Little Boy Belmont (Richter x Olrox)

Chapter Twenty-Six: Primal Fury

The dungeons under the church are still a confusing maze when Richter and Olrox rush through them. All of the night creatures are gone, many of them either still fighting outside or have been killed.

"This way," Olrox calls, guiding Richter down the labyrinth of stone hallways. "I've seen the machine before."
He follows the Aztec, knowing the nightmare is almost over. A mechanical droning sound seems to get louder the closer they get.

The machine is bigger than Richter expected, a twisted mass of metal and energy that doesn't feel natural. Belmont grits his teeth in frustration, knowing he can't use the Morning Star anymore without getting seriously hurt.

"How do we destroy it?" Richter asks, scanning the machine for any weaknesses.
"Fire might work, or your ice," Olrox suggests, glancing back at the darkened doorway in case any night creature or vampire finds them.
Belmont blasts the machine with fire, but this doesn't seem to do anything.
He tries ice next, but still nothing.

"Come on!" Richter shouts in frustration, smoke curling around his head in anger.
He mentally calls to the Aztec God of Darkness.
'We need help destroying the machine.'
'Stay low. I'm coming.' Tēzcatlipōca murmurs in his head.
"Tēzcatlipōca is coming," he informs Olrox.

They hear the thump of heavy paws rushing towards them on the stone a few moments later. Ometeotl's eldest son rushes forward in jaguar form and turns back into his God form.
The God is almost completely covered in the enemy's blood, the jaguar skull more red than white.

He licks the blood from his lips, like he ate a few of the vampire hearts after killing them.
"How are the others?" Olrox asks quickly.
"They are all alive. Quetzalcoatl is helping protect them," the God says, scanning the machine.

Richter sighs, relieved.
"You've tried fire and ice, but that didn't work. How about earth?" The God grins.
Belmont looks a little confused.
Olrox almost laughs.
"Oh, right. I forget he's the Aztec God of the earth as well. Remember the obsidian spikes?" The Aztec smiles.

"Right," Belmont nods.
Tēzcatlipōca stomps his foot, creating a crack in the earth and sending a mass of obsidian spikes stabbing out from the ground. The machine creaks and groans as it breaks, a high pitched whining sound getting louder as it overheats.

Realizing the machine is going to explode, the God quickly grabs both Richter and Olrox, then rushes out of the labyrinth. The force of the explosion is enough to throw Tēzcatlipōca out into the streets. He curls around both vampires, protecting them from the blast.

Richter feels burns blistering on his left arm where Tēzcatlipōca couldn't shield him. Olrox has a slight concussion from the force of the fall. They look up to see the church crumbling into the sinkhole the machine exploding caused.

They look at the seer damage the explosion made.
"It's going to take so long for this city to recover," Belmont murmurs.
"Mhm," Olrox agrees.
They hear the others rush over, Quetzalcoatl landing and turning back into his God form.
"Well, that takes care of the machine," Annette looks surprised at the smoking sinkhole where the church stood.

Belmont suddenly doubles over, clutching his abdomen and trembling. The scars Bàthory gave him seem to burn. He feels pain building up in the back of his skull, memories of that night he accepted Tēzcatlipōca flooding back to him as he lay dying.
He remembers everything.
Seeing the ruins of the church must have been a massive trigger for his memories.

The moment he said, "I let you in," the Aztec God had nodded and kissed him, then turned into smoke that Richter inhaled.
His heart had stopped, Richter Belmont had officially died in Olrox's arms, the humanity in him, at least.
Then Tēzcatlipōca kicked started his heart again, the God's essence infused with every muscle and fiber in his body.

He remembers screaming, thrashing, feeling his spinal cord snapping back together and the scars closing themselves up. He had clawed at Olrox, screaming like a wounded animal, his skin blackened, the whole sensation burning, he felt his fingernails falling off, his bones sharpening to form the permanent claws.

He remembers the pure terror in Olrox's eyes. Richter would have slaughtered his aunt and friends in pure, animalistic rage if Olrox hadn't held him back as he roared and clawed at the air.
Belmont shakes, curling in on himself as he tries to force the memories away. It's no wonder they were terrified of him. Richter now understands why Olrox said the process could have killed him, it technically did.

Before any of them can help him, Richter screams and turns back into his jaguar form.
He can smell Drolta and Bàthory close by, gathering whatever followers they have left that survived the massacre.
Despite the primal fury he feels right now, he looks back at Olrox and the others, then runs off in the direction the Vampire Messiah is.

He hears the others rushing after him.
Richter weaves between the corpses and quickly finds them. Drolta looks shocked when Richter charges at her, lunging forward and turning back into his vampire form. He slams into her hard enough that they both crash through a brick wall of a house.

Belmont hears the others fighting Bàthory's remaining followers. He wastes no time dealing with her, seeing her shocked face at him being alive and looking different. He grabs Drolta by the throat before she can attack, then rips into her abdomen much like Bàthory did to him.

He rips out her heart with a sickening squelch noise and burns it in his hand, then burns her body for extra measure. Richter zones out slightly as he looks at Drolta's charred corpse, hardly believing he just did that.
Realizing he's more beast than man at this point.

Richter exhales, feeling a weight being lifted off his shoulders. He feels...relieved, not as bloodthirsty. He's snapped out of his calm state when he hears Bàthory screaming in pain. Belmont rushes out to see the others chipping away at her, Maria's birds and tiger, Tera's fire and icicles, Annette's various swords, Olrox's flaming skulls.

Bàthory looks worn out, Tēzcatlipōca and Quetzalcoatl are ready to attack her in their beast forms just in case. Richter's hands graze the scar on his stomach, angry, tired. He just wants this to end. He can see the moon slowly moving away from the sun, the eclipse is ending as Bàthory's powers weaken.

Belmont rushes up behind Bàthory while the others distract her. He lunges, turning into his jaguar form midair and latches down on her head. He knows enough about how jaguars hunt their prey, he has the instincts of one now.

His jaw clenches and he crunches down hard, his fangs breaking through her skull and stabbing into her brain. Bàthory is dead before she hits the ground. The others look a mixture of relieved and terrified at what Richter did.
Richter pulls his mouth away from her skull, blood dripping down his chin.

Tēzcatlipōca grins, genuinely looking proud. Richter turns back into his vampire form and staggers, exhausted. Olrox helps steady him, letting Richter lean on him for support.
"Is it over?" Edouard whispers.
"Looks like it," Tera nods, watching the moon gradually move away from the sun.
"Come on, let's go back to the cottage, get everyone cleaned up and plan from there," Mizrak mutters, scanning the bloody city with troubled eyes.

Richter shakes his head no.
"You guys go. The tree, take me to the tree..." he pants, head lowered.
"What tree?" Maria asks.
"The one Richter and I would sit in the shade," Olrox realizes, feeling a tightness in his throat.
"We never should have left that tree," Richter whispers, hair messy, clothing dirty, the burn on his arm luckily healed due to his vampire powers now.

"Come on," Olrox urges, nodding to the others that they'll be fine. They weave through the streets, having to move somewhat fast since the sunlight is coming back. Olrox is surprised and relieved to see the tree is still there.

He gently sets Richter down to lean against the trunk.
"Rest. I'm right here. The nightmare is over. We did it," the Aztec murmurs. Richter manages to smile a little and promptly pass out after everything. He knows things will never be the same going forward, but at least the worst of it is over.