Chapter 29: Defeat

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of those depths."

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Chapter 29: "Defeat"

(Friday-December 31, 2010)

"Damn." Phantom hissed. "I can't get in contact with Amity Park. My calls won't go through. I need to warn them…"

"Do not worry, Danny." Kaldur looked over to his friend. "We will talk with the League and move to Amity Park soon enough."

Young Justice had just exited the hanger and was heading to the main hall of the Cave. Jinx had given them her father's entire game plan to attack Amity Park. It was quickly decided that they needed to talk to the League for help. Unfortunately, there was trouble with communicating with both the Justice League and Amity Park, so they decided to quickly return to the Cave in order to speak with the League and Zeta to Amity Park.

"Bro, I'm sure everything's fine right now." Kid Flash spoke to his friend. "We made sure that the group on Santa Prisca didn't contact anyone on the outside."

"It's not that." Red Huntress mentioned. "The amount of force they have. We're not prepared for it right now."

"That's why we and the League will help." Artemis smirked. "With all of us together we can totally win."

"True…" Phantom sighed.

"Hey…" Zatanna looked over to Robing. "Rob, you okay? You've been quiet for a while."

"I've been wondering…" The Boy Wonder frowned. "There was obviously a mole, but it's none of us."

"Good point." Superboy frowned. "That would have definitely been the time to betray us."

"Then who was it?" Miss Martian questioned.

"The mole was Red Arrow." Batman looked to the Team as they entered the main hall of the Cave. Several of the League members was waiting for them. This included Red Tornado, Zatara, Captain Marvel, and Black Canary.

"What?" Rocket voiced all of their thoughts as their jaws dropped.

"No way!" Robin shouted.

"Roy was Green Arrow's protégé for years." Kaldur frowned.

"The Roy Harper we have known for the last three years is another Project Cadmus clone." Red Tornado noted. The Cadmus building appeared in the virtual computer.

"We've learned that real Speedy was abducted and replaced immediately after becoming Green Arrow's sidekick." Batman explained. "The clone was pre-programmed with a drive to join the Justice League, which is why he was so angry to any delays of his mission and why he refused to join Young Justice. This Roy Harper had no idea that he was a clone or a traitor, and his subconscious programming drove him to become League worthy. So he struck out on his own as Red Arrow and when he did, his secondary programming kicked in; and he attempted to betray the League for Vandal Savage. Fortunately, I had already deduced Red Arrow was a clone. We were prepared."

"Savage was subdued. As was Red Arrow, Martian Manhunter is working on erasing his reprogramming as we speak." Red Tornado spoke again.

"If you hadn't rescued me from Cadmus…" Superboy rubbed the back of his neck.

"What…What happened to the real Roy?" Robin questioned.

"We don't know. He isn't at Cadmus. We have to face the possibility that the real Roy Harper is dead." Batman sighed.

Everyone gained a saddened look. Phantom saw that the original sidekicks were the most devastated.

"Did…any of us even know the real Roy?" Kaldur questioned.

"That is uncertain, but it is likely that the only Roy you ever knew was the clone." Batman mentioned.

Phantom looked around. "Look…I don't want to be a jerk here, but there's kind of an emergency going on…"

"Yeah…You're right." Wally gained a hardened look. "Amity Park needs our help."

"I know. J'onn read Savage's mind and found out everything. We know how he blackmailed you and threatened Amity Park. Several League members are there helping your family." Captain Marvel stated.

"There appear to be signal jammers all around the city, though." Black Canary mentioned. "We can't contact the other members of the League, but the Zeta Tubes seem to still work. We should leave immediately before something terrible happens."

"We need to be careful, though. It could be…dangerous…" Zatarra looked over to his daughter.

"Dad…" Zatanna groaned. "I'll be fine."

"Yeah, she's tough as nails." Rocket grinned at her new friend.

"It will be fine Zatara." Black Canary comforted the magic user.

"I know…" Zatara sighed.

"Come…" Red Tornado approached the Team to lead them to the Zeta Tubes. "Let us go…"

"Huh?" Phantom blinked. Red Tornado was about to touch his shoulder. The halfa didn't think anything of it. The android was beginning to learn more about humanity and caring for people. He probably thought the gentle touch would be comforting. The odd thing was…The android froze just as his hand was about to touch Phantom.

Phantom looked at Red Arrow's hand. In it was a squid like chip. It was exactly like the ones they recovered in the Rocky Mountains. It was likely that these things were used in Batman's story of Savage trying to control the Justice League. And Red Tornado was about to put one on him. That means… "No…They're still under Savage's control!"

Bam! Captain Marvel rocketed forward and sucker punched Phantom.

"Danny!"

"Where did they go?!" Fright Knight roared.

"I do not know." Shiva glared up to the knight ghost. "I already told you that."

After Dusk and Shiva disappeared, Fright Knight when into a frenzy. He leveled the base and dragged Shiva back to Fenton Works along with Cujo and Nyx. It was there that he explained everything that happened and tried to interrogate Shiva further.

"I want you to think about this really carefully." Vision glared down at the woman who was chained up. "A girl I consider my daughter and a boy have I become quite fond of have disappeared. Tell me, what would you do in my situation to someone that was holding back information that could be used to save them?"

"If my daughter was in danger, I would kill anyone in my path." Shiva admitted. "But I already told you everything I know about the other four bases…"

"What about the hidden bases." Plasmius questioned. "You mentioned that there were two of them."

"Even I don't know where those are. They are being used to house the Matter Make Machine and the device used to control the ghouls. We need them both here so that none of the Necromancers dissolve too quickly and none of the ghouls go out of control." Shiva frowned. "We had no idea how they would react in Amity Park."

"How did you even hide all this equipment in Amity Park without us knowing…" Fright Knight growled.

"Magic, trained assassins, alien technology, though the Ghost Zone, and a lot of pre-planning…" Shiva explained. "Anything that would make sure that we didn't gain your attention."

"Hmm…Is there anyone that would know where the hidden bases are?" Plasmius questioned.

"Klarion, Walker, and Talia." Shiva stated.

"Why Walker?" Vision questioned.

"He has a way with the ghouls. He makes controlling them easy." Shiva mentioned. "He was about to head out to the hidden base before Nyx arrived."

"Damn…" Fright Knight grunted. "What do we do now then?"

"We just try our best to find them. It's going to be hard with the signal jammers, though." Plasmius noted. "I do hope the jammers don't influence the Zeta Tubes…I don't think they will because of the different frequencies, but you never know for sure…"

"It won't." Shiva noted. "I know they won't..."

"Okay…" Vision nodded. "But…I have to ask…How do you plan to contact each other like this? You can't use radios and Amity Park is too big from mental instructions."

Boom!

Everyone turned to the window to see the giant explosion.

"We were going to blow up a building to signal the beginning of the attack." Shiva noted.

"We can see that…"

"Guh…" Spirit groaned as she pushed herself to her feet. "…Oh crap. I'm in a cage again…If Nyx is trying to sell me to a zoo again, I'm going to be so pissed."

It was true. She was in a cage that was like the ones in the Ghoul Project. She couldn't see or hear anything. As she was about to use her ectoplasm to light up the area, a little bit of light appeared around her. At the same time, the cage opened, and she was allowed stepped out.

"Good. You woke up." Walker was standing a good distance away at the edge of the light.

"Walker…" Spirit growled and slid to a self-defense stance. "Where are we?"

"In an underground cave deep beneath Amity Park carved out by Undergrowth back during the Injustice League fiasco." Walker gestured around. "At the bosses orders, he built two of these things. The only way in or out is by a portal, teleportation, or intangibility. Of course, there's no air down here, but that doesn't matter to ghosts."

"Why did you bring me here?" Spirit questioned.

"Why, for you judgment of course." Walker grinned. "You see, there are rules about these things. Before the prison inmate can be executed, he…or she must first be caught. Done. Put in a jail cell. I improvised. Have a trial. That's happening right now. And then the executioner, that's me, deals your punishment."

"You…" Spirit growled. "I don't get it. Why not just kill me while I'm unconscious?"

"My obsession to follow the rules and to punish those who break them." Walker explained. "I cannot go against those fundamental rules, even if it would be the smart and easy thing to do."

"I see…"

"I've decided that you're guilty." Walker gave her a nasty look. "And your sentence is death."

"And what am I guilty of?" Spirit questioned.

"Being Phantom's sister." Walker mentioned.

"Since when is that breaking the rules?" Spirit glared.

"Since Phantom took my prison from me!" Walker shouted. "He took what I cared about most, so I'm going to take away what he cares about most. I'll kill you, throw your lifeless body before him, and end him once and for all."

"There's a flaw in your plan, cowboy." Spirit mocked his appearance. "There is no way I would lose to you. I've faced way stronger enemies than you and won."

"True, I've always lacked the raw amount of power to rival an S-rank ghost, but that doesn't matter. It's not about raw power. It's about intelligence and cunning, and I have that in spades." Walker grinned. "For example."

Walker clapped his hands. The lights in the room turned completely on. This revealed the rows of cages around the entire metal coated cave. There was a failed ghoul in each cage. They were all misshapen and deformed, but they were still holding their forms stably.

"What?" Spirit blinked at them. "Why are they…so still?"

"You see that machine?" Walker motioned behind him. A large computer was there. It had many monitors and blinking parts. "It was created to control these freaks. And guess who's in control?"

"No…"

"Yes." Walker grinned widely.

Boom! Rumble!

"What was that?" Spirit questioned.

"The signal." Walker reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a red button. With a quick press, the failed ghouls were released from their cages. "Go."

Spirit prepared herself. The waves of failed ghouls would surely attack her. Except…they didn't. The failed ghouls instead raced for the ceiling of the cave and fazed through the metal and rock.

"What?" Spirit blinked.

"That was part of the plan. The failed ghouls will attack the surface and cause some havoc." Walker explained.

"But…I thought the plan was to have the failed ghouls attack me?" Spirit questioned.

"Nope."

"That's stupid then." Spirit smirked. "Without them, I can kick your ass."

"You think so?" Walker reached into his jacket again. He pulled out a vile of red liquid. "Wrong. Did you really think that all that time in the Shadows was for nothing? I was able to research in all of their allies assets. I managed to all their genetic modification research to create this serum."

"Wait…Is that like Blockbuster formulas or Kobra Venom?" Spirit's eyes widened.

"No. This is the a far more modified version for ghosts." Walker grinned. "They used this on Undergrowth. It does boost strength by a large margin, but it won't change my appearance too much…at least in comparison to Blockbuster or Mammoth."

"No, wait!"

"Too late." Walker downed the vial of red liquid. The effect was instantaneous. The ex-warden's muscles began to bulge out. His green veins popped out. Green energy danced around him, and a wave of raw anger washed over the area. It appeared to be a Haunting Aura. Spirit hadn't faced one of those in a long time.

Wait that meant…Walker was pushed to the power of an S-rank ghost.

"No…" The now hulking Walker grinned at her. His white suit was in ruins as it was ripped from Walker's sudden growth. This allowed Spirit to see his massive muscles and intimidating form. "Time to do my favorite job. Execution time."

"…" Dusk frowned at Talia. "Where did you take me?"

Talia Al Ghul was wearing an oxygen mask over her mouth. "This is the secret area where we are keeping the Matter Make machine."

"What?" Dusk's eyes widened.

"Yes." Talia smirked. "I thought that would get your attention. After all, the Matter Make Necromancers are the only ones we have left. The last attack on Amity Park for the Mirror of Memories destroyed our last ones and used up all the materials to make them. They are extremely expensive and hard to make after all."

Dusk did not remember anything after falling through the portal. He woke up in a small room that also had Talia in it. She was watching and waiting for him to wake up.

"Where?" Dusk's eyes bounced around the small room.

"Through there." Talia pointed behind her. As she did this, a door opened to reveal a large, incredibly bright area.

Dusk glared as he formed Pendulum Nunchuku. "And you're going to try and stop me?"

"Oh? So quick to resort to fighting? You have changed, Joel." Talia noted.

"No matter what…I still hate violence…Hurting others always feels wrong, but I can't think about that right now." Dusk noted. "My family is in danger. If I hesitate, they could die. So, I will fight without a second thought."

"I like that new attitude, but…" Talia stepped to the side. "I won't stop you."

"You won't?" Dusk did not relax.

"Of course not. That would ruin what I have planned." Talia chuckled. "Go ahead and try to destroy the machine. I won't stop you. The only thing you have to do is defeat the guardian."

"Guardian? Who's that?" Dusk questioned.

"That would be telling, but he does have a grudge against ghosts. I think he would have preferred Spirit, but Walker was promised her a long time ago. I think as long as he knows that the ghosts are being killed, he's happy." Talia mentioned. "But when I mentioned that you were close to Spirit…He just smiled."

"…Fine…" Dusk began to walk forward. He did not take his eyes away from the woman though, just in case she tried to attack him. She did nothing, though, other than smile. The boy quickly made it out of the room.

"Good luck…" Talia noted as the door closed behind him.

Dusk looked around the much larger room. It was far too bright. This was because the entire room was filled with rectangular mirrors around the size of a man. They were all connected and covered the floor, walls, and ceiling.

On far wall was a machine. It had a single monitor and keyboard on the side, but that was only a small part of it. The massive machine was smooth and slick on the front and top, but not on the sides. On one side was a container of green ectoplasm. On the other side was an opening that allowed the Matter Make weapons to be removed.

"Hello. You must be Dusk."

Dusk turned around in alarm, but he saw nothing other than his own reflection.

"I asked you a question."

Dusk looked up. Nothing…

"Oh, you're confused. I'm not surprised. I'll show myself."

It was then that the entire room was filled with people. Actually, it was only one person really. This one man appeared in every mirror at once. Each reflection looked at him. Dusk recognized the man. He was Mirror Master.

"I was waiting for you." Mirror Master noted. His voice came from everywhere in the room.

"Sorry. I was a little unconscious." Dusk scanned the room for the mirror that Mirror Master was really in. He couldn't tell, though.

"I know. But now, I get to test out my new toys." Mirror Master grinned. "This fight is a test to see how the next year will go for me."

"Not very well, I can assure you." Dusk did not make any sudden moves. The first attack could come from anywhere.

"Oh I doubt that." Mirror Master chuckled. "You see, the only reason I lost last time in Amity Park was because the Mirror of Memories, and that's gone."

Dusk was silent.

"Nevertheless, I have made some adjustments to my weapons and tech." Mirror Master noted. "I can now fight ghosts perfectly. In fact, when I kill you, I'll got to the surface and discretely attack the ghosts from any reflective surface available."

"You talk a lot." Dusk mentioned nonchalantly. "Can we just get this over with so I can destroy that machine? I'd do it now, but I feel that any attack on the machine would be pointless if you're still conscious."

"Smart kid." All the images pointed a laser gun at Dusk.

Zap!

A beam of yellow energy was shot at Dusk's side. Acting quickly, Dusk swung a nunchuck at the beam. The energy blast was stopped without any trouble. There wasn't even any explosion. That was odd because…

"What?" Dusk's eyes widened. The nunchuck was partially disintegrated. The only parts left were the side he was holding and the loose hanging chain.

"Told you I was prepared. I altered my ray gun to scramble exctoplasmic particles." Mirror Master grinned darkly. "Even the most powerful ghosts will crumble before these beams. Their attacks will be stopped easily. Their defenses will crumble. Their bodies will fall apart."

Dusk heard another blast being sent out. This time, it was from the other side of the room. Learning from what happened last time, Dusk dodged this time. Unfortunately, the mirror on the floor bounced the beam up. This continued to bounce around. It even bounced off the reflective surface of the machine. That meant that the beam couldn't hurt the machine.

Growling as the beam came back to him, Dusk threw his broken nunchuck to block it. This was bad. All of his weapons would be disintegrated before he could use them against Mirror Master. He had worked on his other powers with Mentor and the others, but he didn't think that they would help too much right now.

Regular ectoplasmic blasts would be stopped with ease, and he would be defenseless while using them. Flight wouldn't help much. The beams would probably make intangibility useless. Invisibility…that could buy him time and let him get close to the machine…

Dusk turned invisible.

"Ha! I thought you would try that." The hundreds of Mirror Masters smirked. "That's why I'm going to do this.

All of the mirror images opened fire. Hundreds of beams reined down across the room. It turned out that invisibility wouldn't matter much. After all, even if the villain couldn't see the target, Mirror Master could still hit him by attacking everywhere at once.

"Damn." Dusk hissed as he turned visible. This was going to be tough.

"Ugh…" Phantom groaned as his brain stopped spinning. "What the hell happened?"

"The….League….control…attacked you."

"Huh…" Phantom's vision came back into focus. He saw Red Huntress. "Where are we?"

"In Red Tornado's apartment at the top of the Cave." Red Huntress answered.

"Why…Oh…The League!" Phantom jumped to his feet. "Damn! What happened?"

"The sucker punch really rattled you." Red Huntress explained. "I brought you up here before they could get to you."

"Where are the others?" Phantom was in a panic.

"They're fighting off the League." Red Huntress stood and tried to calm him down. "It's only been a few minutes. They're fine, it's eight against four."

"Still…It's the League…" Phantom tried to focus. 'M'gann?'

'Dannny! You're awake!' M'gann seemed overcome with joy.

'I am.' Phantom noted. 'I need an update.'

'We're fighting off the League, but we're being pushed back.' Robin spoke out.

'Wolf and Sphere came to help, though. We might be able to beat them.' Superboy mentioned.

'That will take too much time. Other members of the League shall surely show up as backup.' Kaldur argued.

'Right. We need to retreat right now.' Phantom frowned. 'Is RT still not moving?'

'Yeah, he's like a statue.' Artemis noted. 'He totally shut down.'

'I might have a solution to that.' Zatanna noted. 'Tornado was making a body that looked more human so he could party. Maybe we can use that?'

'Good idea.' Phantom nodded while ignoring the mental image of Red Tornado partying. Right now, he needed to focus, and he couldn't do that if he imagined the android twerking. 'I'm coming down. Miss M, go get the Bioship and hanger ready. RH, take Tornado's human looking body to the ship and SB, take Tornado's regular body and the Supercycle with you for prep. When you're ready, the rest of us will catch up.'

'Right!' Everyone's voice sounded.

'Okay, go!' Phantom fazed through the floor and to the main portion of the Cave. He instantly went to work. The halfa first tried to get a bit of revenge on Captain Marvel for the sucker punch. This helped Superboy get away, grab Red Tornado, and lead Sphere the Supercycle out to the hanger.

The blow to Captain Marvel did nothing, however. He barely even seemed to feel it. The magical brawler turned to Phantom and punched the ghost back. The ghost went sprawling back. He was quickly assisted when Wolf, the Team's genetically enhance pet wolf with a really original name, helped by biting Captain Marvel's arm. This only distracted the secret ten year old for a little, but it allowed Phantom to regain his bearings.

As Miss Martian, Superboy, and Red Huntress retreated out of the main hall, the rest of Young Justice fought off the members of the League.

"Wolb mih yawa!" Zatanna sent a large blast of wind towards her father. Zatara's magical shield stopped the cutting wind, however.

"Nrub reh evila!" Zatara pointed his wand at his daughter. Waves of fire poured down at the magical girl.

"I got you girl!" Rocket formed a kinetic shield around her and Zatanna.

"Nehtgnerts eht dleihs!" Zatanna used her magic to reinforce the shield.

As this was happening, Kid Flash and Artemis were trying to defeat Black Canary. Kid Flash's speed managed to allow him to run in a circle around the master martial artist at top speeds. He made sure to stay out of her range so she couldn't grab him. When she was about to use her Canary Cry, the speedster pulled out and dashed away.

Just as he did this, Artemis shot an explosive arrow at Black Canary. The blond woman rolled out of the way, but she was still rattled by the explosion when the arrow hit the ground. This allowed Kid Flash to rush in and ram into her side shoulder first. This did hurt the brainwashed hero, but she was still awake. Thus she was able to use a Canary Cry to Artemis when she saw the blond archer pull back another arrow.

"Gotcha!" Kid Flash ran in and carried Artemis away bridal style.

"Thanks…" Artemis smiled.

"No problem." Wally grinned.

Nearby, Batman was fighting Robin and Aqualad. The Dark Knight and the Boy Wonder were exchanging blows as Aqualad ran in with his Water Bearers shaping the water in the form of a giant hammer.

"Raw!" Aqualad swung at Batman as Robin flipped away.

The World's Greatest Detective flipped over the Atlantian. When he landed, Batman turned and threw a few Batarangs at the teen. The Batarangs hit and began to electrocute hit the blond haired Atlantian.

"Ah!" Kaldur's black eel tattoos lit up as the Altantian used his magical electricity to disarm the Batarangs.

Robin responded by throwing a few of his shuriken at the Batman. The Dark Knight blocked the shuriken by using his metal gauntlets to deflect the weapons. He then pulled out his stun gun and shot at the Boy Wonder. Kaldur, however, managed to assist and block the electricity yet again.

'Guys, the Bioship is ready!' M'gann called to the Team.

'Everyone retreat! Get to the Bioship!' Phantom ordered. 'I'll use my Ghostly Wail to knock them out!'

'What's a Ghostly Wail?' Rocket questioned.

'I've heard about it, but I haven't seen it…' Zatanna noted.

'Later! We need to follow orders!' Kaldur mentally yelled.

The Team then began to retreat towards the hanger. At the entrance, Phantom stopped and looked back at the League members. He took a deep breath and readied himself for his most powerful attack.

"Ooo..Gack! Cough! Hack!" Phantom weezed. He coughed out green blood and collapsed to his knees.

His ectoplasmic boosts were finally taking their toll from his nonstop action for the past twenty-four hours. His body trembled in pain and exhaustion. He couldn't move and was completely defenseless.

'Damn! Not now!' Phantom roared mentally

Boom! A cluster of grenades were thrown into the ground at the League members' feet. This caused them to jump back as the grenade and blasts of ectoplasm were thrown at them.

"Come on!" Superboy yelled as he grabbed his best friend and began to run him back to the hanger. As he did this, Red Huntress continued to give them cover by forcing the League members back.

"Thanks…" Phantom muttered as he wiped green blood from his mouth.

"Don't metion it." Conner grunted.

"Keep going!" Red Huntress yelled as she flew behind them.

As they went, the backup for the League arrived. The computer's voice sounded throughout the Cave and shook Young Justice to the core.

Recognized: Superman 01, Doctor Fate 17

Amity Park was a war zone. Explosions rocked across the city. Necromancers flew across the sky. Failed ghouls stalked the streets. It was utter chaos. The civilians were lucky that the ghosts had evacuated them to the bunkers a long time ago.

"Son of a…" Plasmius growled as he pushed an ectoplasmic empowered fist into a Necromancer. They were weaker than the original Necromancers. Well, their defenses were. Their offense was as deadly as ever. The scratches and bruises on his body proved that much. The Matter Make machine got that much right, at least. "This is worse that we imagined!"

"I know…" Vision frowned. She sent out a wave of purple ectoplasm and knocked a few ghouls back. "The city is covered. We are far too outnumbered…"

"Plus the supervillains…" Plasmius paused as he looked over his shoulder to see an old face and a newer enemy.

"Hahahahaha!" A man wearing a white and gold checkered sack-like suit laughed. His stringy red hair pored out the back of his cloth mask with x's for eyes. This man was a villain known as Ragdoll. "Heloooooo, ghosts! Did you miss me?"

"I know that man…Was he in Amity Park before?" Vision questioned Plasmius. She had to be careful not to allow her attention to be completely taken away from fighting off ghouls and Necromancers. Purple energy balls orbited around her like a moon to a planet. These acted as shields from incoming attacks and as weapons to cut down enemies.

"A long time ago." Plasmius was ready to turn into plasma at a moment's notice. "He wasn't much of a challenge to Daniel and Spirit, though."

"Hey!" Ragdoll yelled.

"Gah…" Madame Rogue rolled her eyes. "Fool. Of course, Zhey did not remember you well. You are a poor villain."

"Shut up! I was good enough to be recruited by the Light." Ragdoll proclaimed loudly.

"Only because they wanted bodies." Madame Rogue mumbled.

Vision glared at that woman. She was the one that hurt her fiancé…or caused him to hurt himself. Such a crime could not go unpunished.

"Hmm?" Plasmius noticed something. "The Necromancers and ghouls are not attacking as thoroughly. Are the programmed to avoid fighting and destruction around the villains?"

"Yes…Zhat is a program zhat zee Light set to make sure none of zheir loyal soldiers were accidentally harmed." Madame Rogue mentioned.

"Hey! Don't tell them that! It gives them an advantage!" Ragdoll cried.

"It is part of zee payment." Madame Rogue noted.

"Payment?"

"Yes one of two." Madame Rogue explained. "Zee information and…You."

Madame Rogue sucker punched Ragdoll much to the shock of Vision and Plasmius.

"What? Why would you do that?" Plasmius questioned.

"Like I said, payment." Madame Rogue mentioned. She threw the unconscious Ragdoll over to the pair of ghosts. The complete presence of the Ragdoll caused both the ghouls and Necromancers to back off. "I do not want to be under zee thumb of zee Light…Zhat's what the bosses call themselves."

"I see…" Vision nodded slowly. She still glared at Madame Rogue.

"I wish to leave without fighting." Madame Rogue continued to explain. "I understand zhat Metamorpho was Plasmius based on the notes of zee Light…Zhat was sad by the way. Who else with such powers would try to protect Daniel Fenton and only appear in zee world once?"

"What? I thought my performance was magical!?" Vlad protested.

"It wasn't." Both woman noted together.

"Aw…"

"I ask for forgiveness. I shall not target anyone from Amity Park again." Madame Rogue bowed her head. "It is bad for business."

"…Fine." Vision was still angry at the woman, but this was a chance to ease up the threat level in Amity Park. Plus, Madame Rogue was a better friend…or neutral acquaintance…than an enemy.

"Excellent..." Madame Rogue began to retreat into an alley. "Zhank you for accepting my truce. On a note of good faith, I shall leave you with zhis…K and O are about to snipe you."

"What?" Both ghosts formed shield around them and Ragdoll.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Damn!" An African American man wearing pure white body armor with a bunch of built in tech groaned. On the man's chest was a large K.

"I know. Madame Rogue made is so our shots were ineffective." A white man that wore the same armor as his companion grumbled. On this man's chest was a large J.

The ghosts looked up. These two men were on white hover bikes. Both of them had shaved heads and wore black sunglasses. The ghosts recognized these men. They hadn't seen them in a long time.

"Agent K and Agent O…" Plasmius noted.

"What are you doing here?" Vision questioned.

"We are here to get our revenge!" The dark skinned man, Agent K, yelled.

"You ghosts are the reason the Guys in White were disbanded!" The white man, Agent O, proclaimed.

"You were the ones that brought about your own undoing." Vision argued. "You started the war. We just dominated it."

"That doesn't matter!" Agent K gritted his teeth. "The Guys in White were our life! We dedicated ourselves to the cause! And now that's gone! The rest of the agents may have gone to work with other parts of the government, but we couldn't! We decided to get revenge and remain ghost hunters!"

"And we're not alone!" Agent O grinned.

"Dude!" A male voice called out. The owner of the voice rode up close to the ghosts while riding a hover board. The man wore black body armor with motocross helmet, goggles, and green shoulder pads. On the boy's chest was the number '10.' "We're totally going to get back at Phantom and annihilate the ghosts. It's going to be radical, dude!"

"Psh! I'm a girl, moron." A woman rode a hover scooter near the man. She was dressed in a female version the man's armor. Unlike the man's armor, however, the woman had a Q on her chest. "But everything else was right."

The ghosts recognized these two as well. Although, Plasmius hadn't seen them for well over a year. They were a small group once known as the Extreme Ghostbreakers. Vlad hired them a long time ago when he put a bounty on Phantom's head. This happened before the Nasty Burger incident, of course, and Vlad was ashamed of his actions.

Last Plasmius ever of these two, they retired and were training for the X games. They did disappear after the GIW War. It seems they were recruited by K and O to fight ghosts again.

"You all talk too much…" A small weak voice rang out. It shouldn't have carried more than a few meters, but everyone heard it clearly. The voice came from a small girl. In fact, the black haired girl was so small and thin, it was a wonder that she was still alive. She had dark rings around her eyes and wore a black and white leotard with an A on the chest.

All the ghost hunters gained a scared look and mumbled. "Sorry, Ace."

Vision looked at the small girl. For some reason, her maternal instincts and pity were being pushed back. This girl was dangerous. The woman could feel it in her bones. They would have to be careful with her.

"Please, Ace…" Agent O smiled weakly. "Just…bear with us. We just want to get some revenge on the ghosts."

"Don't care." Ace looked over at the agent. His vehicle began to creak a bit. "You promised me you all would play. None of you are any fun anymore…"

"We promise we'll play!" The male Ghostbreaker yelled.

"Yes, all day tomorrow! To celebrate the New Year!" The female Ghostbreaker nodded.

"Fine…" Ace nodded slowly.

"…I understand you four." Plasmius mentioned. "K and O recruited the Ghostbreakers to get revenger. But the girl…"

"Ace is…special." Agent K mentioned. "When the Light recruited us…They stuck us with her."

"We are meant to entertain her." Agent O noted. Ace didn't seem bothered by his words. "It's hard to argue, though. She's just too damn powerful. We knew that with her, we would be unbeatable."

"But she's hard to please sometimes…" The male Ghostbreaker sighed.

"She even forced us to take new names…" The female Ghostbreaker nodded.

"King." Agent K noted.

"Jack." Agent O stated.

"Queen." The female Ghostbreaker spoke.

"Ten." The male Ghostbreaker mentioned.

"And with Ace…We are the Royal Flush Gang."

"A literal dark knight?" Deathstroke laughed. "How many 'Dark Knights' am I going to face in one lifetime?"

"Only two…" Fright Knight unsheathed his blade. "Because this will be your last battle if you do not answer my questions."

"How cocky." Deathstroke unsheathed his own blade. The assassin's blade glowed green. This meant that it was infused with ectoplasm and could probably hurt ghosts. It was also likely that the assassin's guns were ectoplasmic as well. "Speaking as if you can actually kill me…Especially with those injuries."

That was true. The Fright Knight's armor was covered in scratches and dents. He had been fighting and cutting down ghouls and Necromancers. His rage was getting the better of him, and he knew it. He was still upset over the disappearance of Spirit and Dusk. They were in danger, he knew that much. As the servant to his master, Fright Knight could not let this crime against the family stand.

"Where are the secret bunkers?" Fright Knight questioned. He noted that the ghouls and Necromancers gave him space now that he was close to the assassin. This was probably a security function. Crazed ghouls and unfriendly Necromancers were well known to hurt both allies and enemies alike.

"You think I would know anything about that? I just joined the Shadows." Deathstroke mentioned. "I held out for a while, but they offered…a lot of money. As the new guy, I know the least. I do know, however, that you will prove to be an excellent challenge."

"If you know nothing, than I have no purpose with you." Fright Knight prepared to leave. He was quickly stopped when Deathstroke jumped forward and slashed at the knight ghost.

"Sorry, but I can't do that." Deathstroke apologized. "Like I said, I'm the new guy. Can't leave a bad impression by letting someone so dangerous run around. Besides…you will make an excellent puppet."

"Your drivel words and stalling annoy me!" Fright Knight shouted. His purple flaming hair burst around him. "I must save those my Lord cares for, and I won't let you get in my way! If you insist on fighting, then I shall cut you down!"

"Grundy destroy all of you!" Solomon Grundy roared as he grabbed a Necromancer, threw it above his head, and tore it in half. "Huff…pant…huff…"

The Necromancers had really gotten to him. He was bleeding from multiple wounds. His regular endurance and durability proved weaker against Necromancers. It hurt even worse because of Grundy's lack of experience fighting the Necromancers. The brute would fall if things continued at this rate…

"Cough! Ack! Rack!" Grundy held his throat as he inhaled some green gas. "What?"

"Oh…It does affect you…"

Grundy looked up to see the Scarecrow.

"I was waiting until you were weakened." Scarecrow cackled in madness. "After all, a brute cannot feel much fear until he is almost dead."

"You…" Grundy froze as the Scarecrow's image changed into something more demonic. Fear rand through the zombie's veins. He tried to get up, but he felt a hand as large as his head shove him down.

"Stay down, boy." A gravely voice commanded. Killer Croc stood above the downed brute. He had several new scars on him, along with a new tail and set of sharper teeth. The Light had used genetic modification to actually make him more like a crocodile. It made him stronger, faster, and more dangerous. "Straw head, put the chip thing on him already."The bosses wanted him under control."

"Psh! You could do it if your massive hands didn't crush them like bugs…" Scarecrow approached the downed zombie.

"And I'm surprised you can even hold a chip with how you tremble." Killer Croc laughed. "Master of Fear my ass! After what Masters did to you, you're afraid of your own shadow."

"I'm getting better!" Scarecrow snapped. "And I don't need genetic modification for it."

"Say that again, Straw Head." Croc growled. "I had real scars, not your flaky mental ones. I told you that we should have left Masters' kid alone!"

"Coward!"

"Like you're one to talk!"

"I'll kill-"

"RAW!" Wulf charged in and batted Scarecrow away. The werewolf ghost was injured incredibly badly, but he did not let this stop him. "Let him go!"

"You!" Killer Croc glared at the ghost. "You're the one that hurt me before! I'll tear you apart!"

"Stop it!" The green skinned, red-haired woman called Poison Ivy yelled at the top of her longs. "You're killing my babies!"

"Moron! Of course we are!" A blue eyed, blue haired, and blue skinned woman named Killer Frost shouted back. "You're supposed to be across the city with the rest of the Injustice gang of yours."

"Frost…Ivy…" A thick aging man looked over the two woman. This man was Icicle Sr. "Now is not the time for us to fight among ourselves."

"Come on, Pops, I was looking forward to seeing that…" A lanky teen with a layer of ice over his skin and pure white hair referred to as Icicle Jr. groaned.

"Be silent child." Mr. Freeze, a blue skinned man in a metal suit with a dome on the top, chided the teen.

"Ivy…" Captain Cold, a white man wearing completely blue winter clothing, spoke up. "This is our sector. If you want your plants to live, you should go to the other side of the city."

"It's not only that!" Poison Ivy glared. "All of your ice antics continue to put an end to so many plants lives."

"I only ever attack cities…Not a lot of plants there." Captain Cold mentioned.

"Same here." Mr. Freeze nodded.

"Well, I freeze whatever the hell I want, so back off." Killer Frost pushed Poison Ivy away. "And don't act like you can take me. My powers beat yours."

"Frost…" Icicle Sr. sighed.

"You don't think I can't make plants that can handle the cold?" Poison Ivy glared. "I'll have you know…Ah?"

Poison Ivy paused when she saw a look of fear pass over the ice villains. Now, Poison Ivy had a great threat ready, but she hadn't even got a third of it out yet. So, why did they look so scared?

"ROAR!" Frostbite stood directly behind Poison Ivy and roared so loudly that the ground shook.

Smack!

Poison Ivy was smacked away. She was instantly unconscious, even before she hit the ground and started rolling. Frostbite actually held back by a large margin, but the woman would still be hurting after she woke up.

The older ice villains were smart enough to get away from the large yeti creature. Icicle Jr. on the other hand was a teen that had something to prove. It was his blunder with that jerk Superboy that caused the almost sure plan to escape Belle Reve to fail. His dad still glared at him. Junior wanted to make him proud, and what better way to do so than to take down a yeti monster that even the mighty Icicle Sr. ran from?

"Take this!" Junior used his ice powers to blast the yeti with a wave of cold energy. Most people would be instantly frozen. This did not happen to Frostbite.

Frostbite was an ancient ghost that was so skilled he was called the North Wind. Trying to freeze this creature was one of the most useless things a person could try to do. It was effectively like trying to put a fire out with a molotov cocktail. Thus, it was easy to see why Frostbite shrugged off the cold energy as if it were gentle spring breeze.

"Raw!" Frostbite grabbed Junior's head and slammed it into the concrete. Suffice to say, the teen was no longer awake.

"I hate to be rude, Icicle, but your son deserved that." Mr. Freeze mentioned.

"I know…" Icicle Sr. sighed.

"Normally…" Frostbite looked over the four remaining ice villains. "I am disgusted at the thought of attacking woman and children, but you were the ones that came here and threatened to kill the Great One and his family."

"An ice ghost…" Captain Cold mentioned. "I do not think this will favor us if he is immune to ice damage."

"It's still four against one…" Killer Frost did not seem enthused, though.

"It is." Frosbite nodded. His eyes turned arctic blue as blue smoke rose from his body. "But you attack with ice. Tell me, do you think that will be effective against a creature that survived going Absolute Zero with only losing an arm?"

"Azaroth Metrion Zinthos!" Raven shouted. Swirling black and white energy surrounded the Necromancers around the demonic girl. The machines were made out of ectoranium, an anti-ghost element. Luckily, while the metal was incredibly deadly to ectoplasm users, magic users were not weakened by it at all. In fact, ectoranium was incredibly weak to magic. Thus, the machines were easily torn apart by the demonic magic.

"Secret…" White smoke danced around Secret as she blasted several ghouls away. Out of all the ghosts fighting, she had the least amount of experience fighting, so she stayed near Raven for help and protection. Greta dealt with the ghouls while Raven held of the Necromancers.

"Well…Look what I found. The Gem."

The girls turned and see a man that looked almost exactly like Plasmius except for his red body suit and black cape.

"Wotan…" Raven muttered in fear. This was bad. They couldn't be such a powerful sorcerer by themselves…

"To think…The Gem would be hidden here for so long." Wotan glared at her. "I may be a dark sorcerer, but I would prefer not to deal with Trigon the Terrible. His rein of terror could bring an end to me as well as this planet."

"Secret." Greta stared up at the sorcerer.

"The ghosts…won't let that happen." Raven argued. "They promised."

"Girl, they won't even live past today." Wotan raised his hand towards the girls. Magical energy gathered around him. "And neither will you…AGCK!"

Something rammed into Wotan's back. Metal limbs wrapped around the magician's torso. He was then forced to the ground as metal spiders jumped on top of him.

"What the heck is wrong with this city?! I've been waiting for three days for Fenton to show his face, and suddenly World War 3 starts out of nowhere?" Gizmo whined as he landed on the ground. His jet pack instantly retreated into his metal backpack. "What a rip!"

"You…" Raven looked at the boy.

"I was going to leave but…" Gizmo blushed as he looked at the girls. He puffed out his chest and gained a proud look. He was trying to look impressive. "I couldn't leave such pretty girls without any help!"

"…" Raven fought off the urge to insult him. They needed his help. "Thank you."

"No problem! So, what's happening anyway?" Gizmos questioned.

"Secret." Greta noted.

"What? But why keep it a secret if I'm trying to help you?" Gizmo raised an eyebrow.

"Secret."

"But if you don't tell me-"

"Secret is all she can say!" Raven snapped.

"Oh…" Gizmo grinned. "A girl of few words. That's cool."

"Foolish boy!" Wotan used magical energy to destroy his metal assailants. A side effect of the magical outburst was the destruction of a few more Necromancers. "You dare to attack Wotan?"

Gizmo shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"I am supreme sorcerer! I could kill you easily?" Wotan roared.

"Really? That's cool. I can just do this." Gizmos touched a button on his armored tech.

Boom!

"Ah!"

"Put a bomb on you!" Gizmo cackled.

"Fool! Do you even know who you protect?" A smoking Wotan glared. "That girl is a demon that is destined to bring about the end of the world!"

"That sounds hot." Gizmo mentioned.

"Are you an idiot?" Wotan glared.

"No, I'm a guy that does what he wants when he want to." Gizmo stated. "And right now, I want to impress some girls."

"Ah? Mate, what are you supposed be?" Metallo questioned.

"Torch should be asking you that?" Torch stared at the android's half torn off face. "Are you a terminator?"

"Bloody hell, no! I hate when you frikkin a-holes call me that!" Metallo glared.

"Wait! Torch recognizes you from the reports! You tried to kill Fenton!" Torch pointed an accusing finger at the Kryptonite user.

"I did. That did not turn out all that well." Matallo groaned. "Can't blame the kid for fighting back, though. Turns out the Light was impressed enough to offer me and the other captured assassins a job. We'd be stupid not to take it."

"Oh…"

"What about you, mate? Why you dressed like wanna be hipster rapstar?" Metallo questioned.

"Torch is the warden of the Ghost Zone, the strongest fire user in the world, and soon to be known as the greatest fighter to ever live!" Torch struck a pose.

"Ah…I see…" Metallo shrugged. "Whatever. You still look stupid."

"Shut up!" Torch swung his scythe and sent a wave of fire towards Metallo. The android was covered in an all-consuming fire. "There! Now you won't….huh?"

"Idiot…" Metallo walked out of the flames. His fake skin and clothes had burned away to reveal his metal skeleton. "My armor is reinforced to withstand the heat of Superman's heat vision. Fire can't hurt me as long as there isn't a good push behind it like an explosion."

"Huh…Torch sees…" Torch paused for a moment. "Torch has to question why Torch continues to fight androids that have powers that are strong against fire. Is it to push Torch to be stronger?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Never mind…" Torch shook his head. "Torch needs to focus. It's time to see how much heat your armor can really take."

"Ah!" Pandora cried out as a blast of radioactive energy sent her sprawling. The ancient ghost was not doing well. She had quickly responded to the first wave of attacks to the city. She took down dozens of Necromancers and failed ghouls with only a few injuries. Everything seemed to be fine until something else arrived.

"Pandora…" Black Atom glared down at the woman. "From all I heard, I expected more."

"To be fair, we do outnumber her." The white haired ape with a massive bulging brain named Ultra-Humanite mentioned.

"Plus the Necromancers and the ghouls tired her somewhat. Not to mention that we started with a sneak attack." Atomic Skull, a dehydrated looking man wearing a yellowish-green costume and a black helmet with goggles, mentioned.

"It's still no excuse." Black Atom frowned at his allies. "I was expecting a challenge, not a weak woman."

"Gah...You are members of the Injustice League." Pandora noted as she began to push herself up. "Are you all here for revenge?"

"Well, everyone refuses to work with Joker anymore. He doesn't listen to anything anyone says. And Vertigo is in the bad graces of the Light after what happened during the ice fortress fiasco." Ultra-Humanite stated politely.

"Don't be so polite to the enemy." Atomic Skull rolled his eyes.

"She is a lady, and what kind of gentlemen would I be if I was rude to her before she died?" The ape questioned.

"A stupid one." Black Atom snorted.

Pandora realized that she needed help. These three were a dangerous force. As far as she knew, though, no one was around to help her. Originally, she had Nyx with her, but they were separated earlier. The girl could be anywhere…

"Kitty!" Nyx glomped onto Cheetah.

"Stupid girl, get off of me!" Cheetah pulled at the girl. She couldn't get her off, though.

"Kitty!"

"Raw!" Cheetah clawed at Nyx, but the girl moved from her stomach to her back, and the hybrid woman ended up scratching herself.

"Kitty!"

"What is wrong with you?!"

"We could just leave her. Let the Necromancers finish her off." Ultra-Humanite suggested. "That was the original plan given to all the villains in this city if they could not control the ghosts, right? Weaken the ghosts and let the Necromancers do the rest?"

Pandora's eyes narrowed. That was a good strategy. A first wave of Necromancers and ghouls would weaken them. Then, the villains would exhaust them so that they couldn't fend off another wave of Necromancers and ghouls. With that strategy, the ghosts may very well lose this day.

"That's no fun." Black Adam grabbed Pandora by the throat and dragged her forward. "I want to see just what a ghost's brain looks like. Let's break open her skull."

"Whatever, just be quick." Atomic Skull shrugged.

"Uneducated brute." Ultra-Humanite sighed. "We could have just used the Starro tech on her, but you had to break them..."

"It's not my fault their fragile!"

"But it is your fault that you are an idiot without common sense or knowledge."

"Don't worry, I'm about to increase my knowledge on anatomy-"

Boom!

"Ah!" Black Adam was sent flying into a building and caused it to crumble.

"Don't hurt her." Youngblood lowered his peg leg as it shifted back from a canon to a regular wooden limb.

"Youngblood!" Pandora shouted now that she was free from Black Adam. "Be careful! These enemies are powerful!"

"Don't worry, I'm not alone. The reason I was gone for so long was because I was prepping my crew, right, Polly?" Youngblood grinned.

"Rack! You are correct." Polly nodded.

All the adults looked up as a massive pirate ship floated above them. It opened fire on the city below and began to destroy Necromancers and ghouls alike.

"Woah…Didn't see that coming." Atomic Skull mentioned.

"A pirate ghost ship…" Ultra-Humanite tilted his head. "I don't know whether to scoff at the cliché, or marvel at the strange sight."

Cassandra overlooked Amity Park from Fenton Works. The city was already in a crumbling state and the battles hadn't been going on that long. They were safe because the shields were on around the building. The villains didn't seem to care too much, though. They weren't even trying to get here.

This made sense because of the Light's new partnership with Fenton. It was best to avoid this building so not to jeopardize that. Fenton probably didn't care about the city or the people very much, though, based on the fact that he was never seen interacting with the people. In fact, he was probably hidden away in Masters Mansion right now.

"Damn…" Victor Stone hissed as he stood beside her. "It looks like hell out there."

"I'm sure it is." Cassandra nodded.

"I wish I could do more, but…" Victor sighed. "I can't fight."

"That's better than my excuse." Cassandra noted. "I have to guard my mom."

"Well, your mom does look tough." Victor noted. "Mine on the other hand…"

He looked over to his parents. They, like the other adults were by the machines trying to get them to work. It wasn't like they could help even if the machines did work, though.

"The Stones…I read something about them once in a report on Amity Park." Cassandra mentioned. "They are geniuses."

"Yeah… they are." Victor nodded. "I guess that's their purpose...I'm not like them, and I get the feeling your different from your mom. So, what's our purpose in all this?"

"Who knows. Fate surely has…" Cassadra whirled around and threw some shuriken a the entrance to the room.

Clang!

"Woof! Woof woof!" Cujo jumped up from his spot and began to bark at the intruder. The puppy shifted into his attack form. He had been left to defend the humans just in case something happened.

"Nicely done, Cass…" Ravager noted after she blocked the blades.

"A little girl?" Angela Roth blinked.

"How did you get in here?" Silas Stone questioned.

"I hid in the building before the shield was raised." Ravager looked across the room. "Ah, there you are, Shiva."

"…I see. You have been sent to kill me." Shiva noted.

"Indeed. The Light does not take kindly to being betrayed." Ravager began to walk to her, only to stop when Cassandra got in her way.

"I won't let you do that." Cassandra glared.

"Round two then?" Ravager seemed pleased by this development.

"No." Harriet stood and pointed an ectoplasmic pistol at the girl. "Stand down. There will be no fighting in here."

"…Hehehe…" Ravager shook her head. "So you are that stupid…I'm glad I brought these guys then."

The girl pulled a thermos off her belt and opened it. Ghouls poured out and began to spread out throughout the room. They're first target was Cujo. The poor dog was outnumbered.

"Now…" Ravanger turned to Cassandra again. She ignored he chaos in the room. "Back to our fight."

Crash!

Spirit was flung into a nearby group of cages. The metal bent as she was thrown with steel shattering force. The girl had to peal herself from the bent metal and onto the floor. She groaned as she pushed herself up to her feet. "Ow…"

Things had not been going well. Walker was dominating in the fight. His blows were devastating and his speed was surprisingly fast. Spirit could barely keep up.

"Ah…" Spirit clutched her left arm close to her. It felt broken. "Crap…"

"Hahahaha!" Walker sneered at the girl. "What's wrong girl? Hurt?"

Yes she was. Green blood was pouring down her face from the cut on the top of her head. She wasn't going to admit that, though. "In your dreams…"

"Okay, let's make it reality!" Walker rushed forward.

'Run forward. Hammer strike down. Crush girls.' Spirit's Premonition spoke to her. The girl listened and rolled to the side.

Walker's blow, however, shook the ground and caused Spirit to stumble. Thus, she couldn't follow her Premonition's instructions as Walker rushed in again. Walker grabbed Spirit by her leg and swung her around. He smacked her into the ground multiple times and used her as a bat to crush a few more of the cages.

"Ugh…" Spirit groaned as Walker stopped. The ex-warden lifted her up so he could look her in the eyes…well, eye. Her right eye was completely swollen shut.

"You lose little girl." Walker grinned. "Any last words?"

"…I won't give up…" Spirit groaned. She began to move her arms, but was stopped when Walker flipped her around and grabbed her throat with his left hand.

"That was a stupid choice of words." Walker stated as he began to squeeze her neck to the point of shattering.

Dusk swung around a bo infused with ectoplasm. As the bow swung, it left a trail of ectoplasm. This was used to block the hundreds of beams being shot at him. As he did this, the halfa slowly walked forward to the machine. He was inching closer to the Matter Make machine every few seconds.

This was a slow and exhausting process, though. Dusk could feel his stamina starting to run out. It would be easier to try to create a regular energy shield around him, but he wouldn't be able to move while doing so. He had to get to that machine.

At this rate, though, he would never make it. If he ran out of energy and continued to try to fight, he would become destabilized and dissolve. His relaxing time in Amity Park made his stabilization a minor issue, but now it might play a factor in his failure.

…Or at least that's what he though until a beam made it through the shield and hit his leg. The boy's Numbing ability made it so the blow did not hurt, but the damage was still there. Dusk tumbled to the ground and dropped his bo.

That was when the real damage began.

The various beams of anti-ecotplasm wave energy rained down on him. Before he could do anything, he was already covered in more injuries than he could count. His Numbing ability quickly was pushed to the limit by the anti-ectoplasm beams, and Dusk felt agony rushed through him.

"AAAAHHHH!" Dusk yelled out in pain as he was covered in burns. He quickly lost the energy to even scream, though, as he was beaten down. In a few moments, it all stopped. Mirror Master stopped his attack and looked at the boy.

Burnt and beaten to a bloody mess, Dusk lie on the ground unmoving.

"Gack! Couch! Ack!" Phantom coughed into his hand. His body trembled in fatigue and pain, despite the comfort of the Supercycle's seat.

"Danny? Are you alright?" Artemis questioned. She was currently using her arching skills to push back their pursuers.

…

"Ah!" Plasmius cried out as a blast of ectoplasmic energy rammed into his back. The four flying members of the Royal Flush Gang had ganged up on him. His skill and power had helped him survive, but the numbers game, intense training the gang members went through, and extremely powerful weapons quickly overcame him.

"No!" Vision cried out as she saw from the corner of her eye as her fiancé was beaten down. She tried to divide her attention, but this girl…She was too strange. Vision didn't know, that was what caused her downfall. She had no data on Ace. That was why she foolishly looked Ace in the eyes and was hit by a wave of madness and agony that overcame her. And that was all from one look.

Ace looked down at her. Her eyes swirled. Vision felt her skin melt and the world begin to close in on her. It was just like when Vision was a little girl all alone in the world. 'Who is this girl?'

…

"No…" Phantom sat up. "My ectoplasmic boosts have worn off."

"What does that mean?" Kaldur questioned as he used water collected from the clouds to send out blasts of water to their chasers.

…

"Gack!" Fright Knight spit out blood as his armor was pierced and a sword dug into his skin.

"An injured and angry foe is a weak foe." Deathstroke noted. "This was a disappointment. I expected more from a dark knight."

…

"It means that I won't be able to fight anymore. I'm useless." Phantom groaned.

"You're not useless." Superboy frowned as he drove the Supercycle. The Bioship was not far away from them. They were both flying away from the League. Zatara was carrying Black Canary on a magic platform of energy. Captain Marvel was flying toward the Bioship. Superman and Dr. Fate were both heading straight to the Supercyle. Artemis and Aqualad were trying to keep them back, but the duo of mind controlled Leaguers was gaining.

"It's true, though…" Phantom sighed. "I can't do anything anymore to help."

"You can lead!" Aqualad shouted. "Give us instructions!"

…

Wulf thrashed around in pain as Killer Croc punched him to the ground. One blow had broken some of his ribs. The crocodile man was so much stronger than before. Wulf hadn't expected this and was taken by surprise. He was quickly beaten down as Solomon Grundy trembled nearby in fear.

"Stupid mut." Killer Croc then bit down on the werewolf's shoulder. Blood poured out of the wound as Wulf cried out in pain.

"AAAAHHHH!"

…

"Right…" Phantom nodded. He mentally spoke. 'Zatanna, when Captain Marvel gets close, use your magic to get him to say Shazam. Rocket, make sure to catch him as he falls. Red Huntress, use a sneak attack on Zatara. All you need to do is cover his mouth and most of his magic will be stopped. Black Canary will jump over here, Superboy use Sphere to electrocute her as soon as she gets here.'

'What about Doctor Fate and Superman?' M'gann questioned.

'I'll deal with them.'

…

Crack!

Mr. Freeze smashed his ice gun against Frostbite's head. The yeti clutched his head in pain and couldn't react as Killer Frost created ice spikes and threw them into the yeti's back. "AH!"

"Stay down, beast!" Icicle Sr. kicked out Frostbite's knees. While their normal tactics of freezing their enemies didn't work, the ice villains still could win by using physical force and their superior numbers.

"Raw!" Frostbite swiped at Captain Cold as the man tried to charge in. He could still fight. This wasn't over yet.

…

'How?' Robin questioned. 'You just said that you can't fight.'

'I can't, but I can buy you time.'

'What does that mean?' Rocket questioned.

'NO!' Kid Flash knew what he meant. 'Not again! Don't do a Doctor Fate thing again!'

…

"Let go-AAAAAAHHHHHH!" Gizmo yelled in torture. Magical electricity ran through his body.

"Secret…" Greta was about to charge in, but was stopped when Wotan blasted her back.

"Stupid children. Getting in my way." Wotan growled as he tortured the boy in his arms. "Now, you'll die too. All for a stupid, useless waste of space demon that doesn't even deserve to exist."

"Shut up…" Raven glared from her spot. She had been beaten back like Secret.

"What a pathetic way to die." Wotan noted. "Sacrificing yourself so that something so pathetic can live."

"Shut up!" Raven trembled in rage.

"Of course, all the ghosts in the city will die fighting for a pointless cause." Wotan laughed. "What a truly moronic group of people."

"Shut up!" Raven roared. Red and black energy rolled around her in waves. Her eyes turned red and divided into four demonic slits. Her teeth became sharp like knives. The girl lunged at Wotan, causing him to throw Gizmo away to defend himself.

Greta shook in fear at the image of Raven. "Secret!" In a panic, Secret turned invisible and ran away from the demon.

"You stupid little girl! Giving into the demon so easily!" Wotan used his magic to shove her back. Raven was relentless, though. She continued to try to kill the sorcerer.

Bang!

Until she was shot in the shoulder that is.

"Bullseye." Deadshot noted from his rooftop perch.

…

'I'm sorry, but there's no other choice.' Phantom stated. 'Superman and Doctor Fate are too powerful to take on right now. Some of us will die if we fight up here. They're only after me, though. If they get me, then you can get away.'

…

Boom!

"Damn!" Torch shouted out as the blast of radioactive energy slammed into his chest. He was forced back as he clutched his chest.

While Torch was injured, Metallo was perfect. His scythe and fire attacks didn't do anything to his armor. It was probably upgraded to fight against ghosts and ectoplasmic weaponry after what happened with Fenton. Thus, the android was still in perfect condition.

"Told you, mate." Metallo's metal face grinned. "I'm an enemy you can't beat."

…

"No!" Artemis roared out loud. "There has to be another way!"

'There isn't. All of you need to get away. The League has fallen. Amity Park is about to…I can feel it.' Phantom smiled sadly. 'This world needs you to protect it. I need you to protect it.'

…

"Get off me!" Cheetah roared. She finally got a hold of Nyx and flung her way.

"Ow." Nyx clutched her bleeding side. "You're a bad kitty…"

"I am sick of people from Amity Park!" Cheetah roared as she rushed forward to the bleeding girl.

…

'But…" Zatanna argued weakly.

'No. No arguing.' Phantom ordered. 'I won't be able to do anything in my state right now other than help you get away. If I don't do this, then we lose.'

'We can't leave you…not again.' Robin noted.

'You can and you will.'

…

"Stop moving!" Youngblood stated to Black Adam with a swing of a sword.

"Fine." Black Adam caught the blade in his right hand. It was crushed in an instant. The magical brawler then followed up with a punch to Youngblood's child face. The child's face caved in and teeth flew out.

"Youngblood!" Pandora cried out in concern for the child. This slip in attention allowed Atomic Skull to blast her in a wave of energy though. She was quickly covered in radioactive energy.

…

'You won't be alone.' Phantom noted. 'There are others. I didn't want to bring them into this if I didn't have too…but there's no choice anymore. Also, go to S.T.A.R. Labs and get the cure for the mind control. I already sent out the calls. Be fast. Amity Park won't last much longer.'

…

"Cassandra! Run now!" Shiva yelled. "She's stronger than you!"

"No!" Cassandra dodged Ravager's blows. She went in to attack the other girl but was kicked back.

"You should have listened to her." Ravager noted. She held her blade against Cassandra's neck. "Because I'm going to kill you."

…

'Danny.' Superboy looked back and frowned at his friend. 'I…We will come back for you. We will save everyone. That's a promise.'

'Thank you.' Phantom smiled. 'And goodbye.'

Gathering everything he had, using all the will he had in his body, Phantom lunged himself out of the Supercycle. He surged towards Superman and Doctor Fate like a blazing comet.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!

Boom!

…

"That was a stupid choice of words." Walker stated as he began to squeeze her neck to the point of shattering.

…

Phantom was lying broken on the ground. He did not move. After bursting into Superman and Doctor Fate, the halfa fell hundreds of feet and crashed into the ground. His body was far too tired to move anymore.

The teen was still conscious, though. Thus, he heard as a pair of two landed next to him. Anyone else would have been terrified. He was about to lose his free will after all. Nevertheless, he was calm. He had faith that this wouldn't be the end of him.

He may be defeated now, but he will be redeemed.

…

Burnt and beaten to a bloody mess, Dusk lie on the ground unmoving.

…

They would save him. They would save everyone. He knew this. He trusted them completely.

Superman knelt down and held a piece of Starro tech above Phantom's neck.

'I leave my obsession in your hands…'

With that, the mind control device was placed on Phantom. His pupils widened as his free will was taken from him.

Danny Phantom was now a puppet of the Light.