Some of you might have noticed that I didn't refer to the cross weapons used by the Belmont by that name but instead called them x-shaped objects. Being a Christian, I don't really find using crosses in such manners to be comfortable. I'm okay with other people using it, but as for myself, I want to avoid using it like that, so I intentionally avoided calling them crosses.
BTW, turns out Lily hasn't won the Best Girl Contest yet. He is simply a candidate.
Chapter 10
It Begins...
The atmosphere within the conference room was silent but serious. After the encounter with Dracula outside the hotel, Ridley suggested that the Smashers be informed about this so that something could be done regarding the vampire's attack on the Golden Stag Festival the next day. Wanting to plan out what to do, a meeting was arranged in said room.
Present in the room were all the Smashers who came to Transylvania, Palutena, Wario and Waluigi, Bayonetta, Ridley and his two companions, Toor Gyde, and all of Franchouchou, including Kotaro. Obviously, the zombie idols had their makeups on.
Some of them were sitting on chairs, and some were standing around, leaning against walls.
Dracula's plan had just been finished sharing among everyone, so now they were taking their time to absorb everything they heard.
"All right, let's have a quick recap," said Julius, breaking the silence. "Dracula is sending an army of monsters to this world and attack during the Golden Stag Festival. In fact, he is intentionally targeting the contest, as tomorrow night, that place will have the most gathering of people here. However, since Castlevania is still sealed away, which is actually an advantage for us, he will be using the Mirror of Fate as a doorway from the realm the castle was sealed into to allow the monsters to access this place. That's pretty much the gist of it."
"And while I may not be from around here, I think it would still suck for the contest to be cancelled and disappoint everyone," said Ridley, "which is why I suggest that we try to keep Dracula's invasion from happening and don't let anyone know about this."
"Darn right! We've practiced so hard for this contest, so no way am I letting this opportunity slip by just because of some stupid vampire!" said Wario angrily while punching his palm. "If he was here right now, I'd eat a day's worth of garlic and breath into his nostrils!"
"So all we have to do is defeat Dracula and his army of monsters before they get to the contest area and try to keep everyone from finding out this in order to not ruin the show for them, right?" asked Ganondorf. "That should be easy."
"Easy for you to say... I'm not sure if we can really keep any monsters from escaping our grasps..." said Luigi.
"Actually, I have a solution to that," said Julius in response. "A friend of mine knows a spell that can manipulate the Mirror of Fate into making it gain access to an artificial dimension made in the likeliness of the real world. Basically, we get the monsters to enter a virtual reality in the likeliness of where the contest is taking place. That way, we can fight them in that reality without causing collateral damage or getting innocents involved."
"Sounds like a great idea!" said Mario, approving of this idea.
"I'll have to ask that friend for details regarding this magic, and I cannot guarantee that everything will go smoothly," said Julius.
"Is there anything we need to know regarding battling Dracula?" Link asked him. "How about info on types of enemies we should expect?"
"According to notes left behind by my ancestors," said Julius, "you can expect monsters such as giant bats, gorgons, werewolves, skeletal warriors, goblins, undeads, and several other kinds of indescribable terrors."
When the zombie idols heard him mention undeads, they had an uneasy feeling. Being undeads themselves, the thought of seeing their own kind being malicious and eventually getting killed for their actions made them feel that way. Of course, Tae probably didn't understand most of what was said, or at least doesn't care about them. She was sitting silently on a chair next to her companions, seemingly staring into blank space with a sleepy expression.
"As for Dracula himself, if the notes my ancestors left behind are to be believed, then he's likely on the same level as the Great Powers of Tooneria," continued Julius.
Some of the folks present widened their eyes in surprise when they heard this. "He's that powerful?! How are we going to defeat someone like that?! asked Peach.
"Hey, if Roy can take down one of the 7 Warlords by himself, then it shouldn't be too hard for us!" Link reminded her.
"But he was badly wounded, almost getting himself killed..." Zelda reminded him.
They were referring to when Roy battled Crocodile of the 7 Warlords back during the Darkling incident. Crocodile turned his back against the government and served the Darkling King, though he ended up betraying the latter to pursue his own evil agenda. After his defeat at the hands of Roy and having his crimes exposed to the public, he was stripped of his title as a Warlord and then imprisoned.
"And don't forget that some of us survived encounters with Godzilla as well!" continued Link, ignoring her. "Heck, they even beat him the first time!"
What he said surprised all those who weren't part of the Smashers. Junko seemed to be the most shocked when she heard this. "God... Godzilla...?!" Her companions noticed her scared look, but because of the current situation, they decided to ask her later. Nobody else noticed this, however.
"Remind you that our first win against him was only because we managed to free him of the Darkling possessing him," Dr. Mario reminded Link. "He gave us a terrible beating. In fact, we could do nothing against him at all! I was there, so I can testify to this!"
Link was referring to the Darkling incident again, where at one point, some of them had to go to Tokyo to deal with a Dark Reactor that was allowing Darkling to thrive there. It was there that a large amount of Darkling possessed Godzilla, causing him to go on a violent rampage throughout the city, but when the reactor was destroyed, he returned to his senses and returned to sea without causing any more damage. The Smashers had a run in with him and failed to do anything to him due to the massive difference in power level and size.
"And eef I rememba correctly, da second encounta resulted in us retreating with our lives," said Mario. "At-a least that's-a what Fox said..."
This was referring to the Negativities incident, where some of the Smashers went to the S.S. Cargo to protect a special meteorite from the Negativities, but Godzilla showed up to destroy the ship, thus forcing them to retreat.
"Eh, at least it proves we can run into an Abomination and survive to tell the tale... That's good enough," said Link.
"In any case, Dracula shouldn't be underestimated," Julius told everyone. "I highly recommend that you are capable of aura if you want to battle him, especially armament aura."
"Not a problem," said Ganondorf. "Quite a few of us here are skilled with it, be it armament or observation."
Turning to Ganondorf, Waluigi asked, "What are you guys talking about? What aura?"
"It's a power that flows through all living things," Julius explained to him. "Anyone is capable of using aura, which has various different ways of being called, depending on people and region. There are two main types: armament and observation. The former is used for enhancing your offensive and defensive capabilities, thus allowing you to attack with destructive power and defend against dangerous attacks."
"I can provide an example if you want to," said Ganondorf. He then turned to look at Greninja and signaled him with a nod. The frog Pokemon understood what he meant and wasted no time in producing a kunai out of water. In an instant, the Pokemon leaped at Ganondorf, thrusting his kunai at him. The Gerudo responded by bringing up his hand and allowed the sharp weapon to hit his palm. Despite being made of water, the kunai struck Ganondorf's palm as if it was made of steel, but failed to stab through his hand.
The sight of this made the zombie idols and Toor gasp in shock. Wario and Waluigi widened their eyes a bit as well.
Greninja pushed his kunai against Ganondorf's palm as hard as he could, but the Gerudo eventually crushed it his hand. He showed everyone his hand to reveal that there was no wound on it at all. "With armament aura, you don't have to worry about even getting cut by blades," he explained. "You can also transfer it into weapons to increase their power."
"Huh! Nice! I could use something like that!" said Wario.
"Wow! That was cool!" exclaimed Saki. "Can anyone learn it?"
"As long as you're not a machine, you can," Julius told her.
"Huh! Tell that to the Cybertronians!" Link said in his head after hearing that, remembering full well that those mechanical alien life forms were capable of such power.
"And then there's observation aura," continued Julius. "It's used for detecting the presence of people and foreseeing enemy attacks. I've heard of people who mastered observation aura so much that they can see shortly into the future with it!"
"Speaking of observation aura, Daisy seems to have it, doesn't she?" said Peach.
"Right, she does have observation aura," Palutena told her. "That is why she was able to keep up with me in our ping pong match!"
"There's also conqueror's aura," said Mario.
Looking at him, Julius said, "You have to be born with that particular ability, and frankly, I'm not sure if it will be of any help. Perhaps knocking out some of the weaker monsters, but for someone as powerful Dracula, it won't have any use. Anyway, back on topic... Dracula is no pushover, so you better be prepared if you want to fight him."
"By the way, what about your ancestors Simon and Richter?" Yoshi asked him. "You said they were resurrected, right?"
Julius nodded. "Indeed, and both are under Dracula's control. All we have to do is undo the mind control. Honesty saying, if they were resurrected as undeads, I may have to put them down."
Hearing this, the zombie idols felt scared, thinking that Julius was someone who wouldn't hesitate to kill zombies and perhaps even hates them.
"Not saying that you're wrong in doing this, but assuming that even if they are zombies and they still have free will after you undo the brainwashing, do you still have to kill them?" Zelda asked him.
"The actual term you're looking for is revenant," Julius told her. The idols became intrigued when they heard that term. "Revenants refer to undeads that retain their memories of when they are alive and are fully intelligent and sentient. That term has fallen out of use in modern days though, with zombie becoming the commonly used term. Back in the days, people differentiate between revenants and zombies. The latter refers to undeads that are mindless and feral, acting on instinct and living for the sake of feeding.
Hearing this, the idols slowly shifted their eyes to Tae, who had fallen flat on the floor on her front, seemingly asleep. Her behavior also received some "what the" looks from some of the others, but nobody asked anything about it.
"And to answer your question, if they are revenants, I guess that will depend on whether they wish to be put down or not," Julius said to Zelda. "Honestly though, I can't imagine why people would want to live as undeads. They're neither truly dead nor truly alive, and let's not even get started about how their appearances can be repulsive to both themselves and other people."
"What does he know...?" Lily said under his breath with an unimpressed look.
"Da people from Halloween Town seems to be perfectly content with being undeads, though," said Mario.
"Halloween Town is populated by zombies?!" Luigi said to him surprise.
"Actually, the inhabitants of Halloween Town aren't actually undeads," Julius told Mario. "That's what they naturally look like. Sure, some of them look indistinguishable from undeads, but unlike undeads, they are born that way, so they are capable of aging and require daily necessities in order to survive, unlike undeads, which don't age and don't necessarily need to feed, only doing so out of habit. And before you bring up the most well-known inhabitant of that place, Jack Skellington, that's how he was born as well. He's not a skeleton because he died and came back to life like that. He was born a skeleton and came from a long lineage of skeletal beings."
The Smashers visited Halloween Town during the Darkling incident.
"That's... quite strange if you ask me..." commented Dr. Mario. "Unless he has organs, I can't imagine a skeleton being able to live life like normal people..."
"Halloween Town is a place that defies all explanation and logic, so it's best that you don't think too much," Julius told him. "Anyway, back on topic... As for undoing the mind control on my ancestors..."
"I have a solution to that," said Palutena, grabbing everyone's attention. "There's a special water on Skyworld that is designed to cleanse corrupted minds. It can be used to undo the mind control on your ancestors. I will go and get it later."
"Really? That would be helpful! I was thinking of consulting my friend regarding this," Julius said to her.
"I take that your friend is a powerful magician?" Zelda asked him.
Julius looked at her and nodded. "You can say so. He's very familiar with Dracula, so he'll definitely be of a great help to the battle tomorrow."
"All right, then it's decided," said Ganondorf, standing up from his seat. "Tomorrow, we Smashers will deal with Dracula and his army." He then looked at Wario and Waluigi and Franchouchou. "Meanwhile, you folks continue with the contest as if you know nothing. Rest assure that we won't let those monsters interrupt you and have things their way."
"Yeah! That's the Smashers I know!" said Toor, sounding excited. "You guys saved Lycia from a giant monster! I'm sure dealing with Dracula will be nothing to you guys at all! You have all my support in doing this! Even though there's really I can do to help..."
"So... any problems regarding this?" Ganondorf asked everyone.
Mario raised his hand. "I think-a some of us should still be at da contest to ensure nothing goes wrong. Who knows eef any monster could slip away and attack da contest, or eef Dracula will have back-a-up plans."
Palutena nodded in agreement. "Indeed, not all of us should be in that artificial realm. Some should still be in the real world, keeping an eye on potential threats that can still be found there."
"Sounds good to me," said Julius in agreement. "We have to do this operation with the mindset that not everything will go as planned, so backup plans are a must. Some of us will be in the artificial realm to deal with the monsters, while some of you will be at the contest to keep an eye on things. Hopefully, everything will go as planned and none of this has to make it out to the public. I can't imagine how disastrous things will be if that happens..."
"You guys better get your acts together!" said Wario as he stood up and pointed at the Smashers. "I didn't come all the way here just to get our chance to shine ruined! I'll be putting every blame on you folks if the awards cannot make the cut because of this!"
"Right! It'll be on your heads if things go south!" said Waluigi in agreement.
"Are you threatening us...?" Dr. Mario said to them, looking unimpressed.
Ganondorf then turned to Franchouchou and asked them, "So you girls got anything to say?"
The zombie idols looked at each other for a few seconds, and then Ai turned to the Gerudo and said, "Thank you for willing to do something about this. However, if things are too tough to handle, please know that we won't blame you for what happened."
"Hey, don't sweat it! This is nothing different from what we've dealt with in the past!" Link told her. "You can guarantee that we'll win this fight and let you girls continue with your performance!"
"Jiggly! Smashers will beat bad guy!" said Jigglypuff in agreement.
"Thank you very much!" Sakura said to them. "We really appreciate you helping us and everyone attending the contest! We're in debt of you all!" The other zombies thanked them as well. Tae even looked up from lying face first on the floor and made incomprehensible noises, almost as if trying to say thank you.
"All right, then let's hope-a everything goes smoothly tomorrow! We must not let-a Dracula win theez!" said Mario, standing up.
With that, the meeting was over, and everyone began to leave the room. As Kotaro was leaving, Julius went up to him and said to him, "There's something I want to talk to you about. How about we do it in your room?"
Kotaro was curious about what he wanted to talk about, so he gave him an okay to meet in his room.
As he said he would, Julius went to Kotaro's hotel room. Both were standing in front of each other with crossed arms, sporting serious expressions. "What is it you want to talk about?" the producers asked him in a serious tone.
"First off, I'll let you know that I'm not threatening you nor will I tell anyone else about this," Julius said to him, "so tell me straightforwardly. Those girls... They're revenants, aren't they?"
Kotaro, for some reason, didn't look shocked, despite this secret getting out. "Somehow, I was expecting someone like you to be able to tell this," he said to the vampire hunter.
"The Belmont Clan has learned to use their observation aura in a special way that allows them to detect what you can say evil presences," Julius explained to him. "This was necessary for locating monsters more effectively."
"When did you first notice this?" Kotaro asked him.
"When I ran into them for the first time a few days ago," Julius told him. "My aura instantly point out to me their, for a lack of better terms, unclean aura."
"And here I thought the method I used for resurrecting them would be undetectable by anything," said Kotaro.
"Well, perhaps the Belmont Clan is that special, but even so, I can't guarantee that not everyone cannot detect this," Julius told him. "Are you able to tell me what method you used to resurrect those girls as revenants?" Kotaro, however, remained silent for several seconds. Seeing this, Julius said, "It doesn't seem like you wish to answer, and honestly, I don't really see anything wrong about those girls, so I think I won't press you any further.
"However, you do know you cannot keep this a secret forever, right? As time goes by, people are going to notice that they're not aging. Sooner or later, their identities are going to spill out, and don't even get me started on how some people may recognize them as people they know from when they were still alive."
"I have planned out everything in advance," Kotaro told him. "If I didn't have the confidence, I wouldn't have done all these. Rest assure that I know what I am doing. And trust me when I said I have no ulterior motives other than to give those girls who were robbed of their lives too early a second chance to fulfill their dreams... and also to raise public interest in my homeland."
Julius looked at him for several seconds in silence and then sighed. "Well, I hope you know what you're doing. Since you don't seem to be planning anything sinister, I'll drop this topic and pretend this never happened." As he began to leave, he said, "I can tell that those girls are actually enjoying their current states and happy with their occupation as entertainers. Perhaps they can actually change people's opinions on undeads as a whole... if this secret ever gets out."
"We can only hope," said Kotaro.
"Anyway, rest assure that I'll make sure tomorrow's contest go smoothly so that they won't have to throw their practices down the drain," Julius said to him as he opened the door to leave. "And I won't tell the girls as well, in case this will worry them."
With that, he left the room and closed the door, leaving Kotaro to think about the conversation earlier.
All seven members of Franchouchou were gathered together in one room, engaged in a conversation. Tae was asleep on one of the beds, snoring somewhat loudly, though the others didn't seem to be annoyed by this.
"We noticed your expression when Godzilla was mentioned," Ai said to Junko. "Is there anything you would like to tell us?"
"You seem really scared of that monster," Saki said to the white-haired zombie. "I mean... most people are afraid of him thanks to the damage he's caused to Japan and several other countries, but your expression seems to be more drastic than others..."
Junko looked down with a said expression and then sighed before saying, "When I was seven, I was actually present in Kyoto when Godzilla attacked that place..."
The others were shocked to hear this. "Really?! That's terrifying!" Sakura said to her.
"Were... Were you all right?" Lily asked Junko.
"Thankfully, my family and I weren't close to where he is during the attack, so we were able to escape in time," replied Junko. "But despite this, it was still a shocking experience... I remember people running for their lives and seeing soldiers and tanks all over the place. We could hear explosions in the distance, and it was so loud that it seems to be close by... And then there's his terrifying roar, not to mention the occasional laser beam that shot across the sky..."
The others could not believe that she had experienced such a shocking event, even if she survived it. Moving close to Junko and placing her hand on her shoulder, Sakura said to her, "It's a good thing you've managed to escape, though. You should be glad! I'm sure it could've been worse."
"Hearing his name again after so long brought chills down my spine... It scared me hearing that after all these years, he is still alive and out there..." said Junko.
"Excuse me, but since I'm new to this era, I'm afraid I do not know of anyone called Godzilla..." said Yuugiri.
"Right, because he didn't exist during your time..." said Ai.
"Basically, a giant monster that first appeared in the early 1950s, and from the sound of it, he's still alive and kicking even after so long," Saki told the courtesan.
"Yeah, and nowadays, he's part of a group people call the 4 Abominations," added Lily. "Basically four super powerful beings that are said to be able to destroy the entire world if they want to. Scary..."
"Well, this world sure has changed in such a... terrifying way," commented Yuugiri when she heard that.
"Oh yeah, I'm just reminded... You think we should start calling ourselves revenants after hearing what Julius said?" suggested Saki, changing the topic all of a sudden.
"That's the first time I'm hearing that..." said Sakura. "I didn't realize they have different words for differentiating types of undeads..." Everyone then looked at the sleeping Tae. "I guess that means Tae is the only real zombie among us..."
"Lily thinks Lily will stick with zombie... Revenant doesn't have a nice ring to it..." said Lily. "Plus, he said revenant has fallen out of use nowadays and people use zombies for everything, so Lily is perfectly fine with being called a zombie rather than a revenant."
"I'm thinking the same too," said Saki. "Revenant simply doesn't sound cool. Zombie all the way!" All the others agreed to this.
"Well, I guess we better be prepared for tomorrow," said Ai, changing the topic. "Regardless of what's going to happen tomorrow night, we should still practice for our presentation. Tomorrow we'll be staying at the hotel all day to practice and then leave for the contest area at around evening."
The other idols agreed. Even though things look grim tomorrow, they were at least relieved to know that Smashers would be making sure that everything goes smoothly. Since this situation wasn't something they could deal with themselves, the best they could do was to be prepared for their performance and hope that everything turns out fine.
With that, they decided to call it a night and be prepared for whatever was in store for them tomorrow.
Evening of the next day...
Finally, the Golden Stag Festival was starting. Even though there was still a bit of time before the actual contest began, the plaza where the stage was located in was already crowded with thousands of people. The audiences chatted with other with great enthusiasm about what incredible performances they were going to see this year. There were pamphlets letting them know beforehand what performances there would be.
Daisy, being a royalty, was given a special seat way up front, on a beautifully-made throne. While the princess sat on the throne, her Toad escorts stood around her to make sure no harm befell her. The Smashers were also seated way up front, close to where Daisy was.
The ones present there consisted of Mario, Luigi, Peach, Dr. Mario, Zelda, Pit, Palutena, Yoshi, Jigglypuff, and Piranha. They had chosen to stay in the real world to make sure nothing goes wrong with their plan, though some only stayed because they didn't have confidence in joining the fight against Dracula and his army.
"Wow! There's a lot people!" said Peach, looking around.
"People sure are excited about this contest..." said Luigi.
Hearing them, Daisy turned to them and said, "Of course! The power of music cannot be underestimated! This is a special event for all music lovers! Even people who aren't here in person are watching it live at home! You won't believe how much attention this contest attracts people! I'm so excited that I got to attend it in person this year! Can't wait for it to begin!"
It was just as Daisy said. The contest was broadcast live in various parts of the world, and even if it wasn't shown on TV, there were live streams of it on computers.
Because of Franchouchou's participation in this contest, their fans back in Saga, Japan, all had their eyes glued to the television, waiting in anticipation for the show to begin and eventually see their favorite idol group began their performance. They were sure that they were going to pull off a spectacular performance like every time.
Even in Onett, Eagleland, some of the Smashers were already seated in front of the TV, anticipating the start of the contest. "So... you think we'll see our folks?" asked Falco, looking at the television with a bored expression.
"Assuming they sit in a good spot,"said Captain Falcon as he reclined on the sofa with his arms crossed.
"Actually, they're sitting way up front," said Fox as he looked at his smartphone. "I just talked to Mario on LINE. They're already at the plaza, waiting for the contest to begin."
"Ooh! I can't wait for it to start!" said Donkey Kong with enthusiasm. He had a bowl of popcorn in his hands and was also wearing a helmet with cup holders containing banana milkshake that had long straws leading to his mouth.
Looking at the gorilla, Samus said to him, "I didn't know you're such a big fan of music..."
Turning to her, Diddy said, "Donkey actually tried to start a band of his own back in his high school days. Too bad it never took off... That didn't really take away his interest in music, though."
Meanwhile, at Bowser's Castle located in the Mushroom Kingdom, Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings were all gathered before a large flat screen TV, waiting excitedly for the contest to begin.
Normally, they weren't excited in this sort of thing, but the only reason they were watching it now was because...
"I can't wait for it to start already!" said Larry excitement while bouncing and down on the sofa. "I wanna watch Franchouchou's performance! No. 1 all the way!"
"I can't wait to see my beautiful No. 3 on stage!" said Iggy with excitement. "Her dance moves are so awesome!"
"Ha! No. 2 is where it's at!" said Roy. "She exudes an aura of awesomeness you don't find often in girls! We would definitely get along with each other!"
"No. 6! No. 6! No. 6!" chanted Lemmy over and over while bouncing and balancing on a rubber ball.
"No. 0 is funny! Heheheh! I like her!" said Morton.
"The beauty and gracefulness of No. 4 is unlike anything!" said Ludwig. "There is no other answer than her being the best of the bunch!"
"Oh please! Everyone knows that the maturity and elegance of No. 5 is the only right answer!" Wendy said to him in disagreement.
"All of them are equally awesome!" proclaimed Bowser Jr.
While things went on at the audience area, lots of things were happening backstage as well. The performers for the contest had all gathered there to get ready for their performances. Some were busy getting dressed and some were still practicing, though some simply wandered around, finding ways to pass time.
None of them were aware of the grim situation that might befall this contest, so they were all cheerful and worrying about how they would perform for the contest instead. Franchouchou, on the other hand, knew full well about what might happen, so they had slightly worried looks on their faces as they watched the performers go about doing their stuff in the waiting and dressing rooms.
The seven idols had already gotten in their outfits specifically made for their performance. Their outfits were yellowish-white dresses made out of shiny texture, and on the back of their dresses were two pairs of wings. The parts facing the front were colored red and blue, but also with some gold tinges, while the back parts were white.
It wasn't wrong to say that their costumes made them look like stereotypical portrayal of angels, just with fancier wings.
"Everyone's so looking forward to this, yet they're unaware of things potentially going south..." said Junko with a worried look while watching all those present in the room.
"Hey, there's no use worrying over this," Saki told her. "The Smashers will definitely do something about this, so we should just relax and concentrate on our performance."
"We'll just go along with whatever happens. I'm sure things will turn out all right," said Yuugiri in agreement.
"I hope so..." said Junko, still looking worried.
Ai looked at a pamphlet she got her hands on and said, "There's a total of ten performances, and we're the last one to go on stage. Lots of new faces here as well... Either they're new or rose to fame after we all died."
Lily went up next to her and looked at the names of some of the performers. "K. Rap and the Kick-Tail Crew, Squid Sisters, Pauline, K.K. Slider and Isabelle, and... Barney the Dinosaur?!" A look of excitement appeared on his face when he saw the last name. "Barney is performing?! Wow! I can't believe it!"
"Yeah, I actually did see him earlier around here..." said Ai. "I'm surprised they actually let him in after what we've read about his child molesting crime..."
"It's been years already! I'm sure people no longer care about that!" Lily said to him. "This is his chance to redeem himself!"
Just then, K. K. Slider and Isabelle appeared before them. "Good to see you all here!" the former said to the zombie idols. "I hope you're ready for your performance!"
"The same to you too!" Sakura cheerfully said to him. "Let us all compete our best, and may the best group win the prize!"
"Remember that it doesn't matter whether or not you win. What matters is that you've performed your best and won the hearts of the people," K. K. Slider told her. "Music isn't to be used for commercialization, but for spreading happiness and also to heal the hearts of people. Good music can turn even the most depressed heart into the most cheerful one!"
"So I hope you all do your best!" Isabelle said to them.
Looking at Isabelle, Ai said to her, "By the way, I didn't know you are performing as well."
"This was actually a last moment decision," Isabelle said to her. "I did sing publicly back in Smashville a couple of times, and the folks there all think I'm a great singer! The mayor suggested that I show off my talents to the world here, and K. K. Slider here agreed as well, so I signed up."
"Indeed, Isabelle has a lovely voice that is sure to win the hearts of people!" agreed K. K. Slider. "I believe she has made the right decision to sign up for this!"
"Then we all look forward to your performance!" Sakura said to them happily.
As things went on at the plaza, Ganondorf, Link, Dark Pit, Lucario, Greninja, Ridley, the other world's Samus, Ridley, Bayonetta, Julius, and Alucard were standing in a nearby alleyway, watching things unfold out there.
Looking at his watch, Julius said, "The contest should begin in a few minutes."
"We don't know when exactly Dracula will attack, so I will cast the artificial realm when the contest begins," said Alucard. "I will then transport all of us into it, and when the monsters step out of the Mirror of Fate, they will find themselves in that realm. We have about one hour to take them all out before the realm disappears and we end up back in the real world."
"One hour should be enough," said Link. "At least I hope so..."
"You don't sound confident," Ganondorf said to him.
"It's never wrong to worry about something," Link told him. "Though of course, I have confidence that we can get the job done before then!"
"Another thing I have to tell you is that the realm overlaps with the real world," Alucard told them. "We won't be able to see the people in the real world nor can they see us, so interaction between both sides is impossible. However, when the realm disappears, we will appear in the same spot as the artificial realm. Therefore, in case we cannot defeat Dracula in time, we should quickly head to a different location so as not to appear among the audiences and cause a ruckus. Do you get that?" Everyone nodded.
"There's also this," said Dark Pit, taking out two glass bottles containing golden liquid inside them. "The goddess said these cleansing waters will be able to undo the mind control on Julius's old men. You just have to smash the bottles over their heads, and they will hopefully return to normal."
"Why do I feel like the smashing over their heads part is something you made up and are looking forward to doing...?" Link said to him.
Castlevania, or better known as Dracula's Castle...
It had been Dracula's hideout ever since his rose to power. The massive and intimidating castle had persisted through the ages as a powerful stronghold for the vampire and all the monsters living in it.
Every time Dracula was defeated, the castle would fade into nothingness without an explanation, but when the vampire got resurrected, the castle returned. However, ever since Dracula's latest defeat, the castle was sealed away by the Morris Clan, a branch of the Belmont Clan, into a pocket dimension in order to prevent it from appearing in the real world when Dracula rose to power again.
The seal was a powerful one, having last for several decades, even until now. It was definitely an effective seal that kept the castle from making its appearance again and perhaps for several more years. Even so, this wasn't going to stop Dracula from carrying out his evil plans.
The evil vampire sat on his throne within his castle with Death at his side, while watching the various kinds of monsters gathered before him, all of them starving for destruction and blood after being locked inside this place for so long.
Standing up from his throne, Dracula grabbed the attention of the monsters and said to them, "Thank you all for your patience. It has been a long time since you were all stranded inside Castlevania. While it is a disappointment that the seal on this castle will still last several more years, I am proud to let you know that I have come up with an alternate solution to this problem."
Hearing this, the monsters let out monstrous cries that sounded more like cheers of happiness.
Pointing to a large and tall mirror placed on the floor among the monsters, Dracula explained, "What you see there is the Mirror of Fate. That is the solution for you all to leave this place and into the real world. I have designated the perfect location for you to feast on the flesh, blood, and bones of the wretched mortal that despise us!"
Again, the monsters cheered when they heard this.
"The time is approaching, my army!" Dracula said to them. "It is once again time for the power of darkness to take over the light! Head out there and feast until your hearts are content! Teach the mortals a lesson they will never forget! With our power, we shall be able to rule over the world and all those who oppose us!"
This time, the monster let out cries of excitement while punching the air. They were all eager to began their rampage in the real world.
Little did they all know that their plan wouldn't turn out exactly as planned...
TO BE CONTINUED
The Golden Stag Festival is starting! Dracula's plan is underway as well! Fortunately, the Smashers have a surprise in store for him! This is it, we've official entered the climax of the story! I hope you all look forward to it!
And I should also let you know that I will not be skipping the contest. In fact, I plan to type out all ten performers and their performances, even if not in complete detail. Get YouTube ready, because you'll be using it to hear what songs and music they're going to perform!
Yes, the Squid Sisters are from Splatoon and Pauline is that woman from the Mario/Donkey Kong series. You'll be seeing them perform in the coming chapters! And does K. Rap sound like anyone familiar to you? Hmmm... I wonder...