X - Richter Belmont - Tags: (none)A soft groan rose from Richter's throat as his consciousness slowly returned. He felt somewhat like he was in the process of waking up from a poor night's sleep, but that was clearly not what was really happening here. For one thing, he was in an upright position, and there was definitely nothing natural about waking up in such a manner. And then there was the uncomfortable feeling around his wrists and ankles... but he was still a little too groggy for this to truly set in just yet.
As he came to a little more, he was shocked to realize that his hands and feet were actually restrained by metal straps. Furthermore, the chamber he found himself in was much unlike anything he had ever seen before. Not even in Dracula's castle--which was actually an entity of chaos that appeared whenever the Dark Lord was resurrected, said to be constantly changing--did he encounter an environment quite like this one. But again, the foul castle tended to never appear in quite the same way every time...
No, this couldn't be... could it? After all, Dracula had just been defeated recently. Could somebody possibly be working to bring him back yet again already?
With a harsh growl, Richter furiously attempted to break free, jerking and tugging at the metal straps with every ounce of his formidable strength. Unfortunately, it was still no use. The restraints were far too durable for even someone as powerful as him to overcome. How could he have allowed himself to be captured like this? More importantly, what was going on elsewhere now that he was held trapped here and unable to do anything about it? What if his loved ones were in grave danger, or worse? Feeling a surge of burning wrath at the thought, he resumed his struggle with somehow even more ferocity than before. Alas, still nothing.
Finally stopping to catch his breath, he noticed the strange glowing tablet before him. The sight of his own name caught his eye, and he stared in disbelief at what was written there on the ghostly-looking blue plane. "Soul... complexity?" he murmured between heavy breaths, trying to understand what it all meant. However, he then noticed the deeply ominous word
"ABSORPTION".
What?! He didn't know exactly what it could mean--how or what whoever they were planned on doing by "absorbing" him--but he knew that he needed to get out of there. Now.
He once again resumed his struggle to break free, despite the fact that it was clearly futile. "You worthless fiends!" he bellowed forcefully into the dark hall, hoarse from exertion. "I won't allow you to get away with this!"