Chapter 8: Goodbye

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"Saying goodbye doesn't mean anything. It's the time we spent together that matters, not how we left it."

Trey Parker

Chapter 8: "Goodbye"

(Thursday-October 31, 2013)

If there was anyone on that Earth that understood what it was like to beaten down in a fight, it was Danny Phantom. He could say without a trace of embarrassment or shame that he got his ass handed to him an almost uncountable number of times during his time as a vigilante. From his first fights as a half-ghost to his time in Young Justice, Phantom was often beaten the point of not being to move. Despite every beating and defeat, though, he could with certainty say that this was one of the worst beatings he had ever taken. It was up there right next to his fights with Agent Z and Freakshow.

The Spectre's arm wrapped around Phantom's right arm like a snake. The tension in the grip caused the bones in the halfa's arms to crack and break. Phantom couldn't focus on that, though. Spectre's real attack was doing far more damage than the grip on his arm. The Ghost of Vengeance's free hand rammed into Phantom's face multiple times. Each devastating blow crashed into the halfa's face with a spray of blood. With a broken nose, bleeding mouth, and cut open head, Phantom's entire face was covered in green blood.

After a few more of these blows, the Spectre released Phantom's arm. He then brought his arms to the halfa's ribs. Green energy burst out from the Spectre's palms and smashed into both of Phantom's sides. As all of his ribs were smashed to pieces, Phantom's head snapped back in a silent scream. His eyes began to roll into the back of his head.

Before he could lose consciousness, Phantom was snapped back to reality when the Spectre's fist crashed into his stomach. He could feel the knuckles of his enemy dig into his stomach and push back so that the shape of a fist could be seen on the halfa's back. Collapsing forward, Phantom gagged as blood began to drip out of his mouth. Barely conscious, Phantom was only still off the ground because the fist digging into his stomach was holding him up.

Seeing this, the Spectre reached out with his other hand and grabbed Phantom by the throat. He then lifted the halfa high above his head and began to squeeze, "Interesting. Your endurance is awe inspiring. I have inflicted enough wounds to kill you several times over. How do you keep yourself stabled—"

The Spectre was interrupted when Phantom used his uninjured fist to punch the Spectre square in the mouth. He then repeated this action as quickly as he could. With as much force as possible, Phantom tried to hurt the Spectre the same way he was injured merely seconds ago.

In a blur, the Spectre slammed Phantom into the street. He then tossed Phantom away just like he did to the Red Huntress not long ago. Like before, the halfa went crashing into a building. With a loud crash, the building collapsed around him.

The Spectre lifted his head to show that Phantom's attacks did nothing to injure him, "Is that all you have? Too bad. Looks like this fight is over."

Dusk barely knew Johnny 13. The most interaction they ever had was a passing glance during special events in the Ghost Zone. Of course, Dusk wasn't the most sociable person in the first place, so it wasn't unusual for him not interact with most people, especially people not close to his family. As such, the surprise of having Johnny 13 risk his life to save him was shocking.

"Gah!" Johnny groaned in pain as the knife dug deep into his chest. Green blood splattered out and landed on Harm's face. In order to avoid having the knife pulled out and stabbed down again, Johnny grabbed Harm's arm tightly and refused to let go.

"What?" Harm's eyes were wide and confused, "Why would the it do that?"

"Don't know, man…I just moved…" Johnny coughed out blood, "I saw the kid in danger and remembered…and remembered…Who did I remember? I don't…"

"Stop trying to confuse Harm!" Harm desperately tried to pull his arm free, but Johnny wouldn't let go.

"I've always been a screw up…Bad luck always followed me…" Johnny refused to let go of Harm, "Even back then…I was stupid…Shouldn't have taken that risk on the motorcycle…They needed me, and I failed them…"

"Just shut up already!" Harm began to kick and head-butt Johnny.

Shocked and exhausted, Dusk's body refused to move at first. He felt as though he was moving through syrup. Nevertheless, he knew he need to act. He glanced at Secret in order to signal her to get ready to heal Johnny and prepared to move forward to strike Harm back. Before he could do that, though, a powerful force began to weigh down on him.

A Haunting Aura of anger, confusion, and madness swept across the area. Everyone froze from the sudden weigh pushed onto their shoulder. Their eyes turned to the source of the strange aura of insanity that was assaulting them.

"Ah! Johnny!" Kitty had collapsed to her knees. She held her head in agony as her eyes stared at the sight of the metal sticking out of Johnny's chest. Red streaks ran began to bleed down Kitty's green hair, "Not again! Don't leave again! We need you! We can't survive without you!"

Black Bat was still the person closest to Kitty. She peered at Kitty curiously and slowly stepped back. Kitty had given her bad vibes throughout their entire fight. Now, though, those bad vibes were now screaming instincts of caution. She had to get away from this crazed ghost.

Her instincts proved right when green energy blasted off Kitty in a massive wave. The ground shattered. The air itself split. Green knives and sickles appeared from the energy and began to swipe around randomly. Most people would have been sliced to bits by the dance of knives. It showed Black Bat's skills that she managed to keep her cuts to a minimum. Never the less, the cuts she did receive instantly began to bleed even as she threw herself back to avoid more damage.

With a roar, Kitty lifted her head to show her red slitted eyes. A sonic booms sounded out as she threw herself forward to Harm and Johnny's location. Jinx found herself in Kitty's way. The bad luck user decided to use both her skills and powers to protect her. Lunging back, she covered herself in pink energy to protect herself. As Kitty passed by, the knives and sickles cut across the pink energy. Jinx was shocked to see her energy cut away by the energy blades, even if her body was still protected.

"YOU!" Kitty roared. Her blades turned to where Harm, Johnny, and Dusk were located. They were all prepared to stab in their general direction. It seemed that in her crazed state, Kitty completely forgot about why she was angry in the first place. She was going to cut down her boyfriend just like the other two ghosts, and all of them were too weak to stop it, "You'll pay for hurting us!"

Just before Kitty could attack the three men, a bird of magical energy popped out of the ground. A large figure rushed out of the magical animal and rocketed toward Kitty. The woman screamed at the figure and swung her blades at him. They were all stopped, though, when the figure extended his arms and sent a massive green wave of light at the woman. Everyone was forced to shield their eyes from their miniature sun that blazed across the cliff side.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" The sound of a baby crying sounded out as the green light faded. The source of the sound was a tiny infant with green hair and red eyes.

Youngblood peered down at the infant that was cradled in his arms. His face was more wrinkled than before and gray streaks ran through his hair from having absorbed Kitty's age to prevent her rampage from continuing, "Ah, the irony is thick today, don't you think? Just like way back when…"

Kitty's response was to continue to cry.

"What?" Jinx blinked at the show of power, "What the hell was all that? Do all the ghosts have insane unconventional powers?"

"And this coming from the bad luck user…" Raven muttered dryly as her magic faded away, "You're the last one to talk about—"

Crack!

All eyes turned to the source of the sudden noise. Spirit had tackled Harm to the ground. This allowed Dusk to catch Johnny 13 and lower him to the ground safely. Secret quickly rushed to heal Johnny as Dusk pulled the knife out. That wasn't what the sound was from, though. No, that noise was the sound of Harm's nose shattering into one hundred pieces as Spirit savagely punched down at Harm's head with her uninjured arm.

This wasn't the only time, though. Standing dominantly over Harm, Spirit continued to punch down at his unprotected head. Each blow struck with bone breaking force. Blood splattered and teeth flew out from Spirit's vicious assault.

"Spirit, stop!" Secret cried in shock and horror even as she tried to focus on Johnny's wound. She was ignored, though, as Spirit continued to strike Harm's bleeding face.

"She said stop, Spirit!" Dusk lunged forward and grabbed onto the other halfa, "You'll kill him, damn it!"

"That's the plan!" Spirit hissed as she violently pushed Dusk away only for him to come back and grab her again.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Dusk was completely confused by Spirit's actions. He looked over to the others and added, "Someone help me!"

Youngblood and Raven just stared at him. Secret was busy with Johnny. The two assassins didn't truly understand what was happening so they decided to observe for now. As such, Dusk received no help.

"Just let her do it," Raven's dull look darkened, "The world will be better without him."

"What are you saying?" Dusk frowned, "What right does anyone have to say that?!"

"We do!" Spirit roared. Her bloodshot eyes glared at Dusk, "Wulf is dead!"

"W-What?" Dusk felt his body go numb. He suddenly realized that Spirit was covered in dried ghost blood.

"Wulf is dead because of this piece of trash!" Spirit once again broke free from Dusk. She twirled around and snarled at him, "He refused to kill me, so Wulf killed himself! If Harm hadn't ordered my death…Wulf would still be with us!"

"Wulf…" Secret quietly sobbed at the realized the consequences of her brother's actions. Despite the grief of losing her friend, she continued healing Johnny. Her tear dropped down to her glowing green hands.

"That…That might be true, but…You can't just kill Harm," Dusk reasoned despite the hollow feeling in his chest.

"Says you! I think I do it pretty easily!" Spirit's Spectral Claws blazed out, "One swipe and everyone that lost their lives today is avenged!"

"We aren't about vengeance. We're about justice," Dusk argued, "If we start killing, we're no better then the people we fight. You'll be no better than Harm."

"You and Secret are the only ones here that think that," Spirit argued, "Everyone else wants him dead."

"What the majority wants isn't always right," Dusk clenched his fists.

"It is in this—"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

As the two halfas were talking, Harm had managed to reach over to his broken sword. While broken, it still had a sharp blade. It would easily cut through the flesh of his enemies. Just as he grabbed the broken blade, though, electricity surged through him and forced him to let go of the blade.

"You see! Even now, he's trying to kill us!" Spirit's face twisted into an enraged look, "How can you defend that?"

"I always defend the right to life," Dusk stated as he walked over to the blade that Harm dropped.

"Harm…doesn't understand…" Harm mumbled as he lay injured and beaten on the ground, "Why does the blade reject Harm now? Harm is pure."

"Pure is a strange word," Dusk mentioned as he eyed the broken blade, "It means unaltered and without another substance in it. The thing is…I don't think there are many things that are truly pure. Pure good…pure evil…they don't exist. The only things that can be truly pure are our intents, our dreams…our beliefs…"

"But if your mind wavers for even a second, that purity disappears. And how can you be pure in your selfish actions when so many people show pure concern for others? Seeing so much unselfishness would cause doubts to even you, Harm. Me on the other hand…" Dusk reached down. He grabbed the blade. Like with Harm, yellow electricity sparked from the blade. This time, though, the energy accepted its wielder instead of rejecting it. Pointing the broken blade at Harm, Dusk finished his sentence, "I never waiver on my beliefs. All life is precious. I will never kill. Even if that person deserves it."

Everyone was silent as they stared wide-eyed at Dusk. None was more shocked, as Harm, though. He was slack jawed and wide eyed at the young teen.

Dusk turned to Spirit, "That is why I can defend him. Because that is what I really believe."

Spirit frowned, "You wouldn't be saying that if you watched the life drain from Wulf's eyes. You wouldn't be on a soapbox if you were drenched in your friend's blood because they refused to watch you die. Until that day, don't preach at me, because you don't know what it truly means to want someone dead."

Dusk paused for a brief second before nodding slowly, "Perhaps. Maybe I'm deluded instead of pure. Perhaps I haven't felt true hatred enough to know what it means to want someone dead…But I believe that's a discussion for later. We still have business to take care of, so at the very least let's put a pin in Harm's fate, okay?"

Spirit sighed, "Right. Youngblood told me about Danny fighting the Spectre. He needs our help first. So…I'll settle for this right now." The female halfa kicked Harm in the head and finally knocked the man out.

Dusk shook his head at the sight, "Fine," He then pulled out Morgaine le Fey's mind control jewel and the Infi-Map from his pocket and tossed it to Raven, "Take those to Amity Park. They have a machine ready to reverse the effects of the mind control."

"What about the Spectre?" Raven questioned as she looked at the jewel in her hands.

"I doubt it will work on stopping him from getting revenge. He's too strong for that," Spirit looked over to Dakota City, "Harm's control only worked because it directed the Spectre's obsession instead of trying to completely control it."

"Are you two thinking of going alone?" Secret questioned as she finished healing Johnny, "That's too dangerous."

"It's not like they got a choice, aye?" Youngblood placed the baby Kitty down by the unconscious Johnny, "I'm too weak from using my powers on her. The Spectre will target our medic the moment he sees ya. And the assassins…"

"We have to go…" Jinx mentioned as she looked at her communicator, "We'll being called back by the Shadows. It looks like Ra's Al Ghul was attacked, and it will be suspicious if we don't get back within the next few minutes. Besides…" Jinx eyed the bleeding Black Bat who was silently trying to stop the bleeding in her various small cuts. "I don't think we'll be a big help against any more ghosts after that fight…Especially if that Spectre is powerful enough to beat Danny."

"Here," Secret stood and walked to Black Bat, "I'll heal you before you leave."

"I'm going to need your to heal me too, Greta," Spirit noted, "I'm pretty banged up."

"So, go. All of ya," Youngblood sat down beside the unconscious Johnny 13 and Kitty, "I'll protect these two while making sure that Harm doesn't go nowhere."

"Right," Raven nodded and disappeared in a blaze of magical energy.

Dusk pulled out one of his remaining ecto-boosts and handed it to Spirit, "Here. I'm running on empty and need a boost before we go."

"What about the sword? Doesn't it give you power? Can't you use that?"

"I'm going to save it for later."

The Spectre approached the fallen building. He was not surprised when he saw Phantom dragging himself from the rubble. It should be a surprise considering all the damage Phantom had received during the fight, but Phantom had surprised him enough during this fight that the Spectre decided to not make any assumptions until Phantom dissolved in front of his eyes.

"I do understand why you're fighting," The Spectre noted as Phantom pushed himself to his hands and knees, "Vengeance is a powerful driving force. Nevertheless, it is obvious that I am beyond your current level of ability. It would be easier on you to just give up and join your beloved in the next world."

"Moron…" Phantom gritted his teeth, "I can't die yet. I made a promise to you that I have to keep. Until then, I refuse to let Death take me."

"You act like that is possible. You are already at Death's door. One more attack, and you're dead. As of right now, you are officially defeated. Despite your words…" The Spectre pointed a glowing green hand at Phantom, "There is no possible way for you to defeat me."

Phantom looked up and gave the Spectre a smirk, "Alone maybe…But if I had some help…"

"Wha—"

The Spectre never got to finish that sentence. He was suddenly hammered with two different strikes. One was a round house kick to the head while another was a Burst Gauntlet empowered punch to the ribs. The combined force of the blows sent the Spectre rocketing away from Phantom at breakneck speeds.

"Didn't see that one coming, did you, jackass?!" Spirit shouted at the Spectre as he crashed into another car to become a casualty to the fight.

Dusk rushed to Phantom's side and pulled out an ecto-boost needle, "This is the last one, Mentor. We need to make it count."

"Don't worry…" Phantom felt energy flood his system once more as the ecto-boost was injected into his neck, "I will."

"Sorry, we're late," Spirit glanced back to her adopted brother, "We needed to get healed and deal with some stuff before we could even have a hope of helping you."

Phantom shrugged, "Well…Better late than never."

Down the street, the Spectre easily pealed himself out of the car. The blows he took were surprisingly painful. That meant either the children had incredible power within them, or he was growing weak. Actually, it could be both considering the circumstances.

Slowly, the Spectre began to float over the halfas once more. As he approached them, he noted that Phantom's regeneration ability had kicked in full gear. The wounds that the Spectre causes all began to knit themselves back together again. The dried blood on his features didn't fade away, but besides that, Phantom looked as good as knew.

"I suppose I should have modified the dome around the city to keep ghosts from entering the city," The Spectre noted, "Oh well. It is not like your help will mater. You'll be crushed beneath my power just like all of the enemies that came before…you…"

The Spectre paused in his speech as he drew close enough to see the halfas' blazing green eyes. He was surprised by the raw anger, resolve, and power that radiated in all three pairs of eyes. Considering the events of the night, the Spectre thought that the halfas would be near broken mentally. This was the complete opposite of that, though. They looked ready for war.

It was in this moment that the Spectre experienced something that he never felt before. Even when facing the Ghost King Pariah Dark or Colossus, the Spectre always remained calm. He never once flinched under the glares or Haunting Auras of foes that could match his power. It wasn't in his nature to cower, but under the glares of three people who lived on the border between life and death, the Spectre felt his stomach crawl. Standing side-by-side with absolute trust in each other's abilities, the halfas' sharp glares and confident stances invoked a feeling that should not exist in the Ghost of Vengeance.

For the first time in his existence, the Spectre felt intimidation and fear.

"That's where you're wrong, Spectre," Phantom's calm voice caused a shiver to roll down the Spectre's spine, "Individually, we might be no match for you. But together, we can kick your ass no problem."

Raven appeared on the top of Fenton Works in a swirl of magical energy. In her hands was Morgaine le Fey's mind control jewel. She quickly rushed it over to Cyborg and stated, "Here. Hurry up and hook that up."

"Huh?" Cyborg blinked, "I though Dusk and Secret were going after this? How did you get it?"

"It's a long story, and we don't have time for it. Hook it up to the machine," Raven glared.

"Why give it to him?! It's my machine!" Gizmo sat up and grinned at Raven, "You should be handing it to me, babe."

"Oh god…why are you here?" Raven face palmed. While she did owe Gizmo a debt for helping save her life during the Battle for Amity Park and thus tolerate his presence, she still hated being around the little pervert.

"I was fixing the machine to reverse the effects of the le Fey's jewel. It was so boring doing it with all of these ugly mugs, but you being here makes it all worth it," Gizmo gave Raven a wink, "So…How you doing?"

"Hundreds of men have fallen victim to le Fey's charms…" Red X noted from the side, "Knights, noblemen, kings, and legends have all fell under her spell. How in the world did you, someone who's so easily smitten by women, resist her charms?"

"I'm not into older women," Gizmo shrugged.

"Just get the machine ready. The both of you," The Fright Knight glared at the two tech wizards, "We don't have time to waste."

"Err…right…" Gizmo pushed himself to his feet.

"Why is he getting mad at me…" Cyborg muttered as he moved over to the machine, "I didn't do anything…"

Fright Knight looked over to Raven, "Do you have any idea what's happening out there? My senses have been going crazy all night."

"Right…Halloween…" Raven nodded slowly, "Your powers are enhanced, right?"

"Yes, but with so much energy being released around the world, I can't get an accurate read, even though I have felt like those that I have sworn to protect have all been in danger."

"There…have been problems…" Raven looked down in mourning, "But I think we should wait until everything is over with before we go over that."

"I see…"

"If it puts your mind at ease, though, Phantom, Spirit, and Dusk are safe."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, and they're fighting together. So that means, there's nothing that can stop them now. I almost pity their enemy."

(Play: Through the Fire and Flames by Dragonforce)

The battle was started when all three halfas rushed towards the Spectre. Phantom did a straight forward charge while Dusk and Spirit took a more roundabout route from either side of the Spectre. They were trying to flank the Spectre from three sides. Most opponents would have been fearful of the situation, but the Spectre remained calm.

Raising his hands, the Spectre sent a massive wave of ectoplasm out that was large enough to hit all three halfas. Each one of the ghouls were hit by the wave and consumed by the green energy. Surprisingly, though, Dusk's charge was not halted. The youngest half-ghost formed his Reflect Shield and used it to absorb the energy that would have it him. The shield then blasted the energy back to the Spectre as Dusk continued to rush forward.

Raising a hand, the Spectre blocked the energy wave without even forming an energy shield. Dusk didn't seem to care about that, though. He continued it charge and prepared to bash the Spectre with his shield. The Ghost of Vengeance didn't seem concerned about this, though. He merely closed his hand to a fist and prepared to break the shield with his raw power.

Before he could do that, though, he was suddenly struck from behind. Sprit rushed forward during Dusk's distraction and sent a flying knee to the back of the head. The force cause the Spectre to bend over in pain and stop his attack on the youngest halfa. Dusk quickly took advantage. He swung his shield up and knocked the Spectre's arms into the air.

Now unprotected, the Spectre could do nothing as Phantom rocketed forward and sent a glowing green uppercut to his unprotected stomach. The blow cracked against the Spectre's stomach and dug deeply into the skin. It was even strong enough to cause the Spectre to gasp out in pain and spit out a bit of blood. That wasn't the final blow Phantom did in that moment, though. The halfa sent another uppercut to his opponent's stomach with the same force as before. Then, he sent another. Soon, he was hammering the Specter with blazing uppercuts that moved so fast that they could barely be seen as blurs.

Eventually, the Spectre got enough of his bearings back to retaliate. He moved his arms forwards to grab Phantom's head and cause a dimensional shift like the one that caused the Red Huntress to become defenseless. Before he could do this, though, the other two halfas reacted. They attacked on either side of the Spectre. Spirit sent a massive side kick to the left side of the Spectre's face. Dusk formed a Burst Gauntlet and sent a devastating blow to the opposite side of his enemy's face.

The two blows struck simultaneously. The Spectre's entire head was covered in green light. Groaning in pain, the Spectre felt his vision blur as his jaw cracked and his teeth were loosened. Any normal or even regular super powered being would have died from such an attack. It showed the Spectre's durability that not only was he alive, but he was still conscious.

Phantom wanted to put an end to that, though. He stopped his rapid blows to the Spectre's midsection and instead formed a green ball of energy in his hands. The halfa then thrusted the ball of energy forward into the Spectre's chest. In a blast of energy, the Spectre was sent flying up into the air above Dakota City.

Once a few miles above the city, the Spectre finally managed to stop his moment. With a wave of his arms, he dispersed the energy and smoke to reveal his burnt chest. He had no time to dwell on this, because the halfas were on the attack once more. They had followed after the Spectre as he flew above the city. Dusk and Phantom grabbed either of Spirit's arms. With all the power they could muster, they threw Spirit towards the Spectre as the female halfa used her own speed to rocket forward. This cause nothing short of a sonic boom to shatter the atmosphere as Spirit flew towards the Specter at speeds only a speedster could follow.

Covering herself in green energy, Spirit made herself a human missile. Like a comet, she soared across the sky towards the injured Spectre. The Ghost of Vengeance knew this was coming, though. He created a straight beam of dimension ripping energy and fired it at Spirit. The two attacks met and came to a standstill. With a roar, though, Spirit continued to push herself forward and through the attack. Shocked at seeing his attack defeated, the Spectre could do nothing as Spirit rocketed towards his face.

With a battle cry, Spirit sent punch with the force of a missile at the Spectre's head. The blow struck with a blast of green energy. Her fist sunk into the Spectre's face causing his nose to shatter, teeth to break, and jaw to dislocate. Barely conscious, the Spectre did the only thing he could and leaned back to lessen the rest of the blow. Spirit rocketed past him as he turned his back to the ground below him. He instantly wished he hadn't done that.

Dusk and Phantom did not stop in their charge after they threw Spirit. The youngest halfa formed his Scribe Staff. Instead of trailing the energy of the staff behind him, he used it to push the staff forward. The wind retreated away from the staff as it swung forward and stuck the Spectre in the back. With a groan, the Spectre arched back in agony as the staff imbedded itself in his back and almost shattered his spine.

Once again, the Spectre wished he took another course of action to relieve the pain. Phantom had rushed above him and was ready to attack. He grabbed the Spectre's green cloak and sent a powerful elbow to the Spectre's chest. The blow received a satisfying crack as the Spectre's internal organs seemed to shift from the blow. With the blow, the Spectre went flying away again. This time, though, Phantom held onto the Spectre. He made it so that the Ghost of Vengeance didn't fall too far. After falling a few meters, Phantom managed to stop the retreat.

The Spectre wanted to retaliate, but Phantom didn't give him a chance. With his allies behind him and the city at a far enough range to avoid most of the damage, the halfa decided to use his greatest attack. Letting go of the Spectre, Phantom flew up a bit and took a deep breath. In the next moment, Phantom opened his mouth and roared out the deadly Ghostly Wail.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Weakened and bruised, not even the Spectre could fight against the wail of death. The sound waves slammed into him without any resistance. He felt each of his nerves begin to scream in agony. This attack was different from other attacks the Spectre had taken. It wasn't designed to maim or even kill. The purpose of the Ghostly Wail was to erase everything in its path slowly and painfully.

Unable to fight against the attack, the Spectre could do nothing as the Ghostly Wail continued to bombard him and fling him into the city below. He crashed into the street caused the cement to crack and shatter around him. Before the Spectre could recover, the halfas were on him once more. They had once again followed after the Spectre as he was flung away. This time, Phantom caught up first. The oldest halfa in the fight landed on the Spectre's chest with a massive elbow drop. He then quickly rolled away as Spirit flew down and delivered an axe kick to the same area. Like her brother, she rolled away just in time for the next blow. Dusk rocketed down towards the Spectre with two Burst Gauntlets blazing. He rammed the weapons into the Spectre's chest and stomach.

With a creak and a crash, the street finally gave out and shattered in a blaze of green. The Spectre could do nothing as the rubble piled up around him. In seconds, he was covered completely by the broken cement. This didn't last long, though. With a wave of his hand, the Spectre disintegrated the cement and burst out of the rubble. Knowing that that the damage he had taken had piled up to a dangerous level, the Spectre decided to end this in one blow.

He raised his arms forward and began to concentrate on the thin energy dome he placed around the city. His intention was to condense the energy and cause a massive explosion. The blast would obliterate the city and the halfas with it. Fortunately for everyone in the city, there was a fighter present that could hear the Spectre's intentions. Spirit knew what the Spectre was going to do before he even started his attack. She had rushed up to him from his blind spot. Twirling in front of him, Spirit flipped upside down and used her legs to kick both of the Spectre's arms on the inside of the elbows.

The force of the kicks caused the Spectre's arms to swing to the sides wildly. He felt his bones crack and groan from the blow. With his guard now open, the Spectre could do nothing as Spirit flipped once more and brought her arms up with her Spectral Claws blazing. The claws cut across the Spectre's torso and chest in an x pattern. Adding to the previous damage he received, the Spectre was easily cut open. With a shout of pain, green blood blasted out of the new wounds and fell to the ground.

The Spectre quickly followed the blood downwards as Phantom flew above him and sent a strong hammer strike to the back of the Spectre's head. Unlike the last time he fell, though, the Spectre managed to barely avoid crashing into the ground. Just before making contact with the cement rubble, he stopped his moment and floated just off the ground. Normally, he would have turned his attention to his bleeding chest and close the wound, but the Spectre actually had a bigger problem to deal with before he could focus on his current wounds.

Dusk stood down the street on top of one of the largest pieces of rubble. His arms were extended forward and encased in the Twilight Cannon. The weapon was already completely charged and then some. The broken copy of the Sword of Beowulf was clenched in between Dusk's teeth where he put it after pulling it from his belt. The sword channeled energy into Dusk and to the Twilight Cannon. This caused the weapon become charged past its normal full capacity. Even with the words muffled by the sword hilt in Dusk's mouth, Spectre could still make out the halfa saying something about the energy level being at 200%.

Knowing that he couldn't dodge the attack with his current level of speed, the Spectre decided to focus on blocking the blow. Crossing his arms and clenching his muscles, he began to create an inter-dimensional shield in front. The air shifted as an energy shield about the size of the Spectre's body appeared in front of the ghost. At the same time, green energy wrapped around the Spectre like a cocoon. It was the perfect protection. He was sure that no matter what how much power this attack had, it wouldn't be able to hurt him.

Dusk's determined look said otherwise though. The sound of the Twilight Cannon firing was so loud that the crack of the explosion traveled far past the city's boundaries. A straight beam of concentrated energy rocketed towards the Spectre. The beam was exactly the size of the Spectre's body and cocoon shield. In a blaze, the beam met the shield and began to push against the foreign energy. At first, nothing happened, but slowly, the shield began to crack. Then, to the Spectre's utter shock, the shield shattered like class. The Twilight Cannon's blast did not stop there, though. It continued until it hit the Spectre.

Once the blast made contact with the enemy, it began to peel away the cocoon of green energy that the Spectre wrapped around himself. Soon, all of the Spectre's protections faded away into nothing, and all that was left to absorb the attack was the Spectre's body. The energy covered the Ghost of Vengeance's body completely and began to burn way the flesh of his body.

The sound of an explosion sounded out once more across Dakota City. This time, a blinding light accompanied it. Once the light and noise died down, all that left was a low ringing noise and dark smoke reaching up lazily to the sky above. In the middle of the dark smoke was the Spectre. His body now had various burns across his body along with the other injuries he suffered. The Spectre's arms, now abused beyond their limit, fell to his sides lifelessly.

Gritting his teeth in unbelievable fury, the Spectre began to cause dimensional shifts all around him. Buildings twisted and bent. The ground and air began to tremble and shake. Tears into the Ghost Zone appeared all across the city. Once again, the Spectre was going for one last kamikaze attack. This one, however, could not be stopped as easily as the last attack.

Both Spirit and Dusk knew that they were at their limit. Neither of them had energy left to spare, and the broken copy of the Sword of Beowulf had disintegrated after the last attack. They could do nothing as the Spectre prepared to kill them along with the rest of the city. Thus, it fell to Phantom's shoulders to stop the Spectre.

Landing a few meters in front of the Spectre, Phantom began his charge. Focusing the rest of his energy around him for one last attack, the oldest half in the fight rushed forward with his right fist ready to strike. The Spectre saw this coming, though. Just as the Phantom was about to get close enough to strike, the Spectre sent a concentrated blast of dimension ripping energy at the halfa. The nature and power of this attack was enough to tear Phantom to pieces if it wasn't stopped. In his current charge, Phantom had no way to block or dodge the blow. Luckily, his intention all along with this attack was an all or nothing blow.

Phantom's blue cytoplasmic energy and green ectoplasmic energy blazed from Phantom's arm. The two contradictory energy met and began dance around each other in a show of beautiful lights. Phantom then punched forward with his glowing arm. His fist met the Spectre's attack and cut through the wave like it was only air. The attack then continued forward until it met the Spectre's injured and bleeding chest.

His face twisting in agony, the Spectre let out a scream of pain. A layer of frost formed over his skin as green energy burst out from different veins across his body. After the attack had died down, the Spectre was covered in a combination of burns, blood, and ice. All of that paled in comparison to the gaping hole that now existed in the Spectre's chest. Phantom's fist had literally punched through the Spectre's chest and out the back of the Ghost of Vengeance.

With a somber expression on his face, Phantom held the Spectre up so that he would not fall over yet. He then leaned over to the Spectre's ear and stated, "See? I'm a man of my word."

With that said, Phantom then pulled his arm out and viciously pushed the Spectre to the ground. The Ghost of Vengeance landed with a thud that seemed even louder than the explosions that happened only moments earlier.

"So…you got your revenge," The Spectre noted as he lay near motionless on the ground, "How does it feel?"

Phantom peered down at the now dissolving ghost, "Hollow. Sad. Unfulfilling."

"Yeah…" The Spectre let out a chuckle, "That's vengeance. It never really satisfies, because you never get back what you lost for the sake of revenge. Enough is never enough. I always hated that part of it, but I could never get away from it. Vengeance is my very nature. It only causes chaos and destruction. That was why…I made sure to put a restraint against myself."

Phantom looked over his shoulder to see Dusk and Spirit approaching them, "Then I pity you."

"You pity me? I was born to take this path. You, though, had a choice in the matter," The Spectre noted.

"I did. My intent from the beginning was to kill you," Phantom admitted. He idly noted that Death did not show up for the Spectre's demise. Perhaps it had to do with the Spectre's special state of being, not a true ghost, but more of being similar to that of a lord of a vengence, "Of course, even if I didn't want to kill you, I still would have to stop you from taking out this city."

"But if I didn't threaten the city? If you were able to subdue me without killing me, what would you have done?" The Spectre questioned.

"I don't know. I've wanted to kill you out of revenge before," Phantom noted, "But I forgave Agent Z and Freakshow when given the chance. Who knows what I would have done. Maybe in the last moment, I would have shown mercy. Maybe I would have killed you just to ease a bit of the pain you caused. I don't know for sure."

"Interesting…That is a truthful answer…I respect that," The Spectre closed his eyes and relaxed, "You do realize I'll reform within a century or two. What will you do then?"

"Right now…I say that I would kill you all over again," Phantom stated, "But give it time. If I'm still around, maybe I'll greet you as a friend again."

"I see…" The Spectre's words became faint as his form began to fade completely, "Then I will look forward to the day that I can receive my answer. Until then, Phantom."

"Until then, Spectre."

When the Spectre's form completely dissolved away, Phantom had to fight not to spit on to the pile of ooze on the ground. Even if he hated the Spectre right now, his honor demanded that he show respect to a defeated enemy. That was his way, even if every fiber in his body demanded that he curse the Spectre to the pits of hell right now.

Turning, Phantom began to walk back to where he left his coat. He was quickly followed by Spirit and Dusk.

"Mentor…Is what you said back there true? Would you have killed him in cold blood if his death was avoidable?" Dusk questioned. Dark Dan's words rang through his mind. They had to keep the powerful people alive according to the evil Phantom. He had no idea why, but for some reason, Dusk had a gut feeling that the Spectre's death was harmful in multiple ways. Of course, even the life cherishing Dusk knew that Phantom had no choice but to kill the Spectre. It was either the Spectre or the city at that point, and he knew that killing the Spectre was the right answer even if it left a horrible taste in his mouth and a terrible knot in his gut.

"Maybe. Like I said, I don't know," Phantom shook his head.

"I have a better question. One I know you can answer," Spirit had a serious look about her. One that showed flashes of dread and grief, "Why would you want to get revenge on the Spectre?"

Phantom paused for a second and looked back to the younger ghouls, "Call Rocket. Her gear got damaged so we had her guard Cujo and Icon."

"We?" Dusk felt his heart sink.

Phantom ignored the question, "Tell her to Zeta to Amity Park. Then…alert everyone in the Family and on the Team. It's a code red meeting. Everyone has to meet us in Amity Park as soon as possible."

"Why everyone?"

The halfa turned one last corner to reveal Jean Hawkins still guarding the corpse of Valerie Gray.

"That's why."

Dark Dan felt his wounds ache as rested on a fallen tree. The fight he had with the Black Lanterns had not gone well. He could have handled one Black Lantern no problem, but three ghosts with powers amplified by the black power rings was a major problem. The alternate Phantom struggled to keep up from the staggering numbers. This was especially true when the fourth Black Lantern arrived.

"Didn't think he would be one…" Dark Dan wiped the blood from his cut lip, "Damn. It's always those unexpected attacks that get me."

Luckily as soon as they felt that the mind control of the ghosts was released, the Black Lanterns seemed more passive, if only for a moment. It seems that heroes weren't as completely useless as he thought. At least they provided him with a distraction. That allowed Dark Dan to flee without having four Black Lanterns determined to kill or capture him. They didn't desperately search for him, so either Nekron had lost most of his interest or planned to attack Dan later.

Looking into the direction of Dakota City, Dan let out a deep scowl. The Spectre was dead. He had been killed by the three youngest halfas. That idiot Dusk failed to enforce his warning. Although, it probably would have been worse if they just let the Spectre kill an entire city, but the Dan felt like blaming someone. The stress was getting to him, but he couldn't just go on a rampage and relieve the tension. Not yet at least.

Overall, today was his loss. So many people had died, and Nekron had absorbed the energy from all of them. Now, he would be even goddamn stronger when he finally decided to act. Dark Dan was beginning to think that his plans were doomed to failure. Nothing he wanted to happen was going right.

Dan remembered in his own timeline when he dealt with Nekron. It wasn't long after his transformation and removal of his humanity that he met the ghost of death. The other Nekron tried to recruit him just like in this time. Back then, though, Nekron was still weak, and Dan killed the ghost before he could regain a full body back.

Now, that wasn't an option. Nekron had a body, four bodyguards, and a ton of power to fight. A direct conflict would be suicide even for him. That was why he came up with his plan to interfere with Nekron's plans and find a way to gain some allies of his own while finding a way to become even stronger.

Unfortunately, all of those things proved difficult. Everyone on Earth was aware of his nature. Even the Light knew not to trust him. They probably reasoned that if he killed them all in one timeline then he'd do it another. Thus, he was stuck with no allies, a failed plan to stop today's massacre, and only a small idea of how to gain more power; and he wasn't sure if that would be possible considering the amount of attention Vision would keep on the Ghost Zone from now on.

"I'll think about that later…" Dan sighed and rubbed his temples, "The first phase of Nekron's plan is basically over, but…there's still one more person that can die."

Harm was now at the mercy of the halfas. Corrupted and filled with Morgaine's magic, Harm's death would be another huge blow against Dark Dan. It was doubtful that he would be an ally in any circumstance, but his death would empower Nekron even more.

Showing up and trying to stop Harm's death would only cause more problems for him. The halfas would turn their full focus to him, and Dan didn't like those odds right now. While the halfas were exhausted, so was Dark Dan. The numbers game would catch up for him, and he might be killed.

"My only option is to hope that their heroic nature overcomes their hate-filled rage," Dark Dan muttered.

When the three halfas arrived back to the cliffside, they were met with stares. Actually, it was more Phantom that was met with stares. It was easy to see that bundle in his arms was in the shape of a body. His coat covered most of the body, but a single arm slipped through a hole in the fabric to reveal red and black armor.

"No!" Greta instantly burst into tears, "Valerie!"

"This day just keeps getting worse…" Youngblood muttered with a lowered head. Despite this, he did not move the blade he had in his non-hook hand. The curved sword was pointed to the now conscious Harm who sat a good distance from the still unconscious Johnny 13 and baby Kitty.

Collapsing to her knees, Greta began to openly sob and bawl at the loss of another friend. The entire time that the halfas had been gone, she had silently cried over the death of Wulf. Two deaths of loved ones in one night was too much to bear. Dusk instantly rushed to Greta's side and hugged her so that she could sob into his shoulder.

Phantom stopped in his tracks in front of them all. He just looked down at the cold, unmoving body in his arms. The halfa looked like he was about to cry too, but the tears refused to come.

Spirit took a very different action than the rest of the halfas. She walked over to Harm and pushed him down onto his back with her foot. Youngblood made no effort to stop her. In fact, he lowered his sword and stepped back to give her some room.

"What are you doing?!" Dusk hissed to the female ghoul.

"I'm doing what I promised to do," Spirit held Harm down with her foot and activated her Spectral Claws, "I'm going to kill this piece of trash."

"Harm is already beaten! We don't have to hurt anyone anymore!" Dusk would have rushed to stop Spirit if Greta wasn't clutching herself to him.

"No, we don't have to, but we should," Spirit looked back to Dusk, "Just think how many people would still be alive today if I just killed this piece of shit three years ago. If I stopped Harm permanently, then Wulf and Valerie would still be alive."

"You don't know that!" Dusk argued, "For all we know, le Fey would have just gotten another pawn instead of Harm."

"Please, I know that Harm was researching le Fey during his time in Belle Reve. He contacted her. He gave her this idea. He is responsible for all of this," Spirit shook her head, "Like it or not, it's the truth when I say that all of this could have been avoided if I killed him before. And now…And now I'm going to correct that mistake. I'm going to kill Harm to avenge the people that died and to make sure he's never a threat again."

"None of us have the right to do that! We aren't judges, the jury, or the damn executioner!" Dusk shouted out loudly, "And we sure as hell aren't gods…So none of us have the right to kill someone that has already been defeated."

"So you want to risk this happening again?" Spirit questioned.

"No, but…There has to be a better way. A way to help him to redemption," Dusk stated.

"No…Harm is past redemption. Harm has chosen this path, and Harm refuses to stray from it…" Harm gritted his teeth and glared up at Spirit, "Go ahead and kill Harm! Harm no longer has a purpose! If doubts truly do cloud Harm's heart then Harm doesn't want to live! Harm sacrificed everything to be pure! If Harm doesn't have that, then Harm has nothing left to live for!"

"Please, no!" Greta sobbed out, "No more deaths! Please, Billy!"

"Harm is not Billy! Billy is dead! Billy died with Greta!"

"But I came back!" Greta released Dusk and gave a pleading look to her brother, "I came back to help you, Billy! If I can come back, so can you!"

"No…No! Harm refuses! Harm can't go back, because if Harm goes back, Harm will…Harm will regret what Harm has done…" Harm's eyes glazed over, "Harm will forever be consumed by the guilt of killing Greta, the only person Harm has ever cared about."

"It's okay, Billy! I forgive you! See!" Greta held up the necklace that hung from her neck, "I kept the necklace you gave me! Remember? You gave it to me for my birthday! I was never mad when you stabbed me, Billy! Maybe shocked and depressed...but never mad! All I wanted was for you to go back to normal!"

"No! Harm can't live with the guilt! Kill Harm now! Do it!" Harm demanded.

"With pleasure…" Spirit raised her hand to strike down.

"Stop." It was a light command. In truth, the words were barely audible. Nevertheless, everyone paused and turned to look at where the words originated from. Phantom looked up from Valerie's form with a determined look, "Move away from him. I'll do what I have to."

"But Mentor!" Dusk gained a look of despair.

"Please!" Greta began to sob into her arms, "Please don't!"

Phantom ignored them and walked to Spirit. He looked down to her, "Revenge doesn't make you feel better, Spirit. And I don't want you to get your hands dirty like this. Let me do it."

"But…"

"Please," Phantom gave her a pleading look, "He took Valerie from me."

Spirit's face went from determined to dismal. While she had lost close friends to Harm, Danny had lost a close friend and a lover because of Harm. He had more reason to want revenge than her, "Alright."

"Thank you," Phantom moved up to Harm once Spirit moved out of the way. He glared down at the psychopath and delivered a vicious kick to Harm's side. This cause Harm to cry out in agony.

"No!" Greta was about to rush forward, but Youngblood got in her way.

"Wait…" Youngblood stated, "I think you'll want to see this."

"Right now, there's nothing I want more than to kill you, Harm. For everything you've done…Everything you've taken from me, I know that you deserve to die. I have no doubts about that," Phantom's bangs covered his eyes, "And very few would care if I killed you. In fact, a lot of people would praise me for ripping out your spine and choking you with it. It'd be so easy too."

"Then do it…" Harm hissed out in pain.

"I would…I really want to, but…killing you won't bring Wulf or Valerie back. In fact…Val would be ashamed of me for killing you. So I won't kill you, Harm."

Dusk and Greta gained relieved looks. Spirit, however, looked upset, "But Danny…"

Phantom raised his head to reveal the tears running down his face once again. He gently moved the coat away from Valerie's head to reveal her bloodied and beaten face. He gently cupped Valerie's cheek and gave the now pale and cold face a look of love and loss, "Spirit…haven't enough people died today?"

Spirit looked down ashamed, "Yeah…You're right."

The oldest halfa in the current group turned and began to walk away. Harm, however, wouldn't have it. He pushed himself to his knees and snarled after the ghoul, "Didn't you hear Harm? Harm wants to die! Harm refuses to feel regret, because…Harm has done too much to live with. Harm can never be pure again."

Phantom stopped in his walk, "I once was consumed by my guilt. I thought that I would never get over it. Eventually, I found my redemption. I can't tell you what to do, and I really can't bring myself to care. But I can say this…"

The half looked over his shoulder, and Harm was shocked by the passion in Phantom's eyes.

"You have a sister that forgave every sin that you committed, even killing her," Phantom shook his head, "If she can do that, what excuse do you have for just giving up and asking for Death to come for you?"

"But…Harm is…Harm is…" Harm looked down at his hands. Suddenly they looked filthy to the man. Tears began to fall from his face, "I am so sorry! What have I done?!"

"You've taken the first step to redemption," Phantom walked over to Greta, leaned down, and kissed her on the top of the head. He then whispered, "I've done all I can. Tell Death I said thanks for taking care of Val."

Phantom then began to walk away once more. As he walked, his tears continued to roll down his face and fall on Valerie's unmoving form. He wanted to say all his farewells to a girl that was like a sister to him, but he felt that some else deserved the final moments with Greta.

Greta was once again crying. This time, though, it was tears of joy. Her brother finally felt true regret for his actions and was on the path to redemption. Her obsession was complete.

Spirit's Premonition communicated this to her. Her eyes then snapped to the full ghost. With a shocked and saddened look, she ran to her friend, "Greta…No, not you too."

"Don't act like this is a sad moment," Greta gave her a bright smile, "I did it. I did what so few ghosts get to do. I completed my obsession. I'm free to finally move on."

"Oh, Greta…" Spirit grabbed Greta and hugged her close, "I'm going to miss you so much…"

"I'll miss you too," Greta hugged Spirit close to her, "Thank you for helping me all those years ago, and thank you for giving me a new home. Tell everyone that I love them."

"I will…" Spirit stepped back. She noticed that Dusk was off to the side with a downcast look on his face. "Oh…Youngblood, can you carry Johnny and Kitty while I take Harm to the police?"

"Yeah…" Youngblood nodded. He picked up the unconscious ghosts and looked to Greta, "Greta…I'm sorry for disappearing on you. It's just…"

"You don't have to explain. We ghosts all have things that we need to take care of...and family we have to make sure are safe," Greta gave her pirate friend a beaming smile, "I hope you find contentment too, Charlie."

"Me too…" With that, Youngblood began to float away. Spirit was fresh on his heels dragging Harm…no, Billy right behind her. The regret filled villain was yelling out to let her go. To let him crawl to Greta and cry at her feet. Spirit denied that request, though. She thought that Joel deserved the rest of the time Greta had left.

Once they were far enough away, a blinding white light spread across the cliffside. Dusk changed back to Joel just as Greta turned to him once again. The pure ghost in the white ropes gave the halfa a stunning smile, and Joel swore that his heart skipped a beat.

"Thank you," Greta stated as her tears continued to fall. As one of the tears fell to the ground, a single ball of light drifted off of Greta's shoulders and rose up into the sky. It was quickly followed by several more balls of light, "Without you…I'm sure my brother would have been killed."

"It was Mentor that made him feel true regret, though," Joel tried to shrug off the praise.

"I think you were the one got Billy started with his doubts. Plus, I'm sure your words helped keep Danny on the right path as well," Greta giggled lightly, "You have a strong influence on them. More than you know."

"I guess…" Joel looked away to avoid the aching he felt in his chest every time he looked at Greta.

"I see…" Greta's smile wavered for a second as she folded her hands in front of her, "You don't want me to go."

"No, I don't. I want you to stay with the family…with me," Joel admitted with a pained look.

Greta's form was beginning to fade away as the balls of light began to pour off her body and float gently into the heavens, "I know, and part of me wants that too. But…my purpose in this world is done. I have to move on now. I don't have a choice."

"I know," Joel fought the tears that stung his eyes.

"You're such a good man, you know that?" Greta walked straight up to Joel and stood in front of him, "You did all this knowing that you would lose me…Thank you."

"It's nothing. I would do it again in a heartbeat," This time Joel did meet Greta's gaze.

"Yeah, I know you would," Greta removed the silver necklace around her neck and gently placed it in Joel's hands, "Don't forget me, okay?"

"Never," Joel's voice didn't waver for a second as he said that word, even as his hands trembled and struggled to hold onto the necklace.

"I'm glad. Thank you so much, Joel. For everything. Goodbye," Greta gave him one last beaming smile. She pushed herself onto her toes so that her face was right in front of Joel. Greta leaned forward and gently placed her lips onto Joel's lips. It was a chaste kiss at best, but it was one filled with love. In that moment, Joel thought that it was the sweetest thing he ever tasted.

Then, the tiny pressure on his lips was gone. Greta had faded away and ascended into the next world. With her now gone, Joel allowed the tears to fall freely.

"Goodbye, Greta. I love you."

Morgaine le Fey watched from her magical window as the half-ghosts left Dakota City. She had just released Colossus back into the human world. Of course, she had a bit of fun and threw him into Antarctica. His face when seeing the penguins had made all the effort at keeping him contained worth it. He would survive, but le Fey knew that he was even angrier than before. Not that she cared either way.

This last bit of her entertainment had been very surprising. She had expected Phantom to kill Harm. Yet, he spared Harm and forced regret back into her minion's heart. Morgaine felt impressed by Phantom's natural charisma and speaking skills. Harm had been very far gone. She made sure of that herself.

Of course, she was now out a minion, but that was okay. She never expected Harm to even survive this day. In fact, part of the plan involved him dying. Of course, she was fine with this outcome. Morgaine was just in this for the entertainment of it all. It was Nekron that focused on the results.

Morgaine smirked to herself as she remembered all that occurred this day. It was like the perfect television show. Each moment was better than the last. She couldn't wait to go back and re-watch all of it. It will be glorious, especially if she got a bag of popcorn and a comfy chair to watch it all from.

Of course, today wasn't over yet. There was still the best part. Morgaine couldn't wait to see the looks on the other heroes' faces when they learned about their friends' death. It would be the icing on the cake.

The sun finally rose in the horizon of Amity Park signifying the begging of the new day and end of all the conflict. As soon as Gizmo's machine was activated all the fighting stopped. The ghosts calmed down and freed while the remaining demons were kept under control and put under order by Gizmo to return to Jason Blood's home to be sealed away once again. Though the fighting was over, there still much to be done. The battles caused a lot of damage and a lot of casualties. The exhausted Justice League was already working with the UN to decide how to go about clean up.

The members of Young Justice and the Phantom Family were all summoned back to Amity Park, though. There was little explanation as to why, but considering that it was a code red alert, none of them questioned it. Despite only wanting to sleep and rest, they all stood or sat on the outside of Fenton Works and waited for the final members to arrive.

"Yep, it was my machine that saved the world," Gizmo grinned as he tried to chat Troia up. Unfortunately, Troia just ignored the small tech genius. Instead, the Amazon's eyes was on the dismal Pandora who was consulting with Frostbite and the Fright Knight.

"It was also your dumb machine that started all this, dumbass," Robin glared at the villain.

"Hey! I didn't have a choice in making it! She force me to do it!"

"Why is he even still here?" Raven sighed and place a hand on her forehead.

"He's still injured, Rae," Cyborg mentioned, "Considering he helped us, we can't just sent the poor…annoying…guy away without treating his wounds."

"He looks fine to me," Beast Boy, who had been order to come from the Cave, noted as he turned from a green bird back to his normal form, "Didn't take him long to notice Donna. Not that I blame him. She's, uh, really pretty…"

"Ha!" Cyborg patted Beast Boy on the head, "That's cute kid. A crush. I remember those days."

"Hey! Let go of my head!"

A good distance away, the senior members of Young Justice were all talking about today's events.

"Well, my night was weird," Zatanna mentioned, "It's kind of hard to explain…It involved the Box Ghost, the Lunch Lady, and two extra Captain Marvels"

"What?" Rocket blinked, "Girl, what does that even mean?"

"I think that I should save that story for later," Zatanna shrugged, "It's really complicated, and I don't know what really happened. What about you guys?"

"Gotham could have been worse," Nightwing admitted, "Undergrowth really helped, and he's actually already helping with clean up."

"Central City's about the same as everywhere else. Doctor Fate helped for a while, but…" Kid Flash looked over to Artemis.

"Dora's dragon form caused a lot of problems under le Fey's control," Artemis sighed, "We're lucky Roy showed up to help. I thought the entire city was going to be set on fire."

"A city on fire…Chicago was a mess, but Torch managed to get a hold on his minions," Miss Martian shuddered. Superboy instantly hugged her close as M'gann looked over to see Ember yelling at distress Torch, "But there was so much fire…I could barely move."

"Sounds bad. In comparison, Atlantis was not nearly as bad, but King Orin is a mess after what happened," Aqualad looked over to Aquagirl and Tempest as the other Atlantians sat on the steps of Fenton Works and looked off to the sunset, "We were reluctant to leave him, even if Queen Mera was there to comfort him. If it was not a code red from Danny, then I might have refused to come."

"Yeah…I think that Danny had a good reason for this…" Superboy scowled deeply as he remembered the events that occurred in Metropolis, "Just wait…I think he'll be by soon enough."

"Ah man…Something tells me it's going to take a lot of candy to make this Halloween better…" Kid Flash rubbed the back of his head.

Nearby, Vision and Plasmius were also discussing the event of the day. Plasmius noted that Vision looked dismayed, but he couldn't get an answer out of her yet. She refused to speak about what happened until the other halfas arrived. The only thing she was willing to say was, "I believe that we'll need to postpone the wedding once more."

"So…something happened…" Plasmius inferred.

"Aye, it did…" Youngblood said as he approached the two ghosts. He placed Johnny 13 and baby Kitty on the ground gently and then stood in front of the more mature ghosts.

"Youngblood?" Plasmius blinked.

"Charles…What happened?" Vision questioned.

"Look for yourself," Youngblood pointed behind him. Vision and Plasmius were not the only ones to look where Youngblood was pointing. Everyone turned or stood up to see the three figures slowly approaching them.

Spirit stood on the right. She was still completely covered in dried blood to the point that the only color visible on her was green. Dusk stood on the left. He held a familiar silver necklace in his hands and had a very upset look on his face. Phantom stood in the middle. Valerie still hung from his arms even though his coat hid her form.

As soon as the group of vigilantes saw the three halfas, they all broke down. Tears were shed. Knees buckled. Cries of outrage and disbelief were yelled out as they saw why they were all called back to Amity Park.

The three halfas stood there and watched the breakdown of their friends and family. None of them moved from their spots as they felt the weight of today's events push down on them. The three halfas felt the guilt and loss of three loved one fall down on their shoulders. Today had, by far, been the worst loss they had ever experienced, and the day was still only beginning.

Without a word, the three halfa separated and split up. Spirit returned to Masters Mansion to shower off all the blood that stained her body and soul. Dusk approached the gathered group to explain everything and everyone that had been lost that day. And Phantom walked to deliver Valerie's body to the only man that would be hurt more by her death than Phantom.

It didn't take Phantom long to find Damon Gray at Axion Labs. He, like the other employees, were told to seek refuge in the facility in order to stay safe. Phasing through the walls of the facility that only just recently released the lock down policy, Phantom made his way to Damon's office. After knocking on the door to the office, Phantom waited a few seconds before Damon opened the door. All it took was one glance, and Damon instantly knew what happened. A cry of anguish sounded through the entire facility as Damon dropped to his knees in despair and grief at losing his only child. Hanging his head in shame, Phantom once again began to cry. This time not for Valerie or even himself, but instead for the man who was force to go through one of the worst pains in the world, burying his child long before she deserved to die.