Chapter 27: Blackest Night

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"Sometimes when you're overwhelmed by a situation - when you're in the darkest of darkness - that's when your priorities are reordered."

Phoebe Snow

Chapter 27: "Blackest Night"

(Sunday-May 18, 2014)

Mal groaned as he slipped back into consciousness. Oddly enough, he was extremely comfortable. It was like he was floating on air. He wasn't kidding. There was literally nothing underneath him. Cracking his eyes open, Mal was shocked at what he saw.

He was floating in a strange place. There was no ground to be seen, and the sky was anything but blue. All around the man was an area of swirling colors and spinning flowers. For a second, Mal thought that he could be high, but his focused mindset proved that inclination incorrect. It was then that Mal remembered what happened.

Sitting, up Mal yelled out, "Jericho!"

He was immediately greeted with the sight of a man with long blond hair. The strange man was covered in purple and white robes. Clear green eyes lifted up from the guitar in his hands to look up at Mal. Smiling, Jericho waved cheerfully before turning his attention back to his instrument.

Mal just blinked, "You…You're Jericho, right?"

Jericho nodded.

"What happened? Where did you take me…and why?" Mal demanded.

Jericho paused as if he was thinking. Raising a single hand up. He began to write in the air, the color around him flowing with his finger to complete his writing.

'You wanted the horn, so I brought you here.'

Mal frowned, "Can't talk or something?"

Jericho erased the writing and made another sentence, 'I took a vow of silence to make up for past sins.'

Mal raised an eyebrow. This man didn't seem capable of committing sins worthy of a vow of silence, "What did you do?"

'Not me. My father. You probably have heard of him. Slade Wilson.'

Mal's eyes widened, "Your dad is Deathstroke the Terminator?!"

Jericho nodded, 'My real name is Joseph Wilson, but please just call me Jericho.'

"Well…Deathstroke's got a lot of sins to make up for…" Mal stroked his chin, "What about Rose, though?"

Jericho tensed up, 'My sister…When I originally decided to leave, she was very young. Father would not let me near her. I had to leave her to he own journey.'

"I see…But…You don't look too much older than her."

'This is the Realm of Inner Peace. Nirvana. True inner enlightenment. We are ageless here.'

"Okaaaaaaaaaaaay…" Mal frowned, "So how do we get out of here?"

'The Horn of Gabriel.'

"Right. And how do I get that?"

'Inner peace.'

"Well, that's helpful…" Mal noted, "How do I get that?"

Jericho shrugged.

"Well, how did you get it?"

Jericho shrugged again, 'Meditating?'

"And how long will that take?"

'More time than we have really.'

"What does that mean?"

'Oh, I forgot. You're not in tune with the flow of the universe. Sorry. It's simple really. All life in the universe will come to an end in the next 24 hours.'

"Okay!" Superboy groaned as he held what appeared to be a large battery. It was shaking violently, but his strength allowed him to hold onto the strange device. Hoping off of the Supercycle version of Sphere, Superboy placed the battery down to avoid getting electrocuted. Wolf leaned in to sniff the battery, only to back away and growl, "I got it!"

"You feel good about yourself, little boy?" Electricity sparked from the battery as a feminine voice sounded from it, "The two of you against one poor woman. Real tough guys."

Superman landed by the Kryptonian clone, "Livewire, you were trying to take over the city's power grid and hold the city hostage. Don't try to take the moral high ground."

"Oh, please just send me to jail," Livewire begged, "That's so much better than listening to the boy scout's lecture."

"Trust me, I know," Superboy nodded. He then noticed that Superman was glaring at him, "Just kidding, Kal-El."

"Uh huh..." Superman didn't look convinced, "Let's take get her to the police. We'll...Huh?"

Both Kryptonians looked up in surprise to see various heroes flying overhead above the city of Metropolis. Almost the entire Justice League seemed to be approaching them. Those that couldn't fly were being carried by a platform created by the Green Lanterns. Soon, all of them had landed around the Kryptonians in the somewhat empty streets. A lot of the populace had cleared out from the large street where they had just been fighting Livewire. Some of the civilians did stick around to watch, though, and with the fighting done, the others were slowly returning causing whispers to spread out about all the heroes in the area.

"We got your message, Superman," Batman stepped up the alien, "Where's the alien hive?"

"Um...Alien hive?" Superboy gave his adopted brother a surprised look.

Superman shrugged, "Uh, Batman. I really don't know what you're talking about."

Wonder Woman frowned, "We heard your communication fifteen minutes ago. You said you discovered a massive alien hive and needed as much backup as possible."

Superman shook his head, "That's not possible. We've been chasing Livewire around for the better part of a half an hour. Her powers make communication through the coms impossible. Too much static from her electricity."

Martian Manhunter's eyes narrowed, "Then if you didn't do it...then someone must have hacked our communication system. Was it to get us away from the Watchtower?"

"No. It was to get you all here."

To the League's surprise, a large black dome popped up to completely cover the city. As the civilians began to panic, a thick black fog began to spread out through the streets. The natural sunlight was blocked out, leaving only artificial light to give them sight through the blackness, although the Green Lanterns did help give enough light to see around them. This allowed them to see a dark figure rise out from the black fog.

"Hello, Justice League," Nekron smiled at them and lifted his massive scythe over his shoulders, "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm sure you've heard of me. I am called Nekron the Reaper."

"You kind of look like...Danny," Superboy noted. There were a lot of differences between this man and the clone's best friends, but there were enough similarities to get the comparison.

"Oh, Conner, that's because I've taken over your friend's body," Nekron's voice came out with a gentle fondness to it. This statement shocked the League to its core.

"Liar!" Superboy shouted, "Danny would never submit to you!"

"Well, it did help that we have the same connection to death. Plus, all the energy I've gained through your little adventures this past year," Nekron chuckled, "He didn't really stand a chance."

"So after regaining a body, you hack our communication system and gather us all here?" Captain Atom scoffed, "That's a pretty stupid plan. We're an entire league of heroes. Why let us work together at all?"

"You...you are the guardians of this planet. Everyone looks to you as their gods. When I defeat you, the entire planet will know that it's the end. They will panic, and I will relish in their screams," Nekron explained.

"That's assuming that you even stand a chance against us."

"Oh, I don't assume..." Nekron disappeared. Once again, the League were completely shocked when he appeared right in the middle of them. His fist had punched its way right through Captain Atom's chest, "I know that none of you stand a chance!"

Black energy blasted of Nekron, shoving all the heroes away. Many of them flew into the buildings that lined the sides of the roads. As for Captain Marvel, the radiation in his body began to leak out. Seeing that he was about to be caught up in a nuclear explosion, Nekron manipulated his energy and used it to smother the radioactive energy. In an instant, all of Captain Atom's energy was suppressed and stolen, causing his living suit to the crumble to the ground like a discarded sock.

"One down! Who wants to go next?!"

"Wulf!" Spirit shouted while chasing after the animalistic ghost. They raced over the rooftops. Despite her fast speed, Wulf always stayed ahead of her. This did nothing to stop the halfa, though, "Wait!"

"Spirit!" Cyborg and Youngblood raced after the halfa girl. Like the two ghosts in front of them, they couldn't close the distance, "Wait! It has to be a trap!"

Spirit ignored them and continued forward with her eyes completely set on Wulf. Her last memory of the deceased ghost was still fresh on her mind. For a split second, she could feel his blood splattering on her face once more.

"Dammit!" Youngblood pointed his hook forward Spirit. The hook split apart to allow a green net to jump out and smash into the young woman. Caught up in the ecto-net, Spirit crashed down to the roof below her. Cyborg instantly landed next to his girlfriend and began to untangle her.

"Sorry," Cyborg held onto the halfa to keep her from flying off again, "But we can't let you go."

"But Wulf…" Spirit looked to where Wulf was flying off.

"He isn't real. I know this is a sensitive topic for you, but I was there," Youngblood floated above them and shifted his hook into a blade, "He died. Ghosts don't come back from that. Whatever that was, it just looked like Wulf."

"Right…" Spirit took a deep breath and relaxed. Seeing this, Cyborg released the woman, "But…that means that someone not only abused Wulf's image…They also know about what happened to him."

"There are plenty of ways they could find out," Cyborg noted, "Cameras. Spies. Rumors. Hell, Madame Rogue knew how he—"

"RAW!"

A giant mass of muscles landed into them. Only Youngblood managed to avoid getting hit. Before any of them could identify what it was that had landed on them, it grabbed Spirit and Cyborg and jumped of the roof. It landed onto the street below creating a panic among the populace.

Anger flashing, Spirit prepared to turn intangible but froze when she saw who was holding her, "Grundy?!"

The hulking mass of muscles growled at her. His ripped vest was open to reveal his white pale torso. This continued up his head. A thick jaw, frowning brow, and hair were all white as snow. The only thing not white on the man besides his dark clothing was his glowing green eyes.

Taking advantage of the lack of reaction, Solomon Grundy pulled them both up and slammed them into the ground repeatedly. He only stopped when Youngblood floated down behind him to stab him through the chest. Roaring in pain, Grundy tossed his original two targets away and reached behind his back to grab the forever young ghost. Shocked by the lack of effect from his attack and the pain from being grabbed to tightly by the zombie, Youngblood could do nothing when Grundy flipped him onto the ground and began to violently beat him.

Crashing into the side of a building, Cyborg quickly forced himself to recover. Shifted his arm into a sonic cannon, he tried to take aim to hit the zombie. His shot was paused, though, when he saw Spirit being contained by a bubble of black energy. As he used that split second to decide who to save first, someone took advantage of his distraction. Wulf burst through the wall behind Cyborg and used his claws to cut through Cyborg's arm.

Shouting from the pain, Cyborg clutched at his wound allowing a combination of blood and oil to seep through his fingers. Wulf once again used the distraction to his advantage. He repeatedly stabbed his claws into Cyborg, tearing through both metal and flesh.

"No!" Spirit tried to force her way through the energy bubble but failed, "Vic! Chuck!"

"Look at what happens to people who get close to you," Nocturne floated down next to the halfa. His ring was pointed right at the energy bubble to give it extra concentration and energy, "They all suffer and die."

"Nocturne!" Spirit hissed, "Let me go and fight me for real."

"I'd be glad to, but orders are orders," Nocturne grinned as large green beings known as Sleep Walkers popped out of the ground and surrounded the area to prevent any outside interference, "The agent Delirium must not be given a chance to survive."

Spikes popped out from inside of the bubble. Spirit was force to curl up to avoid getting impaled.

"But I would be lying if I said that I wasn't going to enjoy this."

Dusk held up a massive Reflection Shield to cover himself and his two companions. He managed to craft the shield right before the flames had hit them, so his friends had been saved from a fiery demise. Nevertheless, another problem immediately popped up. Though his shield was big enough to protect them, the stream of flames was far larger than the shield. Purple flames laced with the black aura of Aragon's ring poured them like an unstoppable river of lava.

What was worse was the fact that the flames seemed to be so hot that they were constantly melting his weapon. Dusk was forced to pour a constant flow of ectoplasm into the shield to keep it stable. This combined with his lack of sleep made the halfa feel incredibly weak and unstable. Aragon seemed to having no such issues, though. His stream of fire wasn't slowing down in the slightest. The combination of the dragon amulet and Black Lantern ring was too ridiculously strong.

While Dusk held the shield up, the women behind him desperately tried to come up with a plan to get out of the situation. Unfortunately, neither of them could past the flames. The intensity of the heat was so great that the Amazon felt her skin burn slightly from just being near them. Bumblebee looked ready to pass out from the intensity of the fire, though.

"Uhn…" Dusk collapsed to one knew. Sweat poured down his shaking body, "I can't…hold it…"

"I know," Troia cradled the gasping Bumblebee, "But I don't know what I can do. If I enter the flames…"

"Right…" Dusk narrowed his eyes to prevent sweat from impairing his vision, "I have…an idea…"

"What is it?"

"I…drop the shield…you use me…to stop fire… then you two fly away…"

"NO!" Troia looked insulted, "I would never leave a friend behind!"

"Please…" Dusk huffed in exhaustion, "I'm…going to die…anyway…let me save you…"

"But…"

Dusk began to cry, "Let me save…one friend…Jason…would want you to live…"

Troia began to tear up herself, "He'd want thee to live too! I won't leave thee!"

"Then do it…for Karin…"

"Please don't make me do this! I hate this! I hate being a hero!" Troia protested, "Why must we always suffer!? We're only trying to save people!"

Dusk shook his head, "I don't know…please leave…"

"No! I refuse!" Troia clutched Karin close, "I REFUSE! Please! Someone help us! If you can hear me Athena…Artemis…Hera…Zeus…anyone! Please save us!"

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAR!"

Her prayers were answered. Another massive dragon rammed into Aragon forcing the steam of flames to stop. Felling the fire stop, Dusk dropped his weapon and collapsed into an exhausted heap. Before he could fall into the flames, though, they were suppressed by the combination of Torch and Ember's control.

"Hey!" Torch landed by Dusk to check on him, "You alright, Dusk?"

"Yeah…I'm just tired…" Dusk struggled to stay awake.

"I'll take them away," Ember floated next to her brother, "You help Dora."

"Right—"

Torch was silenced when a burned and bleeding Dora in dragon form crashed down on the burning church. The entire building collapsed under the dead weight of the dragon. Above them, Aragon floated menacingly. His entire body was now covered in black armor that only enhance his already deadly abilities as a dragon.

"Finally!" Aragon rolled his eyes, "I was waiting so long for you to show up! I even sent the weak monsters so you wouldn't get slowed down, yet not get enough time to come up with a plan! Once again, I overestimate how useless you are, though, Dora!"

Dora looked up weakly, "B-brother…"

"Now, I can kill you and complete my mission," Aragon roared, "Now just to make sure the agent of Destruction and the Amazon don't run, let's go somewhere that they'll refuse to leave! Tell me, Donna Troy, have you wanted to see your home burn!?"

A black portal immediately opened up beneath the downed ghosts and heroes. Dark hands reached down and began to pull them into the darkness. Seeing what was about to happen, Troia threw Bumblebee into the air letting her avoid getting pulled into the darkness. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the other members of the group. They were all gone in an instant just like the floating form of Aragon.

After Bumblebee hit the ground, silence rang throughout the area. This only lasted a moment, though. Soon, thunder and lightning began to crash throughout the area. A gravelly voice called out over the sounds of the weather.

"HELLO…huff…GHOST ZONE! DID YOU…huff…MISS ME!?"

Nekron quickly learned who wanted to go next. Sphere the Supercycle flew above him and sent down a barrage of bullets down at Nekron. At the same time, Wolf jumped up behind him and tried to bite into his shoulder. Both of the two pets of Young Justice were defeated in quick fashion. Flicking both of his hands, Nekron sent out two different attacks. An arc from his scythe nearly cut Sphere in two and sent it crashing uselessly into a building. Meanwhile, Wolf was flicked away with a burst of black energy and sent flying into a car. Neither pet rose from their landings.

With the pets down, the far range combat experts in the League opened fire at the ghost. Explosives and energy blasts flew in from every direction to Nekron. With a bored look, the ghost of death just stood there. All the weapons and energy attacks slammed useless into the energy aura around him. Nothing even got close to him.

As the energy and weapons died down, the better hand to hand fighters rushed at Nekron. Wonder Woman lunged from once side with a sword raised high. Black Canary flew in from the other side with her fists ready. Still looking bored, Nekron blocked be combinations with one arm each. Then, Martian Manhunter appeared in front of the ghost of death. With his expression never changing, he brought a leg us and used that to block with the barrage of punches the alien sent at him.

With the calmness of a grown man holding back three children, Nekron just stood there and blocked the attacks. His limbs moved in a flurry of motion, but he didn't seemed strained in the slightest. Even as he pushed them away and flash froze the ground with a blast of black and blue energy, Nekron didn't even blink.

"Woah!" The Flash cried out in shock as he lost his traction. He had been aiming to hit Nekron's open backside, but the ice caused him to slide wildly to the Reaper. The speedster ran straight into a kick that shattered his nose and sent him crashing backwards. The speedster's head slammed against the ice which shattered from the force of the man landing on it. Blood running down his face, the Flash lie prone and defeated from Nekron's nonchalant efforts.

Nekron yawned, "Should I make this easier for you? I can take a nap if you want."

The League's response was to send the Green Lanterns forward to take control. Three different beams of willpower energy fired down at Nekron. They met the aura of black and attempted to push through it. This proved to be as fruitful as their last attacks, but for some reason, the Green Lanterns found that they couldn't stop their beams. Their own rings refused to obey their commands.

Nekron's eyes lazy looked to each Green Lantern. Hal Jordan…John Stewart…Guy Gardner…Interesting. They were all very talented at what they did, but they were nothing special. Rolling his eyes, Nekron controlled his energy to rush down the beams of the energy. To everyone's fear and shock, the black energy wrapped around the Green Lanterns and began to crush them. After a few seconds of crying in agony, they slumped into unconsciousness.

The Reaper used the energy beams to flick the beaten Lanterns away. Nekron once again gave them all a lazy look, "Was that a yes? Nap time it is then. Wake me up when you're ready to give me an actual challenge."

"Get to the Bioship!" Zatanna shouted out as she and her friends ran into the hanger. Her magic provide a ball of light to guide them to their destination. When they saw the Bioship, though, she let the spell drop because the ship jumped to life and lit up the darkened area.

Turning to the entrance of the hanger, the magician cried out, "Kcolb eht rood!"

The metal and earth around the entrance instantly collapsed. Just as they fell, the strange monster that had been attacking to them appeared in the magician's vision. Two of the creatures were crushed under the rubble. The others began to ram themselves against the rock and metal. Based on how the rubble was shaking, Zatanna figured that the blockade would only hold for a few precious seconds.

With her job done, Zatanna turned and ran to the ship. Just as she made it to the ramp entrance of the ship, the creatures burst through the rubble. They charged forward wildly. Luckily, the ship entrance closed before they could get inside. With a shake, the Bioship rose into the air and fired its guns at the hanger door to give them an escape route.

Despite the creatures clinging and clawing at the ship, M'gann managed to steer the Martian transport out of the hanger and into the open air. Even as the ship cut through the air like a knife, the creatures still clung to the ship as if it were their lifeline. Before the heroes could come up with a plane to get the creatures off of them, red lights began to blare through the ship.

"No! They're turning intangible and getting into the ship!" Miss Martian gasped in horror, "They must be ghosts!"

As soon as the Martian said those words, the strange black creatures entered through the wall like there was nothing there at all. Beast Boy immediately acted by turning into a tiger and lunging at them. He managed to take one down and rip it apart, but he never got the chance to attack a second one. The monsters tackled the green tiger and began to tear into him just like he had done to their brother.

"Gar!" Zatanna shouted. She prepared an attack of her own but never got the chance to unleash it. The monsters were on her just as quickly as they had tackled Beast Boy.

"No…" Miss Martian tried to divide her attention between pushing back the beasts lunging at her and keeping control of the ship. It seemed like the monsters knew that the Bioship was alive and were doing everything they could to injure her enough to ground her, "Come on, girl! You can—Damn it let go!"

The division of her concentration allowed the monsters to maul at her like the others on the ship. Without Miss Martian's control, the ship began to spin wildly. It stayed in the air for a bit, before it came crashing down right in the middle of Happy Harbor, Rhode Island.

"Cassandra! Cass, wake up!"

Cassandra awoke to the feeling of someone shaking her shoulder. The masculine voice stirred her memory, "D-Dad?"

"No, Cass. It's Dick. I need you to wake up."

Opening her eyes, Cassandra saw that the voice spoke to the truth. Richard knelt over her downed form. Despite the aches Cassandra felt across her body and most specifically on her face, Richard looked far worse. His clothes were torn all over, revealing the dozens of gashes and bruises across his body. That wasn't all, though.

"You're shot," Cassandra eyed his bleeding arm.

"Yeah, your dad's a really good aim," Richard tried to ignore the searing pain in his bicep.

"My parents…" Cassandra remembered what happened, "They attacked us…but they're dead…Are they ghosts?"

"Maybe," Richard shrugged, "But I doubt that they're the real deal. They wouldn't attack you otherwise. Someone must have copied or cloned them."

"Damn it," Rage flooded through Cassandra's chest, "I'll kill that person who did that."

Richard decided to ignore that, "Worry about that later. We need to get to the Batcave ASAP."

Cassandra looked around the room that Richard had managed to drag her too from the backyard. It was one of the many guest rooms in Wayne Manor. Almost everything was covered in a white cloth or wrapping to protect it from dust. The only uncovered things were the paintings on the wall. There was a problem with the room, though…

"Blood trail…" Cassandra eyes the stains on the carpet leading to the door.

"Couldn't help that. They'll catch up soon enough," Richard explained, "We need to push past them, get to a Batcave entrance, and get our equipment."

"Alright…I won't freeze up this time."

"Cass, I…I know how this must feel. If my parents suddenly—"

"I said that I won't freeze up this time," Cassandra shoved him away and forced herself up, "Let's go."

Before they could make it to the door, it was suddenly kicked open. The two members of the Batfamily were prepared for either Shiva or Cain. Who actually stood at the door shocked them even more to their core.

"Hahahahahahahaha!" The Joker burst out laughing. He held two different army knives in each hand, "Did you miss me kiddies!?"

Superboy panted in exhaustion. He reached up to wipe the blood that was running down his face. It was actually his own blood. The Kryptonian clone could count the times he actually bled on one hand. That proved how serious of a threat that Nekron was. His powers seemed to be able to defeat Kryptonian invulnerability.

Looking around, Superboy saw that half of the members of the League currently fighting were already down. In fact, a defeated Blue Beatle was sent rolling right to Superboy's feet. The muscular man wore blue spandex which was different than his predecessor's armor. The clone didn't know this man all that well because he was a rather new Leaguer, but he still felt pity for the man's injuries.

Al this pain…all this destruction…This wasn't Danny. The Danny Phantom Superboy knew always fought for what was right. He was there for the clone through all the tough time. Now, it was Conner's turn to return the favor.

"Danny!" Superboy shouted out.

Nekron noticed the name Superboy used. Still holding a bloodied Green Arrow up by the throat, he looked over his should to look at the clone. The Reaper gained a curious look before letting the archer drop and turning around fully, "Danny's not here anymore, Conner."

"No, he has to be in there," Superboy took a stead step forward, "He's never given up before. Even when the Light was controlling his mind, he fought back as much as he could. This isn't any different."

"Yes it is. The soul you know as Danny doesn't exist anymore. I erased it into nothingness soon after I possessed him. Yes, there was a bit of lag, but now…" Nekron held out his arms confidently, "There is only Nekron the Reaper."

Superboy continued to slowly step forward to the ghost of death. He noted that Justice League had stopped their attacks. Whether they trusted his judgment or they were catching their breath was undecided in his mind. That didn't matter, though. He was getting his chance to speak, and that's all he cared about right now.

"Please, Danny, prove this guy wrong! Just like you've proved everyone wrong countless times!" Superboy now stood in front of Nekron. To everyone's shock, he pulled the Reaper in for a hug, "Come on, man! You can beat him!"

"C-Conner?" Phantom's voice sounded out from Nekron's mouth.

Superboy grinned, "I knew it! Danny you—"

In a blast of black energy, Superboy was sent flying into the air, "Psych! I got ya! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

With a roar of rage at Superman rushed forward to try and avenge his adopted brother. Just as he was about to hit the ghost, he froze. Nekron had lifted Green Arrow up and used him as a shield. Superman just stopped himself in time to avoid hitting his friend, but his loyalty was quickly punished by a kick to the balls…literally.

Superman groaned in pain and dropped to his knees.

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! That's what if feels like for everyone else!" Nekron pushed Superman away with his foot and dropped Green Arrow once more.

The Reaper then disappeared. He appeared behind Icon and used his scythe as a bat to smash him behind the head. His energy destroyed Icon's defenses to make him a normal man, thus making the attack effective enough to knock the hero into unconsciousness.

Nekron disappeared again to appear behind Red Tornado. The android was immediately flash frozen in a block of black ice. Now unable to fly, the android fell to the ground and broke into pieces. Luckily enough for the android, his head and memory chip did remain intact, though.

Finally, Nekron disappeared once more. He reappeared back to his spot. Raising his scythe, he sent out a blast of energy that branched out and smashed into some of the remaining member of the League causing them to crumble as well. Smiling, the Reaper then looked at the last three remaining members of the League.

"The Trinity of the Justice League. Batman. Wonder Woman. Superman…" Nekron watched as Superman pushed himself up to stand by the two other icons, "You are the last line of defense. You are the world…no, the universe's only hope."

Grinning, Nekron extended his free arm out. A smoking Superboy fell down to land on the extended arm back first. Groaning in pain, Superboy slipped over the arm and slumped to the ground defeated.

"I believe the correct line of thinking right now would be 'Oh shit'."

Raven frowned as she saw the figure approaching them, "I should have known you'd show up eventually."

The others turned to see who she was looking at. Even Kid Flash stopped his run to stare at the figure.

Brother Blood smiled at them, "Hello, Raven. It's good to see you again."

"I can't say the same," Rave's eyes began to glow. The other women in the group readied their weapons while Kid Flash took a battle stance.

"Oh come now, I'm not here to fight," Brother Blood stated in sickeningly sweet voice, "I just came here to give you an invitation to join the new church."

"Yeah, your previous 'church'." Artemis gave him a disgusted look, "I've heard about it. I think I'd rather swallow a jar of rusty nails."

"Oh, now there's no need for such nasty words," Brother Blood still stood in a relaxed position. He didn't seemed bothered by the fact that he was incredibly outnumbered, "I'm sure that we can come to an agreement."

"The only agreement you'll get from is only knocking a few of your teeth out before sending you to Belle Reve," Rocket noted, "As long as you surrender right now, sicko."

"Or we can do this. You come with me willingly, or I tie you up and drag you to my new church," Brother Blood chuckled softly.

"You wish," Kid Flash disappeared in the blind of an eye. He moved in a blur towards the cultist. There was no way for Brother Blood to react with his relaxed stance. Yet somehow Kid Flash was sent flying back. A massive bruise already covered his face.

The women in the group paused for a brief second. They didn't really understand what just happened. Still, they knew better than to pause for too long. Artemis was the first to act. She fired an arrow at the cultist. Soon after, Rocket sent out a blast of kinetic energy while Raven began her regular chant.

"Azaroth Me—" Raven's eyes widened when her mouth was suddenly covered in green goop. She was the only one effect by a strange sudden change. Rocket fell face first to the ground with her belt sparking. Artemis suddenly found that all her arrows were gone.

"How…How did you do that?!" Artemis demanded.

"Oh, I didn't do anything," Brother Blood let out a chuckle, "My friend did."

Once again things changed instantly around the women. They were now all tied up and gagged by green rope. Unable to move at all, the three heroines collapsed to the ground. Smiling, Brother Blood used his physic abilities to lift all three women up and too him. He reached up and gently removed Raven's hood.

Brother Blood wantingly ran his fingers across her unblemished cheek, "I definitely prefer you in this form. That child form of you was far too young for my tastes. Now, though…You're the definition of pure beauty. Skin white as snow. Hair black as night. Perfection. I'll enjoy ruining that."

Raven looked at him with wide fearful eyes.

"Don't touch her!" In a rage, Kid Flash rushed forward once more. Like before, he was smacked away by some unseen force.

"I wanted Spirit, but Nekron's orders are absolute. The Pride of Trigon, though…the person to defeat me and my old master…" Brother Blood's face twisted into a wicked smile, "This might be even better than the ghost. Revenge has the best taste, after all. Granted, I would have liked you both, but Master ordered her immediate death…just like with the speedster."

Kid Flash cried out in agony as his arm shattered for no reason.

"You would have made an excellent enforcer for my new church, Kid Flash," Brother Blood lifted his right hand to reveal a Black Lantern ring. It fired out a narrow black beam that created a portal big enough for him to retreat, "But orders are orders. Master Nekron specifically ordered your death . It's not that big of a loss, though. I got the ladies after all."

Shouting against their gags and struggling against their restraints, the young women were levitated into the portal. Brother Blood followed right after them. As the portal closed, Kid Flash tried to force himself up to run after them. Unfortunately, something grabbed him by the throat and slammed him back down to the ground.

As the portal closed, Kid Flash saw the reason they were beaten so badly. Above him was a ghost that he could have sworn was still in a coma, "C-Clockwork…"

The Spectre rushed to Colossus. Avoiding the old general's strike, he slipped past his enemy's guard and delivered a massive punch to Colossus's face. This sent the giant flying back at great speed. He crashed through several different floating rocks in the middle of the Ghost Zone before he finally came to a stop. Unfortunately, the stop was not pleasant.

Pariah Dark had appeared in Colossus's flight pattern and stopped him by force with a knee to the spine. Colossus's body arced around the king's knee strike. Groaning in pain, Colossus tried to move but found that he couldn't. The blow to his spine seemed to temporarily stop his movements. No matter how much he tried to move, his body wouldn't respond.

Seeing that Colossus wasn't moving, Pariah Dark grabbed him and held him in place. This allowed the Spectre to rush forward to send dozens of strikes at Colossus's unmoving form. Each blow felt like hammer to the body for normal person. Colossus felt bruises forming where the blows hit.

As the blows came in, Colossus managed to regain control over his limbs. With a loud roar, he sent a large shockwave out from his arms sending Spectre flying away and into a floating island. Colossus then rammed the back of his head into Pariah's nose. This allowed Colossus to force himself free. Turning, he sent a massive uppercut to Pariah's midsection. The shockwave force made Pariah keel over in pain, but that didn't stop the Ghost King.

Two massive hands reached up and smashed against the side of Colossus's head. His brain rattling, Colossus could only clutch his head and shake in confusion. Before he could clear his mind, the Spectre reappeared behind him and punched him in the back of the head. As he did this, Pariah brought his elbow up and hit Colossus square in the nose.

Having his head crushed between two blows of such magnitude borderline knocked the red giant out cold. Still, he clung desperately to consciousness knowing that sleep meant death at this point. This meant that he felt every blow that his two enemies sent at him. By the time his head cleared, his entire body was screaming in pain.

Pariah and Spectre were now playing a game of hackey sack with his body. He was bounce around everywhere before the two of them got bored. They both attacked simultaneously with massive rays of ectoplasm. Covered in a borderline miniature sun, Colossus went flying through the Ghost Zone. He crashed into a floating island and went through it. The entire island crumbled beneath him sending rubble flying everywhere.

Finally, the ectoplasmic blast died down. Colossus was left lying on a floating rock. He had to do something. It normally took everything he had to fight against just one of these enemies. Pariah Dark and the Spectre combined, though…He couldn't physically beat them both at once.

Unless…He pushed past his limits and went all out. Would that even work, though? He never tried going 100% before. There was always a cautionary wall his body set up to stop him. It said, 'Go any further and you die.' Colossus had always listened to that instinct. He had been saving that power for his dream fight, but…he wouldn't get to his dream fight if he died here.

Before he could decide what to do, Colossus was grabbed by Pariah Dark and thrown towards the Specter. Said ghost of vengeance began to blur. His arms seemed to multiply into hundreds of limbs. Then, they came back into one arm that hit Colossus so hard that it created a literal rip in dimensions.

Colossus sailed through the portal and was sent crashing into a plains area. He went skidding across the dirt for several miles before coming to a stop. Forcing himself to his hands and knees, Colossus looked up to see that the sky was darkening.

"Oh…That explains it," Colossus muttered before collapsing, "It's you, isn't it…Nekron…"

Batman glared at Nekron, "Your power is that of decay. You make everything around you weaker and slower."

"You figured that out?" Nekron tilted his head to the side, "Impressive considering that I've been kicking you around this whole time."

"How do we fight him?" Wonder Woman questioned.

"We can't," Batman shocked the other two heroes, "I can't think of one possible way to beat him. Any of my strategies against ghosts…magic, ectoranium, ectoplasmic weapon…None of them worked. The only thing left is raw power, and that won't work. Nekron's ability to weaken his opponents and Phantom's raw power combined make him an impossible enemy to fight."

"Wow…You really are the world's greatest detective…" Nekron gave him an impressed look.

"There has to be something," Superman tried to keep his voice steady even as he struggled to fight off the pain from the last blow, "Anything. We can't let him win."

"We won't. He'll only win over my dead body," Batman took a defensive stance, "It's been an honor fighting by you all these years."

Sharing a look, Wonder Woman and Superman both nodded. They took fighting stances of their own. There was no fear on their faces. Instead, they looked determined and ready for what was to come.

"And that's why you're the Trinity. Hahahaha…" Nekron shook his head, "You probably can't hear it, but people all around the world are cheering you on right now. You see, I can recreate everyone who's died within the past. Using a few of them and all their powers, I'm broadcasting this around the world. Every electronic devise…every mirror…Even the goddam sun has been showing this fight since the beginning."

With a wave of his hand, Nekron allowed thousands of holographic images and inter-dimensional windows to pop up all around the area. Soon, the silent space became one giant roar. The three heroes could see people all around the world cheering them on in the fight. Still, none of them reacted. They kept their full attention was right on Nekron.

"Yes! Cheer them on! Show how much you worship them!" A combination of black and white energy swirled around Nekron menacingly, "I'm going to enjoy when you all go silent in despair!"

Kaldur's face twisted in horror as Tula's unmoving body floated before his eyes. Slowing reaching up, he grabbed onto her and pulled her into an embrace. The arrow in her head faded to allow the blood to flow out freely from the holes in her head. Kaldur made sure to keep his eye away from that. Instead, he focused on Tula's glossed over eyes.

"You fiend!" Frostbite roared in rage and lunged towards the perpetrator.

William Hand floated in the middle of the water calmly. His regular civilian clothing was discarded for a more fitting outfit for a Black Lantern. He was covered in a pure black spandex suit that was comparable to Batman's suit with its cowl and cape. The biggest differences between the hero and the Black Lantern was the upside-down triangle symbol on the man's chest and the strange state of the man's right arm. It looked more like rotting flesh than a real life arm.

"You think that you can beat the Black Hand?" William sneered at the yeti ghost. He blasted the ghost away with a massive ray of dark energy, "I have been chosen by Lord Nekron to be the ultimate Black Lantern! I have accepted his power more than the others! I am the messenger of death!"

"You bastard!" Tempest rushed towards the Black Hand with a look of pure hatred on his hands. He flung concentrated blasts of water at the Black Lantern. William didn't even look at the angered boyfriend of his victim.

"Please," With a roll of his eyes, Black Lantern created a reconstruction of Aquagirl who blocked the water attacks with ease.

Tempest froze, "What?"

"That's a fake!" La'gaan, in puffer fish mode, rocketed to the recreated Tula, "He's trying to trick us—Oof!"

The form of Ocean Master formed beside Tula and batted Lagoon Boy away with his Trident.

"They're not fake. My Black Lantern ring allows me to resurrect anyone that has died," Black Hand stated with an air of superiority about him, "This location does limit who I can use, but it enhances the pain of who you have to fight."

In a blur of black, different Atlantian soldiers that had passed away appeared and began to spread out through the city. In addition, Nekron's monsters of death were summoned as well and began to ravage everything in sight. The Atlantian heroes could only look on in horror.

"Now…" Black Hand licked his lips, "I suggest you hand over the yeti ghost. If you do that, I'll leave with only killing some of your people."

"We do not betray our friends!" Aquaman burst through a castle wall and attempted to punch Black Hand straight in the face. Like Frostbite, he was sent flying away before he could get close. This time, someone was there to catch them.

Frostbite nodded to Aquaman as he released the king, "Thank you, King Orin. I am honored by your loyalty…and your intelligence. That man has no intention of leaving anyone alive."

Aquaman looked to the unmoving form of Tula. His heart clenched as anger and grief surged through his mind, "I can tell. Kaldur! KALDUR! Snap out of it! We need your assistance."

Aqualad did not respond, though. Instead, he acted just like the queen down in the courtyard who had yet to move. He was completely unresponsive. Kaldur just stared at the deceased Tula while stroking her cheek. He had long since accepted that Tula would never love him as he did her, but at least he had the satisfaction of knowing that she was happy. This, though…There was no happiness in such a random and meaningless death.

"There's no point," Kaldur muttered hopelessly, "No point at all."

"AAAAAHHHHH!" Both Kitty and Johnny fell to the ground clutching their heads.

Despite her concern for the ghost's strange actions, Pandora could not give them her attention. Instead, her eyes focused right at Klarion the Witch Boy. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Nyx was visibly shaking from the sight of her old abuser.

"How…Dusk…Dusk killed your cat…" Nyx muttered.

Klarion just chuckled.

To their further surprise, a black dome of energy appeared around Pandora's home. The Controller of Chaos instantly recognized the energy. It belonged to a Black Lantern. The familiar feel of energy in the air revealed to her which one it was.

"Walker!" Pandora shouted out into the darkness, "What trickery is this?"

"No trickery. Just reality," Walker appeared in a swirl of black right outside the dome, "I have my orders. All the members of the original assault group need to be taken out. I've already dealt with Colossus."

"Lies! He would not fall to you!" Pandora snapped.

"But he would to the Spectre and Pariah Dark," Walker grinned triumphantly.

Pandora gained a worried look. Those were the only two ghosts to ever exist that could match Colossus in raw power.

"With Jester, the Ghost Writer, and the Fright Knight taken care of…" Walker's mention of the knight made Pandora gasp out in horror, "And Vision and Frostbite being dealt with by other Black Lanterns, all that's left is you."

"I will not fall easily, Walker," Pandora hissed in a rage.

"Oh, I'm well aware, but you have a fatal weakness," Walker pointed to Nyx who as still frozen in shock and fear, "And your fatal weakness has a weakness of her own. That means that right now, you're an open target."

"Ahahahaha!" Klarion leapt towards Nyx with fireballs ready in his hands.

"Nyx!" Pandora rushed to protect her daughter.

"Sorry about this," Walker's tone hinted that he was anything but truly sorry, "But Nekron set up the new rules. I just follow them."

All it took was one hit for Batman to fall. With a single solid blow to the stomach, all of the Dark Knight's ribs shattered. He knelt over and gasped in pain. Blood trickled from his mouth. The blow was so intense that Batman felt a familiar pain in his spine. Gurgling, he collapsed to the ground defeated.

Nekron sneered down at Batman. He basked in the sight of seeing the man broken before him. His focus was so intense on the down knight that he didn't even react when a golden rope wrapped around his torso and held him in place.

Giving a battle cry, Wonder Woman tried to throw the Reaper. Nekron just stood there and ignored this though. Despite all her strength, she couldn't move Nekron at all. Still, she trapped his arms at the very least. This created an opening that wouldn't have existed before.

Superman took advantage of this opening. Flying in at top speed, he sent a barrage of punches at Nekron. He moves at a speed that normal people could not possibly follow. Nekron didn't even seem to care, though. He just kept sneering down at Batman. The punches from the strongest hero seemed to bother him as much as a few droplets of water would bother a normal person.

Deciding that the defeated form of Batman was no longer entertaining, Nekron raised his scythe. Once again, he shocked everyone by cutting through the Lasso of Truth. The rope blessed by the gods themselves was cut as if were a piece of simple yarn. Almost immediately, the lasso lost its heavenly glow.

With a shout of surprise, Wonder Woman went tumbling back from the force of her own pulling. With her away, Nekron reached up with his scythe and batted Superman away with so much force that Superman when flying through several buildings. Turning to the woman, Nekron rushed to her with his scythe raised.

Still on her knees from tumbling back like she did, Wonder Woman could only bring up her arms to try to block with her indestructible bracelets. This proved to be foolish, though. Like everything else, the bracelets shattered in front of Nekron's power. Deep gashes appeared at the woman's wrist. Gasping in pain, she tucked her arms into her stomach to try and stop the bleeding.

Looking up to Nekron, she was surprised to see his foot aiming for her face. The foot slammed into her jaw and sent her head back into the cement. The entire ground shattered from the force of the blow, and the same thing could be said about Wonder Woman's jaw. Just like that, the Amazon princess had been defeated as well.

Now, there was only one hero left.

"RRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWW!" Superman shouted in absolute rage as he rushed back to the battleground. He unleased the complete power of his heat vision. The beams rammed into Nekron. The Man of Steel knew the real power of his heat vision. It was like a concentrated sun. Everything burned before his heat vision.

Nekron just acted like it was simple sunlight.

Suddenly, the beams stopped. Covered in sweat and panting in exhaustion, Superman dropped to his knees, "My powers…They're…they're not working…"

"No, they're not. You draw the power from the sun, genius," Nekron pointed up to the black sky, "You see the sun? No? Okay then. And just being around me drains your powers. So, with no sun and no poweres, you're not Superman. You're just a man."

Freddy's eye darted from the resurrected Doctor Fate to the Box Ghost, "I don't have powers anymore. There's no way I can fight him."

"Yeah…" Box Ghost glared at the Lord of Order, "I'll distract him. You get your friends and my daughter out of here."

"You sure? I know you're strong, but…" Freddy knew of Doctor Fate's power. He was a powerhouse even among the Justice League.

"That doesn't matter. Get Box Lunch to safety!" Box Ghost ordered as he lept up and to Doctor Fate. He was immediately followed by Lunch Lady. The couple did their best to try and push their enemy back.

"Mary, take Box Lunch and get to the door!" Freddy ordered while lunging at an unconscious Billy. With an uncomfortable grunt, Freddy pulled his friend over his shoulders and dragged him to the door.

"Come on!" Mary held the door and allowed Freddy to exit before slamming it shut.

Now clear of the damaged room, the old Marvels found themselves surrounded by panicking people exiting their apartments and heading towards the stairs. Seeing as that was the only safe way to go, Freddy and Mary followed the flow of the people while holding firmly to the people they were clutching.

Unfortunately, as soon as they made it to the top of the stairs, the entire building shook. Mary and Freddy ducked as a golden beam of energy cut through the room. To their complete despair, the stairs below them began to crumble. With no real solid footing, they could do nothing as the stairwell collapsed around them.

Mary looked up hopefully, "Shazam?"

Nothing.

"Worth a try…"

The stairs collapsed. Freddy's response was a little less calm, "Oh shit!"

Then, they fell.

Vlad quickly pulled on a towel over his waist and made his way to the door of the honeymoon suit. His breath was heavy, and his skin was covered in a layer of sweat. Nevertheless, a happy smile covered his face. Looking through the peephole, Vlad saw that the person knocking was the main with room service.

"One second," Vlad stated through the door. He stayed knelt over for a second while thinking about old nuns and kicked puppies. When everything was normal again, he stood up all the way and opened the door.

The maid smiled kindly at him and wheeled the food card into the room, "I'm sorry if I were interrupting, sir. But I did come as scheduled…"

"No, no, miss. Don't worry about that," Vlad gave her a thankful smile, "I needed a break and some food. Thank you so much."

"Of course, sir."

"Tip…" Vlad suddenly realized before the maid could say anything else, "Um…give me a minute. I have to find some money."

"No problem," The maid's eyes drifted to the closed door leading to the bedroom. She then looked to Vlad who had his back turned to her. With a wicked grin, she approached the man from behind and draped herself over his back.

Vlad tensed up, "What are you doing?"

"I can see why your new wife doesn't want you to leave the bedroom," The maid teased evilly, "Do you think she'll mind a third?"

"Oh, no," Vlad's already sex fatigued mind struggled to process this. He began to turn to push the woman away, "She…Rouge—Oof!"

While Vlad talked, Madame Rogue shifted back to her normal form. As soon as Vlad turned, she sucker punched him with enough force to take down a bear. Before he could topple over, Madame Rouge wrapped her entire body around him like a rope. Her Black Lantern ring was pointed right at Vlad's neck. A long blade of energy jumped from the ring and threatened to slit Vlad's throat.

Hearing the commotion, Vision crashed through the door. She held a thing sheet from the bed to cover herself, and it didn't do a particularly good job. Still, she didn't care about that. She was more focused by the woman threatening her husband.

"Let him go. NOW," Vision hissed.

"I zhink not," Rogue kept her hold on Vlad steady. Her painful grip on him prevented him from transforming or using his powers…or talking for that matter, "My orders are to not give you a chance to do anything. Your strategy kills are too dangerous."

Vision desperately thought about what she could do. No plan came up that involved both defeating Rogue and saving Vlad. The key factor that prevented those two goals was the ring on Rogue's finger, "You're a Black Lantern now."

"Yes, and Master Nekron wants you dealt with."

Vision's face darkened. So…Nekron had already returned. Damn it, "Alright. So—"

"Non. No talking," Rogue stated, "Surrender or he dies."

"You—"

Rogue silenced her by placing the blade against Vlad's neck. A thin trail of blood leaked down the unshaved morning gruff of his collar.

"Okay!" Vision dropped to her knees, "Just promise you won't hurt him!"

"Don't worry. If you cooperate, I won't kill him," Rogue noted, "But Nekron…well, I have no idea what he'll do."

"What was the saying? Don't tug on Superman's cape?" Nekron grabbed onto Superman's cape, "Let's see what happens."

The Reaper held onto the cape and began to swing Superman around wildly. He smashed the alien repeatedly onto the ground. Nekron then threw swung him around like a towel before sending him skipping away like a rock. Before Superman could get too far, Nekron appeared above him and punched him face first into the ground. The entire street crumbled from the blow.

"Oh…looks like nothing," Nekron chuckled and stepped away. Pausing, he noticed that the entire area was silent. All the inter-dimensional windows showed shocked and fear ridden people. Many of them were crying. The sight filled Nekron with joy, "People of Earth—"

"H-hey…" A broken and beaten Superman pushed himself to his feet. His faces as swelling to the point that is was unrecognizable. The super suit was basically rags at this point. He looked like complete garbage at this point, but he still stood, "We…We're not done…"

Nekron raised an eyebrow, "Oh really?"

"Y-yeah…" Superman held up his fists, "C-come on…"

"Oh please. You have no powers. You have no allies. You have no fighting skills," Nekron shook his head, "This is over. Just die with dignity."

"It's not about dignity…" Superman's legs shook like rubber, "It's about…fighting for what's right. I'm the only person standing in the way between you and innocent people. Even without powers, I can't just lie down and let you win. So come on. I'll beat you with no powers if I need to."

"You're pathetic," Nekron noted.

"Maybe," Superman admitted, "Maybe I've always been pathetic. People say that I'm corny and boring, but I never cared. I always did what I thought was right. I've made mistakes, but I own up to them. That's what I believe…That's what the people of this world have taught me since I was young. This may not be my birth planet, but I love this world, flaws and all. And I refuse to let you destroy it!"

Cheers sounded out through the window.

"You will lose Nekron!" Superman declared, "Because justice always prevails in the end! This world will live on, and together, all of humanity will work to fix what you've broken! We'll own up to our own mistakes and make things better than ever! That's the Earth I know! We never give up! We never surrender!"

"Yeah!"

"Go get him Superman!"

"We believe in you!"

"Superman!"

"Superman!"

"SUPERMAN!"

Everyone across the world began to cheer for the Man of Steel. They placed all their hopes and dreams on his shoulders. For the first time in the planet's history, humans had come together to support one ideology. This filled Superman with enough hope to feel like he still was the most powerful being to ever live.

He charged forward, "FOR EARTH!"

All it took was one hit for Superman to fall.

Everything was silent again as Superman slumped to the ground defeated.

"God…I thought he would never shut up."

Nekron had won.

"Damn it!"

Poindexter's fingers were a blur as they raced over the keyboard. He kept his movements despite the new gash across his face. The backlash from the battle or reality manipulation had quickly backlashed. If he wasn't trying to stay alive, he would have been fascinated by the qualities of such a battle. As it stood, though, he had no such luxury.

Another gash appeared across his left bicep.

"Damn it!"

The space between the two ghosts was constantly shifted. Both of the reality writers were creating contrary entries into their keyboards. While Poindexter was sweating and struggling to keep up, the Ghost Writer was calmly setting the pace. His fingers moves with ease, while Poindexter's own appendages shook and began to cramp.

Another gash appeared along his right leg.

"Damn it all!"

Poindexter was desperate. He typed in sentences like 'Scribe was defeated' and 'Poindexter was calm.' None of these things worked, though. Master Scribe was too strong to be affected by such simple commands, and it appeared as if his own powers didn't work on himself.

Poindexter's back began to gain several cuts.

"No! No!" His eyes drifted to the peaceful ghosts. He had to protect them. He had to save them. His power was the only things protecting them from death. No matter what, he wouldn't give up. The backlash and pain didn't matter. Hell, even dying didn't matter. All that mattered now was doing the right things.

"I will win—"

BANG!

Poindexter froze. Blood began to trickle out of his mouth. His side was blasted open by an ectoplasmic shotgun. Letting his eyes drift to the side, Poindexter saw an armored skeletal figure covered in weapons. Burning green eyes mocked him as a green Mohawk floated on top of his head.

"Skulker…"

The keyboard in front of Poindexter shattered. The ghost of black and white floated aimlessly in the pocket dimension. His eyes were glassy and unfocussed as his body went into shock. Despite all this, though, his mind was still racing with the knowledge that he had lost.

Amorpho floated at the side of the street watching the television in a store shop. Around him, people were panicking. It actually wasn't because of him, though. They're cries of horror came from what was happening on the screen. Nekron the Reaper had beaten the Earth's strongest warriors with ease. The ghost knew that it was definitely a terrifying sight.

Bursts of light across the city revealed that something was happening across the city. Based on the color of the explosions, it was probably a Black Lantern. It seemed like Nekron had sent his minions out to take care of the other threats. Nekron had planned for everything. No one would be left to stop him.

"Hey you!" A woman clutched at Amorpho's arm, "You're a ghost! You have power!"

"That's right!" A man nodded at the woman's statement, "You'll fight that thing, right?!"

"My powers…are only for blending in," Amorpho noted, "I have no combat abilities."

"Then…then what do we do? Who we rely on?"

"I don't know…" Amorpho shrugged, "God?"

A heavy silence fell over the area. The woman clutching at Amorpho's arm released her grip and slid to the ground where she began to cry. The other soon followed. Some of them just cried. Others were actually praying. All of them, though, had fallen to their knees in despair.

Stilling watching the TV, Amorpho reached into his coat and stroked the note in his coat. It was from Poindexter. The note had appeared before him the night before. Poindexter seemed to want to warn Amorpho of the danger. The context of the note was simple, but he understood the message.

Still, like he said, he was not a fighter. There was no conceivable way for him to stand up to Nekron. Poindexter seemed to think that he was the key to something, but Amorpho only had one real talent. He could disappear.

So that's exactly what he did. He disappeared into the wind, leaving the people to cry and pray hopelessly. Not only that, really. They were also cursing him to hell.

Amorpho couldn't really blame them.

Nekron turned from the downed Superman. He looked across the various windows that showed the despair filled people of Earth, "Alright, where was I…Oh yeah! People of Earth! I am Nekron the Reaper! As you can see, I have beaten all of your beloved heroes! You are now completely defenseless!"

The sounds of sobbing began to come through the windows.

"And before you get your hopes up, I'm going to tell you that I have already dealt with all the ghosts and other heroes that could have stopped me," Nekron explained, "How can I do this? It's easy. I'm a god…No! I am the only God! Nothing in the universe can touch me!"

Screams filled the air as the despair changed to panic.

"Shut up!" Nekron silenced them, "As your God, I have only one commandment. You must follow it perfectly, but don't worry. It's a very easy rule: Die for me."

Everyone just stared on in absolutely horror.

"I was created by your obsession with Death! I am the second ghost to ever live! All of you obsess so much about death, that you literally created your own demise!" Nekron proclaimed, "And I will fulfill my duty as your God of Death. I will kill all of you. I am going to send my monsters to go out across the planet and kill you! And if that doesn't work, do not fret my people! If you live through the next twenty-four hours, then I give you the deaths you desperately obsess about myself! I shall destroy this world and all other worlds! That is my duty as God! I will bring an end to all life!"

Nekron raised his hands high into the air. Black energy began to appear all around the Earth. Soon, the sky for the entire planet was covered in darkness. Droplets of black energy then began to rain from the sky. As soon as the droplet landed, it morphed into a hideous creature of blackness. Within seconds, the entire world was covered with monsters and screams of terror.

In that one moment, every monster stopped. All the Black Lanterns raised their rings to the sky. Together, with their evil master, the dark army chanted the oath that would forever haunt the human race.

The Blackest Night falls from the skies,

The darkness grows as all light dies,

We crave your hearts and your demise,

By my black hand, the dead shall rise!

"It's time! Die for me, my subjects! Embrace this new world! Welcome, my people…" Nekron looked up to the heavens in complete satisfaction, "Welcome to Earth's Blackest Night!"