Hey guys! I'm here with another chapter ready for you all to read! I hope everyone had a great weekend and an outstanding 4th of July! We pick up where we left off after Simon and Richter got to introduce themselves to one another after a misunderstanding. The same thing could be said about Ryu and Pac-Man a few floors down. What horrors await them at the highest level of the castle? Read this chapter to find out. As always, don't forget to fave, follow, and review and all that good stuff! Now, let's get into this chapter!

Dracula's Castle, World of Trophies

Simon and Richter were traversing the upper levels of the castle very thoroughly. They cleared each chamber of all sorts of enemies ranging from undead soldiers to werewolves.

"I can feel Dracula's presence getting closer." Said Simon. "We must be nearing the chamber where he's hiding inside."

"I agree with you there." Responded Richter. "It'll be satisfying to kill that monster alongside my ancestor."

Soon enough, after a long flight of stairs, they reached a large and ominous pair of doors looming over them.

"Why don't I let you do the honors?" Asked the younger Belmont.

"It will be my pleasure." Said Simon with an eager look on his face.

The elder Belmont then pushed his hands on both doors. After some effort, the doors swung wide open and kept on moving until they stopped against the wall with a loud thud.

The two hunters then walked inside the dark room for a few seconds until the doors suddenly closed behind them as an iron bar fell on the doors' hooks, locking them inside and rendering the room pitch black.

"Now this is a surprise." Said a deep voice.

"Show yourself, monster!" Shouted Richter.

"Now now." Continued the voice as torches lit up the large space. "Show some respect to the host of this event."

As the trio got a look around the newly lit chamber, it was revealed to be a 17th Century European throne room complete with ornate and gothic architecture.

The last of the torches lit up to reveal a tall and slender man sitting on a throne. He had long gray hair and had a goatee which signified he was a man of old age. He wore an old black European noble outfit with knee high boots, red accents, and a long black jacket. What completed his look though was a large cloak that made him seem more intimidating. He was holding a glass of wine in his left hand while resting his right hand on the throne's respective armrest.

"So the legendary Dracula lives once again." Said Richter. "I'm surprised you still haven't been put in the dirt yet."

"Death still means nothing to me even after centuries of defeat." Responded Dracula. "I shall always be a plague on your house for eternity."

The vampire then set his wine down and stood from his throne. He then slowly walked toward the two vampire hunters. "Do you have any suspicion regarding the cause of the light that occurred?"

Silence and scowls were the hunters' only responses. "I shall take that as a no. I have proof that there is a greater mastermind than even myself in this scenario. My underlings all over this world have relayed the message to me that this being of light known as Galeem was responsible for the light that has afflicted not only this world, but thousands of other worlds all over this universe."

"And why are you telling us of this?" Said the elder Belmont.

Dracula then continued to explain. "I wish to be the darkness to Galeem's light. I shall bring him your heads to appease him. Together, him and I shall be gods among men as we conquer this world and beyond."

"Well, that isn't gonna happen!" Shouted Richter. "We Belmonts have a specialty in taking you down! You're pretty much done for because now there's two of us!"

"We'll take you down for good, Dracula!" Added Simon. "Whatever it takes!"

Dracula chuckled. "Sure you may defeat me, unlikely as that may seem, but what will you do when you will have to face a being of pure light?"

The Belmonts drew their weapons as their faces looked determined to slay the vampire.

"Absolutely nothing. Because your defeat is inevitable. By his hand, or mine." Finished Dracula

Richter screamed as he charged into a direct assault at the vampire. Simon decided to jump and hit Dracula with his whip overhead right after the younger Belmont made his move.

Dracula launched a barrage of mystic fireballs at Simon before dealing a devastating kick toward Richter, pushing him back. The fireball assault kept Simon on his toes, but he retaliated by dropping a jar of holy water and momentarily stunning Dracula, buying enough time for Richter to get back on his feet.

The two hunters then charged back toward the vampire for another assault.

Ryu and Pac-Man were hearing the commotion coming from the higher levels of the castle as they were ascending the upper staircases of the castle. Soon enough, they were determined in finding out where the sound of the fighting was coming from.

"Come on! We need to find the source of that sound!" Said Ryu.

Pac-Man was having no problem keeping up with the street fighter because of his unique physiology.

After a few more staircases, they finally reached the entrance to the throne room only to find the large door tightly shut.

"What do we do now?" Asked Pac-Man. "The door won't open!"

"Of course it won't." Said a new voice which caught the two heroes off guard.

A floating figure then came out of one of the shadows behind a set of pillars. This figure wore a long dark cloak with a hood which covered most of his head. However, his skull-like face was still visible. He had white skeletal hands and wielded a scythe that radiated supernatural power.

"You outsiders won't interfere in my master's business." Said the figure.

"What on the other side of that door?" Asked Ryu.

"My Lord Dracula himself. Not that you two will be alive to see him in the flesh." The figure then readied his scythe for battle. "Over the centuries, people have referred me as the Grim Reaper, The Angel of Death, The Collector of Souls. However, you can simply call me Death."

Death then swung his scythe, prompting Ryu and Pac-Man to jump out of the way. Ryu attacked first by firing a unique projectile at the reaper.

"Hadoken!" Shouted the fighter.

The attack only knocked back Death a foot or two.

Pac-Man decided to follow up the attack with a fruit projectile from his world.

However, Death regained his ethereal balance and deflected the tasty looking projectile with his weapon before unleashing an onslaught of miniature scythes in all directions.

This forced the two heroes to hide behind some nearby pillars. Unfortunately, one of these scythes grazed Ryu's arm, causing it to bleed.

"This isn't going well for us!" Said Pac-Man. "We need to find out a way to stop that thing!"

Suddenly. Ryu thought of an idea despite taking heavy damage. "Keep him distracted. I have a technique I have in store for situations like this."

"On it, Ryu." Pac-Man then jumped out from the pillar and summoned a fire hydrant.

Death could only be slightly amused before Pac-Man made the hydrant airborne with a well placed kick. The flying hydrant hit Death square in the face, causing a crack to form on the front side of his skull.

"You'll pay for that you pathetic creature!" Said the reaper as he readied his weapon once more.

While the pellet muncher and grim reaper were facing off, Ryu was charging up a special move while purging his heart and mind of all evil tendencies.

Back in the throne room, Simon and Richter were starting to struggle against Dracula and his ever growing supernatural assault.

"And you two call yourselves vampire hunters." Taunted the vampire as he wrapped his cold right hand around Simon's neck, choking the life out of him.

Richter attempted to save his ancestor by charging forward and leaping at the vampire's exposed face. Unfortunately, Dracula caught the younger Belmont in midair with his free left hand and threw him to the ground. He attempted to get up, but the vampire pinned the hunter on the ground by having his foot over his throat.

"The legacy of the Belmont Clan dies here!" Declared Dracula.

As he was about to kill the two hunters, a faint voice could be heard from the other side of the large barred door.

"Shinku…"

Dracula grew curious by this new occurrence but did not loosen his grip on either Belmont. However, this feeling was soon very brief as the door lit up in a white hue.

After a few more seconds passed, Dracula knew what was about to happen as his eyes widened. "Hadoken!" Suddenly a burst of white power blasted the door open. This slightly fazed Dracula and freed the vampire hunters from his deathly grip. Death then came flying through and crashed into Dracula's throne, reducing it to rubble.

Ryu walked through the destroyed doors, closely followed by Pac-Man. There was something different about the street fighter though. His eyes had a white glow to them as a pure energy aura flowed through him.

This aura soon wore off as he reverted back to his normal form. However, this didn't sap Ryu of his fighting strength or spirit.

"So you must be Dracula." Said Ryu. "All this time I thought you were just a myth."

The Belmonts recovered and looked at the two fighters. Despite the fact they didn't recognize them, they were both relieved that reinforcements had arrived in a timely fashion.

"I am. And I am very real. I see you've taken out my most loyal servant. You must have some extraordinary power flowing within you." Surmised the vampire.

"My power is my own business, freak." Spouted back Ryu. "Regardless, I've been looking for a good fight for days!"

"I see." Said Dracula. "As for you, yellow creature, it baffles me that such a thing exists."

This got Pac-Man understandably angry. "I'm more powerful than you know!"

"Unfortunate." Said Dracula. "May you two beg for mercy."

Before the vampire was ready to make a move though, something was holding him back. He looked down and noticed that his ankles were tied to the Belmonts' whips. Simon wrapped his around the right ankle while Richter had the left. The two hunters then pulled Dracula back to where his destroyed throne was.

This initially had the vampire upset with fury. However, this anger was soon replaced with a smirk on his face followed by a chuckle. "Now that this is getting heated up, this might be a fight worthy of my time."

Dracula then lit himself up in a purple aura as his size was further increasing. After a few more seconds, his body transformed into a more monstrous form. His skin was a dark turquoise color with crimson wings under his arms. He had a longer snout similar to a snake with red eyes and devil-like horns. His hands and feet had razor sharp claws for easy strikes. His new form was finally complete with a tail similar to Ridley's.

He unleashed a mighty ear piercing roar that shook the entire throne room.

Once the four fighters looked at what they were facing against, they all knew that they were in for a tough fight.