paused. "It wasn't you was it?"
"Nope, not this time unfortunately." Alastor sneered. "But I hope someone isn't trying to show me up or anything."
"Yeah, wouldn't that be terrible." Junior rolled his eyes.
"So where is stumblebutt by the way?" Alastor glanced behind him.
"You mean Joe?" Junior smiled at Joe's old nickname. "He was here a second ago. We got separated in the-"
Suddenly Alastor's blade appeared quickly in his hands, his wings opening menacingly.
"Jeesh, what are you doing? You want to fight now?" Junior asked, startled at the sudden movement. "Can't you at least wait until I find Joe? He'd be happy to fight you."
"Shh..." Alastor glared down at him. "Don't you hear that?"
Junior was silent, listening for what the demon was hearing. "Er, not really."
"It sounded like someone was screaming" Alastor told him.
"I don't hear anything." Junior said, turning his head to try and hear better.
"It sounded like-" Alastor broke off, gripping his sword tighter.
Junior was about to ask why Alastor stopped talking, but then he saw the figure standing out in the fog.
"Joe?" Junior called out.
Immediately the demon shushed him, almost slapping him with the blunt edge of his blade.
"What?" Junior said quietly this time.
The figure turned towards them and started to get closer.
"Oh great, now you've done it." Alastor muttered. "And I was in such a good mood..."
"Would you please tell me what is going on!" Junior said, very annoyed.
"Shut up and stay quiet hero." Alastor growled down at him, his face much more serious than it was before. "Don't speak unless I say it's okay."
The figure approached. He almost blended in completely with the fog around him. The only thing that stood out was his bright blue eyes that peered out behind the wrappings on his face.
Junior almost went into his hension when he saw the dagger that the figure held in his hands. The blade was dripping red onto the floor.
The young hero swallowed, standing up taller and trying to make himself look more intimidating that he felt.
"Who are you?" Junior asked, giving Alastor a rebellious look.
Alastor just sent him an angry glare, his eyes squinting.
The figure seemed to ignore his question. "Hello Alastor. Its good to see you again." The figure smiled evilly.
"Mist." Alastor hissed. "I wish I could say the same."
"You know him?" Junior asked him quietly. Alastor nodded.
"I've heard you've been busy failing at killing a hero." Mist laughed. "You were never much of a fighter anyway."
Alastor took in a breath, calming his anger. He didn't want to fight. Not in these conditions. The only reason he had beaten the mist before was because of windy conditions. The mist could not perform his unfair techniques in clear air. "Speak for yourself. Do you still rely on your dumb tricks or have you actually learned how to fight?"
Mist grinned, showing off his jagged dagger. " Would you like to find out?"
"Put that away. No one is impressed." Alastor growled, flashing his own sword. "Besides, I'm not trying to pick a fight with some cheating wanna be."
"Oh a wanna be am I? And how many heros have you killed? Zero? Impressive." Mist laughed.
Alastor curled his lips. "Actually the more I think about it, the better the idea to cut your smirk off your face sounds."
"Look, before you two go into battle with each other, can you at least tell me who the heck you are" Junior asked, getting frustrated.
"Very well hero." He spat the last word out like it was a disease. "I am Mist. But you shouldn't be worried about that...right now I would be worrying more about your friend."
Junior put a foot forward. "Joe can handle himself. You should be worried about the fact that I'm a few seconds from throwing a yoyo at your face."
The Mist looked down at him amused. "Hmm, this one's got character. Maybe you should be trying to kill him instead of that unimpressive loser."
"Mist you know very well that he was claimed as my nemesis." Alastor growled.
"Oh, is that true? It must have slipped my mind." Mist smiled. "Oh well, looks like you might need to find yourself a new hero to claim."
"What do you mean?" Junior tried to look intimidating. It was hard when you were so short.
Mist looked down at him once more. His teeth glinted as his eyes went to meet Alastor. "See for yourself youngling."
The enemy disappeared back into the mist, letting out a low laugh. Then, as soon as it had come, the fog disappeared around them.
"Hey, wait come back!" Junior called out. No one answered.
The surroundings soon became clear to them once all of the white faded away.
They were back in the clearing with the broken statue.
The place was completely empty except for a small red lump that laid in front of the center basin on the cobblestone road.
"Is that-" Alastor started.
"Joe! " Junior screamed, running towards the figure in the middle of the road.
Alastor looked out into the fog behind him, half tempted to go after the Mist.
He wasn't sure what compelled him to ignore the fight and turn towards the direction that the young boy had left to. For some reason he could just feel that something was wrong.
He quickly followed Junior, grasping his sword tighter in his hands.
Junior knelt down by the red body lying in the center of the courtyard.
"Joe are you alright?!" Junior asked, giving him a small shake.
He didn't respond.
"He's bleeding." Junior told Alastor as the demon finally stood next to them.
Alastor gave Joe a quick look over. He looked relatively fine from this angle. His helmet was gone from his head. There was a nasty welt on his forehead that was bleeding a steady line of blood down his face.
"Mist must have done this." Alastor hissed.
"That guy we just passed?" Junior asked up at him.
Alastor nodded. "He likes to fight dirty. He probably took off Joe's helmet and then knocked him out. I wouldn't be surprised."
"I need to get him somewhere safe then. If this Mist guy decides to come back it won't do us any good to fight with Joe knocked out." Junior said, standing.
Alastor grimaced down at the hero. Joe had his eyes closed,blood dripped down his brow.
"Let me help." The words left his lips before his brain even comprehended what he was saying.
"What?" Junior turned to him surprised.
"I have medical experience...let me help." Alastor met Junior's eyes.
Junior looked confused. "...Is this a trap?"
"No. I swear." Alastor didn't know why he was trying to prove himself to the young hero.
"But you want to kill him." Junior stepped back, putting his hands into fists. "Why would you help him?
"Well, for one how am I supposed to fight him when he's passed out. Besides you need help." Alastor shrugged. "I mean I can leave if you really want me-"
"No." Junior said quickly, interrupting Alastor. The demon could smell the fear that the child was trying to hide.
"Truce for now then?" Alastor asked.
Junior bit his lips. "I really would appreciate your help, but I swear if this is a trick I'll have Captain Blue come after you!"
"That's fine." Alastor nodded, knowing exactly the weight of that threat. "Now go look for his helmet while I try and wake him."
Junior nodded. After a moments hesitation he turned and left. Alastor looked down at Joe. He noticed the hero stir slightly.
"Can you hear me?" He asked. "Are you awake?"
Joe opened his eyes slowly and turned his head towards Alastor. He made a noise that sounded like a moan.
"Joe can you hear me?" Alastor asked once more.
Joe gave the slightest of nods.
"What happened?"
Joe turned slightly over, clutching his side tightly and letting out as small whimper.
And that was when Alastor noticed all of the blood.
It had not been visible before, hiding under the hero's already red costume. But now it was as clear as day. A big pool of blood sitting around Joe's body.
Panic began to form in Alastor from out of nowhere. He quickly suppressed it, focusing on finding the source.
Where was all the blood coming from? Alastor couldn't see any more wounds on him.
He would have to get a better look at him. Alastor was about to stand to see if he could get a better angle, but was stopped as a hand appeared near his leg.
Joe had reached out a bloody glove and was muttering something to him.
"What was that?" Alastor asked, leaning in closer.
"Don't go." Joe whispered. "It hurts..."
"What happened?" Alastor felt the panic rise once more. "Where does it hurt?"
Joe mumbled something inaudible.
Alastor noticed Joe was clutching his other side. Maybe that had something to do with it.
Alastor tried to turn the hero over, but was met with a loud cry of pain. The demon quickly jumped back from the sudden noise.
"What are you doing over there?!" Junior yelled angrily. He was currently picking up Joe's helmet and started back towards the two. "Dont hurt him!"
"I'm not, I'm just trying to figure out what's wrong!" Alastor insisted as Junior stood next to him.
"It hurts..."he heard a groan from under him.
Joe had his eyes half ladden staring off into the distance.
"What hurts?"
Joe blinked. "What?" He had a far off look. Blood was dripping down his face. "Oh...when did you get here?"
Alastor gripped his shoulder forcing Joe to look at him. "What hurts?"
"Oh um..." Joe closed his eyes tightly. "I-I'm not sure."
"Did Mist do this to you?"
"Hm?" Joe opened one eye slightly. "Did you get the license plate of the the truck that hit me?"
This was getting them nowhere. Alastor pulled Joe into a sitting position. Joe gave out a cry of pain, but Alastor ignored both that and Junior's threatening yells.
"Joe, you need to focus." He said, gripping his arm tightly. "You need to tell us what's wrong."
"what's wrong..." Joe mumbled.
"What's wrong with him? He's acting stranger than usual...which is saying something." Junior asked.
"He must have a concussion." Alastor deducted. But why was there so much blood on the ground though? A simple head wound wouldn't bleed that much...
"Oh no..." Junior gasped, stepping back and dropping Joe's helmet.
"What?"
"L-look..." Junior pointed to Joe's right side.
Alastor glanced around the hero's waist. A curved dagger was sticking out of Viewtiful Joe's side. Blood gushed around the base of the blade, darkening the hero's costume.
Alastor blinked. Well that explained it.
"We need to get him to a hospital."
"Where are we going to find one of those!?" Alastor could hear the panic in Junior's voice. "Do you even know where we are?"
Alastor ripped off a piece of Joe's scarf. Joe made a sound of protest in his semi lucid state.
"Wait, what are you doing!?" Junior was staring at him wide eyed.
"I'm trying to stop the blood." Alastor explained calmly, he didn't want Junior to go into shock. He couldn't deal with two emergencies at once.
He quickly tied the scarf tightly around the knife wound. He didn't dare touch the blade that protruded from his side. He didn't want to risk any more blood being spilt.
After the quick fix up was done Alastor bat his wings and lifted into the air.
"Stay here with him. I'll go up and see if I can find something."
"Wait!" Alastor paused at Junior's request.
"We don't have time for this Junior." Alastor said as calmly as possibly. "Just please trust me right now and stay with him."
Without getting a response from Junior, Alastor took off into the sky.
The city looked deserted. Everything was grown over with plants and not a living soul was on the streets. Alastor had never seen a place like this before. It seemed so huge like a regular city, but so empty. It was off putting.
However, after looking over the city's layout for a while while spinning in slow circles, Alastor spotted a hospital helicopter landing pad. It was a few blocks down the line.
"Alastor!" He heard a scream from down below. Alastor turned his head down and noticed Junior waving him down.
He quickly flew back to the pair. Junior was kneeling down at Joe's side, trying to push the hero up to his feet.
"What are you doing? What's wrong?" Alastor snapped.
Junior pointed to the clearing in front of them. "We've got company!"
At least eight tanks were coming at them at high speed.
Alastor pulled out his sword. "There's a hospital a few blocks from here. I'll distract the tanks, you take Joe and run."
"Are you crazy?!" Junior yelled at him. "How do you expect us to get there? I certainly can't lift him all the way there. You take him, I'll distract the tanks!"
"You're not capable of fighting off that many tanks by yourself kid."
"Well what other choice do we have? And don't call me kid!"
The kid had a point. They were running out of time and Joe was running out of blood.
A moan came from Joe. The hero moved slightly under Juniors arms.
"Hey, he's waking up." Junior said as if he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad one.
Joe's eyes began to refocus themselves. He let out a slow groan. "Ow."
"Are you back with us Joe?" Alastor asked.
Joe rubbed his head. "Where did I go?" His eyes suddenly opened wide and Joe clutched his side. "Damnit what happened?"
"We-" An explosion a few feet away drowned out Alastor's response. He waited until the dust cleared to try again. "We have a small situation."
"Oh is that all." Joe bit through his teeth. "When did you get here?"
"I found him a little after we got separated." Junior explained. "He says he wants to help."
Joe looked at Alastor with squinted eyes. He shrugged. "Cool. What's the plan then."
"You're not going to argue?" Junior asked him.
"I've saved his butt before, he's allowed to help us to.." Joe closed his eyes, his voice already growing weak.
"I'm right here you know." Alastor growled. "I could just peace out and leave you guys."
"Please don't." Joe said barely above a whisper that only Alastor could hear.
Alastor turned his head, looking at the hero. Joe's eyes were cloudy and hard to read, but the demon could practically feel the pain, confusion, and fear that radiated from them.
Junior broke his thoughts. "I can distract them long enough for you to get away!"
Joe looked up at him. He took a second to think through the words that Junior had said and assessing the situation. "No we should stay together. No offense dude, but that's way too many tanks-" Joe looked like he was going to say more but he just gasped and grasped his side.
"Well whatever we're going to do, we need to do it now." Alastor said, watching as a bomb exploded a few feet in front of them.
"Well then let's get going." Joe said, his voice scratchy.
"What? Joe what are you-" Joe cut Junior off by pushing himself up onto his knees, using Junior as a base. "Ah! Joe, sit back down you shouldn't be moving by yourself!"
"We all go." Joe smiled, grabbing his helmet from Junior and shoving it sloppily on his head. "No one left behind for my sake."
"This isn't the time for heroics Joe, you're really hurt!" Junior got up,careful not to move too much so that Joe had something to hold on to. "Just go with Alastor, I'll be f-"
"No!" Joe snapped, cutting Junior off. "I'm fine. Let's get moving."
Joe started walking forward, leaving the two behind.
"Wait Joe!"
Alastor quickly rushed over to the hero and grabbed his arm tightly, stopping him.
Joe's head swiveled around, his eyes glaring at the demon with determination; willing Alastor to stop him. Alastor tried hard not to be thrown off by the expression. It actually looked...fierce...not something he was used to seeing on the happy hero's face.
"Joe, this is foolish. You're in no condition-"
"Stop." Joe put on a smile, closing his eyes. He ripped his arm from Alastor's grasp. "I'm perfectly fine. I can walk by myself dude. Im not that incompetent."
It would had been persuasive if the next step didn't involve him falling down immediately.
"We don't have time for this!" Junior cried just as a missile was launched from the enemy tanks. An explosion rang a few feet behind them, blowing dust into the air. "Alastor, just grab Joe and let's get a move on!"
Ignoring the protests of Joe once more, Alastor grabbed Joe's arm and slung it around his neck. He lifted, taking some of the weight off of the wounds on his left. It would have been better to have supported him on the opposite side, but he didn't want to risk jostling the blade around.
"Let's move!" He yelled and started running, dragging Joe along.
Junior quickly followed suit and soon the trio were running in synch away from the tanks. Alastor only now noticed how hurt Joe actually was. There seemed to be much more damage than just the wounds. Alastor felt Joe limp every time his left foot hit the ground. He saw the pain in his eyes leaking through the fierce barrier. He watched the tears run down his face slowly.
An explosion broke him from his thoughts.
"We need to get away from those guys so that we can swing back to the hospital!" Alastor yelled back to Junior. "They are blocking the way!"
"I can still distract them-" Junior started.
"No Junior!" Joe yelled.
"No he has a point." Alastor said, turning his gaze to Joe. "He just needs to lead them away from us. That's it. He doesn't have to fight them."
Without waiting for them to answer, Junior broke off from the group towards the tanks. "Hey uglys bet you can't hit a small target with those crummy toys!"
The bait worked. The tanks broke off from the group and soon Joe and Alastor were able to turn back towards the hospital.
"He shouldn't have done that." Joe hissed underneath his breath.
"He'll be fine." Alastor assured. "You should be more worried about yourself. You're currently bleeding out. How are you feeling?"
"...I'm not feeling so hot." Joe admitted. His run stumbled a bit, but he fought to continue moving forward. His breathing seemed to be getting more laboured. Sweat was dripping down his head mixed with blood.
"You'll have to hang in there, we're still a couple of blocks away from the hospital." Probably more now that they had had to run away from this tanks.
He felt Joe start to slump from under him. His steps became slower, breaking their synchronization of running. He looked at the hero, noticing his eyes were closed.
"Joe wake up." Alastor told him. "Dont pass out."
An explosion came from behind them, making Alastor instinctively dodge to the right and dragging Joe with him. Joe let out a cry of pain at the sudden movement.
Alastor's head whipped around to spot one of the tanks from the group. It must have followed them.
"Persistent." Joe said in a tired voice. Alastor nodded.
"We should fight it." Joe smiled up at him, blood dripped off his forehead.
"What!?" Alastor almost dropped Joe at his suggestion. "You really must be insane. You didn't want Junior to fight them but you think you're capable at this moment!?"
"Issfine." Joe slurred, seeing to grow ever tired. "I've handled worse."
He turned his head motioning to the tanks. ", issonly one."
Before Alastor could register, Joe had already pushed away from him and was running towards the tank.
The tank, noticing his movements, shot out two rounds.
Alastor flew quickly, trying to grab Joe and run. But before he could reach him, the hero had cried out "Slow!" And the world moved in slow motion.
Alastor could only watch as Joe carefully timed his punches to hit the missiles. His hits were true just as always and soon the missiles were heading back towards the tank. It was strange watching the explosion that resulted in slow motion.
As soon as it had come, the slow motion went away and Alastor flew towards Joe at a rabid pace. Bits of tank were falling from the sky around them.
Alastor growled as he grabbed Joe's arm and dragged him down the closest ally to get away from the explosion.
He dropped the hero down on the cobblestone. "That was stupid. You could have killed us both."
Joe didn't respond. He was breathing heavily, gripping his side.
"Do you even think before you act? What am I saying, I know you enough to know that you don't." Alastor shook his head.
Joe's hension flickered and his head dropped. "...something's wrong."
"What do you mean something's wrong?" Alastor asked, crossing his arms.
"The v watch...I don't know how to explain it, but I just know something's up." Joe mumbled.
Alastor watched as a fine line of blood dripped down Joe's head. "Yeah, I don't really think it's the v watch that has the problem. Let's get moving."
"Uh...nah, I'm good here." Joe said, squinting his eyes up at Alastor. He looked down at his side, lifting a hand to his head. "Er...how long has there been a knife sticking out of me?"
Alastor raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, we definitely need to get you to the hospital." He offered a hand to the hero. "Let's go."
A sudden movement caught his attention. Before Alastor could react, Joe screamed out 'Mach Speed!" and grabbed Alastor's outstretched hand. Alastor let out a cry of surprise as his body was dragged along.
"What are you-" His voice was cut off as an explosion rang behind them. Alastor glanced behind them. Another tank was coming after them. if joe hadn't used mach speed they'd both just be red spots in that alley wall. "Come on! This is getting ridiculous!"
Alastor spread his wings, allowing Joe to drag him along like a kite. In the back of his mind, he knew that Joe using his powers was definitely not a good thing but at least they were getting to the hospital and away from the tanks so it couldn't be all bad.
Except Alastor could almost feel every time Joe limped as he put weight on his bad foot. He saw his hension falter and all of a sudden, they were standing still. The sudden momentum shift made Alastor fly forward in the air and the two practically fell over each other.
"A little warning next time!" Alastor hissed, shoving Joe off of him. Joe groaned, falling to the ground unceremoniously.
Alastor stood quickly. They were still a block from the hospital and the tank was still gaining. There was only one thing left to do.
Alastor grabbed Joe by the waist, hoisting him into his arms. He was extra careful not to touch the blade. He started flying as fast as he could towards the hospital.
"A-alastor...put me down." Joe muttered in his arms. His hension fluttered in and out.
"We need to get you to safety." Alastor insisted. "Trust me, I dislike this just as much as you do."
"No...seriously..." Joe grabbed at his side, breathing in deeply. He let out a loud groan. "Ow..."
"Hang on, we'll get you patched up." Alastor said. Though he wasn't sure if that was actually going to be true. He needed to get rid of the tank behind them.
"So...dizzy...stop moving!" Joe breathed out of his teeth. His face was visibly pale.
"That's because you're losing blood now stop complaining!" Alastor was getting annoyed now.
"Shit." Joe cursed and literally pushed himself out of Alastor's grasp. He fell to the ground hard.
"What do you think you are doing!?" Alastor stopped moving forward.
Joe pushed himself to his knees, quickly shoving off his helmet and throwing it to the ground.
"We need to move!" Alastor hissed.
He looked up at Alastor, sweat and blood dripping from his face. "S-sorry but..." Joe gagged, a hand wrapped around his stomach.
His body lurched as he began to expel the contents of his stomach onto the ground.
Alastor turned away cursing. "Joe, this isn't a good time."
Joe didn't respond. Alastor didn't really blame him. His concussion and knife wound would have been bad enough, but using his powers so much was probably pushing him past his breaking point.
Alastor retracted his sword. He would have to fight off the tank while Joe was...occupied.
He began to run towards the machine when suddenly Junior came running out from a side alley.
"Watch out!" He cried. "Move back."
Junior jumped over the tank in front of them and turned towards Alastor.
Alastor was just about to ask what he was doing when a group of tanks burst out of the ally. Following junior, they all crashed into the lone tank.
Junior ran past him. "Come on! Before they-"
Alastor used his wings to block the explosion from his sensitive eyes. He turned away as heat washed over them.
The explosion only lasted a few seconds, but it left Alastor's ears ringing.
"Haha I did it!" Junior was jumping up and down beside him. "Did you see that?!"
"Great job Junior." Came a weak voice. "That was totally mint dude."
Joe was standing behind them, grabbing his side tightly. "But I'm feeling like a carved turkey over here..."
"Joe's right we should get moving." Junior said running forward.
Alastor walked over to Joe, dropping his voice so Junior couldn't hear. "You good?"
Joe made a face, wiping his mouth off with the back of his glove. "I've been better, but yeah."
Joe started to follow Junior, limping still. Junior ran back to help him, which made Joe smile. The two walked towards the hospital together.
Alastor took one last look towards the wreckage of the tanks. For some reason, Alastor felt as if something was about to happen...something bad.
"Alastor." Junior called in a shaky voice. "Are you coming?"
"Coming." Alastor yelled back, knowing that they would need him. He turned his back on the wreckage and made his way over to the hospital.