Next chapter is the last one, everybody! Thanks to all my dedicated readers who have followed me up to this point, and extra thanks to my great reviewers.

Chapter 29: Light Shines Through

There was thundering, earth-shaking explosion, shattering windows all through Metropolis and shaking the very foundations of virtually every standing structure. From atop the Daily Planet, Dick saw an entire area a few miles away suddenly erupt into a fireball!

"Oh no…" Dick muttered. "Bruce… what the hell did you do…?"

Standing a few feet away from him, Green Arrow answered his communicator. "Uh huh. Got it. He did what? Oh God… is everyone alright? Ok. Thanks." He finished his short conversation and returned the communicator to his pocket. "That was Shayera." He announced. "The clone factory is destroyed. We're good to go."

"And what was that blast?" Dinah asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That was the watchtower." Green Arrow said grimly. "And Bruce was in it." There was utter silence.

"Ok." Said Dinah. "The best thing we can do now is to finish what he started."

"Dick…" Galatea stepped forward and looked the young man in the eyes. "You know what that means. Quit pretending like you don't."

"'Tea, I can't just stand back and watch you die. I won't." Dick said solemnly.

"Come on, you know it's the only way." She touched his face gingerly, and saw that he was fighting back the threat of tears. She allowed a few of her own to spill.

"No. I won't do this." Dick repeated.

"Then don't. I'll do it. But it has to be done." Green Arrow reasoned, his arms folded and his expression grim.

"No!" Dick spun around and drew one of his escrima sticks. "I don't care what you think you have to do, Galatea isn't going to die! And I'll fight each and every one of you if I need to, it that'll get my point across!"

"Dick stop it." Galatea spun him around. "There's no other way."

"There has to be."

"There isn't."

"I don't believe that."

"You need to."

"'Tea I-"

"Listen to me! You heard Bruce, we-"

"I don't give a damn what Bruce said! Bruce just flew in like a Kamikaze and blew himself up for Christ's sake! You really want to take that man's advice?"

"Will you shut up and listen to yourself for a minute?" Galatea urged, but she was not angry. "He just died for this. Kara offered to die for this, Cyborg nearly died for this, hell even Superman might die for this! We all have to make sacrifices Dick, that comes with the job… we all make sacrifices for the greater good. Including me. And including you."

"Huh…" Dick breathed a long, irritated sigh. "You really want to do this, don't you?"

"If it means no one else will get hurt, then yes. And it does." She nodded. "I did a lot of things I regret, Dick. A lot of really horrible things. You showed me that there was a life outside of Cadmus, and now… now I have to give that life up, to atone for all those horrible things."

"Galatea…" Dick said softly, his voice almost a whisper. A single tear ran down his cheek. He turned toward Green Arrow slowly, and in the same wavering voice said, "Give me the weapon."

Green Arrow handed Dick the rifle-like device that was designed for killing Luthor's clones. The device would tear its target apart on a cellular level. The device that was about to save the world. The device that was about to take away the only girl Dick had ever truly loved.

"We'll leave." Dinah nodded, nudging Oliver in the ribs. They quickly took off on a grapple-arrow and left. Kara and Volcana flew away as well, leaving Dick and Galatea alone on top of the Daily Planet.

Reluctantly, he backed up. "I don't know if I can do it."

"You have to." She said calmly.

"I know." He sighed, and after a long pause, he raised the weapon to his shoulder, crying openly now.

"Dick, please don't be sad." Galatea smiled. "I got what I wanted. I had a life, I had my freedom, and I had you. It was a little short lived, I know. But I got what I wanted. Now it's my time."

Dick nodded slowly, anguish on his face. "I love you." He said.

"I love you too."

And with that, he took brief aim, closed his eyes, and pulled the trigger. For a long millisecond, nothing happened. Then there was a brilliant golden flash. One that Dick saw even through his closed eyelids. The light was like a miniature sun, and it quickly expanded.

First it illuminated the sky, and raw sunlight from Galatea's cells incinerated all of the clones in Metropolis. Then it spread further, reflective all over the western hemisphere, and then onto the east, illuminating everything, creating one, global, universal, day. Dick felt himself bathed in the warm light, a sensation like he had never experienced before. He eventually stopped resisting the urge and opened his eyes, knowing full-well the blinding effects that awaited. Through the flash he saw memories, memories of his times with Galatea.

He remembered when they had first met, in the abandoned Cadmus bunker after Superman had kidnapped him. He remembered sitting in the Batcave infirmary, holding her hand tightly while Batman removed the kryptonite shards from her body, obtained during the battle.

He remembered at the small pond behind Wayne Manor, when they kissed. He remembered when Cadmus came to take her back, and he had defended her. He remembered the battle in Metropolis, when she had betrayed them for an antidote to clone degeneration. Then three months later, when she had saved his life from a shield explosion at the Bludhaven bay. He remembered her bringing him to Wayne Manor, and leaving quickly. Then he remembered when they were battling Cyborg and Superman in Metropolis, and she lost control… he remembered he and Roy hunting her down, and he remembered fishing inside her mind, helping her battle the evil within her.

He remembered the night they had spent together at the Metrotower. And now, more than ever, he remembered the ring he had been planning to give her. It wasn't anything fancy, but the best that he could afford. And he had planned to propose to her. But now that was gone. With one bright, world-saving flash, all of that was gone.

The light finally faded, leaving Dick alone, on top of the now smoldering hot Daily Planet. He pulled the ring from his pocket, threw it was far as he could, dropped to his knees, and wept.

All around him, all around the world, the clones had been either de-powered or disintegrated by the light. The few damaged clones remaining were now being easily picked off.

And Lex Luthor's plans began to crumble.

Meanwhile, at the Metrotower…

"Finally got it!" Question shouted, filling a hypodermic needle with a dark blue fluid.

"What is that?" Huntress asked.

"I isolated the clone degeneration gene from Stormy and her sisters. Then I added a few of my own ingredients to strengthen the gene, make it more fast-acting. And I have it right here."

"Alright, so what do you plan to do with it?" Huntress raised a confused eyebrow.

"Simple. I plan to take advantage of Luthor's new body."

"I'm going to ignore how wrong that sounded." Huntress smiled. But suddenly the realization dawned on her, and she gasped. "You think it'll work?"

"If we can inject him, then yes. But with that solar-suit charging him up, that may be difficult. Especially since he and Superman are on the other end of the city…"

"I can get it over there." Flash suddenly appeared in the room, looking serious.

"Wally are you sure? Luthor is ridiculously powerful right now, with that solar suit. One attack from him could kill you." Question warned.

"Yeah, yeah, lives in danger, what else is new?" Wally grabbed the needle. "I'm sick of being the backup guy. I want to be the hero for once, the guy who takes down the villain and saves the day." He pulled on the Flash cowl and smiled confidently. "I'm taking Lex Luthor down."

Meanwhile, in the lower end of Metropolis…

"No!" Mayan/Lex Luthor shrieked, mentally feeling the clones die. "No! No! No! Impossible!" Luthor looked around and witnessed his clone army reduced to dust.

"That's the big mistake that you continue to make, Lex…" Superman got to his feet, battered and bloody. His costume was torn to shreds, and his torso had been reduced to a darkening rainbow of purple and yellow bruises. He bled from dozens of wounds all around his body, and his left arm hung on an unnatural angle, broken. "You continue to underestimate my team."

"Son of a bitch…" Luthor grumbled. "I'll rip you apart!" Mayan Luthor suddenly became a blur, slamming into Superman with enough force to create a sonic-boom upon impact. Superman spat a torrent of blood and sailed backward, digging a mile-long trench in the concrete. As soon as he was on his feet, heat vision bore painfully into his chest, taking him down again. He looked up, and was greeted by Luthor's fist. Superman spat a bloody tooth and took a crushing kick to his already broken ribs.

"If I can't have the world, then at least I can have your head!" Luthor screamed, striking Superman in the back of the head and cracked his skull. Superman immediately saw stars, and his vision started to darken.

Six minutes earlier, in the ruins of the clone factory…

Jason Todd walked toward the blazing rubble left over from the watchtower. "You really did it, didn't you old man?" Jason muttered. "You really just killed yourself."

He heard a rustling off to the side, and turned his head to see the Justice Lord's Batman, injured from the explosion and hobbling for an exit. "Don't think so." Jason pulled a Glock from his belt and shot Lord Batman in the back of his armored cowl, knocking him down but not killing him.

Jason walked casually over and ripped the cowl off of Lord Batman. He then drew his bowie knife and sliced off the bat-symbol on his chest. "What the hell are you doing?" The Lord's Bruce Wayne asked with sheer violence in his voice.

"Making things right." Jason kicked the cowl into a large fire. "You don't deserve to wear that." Jason looked down and kicked the villain in his chest, knocking the wind out. "What are you waiting for? Get the hell out of here. Run to some little rabbit hole and hide, and don't ever stick your neck out. Because I swear, if I ever see you in this world again, I'll put a bullet between your eyes faster than you can blink. Got it?"

The Lord's Bruce Wayne stood up in confusion. "Why not just kill me?"

"Because that wouldn't mean anything." Jason shot the man a glacial stare. "Not a damn thing."

"I don't understand." The Justice Lord said evenly.

"No, you wouldn't." Jason spat, and then turned and walked back toward the blazing remains of the watchtower. When he looked back, the Justice Lord was gone.

"Well that was quite a show." A feminine voice said from behind. "Did I see a hint of morality there, Jason Todd?"

"Shut up bitch." Jason turned around stared Denise in the eyes, pure hate glowing in his.

"Oh come on baby, what I did before, that was just business." She walked casually over to him and planted a kiss on his lips. "We're partners in crime, remember? Bonnie and Clyde!"

"I said shut up." Jason shoved her away.

"Jason, baby," Her eyes narrowed. "I really do love you."

"I couldn't care less."

"Don't be so hard to get." She pushed him against a wall and kissed him again. This time, he kissed her back. They stood there passionately for a minute, before a sharp pain fired through Denise's entire body. The breath fled her lungs, and she looked down to see Jason's knife in her stomach, blood pooling around the wound. "J- Jason…"

"Just business… baby." Jason said coldly, as he pushed her over and let her die. "Nothing's actually changing you know." He whispered to her. "You were already dead inside anyway." That was the last thing Denise heard, before she fell into eternal sleep.

Jason left the knife, and stood before the rubble. There was a rustling, and he quickly sprinted over. He pried off a heavy chunk of steel, ignoring the fire burning at his flesh. Underneath was Batman, bloody, dying, and impaled through the heart by a long metal pole. Batman was spewing blood from every orifice in his body, his skin unnaturally pale, and he trembled violently.

He isn't dead yet, but he's going to be." Jason realized. Then, thinking quickly, he sprinted to the remains of Lord Batman's lab, and grabbed the vile that he recognized. After returning back to Batman, he poured the liquid from the vile into one of the Dark Knight's open wounds, and then pried him off of the pole through his chest. Instantly, wounds began to heal, closing up.

Batman's eyes drifted open. "What did you do…?"

"I gave you the solution with both the nanites and the Doomsday serum." Jason said grimly. "They'll heal you."

"You did what?"

"It was the only way."

"No!" Bruce let out a primal roar and smacked Jason across the ruined complex. "Should – have let – me die." He grunted as his muscles began to bulge out of his costume. Painfully, a series of bone spikes ripped through his flesh, and his eyes turned a deep, unnatural red. An animalistic hunger loomed in his furious gaze, and he screeched violently… an ungodly shrieking sound that could be heard for miles.

"Oh God!" Jason gasped. "I didn't realize how much the Doomsday serum would affect him… Lord Batman must have built failsafes into the clones to resist a full change, but Bruce… oh my God he's changing into a monster!"

Diana came to the area, and slid down a pile of rubble. She ran toward Batman, breathing hard. She looked elated that he was alive, until she got a better look. She saw the monster he was becoming, and looked to Jason. "What the hell is happening?"

"He was going to die, so I gave him the serum to heal his injuries… but he's transforming now! It looks like he's fighting it, but I don't know how long he can last." Jason shouted back.

Diana watched in horror as Bruce's flesh was ripped apart by his growing muscle, and then reformed just as quickly in the form of steely, wire-like flesh.

A breeze blew by, and in her ear Diana heard the voice of Thanatos. "This is what I meant, child." Diana gaped, and ran to the wailing Bruce. Unable to control himself, he swung a punch at her, and she barely managed to avoid it.

"Bruce! I'm here!" She huffed.

"Diiiiaaaannnnaaaa…" A flash of recognition fluttered across Bruce's face, which was now barely human. "Kkkiiilll mmeee!" He pleaded.

"What?" Diana backed way.

"K- Kill me! Plleeaassseee!" He screeched, fighting as hard as he could to remain human. "I c- can't fight this… do it!"

He threw her a sharp, burning hot shard of metal from the wreckage, and prepared for her to strike. Diana held the weapon in her hands, tears streaming down her face. Finally she sighed and threw the weapon down, instead pulling Bruce into a deep kiss.

After pulling away, Bruce's eyes were the familiar dark brown for a moment, but then reverted back to the primal red.

"Bruce, I believe in you. I believe in how strong you are." She held his hand cautiously, and saw some of the bone spikes beginning to recede. "You have enough willpower, Bruce. I know you do. You can beat this thing. We can beat this thing. Together." She kissed him again. "I love you."

"Love – you – too." Bruce choked, his human voice starting to come through like static. More and more he was resisting the change, and she continued to encourage him. After nearly twenty minutes, Bruce was lying on his knees breathing heavily, looking human. "It's still there…" He clutched his heart. "I feel it. But we seem to have driven it back for now…" He panted.

He glanced over and saw Jason leaving. "Jason!" He called, his voice sounding pained.

"I left instructions for deactivating the nanites written on the wall, in Denise's blood. Shouldn't be hard to find." Jason yelled back. "As for the Doomsday change, you'll have to deal with on your own."

"That's not it…" Bruce crawled to his feet.

"What then?" Jason turned around to face him.

"Jason… you'll always have a home. I want you to know that." Bruce said warmly.

"Thanks." Jason said, true sincerity in his voice. "But I have to pass. That just isn't the path I want to walk anymore."

"I know."

After that, Jason was gone. Bruce felt another change coming on, and fresh bone spikes were already beginning to pierce his skin. "Damn it!" He grunted, trying to fight back the change again. "I can't keep this up Diana."

"I know." She said quickly. "Come on, let's go find J'onn."

Back in lower Metropolis…

"This – ends – now!" Luthor screamed, pummeling Superman further into the concrete. A mace sailed out, but Luthor's super hearing picked it up, and he caught the weapon in mid flight. He looked up to Hawkgirl and Green Lantern flying toward him. "More lambs the slaughter, I see." Luthor grinned.

He could hear off to his left, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Volcana, and Supergirl were showing up as well. "Bring it on then!" Luthor yelled, rising into the air. "I'll kill you all!"

There was suddenly a red blur, and Flash came in with a needle, flailing toward Mayan. Luthor swiftly dodged to the side and literally flicked Flash across the street, through a small shop window. Flash stood up quickly, rubbing his head. "GL! Heads up!" He yelled, throwing the needle into the air. Green Lantern flew for it, but in a blur, Mayan Luthor struck the lantern in the chest with a powerful kick, taking him down. Kara met Luthor with a punch to the face, but it did little damage at all. He quickly blasted her away with heat vision, burning her straight through a building!

Hawkgirl grabbed the needle, and suddenly pain rocketed through her body as Luthor kicked her hard in the small of her back. He grabbed for it, but was hit by an explosive arrow from Green Arrow. When the smoke cleared, Luthor was gone.

Suddenly Green Arrow was punched hard in the throat, putting him flat on the ground, and Luthor stomped on his back, crushing his entire quiver of arrows. Luthor then pressed further, threatening to damage the archer's spine, when Dinah blasted him with a powerful sonic scream. It was only a matter of minutes, however, before Luthor flash-froze her with his breath, shaking away the blood from his ears. Volcana drenched him in a torrent of fire, but he simply spun around at super speed, creating a cyclone of flame! He blew the fire toward Flash, who was running in a futile attempt to catch the needle before it reached the ground. Flash was forced to dodge, missing the needle. It crashed onto the road, and shattered, spilling the dark blue liquid into a puddle.

Luthor broke out laughing. "Whatever that was, it's useless to you now!" He proclaimed as he gleefully struck Superman again. He blocked more strikes by Flash, eventually sending the speedster spiraling with a flick of his hand.

Then his super-hearing detected a new presence. "Who the hell-" Luthor turned and found himself hit by both Superman and Supergirl punching in unison, both striking Luthor's face! His head was thrown back, blood spraying from his nose, and he had no time to decipher who the new arrival was. He quickly spun around and roundhouse kicked the two Kryptonians, watching happily as they tumbled violently down the road.

Luthor laughed again, and prepared to land one final strike on the man of steel, when suddenly he gasped. A sharp pain fired through him, and he looked down to see a sharp steel blade sticking through his chest!

Behind him was the woman holding the sword, the Justice Lord's Diana! "You double crossing bit-" Luthor started before she twisted the blade in his chest, sending a new, worse wave of pain that shut him up. In horror, he realized that his fingers were beginning to rot, literally falling apart. "How…?" Then he looked at the blade again and saw it glimmering with a dark blue liquid coating.

Lord Diana had covered the blade of her Amazonian sword in the solution Question had created, and now Clone Degeneration was spreading through Mayan Luthor's cloned body at an unbelievable rate.

"No!" Luthor shrieked as his entire left arm from the elbow down disintegrated. Lord Diana pulled the sword out and let him fall to his knees. His face started to wither away, revealing bone underneath the blackened flesh. More and more holes began to form in Luthor's body, painfully eating him away. "Stop! Superman! You aren't going to just let me die are you?"

"I should." Superman said coldly. "I really, really should. But I won't." He took a second needle from Huntress, who had just arrived on her motorcycle. Superman pressed the needle into the vein on Luthor's neck, the antidote to the degeneration. It immediately stopped spreading, but the damage was already done. Mayan Luthor was missing an arm, and half a face.

Superman balled up his fist and delivered one final, crushing blow to Luthor's weakened body, watching him crash to the ground. He turned and started to walk away, when Luthor laughed!

The villain lay on the ground, chuckling. "I really didn't think it would come to this… but it looks like I have no other choice." With his remaining arm, Luthor opened a compartment on the chest of the solar suit, revealing a small keypad. He typed in a code, and then ripped the control pad out, throwing it aside. Then, a huge yellow ball began to form in the sky.

"That doesn't look good." Flash said, his voice rising. "What is that?"

"What on Earth did you do Luthor…" Superman gasped.

The madman was still laughing. "It's my final backup plan; if all fails… it's an extermination! I have four satellites orbiting the sun, feeding this suit raw solar energy… and now those satellites have clustered together, just outside Earth's atmosphere… they're pooling together all their collected energy, and releasing it as one, solar blast!"

"What?" Superman glared. "You mean…"

"It will bore straight through the center of the Earth…" Luthor laughed hysterically. "You're all going to die!"

The blast fired, lighting up the sky with a blinding golden flare. And without a second thought, Superman raced toward the blast.

"Wait!" Kara yelled. "It's more than you could possibly absorb right now! It's going to kill you!"

"I know." Superman replied grimly, before flying off into the sky, straight at the blast! He struck the beam full-force, his body filling up on solar energy quickly. Then his cells began to overcharge, and he felt damaging effects immediately… his body began to shut down. But he couldn't give up; even as the light faded from his eyes, and pain swelled over his body from the inside out… he refused to stop. He was utterly determined to stop this blast, and save the people he had once called his friends…

Suddenly there was large red blur. "I'll handle it." Said Hank Henshaw, hovering next to Superman against the blast.

"What…?"

"You've got more to live for." The Cyborg said sincerely, sounding human now. "You've got a kid now. I had my chance, and I lost it… you still have yours."

"Hank, I-"

"Take care of Terri for me, ok?" Henshaw smiled his body's robotic grin, true human warmth coming from it. "I saw the good you did today. Keep that up, will ya'?"

"I'll try." Superman smiled. "I really am-"

"Sorry? Yeah, yeah, I know. Get out of here." Henshaw instructed, and then the man of steel allowed himself to fall, plummeting back to the Earth, smoke billowing from his overheated body. He was caught by Kara, who brought him gently back down to Earth. She looked him the eyes.

"Clark, you really are back, aren't you?" She asked.

"I think so." Superman smiled, and she hugged him, tears running down her face.

"Things can never be the same you know." Superman said solemnly.

"I know." Kara backed up, and then Superman passed out.

And in the skies above, Hank Henshaw absorbed what was left of the blast, his body radiating violently. "Forgive me… Terri." Hank then soared into space, drifted near the four LexCorp satellites, and closed his eyes.

His body exploded.