Chapter 1

Well where do I begin with this? No, really, I'm serious here. This wasn't my idea. A friend suggested I start keeping a journal of these things, get all my thoughts and feelings together in one place. Basically, let me think over everything that's happened and figure out how my life went from one strange event to another.

But how do I start this, I mean, where would one even begin to cover the insanity of my life?

Oh, I know!

Let's start with some background. My name is Kara Zor-L. That's probably not a very familiar name to you. You probably know me by alias, Power-Girl! And if you don't know that, well…

I'm the superheroine with the really big boobs and the cleavage window. That should clear up any confusion you might have about who I am. But for the few of you left that don't know, I'm the cousin to Kal-L. Ya know, the Big Blue Boy Scout, Superman.

We're the last survivors of the planet Krypton, sent to Earth as refugees. And because of differing suns and planet ecology, we both developed 'super-powers'. Flight, super strength, invulnerability. A whole slew of abilities that the two of us use to fight crime and protect people. Admittedly, my cousins been at it for a couple more years than I have, but I've found my own place in the world.

I took the name Power-Girl to help separate myself from my cousin, get out from under his shadow. For the most part, it's worked even. I'm pretty well known, popular with the people, and even considered a national treasure by some (The reasons for that are less impressive then you would think)!

Heck, I was even using my own Kryptonian education and abilities to start a research firm. A company developing new techs to make life easier for everyone on Earth. The problem was making them available to the public, which we had almost managed to solve, when all of my hard work was thrown out the window.

My reputation, my company, my life on Earth, all of it irrelevant. The funny thing is, it wasn't even my fault! Honestly, I just…Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself here. Let me explain exactly what happened first, and hopefully things will start to make sense.

I'll keep this brief, because how I got into the situation I am in now really doesn't matter compared to what happened after.

The day had started pretty simple. Woke up in my apartment, fed my fluff-ball of a cat Stinky, handled some bills, and got ready for a morning patrol around New York. Yeah, a superhero in New York, what're the odds?

It had been a pretty uneventful patrol at first. A few lightweight crimes that I lightly intervened in, a speeding car or two, nothing unusual. Then, trouble started brewing along the Hudson River. I was there in a flash, and wouldn't you know it, Ultra-Humanite was up to no good. Again.

He was in the middle of some evil plot, I can't remember what it was it was so long ago. All I remember is that involved 200,000 megavolts of electricity, a garbage barge of fish, and lots and lots of Vaseline everywhere. So in other words, your standard clichéd super-villain plot. Seemed like another day in the life for me.

Then, when Ultra-Humanite seemed to have the upper hand on me, there was a colossal flash of light, a burning sensation all over my body, and what felt like a train hitting my chest. I crashed through something as a result, and remember something exploding behind me before everything got a lot darker.

And was on fire.

There was a lot of fire.

I shook my head and tried to get my bearings. I was flat on my back in a building somewhere. The wall opposite me was on fire. Not a little on fire, a great raging inferno that was spreading straight up onto the ceiling and spreading fast. That wasn't good.

"Ugh…" I pushed myself onto my feet and stumbled to the side. I had a great throbbing headache pounding against my skull constantly, and the room seemed to be spinning under my feet.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to get ahold of my senses. Bad idea. I inhaled a whole bunch of smoke and started hacking and choking. It wasn't pleasant. I backed away from the fire and waved the smoke out of my eyes. Then I tried to take stock of where I was through teary-eyed vision.

It seemed to be a large loading dock that took up most of the building, and was abandoned if the boarded windows were any indication. Large puddles of water dotted the floor and the only light was peeking through the ply board. Large stone pillars held the building up, which meant this was probably a multi-level structure. That fire wasn't going to help with that.

My eyes fell on the edge of a loading dock where a brand new white panel van was pulled up to the edge, its rear doors hanging open. There was a bundle of blankets inside, possibly a person, but to the right of the van…

I saw a woman clad in an entirely too tight white leotard straddling a tall lanky man on the floor. She was making…immodest noises, shivering, and overall being a disgusting person. Her back shifted and bent at unnatural angles, and the man (Who was thankfully fully clothed) seemed limped and despondent.

Now, two possibilities passed through my head on what was before me. I immediately dismissed the first one, and went with the second one. The air shook under my voice when I yelled, "Hey!" at the woman.

Gotta love that Kryptonian biology sometimes.

The woman only paused for a moment, then continued her… activities. I scowled and stormed forward. Now, I won't say I'm the most intimidating hero out there, that probably goes to my cousin when he's mad. But still, I'm an athletic woman with a six foot physique and the ability to make my eyes glow bright red.

So I had to imagine that I looked pretty intimidating striding towards those two. Which was probably why I heard, rather than saw, something skitter across the ground followed by a whoosh of air. I whipped around in time and caught some thing by the throat before it got anywhere near me.

It had the body of a normal blonde human male, one in very good shape too. But that was about where the similarities ended. Shreds of pink flesh dangled from the things face, slick looking rubbery black highlighted by white. Its eyes were large, bulging and pitch black, even the sclera (Whites of the eyes for the less biologically conscious). The thing parted its oversized jaw in a furious hiss, fangs dripping with saliva like a rabid dog.

I wrinkled my nose in disgust, "Ew." Whatever this thing was, it certainly wasn't human. It barely looked sentient.

Elongated hands, black-clawed at the tips, wrapped around my arm, trying to get me to release it. Unfortunately for this monster, it didn't even scratch my sleeves. Its claws just harmless bounced off my arm, much to its shock. Its already bloated eyes somehow got bigger at that while its jaw seemed to drop open in shock.

I gave a little smirk at the monster, then I twisted on my heel and flung it at the woman who seemed to be, well, raping that poor man. In hindsight, this was the best thing I could've done, but at the moment I was horrified by my choice. I didn't try to kill criminals regardless of their crimes. I wasn't judge, jury, or executioner, I just tried to protect people. And throwing a ravening fanged monster at a woman, even this one, seemed like a guaranteed death sentence.

Both bodies tumbled away from the man in a heap of limbs and torn clothing. The monster slammed into a pillar with a meaty smack. The woman crashed into one of the vans open doors and slid down onto the floor. Her eyes were blinking like she'd just been torn from a really good dream.

Then they turned black and she let out a furious hiss.

"Oh great." I grumbled, "So there's two of those things."

She got back up, as did the monster (Which should've stayed down after a hit like that) and their skin, I kid you not, began to writhe and wriggle. Like a swarm of snakes were traveling just below the first layer, ready to burst at any minute. Every time I think back to it, I shuddered a little.

At the time though, I took one step back out of sheer surprise, "Um…okay… This is new."

They lunged at me before I finished my sentence. Which, if I had been a human, or green to the whole heroine business, might've worked on me. The male flanked right while the female flanked left. It was a decent tactic, and might've worked. Again, if I was inexperienced or human. I was neither.

Both of the monsters leaped at me. I back stepped in a blur of red, white, and blue. They collided face first in mid-air, like something out of a cartoon. I kicked the male before he hit the ground into the van. I grabbed the female around the neck and pinned her to the nearest pillar with my forearm.

"Okay lady, talk." I ordered, "Who are you, what're you doing here, and how did I get here?"

The woman, who's facial features was a mass of shifting skin and snarling fangs, hissed at me ,"Kill you, human! I will kill you and devour you!"

I cringed a little on the inside. Outwardly, I sneered at this monster of a woman, "Right, gonna have to say no. The cops'll love bringing you in for questioning though."

That would've been the end of it right there. I had this woman pinned, the other monster was out of the fight for a moment, and I seemed stronger and faster than both of them. But, in the brief confusion, I had forgotten about something rather crucial.

The fire.

In our little scuffle, it had grown slow but steady. The structure of the building had begun to collapse under the heat, and wouldn't you know it, and entire section of wall suddenly gave way to my left. Sunlight poured in through the falling bricks and clouds of dust, the last rays of daylight. Where was I that it was almost night? The light hit both of us, and I kid you not, the woman burst into flames on the spot.

She screamed in agonized pain, I screamed in surprise, and I kinda let her go. It was a complete accident, but I released her and she was just gone. She and the other monster dragged themselves to the van, slamming the doors shut faster than any human. The male stopped, glaring at me with his oversized eyes while the female made low wailing sounds of pure agony.

"You both will pay. Understand Wizard? You and your harlot will pay!" then he hopped into the van. The engine roared to life and tires squealed in protest. The car shot out of the garage a moment later.

I almost decided to pursue them, get some actual answers, but there was a civilian at risk. The man that woman had been on the ground with was still there. He had slowly pushed himself up, but he had a dazed look on his face, like he'd been drugged heavily. Odds were, he had been. It would explain why the monster had been holding him down so easily.

I rushed to his side right as the man was struggling to his feet, "Easy does it," I said, hooking an arm under his shoulder and helping him up.

The guy was easily a head taller than me, almost seven feet tall. He was wearing a dark leather duster, dark clothes underneath, and I'm serious here, an honest to god cowboy hat. His hair was dark brown, and he had a strong chin that was a bit stubbly. The guy kinda reminded me of Batman, only not as buff or anti-socially into himself.

"You gonna be okay sir?" I asked.

The man looked out the hole in the wall, still dazed, "It's almost night…" he mumbled. His voice was a surprisingly baritone.

I stared out the hole, "Yeah, it's getting late." I looked back at him, "Sir, I think you need to get to the hospital, you might've-"

He shook his head and staggered forward, "N-no… No time. Dark. Vampires will come back. They always come back after dark. I need…need to get back to my apartment."

Obviously the guy was still out of it, and if I hadn't seen it for myself, I'd think he was hallucinating. But I've fought literal gods before, so vampires? Sure, why not. But this guy still didn't look like he should be allowed to try and get home by himself.

I was at his side again in a second, giving him a firm squeeze on the bicep. He froze and looked back at me. His eyes seemed more clouded then before. Jeez, the guy was going to pass out at any moment.

"Sir, you need a hospital." I repeated, "I can take you if you want, but the police should be here any minute."

Sirens were wailing in the distance and getting closer by the second. The tall man swayed back and forth for a moment. Fire chewed at the building, which I was pretty sure would give out any moment. It was already pretty old and seemed abandoned. No alarms had been going off with the fire, so it was safe to assume it was abandoned. All I had to do was convince this guy to let me help him.

To my irritation, he shook his head, "No… no hospital. Machines don't…don't work well around me. I need to get home."

I sighed. So it was gonna be like that huh? Well, if the guy was insisting, I might as well oblige him. So I grabbed him by the collar of his duster, and pulled him close, "Fine, hold on tight, and be prepared to give me directions."

"Wait, whaaaaa-!?"

And then I took off into the air with the poor guy in tow. Hey, he wanted to go home, right? Might as well take him there and get some damn answers. After all, the guy might've been in a burning building and nearly eaten by a monstrous vampire while also drugged, but he had to have an idea of where I'd wound up, right?

The guy, who's name I still hadn't gotten, eventually calmed down and managed to give me directions to his apartment. Apparently, I was in Chicago now. Not sure why, but I decided to roll with it and took the man home.

His home was a big century-old wooden boarding house that one sweep of my X-ray vision told me was divided into several apartments. It was almost entirely wood and seemed to groan and creak under the slightest breeze. The place was one with history, one that stirred a sense of nostalgia in you even if you'd grown up in steel and concrete houses like I kinda had. It was a nice neighborhood, real quiet, which meant no one saw us land at the stairway into his apartment.

Which was really more like the boardinghouse basement. Go figure. The moment we landed, the man slowly stumbled down. He was clearly still out of it, so I followed him down. No way I was going to let this guy hurt himself, and besides, he might have some answers for me about these vampires.

His front door was one of those big heavy steel doors you see in security buildings or at maximum security buildings. That immediately set off little alarm bells in my head and I did a quick scan for booby traps on the other side. Nothing. So the guy was just crazy paranoid and had a couple hundred pounds of steel for a door.

It seemed legit.

The man stopped at the door, swayed in place for a moment, then opened it and staggered in, "Come on in, if you want…" he sighed. It seemed more a practiced gesture than anything. The guy was really out of it.

I followed and shut the door behind me with my foot. When I looked forward again, the man was standing back up and what appeared to be a small dog promptly rammed into my shins. I took one step back in surprise to realize it wasn't a small dog but a really big cat. Thirty pounds, easy. The grey tabby was hug and brushed against my legs with a rumbling purr.

"Aw, hey big guy" I knelt down and started petting the cat, which he seemed to appreciate.

I was quick to get focused again, I totally didn't spend five minutes petting the cat, and looked around for the man. I got a good look at his room and blinked a few times in surprise. It was one large room with a small kitchenette and fireplace. Rugs were scattered over the stone floor, ranging from store bought, to handmade Navajo, to a black area rug with Elvis's face on it. Several bookshelves and tapestries lined the walls along with an original Star Wars poster. Well, at least the guy had good taste.

A door at the far end of the apartment lead into a bedroom with a narrow bed, which the guy had promptly collapsed into. Oh god!

I rushed across the floor (Kicking up a rug or five) into his room. The large beast that was a cat followed me and hopped onto his owners bed with an inquisitive tilt to his head. The man was spread eagle on his bed, and his cat was in the process of not giving a damn. Much like my own cat, he paced back and forth by the man's face, waiting to be fed.

"Go away…" the man mumbled, "Stupid furball, go on…"

I sighed and picked the cat up. The big guy went limp in my arms, "Where's your cat food?" I asked.

"Icebox…" the man mumbled. He really was about to drift off.

I carried the cat into the kitchenette and checked the small wooden box that was where the fridge should be. It was literally an ice box, kept cool with a giant block of ice. There were a variety of bachelor-esque foods in the icebox, but I found some cold cuts and dropped them on a little plate for the big tabby.

That seemed to please him for the moment, so I went back to check on the guy. And he was out like a light, snoring lightly on his bed.

I sighed, "Go figure."

I sat on the edge of the bed and narrowed my eyes at him. Layers of clothing and skin peeled away from him, exposing the inter-workings of the man. I'm not particularly great at using my x-ray vision for more than looking for blunt trauma or broken bones, but I could definitely tell something was wrong with the guy. Every muscle in his body was just… limp.

Not in the relaxed kinda way you can be when you're asleep, because even then your muscles are a little tense. I mean the guy was just a limp noodle. Everything about him just seemed to be… relaxed.

"What kinda drug did they put you on?" I wondered aloud.

Well, they were supposedly vampires. Their saliva was probably a natural narcotic. Had the woman kissed him? I didn't know, never got a good look before I hit her with the other vampire. Either way, the guy was out for the moment and I didn't know what to do. He wasn't really running a fever or anything, and except for how loose he was, he seemed relatively healthy.

A little bruised, but fine otherwise. I ran a hand through my hair and sighed, "Well great. Vampires on the loose and this guy might be the only one who knows anything about them. And now he's asleep. Lovely."

I wandered back into the living room, letting sleeping men lie, and headed for the old telephone on the edge of the kitchen counter. I had no idea what these 'vampires' were up to, but I did know this. Something was going down, and I needed some help. Time to call in the League and see if I could get someone more knowledgeable in the supernatural to help out. Preferably Zatanna or Doctor Fate. One of the major powerhouses in the supernatural world to help out.

I dialed the league (Members only number.) and waited. All I got was a busy dial tone. A frown crossed my lips and I tried again. Dial tone. So I tried the satellite number to the Watchtower. Dial tone.

I felt my eye twitch, and I started trying all the numbers I knew. Zatanna, Fate, Kal, Diana, Batman, Captain Atom, Dr. Atom, Wally West, J'onn, Green Lantern (Any of them). And every time I got the same end result. Dial tone, or a 'sorry, this number is not available'.

A slow pit of worry and doubt formed in my stomach. None of the league members numbers were working. Their private lines, personal lines, nothing. There was no way all of them could be taken out that fast. But if their numbers weren't working then…then…

"Oh god, not again." I said aloud.

Another alternate universe. I was trapped in another god damn universe! Of all the no good, stupid, idiotic-

Before I could go on a rant and probably start trashing the poor man's apartment, I heard a scream of pain and terror from the bedroom. Once more, the cat and I were in there in a flash. The man had tumbled from his bed and was curled up in a fetal ball at the far corner of the bedroom. A pool of vomit wasn't too far from him and he was screaming like he was being torn apart.

I moved to act, but damn if that cat wasn't moving faster than I was. The big guy hopped up onto the man's chest and clawed at his face. Eyes shot open, terrified eyes, and took stock of where he was in an instant. The tabby scratched him again for good measure, which seemed to wake him up a little more.

The poor man was terrified, violently shaking now that he was awake. I walked over to him and knelt down, "Sir, we need to get you to the hospital."

He ignored me. Like I wasn't even there. The man just crawled forward suddenly, dragging himself to the living room. I scowled angrily. Enough of this crap, the guy was clearly sick and I-

The giant cat pressed against my leg and let out a warning growl. I looked down in surprise at big ol'cat eyes and saw intelligence in them. The cat wrinkled its nose and shook its head.

"Did…did you just tell me no?"

It nodded with another low feline growl.

Okay. Getting threatened by a cat. There was something I hadn't really expected to see, like… ever. I nearly ignored that cat though, because damn it, the guy had puked his guts out only a little after falling asleep. There was no way I could just ignore that and let bygones be bygones. The guy needed help, and I could take him to get help!

Then I could sort out this alternate universe crap and start working on a way home.

Again.

Ugh.

I walked back out into the living room right as the man stumbled down a secret door. Of course he had a secret door. I just shook my head and followed down into a room crowded in darkness. There were no lights to speak of, but that was hardly a problem. I narrowed my eyes and managed to get enough light into them that I could see a vague outline of a center table and several shelves lining the walls.

The man was sobbing now, pure terrified sobs, as he wobbled back and forth. He knocked over items left and right but didn't seem to care. I moved to help him, but he suddenly fell forward onto his hands and knees, fumbling for something. A moment later, I suddenly became aware of… a faint power in the room.

Nothing serious of course, but it was like being at a power station. You can feel the faint power in the air, the hum of energy flowing through metal and steel. That was what I felt, but on a scale so faint that almost no human would sense it. The sensation actually caught me off guard and I had to take a step back in surprise.

I got over it quickly and knelt next to the man. I reached for my belt at the same time and undid the front of the clasp. No, not like that. I had a built in flashlight I could remove from the front for anyone who didn't have my vision. So most people.

With a flick of a switch, bright blue light illuminated this… underground lab. I didn't pay it any attention, choosing to focus on the man in what appeared to be a large circle of bronze, silver, and gold, inlaid with multiple complex symbols whose meaning I did not even begin to comprehend.

The man (I really needed to know his name) was curled inside it, still crying over… whatever had haunted him. Poor guy.

"Sir," I said softly. The cat padded up behind me and circled the…circle, letting loose a low but reassuring purr. I stroked the cat absentmindedly and waited for the man to calm down.

Several minutes later, he seemed coherent again, only vaguely shaking. Which was good. That probably meant he was stabilizing. The cat seemed to agree and hopped up onto one of the shelves and sat there. Watching us with those big cat eyes.

"Sir," I repeated again, just as softly, "Are you feeling any better?"

The man groaned, and seemed to shrink in on himself, "No…not really…"

"I didn't think so." I agreed.

He took a few deep breaths and rolled onto his back. The man's eyes were bloodshot from crying and he just looked exhausted. I felt some sympathy for him, and was glad I'd decided to stick around and help out.

His eyes flicked over to me and blinked a few times, like he was just seeing me for the first time, "You…um…who are you? How'd you get into my house?"

I smiled a little, "You can call me Power-Girl sir. And you invited me in when I brought you here. Remember?"

"No." he admitted, then frowned, "Power-Girl…that's… aren't you a comic book hero?"

Inwardly I sighed. So it was one of those universes. Ones that didn't have any heroes around to help them out. What's worse, it was one where we did exist, but only as media objects. Which probably meant there was tons of awful fanfiction out there about me. I made a note to avoid the internet for a long time.

"Technically, yes." I admitted, no point in lying, "Not really sure what I'm doing, but one moment I was fighting a villain, next there was a flash of light and I woke up in a burning garage. And you were being attacked by Vampires."

The man shivered, "Yeah… the siblings…I take it you chased them off?"

"I was going to arrest them, but yes, I did. Then I brought you here even though you should be in the hospital."

The man shook his head and struggled to sit up, "No… not a good idea. Tech doesn't work well around me. Besides, vampire venom just… it's a narcotic. A supernatural one that's a very extreme kinda roofy."

I winced, "Lovely. But if all it does is knock you out, what was with the whole…?"

"Nightmare." The man said. He rubbed his face and groaned, "Bad, bad nightmare…"

"I see." I said, "Well then, Mr…um?"

"Dresden," he said through his hands, "Harry Dresden."

"Right, well Mr. Dresden, it's been a pleasure, but I need some answers on this whole vampire thing. Like how I can help and what we're dealing with. Once that's done, hopefully I can work on a way back home."

Harry sighed, "I… think the vampires are the least of our worries."

"Yeah, they are." A voice said.

I shot up and whirled around with my light pointed in the direction of the voice. It lit up a frigging human skull that was resting on a shelf amongst melted candles and half a dozen romance novels. Its eyes were glowing a fiery orange and staring at me. Or rather my chest.

"Nice rack." The skull said, then turned to Harry.

I just stood there dumbfounded for a moment while the skull talked.

"Harry," the skull said to the man, "How you holding up?"

"I feel like shit, Bob."

The skull, Bob, 'frowned', "Yeah, I bet. I saw what it was though. I saw it attack you and I think I know what it was. What went after Malone and the others, and how it did it."

"Wait, what?" I said. I tried getting over the talking skull for a moment, "What attacked him? When?"

"While you were on the phone." Bob said, "And what I'm talking about, is the thing that just tried to eat Harry's soul."

A/N: I may be getting a lot of hate thrown my way for this, but I have a reason for this story! My novel writing teacher suggested I work on a new side story to practice my writing, something similar to the book I'm working on, so I decided to work on this story. Power-Girl and the Dresden Files. A character I love mixed in with a book series I have been reading fanatically over the summer. I figured the two both mixed and countered each other well enough that I could get a genuinely good story out.

Plus it's not related to Transformers, which is another huge plus. I am really done with Transformers for the moment. I need a break from it. So, this is my new story. I've got a plot worked out for it and everything. It's going to be a series, at least four books. The first two will sorta follow the Dresden File books 'Grave Peril' and 'Summer Knight' but will have some divergences due to Power-Girls presence.

We'll eventually learn who dragged the poor Kryptonian to Dresdens world, why she's there, and then get a huge epic multiversal battle in true DC fashion. But for now, I'm trying to figure out how best to incorporate Power-Girl and how her personality works. A Beta Reader interested in helping me edit my work would be appreciated.

But otherwise, I hope everyone enjoyed the story, and I hope to get another update out next week! Please don't lynch me for doing this instead of my other stories!

Bye!