A boy born and soon orphaned by Fallen Angels forced to fight for his life in a cruel world
"You are dead, kid and I'll make sure of that." The man walks up to the kid and grabs him by the neck, his breath smelling like Gin and tobacco"Now give me my wallet you little bastard!" The boy struggles against the man's grip, the boy tries to scream out "JOSEPH HELP-"
The old man smacks the boy across the face, sending him crashing down "Shut your damn mouth." He gets ready to kick the boy when somebody from behind him yells out "Hey get off that kid or you'll end up like a stain on the pavement !" The man turns around and sees a young man around 16 years older.
"What the hell do you think you're on about boy?" The geezer spits on the ground "Why don't you get over here and see your old ass get knocked out?" The man throws the kid down and runs at him trying to knock Joseph out, Joseph dodges out of the way of the man's pathetic lunge and smashes a glass bottle over the head of the old man "You little-"Before the old man can get his words out Joseph gashes his across the face with the broken bottle, he grabs a handful of sand from the ground and throws it at the man's face, he slams his head against the wooden wall to the left, the force break's one of the wooden boards
"W-wait, p-please." The man raises his hands begging Joseph to stop. Joseph glares at the man and speaks. "First you wanted to hit me, now you are begging for your life?" The man chuckles, "No, I just needed you to stand still." He pulls out a revolver and starts shooting at Joseph!
Instead of screaming from a little boy and blood dripping down a dead body, a loud sound is heard as Joseph starts summoning The Boosted Gear. The bullet bounced off the Boosted Gear and hit a wall. Then Joseph grabs the man who is still in shock and tightly wraps his left hand around his neck then with a quick flick of his wrist, snaps the man's neck then he turns around and looks at the boy."You ok there kid?"
The young child nods and snaps up at Joseph "No I'm fucking not, you killed him." Joseph nods "Well then don't do that again I'll be leaving and I don't want your dumbass dying here, go to school or something, you got parents cherish them, ok?" The boy nods "Alright I'll go to school then, fucking asshole." Joseph smiles a bit and roughs up the kid's hair "Alright get out of here kid." The boy runs off leaving Joseph alone with a body
Joseph walks out of the alleyway and lights a cigarette. "Good grief, that kid is an idiot, almost made me late for my boat ride." Joseph passes through the crowd, gives the slip past the security checking tickets, and takes his seat in first class"Yep, this is the life." Joseph closes his eyes and sleeps for as long as he can while on the boat. But something was gnawing at him, he was leaving his old life,
his old existence, a new man with a new life and he wondered where it'd take him. He was thinking about that until a lady tapped on his shoulder "Excuse me, sir. What is your name by chance?" Joseph looks around and sits upright. "Well, you can call me Joseph." The lady nods and speaks with a sophisticated tone "Well Joseph what would you like me to get you from the chef?" Joseph thinks about it momentarily "How about some steak and potatoes with Hennesy?" The lady nods and leaves to fulfill his request.
3 days later Joseph walks out of the ship and onto the country of Spain. "Alright then let's get this over with." Joseph walks around while trying to find some directions until he spots a woman signaling him closer. Joseph sighs and walks over to the woman, once he reaches her he leans on a wall beside her"What is it you want Miss?" The woman chuckles and claps his hand suddenly "I am a Palm reader, a woman who uses magic to tell fortunes usually for a price but you seem interesting and with a past of darkness."
Joseph sighs and lets her do what she wishes. "Hmm it seems you young man have lived a life full of pain and only living to survive, but for what?" Joseph pulls his hand back quickly. "I think you have seen enough lady I'll be leaving." Joseph starts to leave but the woman grabs his arm, pulls him close, and whispers something into his ear.
"You must go to Japan young man, but first you need to be stronger so that you do not fall to your death. The crow's black feathers of death follow a broken holy light that chases you until your decay and beyond." The woman lets go of Joseph quickly leaves and swipes a map from a tourist and, reading it, notices a special trail on the map, El Camino de Santiago.
"Hmm... alright I think this should get me closer to Japan while getting stronger." And so Joseph runs over to the start of El Camino, Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port.
A couple of hours later he reaches the port and starts to follow the map. As he does he spots a couple of people walking past, nothing out of the ordinary until he spots a man standing in the middle of the trail. Joseph waves and tries to walk past him but he stops him and speaks sternly, "Who are you, kid?"Joseph steps back causing him to trip and fall into the nearby pond.
The man sighs and shakes his head and looks down at Joseph. "I know you, Joseph, a woman stopped me and said I'm supposed to train you so you don't end up dead and gone" He scoffs at the idea "But whatever that lady is paying so might as well." The man lifts Joseph out from the water As the man remembers something "Oh yeah I'm Alexander Hine, and you?"
Joseph answers as he tries to dry his clothes "I'm Joseph Smith and you owe me a new pair of fucking clothes." Alexander rolls his eyes, "Sure kid." Alexander drops his cigarette and stomps it out. "Alright kid, you know how to box?" Joseph scoffs "Box? Oh, I know how to box old man" Alexander extends his arms out. Leaving himself wide open for a punch.
"Alright kid, hit me" Joseph pulls back his fist, and... Alexander Instantly hits Joseph with a left jab to the face causing Joseph to topple over "I said to box not to throw some idiotic punch" Alexander pulls Joseph up "I'll make a man out of you Joseph, believe that." Joseph lands a punch on Alexander's chin making him stumble "Never mind then."
After meeting Alexander, Joseph trains under him. As days go by Joseph keeps traveling the trail until he reaches the end of the trail reaching Santiago de Compostela. Joseph looks around the city.
"Well after getting my ass kicked for over 3 weeks, I'm finally here." He looks around the city and walks into a store where he spots an old man signaling to him to come closer. Joseph walks up to the man and takes a seat across from him as the old man signals a waitress to get him more coffee. "So… why did you call me here?" A waitress comes over with a coffee pot, pours some coffee into the cup, and walks away. The old man sips his coffee and clears his throat with a cough. "Well, young man, I am a trainer for bullfighting.
And I can see that you're very strong." Joseph raises his eyebrow and says, "Thank you for the compliment, however, I don't think bullfighting is for me. I'm not very good with a blade." The old man sips his coffee and yawns, "It's nothing you should worry about." Joseph sighs and rubs his eyes as he tries to think about a way to use this opportunity. "Ok, so what do you propose I should do?" Joseph asked,
"I'll just train you on how to fight them with a sword. Plus, given the way you carry yourself, I already know you have some training in hand-to-hand combat. It's not easy to fool these eyes. I've seen plenty of people with prior training before they started bullfighting."
Joseph looks at the man incredulously then says "So what do you gain from this?" "Absolutely nothing." The man says, "However, you on the other hand have much to gain. I've seen kids like you, with that look in your eyes, you have no place you belong searching for a place to call home. Well, this is an opportunity for that." Joseph then makes a sour face and says, "Sorry to burst your bubble but I'm not looking for a home I'm looking for strength." As Joseph said this, he looked determined as if he had a fire in him that would never go out.
After saying this the man looked at Joseph as if he figured him out. "Ahh I understand now, you must have lost someone close to you and you must have been powerless to stop it." "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Joseph exclaimed, slamming his hands on the table almost summoning the boosted gear.
The man swore he saw a flash of green in the boy's eyes, feeling the tension in the air he quickly realized he struck a nerve. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend you, young man. Let me introduce myself. I am Javier Rodriguez and you are?" the man now named Javier says with an apologetic smile. Joseph, after looking at him, sits back down and then speaks. "Joseph, Joseph Smith." he huffs, "Nice to meet you, Joseph, so about my offer, how about it?" " I don't know, I don't have money for any lessons or a place to live." Javier with a beaming smile then states,
"No need to worry about that Joseph I'll take care of everything all you have to do is eat, sleep, train, kill a bull and you'll be rolling in cash!" Joseph with a smile says, "With a deal that sweet I couldn't possibly pass it up."
After the next few days, Joseph gets situated in his apartment and in the arena where he has learned basic swordsmanship and ways to wield the Muleta (the flag the matador/bullfighters use). After the first week, he had his first bullfight. And with only one week of training,
He made his debut, with only a couple of scratches and bruises. With that first match Joseph became a star after his second match people came from everywhere around Spain to see him kill a bull so he was a success, to say the least. A month passed and Joseph gained a reputation for killing the bulls with his bare hands. After breaking his first sword he finished by snapping the bull's neck by grabbing the horns and twisting counterclockwise.
After gathering a lot of attention by accident Joseph started having unexpected visitors of a holy variety, you see in being so close to the Vatican and being in a predominantly Christian country Joseph stuck out like a sore thumb the only reason he wasn't found sooner was because the dragon was still sleeping. However, after killing the bull with his bare hands and coming so close to death the dragon in his arm awoke, and this is the night Joseph will meet him.
In Joseph's dream he was fighting a bull then suddenly the bull devoured him in a giant maw filled with razor-sharp teeth, everything going black, then opened his eyes to a room filled with fire and a giant red dragon towering over him with shining green eyes filled with power. "Finally I was able to reach you!" Says the overpowering beast. "WHO ARE YOU!" Joseph yells taking a defensive stance but if you look closely, you can see him panicking under the surface.
"I AM KNOWN BY MANY NAMES, THE RED DRAGON EMPEROR, THE WELSH DRAGON, AND THE HEAVENLY DRAGON OF DOMINATION!" As he says this the dragon flares his power and expands his wings showing Joseph that he is not to be messed with; however, Joseph upon hearing this only stared in amazement and awe. In his eyes, he saw a terrifying creature, yes, but he also saw beauty in the creature, he was able to see the dragon as more than a beast. The dragon seeing this said, " But you may call me Draig, I'll be your partner from now till you die so what is your name?" Joseph stares for a moment then speaks, " My name is Joseph Smith it's nice to meet you Draig, but what do you mean I'm your partner?"
"Well from looking through your memories I can see you already know how to use the boosted gear." Draig stated, "You mean the gauntlet?" "Yes." Draig said, "How come I'm only meeting you now I've had the boosted gear for years now?" Joseph asked, "Simple, you were never strong enough to hear me before." On hearing that Joseph got mad "What do you mean not strong enough? I can rip bulls in half and snap their necks with ease!" "Yes, you may be strong for a human but in the grand scheme of things you're nothing more than a bug waiting to be crushed, I suggest checking your bravado before you get yourself killed boy."
"In the grand scheme of things? Are you saying that there's more than just humans out there?" Joseph questions. "Yes there are, there's Angels, Devils, Fallen Angels, Dragons, Monsters, and even Gods." "Gods! As in the Greeks, Norse, Shinto, and Hindu!? Does that mean that every myth is true!" Joseph said, beaming with anticipation.
"Yes they are, well to some extent, some are more exaggerated than others but they're all based in reality." "Draig you said you were the Welsh Dragon right?" "Yes, I did." "Then would that make you the red dragon on the Welsh flag?" At this statement, Draig could only smile showing a toothy grin. " I'm surprised that you made the connection; most of my hosts never figured that out, you're a rather clever partner." Draig said, "Thank you Draig but, how could your other hosts not figure that out it's pretty simple." "Well usually it's not a priority they're always drowning in their own power becoming murderers and tyrants," Draig said with a bit of amusement.
"The only difference between you and them is that you're not a tyrant drowning in power but, you do have one thing in common you're a murder like them." "Well, where I grew up I didn't really have a choice. It was survival of the fittest, but it's not like I beat up the weak there'd be no point in doing that." Joseph said, " I like fighting strong opponents, and beating up people who can't fight back are no fun." Joseph stated
"HAHAHAHAHA!" Draig bellowed "I'm really starting to like you partner, You have the spirit of a warrior." "However I believe we should end our dialogue here. You'll be waking up soon. We'll talk more after you wake." And with that, Joseph found himself in his apartment laying in his bed.
"That was a weird dream." Joseph said while yawning "It wasn't a dream partner." Joseph, alarmed by Draid's voice, fell out of bed with a thud "Fuck, that hurt." Joseph said getting up from the floor. "I suggest preparing yourself partner like I said earlier you've gained quite a bit of attention for your bare-handed bullfight." "This town is home to some fallen angels and they're closing in on us." Hearing this Joseph sneered and got his clothes on when he was finished he was wearing black jeans, a black shirt, and a pair of Converse. "So when are these filthy crows supposed to get here?" Joseph asked rhetorically. By absolute coincidence, there was a knock at the door.
Knock knock knock
End of Part 2, Act I.
A/U: Special thanks to writer A and editors H and T, Each person works on a different chapter to make sure they are released in a timely manner.