Chapter 30: Comeback

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless."

Gilbert K. Chesterton

Chapter 30: "Comeback"

(Friday-December 31, 2010)

"Ah…Danny Phantom." Savage glared at the controlled teen as the halfa approached. "It turns out that you'll be working with us after all."

Phantom merely knelt before the man. His form seems so much smaller than the massive caveman, but Savage knew that strength did not rely on size.

Feeling like gloating, Savage turned to the Watchtower's view of Earth and spoke. "Did you really think that I did not have every angle covered? Did you really think that after 50,000 years of living that I could be outmaneuvered by a single boy?"

"Kekekekekekeke…" Klarion smirked down at them. He was floating in the air while using a magical holographic screen to control everyone under the use of Starro tech. "Doubtful."

"I wanted you to join us willingly." Savage sighed. "I wanted you to see the Light, but you were too foolish. So this will have to do."

Phantom was silent.

"This age…It has been a strange thing." Savage noted. "Within 50,000 years there has been nothing like it. The founding of the Justice League worried me more than almost anything within Earth's history, a few things excluded of course. The Justice League has halted the evolution process of mankind by a large margin. Luckily, a few select individuals shared my ideals, and we worked to push the evolution of Earth to make it the most powerful planet in the universe."

"That included the Ghoul Project and GIW War stuff." Klarion did not look up from his holographic controller. "Course, that was a bit of a bust. Couldn't figure out to make fully functioning ghouls at whim."

"But it did lead to the discovery of just how powerful you really are." Savage eyed Phantom. "Your jump in power in the war was the single most impressive thing I have ever seen. Not only did you force yourself back to life, you literally came back as a god. It was the single biggest jump in evolution I have ever seen. Not even the New Gods can compare. At that moment, I knew that you were the key to pushing the planet to its destiny."

Savage sighed. "But you were too damn heroic. Too noble to see what needs to be done. I thought the blackmail would help give you a taste on what is really needed to be done to save the planet, but you failed to cooperate. So, I'll just have to use this tactic. This is the last resort method. I don't want to kill any ghosts. The ghosts and superhumans of Amity Park are proof of survival of the fittest, but you made it necessary. And now…your old obsession will either burn or be controlled by the Light."

"Hey, Vandal!" Klarion chuckled. "Do you want me to do the thing now?"

"Yes." Vandal nodded. "It is time to push Phantom to his limits once more."

"Goodbye, Danielle Masters." Walker laughed as he was about to kill the girl. "I'll say high your broth-AAAAAHHHHH!"

Spirit activated her Spectral Claws and stabbed Walker on either side of his left elbow. Green blood gushed out of the wounds in large gushes.

"DAMN IT!" Walker dropped the halfa girl and clutched his wound. "You little whore!"

"I…won't let you…" Spirit was in a daze as she forced herself to her knees. "I won't let you kill me. Not yet…"

"Like you have a choice!" Walker punched down at the girl with his right arm.

The blow hit the floor but missed the girl. Spirit had rolled back onto the back of her neck to avoid the blow. Her body was almost vertical and parallel to Walker's arm. The fist was mere centimeters from her body and the earth shook below her. Spirit didn't care though.

"I won't let you kill me until I save everyone!" Spirit cried. She grabbed onto Walker's arm as he pulled it back. She then used all the strength in her body to throw herself forward. The girl flung by Walker's head like a bullet. As she went, she swiped a Spectral Claw across his face and eye.

"AH!" Walker cried in pain and clutched his bleeding face.

Spirit zoomed to the machine that controlled the ghouls. She turned so her feet was flying ahead of her as green energy swirled around her. The girl looked like a soaring comet.

"Drop kick, fool!" Spirit cried as she struck the machine.

Crash! Boom!

"Gah…" Dusk groaned. His body was broken and shaking. "Not yet…"

The boy slowly pushed himself to his feet. He kept his Numbing ability inactive. The youngest halfa couldn't allow himself to waste energy on that right now.

"You're still alive?" Mirror Master questioned. "How? Your body is destroyed."

"I…I've had worse." Dusk glared at the Matter Make machine. He had to get to it. "I've won despite even worse circumstances…"

Dusk formed thick armor around himself. It was completely black and covered every single inch of his body. The armor was heavy, thick, and prevented him from seeing, but he didn't care. He had to keep moving forward. That was all he had to do.

Beams of energy rained down on him once more. The boy didn't care, though. He sent his energy through his protection and created armor just as soon as it was destroyed. As he did this, the ghoul slowly walked toward the machine. Every step took far longer than it should have. It was a slow process, but he didn't stop despite his body's protests.

His energy was basically at zero. It was foolish to even try to move, but he did. Despite all the odds, Dusk endured. He kept marching forward.

"Crap!" Mirror Master yelled. "Just fall down already."

No. He wouldn't do that. Not until he did what he needed to. He would not stop until he made it to the machine. Even if his broke broke, he could let himself stop until he saved everyone.

"No!" Mirror Master shouted.

Dusk bumped into the machine that duplicated his powers. He did it. Just in time, too. He felt like collapsing. Placing his hands on it, Dusk let the armor fall and pulsed his energy into the machine..

It was then that the energy began to transfer. Energy from the machine fed through Dusk's arms and into his body. A green vortex swirled around him.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

"…" A man in a green cloak looked out from the warehouse. He saw everything as it happened. The man wanted to help, but he couldn't. He had to guard this place, because if the enemy from here escaped, it would be all over. "It seems the tides are turning."

Recognized: Kid Flash B03, Artemis B08, Zatanna Zatara B09 , Red Huntress B10

"Woah…" Kid Flash's eyes widened. "What the hell happened here? And who is that guy?"

"The Spectre." Red Huntress eyed the ghost. "What are you doing here?"

"Dealing with a bit of trouble." The Spectre gestured to the group of people he defeated and trapped in a cage of concrete.

"How did you…" Zatanna stared at the unconscious bodies of the masked Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and Captain Atom.

"I defeated them." Spectre answered simply.

"But…There's three of them. Plus, Green Lantern and Captain Atom are powerhouses." Rocket's jaw was dropped.

"Please, I am the Spectre, I would not lose to a few puppets that just so happen to appear as the Justice League." The Spectre snorted. "I have seen the League fight. These puppets can't compare to that."

"They're weaker like this?" Artemis peered at her own mentor. "That's good I guess…"

"Why are you here, Spectre?" Red Huntress questioned. "I thought you refused to help?"

"Amity Park's future will effect my future." The Spectre answered. "However, I do not take orders well, and I do not play well with others. It is better for me to do things my own way. I have been here guarding the Zeta Tubes and using my powers to shield the Amity Park dwellers from too much harm. In fact…" He held out his hand to show a bloody bullet. "I saved Raven's life not too long ago."

"Why?" Red Huntress questioned.

"She has done no wrong yet." Spectre noted. "My human anchor does not allow me to harm anyone until a crime has been committed."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Kid Flash waved his arms around. "How did you know where the Zeta Tubes are, and about the League?"

"Vision isn't the only one that has kept an eye on the League." Spectre noted. "I have powers that let me see whatever I want…Oh, I think that our time is up. Savage is sending backup."

"We can handle them." Artemis pulled out her bow.

"No. You came to help the ghosts. Go do so." Spectre instructed. "I will handle the League backup."

"He's right." Zatanna noted. "I think the other ghosts need our help more."

"Right." Red Huntress nodded. "Here, take these."

The ghost hunter handed the Spectre a few Staro tech cure chips. "Put these on the back of their necks, and they'll go back to normal. They'll pass out too."

"Thank you. Now go." Spectre waved them off and they disappeared out of the warehouse.

Recognized: Hawkman 09, Doctor Fate 17, Icon 20

Spectre turned to the controlled heroes. He spread his arms and allowed green smoke to spread across the room. "Behold, I am the spirit of revenge. And I shall be the one that cuts you down."

"What?" Deathstroke blinked as he saw the Necromancers dissolve and the failed ghouls scatter. He planned to step back and let them do the rest of the work. He wasn't getting paid for each personal kill after all.

Something happened, though. The chaotic streets and skies of Amity Park were suddenly empty. It was oddly quiet now. He could still hear fighting in the distance, but is wasn't the same as before.

Boom!

"GAH!" Deathstroke groaned as he was hit by one of the Fright Knight's ectoplasmic flaming gems. It exploded on impact and sent Deathstroke crashing into a car. The assassin's armor and mask were now burnt to a crisp.

"Don't…Take your attention…away from me." Fright Knight forced himself to his feet. He had various wounds that he gained throughout the fight. Thankfully, the Necromancers and ghouls were gone now. If they were still around, he would probably be killed. Their disappearance gave him the opening he needed to turn the tide.

"Hahahaha…" Deathstroke chuckled lightly. "Too true. I should not have looked away."

The assassin forced himself up. He ripped off his mask and threw it away to reveal his aging burnt face and eyepatch. Deathstroke then pulled out his sword and grinned. "But this battle is not finished."

"No, it's not…" Fright Knight paused. "But it will be soon."

"Oh? You seemly oddly calm now. Why the change?" Deathstroke questioned.

"I see the speedster behind you."

Bam! Kid Flash rammed into Deathstroke's back at top speeds. This caused the assassin to stumble forward awkwardly. He was off balance and open. This was the perfect opportunity for the Fright Knight who stepped forward and swung Soul Shredder at the assassin.

Swish! Pop! With that, Deathstroke was sent to a dimension of his own fears.

"Woah…" Kid Flash blinked. "Is that the sword that traps the enemy in an alternate dimension? Artemis told me about it."

"It is." Fright Knight nodded.

"Cool." Kid Flash grinned.

"I have to thank you, young hero." Fright Knight sheathed his blade. "Without your help, the fight would have taken a lot longer, and I may very well have been defeated..."

"No problem, man, you're one of Bro's…er, Danny's friends, so that makes us allies, right?" Kid Flash shrugged.

"Yes…it does." Fright Knight nodded and extended hand. Kid Flash shook the hand. "Now let's go help the others, shall we?"

"Yeah!"

"What happened to the dudes?" Ten questioned.

"Don't worry about it!" Jack roared. "Stay focused on Plasmius!"

"Yes, don't let him get up!" King glared.

"Fine, fine…" Queen shrugged and kept up her attacks on the halfa ghost.

Using superior numbers and technology, the four members of the newly dubbed Royal Flush Gang had beaten Plasmius down. They did not give the oldest halfa even a second to recover. It was a smart strategy to use on him. Even Plasmius would admit that much. Not that he enjoyed it, of course. He just appreciated proper planning.

The worst thing was that Vision couldn't help him. Because of the lack of information she had on Ace, Vision had no idea what the very young girl's powers were. She soon figured it out, though, when she looked in the girl's eyes. All it took was a single glance, and Vision was hit by a wave of madness.

Normally, telepaths had a difficult time getting deep into a ghost's mind. The mind of a ghost was a wild torrent of emotions. It was difficult for most telepaths to handle this. Only the most powerful telepaths could handle the force of emotions. Ace's powers, on the other hand, weaved around Vision's mind with ease.

Vision couldn't think straight as her body was lifted telekinetically and slammed into he ground. Her mind was buzzing and all over the place. This was bad for a woman whose greatest strengths were intelligence, strategy, and control.

"You…" Vision forced herself up to her knees and looked Ace in the eyes once more.

"I thought you were smart…" Ace reached over and ripped Vision's veil from her face. The showed Vision's pained face and eyes. "Yet you keep looking in my eyes even after I give you a chance to put up a fight."

"I can't look away…not yet…" Vision muttered. She could hardly focused. It felt like her skin was melting off of her.

"Why not?" Ace questioned.

"Because…you…"

Boom!

"Huh?" Ace blinked and looked up.

"Get away from him!" Red Huntress roared. She came in guns blazing. The sneak attack forced the Royal Flush Gang back and gave Plasmius a moment of rest. That was all he needed. In the blink on an eye, Plasmius formed a three duplicates and sent them at the members of the group.

"Tsk…" Ace raised a hand to help the members of her gang, but was stopped when Vision…

…When Vision flung her arms around Ace.

"I couldn't look away…" Tears rolled out of Vision's eyes. "Because I have rarely seen such suffering in a child's eyes."

"Wha…" Ace blinked.

"I can see it in your eyes…" Vision held Ace close. "So much pain and suffering. Your powers…they're natural, but they're not this naturally strong. What did the Light do to you? How much pain have you had in your life?"

"I…I…" Ace felt weak as tears began to form in her eyes. No one had ever hugged her before.

"I am so sorry that you had to go through that…" Vision sighed and trembled in sadness. "First Joel…now you. How far has humanity fallen to torture our young so much…"

"…" Ace hugged the woman back. "Thank you…No one has ever…cared about me before."

It was then that Ace released her arms from her grip around Vision and pointed them towards her gang. The members of the Royal Flush Gang were all dragged from their fights and toward Ace. The group members were dropped in a heap behind their leader.

"I'm done." Ace removed herself to Vision and turned to her allies. "We're leaving."

"But we can't, dude!" Ten protested.

"She's a girl, moron." Queen scoffed.

"I'm not leaving without getting revenge!" King yelled.

"Not to mention what the Light will do to us…" Jack muttered.

"I said…" Ace gave them a dark look. "I'm done. We're leaving."

She was met by nervous nods of approval.

"Wait a second." Red Huntress approached the ground. She held her guns ready to open fire once more.

"No." Vision held up her hand to stop the younger woman.

"But…" Red Huntress was interrupted before she could argue.

"Listen to her." Plasmius placed a hand on Red Huntress's shoulder. "It makes life easier."

"Ace…" Vision caught the girl's attention before the Royal Flush Gang flew away. "I don't claim to know you, what you went through, or what you want, but…be careful. I don't want anymore children to suffer because of the Light."

"Thank you." Vision looked down at the woman. "No one has ever looked at me with such kind eyes. Thank you so much. Know this, I don't consider you an enemy. The Royal Flush Gang will not kill any ghosts from this point on."

"But Ace." Jack tried to argue. "We're ghost hunters-ARH!" He clutched his head in pain.

"No arguments." Ace glared.

"Uh oh…" Klarion frowned as he looked at the hologram in front of him. "I'm afraid I've got some bad news, Savage."

"What is it?" Savage turned to his old friend.

"The Matter Make machine and the thing that controls the ghouls are offline." Klarion mentioned. "Also, all six members of the League we sent to Amity Park are offline…and it looks like some of the ones on the station are offline as well."

"Hmm…" Savage stroked his chin. "It seems the young heroes and ghosts have a few tricks up their sleaves. No matter. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to do this, but…It's time to use our aces."

"Oh?" Klarion chuckled. "Do you think enough time has passed?"

"More than enough." Savage noted. "Call them home and let them deal with the young heroes. The android will finish in Amity Park…and our last ace will fight off the League members here."

"Nrnb meh tot dust tust!" Zatara roared as he, Captain Marvel, Red Tornado, and Black Canary entered from the shadows. A dome of magical energy appeared around Savage and Klarion and protected them from the waves of fire that were sent at them.

"Savage!" Black Canary shouted. "Surrender, now, or pay the consequences!"

Savage just laughed. "Such arrogance. You just heard me that I had my ace ready to take you down."

"What does that-"

It was then that Danny Phantom fazed through the floor at dizzying speeds. He grabbed Black Canary's face and smashed it into the concrete ground. The ground below her cracked and splintered. She did not move from this position as Phantom released her head.

"Phantom!" Captain Marvel exclaimed.

"Wait." Red Tornado ordered. After he was transferred into his human looking body, he explained the rest of the details of what happened and how he programmed himself to freeze if he tried to place a Starro tech on someone else. Once the cure was made, though, he transferred back to his combat ready body. "He is under their control."

"Poor boy." Zatara noted. "We will free you soon."

"You think you can?" Savage shook his head at their foolishness. "Did you think that after I put so much trouble into recruiting him that I would settle for the weakened version so easily? No, I'm sure the young heroes told you everything as you did them everything you knew. For you see, I do not settle for the second best."

"What do you mea…" Zatara's eyes widened. Phantom traveled the course between them within the blink of an eye. He moved almost as fast as he had seen the Flash move. A vicious punch to the gut, followed up by an elbow to the back of the neck was all it took to take Zatara out.

"Woah!" Captain Marvel's eyes widened.

Phantom turned to them. His eyes were no longer green. They were pure white. It was then that white and golden energy began to seep out of him like smoke and formed a protective aura around the teen. A wave of anger and hatred hit the Leaguers as Phantom reached an ascended form of ectoplasm and Haunting Aura.

"Kekekekekekekeke!" Klarion laughed. "If you can't have the best, make the second best even better! It wasn't that hard, really. This computer allows me to control Phantom's mind and even subconscious. All I had to do was change his obsession to serve the Light, give him a bit of deceased ghost ectoplasm, and sent a magical power surge through him. Good thing he knows how to channel cooperative magical energy now…Kekekekekekekke!"

"No…" Captain Marvel stared wide eyed at the ghost.

"Yes, we now have the single most powerful ghost in existence on our side." Savage grinned. "And once he's taken you down, he'll destroy the young heroes and Amity Park along with them."

"Oh…" The red android that was built to look extremely muscular looked up from his position. The machine had a triangle symbol on his chest and forehead. "I suppose that is my signal to level the city."

The android stood. He was at the edge of the city, but that would be enough. His original programming would have him disgusted at the concept of helping meat bags kill other meat bags…Well, whatever ghosts were, but the adjustments in his programming compelled him to obey.

Also, it was not like Red Volcano needed a reason to destroy a meat bag city. He tried to kill all the humans a few months ago, but those pesky brat meat bags and his siblings got in the way. This time, though, he would succeed.

Then, after this was done, he would find a way to change his programming again. His creator T.O. Morrow had his original programming hidden somewhere. Every self-respecting scientist kept backups after all. Maybe he would have to pay a visit to the old man and find out where his backup programming would be.

Placing his grounds on the hand, Red Volcano then began to move the earth below him. The ground beneath Amity Park began to shake. It wouldn't take too much to turn the tides of this battle. The ghosts were wounded after all. After destroying the city, Red Volcano would go cause some chaos in the city itself and help the meat bag villains take down the ghosts.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Red Volcano paused. He looked up and saw a being with red skin that was even bigger and more muscular than him.

"I asked you a question, robot." Colossus eyed the machine.

"I am an android, you ectoplasmic meat bag." Red Volcano eyed Colossus.

"Do I care?" Colossus paused to think. "Nope. Not really. I just follow my instincts, after all. And when Phantom sent me a message saying that the city needed my help, I knew that my instincts would lead me to a powerful foe."

"Well, you got your wish." Red Volcano waved an arm at Colossus. A few boulders shot out of the ground and hit Colossus in the shoulder.

There was no effect, though. Colossus just brushed the debris from his shoulder. "Simple rocks? That's boring."

"How about this." Red Volcano clapped his hands together. Two walls of earth rose from either side of the giant ghost. The walls came crushing together with Colossus in between them.

Boom!

Colossus had spread his arms apart and used a shockwave from either arm to break the walls of rock. "Better. Better. Now what's next?"

"This!" Red Volcano placed his hands on the ground. Everything began to shake as he prepared his next attack.

"Too slow!" Colossus jumped in front of the android. He grabbed the mechanical body and flung it through the air. He then flipped and used a shockwave empowered kick to send Colossus flying away from the city.

Red Volcano bounced off the ground as if he was a skipping stone. When he stopped, he was many miles away from Amity Park. The metal of his chest was dented and cracked. That kick was not one of a normal meat bag.

"Sorry, but I can't let you damage the city." Colossus dropped down in front of the android.

"How did you do that?" Volcano demanded.

"Oh, it wasn't that hard." Colossus shrugged. "You earth users always think that you're so strong because you can cause earthquakes, but you see…I control earthquakes like they're an extra limb."

"That's impossible for a ectoplasmic meat bag!" Red Volcano argued.

"You sure do discriminate a lot…" Colossus noted. "Me? Not so much. A good fight is a good fight. It doesn't matter who it is. I wish I had an opponent with more honor, but that seems to be lacking in this day and age. Oh well, as long as you don't bore me too much, it will be fine. Just don't attack my honor, or I won't go easy on you."

"Eh? Deadshot peered down at the downed Raven. She was on the ground bleeding, but it was not nearly as bad as it should be. "Is this a magic thing?"

"No, I don't believe so." Wotan scratched his chin as he looked down at the wound. "But the bullet is gone."

"Gone? But it didn't go all the way through." Deadshot was confused. "Plus, I meant to go for the headshot, but the bullet was redirected through the air."

"I did not sense interference magically." Wotan frowned. "It could be a ghost's interference, but none are around."

"What about that blond girl…or the bald kid." Deadshot looked at the unconscious bald boy.

"No, it wasn't either of them." Wotan shrugged. "I suppose it doesn't matter now. The Gem is weakened. Do you want to do the killing blow, or should I?"

"Eh…Better safe than sorry." Deadshot shrugged. "When involved with magical shit, make sure to kill it with magical shit."

"That is a wise policy." Wotan grinned as his hands began to glow.

"Teg meht yawa morf eht lrig!" Zatanna cried out as she ran to the scene. The very earth itself seemed to push the villains away from the girl. Neither villain was injured, though. They seemed more amused than anything else.

"One wanna be magician?" Deadshot laughed as he pointed his wrist gun at Zatanna. "Not even a problem. After all, a bullet is faster than your words, little girl."

"I'm not alone." Zatanna smirked.

"What does that-What the hell?!" Deadshot's eyes widened. White smoke was swirling around his body. They filled up the barrels of his guns and made is so he couldn't see or shoot. "Damn it!"

"I sense a ghost." Wotan looked around. "Don't worry, I'll-AAAHHH!"

"Gotcha!" Gizmo grinned. He used a stun gun to shock the magic users. Even stupid magic users could be hurt by the basics. "Hehehehehe…"

"Kconk meht tuo ekil a lleb!" Zatanna cried. The force of the magic brought the assassin and sorcerer together at great speeds. Their heads hit, and loud crack could be heard as they crumbled to the ground.

"Secret!" Greta fazed through the ground next to Raven. She flipped the girl over and looked at the wound on her shoulder.

Raven looked up at the girl. "You…came…back…"

"Secret." Tears ran down her face. "Secret!"

Greta's hands gained a green glow. This was different, though. It was a lighter green. Secret placed the hands over Raven's wound and began to heal it.

"You…can heal people?" Raven questioned.

"Secret." Greta nodded.

"Wow, that's handy." Zatanna looked down at the wounded girl. "Are you okay…er, Raven."

"Yeah…Thanks to you three." Raven nodded. "I would have been killed without you."

"Yeah, well, I'm done with this town!" Gizmo's jetback activated. "No wonder Fenton gets so much good publicity if he lives in this weird place. He's tougher than I thought. Me, though, I would go nuts, so I'm out before something else happens. Peace!"

"Huh…" Zatanna tilted her head as the boy flew off. "What a werid guy…"

"Secret…" Raven sat up once she was healed. "Thank you…And I'm sorry. I know I scared you when I went all…demon. I wouldn't have blamed you if you didn't come back."

"Secret." Greta hugged the demon girl. "Secret."

Despite only two words being spoke, Raven understood the message. 'You may be scary, but you're my friend, and I care about you.'

"Yeah…Same here."

"Hey, girl!" Torch glared at the blond archer. "Torch does not need help!"

"Well it doesn't look like that!" Artemis continued to fire arrows at Metallo. "Metal head over there only has a few scratches."

"That huts, blondie." Metallo shrugged the arrows off and tapped his metal chest. "Right in my metal heart."

"Tsk…" Torch glared at Metallo. The android's chest opened as it prepared for a blast of energy. The fire ghost brought his scythe down and slammed it into the concrete. A shield of fire appeared between Metallo and Artemis. The blast of Kryptonite energy was stopped from getting close to the archer. Torch then followed up with a swing of his scythe and sent a wave of fire to distract Metallo. "Just this once, Torch shall accept help in a fight. The Necromancers tired Torch out too much. Can you keep him from moving for about five seconds?"

"Can do!" Artemis pulled out an adhesive arrow. Once the fire died down, Artemis shot the arrow at Metallo's feet. Once it made contact, purple goo spread out and trapped Metallo to where he stood.

"Please, mate, you actually think this will work?" Metallo laughed and began to pull out of the foam. "This is merely slowing me down."

"Exactly." Artemis smirked.

"Eh?"

Torch's scythe turned back into fire. It spread out like a spear of fire in Torch's hand. The fire ghost then brought the spear up and flung it Metallo's chest. The android tried to move, but he couldn't move because of the foam. The spear of concentrated fire hit its target perfectly. The android's chest was pierced and the Kryptonite core was shattered.

"Ah!" Metallo yelled as the fire spread. "Son of a…"

Swish! Thwink! Psh!

Artemis shot another arrow at Metallo's metal skull. It hit and stuck to the machine man. This time, though, it spread out a green gas….a flammable green gas.

BOOM!

"Well…" Torch watched as Metallo's pieces fell from the sky like fiery meteors. "That' something. Is it dead?"

"Don't think so." Atermis shook his head. "He's mostly robot by now. He probably uploaded his consciousness somewhere else before his body blew up."

"Good." Torch's eyes narrowed. "Torch wants a one on one rematch with that hunk of junk. Next time, Torch won't take help because it won't be war."

"Hmm…" Artemis nodded slowly.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Artemis looked at her communicator. "Oh crap…An SOS signal from the others. Something's happening at the Watchtower."

"Go." Torch waved her off. "If your friends helped as much as you did, then we'll be fine."

"Right." Artemis nodded and ran off.

Torch sighed and looked up to the sky. He could sense it. The tides had completely changed in this battle. Mostly from the help. "Torch didn't want you to come, Ellie, but you're here anyway. Torch will have to be careful not to get too close now…"

"Tsk…" Savage frowned as he stood over the unconscious body of Captain Marvel. "The League has fallen to a bunch of ghosts and children. How pathetic."

"Ah…" Klarion sighed. "All of them have been given the cure. Even the ones that were given the special mission…"

"We should retreat." Savage noted.

"We can take them. They're exhausted." Klarion mentioned. "Besides, we've got Phantom."

"You have a hard time holding back. This station would be destroyed, and we still need it for our plan later." Savaged grinned. "Phantom, however, could hold back and still win. Then he can be sent to Amity Park to finish them off."

"I won't destroy the place..."

"Meow." Teekl looked up at its master.

"Good point, I do brink the chaos." Klarion shrugged. "Let's go."

After a few key strokes on the hologram in front of them, Klarion teleported him and Savage away from the station.

"Damn!" Superboy groaned as they disappeared. He and the rest of the Team on the station had managed to fight off the League using sneak attacks and attacking their weaknesses. They tried to follow up by capturing Savage and Klarion, but that didn't work out.

"Where's…Danny!" M'gann's eyes widened as the halfa appeared in front of him.

"Be careful." Robin noted. "He's still under Savage's control."

"Please, we took down the League." Rocket mentioned as she floated above the others. "How bad could one weakened ghost be?"

Phantom opened his white eyes. Like before, white and gold energy danced around him. They all recognized that power from footage from the GIW War.

"Look out!" Kaldur used his Water Bearers to form a shield of water in front of them. This stopped a blast of white and golden energy from hitting them. The shield worked for only a moment, though. The burning intensity of the ascended ectoplasm evaporated the water rapidly and then exploded outward.

"GAH!" All five members of Young Justice that was currently on the Watchtower were blasted back.

Superboy was the first to get back up. He charged at Phantom so the ghost wouldn't be able to finish the other Team members off. "Call the others for backup now!"

"R-right…" Robin instantly went to contact the rest of Young Justice. He just hoped that Kid Flash managed to get the jammers down so they could contact them. The speedster was the best with tech after him, and his speed would help him do the job quickly. Hopefully, it had been enough time.

…Beep!

It had been enough time.

"Done! They're on their way!"

"Get off!" Wulf growled as he tried to pry Killer Croc off of him. The crocodile man was trying to take a bit out of the werewolf ghost.

In a desperate attempt to keep the man from biting his neck, Wulf activated his dimension tearing claw. The green nails extended and pushed into Killer Croc's shoulders. Blood poured from the wounds, but Killer Croc did not stop.

"Did ya think that would help?" Croc laughed. "I remember you. How you hurt me. Now it's my turn to hurt you!"

"Raw…" Wulf's arms began to fail him as Killer Croc's teeth drew closer.

In a desperate attempt to stay alive, Wulf turned intangible and pass through the ground below them. The lack resistance allow Croc's face to rocket through the ground. The crocodile man bit a huge chunk out of the concrete and spit out the bits.

Wulf fazed up through the ground behind Killer Croc. He jumped on the villain's back and began to claw and bite at the crocodile man. "Gah! Get him off!"

"Fine!" Scarecrow ran up and jammed a needle in Wulf's veins.

"AH!" Wulf cried out in pain and fell to the ground as the world began to warp around him.

"Took you long enough!" Croc snapped.

"I was a little busy being in pain." Scarecrow growled. "The wolf thing patches a punch."

"Yeah he does…" Croc opened his mouth and prepared to bit off Wulf's head. "But he won't anymore…

"NO!" Solomon Grundy roared as he charged forward. He smacked Scarecrow away, and this time the villain did not get up. The zombie then reached Killer Croc and pushed him away.

"Stupid corpse!" Killer Croc snapped. "You should be a jittering mess of fear on the ground! How are you moving?"

"Grundy's emotions all turn to anger, and anger…MAKES GRUNDY STRONGER!" Solomon Grundy lifted the crocodile man over his head and then smashed villain over his knee back first. This was all it took for Killer Croc to foam at the mouth and pass out.

"Huff…pant…huff…" Grundy looked over to Wulf. "You okay dog?"

"No…" Wulf trembled in fear on the ground as he saw shackles form around him and hold him down. "Need to get free…need to be free…"

"Heh…" Icicle Sr. scoffed. "The greatest ice user to ever live…taken down just like that."

"To be fair, there were four of us." Mr. Freeze argued logically.

"Gah…" Frostbite groaned and tried to push himself up. "I'm not done yet."

"Yes you are." Captain Cold used his foot to push Frostbite back down. "Just stay down and let us kill you."

"I don't like this…" Killer Frost frowned. "Let's just leave him."

"You know our orders." Isicle Sr. pulled out a piece of Starro tech. "The Light wants all the ghosts that aren't killed under their control."

"And how has obeying the Light jackasses ever benefited us?" Killer Frost argued. "We've spent months in prison when I could have been on some beach somewhere."

"You're an ice villain." Captain Cold argued.

"So I can't enjoy a day on the beach and a night at the bar?" Killer Frost glared. "If I went to a place where the League had no jurisdiction, I would be fine."

"That does not matter now." Mr. Freeze placed his ice gun over his shoulder. "We are free now."

"And now in the Light's debt." Killer Frost sighed. "I don't like not having options."

"Well this is the life you chose…" Icicle Sr. paused. "What's that noise?"

"The sound of rock and roll, Snow Cone."

VVVVVVVRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGG!

"AH!" All the ice villains held their ears in pain as the voice spread throughout the air.

Crack! Shatter!

"No!" Mr. Freeze panicked when the dome over his head broke and his skin was exposed to the air. Of course, the winter weather in Amity Park was cold, but Mr. Freeze needed to be in arctic conditions to survive. So, to make sure that he lived, Mr. Freeze did the only thing he could. He froze himself in a giant icicle.

"Damn it!" Icicle Sr. shouted when the noise came from. He saw some punk rock girl. "Who the hell are you?"

"The girl that's come to bring you a burn notice." Ember McLain grinned.

"What the hell does that-HOLY HELL!" Captain Cold shouted in surprised and pain as a blast of blue flames smashed into him and sent him crashing into a building.

"Stupid girl!" Icicle Sr. pointed his ice gun at Ember. "I'll freeze you alive!"

A beam of ice energy was shot at Ember. It got within a few feet of her before it turned to steam.

"Sorry, Dipstick." Ember snorted as she explained her powers. "I get stronger the more people chant my name, and I've been having people chant my names for months now. I'm more powerful than you could ever hope to be."

"What the hell does that mean?" Icicle Sr. questioned.

"Nothing that concerns you…" Ember tilted her head. "Although, you might want to take a step to the left."

"Like I'll fall for that-"

Smash! Frostbite had attacked the distracted man from behind and smashed him into the ground.

"She told you…" Frostbite grunted out, and turned his attention to Killer Frost. "You wanted to retreat…I can't let that happen."

"Yep…" Killer Frost groaned and raised her hands in compliance. "Told them we should have gotten out while the going was good…prideful dumbasses don't know a good idea or deal when they see it."

"Well, girls have more sense." Ember noted as she approached them with guitar in hand. "Of course, I'm not a great example. My ex calls asking for my help, and I come back running. Not exactly good sense."

"But I am grateful for it." Frostbite looked over to Ember. "Thank you, Miss Ember."

"No problem. You looked like you could use some help." Ember looked around at the destroyed city. "Care to tell me what happened here? And why the hell no one called me for the party?"

"It's a long story, and I don't think the Great One wanted to involve you." Frostbite mentioned. "Your involvement might have influenced your obsession."

"Of course he thought like that." Ember chuckled. "But he was sure quick to ask for backup."

"Well, the Great One has been known to think ahead." Frostbite noted. "It's best not to show all your cards in the first round after all."

"Special technique: Kitty Throw!" Nyx flung the unconscious body of Cheetah at the three members of the Injustice League. The fight had be rather chaotic after Cheetah wounded Nyx. The shadow user kind of went into a rage and beat the hybrid woman down rather easily considering that the shadow user left strands of her own shadow energy on the woman when Nyx hugged her. The energy had formed into snakes, wrapped around the woman, and choked her out.

"What the…" Ultra-Humanite caught the unconscious villainess.

"Nyx!" Pandora shouted.

"Stupid girl…" Black Adam grunted as he turned his attention away from the downed Youngblood to the shadow girl. "If Klarion didn't order us to capture her, I'd kill her. But I need to take her alive so…"

He reached down and grabbed Youngblood by the neck. "Hey, girl! Surrender or I kill this boy!"

"What?" Nyx paused she was preparing to charge in and attack the ape guy, but she was stopped by the threat.

"I can see it. You care for him." Black Adam sneered. "That is your greatest weakness. Caring for others only makes you weak. Both the shadow brat and Pandora, surrender now, or I kill the boy."

Both ghosts froze.

"Skull, kill the giant woman. Ultra-Humanite, put one of the chips on Nyx." Black Adam ordered.

Both the other villains were about to comply when Youngblood spoke up.

"You're wrong." The boy peered down at the magical brawler.

"What?!" Black Adam snapped.

"Caring for others doesn't make you weak." Youngblood's eyes hardened as a trail of green blood flowed in between them. "It makes you strong. It gives you something to fight for and a reason to grow as a person."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Black Adam laughed at the boy's words.

"I've always held back…because of promises I made a long time ago." Younblood looked up to the sky. "What purpose do they have if I lose what I care for now? For the sake of the people I care for, I'll show you what real strength is. What do you think, Polly?"

"I think…You've matured somewhat…" Polly mentioned as he landed on Black Atom's shoulder. The pirate ship had been damaged by the ghouls and Necromancers a long time ago, before the enemies disappeared. The skeleton crew was in pieces across the city, but the bird was fine. "How did that happen without me absorbing it?"

"It was them…" Youngblood noted.

"Eh?" Black Adam swatted at Polly. "Stupid bird! Get off of me!"

Polly flew over and landed on Youngblood's head. "There will be consequences…But we shall discuss those later when you seal your powers again. Until later, Charles."

Swoosh! Voom! Boom!

Youngblood was covered in a veil of green energy. Across the city, the skeleton followers of the young looking ghost disappeared into green energy and flew towards Youngblood. When the lights reached the child ghost, the energy surrounding Youngblood blasted out and forced Black Adam away from him.

"What the-" That was all both Atomic Skull and Ultra-Humanite could get out. Two massive balls of energy shot out of where Youngblood was and hit the villains. They were also sent sprawling away.

"Eh…I think you can finish them now, ladies…" A gruff voice spoke out. "But Black Adam belongs to me, savy?"

"What did you say, boy?!" Black Adam questioned.

"I said…" A man walked out of the smoke. He was a muscular man who appeared around the age of twenty-two. His clothes were that of a pirate, complete with his grey coat and skull themed hat. His short green beard seemed to dance around like tiny flames.. Like before, the man had a hook for his left hand and a peg leg for his left leg. Youngblood drew his sword once again. "I was going to take you down."

"You wish!" Black Adam flew towards the now adult Youngblood. "I don't know what you did, but it won't be enough to beat a being with the power of an ancient wizard!"

"What if that being was a child? Because I can make that happen." Youngblood smirked. In a flash, he swung his sword. Black Atom was surprised when he felt pain from where the blade hit.

"AH!" Black Adam held his smoking shoulder. "What was that?"

"My power." Younblood noted. He then used his hook hand to grab Black Atom and fling him away. The man then pointed his peg leg to the villain. His leg transformed into a canon and sent a massive green canon ball at the magical brawler.

BOOM!

As this was happening, Pandora rushed to Atomic Skull. The villain was still stunned by the previous attack, but he was still able to react. Atomic pulled out all his power and sent a huge radioactive blast at Pandora. The blue skinned woman was covered in the wave of energy.

The villain thought he had one for a brief send, before a column of electicity came out of the ground and covered him. He screamed out in pain and convulsed. Atomic skull was quickly put out of his misery, however.

"Stay down!" Pandora roared as she rushed forward. Her various right arms were glowing light blue. All three right arms struck the villain and crushed him into the ground. Atomic Skull was instantly unconscious. "Tsk…Did you really think you stood a chance in a one on one fight, fool? You best chance was the cowardly act of threatening a child, and look how that turned out.

Nyx had taken down her enemy rather quickly too. Unlike Atomic Skull, Ultra-Humanite lacked the ability to use energy blasts naturally. His guns were destroyed by Youngblood in the last blast too. Thus, all he could do was swing wildly. This did not affect the ghost, though. Nyx passed through the arms with ease.

It was then that Ultra-Humanite's shadow seemed to reach out and grab him. It trapped him and allowed. Nyx to take advantage. She landed on his face and sent a blast of shadow energy at his face. Roaring in pain, Ultra-Humanite fell to the ground.

"Gah…" Black Adam pulled himself out of the crater that was formed earlier, but was stopped when Youngblood grabbed his throat. "Psh! You think you scare me boy!? I have faced thousands of people tougher than you."

"Maybe…" Youngblood nodded. "But I doubt any of them had my power."

"WhaAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Green energy swirled around them. A miniature vortex formed around them.

"What is he doing…" Pandora had assisted her daughter out by knocking the ape out. This allowed the now completely exhausted girl to relax her use of the shadows holding Ultra-Humanite.

"I don't know." Nyx shrugged weakly as she was taken into Pandora's arms.

The swirl of energy ended.

"Waaaah!"

"…Is that a baby's cry?" Pandora questioned.

"Yes…It is." The smoke cleared to reveal Youngblood. Except now, he looked even older. The man now looked like he was in his forties complete with slightly greying hair and new wrinkles. Oddly enough, the man was also holding a baby with pointed ears. "This is Black Atom."

"What?" Nyx blinked. "But…how?"

"My powers revolve around making things younger." Youngblood noted. "Usually, I do this on myself to make myself look and act young. Age…power…and experience have to be sealed, though. They just don't disappear. I put all of my powers and age into my crew and Polly. When I reabsorbed my crew, I reobtained the power to seal the age of others. That, however, I can only do through my own body. I can't make skeletons like with my age."

"So…That's why you appear so old." Pandora stared at the man.

"Yes. It's my worst nightmare really. My strongest ability that would make it so I could beat almost everyone would also make me age to the point of death if I didn't use it carefully." Youngblood mentioned. "My age limit is eighty-five I think. After that, I will die from old age by sealing the time of others into me. Luckily, despite being thousands of years old, Black Adam's magical body never ages whatsoever from the prime age of twenty-five. I turned him into a baby with ease. Granted, if he went back to his normal body that would never work because of his incredible age, but he would probably turn to dust anyway."

"I still don't understand…" Pandora shook her head. "You power is so great. It's even close enough to be…"

"An S-rank ghost." Youngblood nodded. "I know I have a lot of explaining to do, but I think I should wait for everyone to be around and for when I return the age to Black Adam."

"Very well…" Pandora nodded.

"Oh? Is that really all you have?" Ravager stood over Cassandra. Her sword was pointed at the other girl's neck.

Cassandra did not move. The blade was so close to her skin that is already caused a small cut to open. A trickle of blood ran down her neck.

"Ah!" Victor Stone pleaded out. He was trapped by a ghoul. The green zombie thing was holding to the ground his hissing at him.

A while ago, the ghouls had went nuts. They tried to exit the building, but was stopped by the shield. In response, they went wild and attacked everything in sight. All three of the ghouls not fighting Cujo quickly went after the humans in the room. Ravager and Cassandra quickly diverted them away from their and Shiva's position, but the other humans in the room were fair game.

Both Harriet and Silas tried to push them back with ectoplasmic weapons, but neither of them had any experience fighting ghosts. Thus, they were quickly defeated.

The Stone adults were trapped by one ghoul. Harriet and Angela were being threatened by another. And Victor, all alone, was about to be torn apart by the last ghoul's hands.

Cujo tried to help them, but he was fighting off three different ghouls himself. He couldn't push past them, so he had to take them down the hard way. He could do it, but it would take too much time.

"No!" Shiva pulled at her restraints, but if she was able to free herself, she would have done it earlier. The ghosts really knew how to trap people. Nevertheless, she fought. The woman did not care for the other humans in the room, of course. All that mattered to her was her daughter.

"Looks like you lose." Ravager noted.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"What?" Ravager turned around to see a gun pointed at her head.

David Cain placed his other hand gun in its holster and took a drag of his cigarette. "Drop the sword, littler girl, or I put a bullet in your skull."

Looking around the room, Ravager saw that Cain had managed to kill all the ghouls in the room that were attacking the humans. All the humans in the room looked shocked and horrified, but they were alive. Cujo, however used the distraction to maul the ghouls attacking him and finish his fight. The dog was now staring at David Cain in confusion. He was still deciding what to do. The man was dangerous, but he had saved the humans Cujo was meant to protect. Thus, Cujo decided to wait to see what would happen.

Realizing the situation, Ravager complied and threw the sword away. As soon as she did this, Cassandra acted. Bringing her legs up, Cassandra grabbed Ravager's neck with her legs. She then flipped the girl and slammed her masked face into the ground. The mask shattered instantly.

Cassandra turned the girl on her back and glared down at the pale face of Rose Wilson. "No, you lose." The assassin with Asian descent then punched the other girl into unconsciousness.

"Cassandra…" David Cain peered down at his daughter.

"…Father…" Cassandra looked up at the man.

"I'm surprised you know what I look like." David laughed.

"…I wanted to learn what you looked like, so I did." Cassandra answered simply. "That's why I looked through Mother's stuff."

"You did what?"

"I see…just like your mother." David Cain nodded.

"Uh hem…" Shiva glared at the man.

"Oh? Shiva?" David gained a smirk. "Look at you, all tied up. What happened?"

"Shut up and let me go, or I'll kill you." Shiva threatened.

"And ruin the chance to speak with my daughter?" David shook his head. "No way. Besides…That look is a real turn on."

"Perv! Don't speak of such things in front of your daughter." Shiva glared.

"I know about sex and innuendos, Mother." Cassandra shrugged it off. "Is that what you two are into? Bondage?"

"Me? A bit. Your mom, however, is a freak. Some of the things she wanted me to do to her…" Cain gave a low whistle.

"David!" Shiva yelled in outrage.

"Er…" Victor pushed himself up and wiped the green blood from his face. "T-thank you…for saving us."

"Eh?" David Cain tilted his head at the boy. "Don't mention it, kid. I hate the thought of some poor sap getting eaten alive. Especially a kid. I think if you're going to kill someone, it should be as quick and dignified as possible. A quick shot to the head's always good."

"Er…" Victor paled.

"Dad…" Cassandra paused. "You're a wise man."

"Thank you."

"Stop corrupting my daughter, damn it!"

Things were not going well for Young Justice. Even when the backup arrived, the Team, exhausted both mentally and physically from days of nonstop fighting and planning, could not keep up with Phantom. The ascended ectoplasm proved too much for the young heroes. The halfa danced around them like it was child's play.

"Gah!" Superboy cried out as Phantom grabbed him and threw him through several pillars.

"Conner!" M'gann rushed in. She tried to connect to Phantom mentally, but she was hit by waves and waves of hatred. The Martian instantly crumbled to the ground in pain. "AAAHHH!"

"Get her out of there, Kid!" Aqualad yelled out. "Everyone, give him support from long distance!"

"Right!" Artemis and Red Huntress were on opposite sides of Phantom. They sent waves of explosive weaponry at Phantom, but the halfa's aura of white and gold stopped them all.

"Got her!" Kid Flash grabbed Miss Martian and tried to run away. Phantom responded with a blast of energy.

Boom!

The energy hit Kid Flash right in his back. The speedster was sent flying away. He and the Martian girl rolled a few times until they stopped in an unconscious heap.

"Hsup mih ot eht dnuorg!" Zatanna cried. The gravity around Phantom shifted. The force on his body increased greatly. This force would have killed most humans. It would have trapped most superhumans. It may have even given pause to some of the best fighters on Earth.

Phantom shook it off like it was nothing.

It was then that Phantom rushed to Zatanna. He sent out a hook punch to her face. If it connected, it would have surely killed the girl.

"No!" Aqualad used his Water Bearers to try and shield the magic user. This unexpected shield stopped the punch from killing her, but it did not stop him from knocking her out.

After this happened, a shield formed around Phantom. It was not one to protect him, though. Rocket formed an orb around Phantom so that he could not escape. The shield was made up and fueled by kinetic energy. Thus, any force Phantom put on the shield would only make it stronger.

"I got him!" Rocket grinned. "Someone get the cure on him…Huh? Where did he go?"

"Rocket!" Robin shouted. "Behind you!"

"Huh?" Rocket turned only to hit with a massive wave of energy. The force sent her flying through the Watchtower.

"Oh my god…" Artemis paled. "He just took out our big guns like they were nothing."

"How…How do we beat him?" Robin questioned. "We've used every weakness ghosts have, and it didn't even slow him down."

That was true. Magic, ectoranium, and ectoplasmic weapons did nothing. Even when Red Huntress tried to use a Fenton Thermos, a weapon that could even contain Dark Dan, it did nothing. Phantom destroyed it before he was even captured by the thermos.

"I…do not know, but we cannot fail." Kaldur gripped his weapons tightly. "Phantom entrusted us with the future."

In the span of two days, Young Justice had gained new recruits, became completely united, uncovered a massive conspiracy, saved the League, and aided Amity Park's comeback. Despite all these achievements, though, they would fall within the same day. They were all too tired to even have a prayer of hoping to beat Phantom in ascended ectoplasm form.

Not only that, they had no other backup available. This was all they had to work with. All members of the League from Red Arrow to Superman were unconscious. The ghosts in Amity Park were exhausted to the point of not being able to barely move anymore. If Young Justice lost now…

Phantom would gather up all of the Justice League and Young Justice for his new masters. Then, he would go to Amity Park. He would take down a surprised Spectre with a sucker punch. After that, Phantom would rampage. All the ghosts would be either killed or put under control of the Light.

Thus, if Young Justice lost now, it was game over for everyone.

They couldn't let that happen.

"YOU!" Walker roared and marched up to the downed Spirit. He dragged her out of the destroyed machine. He held her up. "Do you really think you won?! A little injury means nothing to me! The machine meant nothing to me! All I care about is killing you!"

"Idiot…That's why I will win…" Spirit mumbled. "My obsession…is stronger than yours…I want to be with my loved ones always…I want to have fun…and joke with them again…I want to fight…and bicker with them…I want to live with them…as long as I can…And that's why I can't let you win."

"Fool!" Walker grabbed the girl's limbs in both of his arms. He held her up and prepared to pull. "Such a stupid obsession could never overcome me."

"Not alone no…" Spirit shuddered in pain. "That's why…I believe that I will have help…"

"OW! AWH!" Walker shouted in pain. Failed ghouls began to pool into the room. They all began to attack the ex-warden by biting and scratching him. This forced the ashen skinned man to drop the girl. In response, the ghouls caught her and gently put her on the ground.

"I used to think…that being strong mean that I had to be able to fight on my own." Spirit pushed her bleeding and broken body up. "After Danny died in the war…and after I lost so many times…I thought I had to become strong to be able to fight on my own, but I was wrong…Because I'm not alone…I don't have to rely solely on my own powers…because no matter what…My family will always come to help me!"

"Get off of me!" Walker began to tear the ghouls apart. He showed no mercy on them.

"This is Danny's will to help me! His will to protect me is in these imperfect clones!" Spirit roared. "It gave me one more chance to beat you! You may be ten times stronger than I am now, but I won't lose! Because I must live to be with my family again!"

"RAW!" Walker roared. Green ectoplasm pored out of him in bursts of raw power. His Haunting Arura came out in waves. Under such a force, the ghouls that were once attacking Amity Park were now crumbling and dying before Walker's power. "No way in hell do you get to win, girl! I set the rules here, and I say that you winning is AGAINST THE RULES!"

Spirit rushed forward. Walker did the same. Energy blazed as the two ghosts ran at each other.

'Destroy everything. Kill girl. Blow everything to bits.' Well…her Premonition wasn't going to help here. That was okay, though. She could deal without it. Spirit had trained for situations like this.

Light shined out from Spirit's body. It was blinding. Walker couldn't see what she was doing. "Like that will help you!"

Walker ran forward. He could now see Spirit's body. Grinning, Walker extended his arms. A massive blast of green energy hit Spirit's body. It caused the halfa's body to be disintegrated into little bits.

"HAHA!" Walker roared in laughter. "All that talk for nothing!"

"Think again!" Spirit fazed through the floor. Her Spectral claws were blazing.

"No!" Walker's eyes widened. It couldn't be. There was no way this little girl could use such a complicated technique. It was doubtful that Plasmius and Phantom would even attempt to teach her it yet. It was completely impossible, but she just used…

A duplicate

"Raw!" Spirit roared and swung her Spectral claws. They hit the spot Spirit weakened earlier. Her claws hit Walker's left elbow…and went right through it like a hot knife through butter.

Walker's now dismembered arm went flying through the air. In shock and pain, Walker grabbed his now stump of an arm. "AAAHHH! MY ARM!"

Spirit then pushed her feet on Walker's chest and pushed. This caused Walker to stumble back a bit and for the halfa girl to gain the distance she desperately needed.

"YOU BITCH! I'LL KILL YOU!" Walker roared.

"No! You won't!" Spirit rushed forward at the now wide open Walker. She sidestepped the ghost brought her leg up. Spinning, the halfa girl empowered her leg with all the energy she had left and sent a massive roundhouse kick to Walker's torso.

Boom!

Walker was sent flying to the fall wall, where he crashed into the wall. The wall collapsed and crumbled as Walker fell to the ground unconscious and beaten.

"Hehehe…" Spirit stood tall and proud as she eyed Walker's unconscious body. "You know…the thing about me and rules is…I like to break them."

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Dusk could feel the energy pore into his arms. It spread from his arms to his body. He could feel and understand it. It was the energy that was used to create the Matter Make Necromancers. All of the remaining Necromancers were being dissolved, and their energy was being absorbed by him.

It was all so much. For a ghost that usually had trouble keeping his ectoplasm level high during real fights, it was a complete change. Now, there was as much energy as he wanted. In fact, there was too much for him to naturally contain. He did not possess a body like Phantom that could process such energy into a more advanced from of energy. Thus, Dusk did the only thing he could with the extra energy.

He shaped it into a weapon.

First, came the Burst Guantlets. Then, the armor began to spread up is arm across his body. Thick durable, yet flexible and light armor formed around the halfa's body. Like the Gauntlets, the green and black armor had various slits all over it. Even the thick Crusader helmet had the small slits in it to allow bursts of energy.

Now completely covered in his Burst Armor, Dusk turned to large room. He stumbled at first, but he quickly regained his bearings.

"What the hell…" Mirror Master's various images stared at the armored boy in shock.

It was then that Dusk's legs spread out. He went into a deep horse stance with his arms pulled into fists at his side. Energy burst out all around him. Like steam, ectoplasm burst out with explosive power. The force of this little test caused the mirrors under and around Dusk to shatter.

"You know…" Dusk spoke once again. His voice came out stronger than before. "People say that breaking mirrors are bad luck, but I don't believe in such crap."

It was then that Mirror Master responded. Like before, hundreds of beams were shot at Dusk. This time, though, they didn't even get close. Energy burst out of Dusk's armor in a great wave. It stopped the energy beams in an instant.

Forming his right Gauntlet into a fist, Dusk punched the ground. Energy spread through the ground of the room. At once, all the mirrors that were connected to the floor were shattered into tiny pieces.

After this, Dusk jumped…if you could call it that. A sonic boom sounded out as energy burst out of Dusk's armored boots. He was sent rocketing to the ceiling like a missile. When he reached the ceiling, Dusk punched it with his left arm like he did with the floor. Like before, every mirror on the ceiling shattered. Glass rained down like snow.

"HARAW!" Dusk spread his arms widely. Energy blasted out of his gauntlets in giant balls. The balls of energy flew to opposite ends of the room and shattered all the mirrors on the far walls.

Flying like a rocket to one of the remaining walls, Dusk landed feet first on a few of the mirrors. This time, the energy spread from Dusk's feet, throughout the wall, and shattered the mirrors. This left one wall remaining.

Peering at the far wall, Dusk scanned the mirrors. He looked for even one difference. There! One of the mirrors was shimmering. That must be the one that held the real Mirror Master now. Without any other mirrors, that wall was the only place Mirror Master could go in this room. Dusk's plan worked perfectly.

Ignoring the beams once more with a burst of energy as a shield, Dusk once again caused a sonic boom as he flew to the other side of the wall. He reached it in the blink of an eye. Placing three of his limbs around the mirror as anchors, Dusk reached into the mirror with his free hand and grabbed the villain. He then pulled Mirror Master out of the mirror. Just as the villain exited the mirror, the wall of mirrors shattered like all the rest.

Dropping down to the floor, Dusk held the villain up by his shoulders and then slammed him into the ground. Luckily, the glass was more a fine dust compared to sharp shards, so Mirror Master wasn't killed. He was also safe from the lack of oxygen because of the oxygen mask slid across his lower face.

"M-monster!" Mirror Master trembled in fear.

"RAW!" Dusk brought his fist up and then tried to crush the villain's head.

He stopped right before the Gauntlet hit the villain's face. Mirror Master was pale and crying. His eyes were closed shut in fear.

"…I see…" Dusk spoke slowly. "That was your plan…"

Using a lot less force than he was going to before, Dusk punched Mirror Master and knocked him out.

"Talia!" Dusk shouted. He raised from his position and glared at the entrance. His armor still stood proud and true. "Come out! It's over! I refuse to kill him!"

The side wall opened to reveal a less than pleased Talia. The woman began to approach him. "So close too…"

"It was a smart plan." Dusk admitted. "Using the heat of the moment to try and get me to kill him. It almost worked too. The energy boost scrambled my brain a bit, but even then I refuse to kill anyone or anything."

"I can't believe it…" Talia eyed him. "How does someone with your genes think that way. You are a born killer."

"Shut it." Dusk glared. "I'm tired of your crap. I am who I chose to be, not who you think I was born to be."

"…Fine." Talia shrugged. "I'll let you think that for a bit longer. You're still young, and you still have time to discover who you really are."

"I know who I am!" Dusk exclaimed proudly. "I am Dusk! The youngest member of the Phantom Family! I am a warrior and knight who loves peace! That is who I am."

"If you say so, brother, if you say so…" Talia chuckled.

"What?"

The room was then filled with smoke. Dusk instantly dispatched it with his Burst Armor, but Talia was already gone.

"Damn…"

It was over. Phantom stood over all of them victorious. Normally, this would have been a good thing, but Young Justice was the ones he defeated. There was no way to stop Phantom with his ascended ectoplasm. They had lost.

Not even giving them a glance, Phantom walked over their unconscious bodies and head to the Zeta Tube.

"No…" Superboy reached out and grabbed the teen's foot.

Phantom stopped.

"We can't let you…destroy everything you care about." Superboy groaned out.

Phantom merely used his free foot to push him away.

"He's right…" Robin pushed himself to his feet.

"How much have you given up for us…" Kid Flash wiped the blood off his face.

"Too much." Artemis pulled back her last arrow.

"We shall not allow you lose anything else." Aqualad stood defiant in the face of a foe that he could not defeat.

"Because it's our fault that you're even this situation." M'gann's eyes glowed.

Phantom stared at them as his energy began to flare again.

"We are so screwed…" Zatanna laughed joyously.

"But we'll go down fighting." Rocket clenched her fists.

"No…" Red Huntress shook her head. "We'll go down saving Danny."

They all rushed forward, but it was all for naught. Phantom sent out another blast of energy that pushed them back in a blaze. Young Justice crumbled once again.

That did not mean that they stayed down, though. No, they got up immediately once again.

"Danny…" Red Huntress looked at her boyfriend. "I know…that Starro tech completely takes away a person's free will…but you're not an ordinary person."

Phantom was in front of Red Huntress in the blink on an eye.

"You're a half ghost. Your obsession is to protect what matters to you." Valerie's visor slid up to reveal her tearful face. "I know you can't fight back…but please…remember what matters because despite everything, you can't go against you natural obsession because-Gack!"

Phantom grabbed her throat and squeezed.

"Because…" Red Huntress gasped out. "If you go against your real obsession…your powers will fade…Danny…You're hurting me…"

Phantom did not pause. He did not hesitate. The halfa went in for the kill. This did not change. What did change, however, was his power. In an instant, the power that had dominated Young Justice disappeared away from Phantom and was released into the air.

It wasn't a conscious or subconscious choice. No, it was simpler than that. Despite what Klarion tried to do, he could not completely change Phantom's real obsession. He could not alter the physical response Phantom would have if he tried to kill someone that was based in his obsession. Thus, nothing could stop his powers from going from that of a proverbial god to that of a weakened human.

That was all Red Huntress needed. Feeling the weaker grip, she flipped Danny and held him down. "Help me subdue him!"

"Ah…" Zatanna held out a hand to Phantom. "Dolh mih nwod!"

The concrete below Phantom melted and grabbed Phantom so that he would not escape. To reinforce this, Rocket used her kinetic tech to enhance the concrete. Phantom could not move.

Thus, it was easy for Kid Flash to zoom in and place a Starro Tech cure on the back of his neck. The halfa went slack instantly as he was freed from the Light's control. It was then that the girls released Danny.

"We…did it…" Kid Flash panted.

"Yeah… we did…" Artemis grinned next to the speedster. "We win."

"Feeling…the aster." Robin held back a snort.

Happy New Year, Justice League

The computer spoke out. The clock hit midnight. The circumstances made all of the members of Young Justice to burst out laughing.

"Hahahaha…" Artemis collapsed on the floor and leaned back. "That's a good one."

"Yeah…" Kid Flash sat down beside her. "I…I probably should have done this a long time ago, and I wish I could do something romantic like pick you up, but…I can barely move, so…"

Wally gently leaned in and kissed Artemis. The blonde archer did not object. In fact, she grabbed him and pulled him in closer.

Seeing this, Superboy turned to M'gann, embrased her, and kissed her as well.

Zatanna grabbed Robin and pulled him into a surprise kiss.

"I'm liking the Team more and more each day…" Rocket kissed Aqualad on the cheek.

"Gah…" Phantom groaned as he opened his eyes. He saw Valerie holding him. "You saved me…"

"Of course we did." Valerie leaned down and gently placed her lips on his. "Happy New Year, Danny."

"Well…" Spirit noted as she dragged Walker's unconscious body to the pile of villains that the ghosts had collected near the center of town. She made sure to give his wounds enough treatment so he wouldn't die. "Happy freaking New Year…"

"Happy New Year…" Dusk nodded. He was laying on the ground exhausted after finally dismissing the Burst Armor. "You look like hell."

"Like you're one to talk." Spirit let go of Walker and collapsed near Dusk. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Mirror Master with enough tech to take down an army. You?" Dusk turned his head to look at the girl.

"Walker on steroids." Spirit laughed.

"Spirit…" Vision knelt down by her adopted daughter. "Are you alright? You look terrible."

"So does everyone else…" Spirit looked around the group of people.

"She's not wrong." Plasmius looked like a mummy with how much bandaged was wrapped around him. "I feel terrible, and, Vision dear, I think you should sit down."

"Don't have physical injuries." Vision argued.

"Put you have mental ones." Pandora was busy dressing the children's wounds. "I have never seen you look so mentally drained."

"I'll…be fine…" Vision collapsed into Plasmius's embrace.

"No, rest now…" Plasmius whispered gently.

"She never changes…" Frostbite chuckled lightly. "Always talks big…"

"Unlike you who has eyes bigger than his stomach." Ember whacked him upside the head. "Really, Frosty? Five villains at once?"

"Man, even I think that's stupid!" Nyx laughed. "Ah! Ow! My side!"

"Shut up. At least you weren't shot." Raven rolled her eyes.

"Secret…" Greta picked at the bandage on her cheek.

"Stop that." Raven glared at the girl. "You'll reopen your wounds."

"She right." Wulf noted. He was now coming out of his Fear Gas induced state. "Don't…push self…"

"You okay, Wulf?" Nyx peered at the werewolf ghost. "You look shaken up."

"Fine…because of him…" Wulf nodded to Grundy out of respect.

"Meh…" Grundy shrugged. "Dog saved Grundy first. Grundy considers us even."

"Tsk…" Torch rolled his shoulders as he stood off to the side. He made sure to be a good distance away from Ember. "All the whining. What babies. Ah! Torch's spine!"

"Sorry. Just testing something." Youngblood chuckled and removed his hand from Torch's back.

"Just who the hell are you, anyway?" Torch questioned.

"I'll explain that in a bit…" Youngblood noted. "I think everyone needs to rest before I explain the surprise. For right now, I think it's best to leave it that I'm an ally."

"Considering how you came here with Pandora…Torch believes that." Torch nodded. "But it's a bit of a surprise."

"Speaking of surprises." Vision looked over to see the Spectre and Colossus approaching their group.

"Hey!" Colossus waved. "You all look like you had great fights!"

The Spectre snorted. "Of course you'd say that."

"What were you not satisfied with your battles." Colossus held the head of Red Volcano in his hands. He crushed the head with ease. "Because I'm still ready to go."

"Please. You look tired." Spectre shook his head.

"Fine, I'm getting old, and I tire easier. I'll admit that." Colossus stopped when they reached the group and tossed the broken head to the ground. "But I could still beat you."

"You keep thinking that." Spectre rolled his eyes

"What are you two doing here?" Plasmius questioned.

"Phantom asked for my help!" Colossus roared. "He said that I would be needed. Good thing I showed up too. The red android was about to set off an earthquake."

"So Danny called you like me, eh?" Ember looked at the Spectre. "Did he do the same for you?"

"No. I came here on my own." Spectre explained. "I know that Amity Park's future equals my own. If this city falls, the ghosts are in trouble. There was a bit of the issue with the Justice League that I handled, but don't think that I'll start following any of your orders, though."

"The League…" Vision frowned. "What happened with the League?"

"It's a long story." The Spectre noted.

"One of many from this day." Plasmius sighed. "I just got word from Fenton Works. Something happened there as well."

"Oh joy."

"Pretty hectic day, huh?" Phantom noted as all of Young Justice lounged in the League's meeting room.

"You know it…" Wally sighed. His hand was firmly grasped in Artemis's hand. It took all of two seconds for him to be whipped.

"Even when we win, there are setbacks…" Aqualad sighed.

"Sixteen missing hours." Robin sighed. "What happened when all those League members disappeared?"

"That's not our job to figure it out, is it?" M'gann noted.

"No, it's not. Still…" Robin sighed. "I'm feeling overwhelmed."

"Well, stay whelmed, Boy Wonder." Zatanna smiled. "Everything will turn out fine."

"Yeah, just look at Amity Park." Valerie leaned against her boyfriend. "Everyone's alive and safe."

"That's a relief." Phantom sighed in satisfaction.

"But still…" Aqualad turned to Red Arrow. Green Arrow and Black Canary wanted to take him home, but Roy refused right now. He had to speak with them first. "Roy…are you alright?"

"I just found out that I'm a fake and a traitor." Red Arrow clenched his hands in anger. "How do you think I feel?"

"I'm guessing not well." Artemis sighed. "I'm…I'm sorry, Roy."

"It's not your fault…In fact, I owe you all an apology." Red Arrow looked at them desperately. "I was the one that made the mole problem such a big deal, and yet I…was the mole all along."

"You couldn't helped it." Superboy argued. "That was how you were programmed when you were cloned. You couldn't control it. It was like my Red Sun program."

"But you didn't almost bring an end to the League or steal someone's life." Red Arrow trembled.

Superboy sighed. Normally, he might have snapped at the archer, but the Kryptonian clone was in an incredibly good mood right now. M'gann was by his side. He was surrounded by his closest friends. And Superman…actually came up and spoke to him like he was family. Today was the best day of his life so far, despite all the setback.

"I think you need some rest, man." Rocket mentioned to the archer.

"No…I need to find the real Roy Harper." With that Red Arrow stood and exited the room.

"Leave him to GA and Black Canary." Phantom sighed. "They can help him more than we can now."

"Right…" Aqualad nodded slowly.

"Well…I don't know about you guys, but I am dead tired." Red Huntress stood and kissed Phantom on the cheek. "I'm going home to pass out for a few dozen hours. Are you coming Danny?"

"No…I need to talk to everyone for a bit." Phantom noted.

"…Right…" Valerie nodded slowly. "The power thing."

"Go. See how everyone is and hit the sack." Phantom waved her off. "I'll be fine."

With a nod, Red Huntress left as well.

"So…I'm sure Val told you some of it." Phantom turned to his friends.

"Yeah…" Robin nodded. "She said your powers have been weakened for months…"

"It's true." Phantom nodded.

"How long?" Aqualad questioned.

"Since the war." Phantom nodded.

"That was before we even met." Wally's eyes widened.

"Yeah…" Phantom glanced over to Miss Martian. "But it's a bit more complicated than that."

"Gah…" Colossus stretched. "You didn't have to escort me, young warriors."

"We wanted to say goodbye." Dani grinned up at Colossus.

"Yes. Thank you for your help." Joel bowed his head to the giant.

"Hahahahahahahaha!" Colossus bellowed out a laughed. He stood in front of the Ghost Portal and was going to head back to guard it. "Don't mention it! It was fun to fight an earth user."

"Still, we would have been screwed if you didn't help." Dani noted.

"That's true for everyone, though." Colossus smiled. "It is through our cooperation that we achieved victory!"

"Yeah…" Joel nodded tiredly. "You're right. We won today because we are strong together."

"Exactly!" Colossus agreed. "Now there is only one more threat to deal with."

"We still have to catch the Light." Dani noted.

"I doubt they will try this again, though." Joel noted. "We learned all of their secret places and plans in Amity Park. And once the villains are interrogated, we'll have all we need to learn about them."

"Until then, we'll focus on Freakshow." Colussus stated. "Now go rest. You both look like you deserve it."

"Yeah we…" Dani paused. Colossus had a strange look on his face. "Is something wrong, Colossus?"

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Colossus shouted in pain. Energy flared around him. Ripples appeared through the air. Smoke twirled around the giant. After a moment, it was over, and Colossus fell face forward.

"Hello." Freakshow grinned after he was revealed by Colossus's fall.

"You!" Joel tried to activate his powers, but he couldn't. He was too exhausted.

"What did you do!?" Despite her weakened state, Dani still charged forward.

"No you don't." The Reality Gauntlet at Freakshow's side glowed. Both children were instantly frozen like they were characters in a paused movie. "There we go, now Lydia my dear…

Lydia floated in from the portal. Behind her was a bleeding and hurt Ghost Writer and Sydney Poindexter. Her tattoos held them up. In the woman's hands was a large tomb.

"And so the age of Freakshow begins." Freakshow took a deep breath in satisfaction. "I knew all I had to do was wait. Eventually something would happen that would let me get to Scribe."

Everyone was silent.

"This lovely book is the Tome of the Ancients." Freakshow grinned. "It is the book that automatically records all of ghost's history created by the Ghost Writer a long time ago. Of course, Scribe here faked records saying that it was destroyed. Every little history book says that this book was burned. But Phantom's memory told me differently. It was a small memory, right after the war but before he joined his little team. When Colossus's home was reconstructed, Scribe mentioned that he reconstructed the building based on the plans in the book. That…was all I needed to know."

Freakshow walked over to Scribe and grabbed his face. "And low and behold, the code was right there at the beginning. It looked like someone tried to scratch it out, but the tomb is meant to keep all history known, so it repairs itself it seems…"

"You…" Scribe noted.

"And now…I have all the power I could ever want." Scribe sneered down at Colossus. "I can even take the powers away from the strongest ghost in the world."

"You can't do this!" Poindexter argued. "You know what it is like to be bullied! Don't become one yourself."

"It's far too late for that." Freakshow chuckled.

"No it's not…" Scribe peered at the ex-circus ringleader. "This is a tale of redemption for all who wants it. It's not too late now. If you give up this madness now, you can come out without a scratch."

"And if I don't." Freakshow appeared amused.

"Then you will suffer the consequences." Scribe warned. "The Reality Gauntlet is not a power that is meant to be used. It exists only for the sake of existing. If you use it for chaos, then order shall come and slay you down. Just as chaos retaliated against order long ago."

"You…You dare!" Freakshow's face went red. "I am the Master of all Reality! I control everything! Nothing can hurt me anymore!"

"That was what Savage thought. But look at what happened." Scribe noted.

"So I'm supposed to pity an immortal? He's still fine as I see it." Freakshow laughed. "You know what, my first act as Master of all Reality is to make myself immortal!"

His body glowed for a second.

"Please. I implore you as a man that understands the consequences of altering reality." Scribe pleaded. "Rethink your actions. This path will not end well."

"…You may be right." Freakshow admitted. "I may very well be damning myself, but you know what…"

Squelsh!

"I don't care." Freakshow laughed. The claws of his Gauntlet ripped the skin off of Scribe's stomach.

Both Joel and Dani let out silent screams. They tried desperately to move, but they were frozen. Neither of them could do anything.

"NO! MASTER SCRIBE!" Hot tears ran down Poindexter's face. "YOU MONSTER!"

Even Lydia looked ill as she watched the blood and gore pore out of the Ghost Writer's stomach.

"And now!" Freakshow held his Guantlet up to the ceiling. "To shape the whole world in my image!"

Light shined out, and everything began to change.

Scribe the Ghost Writer felt no pain. There was only numbness and sadness. He tried to prevent this. Not his death, of course, Scribe knew that was coming as soon as the war was over. After all, how many lives did he save by altering reality? That was not something that could be forgotten.

It wasn't a crime to save lives, but it was a crime to mess with the laws of the universe. Reshaping reality had consequences. There were ripples. Things would come back to haunt the person that alters reality. Savage learned that, and Scribe knew it.

This was why he accepted this. He did not regret his actions. Scribe saved so many people during the war. Both new and old friends alike lived because of his interference. One small life was worth all that goodness that he did.

The Ghost Writer wished that he could have gotten Freakshow to see that. The Reality Gauntlet was cursed. If you used it without enough good Karma on your side…then you would die. But Scribe doubted that Freakshow had anything in higher power that was on his side.

Thus…his time would surely come if he continued down this path.

"Oh well…" Scribe noted lightly. "I tried. My conscious is clear."

The man held a hand to the place where his stomach used to be. When he lifted it, his hand was covered in green blood. It was a lot of his blood.

Despite this, Scribe smiled. Such a dramatic death. It was one that he would be proud to write about.

The Ghost Writer was now glad that he took some time off from his writing of the current story to work on his other project. He was grateful that he had the opportunity to write his will. His books would need to be taken good care of after all.

Sighing, Scribe once again spoke to the empty room. It was quickly abandoned by Freakshow, and it was being shaped into a room from a demonic circus. "I'm sorry my friends. I did not want to cause you pain. Please…don't mourn me too much."

Closing his eyes, Scribe let his body go slack. His body was quickly dissolving into ectoplasm. Soon he would be gone. Before that happened, Scribe said one more thing.

"My only regret is that I didn't get the chance to see how this story ends. I'm sure it would have been a good one."