Chapter 31: Grow Up

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are."

E. E. Cummings

Chapter 31: "Grow Up"

(Monday-May 19, 2014)

Damon Gray raised his ectoplasmic shotgun and shot a Sleep Walker right in the face. He followed this up by turning and nailing another one of Nocturne's minions in the face with the butt of the gun. Holding the shotgun in one arm, he pulled out another ectoplasmic pistol from his hip and shot them in opposite directions. This time, his shots tore through two of Nekron's inky monsters.

This is what Damon had been doing for the entire crisis. As soon as he saw what Nekron had done to the Justice League, he knew that the end was here. So, he did the only thing he could. Damon took to the streets and began shooting every monster in sight. If he was going to go down, he was going to take as many of these creatures as possible.

It was ironic in a way. Damon remembered early in the Red Huntress's career when he monitored her guns and time spent as a vigilante. He often yelled at her for her liberal use of her ectoplasmic weapons. Now, he was in her place. Oddly enough, it made him feel closer to his daughter than he had felt in a long time…and soon he would be with her once more.

As a normal man with a few guns fighting a sea of monsters, it was only a matter of time before he was overtaken. Finally, after hours of luck and shows of skill, Damon got tripped up. His guns were knocked away, and he was tackled to the ground. In a matter of seconds, he would be torn apart.

Except that he wasn't. The weight above him disappeared. For a second, Damon thought that it was a trick. A few seconds without pain made him realize that something was up. The man jumped to his feet, ready to fight once more.

"I'm not here to fight you," Hotep Ra spoke to the surprised Damon Gray.

"You…"

"Yes. Yes. I've been through this three times already," Hotep Ra sighed, "Let's get this over with. Come with me if you want to live…or actually be able to contribute to the fight…or because you're bored. Or whatever. Just step into the portal."

With a wave of his hand, Hotep Ra created a black portal beside him.

"And why would I do that, Black Lantern?" Damon glared at the ghost, "You're part of the reason this is happening."

Hotep Ra sighed, "You know what…I'm done with trying to convince people. This is my last stop, and I just want to get this done."

"What do—Hey! Put me down!"

Hotep Ra picked up the regular man and tossed him through the portal of darkness. He then dusted his hands in satisfaction, "Now that was more like it. Time to finish this."

With that, Hotep Ra stepped through the portal to his destination. Like the other four people that he had taken through the portals before, the mummy ghost appeared right in the middle of Axion Labs. He then smiled at the people in the room. It was time to get to work.

Nekron stood in front of the kneeling Vandal Savage. He grinned down to the immortal man. Nothing he did personally to the man would leave any permanent damage, but that didn't mean he couldn't try at least.

"Do your worst," Savage hissed.

"Oh, father, do you really think that I take joy out of hurting people?" Nekron smiled in a mock version of affection, "No. I take joy out of killing people. That's the purpose of my existence. It's the reason you created me."

"I never meant to create you," Savage snapped, "I was trying to better mankind, not bring its ruin."

"And that's why I was created. There are so many sayings about it, no? Good intentions do not mean everything will work out," Nekron mentioned, "You pushed past the boundaries. Humanity was not yet meant to have the power you tried to wield. It's a lesson that you haven't learned yet. Evolution cannot be forced forward. Death cannot be overcome so easily, no matter how much you want to get over this perpetual loneliness you feel."

Savage glared hatefully at Nekron, "Shut your mouth."

"There it is. The exposed nerve," Nekron gained a wicked grin, "Like with every human, you obsess over death…either others avoiding it, or you obtaining it. Living alone for 50,000 years must have been terrible, but don't worry. I'm going to put an end to that once and for all."

Nekron pointed his hand out towards the immortal caveman. Before Savage could speak, Nekron gathered energy into his hand. A blast of black energy shot out of the hand and covered Savage in a sea of black. In seconds, the man was disintegrated into dust by the dark energy. Almost nothing was left, but that didn't mean a lot. Nekron knew that Savage would reform sooner or later. As long as the Life Entity existed, Savage could not die, but that was going to change soon enough.

Turning, Nekron was surprised. He had dealt with all the villains and didn't feel any new energy signals in the room. Nevertheless, a new figure stood before him. In that moment, Nekron was impressed. No one had managed to actually sneak up on him since his fight against the Ghost King's court.

"Well, isn't this a surprise? You were the last person I expected to stand in my way, Amorpho."

Kid Flash's face formed into a frown. He stared down at Clockwork, "Mind explaining to me why you let my girlfriend and friends get kidnapped by that sicko?"

"I suppose I could have rebelled, but it was impossible for me to predict what that timeline would lead to," Clockwork explained, "Blood would have immediately destroyed me. I was recreated with it after all. If I rebelled, he might have just destroyed your or the others' minds. This was safer."

"How so?" Kid Flash didn't even want to think about what Brother Blood was doing to his friends.

"The timeline where I followed Blood's orders allowed me to see what would happen," Clockwork noted, "Someone will save your friends before anything too bad could happen. I apologize, but it was the only real choice a man twice dead could make."

"So…They're safe?" Kid Flash's face relaxed a bit more.

"Well, I'm sure your friend Raven is more than a little angry and will need to talk about what she thought Blood was going to do, but…overall yes. They are all safe," Clockwork nodded.

"Thank God…" Kid Flash muttered.

"Can I get up now?" Clockwork requested.

"Huh? Oh, right," Kid Flash helped the ghost up.

"I apologize for being rough with you," Clockwork mentioned when he was finally up, "I had to push the Speed Force out of you, and that is no easy task."

"Right, the…Wait…" Kid Flash's eyes were wide as he noticed everything else was still frozen in time, "Damn! I can't slow down! Flash always worried about this, but I never got close to being that fast before…"

"Do not worry," Clockwork pointed at Kid Flash's chest. A cog symbol with a large C in the middle appeared at the center of the Speedster's chest. Almost immediately, time began to move forward once more for them, "I thought ahead."

"Woah…" Kid Flash watched as the symbol disappeared, "What did you do?"

Clockwork smiled, "Well, let's just say that I gave you a blessing. After all, the Observants and the Master of Time are dead now. Someone will have to look after the time stream."

Kid Flash's eyes widened, "What?"

"Don't worry. It's nothing too difficult. You'll know if something is amiss in the time stream is all," Clockwork explained, "You see, the Speed Force is not just the ability to run at incredible speeds. It is a Fourth Dimensional energy."

"Like…So I'm the DeLorean from Back to the Future?"

"Yes, except you need to go a lot faster than 88 miles per hour to run through time," Clockwork extended an arm forward and gently placed it on Kid's shoulder, "It will take a bit more practice, but you can now activate the Speed Force at will. Heed this warning, I have just gifted you with one of the greatest powers in the universe. You cannot abuse it, because there will be no one to stop you."

"Woah…That's heavy, man."

Clockwork burst out laughing, "Yes, yes, it is. But I trust you. You are one of Danny Phantom's closest friends after all. Just know that if you do run through time…it has consequences. Changing the past will have ripple effects, possibly creating a paradox. And knowing the future…well, let me tell you from experience that trying to avoid that future is the exact reason it happens."

"So I should only use the time travel stuff to protect the time stream? That's pretty epic. I kind of wanted to do a Quantum Leap thing, but if I can only do a Doctor Who thing…Well, who doesn't love Doctor Who?" Kid Flash grinned.

Clockwork shared the smile, "Indeed…Ah, it seems that Nekron's energy has recognized my rebellion. I have run out of time."

Kid Flash pointed at Clockwork, "Nice one."

"Thank you, but I was being serious. I only have a minute before I fade, so listen closely," Clockwork spoke to Kid Flash and gave him a location.

"There, huh…"

"Indeed," Clockwork nodded, "Be careful, though. Nekron has shown that Death can trump time."

"I'll be careful."

"Good. Now go. Don't worry about me. I'll be gone soon enough."

Kid Flashed turned to run away, but paused, "How come you kept your memories?"

"Transferred my consciousness through time," Clockwork shrugged, "Standard for me really. Nekron really should have seen it coming."

Kid Flash snorted, "I can see why Danny thinks so highly of you. Bye, Clockwork, and thanks. I'll make sure to use these powers right."

With that, Kid Flash disappeared in a burst of speed so great that Clockwork could barely keep track of it. Shaking his head, the Master of Time looked off to the distance and took in the beauty of nature once more before fading one final time.

"That's if you have the will to use them at all. I hope you remember my warning. Changing the past is dangerous."

As Dusk brought his sword down, Aragon formed his armor once more. Soul Shredder bounced off the black energy armor, and Dusk was forced back. He was then forced to lunge sideways as Aragon brought his massive tail towards the halfa.

"Win? You think you can win!?" Aragon snarled at the youngest half-ghost, "Mere seconds ago you were on death's door!"

Dusk landed and smirked up at the dragon, "Don't you know? Half-ghosts are at their strongest when Death is near."

Snarling, Aragon slapped his massive wings and rocketed up into the air. Once he was a good distance into the air, he looked back down to see both Dusk and Troia chasing after him. Just like he wanted them to do. Opening his large jaws, the dragon began charging up fire into his mouth from his stomach. The heat was so intense from the flames that even Aragon felt his mouth blister up and burn.

Oddly enough, neither of the Young Justice members seemed bothered by the charging attack. They continued their flight upward undeterred. This suited Aragon fine, though. It only made it easier to incinerate the pathetic ants below him.

After a few seconds of charging up his flames, Aragon unleashed his built up attack. The largest wave of flames the former king had ever created flooded out of his mouth. Fire spread out so wide that it was impossible for either of the young heroes to dodge. Aragon was certain that his enemies were as good as dead. Fortunately, for the heroes, he was wrong.

The former king's flames parted as soon as it was about to hit the heroes. Then, to Aragon's shock, the fire then turned around to slam into him. If he hadn't been blinded by the attack, he would have noticed that both Torch and Ember had recovered. Using their bond and teamwork to their advantage, they had joined hands and used every bit of pyrokenisis they had to manipulate the dragon's flame to their advantage.

Just as Aragon dismissed the flames around him, the bottom of his jaw was smacked upward by a long arc of green energy. When he saw that Aragon was distracted, Dusk stopped his ascent and swung his blade to create that arc of energy. With the dragon now reeling, Troia went on the offensive. Having continued her flight upward, she took her Lasso of Truth and wrapped it around Aragon's snout, effectively gagging the dragon to prevent him from speaking or breathing fire once more.

With an anger flaring through his mind, the former king tried to swipe the Amazon away. Like a fly in his eye, though, Troia flew away. In fact, she flew a long distance away. It was almost like she was trying to get clear of an explosion.

"RRRRRROOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRR!"

Pain flared through Aragon's body as Dora crashed into him and dragged him downward. She desperately clawed and bit at his armor, effectively tearing away at his defenses. Even as they crashed, Dora did not relent. Instead, she continued her barrage.

"I'm sorry, brother!" Dora cried, "But this is what you deserve!"

Nocturne raised a shield to stop a barrage of missiles that shot from Cyborg's shoulders. The ghost was surprised by the sheer number of rockets from the launcher. It seemed like the man was unleashing an entire arsenal uselessly at the Black Lantern. Was it a desperate attempt to actually hurt Nocturne? Probably not. It was obviously a distraction.

Turning around, Nocturne raised his arm to block a sword swipe by Youngblood. He then continued to block the follow up strikes while holding up his energy shield. Rolling his eyes, Nocturne flared his energy. His shield then burst out through the remaining missiles and then smashed Cyborg away. At the same time, Nocturne shattered Youngblood's sword.

Still, Youngblood did not relent. He charged forward with his hook transformed into a small ectoplasmic canon. Several shots rammed into Nocturne's chest while Youngblood's fist smashed into the other ghost's face. Unfortunately, Nocturne had focused he energy back to working complete defense. All of Youngblood's attacks knocked uselessly against the Ghost of Sleep's body.

"Did you really think I wouldn't notice?" Nocturne grabbed Youngblood's unhooked arm and held him in an arm bar in a way that Nocturne's ring finger was pointed right up at the descending Spirit. Said halfa girl did not slow her decent at all. She continued to charge forward with one single Spectral Claw activated, "I learned from my last attacks on Amity Park. Never take your eye off of Danielle Masters."

"That's true. I knew I couldn't take your attention away from her. But I knew you wouldn't notice the most important detail of this fight," Youngblood struggled against the arm bar, but nothing he could do would allow him to exit the hold without breaking the arm, "I got nothing left to lose."

Just as Nocturne was about to fire a blast of energy from his ring at Spirit, Youngblood pointed his hook canon at his other arm. In a blaze of green, he shot through his own arm to Nocturne's chest. Because the Black Lantern had focused his energy into attacking, his defenses actually fell. Thus, shocked at Youngblood's unexpected move, Nocturne was knocked completely off balance.

Ignoring his dead arm, Youngblood turned and lunged at Nocturne. The ghost of youth surprised the other ghost once more by biting into Nocturne's ring arm. Youngblood then pulled the arm with his teeth and extended the limb out as far as it could go. This left a completely open arm for an attack.

Spirit was ready to take advantage. Having not slowed her decent even a little through the fight, she was already ready to strike. Her trust in Youngblood let her get in the perfect attack. In one perfect motion, she thrusted her Spectral claw forward to Nocturne's ring finger. With perfect precision, she cut straight through the finger. The dismembered appendage tumbled to the ground along with the Black Power Ring that was set around it.

"OOOWWW!" Nocturne shouted out in his outrage and pain, "My ring! I can't—AAAHHH!"

Cyborg silenced Nocturne with a blast of sonic energy. This caused the Ghost of Sleep to arc in pain. Without his defenses, the ghost was now completely vulnerable to attacks. The others quickly took advantage. In a show of brutality, Youngblood lunged away while holding his bite causing skin to tear and blood to spray. As this happened, Spirit flipped over and punched Nocturne in the jaw.

As Nocturne fell, Spirit flipped over. Without hesitation, she brought her other leg over and smashed it over Nocturne's head. Like many years ago, Nocturne smashed into the concrete of Amity Park with a horn breaking off his head. In a sickening sense of déjà vu, Nocturne looked up to see an angry half ghost staring down at his defeated form. This time, though, there was no Clockwork to interfere.

Undergrowth roared and latched his vines around Vortex's body. He desperately tried to tame the storm that was crashing against him. Despite the roaring winds and the freezing rain, Undergrowth refused to release other ghost of nature. At the same time, Vortex could not force himself free despite all his struggles.

With an angry growl, Vortex sent out a surge of electricity through his limbs. The lightning smashed into the plant covering him and instantly blasted the vines off of him. Despite his body being covered in flames, Undergrowth refused to move back. His body regenerated faster than it burned.

Not deterred by this, Vortex tried the same strategy but only got the same result. Flames and electricity couldn't overcome Undergrowth's regeneration. This only angered Vortex even more. Snarling, he switched his tactics. He took a deep breath before letting out a roar of ice and snow.

This tactic actually managed to slow Undergrowth down. The vines and branches reaching out to Vortex froze over. As Vortex was smirking at his small victory, he roared in pain as roots stabbed into his back. Electricity instantly disintegrated the roots, but the damage was done. Black blood oozed from his back.

Sneering at the pain, he followed where the roots came from. Vortex then realized what Undergrowth's greatest weakness really was. All of his plants originated from the islands below him. The plant ghost needed the earth for him to continue regenerating.

Vortex let out a cackle. With a wave of his hand, the ghost of the storm unleashed a dozen of concentrated twisters to cut through the islands below the two giant ghosts. Each of the islands shattered into smaller chunks of rocks. This did not stop Undergrowth's roots, though. The ghost's roots and vines instantly spread out to hold the chunks of earth and connect them together.

Before Vortex could react to this, Undergrowth managed to free himself from his icy prison. He punched the storm ghost across the face and tried to go on the offense once more. With one more snarl, Vortex went on a counterattack, exchanging blows with Undergrowth that seemed to shake the entire Ghost Zone.

Both ghosts of nature quickly realized that they were at a standstill. Neither of them was going to defeat the other any time soon. It would take hours before their abilities to cancel each other out became exhausted. For Undergrowth, that was time that he didn't have.

From what the plant ghost understood, there was still Nekron to deal with, and they were running out of time. He needed to finish this quickly, but that wasn't going to happen on his own. Luckily, Undergrowth knew that he wasn't alone in this fight. The loud sound of the horn that bellowed through the raging storm around him proved it.

Ace never had a real challenge in her life, at least mentally. Physically, she was at the weak end of the spectrum. Mentally, though, she was a titan. From the moment of her birth, she was nearly unmatched, and that made her family afraid, even her once beloved sister. Maybe that was why her sister betrayed her. Fear...It was such a strange motivation. Before the experiments, Ace never would have thought about using her powers to hurt people.

Now, it was all she thought about.

What made things worse was the fact that the experiments only amplified her powers. By the end of the Light's little games, Ace was completely unbeatable. Oddly enough, they weren't afraid then. They thought that they had control over her. That was why they tried to use her to help destroy Amity Park. All it took to break that control was a simple look of love and a few sympathetic words.

So, Ace went out into the world unchained and unmatched in terms of mental abilities. Even after all these years of searching for ways to hurt the Light, she had yet to find one single individual that could withstand her strength, until today. Brother Blood had to be the single greatest challenge Ace had ever faced.

Once they found their ground in their mental battle, very little happened on the physical plane. On the psychic plane, though, things were as chaotic as it could get. In between their mind's shields, the two telepaths waged a war between each other. They quickly traded blows that their minds interpreted as soldiers rushing into each other.

The warriors were cutting each other apart. Normally, Ace's probes would tear Brother Blood's offense apart. It was the Black Lanterns ring that made it so that Blood was actually a challenge. Ace could feel the dark energy flooding in to empower the psychic soldiers. That was all that was giving Blood's attacks the chance to match Ace's power.

Another flood of energy surged into the mental plane. Ace thought at first that the cult leader would try to strengthen his soldiers further. To her surprise, though, he did no such thing. Instead, he created a giant the size of a skyscraper. Made completely of black energy, the titan easily tore through Ace's army with a few strikes of its massive fists. It then began to beat against Ace's mental barriers.

In real life, Ace flinched back from each blow. After several different strikes, she collapsed to one knee with blood absolutely pouring from her nose. Brother Blood could only smirk at that and continued his attack. He could literally feel Ace's barriers crack more and more with each blow.

'Where is your bravado now, little girl? I thought you were supposed to be the best.'

'I am.'

'Really? Then why are you about to lose to me?'

'Because dividing my attention between undoing your mental locks and fighting you cut my power in half.'

'Undoing my mental locks—AAAAAAHHHH!"

A sharp piece of rubble stabbed itself into Brother Blood's hand. As oozing blood seeped from the hand, the Black Lantern saw that the girls that had previously been comatose were now awake. Artemis, who no longer had her bow, still used her skills in accuracy to pelt Blood with sharpened rocks.

It was this distraction that led to Blood's doom, though, because while he was distracted, Ace had officially turned all of her full attention right at Blood's mental soldiers and giant. They never stood a chance.

Gizmo zoomed over the city. His jetpack propelling him high above even the rooftops. He had long since left the others behind him. Well, more like that they left him behind by disappearing into the shadows and heading to wherever their dumb Zeta Tube was. Stupid ninja stuff. No matter how much he tried, Gizmo couldn't figure out how they just disappeared like that.

Well, not like it really mattered or he needed their help. Gizmo could handle the Brain. Having them try to help was just variables that he couldn't account for right now. Besides, he always wanted to one up the French inventor.

As he drew closer to the giant walker, Gizmo saw that the large machine's weapon defenses were already working against his drones. Luckily, his drones were holding their own and distracting the weapons system from his approach. Slipping past the fighting machines and crumbling metal, Gizmo landed on an open space of metal.

Humming out nonchalantly, Gizmo pointed his wrist watch at the steel of the walker. He began to cut through the metal in a circular motion. Even as a gun popped up behind Gizmo and pointed itself at him, Gizmo just calmly continued to cut through the walker. Instead, a canon popped up from Gizmo's backpack and destroyed the enemy gun before it could get off a shot.

Once the opening was created, Gizmo jumped in and quickly made his way to control room. He was instantly met with a gorilla with a machine gun. Monsieur Mallah opened fire and caused Gizmo to activate his jetpack to get out of the line of fire. Zooming around the room, the diminutive young man pointed his laser watch at the gorilla and shot the animal in the hands.

With a roar of pain, Monsieur Mallah dropped his gun and held his hand in pain. Knowing that the animal was just a fake, Gizmo used his backpack canon to shoot the ape in the head and caused Mallah to dissolve into black goo. With that done, Gizmo turned to the Brain who was at the control center of the walker. Different guns jumped off the brain's mechanical body, but that didn't matter. Gizmo didn't even try to dodge as the weapons began to charge up.

All at once, everything in the walker went dead. Even the Brain's rolling container turned off. Chuckling, Gizmo landed and walked over to the Brain, "All my drones were hacking your systems during the fight. Pretty cool, huh? If you weren't just a fake following orders, this probably would have been harder."

Without his rolling container to speak for him, all the Brain could do was float silently in his rounded jar. Even as Gizmo's backpack canon turned to him, the Brain could do nothing. In a blaze of energy, the scientist was disintegrated just like he was during the Sorcerer Initiative.

Gizmo scoffed, "Really wish I could have fought the real you. That way we could really see who the better inventor was. It's such a shame."

Lydia turned her body to avoid the golden blast of energy being sent at her by Doctor Fate. She moved just enough to avoid getting hit. The beam was so close that it actually warmed her cloak. Just as the golden energy passed her, Lydia rushed forward to punch Doctor Fate in the face. He reeled from the blow, but Lydia wasn't given the chance to capitalize.

Golden light blasted off of the death shade and forced the ghost to fly back. As she landed, she created a shield to block the follow up blasts of energy. With smoke rising from her shield, Lydia immediately lost sight of her enemy. Quickly dispatching the smoke, Lydia realized that Doctor Fate had disappeared.

Not knowing where he would come from, Lydia whirled around while bringing her guard up. She was too slow, though. Doctor Fate knocked her back with a punch of his own. He then trapped her in a large golden ank just like he did to the now recovering Box Ghost and Lunch Lady. With her now trapped, the shade went to finish the woman when she suddenly burst into her living tattoos, revealing that she was a fake.

As Doctor Fate tried to swat the creatures away, the real Lydia burst form the ground from behind the fake Lord of Order. She smashed him to the ground and began to violently smash her elbow against the back of his golden helmet. Unlike the real Helmet of Fate, the fake was not nearly as indestructible. Each blow caused new cracks to form and spread across the golden steel.

In a blur, Doctor Fate turned and threw Lydia away. He then sent another, even larger beam of golden magic at her. The attack didn't even get to her, though. Lydia's living tattoos had jumped in the path of the attack and took the blow without question or command from their creator.

Frustrated by how this fight was going, Doctor Fate turned his attention back to the downed children and ghosts. They were Lydia's weakness. If he attacked them, then Lydia would be pushed to the defense. With a nod, he rocketed towards the vulnerable heroes.

A sudden lack of energy and surge of pain caused him to crash to the ground before he could get close to his targets. The fake Doctor Fate flailed about in agony. He desperately scratched at his helmet. All of his power was drained as the cracks on the helm expanded. It wasn't because of Lydia striking him this time, though. No…

Some of Lydia's tattoos had worked their way underneath the Helmet of Fate.

Aragon grunted into his Lasso of Truth muzzle. He couldn't voice his displeasure with words, and he couldn't use his flames. So only the grunts and smoke rising from his nose could signal what he wanted to express. Dora had already tore through most of his armor and was now clawing at his back.

Once more filled with rage, he flung his sister off of his back. Dora went rolling away, but in her last moment of defiance, she took Aragon's chest plate with her. At the same time, Aragon stumbled up. The pain from the cuts and bite marks on his back stopped his concentration and prevented him from reforming his armor. Just as he stood up, though, he found himself flipped onto his back.

Troia had grabbed onto his tail and used all of her strength to flip him over and onto his back. She then held her the tail down to the ground to prevent him from using it. Just as Aragon was about to reach down to grab her, his arms were pinned as well. Ember created a sound chain to hold down his un-ringed arm. At the same time, Torch impaled Aragon's ringed arm with his scythe and held it down.

Before Aragon could question what they were doing, he looked up and saw a descending Dusk. His eyes widened as he saw Soul Shredder pointed right at his chest. Panic jumped through the dragon. With his hand impaled, he couldn't reform his armor. He was completely vulnerable…No. He still had one last play. There was still a minion that he had placed on the sideline when Troia appeared.

Dusk's eyes widened when the figure of his mother appeared in his path. While he didn't remember the woman, he had looked at her picture enough to recognize her anywhere. Pleading eyes looked up at him.

"Please, Joel. You're not a killer. You can't—Gack!"

Without hesitation, Dusk impaled his mother through the chest with Soul Shredder.

"You aren't my mom," Dusk hissed at her, "My mother would respect my choices."

As the fake woman dissolved, Dusk continued to thrust his sword forward. He then thrusted Soul Shredder into the chest of the dragon. The blade stabbed right into the former king's blackened heart. Aragon roared in pain for a brief second before his body disappeared with a pop.

All the people holding Aragon down stumbled as the weight disappeared. Torch was the first to speak up as he watched the massive Black Lantern ring that was once on Aragon's finger disappear into black smoke, "What just happened?"

"Soul Shredder sends whoever it cuts to a dimension of their own fears. Aragon is alive, but he's probably wishing that he wasn't," Dusk held up Soul Shredder up to examine it. It seemed that he had finally found his alternative to killing. With Soul Shredder in his hands, he could use lethal force without ever having to worry about actually killing people.

'Thank you, Fright Knight. I promise to use your gift wisely.'

As she stared down at Nocturne's broken body, Spirit's Premonition shouted at her. There was oddly no intention the air. Nocturne was too in pain to have such coherent thoughts. Still, the warning singed out about the Power Ring. It was about to soar off the severed finger and try to take the halfa out. Perhaps there was a natural intention in the ring from Nekron's orders to make sure the halfas died, or maybe she actually predicted a bit of the future. Either way, she knew it was coming.

Flaring her Spectral Claws, Spirit turned in a whipping motion. In a single motion, she brought her hands together to make one giant blade that instantly cut the ring in half. Said ring quickly disappeared into a cloud of black smoke. Spirit then looked back down at Nocturne. She glared down at the ghost in anger for everything he had done.

"Looks like I lose. Kill me if you must…" Nocturne grinned, "But that doesn't mean you win."

A low rumble turned everyone's attention away from Nocturne. During their fight, they managed to get towards the edge of the city. As such, when they turned, they were looking onto a sweeping view of all the city. To their horror, the Sleep Walkers had finished off with the defense system and were now turning their heads toward them.

"Even if I die, my Sleep Walkers won't fade until they are killed personally," Nocturne sneered in satisfaction, "They will tear you limb from limb."

In a rage, Spirit raised a Spectral Claw and pointed it at Nocturne's head. Just as she was about to bring it down, she paused. Shaking her head, Spirit dismissed her Spectral Claws and knocked Nocturne out with a solid punch to the head, "I've got the feeling that enough people have died today."

"I got a feeling that the body count isn't over yet, though," Youngblood clutched his arm and watched as a sea of green formed over the city.

"We can't fight them," Cyborg was kneeling on a single knee, "We're all exhausted and hurt. I doubt that we'll last a minute."

"Well, we can't run either," Spirit argued as she turned around and by Youngblood to look at the Sleep Walkers, "Those things will catch up fast. Not to mention we'll be leading them right to Axion Labs."

"So we need a miracle, aye?" Youngblood looked down to his bloodied arm.

Spirit caught notice of that, "How is it?"

Youngblood sighed, "It's numb…I'm numb…"

"That can't be a good sign," Spirit looked from Youngblood back to her boyfriend. She took in their injured forms for a second before gaining a determined look, "Run. I'll hold them off as long as I can."

"No!" Cyborg argued, "You really think I'll leave you?! We're in this together."

"That wasn't a request," Spirit turned back to the swirling sea of Sleep Walkers, "I was already reminded of the people I had to watch die. I refuse to go through that again. So go. I'll die happier knowing that I at least gave you a chance."

Youngblood stepped behind her. He nodded, "Okay…We won't make you watch…Thank you, Dani…for everything."

"You don't—AAAHHH!" Spirit screamed out in pain as Youngblood rammed a stun gun hook into the back of her neck. After a few seconds of trembling, she collapsed. The ghost of youth quickly caught her before she could hit the ground. With his one working arm, he carried her over to Cyborg and held her out for the other man to take.

"Take her and run," Youngblood ordered.

With an angry snarl on his face, Cyborg reached out and grabbed Youngblood by the coat. He pulled the ghost close and glared at his friend, "Do you really think that I would leave you? You're my friend, Chuck! It's been that way since we met! No matter how old either of us gets…"

Youngblood gave Cyborg as saddened look, "But I was never meant to get older, Vic. You know that. I've broken the seal too many times."

"But Dani won't accept—"

"She already picked you," Youngblood silenced Cyborg with that sentence, "Not that I ever stood a chance. I won't pretend that you don't know. It was obvious to everyone but her. I'm fine with that, though. That's why I stepped aside."

"Chuck…"

"Keep her safe. Please. She is what matters here," Youngblood took a shuddered breath, "Please…if you love her like I do…take her and don't look back. Let me give myself for her. That's my last wish."

With a tear running down his one human eye, Cyborg released Youngblood's coat and gently took Spirit from his arms. He then stood and slowly began to take a few steps back, "I…Thank you…"

"You're welcome," Youngblood turned away to face the now approaching see of Sleep Walkers, "Now go!"

Cyborg ran away as fast as he could leaving his old friend behind him. Shuddering out breaths, he held his girlfriend close. No matter what, he would get her to safety.

…For Youngblood…

Vortex's eyes widened as a large portal opened behind him and began to suck his body into it, "NO!"

The storm ghost tried to move forward away from the portal but ran into a fist from Undergrowth. Roaring despite his body being torn apart, he tried to push his foe forward to the portal. Vortex tried to fight against him, but it quickly proved fruitless. The combined assault from the front and behind was too much for him. He couldn't concentrate on what to fight against, so he quickly pushed into the portal which immediately closed behind him.

As Undergrowth breathed out in relief, the storm that had raged across the Ghost Zone quickly came to an end. The clouds faded away with the rain. Once roaring winds calmed down into nothingness. A thick silence spread through the space signaling the end of the battle.

Another roar of the horn allowed Mal and Bumblebee to step into the free space in front of Undergrowth. Said ghost immediately addressed them, "Thank you for your help, flesh sack. Although I wanted to prove that I am the better master of nature, I don't believe we have time for that."

"No, we don't," Mal shook his head, "We have a big time limit here."

"Where exactly did you send him, Mal?" Bumblebee questioned, "What if he comes back? Or the Nekron guy you mentioned bring him back?"

"I doubt it," Mal shrugged, "I sent to him to a dimension with no atmosphere. He's dissolving as we speak."

"Jeeze…That's harsh…" Bumblebee looked pale.

"Do not think of that shade as a real sentient being, bug girl," Undergrowth noted, "He is effectively your meat bag's idea of what a zombie would be."

"Oh…"

"Don't worry," Mal placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "I won't let my new powers be used the wrong way. In fact, I don't think I can considering how they work."

"I wasn't worried, babe," Bumblebee gently traced her fingers across his jawline, "You'll still be my Mal no matter what."

Before they could revel in the moment, Undergrowth gagged, "Still here. Can we move on before all life in the universe dies?"

"Right," Mal nodded, "I need to do a few pick-ups before we can move forward. Not to mention getting Karin's suit fixed."

Bumblebee raised an eyebrow, "And how do you plan to do that? It would take hours to fix the power shortage issue."

"Oh, I think I can find a way. Let's go talk with Poindexter."

As soon as Brother Blood's focus dropped, Ace went on the attack. In an instant, a wave of mental energy swept over their telepathic battlefield. Instead of destroying the enemy soldiers, the psychic waves began to change Blood's mental warriors. When they touched the wave of energy, the soldiers shook and changed from pure black to a more violet color. A large 'A' was stamped over the changed soldier's foreheads.

With all the smaller soldiers controlled, Ace turned her attention to Blood's telepathic giant. Like before, Ace concentrated her mental powers into energy blasts. This time, though, she formed them into concentrated beams. In seconds, the beams cut through the titan and changed it into Ace's minion just like the soldiers below its feet.

Now having complete control over Brother Blood's own soldiers, Ace turned them against their previous master. The army rushed at Blood's mental barriers. Unlike with Ace's shields, which held up no matter what, Brother Blood's psychic shield shattered within moments of the initial assault.

In the physical world, Ace tilted her head up and telekinetically lifted Blood into the air. She now had complete control over everything that was Brother Blood. If she wanted to, the Royal Flush Gang leader could destroy her opponent both physically and mentally, and she really wanted to. Brother Blood represented everything wrong with the world. If anyone deserved death, it was him.

But…

Ace imagined Lydia looking kindly at her. She remembered the stories she heard of Freakshow, a man that grew into a monster. Yet he was shown mercy and kindness by Danny Phantom and the Phantom Family. Of course, they were good people and Ace wasn't, but…

"Andromeda, you can't grow into a monster," Lydia warned the girl, "You're better than that."

Ace didn't think so, but…With a shake of her head, she focused on Blood. He screamed in pain for a brief few seconds before being dropped. He fell without a Black Lantern Ring, though. Eye narrowing at the dark jewelry, Ace crushed the Black Lantern Ring into dust.

"Gah…" Brother Blood stumbled to his feet. He clutched desperately at his head, "What…what did you do?"

"I destroyed what gave you your powers. No more telekinesis. No more telepathy. No more brainwashing."

"No…" Brother Blood hissed out in horror.

"Yes. Now, you're just a normal man," Ace turned away from the man. He wasn't her problem anymore, "And you're surrounded by a group of really pissed and super powered women."

"Oh no—WWWWAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Brother Blood screamed in agony as Raven viciously brought her leg up and kicked him as hard as she could between his legs. He dropped to his knees clutching his groin desperately while making an odd squeaking noise that reminded the women of a dying animal. Before Blood could even process what was really happening, Raven punched him mercilessly across the head and knocked him out.

"That felt good," Raven noted as she shook her hand. She really wasn't used to actually punching people.

Rocket stepped up to the girl and gently placed a hand on her soldier, "Are you okay? With what happened…"

"Nothing really happened," Raven argued, "So it could be worse. Don't worry, I won't just try to ignore this, but right now, we have to deal with the apocalypse."

"Yeah…" Artemis nodded and looked over to Ace who was looking off into the distance, "Why didn't you just kill him? You've done it to people who deserved it less."

"The same reason that Raven didn't kill him, I suppose," Ace gently brushed her fingers across her forehead. She could almost feel the tumor that hid itself in her skull, "I didn't want to die a monster. Besides, I think this is a better punishment. Living the rest of your life without your most unique gift…That's a fate worse than death in my mind. Especially because he's going straight to Belle Reve. I'm sure the people in there will treat the rapist cult leader real nice."

After finishing the Brain off, Gizmo quickly found the people he viewed as weird ninjas on a rooftop. As he landed next to them, he noted that a red haired woman in a wheelchair was with them, "Who's she? Did you save her from being crushed or something?"

"No," Barbara shook her head, "I was waiting for these slowpokes. They took their sweet time getting to the Zeta Tube."

"How did you sneak through all that anyway," Nightwing questioned, "Especially without…you know…"

Barbara smirked, "Trade secret."

"Not like it mattered," Black Bat noted, "Zeta System is down. We're stuck here."

"Well, we could just wait for the guy that dropped me off here," Gizmo shrugged, "He did say that he'd be back."

Nightwing raised an eyebrow, "And you didn't tell us that before?"

"You never asked," Gizmo snorted, "Besides, you seemed dedicated to getting to your little Zeta Tube. I wasn't going to argue with you."

Ravager was amused, "So…I'm guessing that you're going to ask for a kiss reward for your help?"

"Well…" Gizmo scratched his shaved head, "I kind of think that I might have a girlfriend now. Or maybe not. She did express interest, but it was a kind of 'Oh no, we're gonna die' sort of thing. I want to clear things up with her first because she could literally melt my brain. Can I put a pin in that offer?"

"Nope. One time offer."

"Damn."

Lydia walked with dignified grace as she approached the downed Doctor Fate. It seemed like her plan had worked. With each passing second, Doctor Fate spasmed more desperately and clutched at his helmet which was now covered completely in cracks, "I didn't know if that would work. Probably wouldn't have with the real Doctor Fate, but while you have the power, you lack his durability."

Taking no pleasure in the shades' agony, Lydia mentally ordered her tattoos to end it. Several of the little creatures burst from the helmet. Said golden helm crumbled to the ground and turned to dust. This left an old man in a suit that Lydia recognized. Freakshow once tried to kidnap this old man and use the Helmet of Fate to unlock the hidden power of the Reality Gauntlet.

The tired form of Kent Nelson looked up at her. Lydia instantly took pity on the man. She pointed her hand at him and destroyed him in one large green blaze, "Rest now."

With the fight now over, Lydia turned to her injured and resting allies. They looked relieved to see that they were safe. Lydia eyed the now upward sitting Freddy, "Are you okay, child?"

"Yeah…I'll live," Freddy glanced at Mary who was rubbing his back and crying into his shoulder, "It's okay, Mary. I'm fine."

"Y-Yeah…" Mary sniffed.

With a small smile, Freddy turned to the giggling Box Lunch. The young girl was being hugged by her mother, "And thank you, little angel."

"Yeah! Angel!"

Happy to have his family safe, Box Ghost stood and extended his hand out to Lydia, "Thank you so much. If you hadn't shown up when you did…"

Lydia's eyes swept over the children. She smiled lightly and shook his hand, "You don't need to thank me. It feels good to be on the completely morally good side for once."

"Yeah…" Box Ghost nodded. He looked ready to add onto to that, but a groan caught his and everyone's attention.

Freddy scoffed, "And of course Billy recovers once the fight is over. I hate my luck."

Dora, shrunken down to her more humanoid form, walked up to Dusk with a worried look on her face, "Will my brother be okay?"

"He'll live," Dusk noted as he continued to admire his new weapon, "But be okay? I don't know. It depends on how well he can deal with a scare."

Dora frowned, "I doubt that he takes it well."

"Then, no, he won't be okay."

"But he'll live?"

"Yes."

"…Good enough for me," Dora shrugged.

"Hmm…" Dusk lowered his sword and created a sheath with his Matter Make ability. He slipped the sheath over his back where it could remain in contact with him and not degrade. With a few twirls, he sheathed Soul Shedder safely onto his back. The weight felt so right to him, "Is everyone okay?"

Troia looked over from she was kneeling by her downed mother, "Plenty of injuries, but nothing fatal."

"Donna…" Hippolyta blinked up to her daughter, "What was that beast?"

"It is a long story, mother," Donna noted, "My friends and I have taken care of it, though."

Hippolyta followed her daughter's eyes and frowned, "I see…two men…on Themyscira."

"Mother!" Donna hissed, "They helped save us!"

"It's okay," Torch snorted and rubbed the back of his head, "Torch wasn't expecting much different from an island of women only. The man hate definitely had to be strong here. The same goes with lesbianism."

"Torch!" Dora snapped angrily at the male fire ghost.

"What? I've seen pornos like this," Torch shrugged, "And it's the believable outcome. Are you going to tell Torch that every woman here chose abstinence? Please…"

"He has a point," Ember noted, "In fact, I wanted to ask about that myself. There's only so much fingers can do after all. How do all the women here live…what? Hundreds of years? Without men? Jeeze, they have to have built up one hell of an itch."

"Oh my goodness," Dora face palmed, "Have a little decency, you two…"

"Shameful," Hippolyta gained a disgusted look, "Are everyone in Man's World so obsessed with such disgusting acts?"

Dusk nodded as he approached the queen of the Amazons, "Yes, but very few are as honest about it as those two."

Hippolyta's eyes narrowed at Dusk, "You wear the same symbol as Spirit…You are a ghost. The ones with strange abilities. Tell me, can you heal our wounded?"

"Not any more than someone with basic first aid training. I don't have healing abilities."

"I see…" Hippolyta gave him a dismissing look, "Then I thank you for the help you provided, male member of the Phantom Family, but our rules are absolute. I must ask you to leave as soon as possible."

"MOTHER!" Donna's face flushed, "Thou art embarrassing me! Dusk is one of my closest friends!"

"It's fine," Dusk didn't seem bothered in the slightest, "We need to get moving soon anyway. Aragon mentioned Nekron. I got a feeling we'll need to go fight him next."

"Indeed," Troia nodded as she picked up her mother to carry her to a more comfortable position near the other recovering Amazons, "But where do we go?"

"That's something I'm still trying to figure out."

Youngblood watched as the giant sea of Sleep Walkers rushed towards him. With one arm dead, he knew that he wouldn't last a second in a straight up fight. Despite this, he was not worried. It was just his time, "It's time to finally grow up."

"How mature of you," A translucent vision of Polly appeared on Youngblood's shoulder.

Youngblood smiled, "For once…that sounds like a compliment."

"It is," Polly tilted his heads as the Sleep Walkers drew closer, "You do know that this will cause her even more pain, right? Mom will find out about her, after all…"

"But she'll be alive."

Polly nodded, "She will be alive. And as long as she is alive, she has the chance to find happiness again."

"This is the first time you agree with me about Dani," Youngblood noted.

"What can I say? She's grown on me."

Youngblood let out a chuckle. He took a deep stance and held his hook arm out towards the sea of Sleep Walkers that were now close enough for him to see all of their red eyes, "Of course she has. She's just that great. Totally worth it."

"Agreed."

"Polly…will you play one last game with me?"

"Of course. What shall we play?"

"I call it 'kamikaze'!"

"Hahahahahaha! RACK! Now that's a final game!"

Just as the Sleep Walkers were a mere arm's length away, Youngblood let out a loud battle cry. The entire area was covered in a bright light. The light only lasted a second before it faded. As the light died down, only two people remained in the area. One was the unconscious Nocturne. The other was a hunched over form of an old man with whitened hair and ash colored skin.

Although the Sleep Walkers did not age forward naturally, they did have a time frame from where they started existing. In the instant of that bright light, Youngblood had drained the entire army of their lifespan. The entire army of countless Sleep Walkers had been de-aged into nonexistence. Taking in all that time had deep consequences, though.

A slight breeze blew through the now silent area. As soon as the wind hit the old man, his form shook and fell apart into ash. The wind tore apart Youngblood's body apart. It then carried the dust that was once Youngblood away and scattered it across the earth never to laugh or play again.

Spirit smacked Cyborg across the face, "How. Dare. You."

"I…I'm sorry Dani…" Cyborg just stood there with his face pointed to where the halfa had smacked it. They both stood in front of the safety shelter that was Axion Labs, but the mood was far from positive, "I…he…we both just wanted to get you to safety."

"He was our friend! Your friend! How could you just leave him?!" Spirit leaned in and began to beat her hand uselessly against his metal chest.

"He was my friend, but…I just…" Cyborg stopped speaking as he felt Spirit hug him and sob into his chest. He felt more tears run down his own face.

"Not another one!" Spirit sobbed, "Not another friend!"

"I'm so sorry, Dani. I'm just so sorry," Cyborg took a shuttered breath, "I…I don't know if I should but…I think you deserve to have the chance to see this."

Dani pulled away for a second to see Cyborg handing her an envelope, "What…"

"I grabbed Chuck's coat back there. While I did that, I managed to pull this out," Cyborg raised his free arm and began to weep into his hand, "I-I t-think it was meant for you…"

With tears still rolling down her cheek, Spirit reached out and gently took the letter. Cradling the note like the most precious thing in the world, Spirit opened the envelope and pulled out a carefully folded not with familiar hand writing across it.

Dear Dani,

I really don't know how to say this, but I needed to get this out some way. There comes a time when everyone has to grow up. Even me. Can't be Peter Pan forever, right? Especially with you around. Not that it's a bad thing to have you around. Sorry, I'm not starting this out great am I? Well, it's not like it matters. I probably won't ever find the courage to give you this anyway.

When I left three years ago, I did it because I was afraid to grow up. I was scared because I knew that I would break my seal in a moment's notice for you. If I stuck around, I would get pulled into tougher and tougher fights were I would absolutely need my full power. You know why that's bad. Well, you kind of know why that's bad. Not the part of me breaking my obsession. My obsession is a lot more complicated than most people think. It doesn't have to do with being young forever. It has to do with my mom.

But like every guy, my love of my mom faded when I found something better. When I'm around you, Dani, I'm so happy. Your smile makes me feel like there's no such thing as suffering in this world. I would do anything to make sure you keep that smile. That's why I stuck around after Wulf died. I couldn't bear to leave you to suffer because…Well, because I love you, Dani.

I love you so much it hurts because I know that we can never be together like grown-ups. While every day you grow more beautiful and adult, I continue to be the chubby pirate kid. So every time I thought about telling you…or giving you a rose…or even this letter, I stopped. Telling you how I felt would only make you sad. So I just smiled and let Vic step up to earn your heart. It was better that way. He could make you happy in a way that I never could.

For a while, I was content with that, but Trigon's attack showed me that my time is running out. Eventually, I'll have to break the seal again, and then I'll fade away. And that scares me…not because I'm afraid of growing up anymore. Or because I'm afraid of my mom. It's because I'll die without you ever knowing how I feel about you. So, knowing that I'll probably just burn this later, I want to say this.

I love you. I love you more than my youth. I love you more than my games. I love you more than my mom. I love you more than life itself. I love you, Dani, and I wish I could say it to your face every day for the rest of my life, but I can't. So I'm writing it all here. I love you so much, Danielle Masters, and I hope that you're happy for the rest of your life because you deserve every scrap of joy that you can get.

Love, Charles Forrest…or Youngblood…or Chuck. I love when you call me that.

P.S. Please don't cry over me.

Despite Youngblood's last request, Spirit dropped to her knees. She then curled up into a ball and began to wail out in grief. Clutching the letter like a lifeline, Spirit wept harder than she ever had before. Sobbing hysterically, she wondered why was it that she seemed to cause so much pain to the ones she loved.

Queen looked back to Nyx as she and Ten were pushed back towards the still sobbing girl, "Hey, ghost girl! We need some help here! They're about to overtake us!"

"Yeah, dude!" Ten desperately shot at the monsters closing in on them, "We get that you're, like, sad and all, but we're all about to die!"

Nyx ignored them. She was too overcome with her grief to even begin to understand their words. All she could do was continue to sob and desperately whisper for her mother to return to her.

Seeing that the girl would be of no help, the Royal Flush duo turned back to the monsters. They continued to fight, even though they knew that it was useless. There was no way that they could stop all the inky creatures on their own. They would need a miracle to get out of this situation.

To their shock, their miracle actually came in the form of the most insane and twisted Haunting Aura they had ever felt. As they gasped out in madness, Queen and Ten instantly wished that the monsters had just killed them. This was so much worse. It felt like the skin was melting off. Hell, the Haunting Aura was so thick that even the monsters were shaking in fear.

Well, they were for a while. Constructs of knives, whips, and chains burst out and began to tear through the monsters. In seconds, Nekron's strange creatures were destroyed. Still trembling, Queen, Ten, and even a shocked Nyx turned to see the source of their 'miracle.' What they saw was not what they were expecting.

Kitty was now standing. Her green hair had bled way to a deep crimson red. A small sensual smirk was placed across her face as twisted eyes danced across their forms. All three of them froze from under the gaze. Luckily, Kitty's attention was drawn away by a groaning Johnny 13.

Kitty silenced Johnny with a solid kick to the back of the head, "That's so rude. A lady finally wakes up from her nap to see a groaning…Huh, you look familiar? Almost like my Johnathan…"

Nyx suddenly spoke up. Her tear stained face stared at the strange form before her, "Kitty?"

Kitty's head snapped away from the unconscious Johnny 13. She looked right at Nyx and the Royal Flush Gang. The ghost hunters instantly fell back onto their butts in response, but Nyx remained still even as Kitty walked over to her. Oddly enough, Kitty was adding a sexual sway to her hips with every step.

Once in front of Nyx, Kitty spoke again, "Kitty? Is that what that persona was called? That's what Johnathan used to call me. That cunning little boy…But let's forget about that for now. Tell me, sweetheart, why are you crying like that."

"My mom…Pandora…she…"

Kitty's eyes narrowed, "Your mom…I see…You love her, and she died…Just like…Huh. Now this is interesting. Dearie, you must inform me what's going on."

Nyx didn't know how to respond to this strange new version of the ghost, "Kitty…what happened to you?"

"Oh, my precious little thing, don't ever call me that again," Kitty reached down to wipe some of Nyx's tears. She then brought her hand up to lick the tears from her fingers, "Call me Thorn."