Wayne Stark sat in his cave, deep in thought and trying to ignore the pain of what today would bring. He has been trying to work up the courage for today for almost a week, but he still didn't think he could go through with it. He knows Edwin and Petra were worried about him even though they were hurting as well, and he hated himself for not being strong for them especially Petra. He knows what losing a parent he should be helping his adopted daughter. But instead he his inside the Fortress, the underground cave which he and his husband Clark used as a base to protect the world from.

When Wayne became Dark Lantern twenty years ago he had swore that he would bear the burden alone. When he found that alien ship and he was exposed to that mysterious energy, which enhanced his intelligence and granted him healing abilities far beyond anyone could imagine, he used the material from the ship to create an advanced suit that used the same self perpetuating energy that powered the ship. He used that suit to protect the innocent and stop his sister Quinn from benefiting from wars that she supports by selling both sides weapons, and later fighting him when he became the villain called Iron Hyena. And when other heroes began to appear five years after he became Dark Lantern he became one of the original founders of the X-League, yet he still chose to keep his life in the League separate from his duties in New Gothpolis.

And then he met Clark, frozen in ice but still alive. He helped bring the WWII legend back to life and despite their differences the two became fast friends. And then eventually something more, something much better than friends. Until now they had spent ten years together, slowly falling further and further in love, getting married and even adopting Clark's clone/daughter Petra Lee six years ago after her first parent died. At the time everything seemed perfect and that nothing could ruin it.

Lex Magnus, secretly known as the Metal Skull and the Aqua-Soldier's greatest enemy, ruined it when he created a unique sentinel he called Jobalt. Wayne had never felt more powerless when Magnus had him trapped and forced him to watch as Jobalt slowly but surely beat Clark to death. The rest of the X-League, along with a few solo heroes like Vengeance and Shattericefire, had been able to stop Jobalt and capture Luthor but by then it has been too late. And now, a day after the public funeral for Aqua-Soldier, it was time for the real funeral for Clark McKenzie.

"Sir." Edwin said hesitantly from behind him. "I'm afraid it's time sir."

"I know Edwin. I know." he responded with a sigh of sadness as he stood up from his chair, already dressed for the occasion. "Where's Petra?"

"In the car sir. She...she hasn't been talking that much." Edwin informed his friend with pain his eyes.

"Let's just try to get through today. I think that's the best we can do for now." Wayne told Edwin, who nodded sadly in agreement.

Wayne wanted to talk to Petra as Edwin drove them to the funeral, but like always he wasn't good with his words. Clark had always been better at that stuff than him, he has always been the strict parent unlike Clark who could talk to Petra easily. So instead of trying to get his daughter to open up, Wayne looked out of the window at the people on the streets. He could see their depressed faces, every single one of them still struggling to live in a world without Aqua-Soldier. Wayne would give anything to swap places with them, because he was certain it is harder to live in a world without Clark McKenzie.

When they got to the church, Wayne had to gather every ounce of willpower to get out of the car with Petra. Over the next hour he talked with the people he was paying to manage the funeral and watched as all of Clark's friends came inside, all giving Wayne sympathetic looks that painfully reminded Wayne of why they were all here. As Wayne looked around he saw all manner of familiar faces. From Clark's now elderly partner Lana Olsen from when he worked at the Daily Planet in the 1940s to their friends in the X-League like William Hall and Dinah Queen, and even a few friends from the general superhero community like Pietro Reynolds and Blaze West. Wayne noticed that some weren't present, like Dick Murdock and Logan Ryder, though he imagined they were observing this from a distance. Once everyone had arrived and Wayne was sitting next to Edwin and Petra, the minister began to speak about all that nonsense about not being sad about Clark's passing and there is a plan. The only reason Wayne had allowed all this religious talk was because Clark had believed and Wayne knew he would have wanted a funeral like this.

Eventually it came to the point it was time for him to make a speech about Clark, and as the minister turned to look at him and give him the podium, Wayne found himself terrified. He had thought he was ready to do this but in that second he couldn't do it. He didn't know what would happen to him if he got up there and tried to speak, and he knew he would hate himself forever if he failed Clark in a situation like this. Not for the first time Wayne wished he had died instead of Clark, because the simple fact is the world would be a far better place with Clark and without Wayne.

Suddenly he felt a hand gently hold his. He turned to find it belonged to Petra, who nodded encouragingly to Wayne. The man smiled briefly, for the first time since Clark's death, and having newfound confidence stood up and made his way to the podium. He nodded to the minister before turning to the crowd, finding that their sympathetic loopholes didn't hurt as much as they did earlier, taking a deep breath before talking about the man he had loved so much.

Remember to tell me if there are any spelling mistakes or sentences that don't make sense. This is based on Earth-32, Secret Warps and the Mash-Up universe from Superman/Batman.

Amalgams:

New Gothpolis (New York, Metropolis and Gotham)

X-League (Judgment League Avengers, X-Patrol, Mutant Titans and Judgment League X-Men)

Wayne Stark/Dark Lantern (Logan Wayne/Dark Claw, Bruce Wayne and Hal Stark/Iron Lantern)

Edwin Beagle (Edwin Jarvis and Alfred Beagle)

Clark McKenzie/Aqua-Soldier (Arthur McKenzie/Aqua-Mariner and Clark Kent/Super-Soldier)

William Hall/Captain Angelhawk (Warren Hall/Angelhawk and William Mar-Vell/Captain Marvel)

Dinah Queen/Big Bird (Oliver Queen/Goliath and Dinah Barton/Canary)

Dick Murdock/Daring the Moon Knight (Dick Grayson/Moonwing and Slade Murdock/Dare the Terminator)

Petra Lee/Birdeater (Pete Ross/Spider-Boy and Jubilation Lee/Sparrow)

Quinn Stark/Iron Hyena (Creed Quinn/Hyena and Tony Stark)

Lex Magnus/Metal Skull (Lex Luthor/Green Skull, Will Magnus and Erik Magnus/Magneto)

Blaze West/Speed Demon (Blaze Allen/Speed Demon and Wally West/Speed Demon)

Pietro Reynolds/Runner (Anna Marie Reynolds/Runaway and Pietro Allen/Mercury)

Toridrak'ru/Tora Drake/Shattericefire (Koriand'ru/Shatterstarfire and Tora Drake/Iceberg)

Logan Ryder/Nightbeast (Kurt Ryder/Nightcreeper and Henry Logan/Beastling)

Diana Castle/Vengeance (Diana Prince and Trevor Castle/Punisher)

Jobalt (Jocasta, Iron, Cobalt, Nickel, Antimony and Bismuth)

Lana Olsen (Lois Lane, Lana Lang and Jimmy Olsen)