DA opens a portal and pulls Locki into a radiant, ethereal dimension. Without a word, DA disappears. DA had something important to deal with.
Locki finds himself standing before Aurora, bathed in shimmering light. She gazes at him, her expression distant yet knowing.
"I know why you've come," she says softly. "But I'm sorry—I can't help."
"You can reverse time, can't you?" Locki asks, stepping closer.
Aurora interrupts sharply, "I can't reverse the actions committed by a Beyonder."
"Beyonder? What do you mean?" Locki asks, confusion darkening his face.
"This attack... it was orchestrated by a Beyonder. One who is closely tied to Dr. Thomas."
Locki clenches his fists. "Then where is this Dr. Thomas? Why don't we just attack him directly?"
Aurora shakes her head. "No one enters his dimension without permission. Dr. Thomas is shielded—not just by his realm—but by several powerful Beyonders. Even if we captured him, they would intervene."
---
[Scene Transition – World of Dark Souls]
Dr. Thomas stands in the darkened void, facing a mysterious man. They shake hands in silence. The man vanishes into thin air.
Thomas turns and looks toward Ron, who stands solemnly atop a grave—the grave marked "Dream."
Tears streak Thomas's face.
"I know how you feel, my son-in-law," he says with trembling voice. "But I've come too far. My revenge... is only a few steps away."
---
[Scene Transition – A Few Days Later]
Carter, seated in his office, calls Ron and arranges a meetup at a quiet nearby café.
Later, they sit across from one another, the air tense.
"People have been vanishing—children, adults, the elderly. Ever since that day," Carter says grimly.
"You think the disappearances are tied to the deaths of our wives?" Ron asks.
Carter shakes his head. "Not directly. But there has to be some kind of connection."
Ron nods. "We don't have solid proof yet. Let's focus on the missing people for now."
Carter pulls out his laptop and opens a video file.
"I received this from Bruce last night," Carter says. "He said the people in this video are... suspicious. You'll understand."
The video begins. It's footage from the night of their wives' funeral.
A man dressed like a gentleman walks through the graveyard at night, barely visible in the corner of the footage. He stops and begins digging into a grave. A coffin—one Ron instantly recognizes—appears.
The man struggles to open the coffin but fails. Suddenly, the lid creaks open on its own. A hand shoots out, grabs the man by the throat, and drags him inside. The coffin slams shut. The camera cuts out.
Carter clicks on another file.
"This one's from the next night," he says.
A drunk man stumbles through the cemetery, recording on his phone. He spots the same gentleman—this time eating a cemetery guard. The drunk hides, shaking, but the man sniffs the air—he can smell him.
The phone drops. Screams ring out. Then—silence. A hand smashes the lens.
Carter shows Ron some screenshots—close-ups from the video.
"See these marks?" he says, pointing at wounds on the gentleman's neck. "They're identical to Dracula's bite patterns."
Ron stares at the screen, expression hardening.
"So we're up against Dracula now?" he mutters. "First zombies... then Mr. Titan... now this. Something is seriously wrong with this town."
The two continue their discussion, piecing together the grim puzzle.
After reviewing the strange videos, Ron and Carter decided to call it a night. The air was heavy, and the city's silence felt unnatural.
As Ron walked alone, his thoughts drifted to the past—his lost memories, the centuries he'd spent asleep, and the one question that haunted him: What exactly happened to me? The silence of the street gave no answer.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, Ron spotted a thief sprinting past, snatching something from an elderly woman standing near a flickering lamp post. But oddly, she didn't react—no scream, no panic. She just stood there, frozen.
The thief, confused by her stillness, turned to glance back—and instantly began to tremble.
Her eyes had changed. No longer human. They glowed like something out of a nightmare—feral, red, monstrous.
Before he could run, the old woman lunged. She moved with unnatural speed, grabbed the thief by the throat, and sank her teeth into his neck. Blood spilled into the street.
In seconds, the thief was no longer himself—his eyes turned crimson, and his skin paled as the curse took hold. The newly-turned vampire rose beside the woman. Together, they turned to face Ron.
Ron's body tensed.
He was still recovering from the battle with the Titan—a fight that had pushed him beyond his limits. The pocket dimension he'd torn open had nearly killed him. He'd accessed a form he didn't even know existed—The Bloody Wings, crimson wings that surged from his back as he withstood the Titan's full assault and ultimately destroyed it.
But now? That power was sealed. His body ached. He could barely hold himself upright.
Still, he clenched his fists. Powerless or not, Ron was still a strategist. Still a fighter.
The two vampires charged.
---
Meanwhile, across town, Carter had taken a different path home.
He noticed a beautiful woman stumbling into a narrow alleyway, appearing drunk. Two men followed her, laughing as they disappeared into the shadows behind her.
Moments later, a spray of blood erupted from the alley—like a crimson geyser painting the wall.
The woman emerged, her eyes glowing with hunger. Behind her, the two men staggered into view—changed. Turned.
They lunged at Carter.