Preemptive Alliance

I hope he's here...

Nebula and I stare at a coliseum. We pass through the door and are greeted by Lich, a magical undead skeleton.

Sun: "Hi! We are lookin for Vampire."

He stares at us silently.

Sun: "Alright, I forgot I made you silent. Nebula, let's search for him."

Lich points down a hallway.

Sun: "Thanks!"

We walk down the long corridor.

Nebula: "Couldn't you think of a more menacing name than 'Vampire'?"

Sun: "Come on, it's intuitive. Sometimes, simple is best."

Nebula: "I know, I'm just kidding. So he's one of the main Heroes, right?"

Sun: "Yes, and he's pretty approachable."

We open a door and enter the room where the host watches the fights.

Sun: "Oh, he let us all the way through."

— Lich told me about your situation.

Nebula: "Are you..."

— I'm Vampire. I'm sorry for your family.

The vampire is a man with white hair, charred skin and a red robe.

Sun: "Did you know we were coming?"

Vampire: "Your island was destroyed. It's only natural that I help those in need."

Sun: "Then why didn't you help us at the time?"

Vampire: "I was busy, as were the other Heroes. Draco chose the perfect time to strike."

Nebula: "He was a Hero, right?"

Vampire: "Yes, but when he laid eyes on that dragon cub, everything changed. He's a traitor, and we're more than willing to kill him."

Sun: "But Mitsurugi and he are friends, right? What will happen if one of them dies?"

Vampire: "The dragon won't care much. But if the opposite happens, Draco might get angry. So we have to target him first."

Nebula: "Any idea of where he might be? I can help track him."

Vampire: "No need. Zombie and Kat have already located his hideout. It's a cave inside a mountain."

Sun: "Were you waiting for us..."

Vampire: "It takes a while to convince other Heroes to join our cause. With your help, we have a better chance of success."

Nebula: "Um, we have some friends... can we call them?"

Vampire: "As long as they're not a burden."

Sun: "They're not. Slinger has the black hole grenade, and Miguel has the phoenix."

Vampire: "Black hole grenade? How do you plan to activate it?"

Nebula: "She also has a solar grenade. We just need to place both of them next to the dragon."

Vampire: "Or maybe inside. And of course, someone has to be sacrificed."

Sun: "What? There's no way she couldn't have thought of a better way."

Vampire: "Trust me, the dragon won't be damaged by a close attack. It needs to be accurate. But of course, we should only use this as a last resort."

Sun: "Understood..."

Nebula: "Brother, she may have thought of all this, but it doesn't have to be this way. You can do it all over again."

Sun: "I will not return unless you or I die, Nebula. I cannot continue abusing my power."

Vampire: "Power...?"

Nebula: "Ah, don't worry about that. It's just another last resort."

Vampire: "Are you sure I shouldn't know about this? It could give us a huge advantage."

Sun: "Let's not... count on that ability too much."

Vampire: "If you say so..."

It's night, time for the plan. We find ourselves in front of a huge mountain.

Miguel: "Sun, Nebula!"

He runs towards us, worried.

Miguel: "I'm so sorry for... not being there and..."

Nebula: "There was no way to predict the attack, Miguel. He was a Hero. You being there wouldn't have made much of a difference. Wait, that sounded a little rude..."

Miguel: "But the phoenix..."

Sun: "He's stronger than Sol. I bet he could survive. Plus, he's an expert at hunting beasts."

Miguel: "I'm still sorry..."

Sun: "Thanks, Miguel."

Slinger arrives, confused by the crowd of Heroes behind us.

Slinger: "Do we really need that much?"

Sun: "Weren't you the one who said Mitsurugi is too strong for us?"

Slinger: "What I mean is, they can get in the way."

Sun: "You have a hell of an ego if you think you're stronger than them."

Slinger: "Not me. The black hole grenade."

Nebula: "Slinger, we know what you're planning. We won't need the grenade."

Slinger: "Do you want to lose that badly?"

Nebula: "We will find another way, okay?"

Vampire: "Is everyone here?"

Sun: "Yes! Sorry for the wait."

Vampire: "Then let's enter the cave, quietly."

Counting Vampire, there are a total of four Heroes.

One of them is Dullahan, a knight on horseback carrying a black and green scythe. Green flames seethe from his black armor.

The other is Brawn, a red-haired muscular man with little clothing and silver armor.

The last one is Lich, the magical skeleton. He wears mostly black and red.

Vampire: "Sun's team, can we deal with Draco? He's our responsibility and this is my way of making up for what he did to you."

Sun: "Sure, I don't see a problem."

Vampire: "Besides, we have to be as quiet as possible. The dragon is probably sleeping there."

Brawn: "Let's teach that old man a lesson."

He punches his other hand, like a war gesture.

We enter the cave. After walking a little, we hear the faint crackling of fire. We walk in. Draco is sitting, stirring a fire with the golden spear. The other arm was not yet healed.

Draco: "You can't solve your problems alone, eh?"

Vampire: "You're right, I could have prevented this. But I can't do it all alone. And we need to make sure you die this time."

He slowly stands up and points behind himself.

Draco: "I wouldn't want to wake the beast. That's why you're being cautious."

Brawn: "Then why don't you wake her up yourself?"

Draco: "She's tired and hungry. If we wake her, her bloodlust won't let her tell the difference between enemy and ally."

Sun: "So she's going to destroy everything, like a berserker?"

He strikes the fire with his spear, extinguishing it with a strong wind. The cave grows pitch-black. The spear glows in the darkness. He throws it at us. Then something nearly hits Nebula's neck, but it's deflected by Dullahan's scythe. I light the room with fire.

Vampire: "Thanks, Sun. He likes to play dirty whenever he's at a disadvantage."

Draco: "It's eight versus one. You're the ones playing dirty."

Vampire: "Let Sun's team out of this. You are our business."

Draco: "Then why did you bring them? Thanks for that, though. I had to finish some of them."

Vampire: "We won't let that happen."

He summons a spear made of his blood and hurls it at Draco, who destroys it with his golden one. He charges forward and transforms into a pool of blood that drips beneath Draco's feet. Spikes shoot out from it, but he easily dodges them.

He throws the golden spear at Nebula, which Brawn catches in midair and hurls at his leg, piercing it. Dullahan strikes the ground with the handle of his scythe, opening cracks in the ground and igniting them with green fire, which erupts and burns Draco.

Brawn punches him in the stomach and kicks him twice. A blood bubble bursts from behind, infecting him with boiling blood. He fires his harpoon at Brawn, pushing him against the wall and electrocuting him.

Vampire throws a punch, which he dodges by ducking. He quickly retrieves the harpoon and fires it again at Vampiro, who turns into a pool of blood but is still electrocuted. Brawn punches him in the head, knocking him out.

Brawn: "Having only one hand makes things difficult for you, huh?"

He helps Vampire to his feet.

Vampire: "Let's finish him before he tries anything."

Suddenly, the golden spear pierces Nebula's head, killing her. But her body heals instantly for some reason, like a reset. Brawn sits on top of Draco, who has just woken up, and beats him to death.

Vampire: "We brought you here not only to watch the fight, but also to distract him. Lich can revive people if he's fast enough."

Nebula: "Thanks for that, I guess..."

Vampire: "Any idea why he wanted to kill you that much?"

Nebula: "I adopted Mitsurugi a while ago... I can maybe talk her out of it again."

Brawn: "That won't work. Some things have to be decided by force."

Nebula: "I know, I won't get in your way. But if I get the chance, I want to try..."

Vampire: "He was desperate to kill you. It might work."

The golden spear flies past us with intense speed, piercing the wall.

Sun: "What?! Does the spear have a consciousness of its own?"

Vampire: "This is bad, the spear is aiming for the dragon! We have to get there first!"

A roar can be heard, along with the entire mountain shaking.