It all began when she looked down from her window. She saw that man for what she hoped would be the last time.

She was a young woman, still in her early twenties, but she had seen her share of tragedy. It was all tied to that one man. "The Dark Lord," he called himself in sick jest. He was an enemy of all that was good. He was to blame for the killing of her parents, the manipulation of so many of the famed Belmont clan, and the razing of everywhere he visited. She knew it wasn't hyperbole to say that he could kill with a touch, that all either feared or served him, and that he had designs on the world. She was scared to death. But she wasn't paralyzed like she used to be. Today, she was going to end his dark reign once and for all.

She watched him prepare outside her home. He was using magic to teleport tents outside for his minions to sleep in, and to form a large stone podium. It figured. As much as he liked to manipulate from the shadows, he also enjoyed the spotlight. He wanted a platform to make some huge speech about his power on. She had counted on that. As his back turned, her features melted away, leaving only an indistinct, transparent slime. She surreptitiously slithered out the window of her temporary cottage and moved onto the podium, where she stayed completely still. Her plan relied on her interrupting her foe as he spoke.

Today would be the day that Simon Belmont fell to the righteous fury of Doppelganger Belnades.

. . .

The four heroes awoke in a field, surrounded by unfamiliar plants. The first one to wake up was Trevor. He was a rather tall, muscular man, with long brown hair and narrow eyes that made him constantly appear either serious or drowsy. He brushed off his elaborate green duster coat, searched for a few seconds for his signature whip, then tried to rouse the others.

He began with an old friend of his, Mr. Grant Danasty. Grant was a stark contrast to Trevor, a pale and skinny white-haired figure covered in bandages, but with eyes that were very much alive. At least, they were when he was awake. Trevor crouched down and shook him.

"Wha? Wha's going on? Wha's going on?"

"Grant, I'm not sure, but we should probably awaken the others."

"Others?"

"Sypha and Alucard."

"Oh, those others. Gotcha."

Grant gave a short salute, then pulled himself off the ground and looked around. "Okay," he yawned. "This is coming from an amateur outdoorsman, but I think I have a pretty good idea where we are."

Trevor shot his friend a surprised look. "What? You have an idea of our bearings? Speak up, man!" He exclaimed.

Grant replied. "We're in some weird yard with a purple sky, there's a few trees over to the thattaway, and the whole thing's overlooked by a huge floating castle that I think is probably Castlevania."

Trevor stopped in his tracks. Castlevania. How long had it been since he left that man-made nightmare? Fighting, mostly alone, against a raging army of immortal beasts…the memories flooded back. However, back then, he had to fight off all other thoughts to concentrate on the "now." This was no different.

"Hey! Found Syph!"

What? Grant was about to awaken the maiden Sypha? Without him? Well, he certainly wasn't going to let that happen. Trevor rushed after the sound of Grant's voice, finding their third ally a short jog away, in the trees.

Sypha Belnades was in the very center of the clearing. While she was in an awkward sideways position, it was unmistakably her. Her flowing red-blonde hair was about her head, and she was dressed in her blue cross-marked church robes. A crucifix was in her limp hand. Grant, being somewhat less pure of heart than Trevor, also took notice of her chest. He would recognize her abnormally buxom figure anywhere. If this wasn't Sypha, it was her twin. Trevor kneeled down to shake her awake.

Before his hand could even touch her, she spun face-up, sat bolt upright without opening her eyes, and brandished the cross, screaming "Begone foul hellspawn, from whence you came, or I shall invoke the name of the lord and banish you myself!" She opened her eyes, and her expression of rage and fear changed to a subtly pleasant smile. "Oh, sorry, boys." She said calmly. "I can't be too careful, you know. Erm, where are we?"

Trevor turned to Grant. "Do you wish to explain?" "Eh, sure." Grant replied. "It's simple, Syph. We're in some weird field with a red sky and Castlevania is hovering over the whole deal." Sypha was silent for a few seconds, seemingly taking in the information. Strangely, she mumbled to herself.

"I have it."

"What, Syph? You think you know what's going on?"

"Not exactly, but I recognize this system. We're in a sort of…bubble of space, surrounded by magic. And if I'm correct…this isn't our time."

"Our time for what?" Trevor asked.

"No, no!" Sypha said. "What I mean is that some sorcery has moved us through time. We're currently in the year two-thousand…two-thou…we're in two-thousand thirty-seven."

Trevor shouted. "What? We've been moved more than a millennium! The apocalypse has probably passed us by! Dracula probably rules now that we're all gone! What madman would do such a thing?"

A young man rushed up through the trees suddenly. "Sirs! Madame! I've been searching all over for you!"

The three readied their weapons, with Trevor readying his Vampire Killer whip, Grant pulling a spiked chakram from his back, and Sypha summoning her ornate golden mace-staff out of air. The man raised his arms in defense. "Sorry! I didn't mean to frighten you all. I'm here to help you end Dracula once and for all. My name is Simon Belmont."

Trevor looked at the man. He certainly looked like a Belmont. He was tall and muscular, as Trevor himself was, and had long red hair. His clothes, a fur-trimmed vest, short leather pants, and a pair of fur boots, were mostly as red as his hair. To top it off, he was wielding a whip that could be identified as the Vampire Killer in Trevor's hand. The scarlet-clad warrior said, "It's wonderful to finally meet you, great-grandfather."

All three of the heroes recoiled in surprise. "Wait a second." Trevor said. "This doesn't match up. This is the year two thousand thirty-seven. My great grandson should only be around the…late 1600s, if I'm right."

Simon nodded. "With some magical assistance, I brought you three and myself here, along with many other heroes. Nearly the entire Belmont clan, plus any others who oppose Dracula, have been gathered. We're at a time when Dracula is dead for good, and his reincarnation is a hero by the name of Soma Cruz. We plan to take Castlevania down for good, and end the Dark Lord's reign. Together, we are unstoppable."

Sypha raised her finger. "Is that for a question, great-grandmother?" Simon laughed. "Several actually. What form of magical assistance did you use, how strong is Dracula's army, do you have any magical or holy items to assist us, what is your exact relation to Trevor and, frankly, how are you related to me, since you called me 'great-grandmother?'

Simon's jaw stayed slightly open for a time, until he managed to say "You should come with me to our base. It's not too far, and we have a device from the twenty-first century that will help answer your questions. Come, I'll show you the way." Sypha interrupted. "I'm sorry, sir, but I'm wary about going anywhere with someone I don't fully know. For all I know, you could be a demon, either an Incubus using illusions to imitate a human or a different variety being assisted by an Incubus. If you are truly an ally, could you please prove your identity?"

Simon's reply was simple. "Our settlement is only about a fourth of a mile from here. I can prove myself a Belmont if you wish, but I don't really see the point, when it can be confirmed by others there."

Sypha seemed to accept this answer. The four heroes then went, with Simon in the lead, around the edge of the floating land. Soon, they came to a large gathering of tents, with people walking in and out of them quickly. "That's our settlement." Simon said. "It's only a simple base for us to heal right now, but we want to eventually make a full town here. It's kind of like purifying the monsters' land. You should probably stay here for a while. After your deaths back in your own times, you were hailed as legendary heroes. Your descendants would faint at the sight of you three!"

. . .

The end had come. The heroes had all learned the ways of the time they were in, had gotten to know each other, and had reconciled with those they had lost or even once fought. A man in a white suit with "FIAT" on the back had come around and equipped everyone with holy items and weaponry. They were now all prepared mentally and physically to destroy Castlevania. Simon had led them all to a stone stage, where he had set up a microphone connected to a magical orb of electricity, enchanted to not be affected by the heavy rainstorm surrounding them. "Everyone! Please! Quiet down!" He began. Once all the discussion had stopped, the blood-red warrior began to rouse his troops.

"Everyone here has seen the evil of Lord Dracula. The villain has corrupted our Earth, and he has killed millions in his immortal war against God. Even now that he has been killed, by the great Julius Belmont, I might add…"

A short applause occurred, and Simon's 56-year-old descendant stood up.

"…and is prevented from returning, by the efforts of his reincarnation, Soma Cruz…"

Another applause.

"…his undead army still stands, driven by his still-living essence. If we do not finish what has been started, then Dracula may well appear in a new form, and raze the world of the living. He may even overthrow Heaven. We cannot allow this to happen. My plan is that…"

Something completely unexpected happened. A bizarre liquid rose up from the stone and morphed into a replica of Simon. It spoke in an echoing imitation of the genuine hero's voice. "Simon Belmont!" It shouted. "I've come as an emissary of the great Lord Dracula and of the mighty Castlevania! If you dare to oppose us, then I challenge you to a duel, right here, right now!"

Simon appeared amused. "What?" He asked. "Am I honestly hearing a mere doppelganger try to challenge me? A creature that I have defeated far too many of in the past?"

It was the doppelganger's turn to smirk. "You think that I would come up here and ask for a one-on-one fight if I didn't have an ace up my sleeve? I'm insulted, Belmont. Let's see you fight through my…illusion!"

The creature thrust its hand into the air and began to wave it about. Several of the witches and magic-workers in the audience recognized the gesture. This monster wasn't kidding. It was producing an illusionary veil to confuse Simon and prevent any assistance from his friends. They quickly donned the holy glasses they had received and urged others to do the same.

Once that had been sorted out, they turned their attention to the fight. Simon and the creature were still keeping at a distance from each other, looking for openings. The doppelganger began to speak. The crowd tensed up, ready for an extremely offensive taunt.

"How do you sleep at night, Simon?"

"Simple. I'm a demon. The fact that your little city is full of the undead and the dying makes me feel like I'm getting things done."

"You're more than a demon. Somewhere in there is the original Simon, the hero material that was there before you came in. Doesn't that change anything?"

"Actually, it does. The fact that I also have a human mind in here makes this all the more entertaining."

"Entertaining? You sick monster! How is this entertaining?"

"Really? You don't think this is even a little clever? Think about it! Two friends, Leon and Mathias. Mathias becomes a vampire, but since the Crimson Stone turned him, he's still himself. I, the great demon sorcerer Illusionary, come in and make Leon think that Mathias has gone to the dark side and rebelled against God, and I make him kill his best friend. Then, since the Crimson Stone has made Mathias, now calling himself 'Dracula,' immortal, I make Leon's descendants keep on killing him."

The crowd began to move their glasses down to see if there was any change. The fight was identical, but Simon was saying something about virtue's triumph over evil when their glasses were down. And while they hadn't noticed it, there was a slight fog when their glasses were not on, but only around Simon and his doppelganger. Slowly, and with some fear, they all put the glasses back on to see through this demon-Simon's illusion. They wanted to see if they needed to do anything. Onstage, Simon had finished discussing his manipulation of Julius.

"That's just what I managed to do to House Belmont, my other half's bloodline. And I will admit, that wasn't very entertaining. It was really just wanton murder. And I don't have time to remind you how brilliant my manipulation of Dracula's own son was. So I suppose I'll just have to stick with explaining what I did-to your family. Does this name ring a bell? Robert Belnades."

Several people in the crowd felt uneasy. Most of them were descendants of the Belnades family. Sypha in particular looked ill. Robert was her father.

"Robert was Castlevania's best. A witch born and bred within the confines of the castle-city. Of course, he was a witch. And that made it so easy to inspire a mob to kill him."

The doppelganger struck out angrily. "Shut up about my father! He was a greater man than you or any of Galamoth's followers will ever be!"

Simon recovered from the blow quickly, and knocked the doppelganger to the ground. "His wife Emilia and he were hanged for heresy by people that agreed with them one-hundred percent, thanks to Carmilla and myself, and the best part is that their daughter Sypha is now my willing pawn. Their other daughter, their little Dawn, is of course now a hideous blob that her twin sister would never recognize, even in her own form. Especially in her own form, really, since it makes her look like the face-stealer she is. She's spent all her life wanting her family back. Too bad that now she's grown up into you, the last family you have, your sister, will cheer my murder of you on. And the final piece in this irony is that I just explained everything to this crowd of heroes, and told them how innocent of all crime Dracula and his people are. I'm giving them the perfect opening to kill me and end my evil ways-and those miserable sheep won't do a damned thing about it. Now tell me that this isn't entertaining."

"It isn't."

"Did you just speak?"

"No. I did." A figure stood up from the crowd and stepped up onto the stage. Sypha. She was breathing heavily and seemed to be crying. "This isn't entertaining in the least, you wretched spawn of Satan! Everything you have described is monstrous and sick and you know it! And I'm afraid...I'm afraid that we miserable sheep no longer have the wool pulled over their eyes!"

Sypha's arms raised, and the air in front of them seemed to explode. A massive ball of flame shot at Simon's chest, knocking him into the air and off the stone stage. He collapsed on the ground. The crowd stood still, watching to see if Simon was down for good. Onstage, the Doppelganger melted into a form nigh-identical to that of Sypha, differing only in that she was dressed in a purple robe. "S-sis..." She began. She suddenly hugged the church-witch, crying. "Sis! Y-you're back! I'm sorry. It's just that you're my only real family and I never knew you for so long and I miss my sister and I'm really thankful for your saving me and I have a family again and..." Sypha merely blinked. "Sister. I have a sister."

Suddenly, Simon stood back up. He didn't appear to have been harmed in the least, though he now had two small horns protruding from his temples. Adding to his new aura of disquiet was the fact that he was slowly levitating up from the ground. He looked around to make sure that everyone was too taken aback to interrupt him. "You think that you've won, don't you?" He taunted. "Don't you get it? You can never leave this place! You're trapped within an eclipse just as those disgusting fools are!"

The space behind him began to glow with a violet light.

"And there is no one to help you here! You are monsters! Butchers! Most of you have killed children in cold blood before!"

The purple glow behind the floating warrior formed into a vague apparition.

"If any of you wish to make amends, you should simply die on the spot!"

The glow solidified, and it was clear now that it was a robed skeleton, with a scythe in its hand and a white bandanna covering one eye socket. Death personified. The grimly grinning reaper raised his blade in preperation.

"You would save the insolent cattle here the tro..."

Simon Belmont was divided cleanly in twain. Both halves faded into mist and blew away, leaving only the reaper "standing." Death floated down gracefully to the stage and took hold of the microphone in his free hand. "Hello?" He began in a deep, raspy voice. "Is everyone present listening?"

Each individual there heard the voice in their ears, as if they were wearing headphones. They turned to the stage. "Good." Death boomed. "Mistresses Belnades? If you would kindly step down and back into the audience?" Sypha and Doppelganger stepped off the stage and turned around to listen.

"I don't have very much time, so I will make this a shortened version of my full intended message. Simon Belmont decieved you. Every single thing he told any of you has been proven a lie. Therefore, you have no reason to listen when he calls you murderers. Not a single man or woman here had an honest chance at learning the truth of matters, and few even had the capability. The crime you are guilty of, at worst, is manslaughter. Accidental killing. And I see no reason why that cannot be forgiven, considering that each of you has helped humanity genuinely in many ways. Your work has even occasionally saved lives here, as you slay demons who would prey on innocent undead and weres. None of you has a reason to kill yourselves, and I would in fact be proud to invite you to stay within the confines of Castlevania, considering that you can only leave this dimension during an eclipse. Does anyone object to this prospect?"

Everyone stayed silent, save for one man in camouflage who shouted "No!" at the top of his lungs. "Very well then." Proclaimed Death. "If you will follow me, I will lead you all into Castle Town and your temporary lodgings."

Death glowed brightly and began floating off towards a series of floating stepping stones while the crowd followed. Only Sypha and her sister stayed behind. "Sister?" She asked. The doppelganger turned to her. "It's okay, Sis. You can call me Doppelganger."

"I want to call you by your name."

"That is my name. I changed it to that. It's on my driver's licence and everything."

"Very well, Doppelganger. However, what did he mean by Castle Town?"

Doppelganger grinned and giggled to herself. "You dunno? What you've seen is just the late Lord Dracula's part of the castle. The castle is actually big enough inside to have a few cities, a forest, we've even got weather in there."

"Y-you have cities in the castle? Many of them?"

"Yup. We were born there."

"So this is my birthplace?"

"Yup! Maybe they'll even let us room together. I've got my own apartment."

"Say, the other refugees are getting away from us. We should follow them."

Doppelganger suddenly whipped her head back. "You're right! Let's go!" She shouted. In an instant, she became a fluid cat-like creature, leaping after the crowd. Sypha began to follow when she saw one final delay.

There was a man wearing a long black coat and a wide-brim hat standing in the rain. Suddenly, the man grinned and waved to her in a friendly manner, then dissolved into what looked like a cloud of black latin letters.

The rain stopped.