Hey guys! Sorry about the long wait but I'm back again with a brand new chapter for you to enjoy! We start this chapter by introducing a brand new area and a few brand new fighters as well. However, this place may be a bit darker than some of the other locations I've introduced. Don't forget to fave, follow, rate, and review! Now, let's get into this brand new chapter!
Dracula's Castle, World of Trophies
This castle did not exist before the Great Light Convergence. However, once it appeared, many curious adventurers attempted to explore its mysterious contents. Unfortunately, none of them apparently made it out. The latest of these explorers was a 17th century vampire hunter named Simon Belmont. He was responsible for vanquishing many evil creatures in his day.
Simon was growing restless because he had been inside of the expansive castle for half a day and defeated any unfortunate creature that came his way with his signature whip. However, he couldn't find the man controlling them which he presumed to be the Dark Lord Dracula. His sworn enemy.
He was running up a staircase before he got interrupted by a creak on the wooden floor. This understandably left the hunter confused. "I'm not alone."
A projectile then shaped like a cross then sped toward him only to have Simon quickly reach for his vampire killing whip and easily deflect it.
A person then came out of the shadows behind them. He wore a blue hunter uniform and had brown hair. What really intrigued the vampire hunter though was the type of weapons he used. They were almost identical to the gear Simon had.
"Who are you?" Asked the blonde hunter.
"My name is Richter." Answered the man. "I'm here because I seek to vanquish whatever evil lies in this castle. That includes you as well."
"What gives you the impression that I'm evil?" Asked Simon aggressively.
"You're are nothing more than a poor illusion of my ancestor!" Spouted Richter. "You don't have the right to defile his legacy, ghost!"
"Wait… Ancestor?" Asked Simon confusedly.
Richter then threw a jar of liquid at Simon that lit in blue flames once it reached the ground. Simon could only briefly retreat.
Once the blue flames faded away, Simon used his whip to go on the offensive against Richter.
Richter responded by pulling out a whip identical to his and having the two weapons collide, creating a deafening metallic crack.
"How? But that's impossible!" Said Simon. "Only Belmonts have the strength necessary to wield that weapon!"
Then the realization hit Simon like a bus. "I don't want to fight you!"
"Why not, ghost?" Asked Richter aggressively.
"I'm not a ghost, and I'm not some undead creature created by Dracula or anything like that." Said Simon wholeheartedly. "I'm the real Simon Belmont. Renowned Vampire hunter. But what I really want to know is who are you? I can tell you have a heart just like mine."
After some processing, the younger hunter realized what was going on and took a deep breath. "My name is Richter Belmont. And to be honest, I have no idea why or how I got here."
Simon grew more intrigued. "Belmont? But I've never heard of you before. Are you a lost brother or cousin of mine?"
Richter then decided to tell him the truth. "Actually, I'm a descendant of yours from a century into your future."
Simon grew surprised at this revelation. "So the Belmont legacy does live on. No wonder why you matched me blow for blow." Something then dawned on the blonde vampire hunter. "I believe it's possible that not only new species are appearing exponentially, but that the past and future are colliding as well. I think it may have something to do with that light."
"That may be the case." Responded Richter. "What were you doing here?"
"I tracked Dracula here." Explained Simon. "I defeated many of his minions, but I came across new forms of monsters that I haven't seen in my life before.
Simon then readied his whip. "Now that we've apparently got everything sorted out, let's go kill ourselves a vampire."
"Agreed." Responded Richter. "Let's hope what we're eventually facing is just a vampire and not something worse."
The two hunters then ascended a staircase at the end of the hallway, disappearing into the eerie heights above.
Little did the vampire hunters know, there was another guest that was about to enter the spooky structure through the front door.
This guest was a well-muscled man in a white fighting uniform with exposed arms, tattered pants. and no shoes. He also sported a traditional martial arts black belt, a red headband, and red fighting gloves.
I hope whoever's in there has answers for whatever happened to the sky when it lit up. Thought the fighter with slight curiosity. I don't want to run into another dead end.
The man entered the castle and instead of going upstairs like Simon did, he decided to start in the basement and lower crypts because he had a feeling there would be something lurking underneath.
After a couple twists and turns, the man seemed to have a stroke of luck when he found a floating ghost that looked almost spherical. He was white as snow and had stubby arms. He finally had a long red tongue he could stick out at will. The fighter was about to interact with it as it approached toward him. However, this ghost looked to be running from something else and fleeted past the confused fighter. He looked to the dark hallway in front of him when suddenly, a yellow entity crashed into his chest. The resulting impact knocked down both the fighter and the mysterious creature.
When the fighter came to a few seconds later, he saw the creature unconsciously lying on the ground. Surprised at the unique shape of the creature, the street fighter could only utter one thing. "What are you?"
From what the fighter could see, the yellow entity was entirely spherical with humanoid limbs, orange mitten-like hands, and red boots. He also had a face similar to a common smiley face except with different eyes and a more expressive mouth.
When the yellow entity finally woke up, he looked around and was shocked when he saw the muscled man in front of him.
"Hey relax. I'm not here to hurt you." Said the fighter. "Can you tell me what are you doing here? You look like you don't belong in this sort of environment."
The creature decided to explain what happened. "Well… Last thing I remember before the sky lit up was munching on some pellets I had. Before I knew it, I was sent in this castle. I soon found myself stuck in this labyrinth for days looking for ghosts for answers. I've been surviving off pellets I've found in the coffins here."
The fighter got some sense out of that explanation. "I see. To be honest, I've never seen anyone quite like yourself. Can you tell me your name?"
"I'm Pac-Man. And I hail from Pac-Land." Answered the creature with some sense of pride.
The fighter then decided to introduce himself to Pac-Man. "My name is Ryu. I've mostly been wandering the world and looking for a worthy fighter. But today, I've been looking for simply a sense of where I am because of that light you mentioned earlier. I believe whoever resides in this castle can give me a sense of direction."
"Well, I'll help you with finding him or her, Ryu!" Said Pac-Man. "I want to know where I am too."
With the new bond in friendship beginning to form between the two heroes, they soon managed to escape the lower crypt labyrinth and make their way back up to the ground floor.
Once they reached the main foyer, Ryu formulated a plan. "Okay. I have a feeling that there may be various types of hostile creatures lurking in the upper levels of this castle. I can take out any enemies in front of me while you take out anything that may surprise us from behind. That sound like a good plan?"
"Yeah." Responded Pac-Man. "I hope we succeed in finding out where exactly we are."
And with that plan made, the two unlikely allies made their way up the seemingly endless staircases and into the upper levels. Pac-Man was brimming with confidence. However, Ryu could only utter one last thing before continuing to walk. "Yeah. Me too."