Simon Belmont held the Vampire Killer firmly in his hands as the stagecoach came into Smashville. It looked quite peaceful from what he could see outside the window, not like the type of place where his vampire slaying whip was needed. There were no gates or traces of monsters needing to be kept out by gates. Still it never hurt to be prepared and this was a fighting tournament he was going to. Of course there was no way Smash Mansion could be worse than Dracula's Castle.
The stagecoach pulled to a stop and Simon threw open the door. He stepped out onto the paved road of Smashville. The horses pulled the stagecoach forward and through a portal that had just opened up, it closed once its purpose had been fulfilled. Simon didn't trust the strange magic used by the Hands but it hadn't harmed him yet. There didn't seem to be any lingering effects from the closing of the portal either.
"Hey Simon," someone shouted. Simon spun around with the vampire killer ready to strike. He eased up when he saw who had shouted. A brown haired angel was running towards him with a younger boy following behind. They felt familiar somehow and Simon felt oddly sure that their names were Kid Icarus and Mega Man.
"Are you two my guides?" Simon asked.
"Yes. My name is Mega Man and this is Pit. It's nice to meet you Simon." So he had gotten one right and the other wrong based on pure instinct. Simon wasn't much of a thinker but he could tell something was up. "Pit I thought you told me you didn't know the newcomer's name," Mega Man said.
"Yeah I didn't," Pit said. He looked confused, Simon felt the same. Was there something he was missing?
"So you just shouted out a random name?" Mega Man asked.
"What do you- oh right. Uh, Simon is your name right? I don't know why but when I looked at you I really felt like that was your name," Pit said. While talking he waved his hands in front of him frantically like he was trying to block something.
"Yes, my name is Simon. Somehow I just knew Mega Man's name too. But I thought you were named Kid Icarus for some reason," Simon said.
"This is really weird. Now that I think about Pit looked oddly familiar when we first met and I get that feeling from you too. What's going on here?" Mega Man asked.
"I bet lady Palutena knows. She and Rosalina are up in the observatory I think," Pit said. Simon had planned on gathering information in the town anyway. Hopefully there wouldn't be any pranksters whose idea of a joke was giving false information to their only hope against the darkness. He most certainly wasn't bitter about any past experiences in his own world.
Simon followed Pit and Mega Man into the museum and past the sleeping curator. As they walked up the stairs to the observatory Simon caught sight of a sign for an exhibit. 'Coming soon: The Belmont Clan vs Dracula, a secret war. 1094 AD – 2036 AD.' Simon did a complete one eighty degree turn and rushed back down the stairs. Mega Man and Pit followed behind him as Simon leapt onto the first floor and shook the museum curator awake.
"Is there some emergency?!" Blathers exclaimed.
"Simon what are you doing to Blathers?" Pit asked.
"That exhibit on my family, how were you able to make it?" Simon asked. Mega Man pulled Simon away from Blathers with a surprising amount of strength.
"Calm down. When it comes to our worlds Master Hand commissions the exhibits and donates everything needed to start it up. Blathers is just using what he was given," Mega Man said. In other words Simon was going to have a long talk with the floating disembodied hand, not the anthropomorphic owl. That wasn't a thought he had ever expected to have. Simon wondered what he had done to deserve such a bizarre experience. Surely killing Dracula should have earned him something more sensible.
"Sorry. It's just that exhibit is rather suspicious. Because in my world it's the year 1699 but it claims to have knowledge from 2036," Simon explained. Mega Man looked up at one of the exhibits but quickly looked away and back at Simon. Simon had been able to trace Mega Man's gaze to an exhibit titled 'The Maverick Wars.' Was that based on Mega Man's world?
"Hoo that is quite strange. A similar thing happened with some other newcomers some time ago but I never did get around to asking Master Hand about it. I'll make sure to remember this time," Blathers said.
"Thank you. I'll handle the questioning myself, you don't need to get more involved. And sorry about waking you up," Simon said.
"Oh it's no problem I'm used to it. Feel free to wake me up if you ever want to donate something to the museum," Blathers said. Simon nodded and turned to head back up the stairs with Pit and Mega Man close behind. They walked up to the observatory at the top of the museum without further incident.
Inside the observatory there was another sleeping owl and two women who were seated and drinking tea. Pit immediately ran over to one of them with an excited shout of 'lady Palutena.' Simon guessed that the other one sitting next to the telescope was Rosalina. "Hello Simon, it's nice to meet you," Rosalina said. She gestured for him to come closer.
"How do you know my name?" Simon asked.
"Oh the two of us like to stay on the ball when it comes to newcomers. That way I know when to pull out the cameras. Who needs TV when you can watch Master Hand get beat up in slow motion on repeat?" Palutena answered. Simon didn't like where the conversation was going, he didn't know what a camera or TV was. "So is there anything you need?"
"Something weird is going on. Simon knew my name the moment we met and Pit knew his. All of us feel like we know each other but we're from other worlds, if we met we would know it right?" Mega Man asked. He tapped the side of his head like it would trigger the return of some missing memory.
"Oh. This might be a little hard to explain," Palutena said. Her tone had turned serious. Rosalina took a sip of tea and gently placed the cup back on the table.
"Simon Belmont, Mega Man, and the angel who fought against the Underworld are comrades. But they aren't you," Rosalina said.
"Say that again, but in a way that makes sense please," Simon said.
"Why didn't I get name dropped," Pit complained.
"I'll get to that later, there's a reason other than teasing you. Thanks to Master Hand this space is kind of a 'in between' area when it comes to different worlds," Palutena said. "That doesn't just include the ones he sends out letters to. And some worlds are a lot less different than you think. In fact they're so similar that they have the same people in them."
"There is another world that has a Simon Belmont of its own for example, in many ways that Simon is the same as you but you are still different people. However in a space like this where the walls between worlds are permeable something called Reality Bleed occurs. Reality Bleed is when somebody feels or remembers something that another world's version of them did," Rosalina continued.
"I think I see where this is going. There's another world where the three of us are friends right?" Mega Man asked.
"That's right. In that world Pit was named Kid Icarus for some weird reason so that's why Rosalina didn't use his name," Palutena said.
"So I knew Simon's name the moment I saw him because I'm already friends with him, but that's technically someone else except for the part where they're me, but they're not really me…" Pit scratched his head as he tried to work out what he had just heard. Palutena sighed.
"And that's why I waited this long to explain it. Don't think about it too much Pit. I don't want you to have an existential crisis," Palutena said.
"I'm not sure I fully get this but it doesn't sound like any kind of curse so I won't worry about it," Simon said. "But I still have one question you might be able to answer, there's going to be an exhibit which has things from the future of my world. How?"
"The flow of time in each world is like a river, if you get out of the river and walk next to it you can enter at any point you desire. Because Master Hand made this world his base he's stuck following the proper flow of time here, but for your world he can choose not just where but also when in it he appears. He's already used this to recruit a few Smashers from very different points in the timeline of their world," Rosalina explained.
"So that means he's already seen what the future in my world is like," Simon said. If that was true then Master Hand could have picked any Belmont he wanted to recruit. Had Simon really been the best option? Surely Leon, Trevor, or Christopher would have been Master Hand's preferred choice, and what of those who would come after Simon? He had screwed up and let himself get cursed in the battle with Dracula, and while getting rid of the curse he ended up bringing the damn vampire back for another chance to destroy humanity. According to the family records no prior Belmont had needed two tries to slay Dracula. So why was he the chosen representative of the Belmont clan?
"Hey Simon are you okay?" Mega Man asked. Simon realized he had been starring into space while running his hand over the Vampire Killer.
"Sorry. I was just thinking about what this all means," Simon said.
"I suppose you aren't in the mood to hear about our 'point of divergence' theory then?" Rosalina asked with a teasing smile.
"Hey I'm the one in charge of teasing here," Palutena said.
"We should go before they give you more of an existential crisis," Mega Man said. He grabbed both Simon and Pit by their hands, then dragged them out of the observatory despite Pit's protests. The door closed behind them on its own. Simon was still surprised by Mega Man's strength. Then he realized something he should have asked before getting dragged away by Mega Man. But he had a feeling Mega Man and Pit knew the answer anyway.
"How did those two know all of that anyway?" Simon asked. He broke his hand out of Mega Man's grip and took the lead going down the stairs to the museum exit. Pit was released and caught up with Simon.
"Lady Palutena is the goddess of light from my world and Rosalina is a goddess from another world. Well Rosalina has never called herself that but she definitely is, lady Palutena says so herself," Pit said. Normally the talk of gods would have put Simon on guard but Master Hand had made sure to stress to Simon that other worlds had their own gods so religiously motivated conflict would be both meaningless and get him kicked out of the mansion. As long as Palutena didn't demand tribute from him he was fine with her.
"Master Hand must have a lot of confidence to invite people like them here. Unless he really is that strong," Simon said. They walked past Blathers, who had fallen back to sleep. The trio stopped at the base of the stairs outside the museum.
"There's no way lady Palutena would ever cause trouble for Master Hand. Well, not the kind of trouble that gets people hurt at least. Besides Ridley and K. Rool are the ones you should keep an eye on, I don't trust those jerks," Pit said.
"Are you still mad about K. Rool stealing your ice cream?" Mega Man asked.
"Of course I am. Ice cream is a big deal. It wasn't just any ice cream either, it was floor ice cream," Pit said. He still sounded outraged about the incident.
"Who are you talking about?" Simon asked. He had decided not to dignify the idea of floor ice cream with any form of acknowledgement. Floor meat was something else entirely.
"Sorry. Two of the Smashers who joined recently have been causing a bit of trouble. But the mansion is neutral ground so it's not actual fighting, outside of the matches at least," Mega Man explained.
"If they do cause any trouble just leave it to me. Now are we going to the mansion? I'm interested in seeing where the fights happen," Simon said.
"Yeah. The taxi should be here any second," Mega Man said.
"Taxi?" Before his question could be answered what he assumed was the taxi pulled up and stopped in front of the group. A green creature around the same size as Blathers was sitting by the front with a wheel in its hands. Ignoring his own concerns Simon opened the door and got into the backseat of the taxi, despite the confusing lack of a visible power source (like a horse) it was still clearly something along the lines of a stagecoach. He had planned on walking but protesting wasn't worth it.
"Hey Kapp'n, three for Smash Mansion," Pit said as he sat down next to Simon.
"Simon you should put on your seatbelt," Mega Man said.
"No don't it's much more exciting without seatbelts," Pit said. Kapp'n gave a sigh.
"It really isn't. Now please put it on or I'll tell Palutena," Mega Man said. Kapp'n chimed in with a declaration that the taxi wouldn't move until everybody had their seatbelts on. Pit sadly put his seatbelt on. Simon didn't understand why it was needed but it was easy enough to do and seemed like it could be removed quickly if something went wrong. The taxi started moving down the road towards Smash Mansion.
Simon looked out the window, the scenery was passing by much faster than it had with the stagecoach before. "So I was about to say this before Kapp'n arrived, what do you guys think we should do about this Reality Bleed thing?" Mega Man asked.
"What can we do? It's not hindering us according to what Palutena and Rosalina said," Simon said.
"Are you really fine hanging out with us even if it in results in all of these strange feelings. Just because some other versions of us were friends doesn't mean we have to be if you don't want to," Mega Man said.
"It's not a problem for me. Even if we're friends that doesn't mean we'll have the same kind of friendship we did in some other world," Simon said.
"That's good. Don't get me wrong I do want to be friends, I'm just worried about losing sight of myself in all this Reality Bleed stuff. I think I've formed some friendships because of it without even realizing it was a thing. There was a time I nearly crossed the line, what if Reality Bleed gives me the push needed to actually cross it," Mega Man said.
"Oh, uh, that's deep," Pit said. Mega Man sighed. "Hey I don't know what to say to something like that," Pit protested.
"Don't worry about it, there isn't an easy response to something like that," Mega Man said.
"If you say so. Hey since we're all friends now let's take a picture to celebrate," Pit said. Part of Simon wanted to tell Pit he shouldn't leap to call people friends after just meeting them but another part of him was perfectly fine with that, maybe it was because of Reality Bleed or all the time spent journeying by himself. Pit held out some rectangular device in front of him, Simon had gotten something similar with his acceptance letter. "Hey Simon smile," Pit said. Simon smiled and Pit made a V sign with his free hand. There was a click and Pit turned the device around.
After explaining what a picture was Pit showed Simon the one he had just taken. Simon felt strange seeing such a lifelike image of himself in anything other than a mirror. It felt more unnerving than all the discussion of Reality Bleed and alternate selves. Thankfully Pit put his phone away so Simon didn't have to see the picture any longer. The conversation shifted to what their own worlds were like and Simon told the story of his two battles with Dracula.
"So your family has been fighting this Dracula guy for centuries? That's so cool," Pit said when Simon had finished describing his own world.
"It'd be cooler if he stopped coming back. And I don't think I'm going to be remembered well for having to fight him twice when all the past Belmonts only needed one try," Simon said. He looked down at the Vampire Killer. In a way it was the physical manifestation of the Belmont legacy. He sometimes wondered if his victories had more to do with it than him.
"But nobody else can say they beat Dracula twice," Pit said.
"And you were cursed the second time. Winning with something like that pulling you down is pretty impressive," Mega Man said.
"Thanks," Simon said. Was that the right way to respond to praise? Simon had no idea. He didn't agree with Pit and Mega Man's assessment either but it wasn't worth bringing that up. The taxi came to a stop in front of Smash Mansion. Simon opened the door and got out of the taxi, taking a second to clear his head. Out of all possible Belmonts he was the one who had been chosen to represent the family as a Smasher. His doubts didn't matter. He'd just overcome whatever challenges came at him next and show all those other worlds the power of Simon Belmont.
End of Chapter
A/N: It's nice to finally have Reality Bleed properly introduced in this story. Technically I had it introduced in another fanfic but I don't want to make people jump between fanfics just for some exposition. Dawn of Sorrow is the only Castlevania game I've played so the Castlevania wiki was very helpful for this chapter. Actually there's a bit of trivia important to Simon's characterization here I only know because of it. Christoper Belmont from Castlevania: the Adventure needed two games to actually kill Dracula, however his second game involved his son being possessed by Dracula so it was deliberately omitted from historical records. In other words Simon only thinks he's the first Belmont who had to fight Dracula twice, chronologically he's the second.
Dark Samus is up next. And if you were disappointed with Simon only really getting to interact with the rest of the Captain N trio you can expect another appearance from him when Richter's chapter comes around.