I wake up to find everything… normal.
"What?! The whirlwind?! The Catastrophe?! Everyone's… okay?!" I shout, eyes darting around.
I try to stand, but my body feels unbearably heavy. When I turn to the side, I spot that strange, sharp-cut boy lying nearby.
"It's… you? Are you okay? Look, I—" I start to apologize.
"Why do you ask?! Cut the nonsense, damn it!" he snaps. "How did you stop that beast? Shit, that's annoying. I can't sense any great power from you. Yet… who the hell are you?"
"What… You!! I was just trying to say sorry, idiot! I didn't mean to insult you!" I protest. "I just— I was in a hurry. I had to leave! No matter the cost!"
"I don't care about your crap!" he barks. "All I want to know is how you stopped my Hole and that untamed wind!"
"Huh, like I know!? The last thing I remember is fainting when I failed to stop it. Something was trying to swallow me—I lost control of my body. I felt this burning heat, like I was melting… like ice under the sun."
He stares at me silently for a moment.
"By the way," I ask, "what's your name, strange boy?"
His eyes narrow. "You're messing with me, huh? Don't call me that. I'm not strange. Do it again and I'll blast your peasant ass!"
"Whoa, sorry, man! I didn't mean to be rude. I just say what I see," I explain quickly. "I'm Sein. Sein Claimant. Nice to meet you!" I stretch out my hand for a handshake.
He looks utterly uninterested. "My second name is Care. I'm leaving."
Not only his clothes and hair are weird—but even his name! Where do people get names like that? Hilarious. He'd probably kill me if I said that out loud… so I won't.
"What's your first name then? I only have one. Don't think you'll find anyone here with two," I say, curious.
He stops. "I don't."
"Wait, what? Your name is… 'I Don't Care'? Hhh—what a stra— I mean, uh, what an unheard-of name! Who even has a name like that?! You're certainly the strang— uh, the most different guy I've ever met. I think I like you!" I laugh awkwardly.
"You're really… an idiot," he mutters. "And you don't get humor. Typical peasant. Also, stop saying 'strange.' I'm not a gay—I like women. Huge women. With huge breasts."
"You son of a—! I'm not gay. I also like women! And you used the word strange first! That's indecent, you strange-cut-haired jerk!" I yell back.
He looks irritated, steps closer, and soon we're bickering again—like kids who've known each other forever.
"Ha ha ha! You're a strange guy indeed," I laugh. "Not 'different' strange—just… you know. I never had any friends. Grew up alone. But still… those were good times."
"You? Seriously?" he raises a brow. "You're weirder than I thought. Never seen such a naïve guy. Are all people here like you?"
"What do you mean? Everyone's special in their own way," I grin. "Haha!"
We both burst into laughter until tears fall from our eyes.
"Dash Millevolte. That's my name," he finally says. "Remember it. Someday, the whole world will acknowledge me as the strongest man."
"What?? You've got four names?! 'I Don't…Care…Dash…Millevolte'? That's way too long. I'll call you… hmm…say… Dash. Short and cool."
He explodes in laughter. "Hahahahah! You… you really believed that?! The first names were a joke! You're too damn naïve!" He grins, "Then I'll call you Clai, for short."
We keep laughing and arguing about pointless things, like old friends.
Then suddenly, it hits me. The train. My goal. The reason I shouldn't be sitting here at all.
"How the hell did the whirlwind disappear?" I mutter.
"Huh? What are you mumbling? You've gone crazy too now?" he says.
"Hey… from what you said earlier—you weren't the one who stopped it either, right?" I ask.
That thing was colossal, the kind that could swallow a whole town in moments.
"Ohh, I see. You're joking again," he smirks.
"No, seriously. I don't know what happened. The last thing I remember was fainting after feeling this insane heat."
"Cut it out. You're lying," he insists. "… You're not joking, right? Then who the hell stopped it? That was a catastrophe! If I didn't stop it, and you didn't, then who—"
Before he can finish, someone interrupts.
Holy crap—it's him. Mr. Alaric.
"M–Mr. Alaric! Long time no see, huh?!" I stammer.
"Indeed," he declares with serene confidence, "That colossal whirlwind did not simply vanish—it was erased by my own hand. If doubt still clouds your hearts, then tilt your gaze one hundred and twenty degrees skyward... and witness the proof of my radiance.
We look up—And WHAT!!!
A massive whirl-crater looms in the sky, the clouds swirling like a giant muffin of doom.
Dash drops to his knees, jaw slack. I'm startled too—but knowing the old man, it's not impossible. He's ridiculously strong. Too strong. Suspiciously strong.
All these years no one ever wielded a Soul Blade… until two years ago. And now he shows up with some divine hammer?
"Ah, indeed," Alaric proclaims, voice calm yet blazing with pride. "I merely redirected it toward God's Vault and smote it into nothingness—with my sacred hammer, Maria." He glances at them, lips curling faintly. "But you two… slumbering from mid-morrow till noon? Hmph. I could not pity such frailty enough!"
"Tsk! Sfacciato!" Dash spits. "You're telling me you, old man, repelled that howling storm with a silly hammer? Cut the crap! I'm done listening to your holy nonsense."
Alaric's expression darkens.
"Jahaha! Ah, ah, ah… You insolent fool," he laughed. "You did raise thy voice against me and defile the sanctity of my Holy Mother. Alas, I must needs take harsh measures, lest mama is displeased. Thereafter, I shall attend to thy case, Sein."
"Wait, what—?!"
"As usual," he continues, "I shall forgive you… provided your sinful life is the forfeit. So, prepare yourself!"
Dash smirks. "Good. That's what I've been waiting for—a duel to decide who's strongest. I don't mind if you join him, Sein. I'll take you both on!"
WaitwaitwaitwaitWAIT! Why the hell did this escalate?! I was supposed to go to the station, not die here!
"Hold up! Mr. Alaric—he doesn't know what he's saying! He's a foreigner—you can tell by his clothes!" I plead.
"Nay," Alaric declares, "you seek to delay God's retribution. That is… orthodox. God forgive him, for he knows not His way. Amen! Now then—let us proceed!"
He raises his hand to the ssky, tilts it back, and intones:
"Hail, Die Jungfrau Maria—Akt Eins: Das Urteil über den Scharlatan!"
Something blazing at light speed crashes down. He catches it bare-handed.
Holy hell—it's his hammer.
A wave of heat ripples through the air as the sky itself splits open. From the wound descends a massive infernal rock—larger than all the whirlwinds combined.
"Oi! Are you serious?! You'll take the whole town with it!" I yell.
Dash's face twists in awe—he finally understands Alaric wasn't bluffing.
"Prepare yourself, O THOU WHO CHALLENGED GOD!" Alaric roars. "EGO SHALL CHASTISE THEE! Akt Zwei: Die Erlösung! Have you anything to confess before I end you?"
Dash freezes. I try to stand, but I'm still drained—like my life's been sucked out.
"Oi! Dash!! You idiot! Answer me! Run away or something! You can outsmart him in speed—just move!"
"Outsmart me? Foolish child." His voice carried calm certainty, not boast. "In this Archipelago, none surpass me. Born here, raised here, and forged by the hand of God Himself. To defeat me, you would require the mightiest warrior to render me conquered."
He smirks. "Baah! In your terms, you might say…that I am the third strongest man—in the world."
He raises his hammer— "Lo and behold! Ego the son of Maria; ergo, I am the measure of strength."
Next time on Soul Blade Brawl Z: The Crash of Legends— "I too command the wind, sir!"