"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" The ghostly demonic skull in the fire roared. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH IT?!"
"Like Hell I'd give that stone to you!" Abe roared back defiantly. "And you're not the only one with an army now!"
"SO I SEE. WHAT FOOLS YOU MUST BE. NO ONE COULD EVER STAND AGAINST THE GOD OF MONSTERS HIMSELF AND LIVE TO TELL THE TALE…"
At this, Lucy Dark froze.
"G…God of…n…no…" She stammered. "It…it can't be!"
"Oh my god…" Lisa added. "Y-You're…DRACULA!"
"I told you all the greats were real." Abe retorted. "You really thought the God of Monsters was someone else entirely?"
"Y…You're supposed to be a myth!" Randy stammered. "A story made up by Bram Stoker! Y-You're not real! You're a fiction! That justified the practice of black magic!"
"HA!" The voice boomed throughout the room, the house shaking as if terrified yet possessed by a poltergeist. "YOU FEAR ME THAT MUCH? TO DENY I EVEN EXIST? AS TO BE EXPECTED FROM SUCH MORTAL MEN AND MONSTERS. YET IT IS A DIFFERENT FEELING ENTIRELY TO KNOW THAT AMONG THOSE WHO COWER…ARE MY OWN BLOOD…"
The Dark family went wide-eyed.
"OH? DID YOU NOT ORIGINATE FROM MY HOMELAND OF ROMANIA? WERE YOU NOT BORN WITH THE FANGS BEING THE FIRST SIGN OF YOU SHEDDING YOUR HUMAN DISGUISES? WERE YOU NOT PERFECTED THROUGH GENERATIONS AS THE ULTIMATE MONSTER RACE? AND NOW THAT YOU HAVE MATED WITH THE SPAWN OF THE DEVIL HIMSELF AND BORE CHILDREN…YEEEEESSSSS, I BELIEVE THEY WILL DO NICELY AS THE MOST POWERFUL NIGHTMARE THIS WORLD COWERS BEFORE…"
Lucy felt her head spinning. It was one thing to learn she was the descendant of Satan, but being the descendant of both Satan AND Dracula?! No wonder the universe had an intense grudge and hatred against her!
"SOON YOU WILL BECOME LIKE ME, LUCILLE. RULING HELL AS ITS NEW QUEEN VOID OF ALL HUMANITY. MAN, DEMON, AND EVEN MONSTER ALIKE WILL FEAR YOU. BUT YOU WILL NOT BE HATED OR DESTROYED. FOR YOU ARE TOO POWERFUL TO DIE BY MORTAL MEANS. YOU ARE FATED TO BRING HORROR TO ALL WORLDS WITHIN THIS UNIVERSE. YOU AND YOUR BROTHER WILL BRING ABOUT THE AGE OF DARKNESS. THROUGH YOU, I SHALL RULE BOTH THE LIVING WORLD AND THE DEPTHS OF HELL. WE WILL BOTH BE GODS. NOW AND FOREVERMORE. BUT FIRST…YOU MUST BE RID OF THE ONE THING THAT KEEPS YOU BACK. A WEAKNESS THAT YOU MUST TOSS ASIDE. SURRENDER YOUR HUMANITY LIKE I HAVE. ONLY THEN WILL YOU UNLEASH THE TRUE POWER OF THE BEAST WITHIN. YOU HAVE NO CHOICE. IT IS INEVITABLE…"
Dracula's gaze then fell upon another: Frankenstein.
"AH. YOU MUST BE DOCTOR FRANKENSTEIN." He chuckled. "I SEE THAT YOU HAVE ALREADY GOTTEN YOURSELF ACQUAINTED TO THIS NEW CENTURY LIKE I HAVE. YET YOU HAVE SINNED, HENRY. TAINTED YOUR BLOODLINE FOREVERMORE. YOU MADE THAT BODY TO CREATE LIFE WITHOUT RECKONING UPON GOD. WITHOUT SUFFERING HIS WRATH. WELL…IT SEEMS THAT YOU HAVE FAILED. HE SHALL HAVE HIS VENGEANCE. FOR HE IS HERE. OR SHOULD I SAY…I AM HERE."
Frankenstein felt nervous. He remembered how Adam had reacted to regular fire. And how it was a severe and fatal weakness to this body. What would HELLFIRE do to the body?
"YOU." Dracula's eyes fell upon the fearless hunter. "YOU MUST BE THE VAN HELSING. YOUR KIND HAS BEEN A THORN IN MY SIDE FOR AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER. YOU THINK YOU CAN FOLLOW THROUGH WITH WHAT ABRAHAM AND ALICE ACCOMPLISHED?"
"Didn't I already tell you?" Abe said. "As you can see, I have an army now, Drac. You can't hide anymore. You know how the story ends. I WILL bring an end to you, or my name isn't Abraham Van Helsing The Second!"
"END ME? HOW? ALL YOU CAN DO IS MAKE ME YOUR CHILDREN'S PROBLEM, MUCH LIKE YOUR FOREFATHERS DID! YOU'LL JUST BE REPEATING THE VERY SAME MISTAKES THAT THEY MADE." Dracula taunted. "AND THIS TIME, I AM THE ONE PUTTING PENCIL TO PAPER! I AM MAKING MY OWN ENDING, AND THERE IS NOTHING YOU MERE MORTALS CAN HOPE TO DO TO STOP ME, LET ALONE DESTROY ME!"
Abe was silent. Must his line be cursed so? He had been desperate to try and find a way to end the cycle once and for all. And he STILL didn't have an answer.
"W…What do you want?!" Cory stammered. At this…Dracula only laughed through the fire.
"IS IT NOT OBVIOUS, CHILD?" Dracula stated. "I VANT…TO SUCK…YOUR…BLOOD!"
That roar had the flame erupt outward in a deathly scream before exploding viciously in a cloud of dark smoke. And from the darkness…the dark lord stepped forth.
In one pale white claw, he conjured forth a black longsword, ablaze with red hellish fire. Van Helsing did not flinch.
"You are a fool. Much like your forefathers." He said. "No human can ever kill a monster."
Wanna bet? Lisa thought, thinking back to those Swamp Monsters with allergies.
"Yeah, but with THIS, I have a fighting chance."
And that's when Van Helsing pulled it out. A green amulet. Cory and Lisa were shocked at this. It had the exact same design as THEIR amulets!
"By the supernatural, the power is mine to command!"
That's when the amulet began glowing and floating in the air. Pieces of green armor manifested, fastening themself to Van Helsing. Chestplate, clawed gauntlets, and pieces that covered the entire body! But there was something it did that Cory and Lisa's amulets didn't: It even gave him a horned helmet that covered the face, and magical monstrous wings sprouted forth from their previous cape form! And the amulet itself fastened itself in the heart of the breastplate, shielded by the armor itself.
"And it's always been a pleasure to kick your ass." Van Helsing stated, the armor making his voice a bit deeper and echoed to hide it. He conjured forth a sword of his own as he began blasting Rob Zombie's Dragula on his headphones.
"Hmph. But enough talk. Have at you!"
The vampire king charged forward, and the two clashed blades! They clashed again and again, with Dracula managing to kick Van Helsing into a wall before charging after him! He blocked the vampire's sword with his own in a fierce clash, both fighters struggling.
That was when a small gun-like compartment emerged from the hilt of the sword and managed to shoot a silver bullet through the dark lord's heart, making him roar in angered pain before Van Helsing headbutted him back.
"GAH! W…What is…?"
"A little thing we call a gun-sword." Van Helsing taunted. "You can thank Japan for giving me the idea."
With Dracula stunned, Van Helsing used his magic to throw out a green magical fireball. Dracula blocked it, with the hunter following up with a chained Holy Whip to strike at the head! Surviving the following explosion, Dracula roared and held out a hand.
"COME HERE!"
His eyes glowed a pale red, with Van Helsing staying his ground.
"Come…HERE!"
The hunter only responded by loading a shotgun and firing at the vampire, making him yell in pain.
"Your will is strong, Van Helsing." He growled as he saw the hunter reach for something on his person. "More wolfsbane?"
"More EFFECTIVE than wolfsbane, Count."
"Indeed…"
The vampire lunged, only for the flash of holy light from an enchanted cross to blind him! He hissed as Van Helsing added it to his armor, creating a barrier of holy magic.
"You don't do so well against Holy Magic, just like demons when outside their realm." Van Helsing said. "With something like this on my Monster Armor, you can't even TOUCH me. Now it's time to bring the Count down."
The hunter charged, fighting as Dracula's equal with hard blows, claw slashes, wing blocks, and even kicking him against a wall before slamming him through it and onto the ground of the kitchen. The vampire became a cloud of darkness to appear behind Van Helsing, yet the hunter managed to block a bite with an armored arm, making Dracula roar in pain as his fangs began aching.
His target left wide open, Van Helsing readied a crossbow and fired a wooden stake into the undead king's heart. Dracula staggered back, but managed to grab the stake and ripped it out.
"You really think that could send me into a slumber like last time?" He chuckled. "I have evolved BEYOND such weaknesses."
"Even beyond THIS?"
Van Helsing threw garlic right on the vampire's face, making him roar from the sting. Whipping out his Day Ray, he fired to brighten up the area, beginning to burn the vampire! With an enraged roar, Dracula zipped up and swatted the weapon out of his grip before Helsing grabbed an arm about to reach his neck.
"Get those WRETCHED toys away from me! I will NOT be defeated by the likes of you again!"
"How about CURED?"
Van Helsing pointed the Transformation Ray at Dracula's head, set to the Natural Setting, and fired. The vampire screamed before kicking the hunter through a wall, sending him into a hallway of Shadow House.
"You DARE try and make me WEAK again?!"
Abe only did a handspring back up. "I can do this all night, Nosferatu…"
"Is that so? Demonstrate."
The battle that followed ended up demolishing most of the haunted mansion's interior. Van Helsing slammed Dracula through the floor and made them fall into the basement, then threw him into a furnace. Shrugging off the flames, Dracula landed a powerful uppercut that sent Helsing into the attic, and he dodged a sword strike that sliced a bed in half and kicked the vampire through a closet door.
Their fight, however, was brief. After fighting all throughout every single room of Shadow House, Dracula managed to knock Van Helsing back into the same room where their clash started.
"Oh, I almost forgot about your new party." He chuckled. "Very well…let us see how THEY fare."
With an eldritch demonic and vampiric scream, Dracula lunged with his sword at the Midnight Society. He managed to withstand Lissandra's flames and sliced through Floron's vines with ease. He grabbed Arach-Kid's webs and threw him into the ceiling, then took a punch to the face from Super Duper without even flinching.
"What?!"
"You are indeed super. But I am beyond super."
To prove his point, he uppercutted the hero on the chin to send him flying through the roof! He caught a thrown shield from Cobalt and sent it right back, and easily took down the rest of H.E.R.O. as if they were cosplayers.
He easily reflected both Billy, Ben, Tara, Mirpo, Cobra, Morgred, and the Wright twins' blasts and sent them right back, then caught Kruu's Water Fist construct before crushing it and shoulder tackling her with a supernatural dash into another room.
He clashed with Sue and Eddie next, easily dispatching them like the rest. Then, his sword clashed against Excalibur.
"Arthur. So you're still alive…"
"I have been cursed just as much as YOU have been, fiend."
"You failed when I was but a man. What hope do you have now, that I am a god?"
He then broke the clash by effortlessly shattering Excalibur!
"No! That's impossible-!"
A heavy punch punctured the armor, sending him flying. And a disintegration ray felt like a mere mosquito bite.
"NONONONONONONONO-AAAAAAUGH!"
He walked up to a fleeing Mirpo, grabbing him by the big brain and tossing him into the wall. Wargon roared as he struck next, effortlessly dueling against the vampire. Dracula only disarmed the demon and violently broke his arm, making the demon roar as the lava-like blood spurted out before smacking him across the face to send the fighter face-plate hard against the wooden floor.
The other six were no better. Dracula proved faster than Primor and intercepted him when the speed demon ran circles around him, kicking him through another wall. He grabbed Lushara whip and yanked it from her grip before elbowing her to the ground. He intercepted a sneak attack from Greivor, and soon the Sins of Sloth, Envy, and Gluttony fell with but a single blast of dark magic.
Unseen, Hannah Fairchild managed to phase into the vampire, groaning with effort as he tried to resist being possessed. He only managed to reach within himself and use his dark magic to rip Hannah out, tossing her aside. It was then that he felt a metal bat crack and break against him.
He turned to see Zach gulp before swatting him aside like a fly.
Grady lunged with a howl, Dracula holding his jaws back as the werewolf snarled.
"Know your place, DOG!"
He kneed the wolf in the jaw before slamming him to the ground and bringing his heel down on the alpha. He kicked the werewolf away, who whimpered in pain as he tumbled. He then felt Freddy Martinez bite him, so he tossed him over the shoulder and easily pounded him.
Eventually all of the Midnight Society ended up getting beaten by Dracula. Mr. Hyde cursed as he was strangled by his own belt before getting kneed in the back. Dracula could sense Brent Green and see through his invisibility and dealt a fatal kick. Ellie's advantage of flying was all for naught, as Dracula shapeshifted into a bat to scream at her, making her fall covering her ears from the sonic shockwaves that shattered the glass. Dracula changed back and grabbed Lynne's arrow before swinging her by the tail, then shapeshifted into a wolf to battle Wolf, easily scaring him and scaring off the other pets. Monsty and Yolky stood no chance either, with the Egg Monster having to avoid a pillar of hellfire and all of Monsty's bubbles being frozen and shattered. Dracula even ripped Dina's tail off and kicked her into a staircase.
One by one, each member fell. Vampire, werewolf, ghost, lizard, demon, robot, superhero, not even Eric Affabee could touch Dracula, as he managed to rip that briefcase to pieces and blasted him with dark magic into a bookshelf. And even Tara's time magic had no effect on him!
Finally, Cory and Lisa were forced back into their human forms, with Van Helsing, Frankenstein, Lucy, and her brother Randy panting heavily. At least THESE four were putting up a worthy fight.
"Truly I expected nothing more, and nothing less. But you belong dead, Henry."
Frankenstein growled, preparing his green electric hammer.
"I'm not going alone…"
He charged with a roar, but all it took from Dracula was a single punch to send the monster flying through the wall and television, landing on a couch. Dracula only laughed as he stepped forth.
"This very same body clashed with me before. With that exact same weapon. I know all your tricks, Doctor. This is nothing new to me."
Another punch sent Frankenstein tumbling outside. Dracula easily managed to disarm Frankenstein, and from the vampire's perspective, he could see the large fist swinging towards him in slow motion. Effortlessly, he dodged it and countered with a palm to the chest, then rushed up to the monsters to deliver more blows, all while dodging all those from the creature.
Henry DID get lucky a few times. He managed to grab Dracula from behind and suplex him to the ground thanks to his incredible strength, but the vampire dodged a stomp by becoming a swarm of darkness, which in turn became bats that swarmed Frankenstein. At least his electric hammer managed to vaporize all but one, which was hit by the hammer and reformed into Dracula as he slammed against a fence. The vampire got back up, chuckling as he brushed off some dust.
"Alright…I think that concludes the warmup."
Now holding nothing back, Dracula blitzed up to Frankenstein, effortlessly knocking him back into the living room. The monster groaned as he felt something nearly break.
"You were once a man. Now you are nothing more than a corpse. A wretched abomination. And I shall put you out of your misery."
Dracula entered the room and looked around before smirking.
"Now…what was it you used to say again?" He asked. "Oh…that's right…"
Frankenstein's eyes went wide as Dracula conjured forth a fireball the size of a basketball in a single palm.
"Fire bad."
"RUN!"
The monster's words came too late. Dracula heaved the fireball with a savage roar, which slammed against the wall. Immediately, the hellfire began to spread all over the mansion, engulfing it in a dark inferno!
"Shit!" Van Helsing cursed. "Henry! Get everyone out of here!"
Clad in his Monster Armor, Van Helsing clashed again and again with Dracula, but the vampire lord managed to slash at the armor's face to reveal his nemesis' left eye, then delivered a powerful kick to the groin to force the hunter to his knees.
"This…is where your bloodline ENDS."
Another savage punch to the face sent Van Helsing tumbling into some debris. The impact caused more to come loose, causing Frankenstein to get pinned under some. He struggled desperately before the flames could come any closer!
Finally, a breath of hellfire grazed Dracula, and he grabbed Lucy by the throat and slammed her to the floor, making her cough and struggling to breathe. Not even her Hellbat form was enough to even touch Dracula!
"You have far more potential than your brother. Yet you still so foolishly hold on to your weak humanity."
He threw her into more fire, Lucy coughing hard as she landed.
"Allow me to free you of this curse…"
He turned to another weakened figure. In what seemed like slow motion, Lucy saw the dark lord lunge and ready his fangs. Her heart nearly froze when she saw who he was going to kill.
DINA!
"NOOOOOOOOOO!'
In desperate rage, she flew towards Dina at monstrous demonic speeds, getting in between them a split-second before Dracula could chomp down.
Finally, she felt something. PAIN. A sharp unbearable pain, right in her neck! She had never, EVER been this seriously hurt before. And given the intense training from her demon mentors, that was saying something. But she would take ANY pain to save her beloved. If it was the last thing she ever did.
Lucy screamed in sheer pain, and felt herself going faint. Once he was satisfied, Dracula dealt a hard punch to her side to knock her aside, then tossed Dina towards her as well.
He smirked. Not only did his plan go smoothly, but he also tasted a mixture of monster and demon blood for the first time. How delicious.
He walked over to the pink stone that was revealed in the struggle and picked it up. It was then that he noticed Frankenstein roar as he heaved the fiery debris off of himself.
"Let this be a lesson to you all!" Dracula roared, having gotten what he came for. "Interfere with the beginning of this new era once again, and you shall pay dearly with your lives! Unlike the dummy, I am NOT playing around! In only a few more hours, MONSTERS WILL RULE!"
"NO!"
Angered, Van Helsing fired a desperate shot, a wooden stake right to Dracula's brain, but all it passed through was a black mist of darkness and hit the wall, the vampire's laughter echoing through the inferno.
"DAAAAAAAAAMN!" Van Helsing roared in anger. There was no time left. "Henry, we have to get out of here! Get those girls and go!"
Quickly, Van Helsing scanned the house for any lifesigns. None. Dammit, this couldn't be-!
Wait! He was getting something! They were all outside, albeit having passed out from the immense heat and lack of air!
"GO GO GO!"
He raced through the house after Frankenstein, shoulder-bashing his way through more debris that tried blocking his way. If he knew the effects of hellfire well, then the result wouldn't be pretty.
As the last one to escape the burning mansion, Van Helsing took a diving leap as suddenly, he felt the entire Shadow House explode behind him!
Abe felt himself hit the ground tumbling. He could only think how Victor had to do much the same, escaping that mill after defeating Frankenstein. He took off the helmet just to breathe, coughing heavily. And then, he and Frankenstein went wide-eyed with shock and horror.
This was Dracula's full power. Nothing was left of Shadow House but a big inferno. 943 Fear Street was no more…
Van Helsing only turned to Cory and Lisa's unconscious bodies wordlessly. Some called this place home. Others saw it as a place to hang out.
It could've been worse. Someone could've died tonight. But the night was young.
Van Helsing knew that this was only the beginning. This was nothing compared to what Dracula was going to do. If not stopped, the whole world would burn just like this house.
But it wasn't just teenagers and adults. Even KIDS had narrowly survived. The journey ahead was too dangerous to them.
Abraham Van Helsing II only clenched his fists and gritted his teeth under that bandana.
Alright, Drac. He thought. You want a war? You're gonna GET one…