Just a short piece to advertise SirWill's Worm/Castelvania fanfic Queen Of Blood on Spacebattles (also on FFN, story number 11698925).
It's a darn good story (albeit quite heavy on the Supernatural aspects with a strong dash of horror)

.

Shadow Portal

.

The alarm echoed through the mansion and in one particular room, Clark Kent closed his eyes in annoyance while his wife laughed in resignation.

"Not again." Clark groaned as he rose from the settee and grabbed his comm-link. "Superman here. What's going on this time?"

"This is Forge!" A near-panicked voice came through the device. "Beast and I are seeing what looks like the formation of a Portal of a sort we've never seen before… and it's here in the main lab!"

Mystique sighed as the door swung shut, leaving her without her favorite cuddler, then Forge's words registered.

"What the… a Portal's forming inside the Fortress?"

.

The door hissed open as Superman flew into the main lab and came to a sudden halt. To one side, Forge and Beast were standing behind an energy-shield-protected console as in the middle of the lab, a roiling mass of darkness finished coalescing into a large archway.

"I've already sent out the alert." Hank McCoy said even as the door hissed open again, allowing a giant winged feline-humanoid to enter.

"Talon." Clark nodded in greeting. "That was quick."

"I was actually on my way to get some morning-sickness pills for Maggie." Derek Maza admitted. "She's having a rough pregnancy, even with the use of Med-pods and visits to New Krypton. So, what are we looking at?"

"A portal, apparently." Superman shrugged, giving Forge a quizzical look and the teenaged technopath wriggled one hand in a gesture of uncertainty.

"Seems to be, but it's using types of energy I've never really encountered before. Sorta like that Darkforce stuff SHIELD warned us about, but… different."

"Yeah, weren't Hydra experimenting with it at one point?" Clark mused, then his attention snapped back to the dark mass as something extended through. For a long moment, everyone stared at the device, then Beast spoke, his voice reflecting his disbelief.

"Is that… a camcorder tied to the end of a broomstick?"

"I'm glad that I'm not the only one seeing that." Clark admitted, watching as the device bobbed round for a moment before being pulled back into the black veil. "Do we have a probe?"

"Give me a minute and I'll rig one up." Forge said, then he gave the darkness a suspicious look. "I'll add a fibre-optic cable and chain so you can pull it back and we'll get real-time imagery."

.

Alucard pulled back the magical scrying-device that Vicky had attached to the broomstick and handed it to her before looking back at where the severely hung-over (and still mildly hallucinating) Taylor was being fussed over by Dragon and several of the more medically-inclined Succubi.

"I hope that Sister recovers soon." Alucard mused, more to himself than to his companion. "I do not believe that she was prepared for the sheer potency of the brew that the God of Revelry had delivered to her."

"Okay." Vicky said as she tore the duct tape off the camcorder, being careful not to damage it. "Now, we stop it recording, extend the screen and we can see just where Taylor decided to send this… whoah!"

Alucard's sword almost teleported into his hand as something came through the portal. The metallic octohedron was floating without any sign of support but trailed a chain back through the Portal. For a long moment, the vampire simply stared at the metal-and-crystal device that somehow returned his gaze even though it was non-living, then a screen seemed to expand from the top.

"Holy crap!" Vicky gasped despite herself. "That's Superman! Scarlet Dragon's connected to the DC universe!"

.

"…to the DC universe!" The white-clad flying girl on the screen gasped and Superman sighed.

"Another reality where I'm fictional."

"There do seem to be a lot of those." McCoy agreed as the door behind Clark hissed open once again.

"Is that Iron Man? What's he doing in DC?"

"Actually, this is Bayville." Tony replied, sounding rather bemused. "And I'm normally in New York."

.

"…normally in New York."

Vicky gaped, feeling unable to process the statement while beside her, Alucard simply looked even more confused.

"Lady Dallon, what are they talking about? Do you know these people?"

"They're heroes from the comic books Dean's always reading, but… they're in the same universe? Is this a crossover or something?"

"We have identification!" The teen at the side of the screen suddenly called. "That's…"

.

"That's Victoria Dallon, also known as Glory Girl, meaning it's probably another variant of Realities ten and eighteen. I'm drawing a blank on the guy next to her and the name Scarlet Dragon doesn't seem to be showing up either. Sorry."

"Well, at least we have a general idea of what we're looking at." Clark replied calmly. "The question is just what sort of variance is it? Glory Girl, do the names Skitter or Saurial ring any bells?"

.

"…Skitter or Saurial ring any bells?"

Vicky's sense of befuddlement was growing with every word that she heard and she shook her head.

"Erm, no? Sorry?"

"Odd… How about Taylor Hebert?"

Vicky froze, eyes wide and the man appearing to be Superman nodded.

"Let me guess, she's Scarlet Dragon. Right?"

"How… how the heck did you know that!" Vicky gasped.

.

"I thought so." Clark nodded, ignoring the quizzical look that Talon was giving him. "When you've seen as much as I have, you start anticipating these things. Who's in charge where you are?"

"Well, Scarlet is, but she's… still hungover from that Blood Mead that she was given…"

"Sounds like an interesting drink." Tony mused. "I wonder if I could try some. Just for comparison purposes, that is…"

"Somehow, I doubt that a drink brewed from the blood of a Basilisk and the honey of a Death Bee would be to your liking." The albino swordsman stated as he finally re-sheathed his blade. "However, while my sister remains indisposed, I am authorised to negotiate on her behalf, so long as you understand that the final decision remains hers."

"Of course." Clark nodded. "If you will give me an hour to get the usual paperwork together, would it be alright if I came though?"

"Of course."

.

.

"Ow, my head." Taylor moaned, accepting the goblet from Amy and downing the liquid within. "Oh, sweet blood, the drink of life…"

"I used to rely on coffee." Amy shrugged as she reclaimed the now-empty goblet. "So, what do you remember of last week?"

Taylor froze. "Last week? The party went on that long?"

"It's still going on, my Lady." Meridia said as she stepped into the throne room.

"Oh, hell." Taylor clutched at her head. "I know I'm going to regret this, but what did I do? Please tell me I didn't somehow revive Scion as my super-powered underling…"

"Nope, you made contact with a universe of Superheroes led by Superman himself." Amy smirked and Taylor peered at her through her fingers.

"I did what?"

"And then when they'd moved your Gate up to their Moonbase, you did something to turn the entire Dome into part of Castlevania."

"I did what?"

.

"Odd dome." Logan commented as he looked out of the viewport at the tower that had been a normal Dome until a wave of darkness had engulfed it, leaving a stone tower in its place. Several of the balconies were open to the airless environment of the moon, yet the sensors Clark had pointed at the tower showed that it was somehow encased in an atmospheric shell that was kept from dissipating by an energy similar to that of the original Portal.

"You may want to check it out." Clark suggested, earning a look from the shorter man. "You may be able to get some good fights there, learn a few more tricks. I'm sure Alucard and Paladin would be happy to spar with you."

Wolverine popped his claws and grinned.

"They already sound like my sort of people."