(This story is a side story that is connected to Legends Never Die. It is completely taking place in the Justice Lords' Universe and is about the formation and missions of a team of paranormal heroes.)

Wraiths

Chapter Introduction 'It comes from the darkness'

(Two weeks after the death of Kal by the hands of the Order – Watchtower – Wreck Room)

Diana looked at Zatanna who called her to the watchtower after learning about her newly acquired status as a goddess. She turned and looked at Selina, Lois, Tim, and Constantine as they stood there waiting for Zatanna to begin.

"We're in some deep crap people. I wouldn't have believed it myself, but I finally got conformation from a business associate. Something is breeding in the shadows and it is hurting people. At first these things seemed to be sticking to slums and darkly lit places, but more and more any place where there is a shadow some sort of creature is appearing and it is killing people. Batman has confirmed this with me through his nightly rounds about Gotham. He's managed to keep too much from happening there, but it is slowly getting more than even he can handle." Zatanna said.

"It's not getting up here in the Watchtower." Constantine said as he lit a cigarette.

"Not it's not yet, but we don't know how long it will be until it does. We don't have a choice in the matter we have to find out what is causing it. I'm asking for help from you specifically. Tim, Selina, Lois each of you are well…" She began and stopped.

"We're already monsters." Tim said as he looked at the floor. The words he said to Phoebe still fresh in his mind.

"You're not a monster Tim." Diana said as she moved toward him.

"I might as well be one. I can't be near my friends, or near Phoebe without wanting to open one of their veins. If it wasn't for the cloned blood we get… I don't want to think about it." He said as he turned away from Diana.

She watched him as he held himself almost as if the room was colder. She could feel the struggle he was having inside of himself. He was a fledgling vampire and that meant that he was faced with a hunger that wouldn't stop until it tasted blood. On top of that he was already a walking hormone factory because of being a teenage boy. Add in the extra sexuality and seduction abilities that came with being a fledgling and he was truly suffering.

"I didn't say that you are monsters. You are both part of the other world, and part of this world. Because of that you can see things easier than a normal mortal. John and I can both see into the other world because of our ability to use magic. Diana being a goddess you are able to connect with all of creation and feel what is happening right?" Zatanna asked.

"Yes, but there is far more that I can do." Diana answered.

"John, I can't ask you to help us when it comes to getting too much information. It will eventually lead back to the court and they know that it was you who hid Lois. They will not stop until they've either turned you, or killed you." Zatanna said.

"What about Lois? She's still pregnant. She can't be going all hell bound on some other world beasties." John said as he looked at Zatanna.

"She's a vampire. They heal amazingly quick and until she starts showing the baby will be protected. John face the facts that you are not going to be getting some undead action for a while if she helps us." Zatanna said as she narrowed her eyes.

Lois smiled and turned to John. She looked him in the eyes and leaned toward him drawing him into a deep kiss.

"Lover, I am going to help them. Since being turned I've been able to do more good with what strengths I have than I did without them. Besides I'm sure we can arrange to meet with each other from time to time." She said seductively.

"You're going to regret getting into a relationship with him. You may lose control one day." Tim said as he looked at Lois.

"You know… I'm not afraid because I know that I can control myself. John's been helping me learn to bridle my hunger. If you were willing to do the same with little Wonder Girl I am sure that you could enjoy a relationship, but since you aren't then your loss. But don't be telling what I am or am not going to regret." Lois said as her eyes narrowed at Tim.

Tim almost felt himself hissing back at her, but caught himself. He didn't want to become like Kal had been. Somehow he was managing to hang on to his humanity, and he wanted to make sure he could continue to do so. The words Lois said about getting Phoebe involved was out of the question. He knew that if they got close, and if they gave into the passion he felt for her then he would hurt her. Somehow he would cause her to become docile like before and he feared that he wouldn't stop drinking until she was dead.

(Bana-Mighdall – Egypt)

Artemis stood in the archway of the stone prison where the men were held captive. She smiled at a recently captured male. He was prideful, arrogant, and amazingly strong. He would be most entertaining to break. Of course to the outside world the knowledge of this prison was kept a strictest secret. They couldn't risk the nations of the world rising up against them in order to free their breeding stock. She began to walk out when screaming came from within the prison.

It was normal to hear screaming from inside of the walls. Males that wanted to show that they were still dominate and forceful would often force themselves on the weaker males that was captive. But this screaming was far, far more in horror than in pain. She ran into the prison and looked at a shadowy looking male. His hair looked as though it was composed of flames and his eyes looked completely black. He held the newest male to their collection and proceeded to rip his heart out. The others screamed and backed away only to find more of these 'creatures' in there with them. She grabbed a sword and struck the one standing there. It turned toward her and opened its mouth.

The teeth within its gall were jagged and sharp. He rushed toward her and she drove the sword into its mouth making it come out the back of its skull. As it fell three more took its place. She looked at them and prepared to fight. Suddenly the prison flooded with light as thirty of her fellow Amazons rushed in with torches. The creatures screamed at the light and backed away. One brave one jumped toward them and slashed the throat of a younger sister. Artemis grabbed it back the neck and with a quick reflex she twisted its head to face its back. Quickly the Amazons went through and killed the small number of these creatures. Once this was taken care of they realized that all of the males had been killed.

"What were those things?" Artemis asked as she kicked a lifeless shadow creature.

"We do not know sister, but it seems that they come from the shadows, and they are gaining in numbers. We need to call Phoebe back. The idea of admitting that any creature could be a match for us is not welcomed, but the truth is these things can kill us. And they aren't just appearing in the city. The ones here we can handle fairly easy, but the ones out in the desert are another matter. According to the last scout they have gathered an army rival to our own in size." The guard for the northern gate said.

"I shall leave this minute then. In form the others that I will go and retrieve Phoebe." Artemis said as she turned and left.

(Watchtower – Training room)

Phoebe drove her head through another training bot as it came toward her. For the last week she had been burning off the frustration of what had happened between her and Tim. She huffed slightly as she turned to the sound of the door opening. She looked at the current Wonder Woman as she gracefully walked into the room. Donna carried herself with a grace that was hard to believe could exist. She watched as Donna looked over the carnage of broken bots and smirked as she saw the flickering holographic images of Tim and Kal.

"I take it that you are having boy trouble." Donna said as she smiled at the younger Amazon.

"He thinks that he will hurt me. I'm sixteen years old! Most Amazons my age already have had at least one child! I know that I am a warrior born, but it is so frustrating to watch him distance himself from me, and from all of the others. Do you know that he has withdrawn from the Titans? Dick tried to talk him out of it, but he claimed that he was a risk to them all. Every time I try to talk some sense into him he leaves." She sighed and shook her head.

"Perhaps he just needs time to adjust. It has to be difficult for Tim to go through this change. He has powers he doesn't even realize yet, and for him to be unsure of himself is expected. Besides what information Bruce has over Vampires seems to point out the same thing. They have blood memories of their maker. Tim might have a stronger connection since he was the only male." Donna suggested.

"He's a warrior. It doesn't matter if he has that… that bastards memories within his blood or not. He knows that he can overcome it. I will stand by him and help him overcome it if he would let me. He's too stubborn to even consider it." She said as she looked at a bot she hadn't destroyed, but rather she had touched a series of points that would have rendered a person unconscious.

"So what are you doing here Donna? I thought that you would have been visiting with Diana." Phoebe said.

"I don't know if I want to visit with her. I want to trust my sister again, but she betrayed us. She betrayed all of us when she sided with Kal. His mission corrupted her and it has been hard to forgive her for it. I'm surprised that Bruce forgave her for what she did with Kal when he was still normal. It had to be hard on him, and yet he did. I just don't feel that I can completely forgive or trust her yet." Donna said as she walked toward a control panel. Phoebe looked at Donna press in a few numbers and suddenly the bots where removed and they stood in the middle of Gotham. Standing on a ledge a few hundred yards from them was Deathstroke and opposite of him was Nightwing.

"What is this?" Phoebe said as they watched the two bots battle each other.

Each time the image of Deathstroke took an advantage it ended up being caught by Nightwing and their match became a stale mate.

"This is Dick's Training session. He goes over the fighting styles of Deathstroke and Batman over and over again." Donna said in a quiet reverence.

"Oh my god you have got the hots for the big bird! What happened to the no men policy?" Phoebe asked with a laugh.

"We're learning to be more accepting. Besides he's just a respectable warrior." Donna said slightly embarrassed.

"Right… And I don't want to jump Tim's bones." Phoebe said with a smirk.

Donna blushed slightly and turned toward the two fighting bots. When it was over she jumped toward the victor which happened to be Nightwing and began fighting with him.

"Trust me this is not as good as the real thing!" Phoebe shouted as she rushed into the battle.

(Watchtower – resident rooms)

Dick walked out of the shower and stood in front of a mirror. On his head was a scar from when Superman had tried to lobotomize him. If he had of been a fraction of a second slower he would be a drooling simpleton like Two Face had become. He accepted membership into the league because he wanted to make sure that the tactics of the Lords wouldn't be repeated. He was starting to believe that Bruce was actually trying to keep the League from interfering with the world's governments other than helping out with crisis and protecting the world from invasion. He turned when he saw his beeper going off. He walked over and noticed two things.

The first was that someone was using his training program, and the second was Tim wanted to talk to him. He smirked at the thought of his recently transformed little brother. Tim was a good man, and now with superior strength and speed he could handle more than before. The problem was that Tim wasn't trusting himself to be around anyone. He had seen how Phoebe flirted with him. It was obvious she liked him, but he knew that Tim was going to push her away. That was the one thing that they had learned from Bruce before Bruce accepted Diana into his life. The mission would hurt those they love. That's why he pushed Star away from him. He couldn't let her get dragged into the darkness with him, and he knew that it cost her some heart ache. Still it was better for her to hate him then for her to be consumed by the darkness he lived in.

(Vampire Order North American Headquarters)

Sojina looked at the elders as she relay the information she had acquired from the lower level vampires who had faced the shadow creatures. Two of the elders looked at her and then turned toward each other.

"Elders… I do not mean to speak out of line, but these creatures are obviously from the other world. If so then they come from the pits of shadows and there is no way that any sorcerer can summon them without knowing the magic of the necromancers. Is it possible that we are facing newborns?" She asked.

"No. It is doubtful that a group of Necromancers could be born this close together. The group would be in the hundreds if not thousands. And these shadow creatures are now attacking us at every corner. It is against everything we stand for, but we must seek outside help." A dark haired woman said as she stood.

"What do you suggest Madam Isis?" Sojina asked.

"The newly formed Justice League has several magic users. Surely one of them has decided to take action. Send an invite to them and tell them that we will call a truce. We will even grant them one time access to our Library, but they are to swear that once they find the cause we will be notified and allowed to handle the causes close to us in our own way." Madam Isis said with a cold voice.

(Watchtower – two hours later)

Zatanna stood in disbelief as she heard the message coming from Sojina. She knew the vampiress. The woman was cold except when it came to her own love life, and seldom did she visit without wanting something. So receiving a message asking for help and granting her, and any member of the league who would help her stop these things access to the library was beyond belief. She regained composure and looked at the alternatives.

If she didn't take them up on their offer then the vampires would eventually fall. When they did it wouldn't be long until the other creatures fell as well. Like it or not when it came to being tough the vampires held the mark pretty high. The only other creatures who as powerful as them was trolls and trolls didn't know how to do anything other than steal, muscle, and eat people. The trolls would fall faster than the vampires because they couldn't out think their opponites. Deciding on the course of action she pressed the communicator.

"Zatanna?" Sojina asked.

"Two conditions. First myself and everyone with me will be granted safe passage both to and from the library. Second any information we find we can have copies made of that information only. I will not take any more than I need." Zatanna said.

"Agreed. We will be expecting you soon." Sojina said as she closed the channel.