Last Mission

By the crack of dawn, Keanu woke up with SP fully replenished, chipper as a squirrel on a spring morning. The memory of his previous encounter where his SP pool had been thoroughly drained still sent shivers down his spine. He needed to remember - no more risky gambles draining his SP next time around.

Just as Keanu was mulling over this, the door to his room was slammed open with a bang. In stormed Anna, her usual fiery self, fists swaying determinedly, aiming for Keanu. "You bad egg! Why didn't tell me he is my brother sooner? I almost killed him!" She was all steamed up, laying into Keanu with her fists. Each punch landed like a ton of bricks, stripping away at Keanu's HP 1 damage at a time.

Finally, catching her tiny fist, he commands, "Hear me out..." But at the moment, Anna was not in a chatty mood, her fists doing most of the talking.

She shared a bond as thick as thieves with her brother Víken. When Víken had been hurled off a cliff by a werewolf two months ago, she thought he was dead. But, instead, he had come back - as a werewolf. The fact that Keanu knew it was her brother, still fought like hell with him and kept mum about it, got her goat.

Unable to soothe a bent shape, Anna, Keanu changed tactics - he pulled her close and planted one smack on the lips. With that kiss, Anna couldn't spit out another word, her eyes wide as saucers as they met Keanu's. At first, she tried pulling out but his kiss, so mesmerizing, had her on cloud nine, her body got soft - no energy to lock horns with him anymore.

As she started to calm down, Keanu let out a sigh of relief. He pulled away from her flushed lips, "Recall the wager we made when we took on the goblin chieftain? I had you swear to me one thing."

"What?" Anna, still in a stupor, looking at Keanu.

"This." Keanu responded, "I'm sorry that I didn't bring you up to speed on your brother sooner. I was at a loss about how to tell you about it. Moreover, I wasn't even sure if your brother was the werewolf... I needed time to observe and analyze."

"I don't get it," was Anna's response.

A bitter smile flashed across Keanu's face.

She wouldn't understand.

Right from the beginning, Keanu goes into researching and analyzing everything about the plot of Van Helsing and the behavioral patterns of Infinity City. He had seen the movie Van Helsing before, but it was far away from the reality he found himself in. It was a whole 'nother scene.

The entrance of Keanu on the scene painted a whole new picture for the storyline right from the past, just like Scar face said: Infinity City was simply a task world, fashioned out of a movie set for all the adventurers to endure through. The true essence of this world is an adventure, the storyline only added depth.

Because of this, Keanu encountered the silver wolf that was non-existent in the movie's original storyline and tussled with the goblin chieftain. Every undead creature came equipped with unique special skills that were absent from their movie counterparts. The scenery was burgeoning with anomalies.

But for Keanu, these very abnormalities would guide him towards the commonalities. It would be these commonalities that would come into play while battling Count Dracula. Hence, he was always on the lookout for patterns or regularities.

He discovered that though the storyline may take a different direction, some local elements may change, but the core of the story, the crucial variables, remained. It was like history, regardless of how it was rewritten or by whom, the march of civilization remained unaltered.

This was no different from the story of Van Helsing. Even though Keanu's entrance brought about many changes in the storyline and the characters, some core foundations remained untouched.

Take for instance, the immortal Count Dracula and the existence of his three brides, the presence of Frankenstein's monster, and then Anna's brother visiting her on the very night Van Helsing had a showdown with the vampire brides after setting foot in town.

The theme remained the same; it was just the details that took a different. The critical part was recognizing this pattern; through these, Keanu could determine the variables and constants in the storyline.

And now, he has finally arrived upon a few critical takeaways. These would form the backbone of his strategy for hunting down Count Dracula. Within this plan, Anna's werewolf brother, Víken, plays a crucial role - in the original story, too, Count Dracula meets his end at the hands of a werewolf Van Helsing as they are the only beings that can kill Dracula.

Even though this theory may not work in the mission world, Keanu was certain that while werewolves may not land a killing blow on Count Dracula, they would most certainly do a significant deal of auxiliary damage - this was one of his fundamental theories.

But he couldn't tell this to Anna, not at this moment. He looked at Anna, flashing a bitter smile, and said: "Before your brother's appearance tonight, I was uncertain about something. But after he showed up, some things became clear. I didn't attack him because I wanted to kill him, but if I didn't, I wouldn't be able to capture him. Anna, I hope you can understand my actions. It was the best way to ensure a minimum amount of damage to both sides." 

Anna looked at Keanu in a daze. She hadn't erased the memory of the ferocious werewolf from last night, lunging at Keanu. Right, how could she fault Keanu? It was he who saved her from harm and kept the life of her brother. Suddenly, she felt a pang of regret for her impulsive behavior. She muttered shyly, "I'm sorry. I don't know what got into me. I was inexplicably furious when I heard about you fighting my brother."

Keanu gently embraced Anna, "I understand. If an outsider attacked my family, hell's bells would chime - I'd tear them apart. But if it's one person I care about harming another... it's a different question. Barring yelling and venting frustrations at the person, there's not much else we can do. You can't just attack someone you love out of anger. So all that's left is to voice the complaints to the person."

Hearing Keanu mentioned that she cares about him, Anna couldn't help but laugh. "You're such a smooth talker. Maybe I should give you a pouch, so you don't overinflate your importance in my life."

"If you can do it... don't forget I'm still injured," Keanu returned with a smile. Anna looked at Keanu, finger tracing the scars on his chest, "You hardly resemble a sick man. Your recovery is nothing short of phenomenal. Any normal person would be bedridden for a fortnight, but here you are, after being on the receiving end of three separate bouts these past few days. You're as sturdy as an ox, crafty as a fox, and fierce as a wolf." Humor in her eyes, she leaned in and whispered, "As brave as a tiger."

Keanu's heart gave a loud thump. But all he could say was, "Thanks for the compliment, but I think we're wasting time here."

"What do you mean?"

Keanu replied seriously, "Tonight, we take down Count Dracula."

Anna was taken aback by this response. Keanu was already pulling her towards the door and out into the hallway, "Where's your brother now?"

"He's in the living room. I tied him down with iron chains." Anna replied instantly.

Taking quick strides towards the living room, Keanu was trailed by Anna who stammered, "Did you just say... we're going to kill Dracula tonight?"

"That's right."

"Isn't this too much of a rush??"

"Not at all; in fact, I've been prepping for this plan for quite a while. I was awaiting your brother's arrival as it would prove something which would enable me to execute my plan."

"Prove what?" "You don't need to know the details," Keanu told Anna. "Knowing that I can help the Villares complete a centuries-old, unfulfilled pledge will be enough."

"But getting the locals to join the fight against Dracula tonight won't be a cakewalk. They've suffered great casualties and still harbor resentment towards you."

"We won't require their assistance this time. The truth is, they can't be of any more help, " mourned Keanu, "It was my miscalculation. I failed to predict that the undead could counter the strategy of overwhelming numbers. Encouraging villagers to join the attack would only fuel undead strength. We'll have to do it alone."

The locals were not significant auxiliary power anymore since he saw the vampires' ability to drink blood. They could only serve as a distraction. He directed at Anna, "Dracula won't confront us alone. He has werewolves and goblins at his disposal. If united, the villagers should be able to handle them. Their assistance would enable us to isolate Dracula and his brides."

"How can we isolate them?"

"Don't worry about that, I have a plan."

"And if your plan doesn't work out?"

Stopping in his tracks, Keanu turned back to face Anna, he declared, "Then we'll die."

"What did you say?" In the bar, Van Helsing, still bleary-eyed, looked at Keanu in astonishment, "Tonight? Kill Count Dracula?"

"Yes."

"How? We don't even know the location of Dracula's castle," Van Helsing shrugged.

In the original storyline, to reach Dracula's castle, one needs to make their way through a family mural in Anna's home. But Keanu skipped this step because it wasn't an immutable element.

Keanu stated, "We don't need to know his dwelling; we're not seeking him out. Dracula will come to find us. Our job is to set a trap and wait."

"How?"

"Because I have something he desires," replied Keanu seriously.

Van Helsing, confused, looked at Keanu. Keanu spoke in a somber tone, "Two days ago in the underground cave, we discovered someone who should not be here. I guess you're aware of his existence; The creature created by Dr. Frankenstein."

"Bloody hell!" Van Helsing slapped his forehead.

Pondering, he asked Keanu, "How do you know Dracula needs it?"

"You don't have to get to the bottom of everything, do you? You just need to that the creature possesses a lethal attraction for Count Dracula. As long as he knows that, he'll show up at our doorstep."

"That sounds easy, but we don't even know where he lives. How will we pass on the message?"

A mischievous twinkle in Keanu's eyes - "We'll have someone deliver it."