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Rinoavania "Bwhahaha! This is perfect! We needed a new place to hide out, and this castle was ripe for the taking! Mario will never find the Princess here...and put her down somewhere, Koopas. Use...oh, use that stupid coffin. " "...But...boss...isn't it a little creepy here? All the undead running around." "Yeah, boss. I don't think Princess had black hair, either..." "Did I ask for your opinions! Hush up and put the princess down! Go open a window. I can barely breathe in here. And find a torch!" The Koopas rolled their eyes and ambled over to the window, forcing it open with With some effort, they forced the window open. They heard a sudden shriek. What looked like a huge, pale man had draped a cape over Rinoa, and was bending over her in a way the Koopas couldn’t place, but knew wasn’t going to go over well with Bowser. Before they could do anything, sunlight from the window illuminated the man, and he stiffened and vanished in a burst of flame. Rinoa slumped down into the coffin – now completely open and very empty – bleeding from what appeared to be a neck wound. "...Boss, I think this girl is hurt..." "SILENCE, FOOLS. Go call the rest of the crew in. We're home!" Balamb Garden, 6/4, 8:00 PM "I'm going to ask you one more time, Zell. You let Rinoa get captured by a giant turtle...named Bowser. Is there any reason for this? Did he have a security pass? Or were you just asleep? Again?" Zell shrank back from Squall's voice. "...No! She just left on her own! Nothing Irv and I could do about it...Speaking of him, where'd Irvine go? It wasn’t just my fault here!" "You’re right, it’s not. I shouldn't have been dumb enough to leave you two morons in charge of anything." Sitting down, Squall picked up the phone on his desk. "Someone get me Xu!" A gentle knock at the door a few seconds later announced the young lady’s arrival. "Sorry, Squall. We have no idea where Bowser went. Mr. Valeria said Bowser's castle was empty. All traces on his name and location failed after he left the shadow dimension where you found Necron." Squall's fist slamming down on the desk shocked Zell and Xu into silence. "Find me where Bowser Koopa is. I don't care how much time it takes or how many gil we lose. DO IT." -- Balamb Garden, 6/16, 1:00pm Squall had been pacing for almost an hour without stopping, and he’d been worrying for a lot longer than that. Two weeks with no word from Rinoa, and no results from the agents looking for her...Squall hadn't yet lost hope, but he was running out of options. "Boss. Someone's here to see you." A small turtle ambled from behind Xu, and yelled incoherently at Squall. "...What's this thing trying to say, Xu? I don't speak monster." "He has information about Rinoa. He says...Castlevania was the name, and that's all. That's all I could make out, anyway. He has no real idea how long it's been, but he says Bowser's definitely there." "Any reason him why we should trust him?" "...I can't make it out. Something about Rinoa 'turning'. He seems to be legit, though. I ran some info...its name's Koopa Troopa. Longtime assistant of Bowser Koopa, who as you know was be-" "Enough! The thing can stay in the Garden. I don't care where...no, how about Irvine's room? He's earned it after this latest stunt. Look up the name 'Castlevania', and find me someone who knows where the hell it is! Contact someone about Bowser, too. Someone who knows how to take him down. I'm going to be busy for now." "Doing what?" "Training. After you find that castle, I’m going to kill him." --- Balamb Garden, 6/16, 8:00pm "Squall, Koopa went back to the castle. He says he can't be away for long." "Did you put a tail on him?" "Yes, boss. But...it was lost near a dimensional portal. There's no way a human can get through it." "Dammit. Find him!" --- Castlevania, 6/18, 1:00 am "Bwhahaha! This castle is great! An army of loyal supporters, my own throne room... and of course, my new Queen. Rinoa, come on out!" And she did. The former SeeD had abandoned her old casual look for head-to-toe black, and her hands and mouth dripped blood. That was still less unusual than the rest of the scene, though... "Bowser!" Rinoa quickly lept into Bowser's arms."That was a tasty snack you brought me. Let's go do some more bad stuff. It's so... sexy." "Ah, my queen. Anything in the name of evil. Who needs that smelly princess now? Bwhahahaha!" A small, turtle-like creature saw the entire affair, and twitched. Koopa quickly made his way out of the castle, and back towards the gate. It was definitely time for another report. Balamb Garden, 6/19, 2:00pm "Squall! Everyone's here. Koopa's back, and we finally got the fighters you wanted." "Thanks, Xu. Send them in." A moltey band of warriors walked through Squall’s door. At the front stood a tall, extremely pale man, carrying a sword and wearing armor that had to be hundreds of years old. Koopa Troopa was at the other end of the room, staring at the pale man and twitching. And finally, there was a familiar young man in the doorway, brandishing a gunblade and grinning at Koopa. "...I know the turtle. Who's the emo loser with the jacket? Not you, Seifer. Him." "I am Alucard Tepes. This situation is a…personal matter for me. You wanted information about how to get to Castlevania?" "Like a loser like Squall could get through the door." Squall ignored his old rival, and focused on Alucard. "Of course I want information. Rinoa's there and I can't do a damn thing to help her if I can’t even find the place." "Very well..." -- Balamb Garden, 6/19, 4:00pm "...So you're saying that that oversized turtle killed the lord of all the undead and took over his castle, and then the place turned my Rinoa into a…a vampire? You can't expect me to believe all this." "It's true. And whether or not you believe it, Castlevania must be resealed and Rinoa saved from my father’s curse." "Fine. Whatever. Xu! Gather the men. We attack now." "Wait! You can't enter the castle yet. It is not of this world – Dracula’s will is what brings it to the mortal realm. With its lord gone, it drifts, appearing and disappearing through its own power." Squall brought his gunblade out of a dramatic, commanding pose, and aimed it at Alucard for an instant before sheathing it again. "I’m getting tired of these games. When will it show up again? That’s all I brought you here for." "Castlevania appeared less than a day ago, if your man's description of the portal was correct. Humans should be able to enter again in thirty-three days." "Too long," Squall said, almost reflexively. "I’ve waited too long already – we needed to get her back two weeks ago, not next month!" Alucard didn’t even seem to hear his "employer." "Until then, we train. Dracula's death made everything about the castle unstable, including the portal. It will only be large enough to admit a human for a few minutes at a time. With luck that will be long enough for four people to enter. In the meantime, we send the creature back, and prepare." "Dammit! Okay, we’ll train. Alucard, you're staying here till then. You’ll tell me everything about this castle, and exactly what’s happened to Rinoa. If I can’t find her, I’m taking it out of you. Xu, research Bowser. Find his rival. We're going to need help making the kill. That makes three. Fourth...con-" "I'm going, Squall. Rinoa might be yours now, but this sounds like a worthy quest for a knight." "I guess we do need someone to distract the monsters. Seifer makes four." Portal to Castlevania, 7/22, 9:30pm Squall looked at the portal. The dark patch of energy had been steadily growing and clearing. Ten minutes ago he could barely see the castle at all, but now he could almost count the bats swirling around outside it. It looked unspeakably old, and dangerous. "Like old times. I guess Ultimecia wasn’t bad enough," he said under his breath. "We all ready to go... Seifer, why in the hell are you sticking your finger in the portal? No, forget I asked. I hope you lose it. Alucard, you look ready. Mario...of course you are. Time to go." Squall took a good, long look at the crew surrounding him. Mario hadn't taken long to find, and he’d signed on as soon as Xu told him what Bowser had done. The plumber was supposed to be an expert at exploring castles, so Squall figured he’d be good for more than just looks. "All of you. Our only goal is to get to the top of that castle. We'll split up when we get inside. I've given all of you radios. When you find them, call the rest of us and try to subdue Bowser. We'll capture Rinoa and try and find a way to reverse this..." Alucard chimed in then. "Remember, we have only one night. The castle will disappear at daybreak, and leave all of you between the worlds. Move quickly." Squall shook his head. "You could have mentioned that earlier...everybody, you heard him. Let's go." And so they stepped into the portal. Behind them ambled a small turtle, with a determined look on his face. |
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Yakumo Squall was walking through the Long Library when a voice came in on his radio. "Its'a me, Mario! Owwowowow..." The voice was cut short by insane, Kefka-esque laughter and the sound of a roar. Squall sighed dejectedly and rested his head in his hand. "Why did we have to bring someone with such a limited vocabulary on this mission? Now we're down to three, and we only have a general idea where Bowser's hiding. ...whatever... which part of the castle was he searching, again?" Pulling out a map that Alucard had drawn during the preparations, Squall started off toward the Clock Tower. Alucard was searching the throne room when Mario's voice came over the radio. Recalling Mario's search area, he began running toward the clock tower, but was suddenly interrupted by Death himself. Glancing at the position of the moon in the sky, Alucard knew he didn't have time to deal with Death and get to the Clock Tower in time to stop Bowser, so he spoke up. "Death, why do you block my path? The master of the castle is dead, and I mean to overthrow the usurper. For the sake of Castlevania, you should stand aside!" "Foolish boy, you still do not understand? I serve the master of the castle, whoever it may be. And now, the master of the castle is the girl Rinoa. You shall not interfere!" "Very well, fiend. You shall not stop me from rescuing the girl, whether she desires it or not!" So saying, Alucard drew his sword and charged the ever-grinning apparation. The clash of sword on scythe rang out into the night. Finally, Squall found himself atop the Clock Tower as the moon began dipping below the horizon. The scene as he entered was horrendous. Mario was laying facedown at Rinoa's feet, a blackened lump. Koopa Troopa was in a casket, motionless. Even Bowser was hurt, bootprints still visible on his skull from Mario's apparent assault. In the midst of the carnage, Rinoa cackled with evil glee. "Rinoa, are you alright? It's me, Squall! I've come to get you out of here! But first, I've got some business to settle with your scaly friend here." So saying, Squall rushed Bowser. One Lionheart later, the number of people still standing in the room was down to two. "Squall, dear, how nice of you to join me tonight. You're just in time for dinner." Rinoa embraced Squall from behind, pressing her body against his and whispering in his ear. "That turtle was nothing but a snack, you're the main course," she mumbled to herself. Rinoa bared her fangs and was about to bite when Alucard finally arrived in the tower, bloody and missing his shield. "Squall, look out!" He yelled, startling Squall into motion. Rinoa's teeth bit empty air. "Aww, how cruel of you to break up our romantic reunion," Rinoa pouted at Alucard. "We were just about to get to the fun part, too." Ignoring Rinoa, Alucard barked orders to Squall. "Grab her and let's go, the night's almost over!" Squall, finally coming to his senses, complied. He quickly struck Rinoa with the flat of his blade, knocking her out. "Sorry about this, but I don't have a choice. Alright, time to go!" The three rushed down to the portal, arriving just as the sun began peeking over the horizon. The portal, however, was acting oddly. The shape was constantly changing, and the view of the other side was foggy and distorted, making it impossible to tell where it currently lead. "Damn. We're too late, aren't we?" Squall demanded of Alucard. "I... don't know. The portal should last as long as the castle... well, it isn't like we have a choice. The castle will disappear soon, and we'll end up trapped between dimensions. Wherever this leads, at least we'll have a chance to get back. Come on!" Alucard grabbed Squall's arm and dragged him through, still carrying the unconcious Rinoa. Mere seconds later, the castle began to shimmer, it's form becoming indistinct, before it finally winked out of existance for the day. That night, when the castle reappeared, Koopa Troopa woozily dragged himself out of the coffin. Two small holes were still barely visible in his neck, and his face held a triumphant look. "Bwahaha, my plans worked! Now this castle and all it's denizens are mine! Death, attend me!" The grinning apparation slowly materialized in the tower, his cloak torn and his scythe dented. "So, the castle has yet another new master. What would you have me do, lord?" "Put these two fools in the prison before they wake and cause a ruckus. I need to plan." "Thy will be done, master." Death sketched a small bow and summoned skeletons to drag the unconsious bodies downstairs. Koopa Troopa went to the throne room and sat on the throne. "With the power of this castle and it's occupants, I will make all those puny mortals kneel before me. Nobody will walk over me ever again, especially not that self-righteous plumber. I'll show him true fear when he wakes up." Chuckling evilly, Koopa Troopa sat in the throne room all night, plotting his revenge. Seifer had been having difficulties of his own when Mario's voice came over the radio. He had begun his search in the catacombs, and quickly learned how difficult it is to swim in a trench coat. Also, swinging your sword underwater tends to be difficult, and much too slow to hit undead fish. As bite upon bite added up, Seifer retreated as fast as he could to the entrance of the castle and dove through the portal, with the idea that he would regroup and come back to continue the search. Unfortunately for him, he forgot that the portal couldn't handle a human from his world's side anymore, and ended up getting thrown into the world of Fire Emblem, where he ended up trying to hit on Eirika and pick a fight with Ephraim. The DL healers still haven't found all the pieces to put him back together, thanks to Ephraim's skill with a spear. Squall: 35 Out of time: 24 Bowser: 28 Lurking Registered User
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