I lounged on my throne, sipping from a goblet of blood. I knew my little stunt here wouldn't take too long to get noticed. Both mundane and parahuman forces would move out within minutes of me doing this.

The storm I'd brought about when I summoned Castlevania out of the Shadow Plane had already dispersed. Though I was out of immediate sight of the mainland, global tracking systems were going to notice an island the size of a small state appearing out of nowhere.

There were a number of advantages to bringing the Castle out of the Shadow Plane. It would be a lot easier for me to get resources flowing outward without me having to personally supervise everything. One of the first things that I'd set on Castlevania's inhabitants was to build a landing that stretched down, near the water. It would be an easy way to get supplies shipped in and my unique goods shipped out. Leviathan's actions may have crippled shipping worldwide, but I had some ideas about that.

The big point, however, was to make this an obvious point of attack. Someone who wanted to take me out would know exactly where to look for me, now, and while it made things more dangerous in some ways, (all right, a lot of ways) it also meant I wouldn't be chasing down leads all over the globe. It also gave a point of separation. Someone targeting me specifically wouldn't have to go and hit my dad's place or tear apart Brockton Bay to draw me out. And more importantly, if the last Abomination had any clue about what had killed its partner, it would likely come here. If not, then I could devote everything I had toward the thing.

Alucard and Meridia entered the throne room, the succubus nearly bouncing on her feet. I couldn't help but chuckle.

Meridia spoke first. "My Lady, I think we've gotten everyone's attention. There are many flying machines circling the castle. Many mage-warriors, as well."

Alucard's voice was grave. "I am still unsure about this course of action. It is a risk, and a grave one."

I nodded. "I l know, Alucard. But I saw what happened to your father, and why he lost. He was alone, the resources spread out. I don't know how much of a chance we'll get if we band everything together, but in order to get maximum effect, we need as much as possible here."

There's also the plus that, with Castlevania on Earth, I wouldn't be cut off from the news.

"Is Amy ready?" I asked, finishing off the goblet.

Alucard nodded. "Her tower is linked only partially with the castle, here. It rests in the Shadow Plane, still. Just in case they go on the attack."

Glad to make sure. I could shift the castle back in mere moments, but there were weapons that could destroy the castle in less than that. I doubted anyone's opening salvo would be a nuke, though. Considering how large this place was, however, even a nuke wouldn't take all of it down. Though it would likely get everything above ground.

I gave Meridia a smile. "Roll out the welcome mat, Meridia."

She bowed. "As you will, My Lady."

I emerged from the throne room, looking up into the clear blue sky. I could see the hovering forms of various parahumans, as well as a few helicopters circling around. The May weather had scoured the snow from the top of the castle. It helped that the air was warmed from below, the morning sun casting enough heat to make things pleasant. I rather liked it. Aside from the minor annoyance that the sun gave me.

Looking down, I could see in the main courtyard, so far below, which were filled with quite a few of my succubi servants, along with a few of the more photogenic inhabitants of my castle. There were some of the iron golems I'd used in the fight with the Simurgh, all polished up and shining a bright red in the sun. What probably confused most of the capes hovering up above was the banner stretched across the battlements.

Free Drinks and Pie! All Heroes welcome!

I grinned to myself, flew up in the air, spreading my wings, though I didn't need them to fly. They felt...good, to have the rushing air flow over the membranes. It was an alien feeling, but also natural. I wasn't quite able to describe it, but it was certainly pleasant enough.

A familiar figure flew toward me. One wearing all black, her cape flapping behind her in the wind. Alexandria. Made sense, considering they likely had no idea just who did this. Until now. I could see the electric blue figure of Legend hanging back, surrounded by a number of other capes. I thought it likely they were all high-end blasters.

Part of me cackled. I spread my arms as she neared. "Alexandria. Welcome to my home. I hope you'll forgive me if I don't take you on a guided tour of the place, it's rather huge and it would take a while."

Alexandria took a long few moments to look at me, her single eye focused. "Do you have any idea the trouble you're in?" She yelled, to let herself be heard over the wind.

I grinned unrepentantly, yelling back. "Yes. I also know the benefits outweigh the problems." I looked around pointedly. Most of the figures of flying capes in the air were as dots from this far out. "I'm flattered at all the attention, but you can tell everyone to either settle down in the courtyard or head on home. My servants will tend to your needs. I've arranged for food and refreshments." I smiled. "Besides, I doubt the helicopters have the fuel to keep circling all day. They can set down somewhere. There won't be a fight here today."

Alexandria crossed her arms. "So sure of that, are you?"

I met her gaze. "You can't afford to fight me. You've got no reason to fight me. I've broken no laws, violated no-one's sovereignty, and harmed no-one. The Protectorate has no claim here. The U.S government has no claim here. Now..." I gestured down. "We can talk about this in my throne room, where it's nice and warm, like civilized people, or we can hash this out by screaming at each other over the wind. Your choice."

Alexandria glared at me, clenching and unclenching her fists. She looked like she wanted to lash out. I'd rather she didn't. While I was fairly confident she wouldn't be able to kill me, I simply had too many options, I'd rather not get into a fistfight with my childhood hero.

Alexandria finally touched a finger to the side of her head. "All forces, the island and its inhabitants are non-hostile. Pull back to station Z and do not engage unless authorized."

Well, Meridia was going to be a bit disappointed she couldn't meet with the heroes again just yet. I smiled. Just as expected. Well, not quite, but good enough. That it didn't start a battle right away was enough. The longer we went without hostilities, the less likely they'd break out. At least today. I turned and floated back down. I didn't have to look to know she was following. It didn't take very long for us to reach the doors to my throne room, and we stepped back inside. Despite the whipping, powerful winds outside, it was still, comfortable and warm in here, lacking even the sound of the wind whistling through the cracks of the doors.

Alucard was there, waiting for us. He gave a formal, practised bow. "Renowned one, welcome."

I could hear Alexandria stop, her boots thunking on the floor. I simply stepped forward, took my throne, and sat, draping my wings along the sides. The throne helpfully molded itself to make the position not just possible, but comfortable.

Alexandria spoke after a moment, her single eye focused on me. "All right. What the heck is going on here?"

I tapped my fingers on the armrest. "It's quite simple. I brought the castle out of my private plane and brought it into the real world."

Alexandria thought on that for a moment. "Why? How? This was an insane move."

I looked straight at her, drawing on the impression of Dracul, deep in my mind. Since our chat, I could drag up a lot more. All I had of him was an impression, not his real thoughts, but a fair bit of what he'd thought and did carried along his power, before it became mine. "We killed one Endbringer. There are two more. I doubt Leviathan or Behemoth are going to be as straightforward. Here in my castle, I have resources. I can build things to bring ordinary people up to the level of parahumans, and I can give equipment that parahumans can use. Alucard?"

Slowly, Alucard drew his blade, showing it to Alexandria. "This is the Crissaegrim." He spoke, a slight hint of a smile on his lips. With a moment's concentration, the blade glowed blue, icy cold radiating from it, and an instant later, it was burning with heat. "I forged this weapon from the shards of two broken weapons, the Ignis and the Glaceium, alloyed with silver from...well, that is not important. What is important is that the materials for weapons and armor like this are available in the castle. Weapons that may give an edge against the last two Endbringers."

And against an Abomination, I didn't say. The odds were against us, even knowing this much.

Alexandria looked between Alucard, the sword, and me, before she spoke. "What are you going to be asking for to let us have these?"

I shrugged. "Not much. I'm sure the governments and the hero teams around can come to an agreement. I want the S-class threats to the world gone, as much as possible. There are things I do want, but those I can take care of myself."

She took a long moment to look me over. I could almost hear the gears whirring in her head as she thought. "You want Shadow Stalker."

I chuckled. "A little bit. She's on my bad side. But while I would like her taken care of, she's not so important. She is beneath me, for now. Things like the Blasphemies, Ash Beast, Sleeper, Endbringers, aren't. They kill people, all the time, and they need to be put down."

Her voice emotionless, Alexandria spoke. "You think it's that easy to take them down?"

I smiled slightly. "Easy? Nah. But I'm going to damn well give us the best chance we can. And I can't afford to be personally opening portals all the time. I may need to be elsewhere. With the infrastructure set up here, I can set up a permanent portal gate from here, to anywhere, and have them easily maintained on both ends. Then I can just stream things, straight from forging to whomever needs them."

I wasn't about to say I could have done that even with the castle in the Shadow Plane. The whole point of this was to be a trap, after all. The Abomination that killed Dracul's world probed, gathered information, while distributing powers. It then bound up the gods and turned them into stupidly-durable, much more powerful Endbringers. If this one had the same goal of finding a limitless power source as the last, it would likely be interested in an unbound god.

And since powers emerged thirty years ago, as opposed to the seven-year war that ended Dracul's Earth, it had probably settled into a state of observation. I just needed to narrow down the possibilities.

Alexandria scowled at me. "You should have consulted us before doing this. Do you have any idea how many people you've upset? How many people are worried about what could be here? This island is floating in the air. If it falls into the ocean, how many people are going to be killed by the tsunami?"

I smiled. "Yes, I do. A lot, if it ever hit the water." I tilted my head, making a puzzled tone. "But then, why should anyone be all that worried about refugees from a world who were destroyed by Endbringers, and have only now made their way here? While being able and willing to help against those that are threatening our world, in exchange for a few things? And with safeguards in place to shift the castle out of reality, should it be threatened by, say, an incoming nuke?" My smile widened. "As we speak, I've got the ultimate Endbringer shelter being built in my personal dimension."

Alexandria thought for a moment, before her eye widened. "How many people can it handle?"

I shrugged. "Right now? It can handle a few thousand." I leaned forward, letting my voice fill with satisfaction. "Given enough time, it can handle millions. Imagine a place that no Endbringer will be able to breach. It won't matter how far they fly, how much water they churn, how much lava they spew. They won't be able to kill anyone inside them. The ultimate evacuation point."

Alexandria took a deep breath. I could almost hear her teeth grinding from my throne. "You really think people are going to accept the story of 'alien evacuees?'"

I shrugged. "I don't care if some people don't believe it. It's actually somewhat true, but that doesn't change what's going on. All we need is enough people to do so. You want extra help against Endbringers and whatever else may come our way? That's the price. The castle remains here." My grin grew wide. "This is what you're going to tell everyone. It's even got the benefit of being somewhat true."


Alexandria looked uncomfortable as she stood in front of the podium. "At five-fifteen this morning, a floating island the approximate size of the largest Hawaiian island appeared two hundred and fifty miles off the east coast of the United States. The inhabitants of the island are from an alternate Earth that had been destroyed by local equivalents of Endbringers. They are willing to assist in efforts against our own, and it is our hope that they and these, the United Nations, can come to a peaceable accord with these refugees."

A hand went up in the crowd. "What about the rumors that Scarlet Knight was there?"

Alexandria fixed the reporter with a steady gaze. "It seems that, Scarlet Dragon is the ruler of the island, not an 'ordinary' parahuman. She came here to see if our world could handle not just the inclusion of her people, but to see if it was, in fact, possible for us to combine our strengths and kill our Endbringers. Her joining the fight in Vancouver was a test. If she couldn't help, then we wouldn't have known about her people. They would have gone on to another alternate Earth."

Another hand went up in the crowd. Alexandria shook her head. "I apologize, but I haven't got the time to answer all of the questions right now. We're still trying to sort through everything here. A full, in-depth conference will be called in the near future. Thank you."

I cackled to myself. In human form once again. Yay for no awkward wing-twisting to sit down!

My dad, his hands covered in grease and oil, looked to the TV, then back to me. "What." He said, flatly.

I shrugged. "Got to come up with a cover story other than 'helpful demonic invasion' dad."

His mouth worked for a moment before he sighed. "If I grounded you for the next decade for this, you'd just ignore it, right?"

I nodded. "Just a bit too important here. I'm not doing this for the giggles. And..." I looked at him seriously. "Dad, there's something coming. Something really, really bad. Right now, I'm laying down the foundation for saving everyone I can."

He squeezed his hands, grimacing as he slowly sat himself down on the old couch. "Taylor, I know you've got a good heart, and a pretty good head on your shoulders. But I have no idea what you're doing. You went off to fight the Simurgh without a word. You killed an Endbringer and I had to hear about it on TV. You've caused an international panic with this. Please, tell me what's going on?"

I sighed, biting my lip before I worked out what to say. "Dad, I found out where my powers came from. I found out where almost everyone else's came from. It's bad. Really, really bad. I'm doing what I can to make sure that as many people get through it as possible."

I told him. Everything Dracul showed me. About the twisting things that only I and Miss Militia could remember. About how Dracul, monster that he was, was suffering in a hell that the Nine gleefully inflicted when Gray Boy was a member.

They are beneath me.

Yeah, that's still there. Repetitive little thing.

And dad just looked...distant. After I finished, he just sighed and shook his head. "I feel like I'm one of the background characters in Star Trek."

I smiled. "Make sure you're not wearing a red shirt."

He returned the smile before he got up. "I should get back to fixing the pipe. Damn thing burst when you were in Vancouver, and it'll be nice to get hot water flowing again."

I rolled my eyes. "Dad, we can call a repair guy for that."

He nodded. "Yeah, but I actually know how to do this. Fixing a water line's not that hard. Just needed to get the supplies." He fixed me a glare. "I still don't appreciate being kept so far out of the loop, Taylor. I..." He shuddered. "If I lost you again..."

Oh. Geez. And now I feel like a complete heel. I wanted to blame all this on Dracul, the urge to just plow on ahead and get the job done regardless...but this was me. At some point, I picked up the realization that nobody was going to solve my problems for me, so I'd have to do them...and I hadn't thought for a second what it'd do to my dad if I took on more than I could handle.

The doorbell rang. Dad went to go get it, while I stewed for a moment in my new-found sadness. Ugh. Even with all this time, a mood shift could take me by surprise.

"Hey! Can I come in?" A familiar voice shouted. I blinked as I got up, went to the front door, and looked over my dad's shoulder.

A blonde, about my age, quite pretty, and she wasn't Vicky. She was wearing a leather coat, and set of somewhat worn jeans. Her eyes were bright, as if she was very, very pleased with herself. I had the feeling she usually wore that expression.

Her smile widened on seeing me. "Ah! There you are. Sorry for coming here, but your new apartment? Hard for me to get to. Got some news about the mess out west."

Out west...Vancouver. Obviously. But who...then it clicked. Last I heard her was over the general address in the fight with the Simurgh. Tattletale was at my front door.

I sighed. "Might as well let her in, dad."

She nearly bounded inside. "Thanks! We got lots to talk about."