Chapter 33: Blind Faith

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark."

Rabindranath Tagore

Chapter 33: "Blind Faith"

(Saturday-May 30, 2009)

A younger, thinner Danny Fenton sat on small rowboat at the center of a lake. The weather was beautiful this day, and Danny felt content with a fishing rod in his hand and the steady snoring sound behind him. With school finally over, he was more than ready to enjoy some free time. Normally, he would have went out and spent time with his friends, but this rare fishing trip wasn't something he could just give up.

Suddenly, the snoring behind him stopped with a grunt. Danny smiled as he felt the boat shift, "Nice nap, Dad?"

"Oh…" Jack Fenton was an extremely large and tall man. The orange jumpsuit that covered him hid his thicker build while the fishing hat on the top of his head hid his slowly graying hair. He reached up a large hand to scratch a squared jaw, "Man, nothing knocks me out faster than processed cheese spread."

Danny laughed at that. His Dad never changed.

"Sorry, Dannyo," Jack sat back up and grabbed his fishing rod, "Didn't mean to leave you hanging like that."

"It's no big deal, Dad."

"No, we should, uh…" Jack pulled out a notecard, "Be bonding as father and son to increase our relationship while securing your dependability in the future."

Danny turned around, "What does that mean?"

"I don't know," Jack tossed the card away, "If your mother asks, I had this long talk about expectations and stuff now that you're going to high school."

"Consider it done," Danny faced away, "Besides, high school can't be any worse than middle school."

"It doesn't seem like a big step, son, but that's the thing about life," Jack opened a metal foot container and pulled out a healthy apple that his wife had packed to make sure he ate something healthy. He had to eat some of it before going back to junk food, "It's all just a bunch of small steps. Then, years later, you'll look back and think, 'Wow. I can't believe my life was like that before'."

Danny snorted, "I doubt it. Things hardly ever change for me. Same city. Same house. Same friends. Same family. Same life."

"I don't expect you to see it now, but one day in the future, you'll look back on this and think about how smart and handsome your old man really was about this."

"How did handsome come into the equation?"

"Had to fit it in somewhere, son," Jack took a bite of his apple, "The point is, you'll never know where you'll be in the future. We'll never know where we'll be one year from now."

Danny rolled his eyes, "Come on, Dad. Things can't change so much in just one year. In one year, we'll be back on this boat fishing again."

"That does sound good," Jack quickly finished his apple and switched back to his cheese snack.

"Hopefully by then, though, I'll have finally hit my growth spurt," Danny grunted out, "I'm sick of always being the small guy. Being weak sucks. No matter what I do, I don't get stronger or bigger. What makes it worse is how tall you and Mom are."

"You'll get there, Dannyo," Jack laughed out, "Believe it or not, when I was your age, I wasn't that much bigger than you."

Danny's face lit up, "Really?"

"Yep. My growth started all at once, and the next thing I know…" Jack trailed off, "Well, being big and having power is something you have to get used to."

Danny grinned, "Shouldn't take that much. I mean, everyone would be too afraid of you to mess with you. That would be nice."

Hearing that, Jack was the one to turn around. He looked at his son's back for a minute before grabbing his metal lunch box. Jack carefully emptied it of food. Then, he turned all the way around to face his son, "Danny."

Surprised by the serious tone he heard from his father, Danny quickly turned around, "Yeah, Dad?"

"There's something I should probably tell you now before that growth spurt happens for you," Jack gestured for Danny to turn all the way around in the boat. Once that was done, the older man continued, "I have no doubt in my mind that you're going to get a lot stronger. Got those good Fenton genes in you after all. But there's something you need to know about being strong."

Danny sighed, "Is this a 'with great power comes great responsibility' thing? Because I know that one."

"No, it's not that," Jack held the metal box in front of him, "I want you to see this."

Danny watched his father grip the box. To his shock, the metal quickly began to bend around the man's fingers. After a few seconds, Jack placed the box down and allowed Danny to see how he had deformed the metal.

"Woah…"

"Have I ever hurt you, Danny?"

"What? No, of course not."

"No. I haven't. Even when you were a little baby. Even when you and I wrestled when you were small toddler. Even at your most vulnerable, I never once hurt you," Jack gestured to the box, "Yet I could easily do that. What does that tell you?"

"That…you have good control?"

"Right. But did you ever know that I could do that?"

"No."

"That's because I don't care about strength. Not anymore at least," Jack explained, "When I was your age, that's all I cared about too…you know, besides girls. I learned, though, that there are things a lot more important than my strength. And I would give all my strength up in a second for you, Jazz, and your mother. Some things just matter more. That's why I'm always careful with it. Having your own strength hurt someone you care about…It hurts more than anything. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, Dad."

"Good."

"But, um, Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"What are you going to tell Mom about the lunch box?"

"Oh…That I was so enthusiastic to eat the healthy food that I accidentally bent the metal!"

"But didn't you just go on a big explanation about controlling strength and all that?"

"She doesn't know that, though."

(Monday-May 19, 2014)

As expected, Colossus was the first person to attack. He rushed forward before anyone else even thought about moving forward to the Reaper. With a roar, he spun around and sent a massive shockwave empowered kick to his enemy. Without looking the least bit scared or worried, Nekron raised an arm to stop the kick. He just stood smirking as the shockwave that followed washed over him.

With a surge of energy, he sent Colossus skipping away like a stone. Before Nekron could do anything else, he was covered in a barrage of ectoplasmic bullets that rammed into him from every possible direction. The combination of the Royal Flush Gang, Gizmo, and the Exorcist Armor created a wave of bullets that normally would have given anyone else pause. Nekron didn't even look interested in them.

Without even moving, Nekron created several different corporeal gun creations from his energy. The loud bangs and gunshots that followed had all of his current attackers reeling with fractured armor and bullet holes. All the energy guns were quickly destroyed with a flash of steel from the more vulnerable and powerless members of the fighters. Despite being surrounded by trained assassins and ninjas, Nekron still didn't move from his spot.

Moving with the grace that could only be obtained from a lifetime of training, the hand-to-hand combatants all tried to take down their greatest enemy. Ravager swung her sword at Nekron's neck while Black Bat tried to stab him in the kidneys with a knife. At the same time, Harm tried to cut the Reaper off at the knees. With Nekron completely uninjured by the blades, Nightwing and Red X moved in with electric batons and gauntlets ready. All the electrified blows seemed to do absolutely nothing the Reaper.

In a burst of black, the close quarter fighters were surrounded by corporeal ninjas. The four fighters were immediately pushed back and beat down by the created shinobi. Before the beating could get too bad, the energy fighters of death were torn apart by telekinetic blasts. Ace and Miss Martian, the perpetrators of the previous attack, then turned their full attention and power onto Nekron. He was hit with a combined wave of telekinetic and telepathic force. Such a combination of sheer mental power should have turned Nekron's mind and body into mush, but the ancient ghost's mind was one held together very tightly.

Pushback from Nekron's shields instantly stopped Ace and Miss Martian's attack. They both collapsed to the ground desperately clutching at their heads. The Reaper smirked at their twitching forms. Before he could comment or follow up with an attack on the downed telepaths, he was completely covered from top to bottom with tiny creatures that used to exist as tattoos on Lydia's body and shadows that Nyx commanded to jump up from below Nekron. Both of the ghosts continued to hold their hands out to try and focus on controlling their hold on the Reaper.

Giggling in madness, Thorn appeared in front of the trapped Ghost of Death. Snapping her fingers, Thorn created several different knives and whips to cut into and slash at Nekron. With a hum of satisfaction at the sight, she pointed her hands at the stabbed wrappings that covered Nekron. The area around Nekron then began shift and twirl. She tried to tear the Reaper apart molecule by molecule.

After a few seconds of this tactic, black energy surged through the living tattoos and shadows holding the Ghost of Death. A wave of Nekron's power washed over the women. Nyx's and Lydia's already injured forms were instantly floored. Thorn, though, distorted the area in front of herself to stop the wave. She then tried to lunge at Nekron only to be caught by the throat and held into the air.

Nekron tilted his head to the side in confusion. He wondered why he never knew of this strange creature that was clawing at his arm and kicking at his sides. Not really caring too much now that the completion of his obsession was in sight, Nekron shrugged. He punched Thorn right in the face with a powerful strike and sent her skipping after Colossus across the island.

A quick flash of movement in his peripheral vision caused Nekron to point both of his index fingers down and form thick energy blades around his fingers. The Reaper then brought his hands up to block two different swipes of blades at his heads. His finger blades effortlessly stopped the two blades at his hand. He smirked as Dusk with Soul Shredder and Spirit with her hands held together into one large Spectral Claw tried to push forward to him.

After a second of pushing revealed that there was no way for them to overpower the Reaper, both half-ghosts brought their blades back and tried to swing at a differing angle. Nekron once again blocked him with his finger blade. In a blur, the halfas tried with several swings of their ghostly blades to cut Nekron in two. None of the attacks were successful at all. With one final swing, they brought the blades down and disengaged Nekron while making sure that his arms were far away from his head.

Dusk released one hand from Soul Shredder and formed a Burst Gauntlet. Spirit spun around and gathered energy into her real foot. In a blaze of green, they slammed their attacks into the sides of Nekron's head. With a fist on one cheek and a foot on the other, Nekron just looked forward to see Captain Marvel rushing forward to punch what appeared to be his vulnerable form. Scoffing, he reached up and grabbed onto the limbs that were rammed into the side of his head. At the same time, a large skeletal hand made of energy formed in front of the Reaper. It grabbed onto Captain Marvel and held him tight.

Using all three limbs, both real and fake, Nekron slammed his three newest attackers onto the ground repeatedly before tossing them away uncaringly. Before he could do anything else after this, he was met with a combination of Plasmius and Vision. Both of them were smart enough to realize the situation. No strategy would work on Nekron. The duo could think of nothing other than keep attacking. Even as Kid Flash rushed in at unbelievable speeds to help them, they realized that no amount of power, speed, or intelligence could possibly best the Ghost of Death. Nevertheless, they had to keep trying, because that was the only option they had left.

Richard Foley breathed out in horror at what he was looking at with the hologram in front of him. He clutched at the controller in his hands to the point that the plastic was cracking from the pressure. Still he forced himself to not break the controller in his panic. If he did, then there would be no way to control the Exorcist armor and see what was happening. So, he continued to rapidly press buttons to try to get the armor to move again despite its damage.

Another thing that didn't help his situation was the people around him. They weren't being noisy. Far from it actually. All the unconscious and beaten members of the Justice League lie around him. In any other instance, the new technopath would be freaking out about even the idea of being around such heroes. Right now, though, he had to focus on the task at hand. Geeking out could come later…if they all lived, which wasn't likely with how the battle was going.

"How…are they doing?" Amorpho's bruised and bloody head looked over Richard.

Said technopath didn't look away from the hologram being projected from his controller, "Very bad."

"I see…" Amorpho moved his head back to look up at the sky once more, "So everything I did could still be for nothing."

"It could," Richard didn't sugar coat his answer.

"Damn," Tears appeared at the corner of Amorpho's eyes.

"Don't give up. We still can—"

A low groan draw the two's attention. Superboy was pushing himself up. He blinked as he looked around him. The Kryptonian seemed to notice the downed Justice League members. Conner then looked at the only two still conscious people around him, "W-What happened?"

"How are you awake? The Leaguers are out for the count," Richard divided his attention between the revived Superboy and the hologram in front of him.

"Phantom is still in there…" Amorpho stated, "He's forced Nekron to hold back and not go for the kill…With you, though…He did less damage…Because he's your friend…"

Superboy eyed the hologram in front of Richard. He watched the fight with Nekron. There were so many of his teammates and friends in that fight, "Where is that?"

Richard pointed forward, "It's across the island—Wait! You can't go! You're still injured."

Superboy paused in his walk. As soon as Richard pointed, he had started to walk towards the fight. Looking back towards Richard, he spoke again, "The others are injured too. I have no clue what happened while I was out, but I'm sure most of it was really bad. If the others are still willing to fight, then I can get over a few bruises."

With that, Superboy leapt in the direction of the fight leaving the others behind with the still unconscious Justice Leaguers. Nodding to himself, Richard went back to controlling the Exorcist Armor. Meanwhile, Amorpho tried to move but couldn't. His wounds were still too bad. All he could do was look back towards the sky and hope things would work out, but the noises from the hologram of Nekron beating the remaining fighters down gave him the suspicion that perhaps everything that everyone went through on hope and faith alone would be fruitless.

(Sunday-May 30, 2010)

Danny groaned as he sunk into the soft couch. With a cup of coffee in his hand, he turned on the television to immediately be assaulted by the news about the Guys in White and the ghosts. That's all there ever seemed to be on TV lately.

"You sound old, Daniel," Vlad noted as he too reclined on the couch. Different papers and reports surrounded the man. His eyes were glued right on a laptop, though.

"Just sore," Danny mentioned, "You'd be surprised about how much it hurts to die and come back to life. It still hurts even after five days of doing nothing but rest."

Vlad hummed in acknowledgement. After the GIW War had ended, the half-ghosts had retreated to the billionaire's home in Wisconsin. With Amity Park still being occupied, it was their only choice really. Staying in the Ghost Zone wasn't ideal because they needed to show their human faces, especially with all the attention ghosts and ghost hunters were getting.

"Well you better get over of it quick," Vlad handed Danny a note from Vision, "The time for rest is over. We have a lot to do, both as humans and as ghosts."

Danny eyed the note, "Great. Have to go back to the UN. Hope they don't throw things this time."

Vlad snorted, "That would be incredibly unprofessional of them considering that you're invited and won't go through a random portal."

"Yeah," Danny's eyes drifted to Vlad, "So when are we leaving for Amity Park?"

"A few hours after Danielle wakes up," Vlad explained, "We have a lot of ground to cover and a lot of work to do. With the Guys in White finally driven out of the city, we need to go back and establish ourselves once more."

"Right," Danny turned his attention to his coffee once more, "The next month is going to be a long one."

"Not as long as the last month at least."

"True. Who would have thought a year ago that…" Danny paused for a second, "Huh…"

Vlad's eyes drifted to Danny, "What is it?"

"Nothing. Just thinking about how smart and handsome my old man really was."

Vlad lifted an eyebrow, "How did handsome come into the equation?"

Danny grinned into his coffee in fondness at the memory, "It's a long story."

(Monday-May 19, 2014)

Nekron held both Vision and Plasmius by the throats with a single hand each. He violently brought the two of them together so that their heads slammed repeatedly against each other. After doing this a few times, he then tossed the dazed ghosts away. What was a mild toss for Nekron would be considered a catapult's worth of throwing power. The other ghosts went flying away across the island.

Once that was done, Nekron felt a small push from his side. Turning to it, he found out that there was nothing there. Then, he felt another push from the opposite side. Once again, he turned to it. This time, he caught a yellow blur. Ah, it was Kid Flash. That made some sense. Nekron remembered being slightly concerned about the "Speed Force" that he used during Trigon's invasion. That was why he had ordered Blood to take care of the speedster, but that was before he had absorbed Danny Phantom. Now, not even the fastest person to ever exist could rival him.

Just as Nekron was about to turn his full attention to the speedster, he was surrounded by the illusions of circus equipment, performers, and animals. The Reaper instantly recognized the mirage. Jester had done this same thing in their last fight. Huh, it seemed as though the Jester he saw wasn't just for show. Perhaps it was the Mirror of Memories.

Ignoring the pushing feeling that came from Kid Flash's attacks, Nekron pulsed his energy to dispel the illusion. Once he was freed from the mirage, though, he found that he was surrounded by people that Nekron knew were dead. It was definitely the Mirror of Memories. Reaching a hand up, Nekron tried to dispel the shades only to be knocked off balance. There was no pain or damage, but that was the first time he had legitimately stumbled in the fight.

Another blur of yellow made it known that it was Kid Flash that was the perpetrator. Looking off to where Kid Flash ran off to, Nekron was surprised to see that the speedster wasn't turning around to come back. Instead, after a brief pause where he tried to deal with the shades of ghosts and heroes that had long since perished, he felt another massive push from behind him that caused him to stumble once more. Ah, the speedster wasn't turning around. That would slow his momentum. Instead, he circled around the entire planet to gain as much speed as possible.

Smirking, Nekron tried to spread out a mist of energy across the island in an attempt to create a trap to slow Kid Flash down. This was a stopped by a combination of spells by Raven and Zatanna that created a concentrated gravitational field around Nekron to push him down. This combined with Jester's shades and Kid Flash's attacks actually caused Nekron to become trapped.

Once again, Nekron was impressed. They had executed a beautiful trap. Dozens of the other fighters were rushing into what they thought was the vulnerable Nekron. It was truly a beautiful effort. Too bad that he could get out with ease.

In a blaze of black, the Reaper was covered in an energy outline of a skeleton covered in a cloak. He broke through the spell holding him with ease, causing the magic users to collapse from the backlash. A blast of energy surged off of the Ghost of Death and caused all the approaching fighters to be knocked back. Then, to Jester's shock, Nekron began to dispel the shades without even looking at them. The shades just dissolved as if they were dunked in acid. With a determined look, the memory of the ancient created even more illusions.

Nekron didn't even blink as dozens of Kid Flash illusions ran around him. Without even turning his head, the Reaper reached out and grabbed the vibrating speedster by the throat. Smiling at his foe, Nekron surged his energy from his hand and around the speedster. For a few brief seconds, the Speed Force around Kid Flash pushed back against the Reaper's energy. Slowly, it was pushed back into nothingness. Without the energy of the Speed Force to strengthen him, Kid Flash instantly fell unconscious.

Dropping the speedster, Nekron went to turn his attention to the others only to be met with the face of the new Harriet Chin. The new Meta-human wailed out in front of his face. Such powerful waves should have deafened the Ghost of Death, but he merely winced at the horridness of the unpleasant sound. He immediately grabbed Harriet by the jaw and broke it. As she dropped, Nekron noticed that he was surrounded by the new Damon Gray and Hotep Ra. It only took one massive blast of energy each to send them skipping across the island.

With his newest distractions dealt with, Nekron turned his eyes on Jester. Before he could move, a loud, angry roar sounded through the area. Superboy had lunged himself at the Reaper's back. Before he could get close, though, the clone was stopped. In a burst of black energy, he was smashed into the ground. Nekron then disappeared away from the downed Superboy. The Reaper then appeared in front of the shade. He rammed his hand into Jester's chest to grab the Mirror of Memories.

"Hello, Jester. It's been a while."

Jester couldn't move anything but his lips, "That it has."

"I was wondering why I couldn't create a shade for you. You prepared for this possibility, didn't you?"

"Of course. Couldn't let you ruin the world's fun again. Especially with me under your control."

"Hmm…" With a violent jerk of his hand, Nekron pulled the Mirror of Memories out from Jester's chest, "I'm tired of this trinket."

With a snarl, Nekron crushed the mirror in his hands. His energy surged and destroyed every protection the mirror had. In an instant, the Mirror of Memories was turned to dust. With a gasp, Jester began to fade away, "Don't…don't think you win…not yet…There's still hope."

Nekron watched as Jester disappeared from the world once more, "Oh really?"

Extending his arms out, Nekron sent out a massive wave of energy that surrounded the area. In a second, every fighter was floored and knocked out. As the energy faded, Nekron stood victorious.

"Anyone else?"

The response he received was surprising. Instead of silence, he felt several blasts of green energy ram into his shields. Looking up, Nekron saw an army of Green Lanterns approaching him from the heavens above him, "Oh. Forgot about you."

Richard hissed out curses as he rapidly pressed buttons on his controller. Despite everything he tried, though, the Exorcist Suit was not responding. There had been too much internal damage. He would have to get close to the machine to fix it at this point. Getting closer to the fight wasn't an option, though. That would be suicide for him.

"Green Lanterns…" Amorpho breathed out as he saw the army descend from the sky.

Richard looked up in awe, "Wow. That's so cool. I knew there was a whole Lantern Corp, but I never thought…"

"Will they be any help, though?" Amorpho questioned.

Richard looked to the static holographic screen in front of him. He had no more connection with the Exorcist Armor. There was no way to know directly, "I don't know. Let me do the math based on Nekron's demonstrated abilities…The Green Lantern's base strength…Oh."

"What?"

Richard was extremely pale, "They have a 0.0000001% chance. So…virtually zero."

Amorpho summed it up pretty easily, "Damn."

Richard could not argue with that.

(Monday-May 30, 2011)

"Yeah!" Wally cheered as ran down the sand and into the ocean, "Freedom."

"Hey, Kid Mouth!" Artemis chased after him, "Ladies first! Or at least your girlfriend first."

The other members of Young Justice watched their most energetic and noisiest couple. With the school year now done, the Team decided to take a day for themselves to enjoy the beginning of their summer vacation. As such, they decided to do a rare day at the beach.

"Do all land dwellers want to go into the ocean like that?" Tula, one of the newest members of the Team, questioned.

"Only on hot days, girl," Raquel explained, "Speaking of which, I'm getting in before I melt."

"I see," Garth, the other new member of Young Justice, nodded, "So this beach day is about being in the water?"

"Not completely," Zatanna set up a beach chair and began to apply lotion, "There's also tanning. But I can't reach my back…"

Robin was next to her in an instant.

"Good boy."

"Tanning?" Tula blinked, "What's that?"

Phantom and Valerie were setting up chairs of their own. Unlike Zatanna, though, they also set up a large beach umbrella to shield them. Phantom quickly took a seat and closed his eyes, "People soak in the sunrays to tan their skin and look good."

Valerie sat down next to her boyfriend and pulled a book out her beach bag, "For a ghost and someone with a darker complexion already, thought, that's pretty pointless. But we also like to enjoy the weather."

"I see," Garth rubbed his chin, "Is there anything else?"

"Sandcastles!" A younger Garfield grabbed the Altantians' hands and pulled them down the beach, "Come on! I'll show you!"

"Oh! That sounds fun!" M'gann looked to Conner, "Do you want to?"

Conner looked at M'gann's pleading look and grunted, "Alright."

"Yeah!" M'gann grabbed the clone's hand and pulled him after their retreating teammates.

Kaldur looked around to see that he was alone. He then noticed Raquel waving towards him. Smiling, he walked towards her, "I believe a dip sounds nice."

Valerie snorted at that without looking up from her book. Once she was finally alone with her boyfriend, she looked over to the relaxing Phantom, "I'm surprised that you didn't invite Dani or Joel."

"They already had plans," Phantom noted, "Besides, it's probably for the best. Nyx would have wanted to come with Dani, and Lord knows that she would have been throwing a ton of hints at Tula and Garth about our identities."

Valerie looked up from her book and over to the Atlantians, "When are you going to tell them about the half-ghosts?"

"When they show that they're loyal to the cause," Phantom explained, "Garth had the chance to take up the mantle of Aqualad before, and Tula might not be cut out of this. I hope I'm wrong, but they have to prove themselves just like everyone else."

"Fair point," Valerie looked back to her book. She paused, though, when Phantom gently took her hand into his. Smiling, Val continued to read her book while holding her hands with her boyfriend.

After several minutes of this, she looked over to Phantom's face. He seemed to be enjoying the moment of rest that she practically had to drag him into taking. The sounds of his friends enjoying themselves was music to his ears. Despite this, though, he seemed to have a very far off look on his face.

"What are you thinking of?" Valerie questioned.

"Oh, just about how weird this is," Phantom snorted, "I wouldn't have ever imagined my life would be like this. Working with superheroes? Being good enough friends with them to relax on the beach?"

"Having a beautiful girlfriend?" Valerie teased.

Phantom let out a loud laugh, "That too. You know, I had a talk with my dad once about two years ago. He told me that I would look back and think, 'Wow. I can't believe my life was like that before.' Boy was he right. Being a kid without superpowers or responsibility…it seems like a dream now. So I have to wonder where I'll be years from now."

"I wouldn't worry about that," Val gently squeezed his hand, "Nothing we can do about the future right now. Just enjoy the now."

"You're right." Danny's face relaxed, "Shouldn't worry about that. Right now, I'm with the girl I love and the friends I trust with my life. Life is good."

(Monday-May 19, 2014)

Nekron just looked up boredly as the Green Lanterns rained down around him. Hundreds of concentrated blasts of willpower smashed into him. To the Reaper, though, this was less annoying than a light rain. Several different constructions of energy appeared and tried to cut through him. One brave Green Lantern actually flew close enough to try to attack Nekron personally. The Ghost of Death didn't even blink at the sight of all this.

Sighing, Nekron punched upward to the Green Lantern that was currently punching down at him. The force of the blow was so great that the warrior of Oa was sent flying far up past the other Green Lanterns. He soared through the clouds and sky until he eventually went into Earth's orbit. Despite the vicious show of strength, the Green Lanterns did not seem deterred. Instead, they kept pushing downward to Nekron.

"Keep going!" Kilowog roared, "We cannot let him win!"

Nekron was tired of all these distractions. He had already had his fun. Playing with bugs no longer amused him. It was time to burn them alive with a magnifying glass. Black energy surged off the Reaper in a massive wave. All the Green Lanterns were instantly pushed back. Still, they did not yield. In a few seconds, they wished that they would have, though.

A black energy construction in the shape of a massive skeleton rose up from Nekron's position. Fear instantly gripped the Green Lantern's hearts as the skeleton grew to three sizes larger than the island. It let out a roar that made the very sky above them tremble in terror. Out of instinct, they all fired energy blasts at the construction only to find that their attacks faded away before they even got close to the massive skeleton.

To their shock, the skeleton didn't move immediately. Instead, different clawed hands burst out from the bone shell. All the Green Lanterns were forced to desperately dodge the hundreds of limbs lunging at them. As all the Green Lanterns scattered, though, the energy construction moved. It waved its massive arms and sent dozens of the green warriors flying away. Still, they quickly returned to battle despite their new wounds.

Despite dominating the Green Lantern army single handedly, Nekron wasn't satisfied with the speed at which the battle was progressing. He decided that it was time to end this. His massive construction followed his commands and brought its boney hands together. A massive ball of black energy formed between the construction's hands. Instead of using it as soon as it was formed, the giant skeleton raised the ball of energy into the air where it continued to grow until it was the size of a miniature sun.

Once the ball of death energy was big enough for Nekron's satisfaction, it exploded and burst into a massive sea of energy that covered everything in the area for several dozen miles. The energy of the explosion swirled and twisted. It attacked every enemy of Nekron from every direction. Many of the fighters were actually repeatedly slammed into the ground as well.

After a few minutes of this, the wave of energy formed into separate hands that grabbed onto the Green Lanterns and threw them into the ocean. With that done, the energy hands faded away. Nekron's massive construction then began to fade as well. Once the blackness fell and faded away, Nekron looked over the area to see the entire army of bodies that he had defeated.

"Anyone else?" Nekron questioned as he looked around, "Is Morningstar going to rise from hell? What about you, Presence? You want a shot? Oh, I know! Beatlejuice. Beatlejuice. Beatlejuice. Huh…Nothing? About. Damn. Time."

With that, Nekron waved his hand and created a rift that showed the Life Entity's cavern once more. Instead of stepping in, he reached in with his energy and pulled the Life Entity to him. Now that the Reaper had his obsession literally in hand, he wrapped his hands around the Entity's neck and began to squeeze.

Richard squirmed in pain. He had been hit by that last blast. The boy had never known this kind of pain. Everything hurt. Literally everything hurt. It wasn't an exaggeration. He could barely concentrate on anything else. The technopath barely managed to force his eyes open.

A quick look around revealed that everyone around him had been hit by that attack as well. All the Justice League heroes lie unconscious and defeated. The same could be said for Amorpho. Richard could only assume that the others in the battlefield were the same way.

There was nothing left. Only pain and suffering existed for them. Until they died, that is. All their fighting was for nothing in the end. Perhaps things would have been easier if they just gave up. Closing his eyes, Richard gave into unconsciousness. Being a hero wasn't nearly as fun as he thought it would be.

(Thursday-May 30, 2013)

"Hey!" Spirit climbed up on a rock on the top of Mount Justice. She sat down next to Phantom and looked off into the distance to the setting sun, "I've been looking for you. What are you doing?"

"Just enjoying the sunset," Phantom noted, "It's even more beautiful over the water."

"Indeed it is," Dusk noted from the other side of Phantom.

Spirit looked over to her two adopted brothers, "Is this a thing for you two?"

"Sometimes," Phantom shrugged, "When we're both free. Not like we plan to meet up. It just happens sometimes."

"I see…" Spirit nodded.

Phantom glanced over to his sister, "You said that you were looking for me?"

"Yeah, I was going to talk to you about the summer schedule, but…" Spirit leaned back and took in the sight, "That can wait."

Dusk hummed, "That's the way I usually feel when I get up here."

Spirit smirked, "Is that why you haven't asked Greta out yet?"

As Dusk shifted uncomfortably, Phantom flicked Spirit upside the head, "Stop that. Don't embarrass him. Romance is a difficult thing. You can take my word on it."

Spirit grumbled under her breath. Dusk, however, looked intrigued, "But you and Valerie have been dating for as long as I've known you. And before that you dated Ember, right?"

"Yes, but getting there was not easy," Phantom smiled at the memories of his own cluelessness and struggles with women, "I could give tons of stories about how bad I was with girls when I was your age. It was a slow process, and Val is still trying to fix it."

"Trouble in paradise?" Spirit questioned.

"No more than every other relationship in the world," Phantom chuckled, "You'll understand when you get there."

Spirit rolled her eyes, "Yeah. I can't see that. This whole puberty thing sucks. I'm already sick of it. Dealing with a boy at the same time would be way too hard."

"As a brother, I hope you keep that mindset. But as a realist, I know that you won't," Phantom noted, "After all…You never know where you'll be in a year."

The two younger halfas blinked at Phantom's nostalgic look. Dusk nudged him, "Mentor? You okay?"

"Yeah…yeah…I just…God…" Phantom began chuckling, "Wow. I never realized how much things have changed. Damn, I'm eighteen now and in a serious relationship. Not to mention working with some of the planet's greatest heroes. Wow."

"You're just realizing this now?" Dusk questioned.

"No. It's just when I look back at my life before the incident that gave me powers, I think, 'Wow. I can't believe my life was like that before'," Phantom had a broad grin across his face as he looked onto the sunset.

"I doubt it," Spirit shrugged, "Things hardly ever change around Amity Park."

"Not like we'd want change anyway," Dusk noted, "Things are finally just plain good for me. I don't want things to change."

Phantom's grin quickly disappeared. He turned his gaze from the setting sun to the girl at his side. Then, he looked to his other side to see the sight of his younger brother. Memories from four years ago flashed in his mind, "I don't expect you to see it now, but one day in the future, you'll look back on this and think about how smart and handsome your older brother really was about this."

Spirit snorted, "How did handsome come into the equation?"

Phantom looked back into the fading sun, "Had to fit it in somewhere."

Dusk gave the older halfa male a worried look, "Are you okay? You seem worried."

"The point is, you'll never know where you'll be in the future. We'll never know where we'll be one year from now," Phantom noted.

"I guess that's true," Spirit had to admit, "Can't predict what's going to happen in the future. Great. Now I'm going to get worried."

"Don't worry too much," Phantom swung his arms around both of them, "I know that you'll be able to handle anything that's thrown at you. You're strong. I have faith in you. And if you're ever in over your head, I'll be there to help. That's what family is for."

Dusk gained a tiny smile, "Yeah."

Spirit huffed amusedly and leaned into the hug, "Whatever."

Still embraced, the three half-ghosts looked off into the distance. They watched as the sun set below the horizon and left them in the darkness that signaled the end of the day. Even as it grew cold, they continued to sit together, enjoying the moment and their company. Side-by-side, the adopted siblings endured the black night until it was time for them to move on once more. Phantom was the first one to stand and leave. He was soon followed by Dusk. Finally, Spirit rose and left as well. Even as she walked away, though, her eyes were glued behind her at the spot from which they had separated. Only a low rumble of the sky forced her back inside to avoid the wrath of the approaching storm.

(Monday-May 19, 2014)

Nekron laughed as he literally held Life by the neck. It clawed at him desperately as the Reaper choked out Life itself. Waves of white energy poured off the Entity onto Nekron. All of the life energy was absorbed immediately into the Ghost of Death's skin. Life could do nothing to push back Death this time. It made perfect sense, really. After all, every life must someday end. This was just the end for all life at once.

As the Life Entity faded, Nekron noticed the shift in energy around him. He could feel it. The life in the air was being sapped with each passing second. With a large grin, Nekron prepared to twist the Life Entity's neck as hard as he could. He would end this in one quick motion…or he would have at least if a small chunk of stone didn't bounce off the back of his head.

"S-Stop…" Dusk's voice broke the silence.

Slowly, Nekron's head turned to look at the half-ghosts which lay at the front of the mass of defeated ghosts and heroes. He saw that Spirit's hand was pointed forward to signal that she had thrown the small stone while Dusk seemed to be holding himself up with one arm.

"I see…I forgot about that…" Nekron kept his grip firmly on the Life Entity's neck, "You both have Phantom's energy running through your systems. That gives you a bit of immunity to my powers. Will the annoyances ever end?"

"Never…" Spirit spat out her words. She slowly put her arms beneath her and began to push herself up.

Dusk followed the other halfa's example and began to slowly get up, "It doesn't matter how badly you beat us. We'll keep getting up."

Rolling his eyes, Nekron threw the Life Entity to the ground. He fully turned to the duo. His hand surged with black energy. The power condensed so much that the half-ghosts felt pain from being within ten meters of the surging darkness, "You'll stay down if I leave nothing left of you to get up with."

"That won't happen," Spirit finally made it to her feet. She wobbled unstably, but she did not fall.

Dusk had to place his hands on his knees to keep himself upright. He would have used Soul Shredder if it wasn't knocked far away from him, "Mentor won't let you kill us."

"Fools," Nekron snarled at them, "Phantom's nature may have influenced me a bit at the start, but I was seconds away from killing all life. I have overcome what was left of him. Phantom has faded into nothingness."

"I don't believe you," Spirit glared at him. Her bruised and beaten face didn't let her look very threatening, though, "I know Danny. He wouldn't give into you. He's been fighting this entire time. I believe that. I believe in him."

"He's always come through for us when things look their bleakest," Dusk felt the gazes of his defeated allies on his back. Despite the pain and injuries they suffered, they all fought to stay conscious, "When we need him, he'll come. That's how it's always been."

"Not this time," The energy in Nekron's arms expanded out, "Your blind trust in him is pointless."

"You're wrong!" Spirit took a deeper stance, "He's going to help us fight! I know it!"

Dusk clenched his fists, "I believe in him."

Spirit shook her head, "No. We believe in him. Everyone! Have faith!"

Dusk took a deep breath, "Have faith…"

Both Spirit and Dusk rushed forward at the same time, "IN DANNY PHANTOM!"

"Faith is only for those with nothing else to fight with!" Nekron roared out, "NOW JUST DIE ALREADY!"

Nekron thrusted both his arms forward to the charging halfas. In the blink of an eye, the two of them were covered in concentrated beams of dark energy. With the literal power of a Black Hole in the blasts, the energy of death began to try to pull them apart. In an instant, their forms were covered in absolute blackness with no light in sight to guide them out of it.

Nekron floated in the inner sanctum that was his mind. Well, it was really Phantom's mind, but he had taken control over it. What was once a recreation of Amity with the Ghost Zone floating over it was now an ocean of darkness that was covered by a stormy sky. Oddly enough, a miniature sun floated below the storm. Like everything else, the surging energy source was covered in thick darkness that had suffocated the flaring green and white energy that had once been Danny Phantom.

The Reaper sneered as he floated up to the energy source. This was the condensed representation of his power. Everything that was Nekron as a ghost was in that ball, just as it used to be for Danny Phantom. Before Nekron took complete control over the mind, Phantom's connection to both Death and the Life Entity shone through the darkness. Now, it only held Nekron's grip over both forces of existence.

He felt as Spirit and Dusk's energy signals faded away into nothingness. They never stood a chance. Like he said, there was nothing left of Danny Phantom in here. Phantom no longer existed in here. Everything in here was Nekron the Reaper of Death, the ghost that would kill all life.

Long live the Ghost King!" Fright Knight roared as his body dissolved, "Long live Danny Phantom, the greatest king to ever live! Long...live...the king..."

Nekron tensed as his mind trembled at the memory. What was that?

"Come out...of...nowhere..." Tula's eyes lost their focus. Her body drifted sideways in the water as she floated lifelessly. Blood drifted up around the arrow of black energy.

Wait. That wasn't even his direct memory. Oh wait. He absorbed it when the girl died. But how…

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

Why was he remembering this? None of this was important. The lives of ants weren't important.

Tears popped out of the corner of Beast Boy's eyes, "She's smiling…I'm home, Mom."

Nekron didn't understand. Why were such things flashing through his mind! He didn't want them to! Stop it!

"And I love you, baby girl. More than anything."

Nyx's loud sobs and cries continued to sound out through the area as Pandora dissolved in her arms. Once the Controller of Chaos was nothing but a puddle, Nyx finally allowed herself to collapse. She bowed her head to the ground and cried in mourning of her beloved mother. Even as Nekron's monsters appeared and the two nearby Royal Flush Gang members tried to fight them off, Nyx did not raise her head from the puddle of goo. Her grief was too strong for her to do anything else.

Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!

A slight breeze blew through the now silent area. As soon as the wind hit the old man, his form shook and fell apart into ash. The wind tore Youngblood's body apart. It then carried the dust that was once Youngblood away and scattered it across the earth never to laugh or play again.

STOPIT STOPIT STOPIT STOPIT STOPIT STOPIT STOPIT!

"See? I knew it…And everyone else will know it…They have faith in him…and his family…They will come because they believe in him…in them…Because…" Amorpho coughed out violently, "We all owe them a debt that can't be repaid, and we will fight for them until our dying breath."

Spirit shook her head, "No. We believe in him. Everyone! Have faith!"

Dusk took a deep breath, "Have faith…"

Both Spirit and Dusk rushed forward at the same time, "IN DANNY PHANTOM!"

No.

Nekron was shocked when an arm shot out of the sun and grabbed him by the neck.

No more.

The sun of darkness burst with white energy to create a perfect mix of white and black…of Life and Death.

No more pain.

Darkness disappeared from the sky to reveal the swirling vortex that was the Ghost Zone.

No more suffering.

Phantom's face appeared from the sun.

NO MORE DEATH!

A fist rammed into Nekron's face. The force of the blow was so great that the Reaper was sent flying back to the sea of darkness below him. Covered in a meteor of white energy, Nekron was forced through the black ocean. The white comet then burst dispelling some of the darkness to the point where it was more of black mist instead of a sea, revealing the city of Amity Park.

When the white comet burst, Nekron was sent flying even further. He soared through a building and caused the structure to collapse. The Reaper was immediately covered in the rubble. This didn't last long, though, as he quickly pushed the rubble off of him with a surge of energy. Just as Nekron was free, though, he was punched once more. This time, though, the entire street collapsed from the force.

Nekron blinked as he was suddenly grabbed and held up by his neck, "How!? I destroyed you!?"

Phantom pulled Nekron close so they were nose-to-nose, "You can't destroy me. Not as long as they still need me."

Nekron's face twisted into a snarl. He violently pushed back Phantom so hard that the half-ghost was forced to skid back all the way down the broken street, "Bullshit! I destroyed you once, I'll do it again. You're no match for me alone!"

With that Nekron rushed forward to attack Phantom with a fist readied to punch. Phantom met this move by charging forward with a raised fist of his own, "It's a good thing that I'm not alone then, Nekron!"

In a blaze of black and white, their two fists met. The final battle between life and death had finally begun.

For the first time since he absorbed Phantom, Nekron suffered damage in the physical world. Spirit and Dusk had rushed through the concentrated black holes. Spirit had rammed a knee into Nekron's face while Dusk sent an elbow to his stomach. The combined blows forced Nekron stumbling back while clutching at his new bruises.

Everyone looked on in absolute shock. None of them could comprehend how such simple moves could possibly hurt the Reaper. The answer to their questions was revealed as soon as Spirit and Dusk landed. Both halfas were covered in a white halo of energy that most of them had only seen on Phantom. Everyone, including Nekron, was shocked as the energy rushed around them and healed their wounds.

Both half-ghosts examined their white energy. Tears ran down their faces. It felt like a comforting arm had been placed over their shoulders. They could feel it. Danny was with them. He was the reason they survived. Their faith had been rewarded.

"You see?!" Spirit shouted to her allied, "There's still hope!"

"Get up and fight!" Dusk shouted, "Have faith! Danny won't let us fall!"

"NO! He won't—AAAAHHHH!" Nekron suddenly knelt over and clutched his chest. As he did this, white energy surged off of him. The white energy reached out to grab the downed Life Entity. In a burst of white, the Entity was pulled into Nekron and absorbed.

A miniature sun of life energy burst off of Nekron. Different beams of energy spread out and hit all the downed fighters. Instead of hurting them, though, the beams covered the injured warriors in halos of their own. Like the halfas, they were quickly healed by the energy of life.

For one final time, everyone was shocked as the energy shifted. Instead of staying in the normal halo of Ascended Ectoplasm, the energy condensed into a much smaller shape. That shape was something that had proved to be nightmarish to them during Nekron's Blackest Night. Now, though, it was their saving dream, because on each of their hands were…

White Power Rings.

With new energy surging through all of their hearts, all the friends and family of Danny Phantom held up their ringed hands to the sky. For the first time in this fight, they had real hope. Their minds were filled with a chant despite never hearing it before. Together, they all shouted their new creed of hope up to the heavens.

As darkness falls and all light dies,

Hope surges up to end the cries,

Life glares at Death's door with defiant eyes,

Beware the Phantom, White Lanterns rise!