Chapter 29: Earthshaker

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful."

Malala Yousafzai

Chapter 29: "Earthshaker"

(Monday-May 19, 2014)

Belle Reve was in a complete uproar. Upon hearing about the end of the world, all the villains began to freak out. Every prisoner was shouting and trying to force their way through out of their cells. With their powers suppressed, they could do nothing against the steel doors. In the end, all they were doing was making noise to a now guardless prison.

One prisoner was completely silent, though. Sitting down at the back of his cell, Billy Hayes looked onward impassively. There was no point in trying to escape. Even if the door to his physical cage was opened, he wouldn't try to leave. His mental cage still stood strong after all. His sins weighed heavily on his back.

After everything he did, he deserved to die from this Armageddon. His pursuit of purity had stripped everything from him. Now, all he had was the memories of the past accusing him. Even now, he saw Greta standing in front of him with an accusing look. Her memory haunted him, always reminding him of how far he had fallen.

Yes…He deserved death…There was no way for him to ever be pure again…

Billy was so caught up in his daze, he didn't even react when a black portal popped up at the end of his cell. Hotep Ra stepped out and gave the prisoner a look of scrutiny. Covered in the orange prisoner attire of Belle Reve, Billy Hayes looked like a complete mess. A disheveled beard covered the scared man's face.

"Harm," Hotep Ra spoke to the man, "Rise. It is time for you to fight once more."

Billy Hayes' eyes lazily drifted to the mummy ghost, "Fight? I no longer have any fight left in me. I am scum…trash that deserves death…"

"Then die in battle," Hotep Ra stated uncaringly, "The world needs you to fight. Whether you live through the battle is irrelevant to me."

"The world needs me?" Billy Hayes scoffed, "I doubt that."

"You haven't seen what Nekron can do," Hotep Ra argued, "We need as many fighters as possible."

"There are plenty of prisoners out there that are much more capable than me right now."

"And most of them would just run if given the chance," Hotep Ra glared at the former villain, "You, though…You have something to prove. Something to achieve. You don't fear death, yet you crave redemption. That makes you perfect for this. Redeem yourself by sacrificing yourself for the greater good."

"Redeem myself for the greater good…" Those words rolled off Billy's tongue like he was trying to taste them.

"Yes," Hotep Ra held out a hand, "Will you fight?"

Billy Hayes eyed the hand in front of him. Slowly, he reached out and took the hand, "Very well. I…Harm shall fight for redemption…Harm will fight to regain his purity."

Colossus blinked as he looked straight to the Earth. So he was hit to the moon? Well, he just felt grateful that the moon was here to catch him. In not, he might have been pushed into the void of space. That would have sucked. There was a good chance that he would have gotten lost out there.

Pausing in his thoughts, the red giant noticed how silent it was out here. There was literally no sound. That along with the magnificent view made this incredibly peaceful. Even Colossus, who cared little for peace, had to appreciate this. Very few people of Earth ever got to see this view live.

On a whim, Colossus looked around to see if he could find the Watchtower. Could he see it from here? During his attempt to find the floating Justice League base, Colossus saw two figures approaching his location. It looked like the Spectre and Pariah Dark.

Ah…He was hoping that he could get more time to rest. Colossus's body was really aching at this point. This two on one fight wasn't working for him. He couldn't think of any way to fight them. The only thing that he could think was to go all out, but he didn't have time to power up.

…Except his enemies were still a few minutes away…

There was still the issue of collateral damage. People would get pissed if he broke an entire city in his fight. Dealing with that will be annoying.

…Except there was nothing out here to break…

There was still the body count to deal with, though. If he went all out, then who knew how many people would die. Colossus didn't think of other during his fights that often, but the mass death of thousands of people would weigh on anyone's mind.

…Except there was no one out here to get caught up in the fight…

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" Colossus forced himself to his feet. The lower gravity allowed his tired body to easily pull himself from the rock, "This may kill me, but I'll make sure to take you with me!"

Taking a deep stance, Colossus clenched his muscles. He forced his energy to pulse through his body. Letting out a loud roar, Colossus forced his mental barriers to open. His power jumped off him in a massive wave that caused the entire moon to tremble in fear. The most powerful ghost to ever live had finally unleashed his full power.

For Kaldur, his first reaction to seeing his king cut in half was complete horror. Aquaman had not only been his leader, he'd been a mentor and a good friend. Yes, there was still the secrets issue of his parentage, but that did not change Aqualad's attachment to the man. King Orin was almost a father to him, and now that father figure had just been murdered.

While Tempest and Lagoon Boy shared Kaldur's reaction, not everyone was pushed into silent horror. Frostbite went more down the path of unfiltered rage. His features turned wild and animalistic. With a roar, he lunged at the Black Hand and tackled him away from the beaten king. This gave Kaldur room to reach forward and grasp onto the upper half of the king.

Blood. There was so much blood. And what was falling out from the king's torso…Kaldur had to use all of his willpower not to vomit at the gore. The Atlantians behind him were not as able to hold back their disgust. Lagoon Boy was openly vomiting while Tempest seemed to be having a breakdown based on the tears and indiscernible mutterings coming out of his mouth.

Aquaman's eyes tiredly looked to Aqualad, "Kal…dur…"

"I am here, my king," Kaldur forced the sobs jumping up his throat back down, "I am here."

"You…"

"Do not speak. We can still save you. We can still…"

Aquaman's stern look silenced Aqualad. This was no time to be making such statements. The king knew his demise was here. The apprentices knew that his demise was here. It was just a waste of time to pretend otherwise.

"Kal…dur…you…are…my…successor…" Aquaman muttered, "You…are…now…Aquaman…You…are…king…"

"No. I am not…I cannot…" Kaldur shook his head. He stopped his words, though, when he noticed that his king's eyes were not focused anymore. Aquaman was gone…King Orin was dead.

Reaching up, Kaldur closed the dead king's eyes. Take a shuddered breath, Kaldur released the king and allowed the body to gently float in the water. With tears in his eyes, he looked to the fellow Atlantians behind him. They looked just as shocked as Kaldur felt.

"There is no time to mourn. Frostbite needs our help. Come. We will avenge our king," The new Aquaman ordered.

Nekron raised his eyebrows as no one rushed forward to fight him, "What? Lose your resolve? Should I attack first?"

"Fine, you cunt!" Constantine pointed his cane at Nekron, "I'll start the party!"

Fire burst from the end of Constantine's cane and rushed towards Nekron. The Reaper just looked on impassively. Flames slammed into him and circled around him. When the fire circled around the Ghost of Death, Constantine began to chant a banishment spell. Nekron still didn't even flinch as the fire flared up and tried to drag him through a portal of flames.

"Got you…What?" Constantine's eyes widened as his spell dispelled with a small flare of energy on Nekron's part.

Shaking his head, Nekron looked down at his nails. His eyes widened when noticed something wrong. In a panic, he raised his hand to examine it, "Oh no…"

Growling, Deathstroke pulled out twin pistols. He opened fire at the Reaper. None of the bullets did anything to Nekron. As soon as the bullets got close to the Ghost of Death, they had their momentum sucked out of them by the black energy and dropped to the ground uselessly. As this happened, Nekron was still examining his hand.

"RAW!" Sportsmaster let out a roar as he threw a javelin to his enemy. As the weapon drew near to Nekron, it exploded out in a large burst of flames and smoke. When the smoke and flames died down, Nekron was shone unscathed. He began to bite at his nail.

As the Ghost of Death sucked at his fingernail, Cheshire led several assassins forward in an attempt to cut Nekron down. They used all kinds of deadly weapons on the Reaper. Swords, sais, and knives were all used in an attempt to bring the ghost down. Like the other attacks, Nekron was completely unaffected.

Still ignoring the people attacking him, Nekron pulled his hand away from his mouth and smile, "There we go. The dirt under that nail was bugging the hell out of me."

Looking up, Nekron blinked. The assassins were still attacking him with precise strikes, "Oh! Sorry! I forgot about you…Not slowing down, huh. Love the enthusiasm. Do you mind if I attack now? Thanks."

Turning a single hand into a finger gun, Nekron pointed his appendage at the people who had just attacked him. A single black bullet jumped out from his finger for each person. The bullets pierced every one of their targets with ease causing them all to instantly drop to the ground in pain.

Sneering at the bleeding enemies who dared to attack him, Nekron spoke once more, "Anyone feel like changing their minds and running yet?"

Poindexter groaned as his injuries were healed. Righting himself up, the nerd ghost recreated his reality altering keyboard. He was about to type and start helping out things on the physical plane when Jester raised a hand to stop him.

"What?" Poindexter questioned.

"I can't let you draw attention to us," Jester noted with a sad tone in his voice, "If you do, then a Black Lantern might come to our location. We might be able to beat one, but hundreds of the ghosts here would get killed."

"And what about humanity?" Poindexter inquired, "Am I just supposed to let them suffer? They need my help."

Jester smiled kindly, "You have really grown, Poindexter, but look at this in the long term, friend. You might save one or two people, but it would cause hundreds to die. It's the unfortunate problematic choice."

"I can't just sit here and do nothing," Poindexter argued.

"I'm not asking you to," Jester shook his head, "Spread out your influence. Create windows all over the world. That way, I can spread out my powers and try to stop all of the monsters at once."

"So that's your plan…" Poindexter stroked his chin, "But what if it fails?"

"Then we'll have millions of Nekron's monsters charging at us at once," Jester noted, "I'm not sure even I can fight that off. The mirror will be broken, and all hope will be lost."

"…" Poindexter did not look pleased, "Is this the only thing we can do?"

"It's the only plan I got," Jester explained cheerfully, "I'm not Vision, my friend. I can't come up with foolproof plans. I'm more of a 'in the spur' of the moment type of person."

"What are the chances that you will succeed?"

"Hmm…50/50?"

"Then it might be a better idea to go off on my own," Poindexter mentioned, "I know that I could save at least some people by leaving the ghosts here and going out to fight. Meanwhile, you can save up energy to fight against Nekron."

"That is very true. I would definitely say that's the safe option."

"So why shouldn't we do that?"

"Because playing safe right now might bring about the end of the universe."

Pandora caught the smoking Nyx in her arms before her daughter could collapse, "Oh, my baby…"

The prone Nyx didn't respond. Her body was not dissolving. That was good. She wouldn't die from those wounds.

"Don't worry. I didn't aim to kill her. I knew she'd jump in the way, so I went for a knockout blow," Walker explained, "Best not give you that level of anger to use against me. Besides, I was hoping I could use her against the little bitch that cut off my arm."

Pandora glared at him, "Don't think so far ahead, Walker. I'm still standing after all."

"Yes, but there's three prone weaklings you have to protect. And even if I were nice enough to leave them alone, a doubtful thought really, I still have vastly more power than you," Walker noted.

Shaking her head, Pandora gently placed her daughter on the ground. Despite the injuries, Nyx had a peaceful look on her face. It reminded the mother of the times when she tucked a younger Nyx to bed. The little girl always looked up to Pandora like the blue giant was a goddess. Those were such simpler times.

"Do you think that your power means anything to me? I was ready to stand up to Nekron on my before you were even born into your human life," Pandora stood and turned back to the other ghost.

"So you're either stupid or crazy," Walker chuckled.

"No. I'm just not the type of person that will stand for injustice. And everything about you is unjust," Pandora snapped, "Imposing your own self-made rules on the Ghost Zone without any form of vote…turning on your kind for revenge…joining the Black Lanterns like a fool. You, Walker, are a fraud. So focused on the 'rules' set by you and people you fear that you can't see the objective necessities of justice. You bring shame to anyone who stands in the name of doing what is just and fair."

"You idiot, it is the strong that decides what is just and fair. That's how it's always been, and how it always will be…at least until Master Nekron finally puts an end to the world. But as the strongest, he's allowed to make the rules. And his one rule is 'Everything dies'."

Pandora's eyes narrowed at this new information, "You fool…The strong often do make the rules, but remember it is the many that have to live with them. And if they don't like the rules, then the many will rise against the strong. That is what will happen here. The world will stand up to Nekron. He will not succeed."

"Oh, I beg to differ because his strength, along with mine, is unbeatable," Walker sneered.

"We shall see about that," Electricity surged around Pandora, "Because I'm going to stop you here and now. Then, I'll stop Nekron."

"On your own? You're not that strong, Pandora."

"I am when I'm protecting my daughter!" Pandora roared and formed four electric spears into her hands, "Now come! I'm going to show you what justice and order really are!"

Cassandra Cain shook as blood tricked down her cheek. Her father's bullet had been redirected at the last possible second and only grazed her cheek. It wasn't Richard that helped her, though. Alfred also wasn't her savior. No, it was someone completely unexpected.

"Ah~" Ravager tilted her head as her left hand firmly held David Cain's gun away from Cassandra's head while her other hand held onto her katana, "Why does this seem so familiar?"

David tried to attack her.

"Nope! Not gonna happen~"

Ravager ripped the gun from David's hand. She then used the gun to shot a shocked Lady Shiva in the head and save Richard from getting choked to death. The assassin then used her sword to stab David Cain in the head effectively eliminating the threats before they could do anything.

As the gun in her hands along with the victims of her attacks dissolved into black muck, Ravager's face twisted with disgust under her mask. She flicked her hand in an attempt to get the goo off her gloved hand, "Ugh…gross. I prefer the real blood and gore, you know?"

"Rose?" Cassandra blinked up at the other young woman.

"Hey, Cass!" Ravager sheathed her blade, "You won't believe how hard it was to track you down. So…Bruce Wayne is Batman, huh? Should have figured that out on my own, really."

"Gah…Not…Not that I'm ungrateful, but…How did you track us down?" Dick rubbed his throat and sat up.

"Well, when a dead Lady Shiva and David Cain show up in the same place…it doesn't take a genius to figure out who they'll be around," Ravager noted, "Don't worry, though. I've searching through Gotham for months. It was just luck that I heard the police scan of their descriptions heading this way."

"I see…" Dick nodded. He quickly forced himself up and walked over to see if a groaning Alfred was okay.

Cassandra gave Ravager a confused look as she was helped to her feet, "But why track me down just to save me? I figured you'd want revenge for betraying you."

"No, I came because someone wanted me to give you something," Ravager reached into her pocket and pulled out a picture that had been given to her months earlier.

Cassandra quickly took the picture, "Dad…"

"Yeah. He asked me to give that to you. It was his dying wish, so…Even an asshole like me couldn't ignore it," Ravager shrugged, "Kind of ironic, though. Because he asked me to give you that, he inadvertently saved you from himself. That's some deep emotional shit right there."

"Yeah…" Cassandra reached up to wipe the single tear that appeared in the corner of the eye.

"Look," Richard spoke up once more as he helped Alfred back up, "I hate ruining good reunions, but I'm assuming the crisis isn't over."

"Oh, yeah. You probably didn't see the whole Nekron thing," Ravager realized.

"Nekron thing?"

"I'll explain as we go. You need equipment and a way to get out of Gotham."

Dick nodded at that, "We keep spare equipment hidden away deep in the manor, but the Zeta Tube is probably toast…along with the Batwing and Batmobile. We'll need to head into Gotham to get to the other Zeta Tube."

"Oh…That…that might be a problem."

"Why?"

"Let's just say that there are a few more people back from the grave."

Kid Flash panted heavily as he dodged another heavy blow of Clockwork. Despite not even beginning to know how, he had managed to predict where several of the attacks were going to come from. It wasn't always perfect. There were still times that he would get hit, but it wasn't complete domination like a few moments earlier.

This didn't mean that he was even close to winning this fight, though. He had yet to land a single blow. Clockwork remained untouched, and that wasn't something Kid Flash thought he could do anything about it. Even if he could land a hit, then there would still be the intangibility issue that he needed to overcome.

Well…there was one way to do it.

In an instant, there was a tornado around Envy. Kid Flash seemed to running around the demi-demon at speeds that wasn't even comprehensible to the son of Trigon. For a second, Envy wondered what this would do. The moment after that, though, he realized that the his breath was being sucked from his lungs. Envy instantly crashed to his knees clutching his throat.

Desperately, he switched to a person that didn't need to breathe. In the form of Phantom, Envy turned intangible as a way to defend himself. To his undying surprise, though, Kid Flash rushed in from his tornado and punched him right in the face. It seems like the Speed Force could overcome intangibility.

The Speed Force was the only way for him to win this fight. Unfortunately, there was no way for him to activate it. Envy's vibrations while copying the Flash was the only reason Kid Flash did it before in that fight. Right now, though, there was no speedster to help him.

…He had to do it himself…

Dodging one last blow, Kid Flash took off in a dead sprint. His body screamed at him in protest. The previous damage was too much for him to be doing this. If this failed, then his body would just give out on him from sheer exhaustion. That was the biggest weakness of speedsters. They needed constant fuel to get going, and with his previous morning of training, Wally was almost on empty. Doing something stupid like trying to vibrate himself into running at the speed of light would burn off everything. If he didn't die from exhaustion, then he would be killed by Clockwork in his vulnerable state.

Kid Flash didn't have any other options, though. Artemis was waiting for him. He would do this for her. Kid Flash would not let himself fail.

While dodging as many Clockwork's blows as he could, Kid Flash began to vibrate his body. With each step he took, his molecules began to vibrate faster and faster. Electricity sparked off of him. His body began to blur. Clockwork's attacks began to pass through him making it so that he didn't have to dodge at all.

He was doing it! Almost there! Yes! For once, Kid Flash was not going to fall flat on his face!

At least that's what he thought until his body gave out on him.

The electricity stopped. His molecules ceased to vibrate at rapid speeds. There was no more pain. After all, pain suggested that he could still feel his body. No, everything was numb. Without the energy to even squeak in surprise, Kid Flash fell face first onto the sand. He slid for a bit before coming to a stop.

Tears appeared at the edge of his eyes as he tasted the disgusting texture of sand in his mouth. Despite his best efforts…despite having Artemis on the front of his mind…he still failed. It seemed like all of his darkest thoughts were actually a reality. He was a loser.

Artemis had always been a fighter. It was the one thing even her biggest critics admitted about her. Hell, even her dad stated that she would never go down without a fight. That was the closest thing she ever got to 'I love you' from that bastard.

Now, though, there was literal no way to fight. Brother Blood had effectively stripped her of her free will. None of her thoughts and mental commands reached her body. It was like there was a mental dam stopping the flow of her mind. For Artemis, who consider her free will and fighting spirit to be her greatest attributes, this was one of the worst things that could happen.

Of course, things were about to get a hell of a lot worse. Artemis had a pretty good idea of what Brother Blood planned to do with them. She would vomit from the thought alone if she could. The archer had heard stories of Brother Blood even if she hadn't experienced his church up close and personal. His sexual abuse of his victims was very well known.

If that wasn't bad enough, it seemed like Brother Blood had his full focus on Raven. Based on the look Blood had and the threats coming out of his mouth, he planned to do extremely cruel things to her especially. That made Artemis even more worried. She got the feeling that this would Raven's first experience with such things.

It might be cliché of thing to believe, but Artemis always believe that sex was a beautiful thing. There was a reason it was called 'making love.' She and Wally readily enjoyed their relationship in such a way. It was pleasurable, fun, and intimate…something she never had with anyone else. Raven, though, hadn't experienced that yet.

Given the chance, Artemis would have taken Raven's place to spare her what was about to happen. Despite her mental screams and resistance, Artemis could do nothing as Blood ripped the leotard off of Raven and leered at her pale, untouched skin.

He turned to Artemis and Rocket, "Remove my clothes."

To their disgust, the young women immediately obeyed the command. They reached up and began to remove the man's robes. In that moment, they wanted to tear their eyes out of their socket.

"Alright…" Brother Blood looked eager, "Now each other. Do it slowly I want to—"

Brother Blood was silenced as he was thrown violently away. He slammed into a crumbling wall. Unfortunately, he did not get knocked unconscious. He quickly got back to his feet and glared at the perpetrator. None of his three captives were the ones that did that, despite their desire to do so. No, it was someone else that had the pleasure. It wasn't someone they hadn't met yet, though It was someone they knew and had presumed to have died.

"You…" Brother Blood smiled in a disgusting way, "Oh, I'm glad that you showed up. This will make it even better."

Kilowog eyed the black orb that had once been a beautiful blue planet. The muscular Green Lantern could only shake his pink head in disgust. His snout and upward turning bottom lip wrinkled to show his displeasure. This was the 'Black Lanterns' doing? Jeeze, he thought the Sinestro Corps and Red Lanterns were bad.

"Alright, Lanterns!" Kilowog snapped to the army behind him, "You know our orders. We stop this Nekron guy no matter the cost! No ifs, ands, or buts! The Guardians say that this is the most important missions any of us have ever had, so failure is not an option!"

"YES SIR!" They all cried.

Kilowog held up his ring. The other Lanterns held up their rings as well. Together, they chanted their famous oath.

"In brightest day, in blackest night,

No evil shall escape my sight.

Let those who worship evil's might

Beware my power-Green Lantern's light!"

They all roared in pride. Kilowog smiled at them, "Let's go—"

In a sudden shockwave of energy, all the Green Lanterns were suddenly sent spiraling in odd directions. They all quickly caught their bearings and pointed their rings at the source of the disturbance. There was no enemy in front of them. Instead, the blast seemed to originate from the moon based on the giant glowing red light that seemed to cover a large portion of the moon.

For a few brief seconds, the feelings of rage and battle lust rushing off the energy made them think that it was Red Lanterns. There was some big energy differences in the light, though. Not to mention, the fact that all the energy, which was enough for a Lantern army, seemed to be originating from one source. That mean that one single entity was releasing enough energy to shake the entire moon and send the army of Green Lanterns sprawling away even at a great distance.

Kilowog could only look on in confusion and awe, "What in Oa's name is that?"

Colossus floated in the center of a massive crater in the middle of the moon. Said crater was as wide as an entire major city and as deep as a skyscraper. At the center of the crater was a floating Colossus. While his injures still existed, it was hidden beneath a layer of crimson energy that seemed to form a second skin over his muscular. Miniature shockwaves jumped off him continuously jumped off of him without his command showing that his power was flowing off him like river water.

Letting out a deep breath, Colossus looked up to see his enemies getting close to his location. Knowing that he was on a time limit with his power, the red giant decided that he would need to meet the Spectre and Pariah Dark before they got to him. With a large shockwave, Colossus blasted away from the crater and back into space.

He appeared in front of the two in the blink of an eye. With a roar, he crossed his arms and then swung his arms out to hammer strike both of the other ghosts. The hits landed and sent out two massive shockwaves. Both enemies were caught up in the two alternate flowing shockwaves that spread out so wide that the energy flowed liked a giant tsunami wave.

Rocked by the power of what seemed like a concentrated earthquake, both the Spectre and Pariah Dark were sent flying away in a blur. Disappearing with another shockwave, Colossus chased after the Spectre. He grabbed the other ghost by the back of the Spectre's head and brought it down to meet his knee. Empowered by another massive shockwave that would have sent several buildings tumbling over, Colossus borderline shattered the Spectre's face.

Continuing his assault, Colossus several knees at the Spectre's form. He spread out each of the blows across the Spectre's body. Each blow was combined with giant shockwaves leaving the Spectre a bruised mess. Pushing the reeling Spectre away, Colossus turned just in time to catch Pariah Dark's sneak attack with one hand and a shockwave.

With his shockwave pushing the former Ghost King off balance, Colossus wrapped one of his own arms around his former leader's arm. He then used his free arm to repeatedly punch Pariah Dark in the face. Like with the Specter before, Colossus began to repeatedly send out massive shockwaves with his punches that would have broken a city in half.

Knowing that the Spectre was going to recover soon, Colossus threw Pariah Dark over to the other ghost. As the former Ghost King was sent spinning to the ghost of vengeance, Colossus sent out a shockwave kick that knocked his enemies into each other. Pariah and Spectre were caught together in a tangled mess.

It was time. Colossus had them on the ropes. Holding out his hands, the Great General focused all of his energy in front of him. The red cloak of energy around him flowed off him and into a large sphere. Once all of his energy was in the large sphere in front of Colossus, the giant concentrated and shrunk the sphere to the size of the marble. When the energy bomb shrunk, it sent out a ginormous shockwave that shook the nearby moon once more.

Colossus looked at the energy bomb. He placed literally everything he had into the attack. If this was unleashed on Earth…He didn't even know what would happen. The destruction would have been insane. The giant knew that he couldn't point this thing to Earth. Worst case scenario was the world blowing up, and even Colossus knew that was excessive damage.

Reaching forward, Colossus grabbed the energy bomb. He groaned out in agony as his arm was immediately torn apart. His skin cracked sending green blood splattering out. Bones shattered, and muscles tore. Despite this, though, Colossus accomplished what he wanted to do. His arm was covered in a massive halo of energy. It looked more like a red glowing bomb than an arm.

"Halt!"

Colossus blinked as Green Lanterns flew around him. They all had their rings pointed at him. All of them held a fearful looks on their face.

Kilowog floated right behind the Great General, "That attack your about to use breaks article 387 of the Intergalactic Article of Universal Peace. Drop the attack and hand yourself over, Nekron."

"Nekron?! Are you mentally ill?! Do I look like a skeletal harbinger of death, alien?!"

"You have the 'ectoplasmic' energy the Guardians warned us about and have another energy there to blow up a planet! You're telling that there are multiple ghosts this powerful?!"

"Yeah, you moron. Did they not give you a picture—Watch out!"

The Green Lantern distraction allowed the Specter and Pariah Dark to recover. They combined their energy and sent out a massive wave attack that instantly eradicated several of the Green Lanterns that floated in front of him. Raising his non-glowing, Colossus did his best to block the attack. Like the Green Lanterns, he was covered in the tsunami attack.

"RAW!" The new Aquaman shouted as he used his Water Bearers to create a water dragon. With a swing of his arms, he ordered the water dragon to try to devour the Black Hand.

The Black Lantern scoffed at the attack. Raising his decayed hand, Black Hand sent out a skull that cut through the water manifestation and knocked Aquaman away. He would have followed up with that attack, but he was interrupted. Altogether, Lagoon Boy, Tempest, and Frostbite viciously began to attack the Black Lantern.

Despite his power, the Black Lantern's lack of experience made it difficult to respond to the bloodthirsty attacks. He barely managed to avoid the blows. It didn't help that the three worked in near unison despite their rage. In mere seconds, Black Hand was cornered and caught off balance.

With a roar, the Black Hand created a large energy construction that immediately pushed the others away. The black energy spread out to create a massive skeleton around the Black Lantern. With dark smoking rising from the construction, the skeleton began to strike around wildly. Although his enemies managed to avoid the attacks, the power of the swing left deep scars into the nearby castle structures.

Still consumed with their rage, the four enemies of the Black Lantern rushed to attack the skeleton construction. They quickly learned that none of their attacks did anything to the skeletal energy armor. All of their attacks just bounced off the fake bones like wads of light paper.

From the skull part of the dark creation, Black Hand smirked, "Hahahahaha! Weaklings don't deserve to get so mad! If bugs don't want to be squashed, then they shouldn't buzz so annoyingly around a giant!"

This only made the fighters angry. They tried to force even more strength into their attacks, but none of them worked. It seemed like the Black Hand really was too powerful for them.

Frostbite swam back and examined the giant construction. If this kept up, then someone else would get killed. The yeti ghost refused to watch another friend get killed. He had to do something drastic if he wanted to end this quickly. So, he did the only thing he could.

Frostbite went to Absolute Zero.

The water molecules around him slowed down to the point that almost completely stopped moving. The area around the yeti was now a thick ice. He groaned in pain as he focused his energy through his body. Frostbite only ever did this once, and it cost him an arm. Of course, he wasn't recovering from a fight from a demon back then. Who knew what would happen now.

"Get back!" Frostbite shouted.

The Atlantians obeyed. As soon as his friends were out of the way, Frostbite rushed forward and unleashed his full power. Ice exploded out from him. The Black Hand didn't even get to scream as he covered in ice. Frostbite's energy was far too cold for him to fight off. In a second, the entire black skeleton was ice instead of a corporal creation.

Tempest was quick to move forward and drag a drained Frostbite back as soon as the temperature warmed up enough around the yeti to allow contact. Said ghost was coughing up green blood and clutching his chest. He looked to be in terrible pain as he whispered about his insides now being covered in ice.

Not wanting Frostbite's efforts to be in vain, Lagoon Boy rushed forward to the skeleton structure. Transforming into his pufferfish version, Lagoon Boy shattered the ice leaving the Black Hand completely defenseless. This did, however, free the Black Lantern. Covered in ice and frost, he tried to raise his ring to cut Lagoon Boy down just like Tula and King Orion.

Kaldur wasn't about to let that happen, though.

"AAAHHH!" Black Hand screamed out in agony as his ring hand was cut off by the new Aquaman's left Water Bearer. His Black Lantern ring floated away from him leaving him completely defenseless. Before the enemy could say a word, whether it be taunt or beg, Kaldur stabbed his right Water Bearer forward to impale his enemy's chest.

Looking right into Black Hand's shocked face, Kaldur spat out his next words, "That was for Tula, and this…"

Aquaman raised his left Water Bearer.

"IS FOR KING ORIN!"

With a swing of Aquaman's arm, the Black Hand's head left his body. It gently floated away the now dead body. The shocked and horrified expression never left the head's face. Aquaman took great satisfaction in the horror on the decapitated head.

"Rot in hell, you bastard."

Nekron rolled his eyes as some ice covered kid was trying to flash freeze him. What was his name? Icicle Jr.? Something like that. Not that it mattered to Nekron.

Flicking his hand at the ice boy, Nekron sent a ball of energy at the villain's head. The black ball slammed into Icicle Jr.'s head. As soon as the energy hit him, Icicle Jr. went flipping away. He turned several times until he landed unconsciously on the ground.

Dusting off his shoulders, Nekron looked around to the room full of injured enemies. Only a few people were still standing. That would change soon enough. Raising a hand, Nekron prepared a wide spread attack.

The Reaper quickly stopped that attack to use the extended hand to block a blow from Dark Dan. Catching the punch, Nekron tried to pull the alternate Phantom towards him. Dan responded by kicking Nekron in the head. The Ghost of Death didn't even flinch.

Snarling, Dark Dan followed this up by ripping his hand free and unleashing a barrage of attacks at his foe. Ranging from punches that would have sent tanks flying away to blasts of ectoplasm that would have turned an entire building to dust, the attacks landed on Nekton without any trouble. Said ghost, though, just looked bored through it all.

With one final snarl, Dark Dan flew backwards and glared at the uninjured Nekron. Nothing worked in the slightest.

"You done?" Nekron chuckled.

"Not yet," Dark Dan took a deep breath and unleashed his Ghostly Wail.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Nekron just stood there as the tangible sound waves rushed around the room. While everyone else twitched in pain, Nekron seemed to be ignoring the attack like it was an annoying bird call. The Ghost of Death waited for the attack to die down before shaking his head.

"Now? You done yet?"

"No…" Dark Dan smirked, "You are."

Nekron was shocked when a hand was shoved through his back to his chest. He looked down to the hand to see that it was glowing a bright pink, "That's right…You have an affinity towards Phantom's energy, don't you, Jinx?"

Jinx nodded from behind the Reaper. Drops of blood ran down from her ears. While she had gained in fact gained an affinity for the ectoplasm of Danny Phantom, Dark Dan's energy had enough of a difference to hurt her a bit while she moved through the Ghostly Wail. Luckily, though, her affinity did allow her to bypass the defenses that surrounded Danny's body, even if he was possessed by Nekron.

"I'm sorry, Danny," Jinx whispered, "But I had no choice."

Spirit slipped from Youngblood's grip but made sure to hold onto his hand, "Up!"

She pulled him along with Cyborg up higher into the air. They just barely managed to get far enough up to avoid getting hit by the two waves of Sleep Walkers. The waves of Sleep Walkers crashed into each other and send a few of the green ghosts to fly up to the trio. Cyborg was forced to kick them away.

"Well, that worked for now, but they're going to just fly up here and get us in a moment," Youngblood noted as he looked down as the mass of Nocturne minions. The Sleep Walkers spread all around the area. To avoid them, they would have to keep going up because going sideways would get them caught in the sea of enemies. They were effectively stuck.

"Don't worry. I got this," Cyborg was busy messing with a control panel on his arm. As he typed, green lights blared below them as the city's defense system came to life and began to tear through some the Sleep Walkers.

"Oh wow!" Spirit looked on with wide eyes at the weapons firing all across the city, "I forgot about the defense system."

"Yeah, luckily we never took it down," Cyborg nodded.

"Aye, but why did no one activate it before? Couldn't someone at Masters Mansion or Axion Labs do it?" Youngblood was frowning.

"Maybe they got caught up in a fight…" Spirit paused for a second before turning a bit paler, "Oh God…"

The Sleep Walkers had quickly reacted to the defense system. They turned their attention away from their targets and began to fly down to city. The guns managed to cut through a small portion of the sea of Sleep Walkers, but the minions were so great in number that the weapons didn't stand a chance of getting them all. Soon, the Sleep Walkers were tearing through the defense system.

"We need to move while they're busy," Youngblood grunted, "Let's get to Axion Labs."

"Right, I'm worried about my par—Look out!" Cyborg shouted.

Releasing Youngblood's hand, Spirit turned to see the fake Jason Blood and Wulf flying at them. Anger flashed in her mind at seeing them. How dare Nocturne pervert their memories like this? Mr. Blood had been her kind and patient teacher. Wulf had been a constant and loyal friend. She remembered how both of them died…on their own terms.

And Nocturne thought he could ruin that? Hell no!

With a roar, Spirit moved forward and shoved her glowing fists through their chests. It only took a few seconds for the two shades to dissolve into a pile of black goop. Spirit took a shuddering breath as she saw the face of her loved ones fade away for one final time, "I'm sorry…"

"Wow!" Nocturne's voice drew their attention away from the fakes, "I didn't know you had it in you! Well done."

"Nocturne…" Spirit hissed out in hatred.

"You know, I remember when I was in complete control over this city all those years ago," Nocturne noted as he floated over to them, "It was you, little halfa, that was the key to my defeat. I never forgot that. I was just going to kill you for it, but now I'm going to make sure you suffer for it."

Dusk jumped out of the way as the Fright Knight sent a flaming jewel to crush him. He moved just in time as the ectoplasmic attack burst sending shards of the jewel flying. Using his moment, Dusk flew around the explosion to get right in front of the fake knight. Creating his Scribe Staff to give himself the reach advantage, the halfa tried to knock his enemy way.

The Fright Knight dodged each blow with practiced ease but could not get close enough to get his own attack. Dusk felt extremely grateful that this fake version of his friend didn't have Soul Shredder. None of his Matter Make weapons would have been able to beat the power of that blade. As such, he did have a chance to beat the Fright Knight, but there was a big problem.

Chasing after the retreating Fright Knight, Dusk noticed the green goop running down his arm. His body's stability was beginning to come undone. That was bad. He didn't have any Ecto Boosts on him. If he continued to fight, then there was a good chance he would dissolve. Unfortunately, it didn't look like he would get to stop fighting any time soon.

'What do I do?'

Call…me…

Dusk had to force himself not to flinch. He continued to push forward despite the voice calling out to him. What was that?

I will…you…call…me…

This time Dusk did flinch. That opening allowed the Fright Knight to push him back. Now on the retreat, Dusk formed his Reflection Shield in order to minimize the damage he received. If one solid hit got in past his guard…

Stabilize…call…me…

The voice…the voice sounded familiar. Dusk felt a pull at the back of his mind. Something was there. All he had to do was reach out and grab it…

"ROAR!"

Dusk jumped as Aragon soared down to him. The halfa would have lunged away, but the Fright Knight held him in place. This allowed the dragon to grab onto them and carry them away. With a few powerful flaps of his massive wings, Aragon carried them to the center of the island where the main city was burning and crushed to rubble. Dozens of Amazons lie across the ground defeated along with the ghosts that had been dragged through the original portal.

Dumping his prey at the center of the chaos, Aragon landed on the steps of a large temple. The dragon sneered as Dusk pushed the dissolving Fright Knight off of him while clutching at his own bleeding side. Dusk groaned in pain and focused on keeping himself stable even as he felt his body began to dissolve. He didn't have anything left in the tank to fight with.

"Looks like you're already almost dead," Aragon laughed, "Seems like my plan worked at least a little, although I was expecting them to kill you. You're more jaded than I thought you were. Sure they were fake, but you crushed your girlfriend and dog like they were nothing."

Dusk glared up at him.

Aragon just continued to laugh at the defiant look that the halfa had despite the situation. Wanting to get his job done with, the dragon opened his mouth and sent out a torrent of flames. Desperately, Dusk rolled away from the fire and lunged into the tree line.

"Ahahahahaha! Go ahead and hide, little halfa! I know you won't get far."

Transforming into an elephant, Beast Boy charged forward with loud roar. With the weight of the world's largest land mammal, he tried to run over the Black Lantern. Despite all of the power he wielded in that moment, he was still easily sent flying away by a single punch. The elephant went tumbling away before he transformed back to his normal form.

With a groan, he tried to push himself up. Beast Boy hissed out in pain as his left arm gave out on him. He fell face first to the dirt causing pain to shoot through his swollen black eye. Punching the ground with his good arm, Beast Boy transformed himself into a gorilla once again and snarled at the mercenary. This caused blood to spill from his split lip.

He was once again knocked down with ease.

"I don't feel good about zhis," Madame Rogue noted, "Could you just stay down? Beating children like this is beneazh me."

Beast Boy ignored her. He once again forced himself up. The young hero titled back and forth unstably. He looked like he was barely able to stand.

"Alright," Madame Rogue shook her head, "I'll just finish you—"

"Hsalf ezeerf reh!"

Before Madam Rogue could react, she was frozen in a block of ice. With the enemy immobilized, Zatanna reached up to clutch her head. Forcing herself to her knees made her dizzy, but that was fine. She was just glad she managed to save Beast Boy.

"Gar!" Miss Martian, who had always just woken up, floated up to her adopted boyfriend and gently placed her hands on his shoulders just in time to stop him from falling on his face, "Oh, Gar…"

Tired and beaten eyes turned to her. Despite his pain and fatigue, he smiled at her, "Good…you woke up…I was worried…"

"Gar…" M'gann wiped the tears from her eyes, "You did good, Gar. Thank you. If you hadn't—"

Before the Martian could finish her sentence, Madame Rogue shattered the ice holding her with a burst of black energy. She had murder in her eyes as she turned her eyes to Zatanna. Before the magician could do anything, Rogue used her ring to create a gag to keep here enemy from speaking. The mercenary would have followed up with this move, but Miss Martian didn't let her.

Gently placing her adopted brother on the ground, she rushed forward protectively. With both of her friends and family members safely behind her and to the side, the alien unleashed all her power forward to create one giant telepathic push at Madame Rouge. Despite the ground shattering and the strange creatures around them being turned to dust, Madame Rogue held her ground without any real effort.

Shaking her head, Madame Rogue unleashed her own energy wave. This attack was extremely effective. The black wave knocked the Martian back with ease. She landed with a tumble, before rushing forward again. This time, she used her shape-shifting to create multiple limbs to attack the mercenary. Madame Rogue's own shifting abilities allowed her to dance around the attacks with ease.

"Please, you are too weak."

Miss Martian stumbled back as Madame Rogue punched her in the gut.

"You are too soft."

Another elongated punch to face nearly knocked the Martian out. It was only through sheer force of will that Miss Martian only fell to her knees instead of onto her face.

"You aren't willing to do what you have to in order to survive…in order to win," Madame Rogue noted, "Zhat is why I do what I do. I always know which side is going to win. Zhat is who I ally myself with. Your friends…Zhe little heroes…were doomed as soon as Nekron set his zights on zhem."

M'gann looked up defiantly, like she was going to argue. Unfortunately, she couldn't get any words out.

"Call me a traitor, but know zhat I will be one of zhe few survivors," Madame Rogue raised her non-ring hand and pointed it Miss Martian, "All because I knew what I had to do to survive."

Rogue's fingers shot forward with the speed of bullets. Miss Martian could do nothing as she watched the fingers fly forward to impale her. She tried to move, but that was useless. The crash and Rogue's beat down injured her too much.

It was over.

"NO!"

Miss Martian's eyes widened as one of her friends jumped in front of her to protect her. Rogue's fingers instantly stabbed through her ally's chest allowing droplets of blood to fall onto the ground below them. Everyone instantly knew that it was a fatal blow.

Mary gasped in horror as Freddy's broken body crashed onto the ground, "Freddy!"

She knelt next to her boyfriend. Shifting Box Lunch to one arm, she reached down to his smoking and burnt back. Her hand flinched back from the heat rolling off his skin.

Freddy's tired eyes looked up to his horrified girlfriend, "Hey…"

Mary sobbed out her reply, "H-Hey…"

"You…and the kid…You're good right? I saved you?"

"Of course you did," Mary's vision was blurred by her tears.

"Good…good…" Freddy's eyes closed.

"No…NO!" Mary looked at the downed boy frantically, "Come on, Fred! Wake up! You can't die here!"

Freddy did not respond, so she reached down to shake him. He didn't react at all. His body was still to the point that it didn't look like he was breathing.

"What do I do…What do I do…" Mary looked up to the sky, "Shazam!"

Nothing happened.

"Come on, you damn wizard! Help me out here! Shazam!"

Once again, her answer was nothingness.

"Shazam! Shazam! SHAZAM!" Mary cried out desperately. Finally, after realizing that the magical lightning wasn't going to happen, she broke down crying, "Sha…zam…"

As the cried over the smoking body, a large figure drifted over her. Doctor Fate loomed over Mary. The recreation of the Lord of Order had not pity in his eyes. He lifted his arm up and pointed it at the back of Mary's head before unleashing a torrent of golden energy.

Bumblebee flew through the Ghost Zone at rapid speeds. She had to work to dodge the rain drops around her. Her smaller form made her situation even more dangerous, but to fly she had to be at the insect size. Unfortunately, that made even the raindrops dangerous to her, but she didn't really have a choice. Vortex would have torn her apart instantly if she couldn't fly away from him.

With lightning crashing above her, Bumblebee knew that she was effectively an ant in a hurricane. She was forced to fight her way through deadly winds while dodging sharp rain and hail. Bumblebee felt extremely exhausted from just a few minutes of fleeing. Still, she forced herself onward in a desperate attempt to get away.

The only one good thing she could say about the situation was that Vortex didn't seem to know where she was. He lost track of her small form through the storm. She had a feeling that she wouldn't still be alive if he knew where she was. To compensate for that, though, Vortex just crated a massive storm all around the area in attempt to hit her.

Vortex was wearing a black vest with a lightning symbol like the Flash, except that it larger, backwards and more pronounced. His huge arms and forearms were covered by black gloves. Instead of legs, the ghost had a twister tail that was constantly spinning. Red eyes, sharp teeth, and lighting bold ears twisted with sick glee as he manipulated the storm around him.

"YOU…huff…WON'T ESCAPE…huff…LITTLE BUG!" Vortex shouted, "I'll KILL YOU…huff…THEN I'LL FIND THE REST…huff…OF THE GHOSTS!"

Bumblebee ignored the taunts. She continued to push herself forward through the storm. There was no end in sight of the hurricane Vortex created, but that didn't stop her. Karin was determined to push through this. She wasn't going to die here.

One sudden giant wind crushed her determination. She was sent flying back with a scream. This caught the giant ghost's attention. Cackling, he grabbed the girl and held her up to his face.

"HELLO!"

Before Karin could do anything, Vortex sent electricity through her body effectively shocking her. Screaming in pain, the girl spasmed and twitched uncontrollably. The electricity quickly short-circuited her suit and forced her to grow to her normal size. As the electricity died down, Bumblebee quickly realized that her suit wasn't going to work anymore.

"HOW ABOUT…huff…I MAKE YOU SUFFER…huff…BEFORE I KILL YOU!?"

As the massive wave of ectoplasm died down, a smoking and barely conscious Colossus floated in front of the shocked Green Lanterns that were lucky enough to be behind the giant. To their complete awe, the brute took the attack with one arm. Sure, Colossus's left arm was not a shattered mess of useless flesh and bones, but still…if it weren't for him, they would all be dead.

Before any of the Green Lanterns could speak, a wave of battle rage fell over them like a blanket. They all shook in fear as Colossus unleashed every little bit of Haunting Aura he could muster up. He wasn't directing it at the Green Lanterns. No, they were just unfortunate enough to be caught up in the wave. Instead, he directed at the ghosts in front of him.

After the wave had died down, Spectre and the Ghost King both rushed forward to finish Colossus off. Luckily, the Haunting Aura was enough to slow them down just a bit. Colossus wasn't about to waste this opportunity. With a roar, he lifted his arm with enough energy to put an atomic bomb to shame. He sent the glowing limb forward and unleashed his ultimate attack.

"Earthshaker Punch!"

The blast that followed would forever be ingrained in the minds of the surviving Green Lanterns. Combined with a shockwave so massive that the planet Earth behind Colossus actually shook from the force, a large beam of energy rushed forward to the ghost. In the blink of an eye Pariah Dark and the Spectre were covered in the energy. They fought back with a combined attack of their own, but it was futile. In seconds, the fake Spectre and Pariah Dark were disintegrated into literal nothingness.

Colossus's attack didn't stop with them. It continued forward and out into space. Said shockwave beam made the very void around it tremble in fear. Luckily, no planet got in its way. While Mars was safe, the asteroid belt was not. With a burst of energy that shouldn't be possible for a living being, thousands of heavenly rocks were turned to ash.

Of course, this happened well out of the Green Lantern's line of sight. Even Colossus's attack would take a few minutes to make it to the asteroid belt. As soon as the energy stopped flowing from Colossus's arm, the limb dropped lifelessly to his side. The brute then closed his eyes in satisfaction. He had won.

The Green Lanterns held expressions of pure fear. One being could not possible do that. Not even the New Gods could do something like that. This creature was a monster. This being was dangerous. This ghost…

Had slipped into unconsciousness.

"If he hadn't been facing away from the planet…It would have been destroyed," Kilowog muttered. His words were met with silence, but he knew that his comrades agreed with him. They eyed the ghost as he floated unconsciously through the void of space. Both of his arms were ruined messes. His body was covered in injures. He was completely vulnerable. Part of them wanted to finish Colossus off. Nothing with such power should be allowed to go free. Luckily for the brute, the Green Lanterns never got the chance to carry out their dark thoughts.

One of the Green Lanterns screamed as it was mauled by one of Nekron's creatures of death. This caused all of them to gain fearful looks again. Countless numbers of the inky beasts were flying towards them. The numbers were so great that they literally covered any possible view of the planet behind them. It seemed like Nekron was prepared for the Green Lanterns' arrival.

With a roar, the Green Lanterns rushed forward to fight against the army that had to outnumber them one hundred to one. So focused on the fight, they forgot about Colossus who continued to float peacefully. The look of satisfaction never left Colossus as he dreamed.

That was one hell of a fight.

Kaldur stood in front of several bodies wrapped up in cloth. After the Black Hand fell, the Atlantian soldiers managed to quickly secure the city. All the deceased were gathered and wrapped to help hide their deadly injuries. The former Aqualad felt the energy drain from him as he looked on to the deceased soldiers.

The sound of wailing drew Kaldur's attention to the side. Queen Mera was kneeling beside the wrapped body of Tula and Orin. Unlike the other bodies, the famous 'A' symbol of Aquaman and his protégés covered the wrapped corpses to distinguish them from the others.. He had to fight not to flinch as he remembered how each of them died. It was difficult not to break down like the queen, but he stayed strong. Someone had to stay up and lead.

Looking behind him, Kaldur saw all the soldiers of Atlantis looking onto him expectantly. The queen was definitely in no condition to lead. Even before this, she was a mess. With her favorite student and her husband now both dead, there was a good chance that she would never be able to lead. There was no bloodline ruler left in Atlantis.

"All hail King Kaldur!" Tempest shouted and dropped to his knees to bow. He was quickly followed by Frostbite and Lagoon Boy. After a brief pause, the soldiers dropped down as well.

"ALL HAIL KING KALDUR!"

Kaldur took a deep breath. He never wanted to be a leader. The Atlantian saw the burden that leading had placed on Danny. That was something he never even thought about desiring. If worst came to worst, then Nightwing was always there to lead. Now, though…There was no one ready to lead Atlantis but him.

Clenching his fist, Aquaman turned to his new subject, "Rise! Now is not the time to kneel! We must regroup and ready for the next battle! Earth is not safe, and it falls on all of us to do what we can to save our planet! Atlantis will not fall today or any day!"

The soldiers roared in approval. They stood and began to chant Kaldur's name. Aquaman had to fight not to flinch under the chants. Whether he liked it or not, he was now the leader of Atlantis. He held the power over all the oceans. On his whim, he could shake the entire Earth and destroy the dry land. That was not a responsibility that he felt comfortable with, but he would need it if he wanted to defeat the threat behind all this.

Jinx took a shuddering breath at knowing what she had to do, "Goodbye, Danny. I love you."

Pink energy surged through her hand. The energy spread from Nekron's chest all around his body. His black halo was pushed back, leaving him defenseless. Veins beneath Nekron's skin began to glow a neon pink. Once black eyes transformed back to green.

"J-Jen…" Danny's voice gasped out from Nekron's lips.

Jinx's eyes filled with tears as she watched the body of her lover began to dissolve into green goop. Her bad luck energy must have torn up his insides, "It's okay, Danny. I'm here."

"T-Thank you…" Danny muttered, "You…You stopped him…You stopped me…"

"Don't thank me," Jinx shoved her face into his broad back and began to cry, "I didn't save you."

"That…doesn't matter…" Danny's body began to dissolve more and more, "You did the right thing."

"Y-Yeah…" Jinx sobbed.

"Jen…before I go…I have to ask…" Danny's eyes shined with curiosity, "Would you…have chosen me? If this never happened…would you have chosen me over your father?"

Jinx's voice hitched as she gave her answer, "Yes…I would have…"

Danny looked away, "You're lying. I can hear it in your voice…You couldn't even tell me the truth while I'm dying…"

"I…I'm sorry, Danny," Jinx's voice came out as a desperate plea, "But I love being an assassin…I love my father…I love my life the way it is…"

"You love it all more than me?"

Jinx's silence was her answer.

Danny nodded, "I see…Then I guess you deserve what I'm about to do to you."

As surge of black energy sent Jinx flying away. She landed back first against the cave wall. Gasping in pain, she quickly slid to the ground. Barely conscious, she looked up to see Danny's body regain its original shape. Green eyes flashed back to black. The hole she thought she created closed leaving no trace of the damage.

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" Nekron burst out laughing, "It never gets old! The look on your face! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! I didn't think you'd actually fall for it! Oh…Oh man…That was good…"

Jinx glared at Nekron, "You—"

Nekron silenced her by shooting her through the shoulder with a black energy bullet. He then turned his attention to a shocked Dark Dan, "Nice try, but did you really think I would let someone with such a distinct energy signal to sneak up on me?"

It was at that moment that Dark Dan realized there was no way to beat Nekron. He had just used the best plan he had to beat the Reaper, and it failed spectacularly. Nekron laughed it off like it was nothing. That was because it was nothing to him. Power, speed, and strategy all crumbled before him. Nothing would work against Nekron. He was untouchable.

The universe had been doomed since the moment that Nekron possessed Danny Phantom's body.