"Isaac, do you have to ride your motorcycle through Castlevania?" Leon bellowed. "I think it's attracting monsters, and we can't hear each other anymore!"
"You just need to speak up." Isaac laughed, perfectly audible, and punched through a zombie as he drove by.
Monsters had been attacking them more lately. Joachim frowned at his five blades, all dripping with the nasty ooze of rotting creatures. "This is so inconvenient. Dracula, why do you have such unpleasant minions?"
"Cheap labor," Dracula explained.
"And why are they attacking us, anyway?" Soma growled as he tossed a screaming mandrake root at a zombie, exploding its guts all over the wall and Joachim, who shrieked in disgust. "Shouldn't you be able to tell them to stop coming after us, Drac?"
"I…" Dracula began to trail off, but conveniently noticed a silver door, bearing light blue wings. With great urgency, he pointed to it. "Hey, what's that over there?"
Soma quickly forgot about his question as the party stopped just in front of the eerily glowing door. A strange aura of mysticism emanated from behind the entrance, as if pulling them towards it.
Soma immediately tried to ram through the door with his motorcycle but failed and wiped out.
Alucard sighed. "It appears to be a gateway to one of the angelic seals. I can't say that I know much about it."
Dracula strode forward with his key in hand. "Well, we're here to take all these things out, aren't we? Let's…"
"I think we should skip this one," Leon stated bluntly, catching all of their attention.
"But Leon, it's right here, why should we wait?" Joachim arched an eyebrow with suspicion.
"Because the angelic beings aren't exactly harming anything right now, are they?" Leon asked, then pointed out, "but the demonic beings will. We shouldn't waste time with this right now."
"I suppose you're right…" Dracula sighed, and regretfully put away his key.
The group didn't have to go much farther before the next door appeared.
"The next demonic-boss door is just ahead," Alucard said cryptically. Unfortunately for him, nobody heard his words over the deafening motorcycle engines.
"Look out guys!" Leon shouted as the ebony door engraved with a deep blood-red skull came into view. "It looks like we have a fight ahead of us!"
Soma popped a wheelie and tried to bust through the door but instead wiped out. Again.
Dracula tisked, "He'll only lose more brain cells that way." Pulling out the same tiny metal key, he unlocked the door.
Accustomed to Soma's foolish boldness, Alucard began to inform the party of their next foe, finally audible now that Isaac's engine was idling. "Our next opponent will not be easily taken down."
Joachim rolled his eyes and muttered, "sounds familiar."
"According to legend, she is a fierce and mighty warrior…" he began.
"She?" Soma stumbled, leaning on his motorcycle for support as he stood up. "This'll be a piece of cake."
"Not so," the half-vampire cautioned. "She will be difficult to take down, because she does not exist."
Everyone blinked at each other for a minute, unsure how to react to that statement.
Suddenly, a bright light flashed around them. Leon's eyes widened, "Again? Ok, I'm seriously getting weirded-out."
"Shouldn't you be more disturbed by the fact that our opponent doesn't exist?" Joachim criticized.
"I should be," Leon sighed in apology. "Sorry guys."
"Nah, it's cool." Isaac popped a proper wheelie and bust through the door. Soma unsteadily walked his motorcycle in behind him.
They found themselves in a long corridor, mystically painted to look like the nighttime sky. Clocks of all fashions hung on the walls, each displaying a different time. An eerie twinkling sound filled the hallway, which seemed to grow narrower as they moved through it.
Indeed, the passageway was getting smaller. Isaac and Soma were forced to abandon their motorcycles half-way. Eventually, they had to turn sideways to walk through the corridor, the walls pressing closer to them, trapping them within the disorienting pulse of the galactic paintings.
Mist filled the walkway, obscuring Leon's vision and making him cough.
"Sorry," Alucard, despite being in mist form, mumbled in apology.
"It's ok…" The Belmont sputtered, moving a little quicker to get ahead of the half-vampire.
Finally they burst through the door at the end of the tunnel and into a larger room.
Gasping for breath after their recent claustrophobic experience, Leon could only stare at the grimy wooden floor below his hands. A moment later, Alucard morphed at his side, helping him up.
"Thanks," he nodded to the half-vampire as the rest of their party appeared behind them.
"Holy shit…" Soma breathed in awe at the room around them.
They were standing in an old timey tavern. Wooden tables and chairs occupied the room. Tabletop candles and mounted torches cast a soft glow about the area, revealing stacks of wooden barrels whose contents remained a mystery to everyone.
In the corner, a sheep-hound slept peacefully by an aimless stack of wooden logs. Noticing that the logs had been chopped with an ax and not punched into submission, Isaac's eyes narrowed. "Cheaters."
The place was packed. Both men and women, seemed to be merrily chatting and drinking away at a modest bar, oblivious to their presence. Some huddled around tables, smoking cigars while playing cards, others already leaned against the walls in a half-drunken stupor.
"Great, how are we supposed to find our nonexistent person in here?" Joachim sighed, eyeing Alucard ruefully.
"This is a wayward point for traveling souls," Alucard observed, eyeing the people in the room carefully.
"Your point being…?" Dracula motioned for his son to stop being cryptic and hurry it up.
The half-vampire glared at his father, but continued. "There is only one person in this room who would be here permanently."
"Well, it wouldn't be us, we just got here…" Leon thought out-loud.
Joachim eyed him dubiously, sipping the last of his coffee. "Ok, that was a good try, Leon."
Finally, Dracula's eyes found her, and he grinned. "I think I am beginning to understand. The person we are looking for is…"
"…that hottie at the bar!" Soma declared, pointing triumphantly to a gorgeous red-head sitting at the bar sipping a martini.
Despite Soma's mistake, Alucard continued darkly, "the bartender."
When he looked up, the dhampire found that the girl's eyes were already on him. She was indeed beautiful. Her thick blonde hair hung in a long braid behind her, anime-esque wisps of hair framing her face. She wore what appeared to be an army-green one-piece swimsuit, a decorative dark overcoat that was held together by a belt at her waist, battle-ready gloves, and thigh high leather boots.
"Alucard," she said, her voice level and cold as he strode smoothly up to the bar. One by one, the patrons of the bar began to disappear, presumably going off to another world. By the time the group had reached her, they were the only ones left in the place.
"I don't understand," Leon frowned. "She doesn't look nonexistent to me…"
"Perhaps in this room, she does exist," Alucard explained, "but in our time-line, she does not."
"I don't exist?" the girl gasped, looking a little hurt. "How could you say such a thing! Do you not remember me?"
Silence was her only answer.
"Dracula! I know not how you are still alive, but you do remember me, don't you?" she pleaded.
"I'm afraid not, my dear," Dracula shook his head regretfully.
"But it is I, Sonia Belmont! I killed you!" She said angrily, "How could you not remember me?"
"Hey, that's my last name!" Leon's eyes widened in shock. "Are you one of my descendents?"
"I… know not what you speak of," Sonia said dubiously.
"I'm the first of the Belmont clan, the vampire hunters whose mission is to destroy Dracula," Leon explained.
"But… Dracula is standing before you right now!" Sonia pointed to him. "And you do not destroy him?"
"Oh, he decided to become a vegan, so we're cool with him now," Soma commented.
"Ve-gan?" the girl shook her head. "What you say makes little sense to me, but one thing I know for certain…Alucard!"
Surprised, the half-vampire looked up at her. "Can I help you?"
"Yes," She leaned closer to him, desperation in her eyes and voice. "After years of waiting, finally you have awoken from your slumber and come back to me! Surely, you remember me, don't you? …my love?"
Alucard stared at her intently.
She stared back at him intently.
"Sonia Belmont…my love…?" Alucard continued to stare at her intently.
Then…
"I'm sorry, I don't know you," Alucard cast his gaze aside harshly.
"How could this be? Why does nobody remember me?" Sonia wailed, clutching her hands to her head as she leaned over the bar.
"Maybe because you just weren't popular enough?" The question brought everyone's attention to Isaac, who had already poured himself a glass of whiskey and begun sipping it. Noticing their looks, he apologized, "Sorry, I was choking on the estrogen in here."
"No, no I think you, good sir, have the right idea," Sonia's voice was low as she looked up again, a wrathful scorn in her eyes. "I will defeat you all here and now!"
Immediately, Leon pulled out his Vampire Killer whip, Joachim readied his still grimy five blades, Soma's hands glowed with electricity, Isaac balled his fists, Alucard readied the Alucard sword, and Dracula opened his cape.
Sonia slammed a bottle of strawberry pucker on the bar.
The men all blinked at each other, unsure how to respond to her attack.
"I see you don't understand yet," Sonia grinned, pulling seven shot glasses from behind the bar. "Take a seat, boys, I'll drink you all under the table."
"You're on!" Soma declared, taking a seat at the bar. "This whole castle's already my little bitch. I'll beat all of you with my eyes closed!"
"Your eyes will be closed," Dracula sneered, taking a seat next to Soma. "…when you're sleeping like a baby on the floor. I'm already the lord of this castle. Do you really think you can beat me, boy?"
Leon took a seat doubtfully next to Joachim and Alucard. "But… this is a sin, is it not? My body is a temple, I couldn't possibly…"
Joachim rolled his eyes. "Leon, just think about all the crazy shit you've done over the last thousand years."
Leon thought about it.
"Let it sink in." The vampire advised.
Leon let it sink in.
"There, feel better?" He asked.
Leon felt better.
"Are you boys ready?" Skillfully, Sonia poured the strawberry pucker into the seven small glasses. She flicked them with precision so that each vessel stopped in front of its rightful challenger. "I thought we'd start off easy."
"Oh, hang on a sec," Isaac, realizing that the girly talk was over, downed his glass of whisky. "Ok, I'm ready now."
"Stupid boy." Sonia shook her head, then raised her shot-glass. "On the count of three, we will all take the first shot together. One… Two…"
Dracula fell on the floor.
Everyone paused, looking down at him.
"Did he drink his already?" Sonia frowned crossly.
"No. It's still full." Soma peered over at his rival's glass with a smirk. "Just the smell of it knocked him out."
"Oh. So much for the lord of the night," Sonia tipped her head back, throwing the contents of the glass down in one smooth shot, and slammed her glass on the table. "THREE!"
Startled, the others did the same. At least, Joachim thought they did, until he spied Leon slowly sipping the strawberry pucker. "No no, you're doing it all wrong."
"But it tastes good," Leon complained. "It shouldn't be wasted."
The vampire sighed, "It's not being wasted, you're drinking it!" As Leon went to take another small sip, Joachim tipped the remainder of the shot into the Belmont's mouth with an index finger.
Leon swallowed it hard and coughed. "That… that was…"
"Eassy! Arrya reeadyfer thee nest ROUND?" Soma asked, his hands gripping the bar loosely as he reeled forward… backwards… to the side… and down.
Alucard regarded the pile of Soma on the floor with a sigh.
"Ha! Two of you down, and we've barely started!" Sonia chuckled as she poured the next round, flicking the glasses to the ones left behind. "I will defeat you all! Especially you Alucard…"
Alucard blinked, uncertain as to why she was so upset with him.
"THREE!" She screamed, and they all tossed back their shots.
After the strawberry pucker bottle ran out, Sonia moved on to rum, vodka, and whiskey.
Somewhere in the rum, they lost Joachim, who started crying about his poor zombie-stained shirt. Leon fell during the vodka, earning him more reprimands from Sara.
"I can't believe you're such a WUSS! Let me at her! I'd have drunk her to the floor an hour ago!" Sara cried from within the whip.
Leon was already snoring on the ground.
After the whiskey, Alucard was beginning to breathe a little hard, and even Sonia's cheeks held a redish glow. Isaac continued to sit, nonchalantly awaiting the next shot.
Sonia faced Alucard, tears beginning to brim in her eyes. "I can't believe you don't remember me, Alucard… we were lovers… we had a child."
"We did?" Alucard shook his head, an action he regretted immediately as he gripped the bar to stabilize himself. "I don't…"
"Remember?" Sonia laughed weakly. "Of course you wouldn't. Apparently, I don't exist in your timeline…"
And finally, in his drunken stupor, realization dawned on Alucard. "Isaac was right… you did exist, but you were written out of the story."
"Written out of the story? What story?" Sonia trembled. "You speak as if we're all just fictional characters in some fantastic game!"
"You were replaced…" Alucard continued to rationalize, gazing down at the sleeping Belmont on the floor. "…by Leon."
"He replaced me? But how could he?" She wailed.
"If we truly did have a child… that child would be Dracula's grandchild," Alucard pieced everything together bit by bit. "And every Belmont born after that would have tainted blood running through his or her veins. Not exactly the marketable pristine image that you want, is it?"
Sonia floundered for a counter-argument, but finding none, resorted to, "I loved you Alucard… I loved you!"
"Unfortunately, my dear," Alucard responded dramatically, "I have never loved you."
"Eyyyyaaahhh!" Screaming with rage, Sonia reached over the bar and socked Alucard in the face, knocking him backwards onto the floor where he remained content to stay.
Her breathing ragged, she gasped for breath, feeling more liberated than she had in 600 years.
"Oops, looks like we'll have to move onto another bottle."
Sonia turned around, recalling that she still had one person left to defeat. That person seemed to have finished the remainder of the whiskey.
Tossing the empty bottle behind him, Isaac apologized, "Sorry, it was getting too girly in here again."
"You… how are you still cognizant after all you've had to drink?" Sonia demanded.
Isaac shrugged. "A real man knows how to hold his liquor."
She shook her head, the long blonde braid whipping back and forth as she pulled out an ancient looking bottle. "Scotch. Aged 600 years."
Sonia poured two shot-glasses of it, flicking one over to Isaac. "It was to be a celebratory drink… for when Alucard finally returned to me."
"Sorry, but could you cut the bullshit?" Isaac asked, taking his scotch in one gulp. "I don't like drama-queens."
Angered to the point of feeling nothing, Sonia tipped her head back, took the shot, and fell over behind the bar.
Observing the peacefully sleeping people all around him, Isaac sighed, poured himself another glass of scotch, and waited.
Moments later, Alucard rose back to his feet, sitting back in his chair unsteadily as he gazed at Sonia with pity. "It's too bad. All she wanted was to exist."
"I guess," Isaac shrugged, turning to his companion. "Hey, you know any good drinking games? I know a great one with U.F.C. takedowns."
Alucard groaned.
Thanks to everyone who is reading, and especially those of you reviewing! Your reviews make my day a happy day. =)
Yes, the gang is finally all together! What do you guys think of super-beefy-manly-Isaac? I don't think I could ever go back to Curse of Darkness Isaac anymore...
Congrats to Lonewolf102 and LadyArmster for the trivia! And True Hyper Sonic, for your INCREDIBLY precise text-book answer, though you were late. ^^;;
Chapter Trivia #7 Answer:
In this chapter, Isaac is able to build motorcycles and aircrafts. Is this too far fetched for our manly man?
No! In Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, Hector and Isaac are both able to craft and modify Innocent Devils and weapons. Isaac's ability to create motorcycles and aircrafts isn't too far of a leap; however, he doesn't use magic anymore. He crafts them solely with his bare hands and manliness.
Chapter Trivia #8:
Sonia Belmont really was the heroine in a Castlevania game, and she was scheduled to be the heroine in another game before its cancellation (probably due to her unpopularity.) Which Castlevania game featured Sonia, and what was the name of the game that was eventually canceled? Review with your answer!