Chapter 6: Scars

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war."

Douglas MacArthur

Chapter 6: "Scars"

(Saturday-February 13, 2016)

Danny let out a breath of exasperation. He watched as his breath lifted up into the cold February air. Adjusting his coat, he glanced at his companions who were dressed in far less clothing than him. He would have wondered why they weren't freezing if he didn't know the cybernetic weaves of their clothing helped retain heat. The whooshing sound of someone sliding down a line drew his attention forward. He watched as a disheveled man dressed in red and black approached the rooftop by zip line. Upon making contact with the concrete, the ragged redhead tumbled onto the ground with his bow sliding away.

"Wow," Danny muttered. "That's sad."

Nightwing elbowed Danny in the ribs, "Be nice."

"What? He's the opposite of heveled," Danny whispered.

Nightwing snorted, "I regret starting that word game with you, you chicken fricassee."

"Hey, Roy," Green Arrow stood above the downed Red Arrow while offering a hand to pull him up. While most of his features were hidden beneath his green hood, his blonde mustache and goatee stood out in the darkened night. "Need a hand?"

"No," Red Arrow smacked the offered hand away.

"We think you do," Nightwing noted. The remaining members of their intervention group stepped out from behind the entrance to the staircase. Danny was joined by a blonde woman in black leather, another disheveled redhead with freckles, and a man who looked just like Red Arrow except better kept.

Red Arrow glared at them, "I have nothing to say to any of you. Nothing to explain. Nothing to justify!"

Green Arrow reached out as his former protégé turned to walk away in order to grab a large stack of cash, "Nothing?"

Red Arrow froze, "It's...not what it looks like. I mean, the store owner won't miss it! He offered me a reward anyway! Besides…I deserve it. That guy wouldn't have any of his money back if I hadn't stepped in!"

"Dude…" Wally West reached up to slick back his long red locks. "Are you even listening to yourself?"

"Look, I need it! I need it to find Speedy," Red Arrow justified his actions. "The real Roy Harper. A search like that is expensive. Especially when the rest of you have all given up!"

"What do you want from us, Roy?" Danny questioned. "You want us to spend our whole lives searching for someone that's probably dead?"

"You shut up!" Red Arrow hissed. He rushed forward to grab Danny by the collar. "I don't want to hear anything from you! I wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't cut me off! You have the money! If you just supported me then I wouldn't have to steal!"

"Quit being a child," Danny pushed Red Arrow away with a single arm. With his current thinner frame, Roy couldn't stop himself from stumbling back and falling onto his rear. "I helped fund the search for years! Far longer than I should have. Even after that stuff with Nekron and I had already swore to myself that I would stop…I wanted to contribute to justice, but I could see that you were killing yourself. I couldn't support your death, asshole!"

"I…" Red Arrow flipped over to get on his hands and knees. "I don't deserve to live. Not after stealing the real Roy's life."

Spirit leaned down to place her head next a beautiful redhead woman in a wheelchair, "This seems pretty theatrical, Oracle."

"Hush," Barbara Gordon smirked to her friend. "We're preventing any more secret invasions, after all. With all those signal jammers in orbit, we have to take every precaution necessary."

"Uh huh," Spirit snorted. "You do realize that my hometown is straight out of science fiction, right? I see stuff like this every day."

"Fine. Point taken, but we work as people flying through the air in clothes that act like a second skin," Barbara mentioned. "You should expect a bit of theatrics by now."

"Fair enough," Spirit watched the holographic window as the orb satellites projected a golden barrier to stop Zeta teleportation between planets.

"Congratulations," Adam Strange smiled from the image of his lab in another state. "The Zeta Shield is now operational."

"Absolutely historic," Lagoon Boy was oddly wearing a polo shirt as he hugged Miss Martian from behind. Spirit frowned at the sight. Even months after their breakup, it was still strange to see M'gann be intimate with anyone other than Superboy. "With the Zeta Shield in place no alien can teleport to our planet from off world. Even your Strange friend won't be able to travel to-and-from Rann without prior approval."

"Shield's great," Superboy grunted as he stepped across the Cave entrance hall. Young Justice's secret base was the carved out insides of Mount Justice. They stood on the metal plating which led to several Zeta Tubes which could transport them to almost anywhere in the world if needed. "But it won't stop a spaceship or a boom tube."

"What's a 'boom tube'?" Jaime Reyes questioned. Outside of his armor, Blue Beetle was a Hispanic young man with short hair and brown eyes. He was the kind of guy that most people wouldn't look twice at normally. While his question was fair, the answer came from an unexpected place.

'Boom tube. An alternate means of instant transport between distant locations. Not compatible.'

"Not compatible with what?" Jaime crossed his arms in indignation. "I swear, I don't understand half the things you say."

All eyes turned to Blue Beetle. Cyborg voiced their thoughts, "Yeah. I understand what you mean."

Spirit continued to eye the newest addition to the Team. While most couldn't hear the scarab A.I. which came with the armor, she could make out most of its intentions, although the direct message which transferred from the machine to the human was lost to her. She wished that she could hear more in order to see if her family's suspicions on the boy were true.

"Where's Nightwing?" Superboy questioned Oracle.

"How should I know?" Barbara shrugged. "I'm not his keeper."

"Barb…"

Oracle sighed, "Fine. He's dealing with personal business."

"Perfect," Superboy grumbled. He nodded at Spirit. "Looks like it's a team of three."

"Nope," Spirit stepped away from Oracle. She grabbed Jaime by the shoulder. "Tag. That's four. Onward to adventure!"

"W-Woah!" Jaime stumbled after her. "W-What's up?"

"Self-assigned mission," Spirit noted. "You, me, Superboy, and Cyborg. Good experience for you."

Superboy quickly caught up to her, "Ah, Spirit. This one's kind of…"

"Hey, this is my fault," Cyborg rushed after them. "I wanted to work with BB more to—"

"Don't!" Miss Martian's voice made everyone in the room freeze. "Don't call him BB."

"R-Right," Cyborg rubbed the back of his head.

Superboy shook his head, "Fine. Let's just out of here."

"Okay, stinkburgers, let me get this straight," a bald young man of extremely short stature glared to the group of heroes in his home base. "She's an escaped alien slave from outer space. You saved her and decided to lie low for a while, when this creepo came back to life. You told his girlfriend that he was back, and she now refuses to leave him alone. Now, some technopath wannabe cleared all the data from the alien ship, so you need a large enough meeting space for all of you."

"That about sums it up, Gizmo," Dusk nodded.

Gizmo turned to glare at a green-skinned ghost dressed in a cloak and leotard. Her entire body was covered in tattoos except for her pierced head with several spikes sticking out of it, "And why did you bring them here, Lydia?"

Lydia shrugged, "You were the one that said that Dusk could crash here if needed."

"I meant only him! And off in the corner or something! Do you really think that all this commotion is good for Ace?!" Gizmo snapped. His shouts echoed across the underground base. This caused the other residents of the room to look up from what they were doing, ranging from riding a skateboard on a ramp to modifying ectoplasmic guns.

Red Hood snorted. He glanced around the large base which reminded him of a more brightly lit and cleaner Batcave filled with games, obstacle courses, and computers, "Looks like you have plenty of room."

"Besides," Ravager showingly crossed her legs from her seat. "I would think that you would love to have your home invaded by hot chicks."

Gizmo's beady eyes glanced to the four gorgeous women with Dusk's group, "You kidding? My girlfriend is someone that can literally melt my mind. I can't even think about stuff like that anymore."

"Ah, it is good to see that having a lady within thy life has help thee improve thy morals," Troia mentioned. Outside of her island home, she wore black clothing decorated with stars and the familiar symbol of Wonder Woman on her chest.

"Moral? You high or something?" Gizmo shook his head. "You know what it's like to date a girl who can read your mind? You can't get away with shit. She always gets all mopey like 'Am I not good enough for you?' Gah! Looking's not a crime damn it!"

"Sounds rough," Red Hood nodded in understanding. "Ow!"

Troia elbowed him, "Hush."

"How is Ace doing?" Herald questioned.

"She's alive," Lydia sighed. "That's better than what most doctors would have predicted."

"I'll fix her," Gizmo shrugged. "Curing cancer can't be too hard, right?"

"You need any help?" Gear's eyes shined at the challenge. "I could upload all of your data into my mind and see what the next best step would be."

"No thanks," Gizmo grunted. "You focus on your alien shit."

"He has a point. That is why we are all here," Black Bat looked to Gear. "Could you please share the information you deciphered?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry for the delay by the way. Still got school, friends, family, and a lack of proper processing power on my computer. It took pretty long to come up with a direct translation for some of their info," Gear ordered Backpack to jump off onto the floor. The computer projected holograms into the air. "We got a lot of info from the Citadel computers. A lot of it is war strategies in separate sections of the universe, but I did get some interesting stuff. Like Starfire said, Citadel allied with Tamaran to gain a higher standing. It's working by the way."

Starfire frowned upon seeing a holographic image of her home planet, "I'm so glad that my traitorous sister is getting exactly what she wants."

"Sorry, I'm just the messenger," Gear shrugged. "But I doubt that there will much trouble from them again. The real news I got is why the Citadel isn't willing to go to war with us over Star. You know, besides the Guardians of the Universe."

"Why?" Dusk questioned.

"Because they would get put right in the spotlight of some of the largest factions in the universe. Forgetting the whole controversy with the League being tried by intergalactic courts…" Gear explained. "Apokolips. New Genesis. The Reach. The Yellow and Red Lanterns. Not to mention some individual powerhouses like…Mongul? It think that's his name…"

"Oh Thorpox!" Starfire grew pale. "That…That is a lot of big names…"

"More Lanterns?" Ravager released an exasperated sigh. "Wasn't the Black Lanterns enough? Now there's two of them…"

"New Genesis and Apokolips," Herald hummed. "There's plenty of illegal tech from there. To my knowledge, we've only had a few low ranking people from their visit here, though. Superboy has a story about the 'Forever People'."

"What about the halfas being wanted by that Apokolips place?" Black Bat questioned.

"Now, that's the real information," Gear switched the holograms to show the wanted posters for Dusk's family. "According to the dates, these came out right after Phantom faded away."

"So they have spies here," Red Hood mentioned.

Gear nodded, "Right. Their leader seems to have an unhealthy obsession with our planet…and Danny Phantom."

Gizmo raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Um…This part was hard to translate…" Gizmo frowned. "It was close to…peak evolution…never ending immortality…end of free life? Err…Anti-Life or something."

Lydia shrugged, "That makes no sense."

"Nope, but that's what is said," Gear sighed. "Oh…and I found out that there was a wanted poster for one more person from this planet."

"Who?"

The hologram shifted to a man with blue skin and fiery white hair, "That guy you called Dark Dan."

Vlad frowned at the list of names in his hands, "What about Raven's brothers?"

"The Sons of Trigon?" Vision shook her head. "I monitored them. They've lost all of their abilities after demons were banished from the world."

Vlad sighed, "Well, it was worth trying."

The couple sat in their living room. They were not alone in this instance, though. They were joined by Silas Stone and a woman dressed in a red dress suit. Her face showed the bite of age creeping up on her. Her scarlet hair pointed up into two points. Penelope Spectra was one of the few former enemies who had been given a second chance because of the Reality Gauntlet.

Spectra glanced at her own copy of the lists of names, "Recruiting fighters for a potential invasion…There's not many people left who aren't connected to the League. I can see why you brought me in."

Vision nodded, "Most of the people closest have either passed away or were separated from us when the dimensional rifts were closed."

"Ever thought about opening the rift secretly to bring in some ghosts?" Silas questioned.

Vlad shook his head, "We have, but it could prove to be counterproductive. It hasn't been that long since the Blackest Night. Someone in the government will probably detect the surge of energy, and then we'll have to deal with the political backlash. I imagine that the alien invaders will take advantage of such chaos."

"So that's a no," Silas scratched his chin. "What about Frostbite and his people? He's still helping Aquaman in Atlantis, right?"

"Yes," Vision sighed. "But Kaldur will quickly figure out that we're trying to build a fighting force. He is a member of the League. I imagine that would create a conflict of interest."

"It might be something to look into, though," Spectra noted. "Atlantis and Themyscira are both hidden from the mundane world. Invaders might not be able to spy in those locations."

"There are high risks of exposure to the League, though," Vlad sighed. "I doubt that they will appreciate us trying to make our own fighting force."

"Then why not involve the League?" Silas questioned.

"The League has good uses. Their morals make people believe in them. Unbending morals make a war hard to win," Vision lowered her head to examine her growing stomach. "I'd prefer to crush this threat quietly and quickly."

The other three occupants of the room shared awkward looks. Vlad coughed to try to change the subject, "I have managed to get into contact with Joel, but he's been extremely busy as of late. Apparently, he's amassed a large group of friends capable of fighting. That's a good first step, but I wanted you two to help. Do you have any ideas?"

"I can come up with some weapon designs," Silas mentioned.

Spectra paused, "Have you spoken with Danny about this? I mean…Harriet and Damien work for him."

"No," Vision looked back up. "He's given almost everything he could already. It would feel like we were mocking him if we asked for his help."

"You might not have a choice," Spectra paused when the doorbell rang.

"Ah, our last guests," Vlad stood. "Excuse me for a moment."

As the half-ghost stepped out of the room, Spectra reached for her phone. None of the other people in the room thought the motion was odd. Instead of contacting anyone with the device, she stared at the screensaver of her with her family. Her young child stood between her and Bertrand. Light brown hair covered the top of his head, and a wide smile covered his face. Her eyes sparked with pain while staring at her baby's face. It seemed like everyone was interested in recruiting people with extraordinary power, yet she refused to speak up. Her life as a mother came first. Colin would never be allowed to fight in an alien invasion.

"Sorry about back there," Cyborg looked over the Blue Beetle. The group of four heroes along with the Teams' pet Wolf, the white haired genetically enhanced canine, were all flying through the air on the spacious Supercycle. "I forgot about that nickname being a hot topic."

"Why?" Blue Beetle asked.

"Beast Boy," Spirit bit her lips. "He died during the Blackest Night. He was like a little brother to her."

"Not just her," Superboy growled.

"Oh," Blue Beetle squirmed uncomfortably. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You didn't do anything," Spirit shrugged. "Superboy, let's give the freshmen a rundown."

Superboy sighed, "Fine."

He pressed a button on the dashboard to activate a few holographic pictures. Superboy then began his explanation, "The bomb Red X used last month to destroy Malina Island was clearly of alien origin. Obviously the Kroloteans that perished there didn't know anything about it. So we need to figure out where it came from. The criminal organization Intergang has a history of trafficking in alien tech smuggled to Earth through boom tubes. So I've been keeping tabs on Whisper A'Daire one of Intergang's top lieutenants. Tonight her boss Bruno "Ugly" Mannheim crawled out of hiding to meet up with her. We have both in that truck. And it looks like they are headed for the Hall of Justice."

"Oh," Blue Beetle looked down to the city of Washington DC down below them. "Well, that explains the location."

"Make sure to stay quiet," Spirit explained to the newbie. "Untrained people almost never look up unless given a reason. So don't go arguing with that A.I. in your head."

Blue Beetle's eyes widened, "H-How did you know about that?!"

Spirit tapped her ears, "I hear intentions. No idea what the thing is saying, but I know it's usually giving advice and information to you. I never brought it up because it was your business."

Superboy grunted, "That explains the weird outbursts. Try to answer mentally more often. People will start to think that you're going nuts if they see you shouting out to the sky."

"R-Right," Blue Beetle nodded.

The group went quiet as they approached the impressive structure known as the Hall of Justice. They watched as a rather unseemly looking man stepped out of a van with a beautiful redheaded woman. Keeping their distance they watched duo approach the building.

Superboy used his enhanced vision to spy on them from a distance, "Can either of you two scan that briefcase."

Both of Cyborg and Blue Beetles arms shifted into scanners. After a few seconds, Cyborg shook his head, "Too much interference."

"Not compatible again," Blue Beetle hissed. "Just like the Boom Tube."

"Huh?" Superboy continued to watch the outlaws. "Can you scan the Hall? Thermal vision isn't helping right now."

They followed the order. Blue Beetle shrugged, "Hall's deserted."

"Keep following them," Spirit leaned forward in order to see.

"Right," Superboy maneuvered the Supercycle to follow their targets around to the side of the Hall. When Ugly opened the briefcase to show a crimson device, their ride flinched back in fear.

Cyborg frowned, "Similar to boom tubes. Sphere is afraid. That thing's Apocalyptic."

"What does that mean?" Blue Beetle questioned.

"It means that it's time to intervene!" Spirit flew up from her seat. She rocketed towards her targets at top speed. As she moved, Ugly activated the device, releasing a signal into the air. Not affected by the strange red waves, Spirit continued her charge. Right before she could land a hit on her enemy, a massive fist smashed through the wall to send her rolling.

"Spirit!" Cyborg leapt from his seat to help his lover. As he moved, the owner of the fist exited the Hall of Justice. It was a strange massive golem made up of rock, crystal, and roots. Strange yellow writing marked its face and limbs.

"Attack," Ugly commanded.

Roaring, the creature punched forward to force the heroes to scatter. While Cyborg helped a surprisingly dazed Spirit to her feet, Wolf and Superboy moved forward to try to tear down the giant. Despite Wolf's teeth tearing out the roots which made up its feet and Superboy easily cracking the crystal on its head, the golem remained perfectly fine as it immediately regenerated its injuries. Seeing its owner in danger, the Supercycle released a sound wave to counteract Ugly's device. A previously wincing Blue Beetle was then allowed to recover from his stunned state.

"What is that thing?" Blue Beetle questioned.

'Appelaxian golem.' the scarab noted.

"You know, I'm bilingual, and I still have no idea what you just said!"

'Irrelevant. Attack!'

"Okay," Blue Beetle floated up as his wings extended. "That I get!"

Superboy saw Blue's arm shift into a sonic cannon, "Blue, no!"

He was too late. Blue unleashed a sound attack which immediately was absorbed by the golem. After charging it for a few second, the golem release the blue waves back at its foes. They were all sent flying back by the rebounded attack. Once they were all grounded, the golem stepped on Blue to keep him down.

"They're down," Whisper noted. "Can we kill them?"

"Nah." Ugly shook his head. "Trying to kill a Kryptonian could be time consuming. The League will be here any second. Let's just get gone."

The golem roared as wings extended from its back. Picking up its masters with its arm, it flew straight up into the air to carry them to safety. Lifting her head up, Spirit glared at them. Even from this distance she could still feel the intentions from the creature.

'End pain! End pain! Kill me! End pain!'

"So it comes to that," Danny reached up to rub his temples. "Look, Roy. We don't care that you're a clone. You're talking to the guy that has a clone for a sister and is best friends with a half-Kryptonian clone."

"And it's not like we ever really knew the original Roy to begin with," Wally shrugged.

Nightwing nodded, "We did the math. None of our generation ever came into contact with the original Roy. You're our friend. Not him."

"That doesn't make it right!" Red Arrow hissed.

"Hey, I know how it feels to come to terms with being a clone made for evil purposes," Jim Harper, the former Guardian, spoke up. While he shared the exact same facial features as Roy, he looked far more in shape than the other clone. "You can't dwell on it, though. No one gets to choose how they come into this world. We only get to choose who we become, and it seems to me that you're making some terrible choices."

"My choices have all been made to save the guy who's responsible for giving me life in the first place!" Roy slammed his fists into the ground. "You can compare me to whoever you want, but you know it's not the same. I stole the real Roy's life! I have to give it back to him!"

"You won't be able to do anything like this," Green Arrow extended a hand out. "Come back to Star City. We can train and get you healthy again. Then, when you're clearheaded, you can decide what to do next."

"I'm perfectly fine!" Red Arrow argued while pushing himself to his feet. "I'm in the best shape of my life?"

"Best shape of your life, huh?" Black Canary rushed forward to attack him. With wide eyes, Roy tried to push her back. She easily overcame him with only a few moves and held him over the edge of the roof. "I think not. I was holding back. A LOT. And a civilian pushed you down with one arm. No offense, Danny."

Danny waved her off, "None taken."

Black Canary pulled Roy back onto the roof. Once she released him, he stumbled for a bit, "I can't waste any more time! Every moment he's still on ice is a moment I'm taking from him!"

Wally sighed, "You think that he's still on ice? Dude…I hate to tell you this, but you're probably wrong. Why would the Light keep him alive? They had no use for him as far as I can tell. Their entire policy is to destroy everything that isn't useful to them anymore. Trust me, I know. You need to move on."

"Like you've moved on?" Red Arrow hissed.

"Roy!" Nightwing raised a hand. "Don't—"

"You only look better than me because your powers keep your body from degrading!" Red Arrow hissed. "At least I have some kind of purpose! What are you doing, huh?! You've just been some slob coasting through life! Artemis would be sick if she saw you now!"

"Roy," Wally's voice became dangerously serious. "I want you to think about your next words very carefully."

"Why? You can't take the truth you're trying to push on me? At least you got to see her body! You know for sure that she's dead! I have no clue!" Roy clenched his fists. "That's not something I can let go. Unlike you. Isn't Nightwing the one that sent her to go undercover? Look how that worked out. Yet you're here with him. Shows you how much you cared about her—"

"Enough!" Wally moved faster than it was possible to see. Everyone was knocked back as electricity burst off of the speedster, allowing him to move at speeds which would kill a normal person if he so much as touched them.

Dusk followed Lydia and Gizmo into a medical clean room. They all wore medical gowns, gloves, and face masks to avoid contaminating the area. At the center of dozens of machines was a bed holding a tiny teenage girl with a shaved head. While most of her body was covered by sheets, her pale head was visible. Tubes connected to her nose stood out of her overly pale face with heavy bags under her dark eyes.

"Dusk," Ace whispered weakly to the ghost. "It's good to see you."

"Good to see you too," Dusk took a seat next to the telepath. "You wanted to see me."

Ace gave a light nod, "I don't get a lot of visitors. Seeing a different face is nice. You're the only one of that group that I trust to see me in such a vulnerable state."

"You don't need any excitement," Gizmo noted. "You need rest before the next round of Chemo treatments."

"Let me live just a little bit," Ace complained.

"I won't work her up," Dusk softly stated.

"We know," Lydia nodded. "If not, then we wouldn't have let you in here."

"I like you ghosts," Ace mentioned. "Vision was the first one to be nice to me. She and some of your family visit me every now and then. Your presence is comforting. I don't have to focus on not accidentally reading your minds."

Dusk frowned, "So you just naturally read minds?"

Ace nodded, "I was naturally gifted with my powers. The Light's experiments only enhanced them. If I don't focus on keeping other people's voices out, then their thoughts tend to drip in…and it's getting harder to stay focused. So I heard your friend's thoughts. The Light is on the move again."

Gizmo hissed, "I knew that I shouldn't have let them in."

"No…no…" Ace took a deep breath. "I want to know. There's a chance that they will come for me, after all."

Lydia sighed, "We're not going to work against them. Not with you so weakened."

"I know," Ace looked to Dusk. "But the Light needs to go. Not just because of my own revenge, but because they keep ruining lives. They are a tumor that needs to be cut out. In my experience, it all needs to be cut out or it will return."

"So you're going to try to convince me to fight," Dusk clenched his fists. "I don't know if I can. I'm so sick of the violence and fighting against my own instincts, and the only way for Ra's to stay dead is for me to kill him and take his place."

"Wouldn't you be better as the Demon's Head?" Ace questioned. "You could bring actual morals to the Shadows."

"I don't want to talk about this," Dusk looked away. "It's my life, and I don't want to spend it by leading assassins."

Gizmo grunted upon seeing Ace's depressed look, "Geeze…Fine. You know what, Dusk? I know how you feel. Parents suck. Mine put a lot of pressure on me. Genetic modifications to make me as smart as possible. The best tutors in the world. Everything that I could get to make me a genius was put in my lap. They had a destiny for me. Save the world. Be a hero. Cure cancer. I got sick of it and ran away, yet here I am curing goddamn cancer. Sometimes we can't avoid doing what we were born to do. Right, Ann?"

Ace nodded, "I have a purpose too, Dusk. It was taken from me by my sister, but I will get it back. I won't run from my fate. You shouldn't either. After all, the perfect fighting force has fallen into your lap. I know you're sick of fighting, but think about how you'll feel later if you don't take advantage of what you have while you have it."

Spirit smacked Blue Beetle upside the head, "Why in the hell did you use a sonic attack against the Appelaxian?"

"Ow!" Blue Beetle rubbed the spot where she hit. "I never even heard of an Appe-laxative before tonight!"

Superboy sighed as he continued to drive the Supercycle to chase after Whisper and Ugly, "You freshmen never do the homework."

"Dude," Cyborg shook his head. "They're the alien race that the League first worked together to beat. This is vigilante 101, man. Didn't I tell you to study the enemy profiles in the League's database?"

'I told you to use the information available to you,' the scarab hissed. 'Never throw away relevant data.'

"Look, I'm sorry!" Blue tried to defend himself.

"Don't worry. We're all okay," Spirit noted. "Just remember this lesson. When we get back, start studying. But for now know that the crystals can echo back sound attacks. Stick to the plasma cannon."

"But why were they in the Hall in the first place?" Blue Beetle questioned.

Superboy explained, "The original seven members of the League drove the energy beings off world. The empty husks the aliens left behind became the League's first trophies. Ugly's device must have reactivated the husks. Combined them somehow into a creature he could control. Sphere's tracking the device's Apokoliptian energy readings. We're closing in."

"Be careful with that creature," Spirit spoke to her friends. "That thing is in serious pain. I don't know what it is or if it's alive, but I don't know what it will do if it's freed. Let me go ahead and try to steal the controls."

Superboy nodded. Spirit took off ahead once more. She flew through the snow covered forest invisibly. As she drew closer, she slowed in order to avoid detection. Once she spotted her targets, she began to sneak around them.

"It sounds sad," Whisper mentioned.

Ugly scoffed, "Don't go sentimental on me A'Daire. It's a construct of wood, stone etc. This gizmo pulled together the residual psychic energy of its former alien hosts. But that monster doesn't feel anything. And with this thing as my enforcer I can expand Intergang's reach ex-po-nen-tiall-y."

"Wow, five syllables," Superboy distracted them by floating above them, "I didn't think you knew any words with more than two."

"Hilarious," Ugly moved to press a button on his control panel but was forced to release it when Spirit kicked him away.

Holding onto the device, Spirit smirked at the surprised Whisper, "You sure picked one hell of a Valentines date, Whisper. A flight through the forest. How romantic."

Whisper shouted in shock as Cyborg fired off an ectoplasmic blast which covered their targets in cocoons of goo.

"But I think my boyfriend still wins out," Spirit chuckled. "Nothing says love more than kicking ass together."

The two newest guests of Masters Manor stood in complete contrast to each other. One was dressed in a suit, while the other was dressed in biker leather. The first man had well-groomed brown hair, and the ghost had a wild mane accompanied by facial stubble. Despite their obvious differences, their personalities seemed to mesh well as they shared a drink on the couch.

"Bloody hell," John Constantine grunted after downing the whiskey in his cup. "This is a goddamn smack to the face. I love it. You get this from my home land across the pond?"

"Yep," Johnny 13 sipped straight from the bottle. "Been all over the place looking for Kitty. It seems impossible to catch up to her. Bright side is I got to try a lot of different kinds of booze."

"Kitty is the villain known as Thorn, correct?" Spectra questioned.

"Yep," Johnny sighed. "It was easier to track her before she got on the most wanted list. That damn reporter just had to notice the similarities between the events before and after her death. Started to pull up info on Charles. You can imagine how much that pissed her off."

Silas frowned, "I think that I'm a bit lost. Victor seemed to want to avoid talking about this stuff, so I never tried to dig too deeply. Charles was Youngblood, right?"

"Yeah. My kid…" Johnny shook his head. "You know that he was the one who looked out for us? Kept our memories sealed in order to keep the Thorn persona under control. That went away when he…you know, during Blackest Night. What a shitty father I am, huh?"

"Not like you could have done anything," Vlad mentioned.

"I could have not died," Johnny scowled. "Wore a helmet. Don't be reckless on my bike. Anything to keep my family from having to live without me."

Vision sighed, "What we should have done in our previous lives is clear in retrospect. We're still here because of those regrets."

"Yeah," Johnny nodded. "That's why I'm here. Your message said that you're trying to build up forces against the Light and the aliens, right? Count me in."

Spectra raised an eyebrow, "I didn't expect you to give your cooperation so easily."

"Thorn is a member of the Light now," Johnny shrugged. "Even when I do catch up to her, I don't know how much I can do on my own."

"I heard 'bout that," Constantine twirled his cane. "The Light is complete again. Black Manta is the obvious replacement of Ocean Master. Thorn takes Klarion's spot. And some guy named the Phoenix is now in the position of the Brain."

"Hmm," Johnny took a sip of his drink. "Interrogated a few guys during my search. No one's willing to whisper a real name. Apparently, this guy is brutal. Shot a longtime friend right in the face because they became a problem."

"We will need to hunt down more information on him," Vision sighed.

"Well, I'm willing to help too," Constantine nodded. "I haven't had contact with the League for a while. Maybe I shouldn't have burned so many bridges when Zatanna and I split…"

"Then this was a productive evening," Vlad nodded.

"Oh, before I forget, there was another reason that I was quick to accept the meeting," Johnny grunted. "Your daughter…Dani, right? Yeah, Kitty found out about how my kid loved her and sacrificed himself to save her."

"Oh," Vision clenched her fist.

Johnny nodded, "Yeah. You can image how an unhinged mom would handle finding out that her son gave his life for a girl that never loved him back. If I were you, I'd try to keep those two as far apart as possible."

Vlad looked away in frustration. He wanted to keep his kids out of this as much as possible. Every new development seemed to put them into more danger. Both Dani and Joel were in deep with this conspiracy by now. If the whole family was involved, it would be irresponsible to leave one person out of the loop. Sighing, he knew what he had to do. It was time to tell Danny.

Red Arrow felt sweat roll down his brow. He looked to his left to see Wally's fist right by his head. A quick glance back revealed that the force of the blow released a pocket of energy which punched through a water tank on the roof behind him. The speedsters terrifying features were only intensified by how his body was vibrating with electricity.

"Don't you ever talk about Artemis like that. I loved her more than anything," pulling his fist back, Wally turned away, "I'm done with this. We all came because we care about you, you bastard. If you just want to rot away, then fine. I won't stop you. Despite what you might think, I do have better things to do."

"Wally!" Nightwing tried to reach out for the former Kid Flash but couldn't catch the speedster. Wally rushed off the roof faster than anyone could react. Once on the streets, he disappeared with a small boom of lightning. "Damn it."

"Well, that's it, I guess," shoving his hands into his pocket, Danny stepped over to the stairs.

"We're not done here!" Green Arrow exclaimed. "We can't just give up on Roy!"

"You can't help people who won't help themselves. Make sure to tell Kaldur that I said hi, Nightwing. If he's too busy for this, then he must be swamped," Danny looked over his shoulder to give Roy one last glance. "We all have wounds that we're trying to get over, Roy. This is a hard lifestyle. I knew that. Artemis knew that. The original Roy knew that. We're all trying to move past everything, but wounds will never become scars if you keep cutting them open."

With that said, Danny moved down the stairs to leave the heroes in their final moments of their conversation. When he knew that he was out of hearing range, he pulled out his phone to make a call, "Yeah. We just finished. It's all on you now. No problem, Jade."

Putting his phone away, Danny continued to descend the stairs. As he moved, he remembered the pained look in Wally's face. He could also remember the sadness in Cheshire's voice, "Damn it."

Blue Beetle stared up at the golem as it moaned in pain, "I think I might be able to communicate with this thing if I alter the frequency of my sound wave."

Lugging Whisper and Ugly to the seats of the Supercyle, Superboy nodded, "Do it."

The armored teen raised his sonic cannon to unleash the sound waves. Upon making contact with the golem, Blue winced in agony, "Woah, you were right, ese. This thing is in serious pain. It wants us to end…it. Woah."

Cyborg sighed, "What are we going to do with it?"

Spirit handed the controls over to him, "We help it of course."

Blue stopped his sonic connection, "How?"

"We'll figure something back when we get back to the Cave," Spirit gently placed a hand on the golem's foot. "Don't worry. We'll stop the pain. You won't have to die. Everything will work out. You can even live at the Cave."

The creature moaned. Her Premonition told her that it was trying to thank her. Before she could say anything, a sonic wave burst from the surrounding forest to slam into the golem. Pure suffering surged through Spirit's mind as her new friend unleashed a wail of agony.

'No! Want to live! Want to repay kind lady! Don't want to die—'

Everyone was sent tumbling back as the creature burst into the different elements of which it was made up. Tiny particles of light drifted down onto their downed forms. The echoes of the golem's final scream echoed off the trees for a brief second before they faded away to leave the forest completely silent.

Spirit was desperately clutching at her head. She had never felt that before. There was so much pain. It was an agonizing pain that seemed to stab into her very soul. The only thing that existed around that was the deep desire for the pain to come to an end.

But then…there was nothing…

As a ghost, Spirit was very well acquainted with death. This was different, though. There was peace in death. There was comfort. All that existed now was a lingering cry of complete suffering. Then, nothing. It was the pain of being completely erased into nonexistence.

Tears ran down her face. She clenched her fists so hard that her nails pierced her skin. A low hiss escaped her lips. This was sin. This was unforgivable. This needed to be punished. Dark thoughts ran through her mind. Images of cutting off limbs flashed through her mind. That was right. This didn't call for death…

She was going make the person responsible for this wish for death.

"Grah!" Spirit jumped to her feet. She rushed to the still trapped forms of Whisper and Ugly. "Who did that?!"

"I-I don't know," Ugly whimpered. "I didn't tell anyone else about our plans."

"Doing a scan of the forest," Blue Beetle noted. "Nothing. Whoever did it is long gone. Not even a trace."

"Damn it!" Superboy punched a tree causing it to crack.

Cyborg was pale, "Whoever it was probably didn't want us to get our hands on such firepower so they…eliminated it."

Spirit fought the urge to cry. Once again, she failed to save someone who was in pain. She glared into the now empty forest. Whoever did this was going to pay. Her eyes darted to Blue Beetle. Whoever killed the golem used a sonic wave similar to Jaime's powers. Interesting.

"So I got replaced, huh?" Red Hood mentioned while staring at the profiles of all the new players in the hero life. While most of their group had left for the day, those with nowhere else to really go remained in the base of the Royal Flush Gang even as their hosts retired.

"I wouldn't say replaced," Dusk shook his head. "He's a smart guy. Batman started to get more brutal without you around, so he volunteered to be the new Robin in order to help calm the big man down."

"If it makes thee feel better, Diana replaced me as well," Troia chuckled. "Although, I think that 'Wonder Girl' is a very different partner compared to me."

"These people seem very interesting," Starfire mentioned. "Will I get to meet them soon? New friends is always a good thing."

"I'm sure we'll run into them eventually," Dusk sighed. "But right now, there's enough people around me already."

"Oh?" Red Hood snorted. "Sick of us?"

"More of sick of the situation," Dusk admitted. "I feel like I'm getting dragged back into this BS. I've been traveling to get away from this stuff."

"I understand how thou feels, Joel," Troia stated. "But thou cannot deny that things are ramping up no matter what thou does. I'm not volunteering to become active in missions again. Not after just getting back what I lost, but there is a chance that we might need to fight again."

Dusk grunted.

Starfire gave the ghost a worried look, "I feel like I'm missing something."

"Don't worry about it," Dusk shook his head. "I guess you're right, Donna, and I don't care if you keep hanging around me; but I don't exactly have the resources to keep a space alien, a resurrected ninja, and an Amazon princess safe. You sure that you don't want to at least contact Alfred, Jason?"

"I…" Red Hood looked away angrily. "He'll want to tell Nightwing. I'm not ready for that yet. He and Batman…They weren't going to do anything about the Joker. It pisses me off. I can't just let that go."

Dusk looked down, "To be fair…I wouldn't have…err…I don't actually know what I would have done back then."

"I know," Red Hood removed his mask to show a bitter smile. "Things were messed up back then. I'm taking that into account, but it doesn't change the fact that my…family would just let my killer go. I don't know how I'll react if I see their faces."

Dusk was about to say something else when his phone went off. A quick glance to his device showed that Gear was calling him, "Err, one second."

Dusk answered his phone, "Yeah? What do you—"

"Dude! Oh dude! I got some serious issues right now?!"

"What?"

"You remember my friend Virgil? He went missing! His family can't find him anywhere!"

(Sunday-February 14, 2016)

Danny tiredly approached Fenton Works. The massive brick building towered over him with the massive metal operations system on the top. Flashing neon lights on the front of the structure were a bit too gaudy for his tastes, but his father always loved the massive lights so he couldn't bring himself to change it. As he stepped up to the door, he noticed a familiar face waiting for him, "Vlad?"

"Daniel," Vlad nodded to the young man. "I'm sorry for stopping in so unexpectedly, but I needed to talk to you immediately."

"It must be important if you're away from Vision on Valentine's Day," Danny stepped up next to his mentor. "Do you want to come in?"

"No, no. I would prefer this to be a one-on-one conversation without Ember involved. You see…" Vlad went on to explain everything that had happened since the turn of the New Year. He started at the Kroloteans' attempt to replace him and ended with the meeting of the current evening. While he spoke, Danny's face twisted with concern.

"Woah. This is heavy," Danny rubbed the back of his head. "Nightwing mentioned some stuff about the aliens, but I figured he left a lot of stuff out. People have been treating me with kid's gloves for a while."

"I'm sorry," Vlad apologized. "It wasn't just you. I wanted to keep Danielle and Joel out of this as well, but they've been thrust into this already. So I figured that you should know. It would be wrong if you were the only one left in the dark."

"Well, thanks for telling me," Danny paused. "So the Kroloteans are alive?"

"Yeah. They're working for us now," Vlad nodded.

"I see. Them. Joel's group. The forces that you're building up," Danny hummed to himself. "That's a good start. Count me in. I'll do everything I can to help. Harriet and Damien will probably be willing to help too."

"Thank you," Vlad sighed in relief. "I know that this is a lot to ask from you. You've given a lot already to try to keep the peace."

"Don't worry about it. I would never leave my family to fight for themselves," Danny gave a wide smile. "Just make sure not to hide anything anymore, okay? If I'm going to help, we shouldn't keep secrets from each other."

Red Arrow groaned as he crashed down on the couch in his torn down hideout. Before he could relax for more than a single second, a voice called out to him, "Someone looks worse for wear."

Jumping off the couch, Red Arrow pulled out his bow and pointed it at the shadowy figure. His eyes widened when he saw who it was, "Cheshire?!"

Dressed in a torn green kimono, the raven haired woman pulled off her smiling cat mask to reveal her beautiful features, "Chill, Red. I'm not here to fight. I'm here to make you clean up your act."

"Not you too," Red Arrow sighed as he moved back to the couch. "Forget it, Jade. It's not like you're one to talk. You went nuts after Artemis was killed. You ever figure out who her mystery killer was?"

Cheshire looked away in bitterness, "No, and I don't think that I ever will. Even Dad's given up at this point. I'd have to take down the whole Light to get my revenge, and it's not worth it. Not now. I have too much to lose, my foolish husband."

"Oh?" Red Arrow scoffed. "And what's that? Our screwed up marriage?"

"Partially. I do want our daughter to have something I never did. An attentive father."

Red Arrow's eyes widened, "Daughter?"

Cheshire reached behind her to remove the baby carrier which she was using to safely lift her babe. Upon being freed, the tiny girl cooed upon seeing the man which shared her hair color, "Her name is Lian."

Red Arrow's eyes were wide, "I-I didn't…"

"I know. I never told you," Cheshire gently handed the child to her husband. "I didn't know when I first left, and I was so obsessed…it doesn't matter now. She was born healthy and safe. Her…her middle name is Artemis."

"She's beautiful," Red Arrow muttered in awe.

"Yeah," Cheshire shook her head. "When I saw her, I knew that I had to give up on what was already lost or Lian would grow up without me. Children need their parents. Artemis was lucky and turned out well…but I'm pretty messed up. Out of the two of us, you're actually the most stable when you have things together. So I need…Lian needs you to be her father."

Red Arrow had no words.

"But…I know you. You won't let this go, so I turned in every favor I had…and some that I didn't," Cheshire sighed. "Black Bat has been researching the Shadows. Years of recon let her learn of one last secret research facility. If the original Roy is anywhere, it's there. That's why I waited till I was back in shape to contact you. So this is my proposal. One last mission. Either way this goes, you'll have your answer. Once it's done, no more of this nonsense."

"Black Bat's been out of contact for years…"

"Not for one oddball that never really gave up on your stupid a…butt," Cheshire corrected herself while in the presence of her daughter. "Danny told me that you'd be here tonight. He's the godfather by the way. I'm sure Artemis would have wanted it to be Kid Flash, but…he is Kid Flash."

"Wow…"

"Yeah, you better thank him later," Cheshire sighed. "Even without his powers, he's still a hero. Our family owes him a lot."

(Wednesday-February 14, 2046)

Luna knelt upon the ashen dirt of the planet Earth. Everything around her was gray. The ground, sky, and sea all seemed dull and lifeless. Even the board sticking out of the dirt directly in front of her was decaying. It was the best that she could spare in this moment, though. Her shining blue human eyes took in the sight of what was left of her only remaining family member. Despite the dullness of the world, she felt happy that she could fulfill her guardian's last request of burying her on Earth.

"Grandma…" Luna spoke. She ran her hands across her long raven hair. "It's…Valentine's Day. You told me that it used to be a time of love. Romantic love, but I don't know much about that. The only thing that I know is the care you gave me. You're the only one that I love, so…Happy Valentine's Day. I guess."

Turning around, Luna looked to the sight of the survivors of the Remnant campsite. Almost everyone was asleep. Only a few guards stood ready on this empty world. Their now fuel less spaceship stood next to the camp. At the center of their tents was the bunch of scrap metal that they were attempting to use to make a time machine.

"It's supposed to be a happy day, right?" Luna sighed. "What a joke. I don't understand these old holidays."

"I didn't either for a long time."

"Woah!" Luna jumped up in shock at the new voice. Upon seeing a strange man, she shifted into her ghost form. Her hands lit up with pink energy. "You're human! Who are you?! I know every person from Remnant!"

"Remnant…Yeah. That's what it was called. Sorry. I'm not good at this yet. Hard remembering stuff with a mortal's brain, you know? You're Luna, right?"

"Hey! Don't avoid my question! Who are you?"

"A friend of your…Grandma," the man looked to the tiny grave. He eyed the name 'Danielle Masters' carved into the wood. "I'm sorry that I couldn't help. Time travel is hard enough without space travel too. Couldn't get to the moon to help."

"Time…travel?"

"Yeah. You've probably heard about me. My name is Wally West," Wally smiled at the girl. "And I'm here to help you."

Extra: In A Strange Land

"So..." Starfire glanced around the crowded city streets. "Why are we here, Joel?"

Joel looked to his newest friend. She wore a heavy coat despite her indifference to the cold. Her wool hat and scarf also hid her stunning feature. The heavy clothing fortunately prevented any unwanted attention from passerbyers, "I'm going to teach you how to act normally on Earth."

"Normally?" Starfire tilted her head to the side while slowly lifting off the ground. "What does that mean?"

"It means," Joel quickly pushed her back down to Earth. "Not drawing attention. Humans are fickle. They start screaming and running at the first sign of something odd. If you're going to be traveling with my group, you need to know how to blend in when we're trying to be stealthy."

"I see. That makes the most of senses," Starfire rapidly nodded her head. "But usually you have one of the females of your group introduce me to Earthling culture."

"Yeah well, the sad thing is...I'm the most normal out of all my friends," Joel sighed. "So I'm going to teach you."

"Very well," Starfire began to jump up and down. "Let us begin the blending in!"

"Alright. First rule: If you want to blend in...don't scream out how you're trying to blend in."

(Ten minutes later...)

Starfire grinned, "These fish are most delicious!"

"Star," Joel grimace. "Those fish are for display only. We have to order food to get severed."

"Oh," Starfire looked from the half eaten fish in her hands to the tank where the still living fish swam. "Should I put it back?"

"No," Joel noticed security moving to them through the gawking crowd. "You can keep it, but I think that we should start running."

(Ten minutes later...)

"Earthlings are so clever!" Starfire giggled as she marched up the down escalator. "You put exercise equipment in the public area to promote health! Ingenius!"

"Actually, Star," Joel muttered dryly as he stood on the stationary stairs next to her. "It's the exact opposite. Those are for people too lazy to use the stairs."

"Ah, I see," Starfire nodded in understanding. "Still these are very much the fun! You should try them!"

Joel stared at her for a moment before jumping over the railing next to her, "Ah, why the hell not?"

(Ten minutes later..."

"Oh!" Starfire stared at the strange object made up of dozens of colorful bars. "I have heard of this! These are the jungle gyms, no?"

"Err, not really," Joel rubbed the back of his head while staring at the metal contraption in the middle of the walkway. "This is modern art. People are just supposed to look at it."

"Really?" Starfire carefully examined the structure. "I don't get it."

"No one does."

"So I'm fitting in?"

"Very much so."

"Excellent," Starfire smiled. "But I still want to climb on it."

Joel shrugged, "Go ahead. We already proved that we can outrun security."

(Ten minutes later...)

Starfire looked to Joel, "So how did I do?"

"By my group's standards? You get a C," Joel noted.

"Interesting. Is a C good?"

"It's about average."

"Yes! That means that I blended in very well!"

"Err, not exactly," Joel chuckled. "By normal human standards, you stuck out pretty badly. Fortunately, if you're ever around any of my friends, strangers will forget about you when they start acting strange. At least you don't randomly pull out deadly weapons, give grand speeches, or try to save a cat by punching it out of a tree."

"Who did that one?"

"My sister," Joel grimaced. "I don't know what went through her mind when we were younger. There was a ladder right beside her."