In brightest day, there will be light

To cleanse the soul and set wrongs right

When darkness falls, don't fear the night

A new dawn comes. Let there be light


Wallace!

Already on it! Jason watched as his Flash sped throughout the battlefield, collecting every prone villain on the ground and piling them far, far away from Ground Zero. As he was doing that, Jason glanced around, zeroing in on any hero that looked too worn out.

Alright, listen up! He barked into the mind link. Anyone that's too tired or too injured to fight effectively, needs to skedaddle now! And no, this is not up for debate! The Orange Light of Avarice allows Kyle to absorb the souls of everyone he's killed and use them as an autonomous constructs that are forced to obey his every whim. And trust me, if you can't fight at your best, you will get killed.

Jason didn't have to look back to hear heroes beginning to flee. They all hesitated, of course, but the sheer seriousness of the situation seemed to have gotten to them, and they obeyed. Instead, he focused on being what he needed to be for this battle: the commander. Anyone who has flight and energy capabilities, your job is to focus on Kyle and try to distract him. Do not let up on the barrage, you need to keep him occupied as much as possible. Your goal is to give M'gann an opening so she can enter his mind and break Savage's control on him.

Can't…can't she just do it from out here? Jesse Chambers asked, heart stuttering.

No. M'gann spoke. Kyle's mental defenses are ironclad. I can't break into them from here without shattering his mind, and trust me, that is not an option. No, I have to do it from the inside.

That's why you need to give her an opening. Jason continued. Be careful — the Red Light of Rage allows him to spew burning plasma from his mouth, and it will be painful. As for the rest of us, we're going to be dealing with the ground forces—

Suddenly, Kyle's ring began to glow yellow. He shot his hand up to the sky and created a gigantic, straight up massive construct of a three-headed dragon, with lightning arcing around it. It bellowed a terrifying roar, the three heads glaring down at the horrified and scared heroes with unkind eyes.

Wallace groaned. I fucking hate it when he uses King Ghidorah.

Jason ignored him. Take it down! TAKE IT DOWN NOW! He screamed into everyone's heads.

Immediately, Kon formed a giant, invisible sharp blade with his telekinesis and cut into the Ghidorah construct. It didn't take — it almost immediately reformed, while the part that was cut off fell to the ground and split into new, smaller constructs. Snarling, terrifying beasts that began charging at the stricken heroes. Kaldur ran forward and summoned the tidal wave of water he had been using thus far, forming a barrage of hard-water lances that pierced their yellow forms. Some died immediately, while others merely shook it off and continued charging forward.

That seemed to shake the heroes out of their stupor, and many began fighting the constructs off. They only fought harder when Kyle began to supplement them with orange constructs, each that acted with a disturbing amount of sentience. Up in the air, the likes of Superman, Starfire, Martian Manhunter, Argent, and Alan Scott had gone to support Kon, M'gann, and Donna in their assault against Kyle and the Ghidorah construct. Occasionally, a blast of red plasma burst from the White Lantern's mouth, forcing distance between them and preventing M'gann from getting too close.

Jason drew out his sticks and transformed them into their dual sword configuration and activated their laser-bladed edges. He cut off the head of one yellow construct before stabbing through the heart of an orange one, a wolf-man who quickly burst into orange sparks. His HUD suddenly lit up, and he turned around to spot a large yellow construct, some kind of elephant creature with teeth, bearing down at him.

Before he could defend himself, the construct suddenly burst away into nothing by a dual blow from both Wonder Girl and Impulse. Jason looked behind him to see the rest of Young Justice, along with Stargirl and Batgirl, all standing at the ready. They all looked scared, but ready and willing to fight. His two saviors returned to the sides of their friends, and all of them gave him determined looks.

Jason sighed. "I guess it's too much to ask you to retreat?"

The resolute looks he received were all the answers he needed.

"Fine," Jason told them, before straightening up and giving them a severe look. "Stargirl, provide air support. Do not bother going after Lantern — you might have fire power but you don't have shielding or invulnerability like the others. They'll be forced to cover for you. You're better off helping here."

"Arrowette, you provide long-range support. Keep at the edge of the battlefield, shoot down any constructs that you think are causing too much trouble. Secret, guard her. Obscure her from the senses of any constructs, take them out on your own if you can."

"Wonder Girl, you're with Stargirl. Guard her, and take down the more troublesome constructs if you can. Impulse, your job is to run around the battlefield and keep an eye on things. Anyone that gets too injured to fight, you evacuate them with the others. Take down constructs if you must, but other heroes are your priority. You might be the difference between life and death for them." The young speedster swallowed at the last statement.

Finally he looked at his siblings. "Robin, Batgirl, you're with me. You're going to guard my back and provide me support. Here," he handed one of his swords to Cass, while transforming the other into a bo-staff and handing it to Tim. "The blade has a laser edge to it, allowing it to cut through just about anything. The staff has a pulse mechanism — build up enough kinetic energy and you can deliver a pulse that should, theoretically be able to wipe any construct out. Make no mistake, do not hesitate to deal lethal blows against these things. You're not going to survive otherwise, and they aren't alive either way."

Tim gulped as he handled the staff with care. "What about you? Don't you need a weapon too?"

Jason stared at him for a moment, before giving a single nod. Then, he put a hand to his chest and pulled. The children stared as a glowing white sword was seemingly summoned from his body, held in his hands as comfortably as any other weapon. While most of the members of Young Justice and Stargirl all wondered it was, Robin and Batgirl immediately grew pale.

"I usually don't summon this weapon unless I fully intend on killing someone," the third Batman admitted. "But in this case, I think I can make an exception."

Tim stepped forward. "But Knight, your soul—!"

"My soul will be fine, Robin. As long as I don't use the more…fantastic abilities, I should be able to use this for the next couple of hours. Even with someone as powerful as Lantern, the battle won't last that long."

The Boy Wonder still looked hesitant, so Jason reached out and gave him a reassuring squeeze to his shoulder. "Trust me, little brother," Jason asked him quietly, gently. After a moment, Tim swallowed and nodded.

That was all Jason need to see. He spun on his heel and faced the oncoming horde, weapon in hand. On both sides of him, his siblings did the same, as the rest of their friends prepared themselves. "You have your orders! Go!"

At once, the group dispersed.


Shit, are those red constructs? When did he get a chance to dip into the lake?

Does it matter? Listen up! Anyone who relies on close-combat, do not approach the red constructs! They burn like the plasma that Lantern spews from his mouth!

How many different powers does this guy have?

More than you could ever believe. However, since this is a combat situation, he'll rely almost exclusively on the left side of the Emotional Spectrum. Red, Orange, and Yellow. Possibly Green as well. The other colors are less combat-oriented, geared more towards support…

Bruce's expression grew darker as the chaos of the mind link filtered through his head. He heard every thought, felt the sheer panic and fear, and cursed his feebleness. He should be out there, helping his teammates, not watching at the side like some spectator in a peanut gallery.

He wasn't the only one feeling that way. Next to him, Dick was biting at his nails, knowing that several of his friends, including his younger siblings and members of his own team, were out there fighting and there was nothing he could do to help. Diana was on the other side of him, hands to her mouth.

Other heroes, those who had been forced to retreat as per Jason's order, were also watching. Several of them looked grim, while others tried to put the situation out of their minds by administering first aid. Nearby were the villains that Wallace had evacuated, piled together and further restrained by the present heroes. Those that were conscious were also watching, terrified and empty at the realization that they had gotten off lucky with the other Leaguers from Era 2.

But the most notable figures were Hal Jordan and Wally West. Technically, Wally was healthy enough to join the battle himself — however, he was preoccupied with trying to calm down Hal, who seemed to be whiplashing between breaking down at all his crimes and breaking down at the sheer power being displayed by Kyle Rayner. Wally, as his closest relation that was present, was the only person keeping him together.

WHOOSH!

"Flash!" Wally yelped as his cousin burst into the scene.

"Flash," Wallace nodded to his cousin. "Batman—Knight," he quickly corrected when he noticed Bruce watching, "sent me here. We need you over there, quick. Things aren't looking too hot."

Wally looked reluctant, and he glanced at the still-somewhat catatonic Hal.

"Don't worry about him," Wallace told him, "I'm here for his help too."

That caught everyone's attention. "What?" Wally asked, shocked.

Wallace lifted something up for everyone to see as an answer — a ring. A very familiar ring. A very familiar green ring. "I caught it right after White Lantern discarded it. Knight instructed me to hand it over to Jordan. We're going to need all the help we can get out there, and right now there is no one here that can use it better than him." Off to the side, Sinestro almost snorted, but a glare from Wallace stayed him.

Hal stared at the ring for a moment, before shaking his head frantically. "No. I can't. I don't deserve—"

Deserve? DESERVE? You think this about what you deserve? The present heroes winced as Jason's voice boomed in their minds. Jordan, that shit is for later. Right now, nobody here gives a damn about what you 'deserve'. What they give a damn about is trying to break Kyle Rayner out of Savage's control without getting someone killed.

People flinched at the last word. Jason seemed to sense it, judging by his mental sigh. Look — I get it. We all get it. You've done unforgivable things, and you think that being possessed by Parallax is no excuse for that. You think you should be in jail, or even dead. Well, guess what? That's bullshit. You're no good to anyone like that. If you really want to make up for all the terrible things you've done, if you really want to redeem yourself, then you take that ring and you go out there and you help us. You're the Greatest of the Green Lanterns — now help us save the Greatest Lantern of them all.

Hal's mouth parted at that, and then he once more glanced down at the ring Wallace was still holding out to him. He glanced up at the other man, the time-traveler, who gave him a single nod. He then glanced at the other heroes, who were all watching him intently. Finally, he looked at Wally, who gave him an encouraging smile.

You really think I can do it? He asked.

You did it once before, didn't you? Jason answered.

For a brief moment, Hal was bombarded with images of another time. A time where he had managed to recover from his time as Parallax and redeem himself. Where he had helped rebuilt the Green Lantern Corps. Where he had become a hero again.

When the images ended, Hal inhaled a deep breath.

Then he snatched the ring from Wallace's hand, and slipped it on.


"Move!"

Kori barely had any warning before Donna shoved her away from another blast of red plasma. The plasma dripped to the ground, where it burned for a moment before forming a red construct that proceeded to attack Damage, who quickly destroyed it. The Tamaranean nodded her thanks to her friend, before orchestrating a concentrated attack with her at Kyle, who quickly blocked it with a quick green shield.

He then formed a white construct, this time a laser cannon that looked suspiciously like one from Lyrical Nanoha (at least, according to Tim Drake) and fired. All the heroes almost immediately dived out of the way again, except for Alan Scott (the target) who hadn't been fast enough. Instead, he formed his own shield, pouring all his strength into it — a futile effort. The white energy pierced it easily, breaking it and striking Alan with extreme prejudice.

"Alan!/Scott!" A number of voices called out in worry. When the beam ceased, Alan, significantly more charred and bruised, began to drop, and was quickly caught by Clark.

Is he alright? Several voices asked as one. Clark used his superhearing to zero in on Alan's heartbeat; it was faint, but it was there.

He's fine. He's out of the fight, though.

Give him to me! Impulse's voice told him, and Clark looked down to see the boy waving his hands up at him. I'll take him to the others!

Clark quickly descended near to ground-level and handed the prone form of Alan to the speedster. Impulse quickly sped off towards the direction of the injured and fatigued heroes, who had formed something of an impromptu infirmary. The Kryptonian tried not to wince at the thought — they all knew that this mission was going to be difficult, but not this difficult. It was a miracle no one had died yet. As it was, many of the heroes of present were going to be out for days, if not weeks or even months.

Superman, we need you. Kyle is starting more widespread attacks now that Alan is out of the picture.

I don't see how I could be much help besides keeping the heat on him, Clark admitted. He can block my heat vision easy and his shields are strong enough to ward off even someone of my strength. And with his constructs

Let me help with that!

Clark blinked as a green, glowing figure suddenly entered the battlefield and blocked an electric attack from King Ghidorah, before summoning a massive axe-sword which shot off nine blades of light that cut off all three heads. Jason blinked when he saw the attack, frowning. Okay, who told Jordan about Nine Lives?

What makes you think he didn't—?

Wallace.

Look, man, it's Kyle, alright?

A valid point. Which is all that really needed to be said about the situation. Kyle seemed to agree, which was probably why he dispersed the now headless Ghidorah construct into a number of mini-ground constructs and started forming a number of floating swords a la the Gate of Babylon. Hal quickly countered them with a number of fighter jets, but the disparity in sizes meant a few were missed, forcing the other heroes to dive out of the way again.

Surprisingly, Kyle seemed to ignore them in favor of Hal, following up his Gate of Bablyon attack with an emerald Palkia, who performed Spacial Rend. Hal quickly countered with a massive shield, and then pierced the Palkia construct with a javelin. Kyle grabbed the javelin with a claw, before slicing it with a sword. The constructs dispersed in green, glittering dust as the two men faced off.

Suddenly, Kyle twirled around and spewed red plasma at the invisible M'gann, who had tried to enter his mind from behind. She dodged, but kept her distance, scowling. No dice. It looks like we're going have to restrain him for this to work.

And how should we do that? Argent asked, clearly distressed. He's been able to ward off every tactic we've tried.

By using bait. Jason answered, slicing through a yellow construct while Tim punctured and blew up another one with his staff. You noticed, didn't you?

He's focusing on me. Hal stated, forming two gauntlets around his hands. Why?

Knowing Savage and his sadism, whatever spell he put on us made it so killing those closest to us would be our first priority — aka, the respective members of our families. You're a member of Kyle's family, and with Scott out of the picture for the time being, he's completely focused on you instead. And he'll probably remain focused on you as long as the rest of us don't attack him.

Hal frowned. He really cared about me?

He looked up to you, Hal. Donna replied, floating up next to him. Even when you were Parallax, he still looked up to you. And he never stopped, even after you were she trailed off, but the last word was obvious.

The Green Lantern blinked, and then smiled lightly. Despite everything that had happened lately, he couldn't help but be touched. Sure, he barely knew the kid right now, but…it was nice, to hear.

He shook his head, and got serious again. The sentimentality could be saved for later, after they got the guy back on their side. Okay, how should we play this?

You're gonna have to do this solo. Everyone else, focus on the ground constructs for now and wait for an opening. M'gann will stay invisible, keep apprised of the situation, and when she gives the signal, all of you will go after him with everything you have and restrain him. Agreed?

Sounds of mental affirmation followed. Jason shifted his attention to Hal. Jordan, listen to me — this plan only works if you manage to keep Kyle's attention almost singularly focused on you. That means you cannot hold back; no screwing around, and no mercy. The former will just give him openings, and both together will get you, and everyone else here, killed. Got it?

You really know how to lay the pressure on a guy, Hal grumbled as he began approaching Kyle while everyone else started turning their attentions to the rest of the battlefield. Just like your dad.

Jordan Jason growled.

Yeah, yeah, I got it. Hal replied, growing serious again. Anything else I should know?

He doesn't need to recharge his ring, so don't bother trying to tire him out, Jason instructed. Also, since it's you it's possible he'll start forming white constructs to fight you, like he did before with Scott. Since it's the energy of life, it won't kill you; but, as it's the most powerful color of all, you are not going to be able to break any of constructs of that color, nor block any energy blasts.

So, dodge?

Yes. Good luck Jordan — you're going to need it.

As Hal watched Kyle form a giant green halberd and level it at him, he couldn't help but agree.


"Do you think he can win?" Tim asked his brother as he tapped his bo-staff onto the ground, creating a shockwave of energy that took out three constructs at once. Jason made a note to build a copy of the staff for him when this was all over. He certainly had something of a knack for it.

Jason snorted. "Win? Hell no. Villains used to cry when they heard the White Lantern was planet-side for a reason." He punctuated that by striking out toward the neck of an orange construct with one hand, kneeing it under the chin before twisting its neck, shattering it. "But, if anyone has a chance of surviving Lantern long enough for this plan to work, it's Hal Jordan. He just needs to let go of his doubts about Parallax to succeed. Otherwise, we're all dead." He cut off the head of an red construct to illustrate his point, jumping back so the plasma wouldn't burn him.

A change in the air revealed that he wasn't out of danger yet, and he ducked to dodge the clubbing swing of another orange construct and spun on his heel to face it. Before he could it down himself, he saw his sister make a running leap towards it, running up its arm and stabbing her sword directly into the top of its head. Immediately, it dispersed, and she dropped into a graceful crouch, giving Jason a nod.

The Batman nodded back, only to freeze when he heard a familiar scream. Almost immediately, the two Waynes glanced back to see their little brother prone on the ground, clutching his leg. His bo-staff was discarded, far away from his reach, and he was quickly surrounded by a number of constructs.

"ROBIN!" Jason screamed, and together Cass and him charged towards their little brother, desperate to reach him before he was finished off.

Suddenly, twin red blurs appeared, bursting through the constructs. One picked up Tim and sped towards Jason, stopping in front of him to hand the young sidekick over. Jason sighed gratefully. "Thank you, Flash," he told Wallace, who simply gave him a quick smile before speeding away to help someone else.

Jason glanced at his sister. "Batgirl, cover me," he ordered, before kneeling to set his brother gently to the ground. He quickly drew out his first aid kit, creating a quick, makeshift splint with some bandages he had. Tim grit his teeth throughout it, trying not to let the tears of pain fall.

Finally, Jason finished, and accessed the mind link. Impulse

"NO!" Tim yelled before he could finish, sitting up. The sudden movement made him wince, but he persevered. "I can still fight! Heal me! I can fight!"

"Absolutely not!" Jason shouted back, incensed. "I've already put you through enough danger as it is, letting you stay! You're going now!"

"But—!"

"No buts! You're done!"

Tim grit his teeth. "I am not a child! None of us are! Let us help! So what if we get hurt? You're more important—!"

DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT! DON'T YOU EVER SAY THAT! Jason screamed into his mind, causing everyone connected to the mind link to wince and a fair few to turn around and stare at them. Do you honestly think you and your friends aren't important? That you're expendable just because you're young? You idiot! You stupid, stupid idiot! That makes you the most important people here!

Whatever retort Tim had died on his throat as he stared at Jason, genuinely stunned. His brother ignored it, the stress of the day having finally gotten to him and sending him onto a tirade. You might think that it's your job to ease our burdens, to put the entire world on your shoulders, but it's not. It never was. That is our duty, as the adults. It always has been, and shame on us and anyone else for ever making you believe otherwise.

No, your duty is to learn. To grow up and live your life, and be happy. Because one day, we're going to die. We're going to die and leave you behind to mourn and carry on without us. It's sad but it's true. But I, nor anyone else here, is going to let you live through that until we have no choice. Nor are we going to let you bear this burden until we can't carry it ourselves. So yes, you're not going to be fighting any longer. You're going to let Impulse take you to the others, and you're going to recover there with them. Because I'm not going to let you have another opportunity to try and make me bury you before you can have children of your own to protect, just because you think you need to bear the world on your shoulders when there are still plenty of others that can do it for you. Jason screwed his eyes closed. Once was already hard enough.

The third Robin finally faltered upon hearing that. Jason cupped his cheek fondly, before sending a mental message to Impulse. The younger speedster arrived, solemn, and gently picked his friend up before speeding away. Jason sighed, putting a hand to his head.

What are you all looking at? He thought gruffly, startling the people that had been watching him. He didn't bother looking back. That army isn't going to take down itself.

That galvanized them back into action, and if they started fighting a little harder, he couldn't complain. He felt a comforting nudge from Donna, and returned it with one of his own. After a moment, he stood up, inhaling a deep breath, before turning around to look at sister, who was staring right at him.

"I guess it's too much to ask for you to follow him? Even after that?" Jason said, knowing it was a statement more than a question.

Cass shook her head. "I leave if I cannot fight. But…I can still fight."

"Yeah. I figured," Jason sighed once more, before pressing something on one of his gauntlets and holding out his hand. A second later, he had Tim's borrowed bo-staff back into his hand, which he quickly configured back into a sword. He gestured his sister to come over, taking her own sword and merging it with the one he had into its single sword configuration. Then he went to the switches and flicked one on, causing the edge of the blade to turn red. He turned on another switch, and swung it, noting at how Cass stared at it as flames chased the blade.

He handed the sword back to her, heavier and longer than it was before. She held it with ease, swinging it around just as easily as he would. Good. "Don't hold back," Jason told her, before drawing out his own blade again.

Cass nodded, and together, the two charged back into the fray.


Hal would not deny that the speech from Batman 2.0 (or 3.0, whatever) got to him. But he also would never admit it, so he just focused on taking down his own successor first. Which was being mighty difficult considering that the kid had no issues countering his constructs as much as he was countering his.

Hal Jordan had been a Green Lantern for almost a decade before Parallax got to him, and he wasn't ashamed to admit that he had been a damn good one. The absolute best of the best, with only Sinestro, his old mentor, as a possible equal/superior. He had proven that well enough when he had taken down several of the Corps' best on his own while he had been under Parallax's influence, as shameful as the whole incident was.

But this kid…well, he wasn't really a kid now, was he? If Savage and the others had it right, he was actually older than Hal now, and had been a Lantern for decades. First a Green, now…this. And Hal didn't want to know what kind of future he came from where Rayner thought attaining this amount of power was something he needed to do to fight whatever threats that came their way. What crumbs Savage had given them had been ominous enough.

He formed two massive bazookas and fired. Rayner blocked it with a green shield, before forming his own, much bigger bazooka and firing back. Hal negated it with his own energy blast before throwing another fighter jet at him. Rayner dissipated that as well with a flick of his wrist.

Don't hold back, echoed in his head again, and Hal grit his teeth. Well, when it was a Bat telling him to go all out, then what choice did he have but to obey? Hal drew upon the immense willpower inside of himself, letting it coalesce around him into an emerald armor, before letting out a wave of energy to explode from him and dissipate the green constructs Rayner had tried to form.

The boost in power rocketed him forward, and finally he was able to make Rayner move beyond quick flicks of the wrist. Hal formed a sword and attacked, watching as Rayner blocked every swing with more shields, but Hal was building up momentum and power. Eventually, one particularly harsh slash sent Rayner reeling for a bit, spinning in the air slightly before he righted himself. There was a scowl there, and Hal smirked—

And then there was bright white light.

Hal shielded his eyes as a construct was sketched into existence. It wasn't massive like the three-headed dragon, but it was still a giant. Some kind of quadrupedal creature — a horse? — with a mane-like attachment to its head. It had a cross-wheel attached to its back, with jewels embedded into it. Hal logged the mental image into his head, and then sent it out telepathically. Can anyone tell me what the hell this is?

A moment. And then… Holy shit. That's an Arceus.

Hal had no idea what an Arceus was.

It's basically Pokémon God.

He did, however, know what Pokémon were, if only tangentially.

Suddenly, he was a lot more worried than he was before, and made a quick break for the ground.


Jason stared up at Kyle's newest construct, the Balance gripped tightly in his hands. Kon

Shit, shit! Wallace's panicked voice echoed through the silent mind link. I think it's about to use Judgment!

Everyone, brace yourselves! Donna warned.

KON! Jason shouted this time, before quickly pulling Cass into his arms and stabbing his mystical sword into the ground, forming a dome shield around them. Not wanting to leave things to chance, he wrapped his cape around his sister, keeping her close and further shielded from the inevitable attack.

All across the battlefield, others followed his lead. Those with energy abilities created shields to guard those that didn't. Others with invulnerability threw themselves towards their comrades, hoping they were invulnerable enough to hold up against the upcoming attack. Many of them did not know what was coming, only that it couldn't be anything good.

Donna had immediately made a break for Wonder Girl and Stargirl, muttering some quick words in Ancient Greek to activate the former's invulnerability before ducking all three of them behind her shield, which expanded to cover them all. M'gann had gone after Arrowette and Secret, dropping her invisibility in favor of pouring all her focus into the telekinetic shield she had formed for them. Wallace had immediately grabbed Impulse and directed Wally with him to Kaldur, who had formed a powerful hard-water shield in front of several heroes, including Aquaman and Tempest.

The only hero left in the air was Kon, who had his eyes closed and his hands out. One Protect, coming right up!

A moment, and then…

Arceus used Judgment.

It was super effective.


Far away from the battlefield, the gathered group of injured and fatigued heroes and restrained villains watched in ever-increasing terror as a rain of light energy blasts fell upon the field in a cruel parody of a fireworks show. Several impacted the ground, causing sizable explosions, while others bounced off of Kon's shield, sputtering and dying into dispersed energy. That was something, at least.

Until the Arceus construct charged up a massive energy blast as its final salvo, and fired it.

Kon did his best to contain the blast with all his telekinesis. He grit his teeth, holding his hands out as he tried to contain and then redirect the energy into the sky. But then the Arceus construct poured on the fire more, and the strain began to heighten. A trail of blood began to droop from his nose as he concentrated all of his efforts onto holding the energy back—

BOOM!

"KON!" Several voices screamed.

The beam struck true, ramming Kon into the ground and then dragging him across the dirt, carving an uneven trench into the earth. Kon held the shield for as long as possible, before finally curving and redirecting the energy upwards. NOW, JORDAN!

Hal, who had been waiting in the wings beneath the Arceus construct, zoomed upwards and tackled Kyle. The break in concentration caused the construct to dissipate as the two Lanterns struggled with each other. Hal tried to hold on while Kyle tried pull him off, scratching and clawing at his arms. Finally, he had enough, and his eyes glowed white as he released a pulse of white energy, throwing Hal off of him.

The other Lantern quickly caught himself in the air, and made another burst for Kyle. Kyle quickly formed a sword, this one of white energy and swung for Hal's head. Hal blocked it with a shield which he quickly reformed with his own sword, and the two began another duel. Knowing that he had no way of breaking any of Kyle's white constructs, Hal instead decided to play dirty, catching the blade between his elbow and his side, trusting his emerald aura to protect him, and then slamming multiple fists into Kyle's wrist in order to break his grasp on the hilt.

Kyle quickly dissipated the construct but soon retaliated by tackling Hal, forming a knife with white energy. Hal quickly worked to block it, but in turn that left him open to multiple knees to his side, each further powered by the white energy. Eventually, Hal's strength waned, but he managed to duck beneath the swipe of the knife, allowing the blade to catching some of his hair instead. Unfortunately, while he avoided the knife, Kyle was able to use the momentum of the swing to follow up with a roundhouse kick, his heel slamming right into Hal's jaw.

Hal spun with the blow, palming and soothing his sore jaw before retaliating with a punch. Years of boxing training, in part due to his time in the Air Force and in part because of his time with the Corps, meant he had a mean right hook. He followed that up with a quick left uppercut and a right straight, sending Kyle spinning away this time. Kyle mimed wiping at his mouth as the two men glared at each other, before going at it again.

A pure brawl had broken out into the sky as the two Lanterns had foregone constructs in favor of energy-powered hand-to-hand combat. As the heroes below began to recover from the Arceus construct's Judgment attack, M'gann turned her invisibility back on and began to move back into position, waiting for an opening to finally enter Kyle's mind. Everyone else began to just watch, not wanting to turn Kyle's attention back on them and initiate another attack like that. Some were tending to those that had not managed to escape the barrage unhurt.

For what seemed like forever, the two Lanterns continued to exchange blows, trying to knock each other out, or at least out of the sky. Punch after punch, kick after kick, energy after energy blast, it went on and on…until Hal's armor began to crack.

It was inevitable. The ring only had so much power, and Hal's own willpower was already pushing the limits of it. Eventually, as the levels began to dip into the red, Kyle's attacks began blowing off portions of the armor, revealing Hal's suit beneath. Hal held out as long as he could, but after the ring announced only 10% charge was left, he dropped the armor in favor of conserving as much energy as possible.

That was all the opening Kyle needed. His ring needed no charge, and that meant he was able to keep up his energy-charged attacks as much as possible. Hal held up his arms in a powerful guard, but a quick barrage of attacks broke through it. Kyle tore through the opening, elbowing Hal in the jaw before giving him a spin kick to the chest. Finally, he rammed his shoulder into Hal's midsection, and drove the man into the ground.

Hal fell with a crash, the resulting wind creating a massive dust cloud that spread across the entire battlefield, blinding everyone. When it faded, they saw that Kyle had mounted him, reforming the knife construct in one hand to finish him off. Already, people were rushing to stop the inevitable.

NO! DON'T!

They stopped when they heard Hal warn them off. Despite hesitance, they backed down. You got a plan, Jordan? Jason asked, gripping his sword tightly he kept an eye on the proceedings.

Yeah, Hal replied, I do.

Just as he thought that, Kyle stabbed down with the knife. Hal quickly grabbed at his wrists, halting the attack and grappling with the other man. He winced as Kyle began to open his mouth, the insides growing a dangerous crimson red…

…and failing to notice M'gann materializing right behind him.

Suddenly, Hal threw his head forehead in a powerful headbutt, stunning Kyle. M'gann dove in, fading into the back of the White Lantern's head. Kyle stayed still for a moment, before slumping forward, the construct in his hand dissipating entirely. Hal caught him before he could he hit the ground, sitting up and holding him as everyone waited for the verdict.

It seemed to last forever, but it only could have been a couple of minutes. Even so, everyone was frozen, apprehensive. Scared that this wouldn't be the end, that they'd have to fight Kyle again, and there was a good chance that none of them would survive if they did.

But, it was for naught. When a tired but satisfied M'gann reappeared from Kyle's mind, practically everyone sagged in relief. They only tensed up again when Kyle fluttered his eyes open and released a loud groan. He grabbed at the back of his head as he sat up and started looking around. He jumped when he saw Hal, only to blink when he got a better look at the other man.

"You're not wearing the Parallax armor," he observed, before meeting Hal's eyes. "…Hal?"

Slowly, Hal nodded.

Whatever Kyle saw in that seemed to satisfy him, and a smile graced his face. "Hal," he said softly, fondly, before throwing his arms around the other Lantern. Hal froze before the tension eased out of him, and he tentatively returned the embrace.

Despite the pain many of them were in, most of the surrounding heroes couldn't help but smile at the scene.

After a minute or so, Kyle let go of the hug, giving Hal another look over. He frowned, before getting up to his feet, helping his friend do the same. He then turned around and scanned over the crowd, and frowned even harder. Then he looked down at his ring. He sighed.

"Did I—"

"Yes," every single one of his teammates answered.

He sighed again, before smirking and lifting his arm up to the sky. The ring glowed blue, before a beam was shot into the sky. Azure sparkles fell atop all the heroes in the vicinity, and a sense of wonder overcame almost all of them when they felt their injuries begin to heal.

"Blue Light of Hope," Kyle explained for everyone, though he was looking directly at an amazed Hal as he did so. "One of its primary abilities is healing."

"Ring charge increasing to 70%…100%…150%…"

"The other is super-charging Green Lantern rings."

Hal stared down at his now glowing green ring, feeling a bunch of conflicting emotions. "You terrify me," he finally said. "But I'm glad you're on our side."

Kyle smiled. "Thanks. So am I."

"So you got him free. That's too bad."

Almost immediately, every hero present whirled around to see a smirking Vandal Savage watching them. The three speedsters charged toward him the moment they caught sight of their enemy, but he teleported away before they could grab him.

"Ah-ah," Savage scolded them, before snapping his fingers. A young teenage girl with blonde hair and blue eyes appeared right in front of him, but before she could escape Savage wrapped an arm around her throat and drew a green, glowing knife from the inside of his sleeve with his other hand. He pressed the blade of the knife against the girl's neck, drawing a short, shallow line of blood. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"HE'S GOT A HOSTAGE!" someone shouted, stopping the wave of heroes from falling on top of the supervillain like an avalanche.

Jason stilled as he recognized the girl. M'gann, is that…?

M'gann's eyes glowed for a moment as she reached out and scanned the girl's mind, and cursed. It is.

Kon, who had realized who the girl was immediately, was completely frozen in place. "Kara," he breathed out. Next to him, Clark paled when he heard the name.

Knight

Her human name is Kara Danvers, Jason quickly answered before his father could finish. His answer was being projected to everyone in the mind link. Her Kryptonian name, however, is Kara Zor-El, the Last Daughter of Krypton and the first Supergirl. She's the paternal cousin of Superman. A biological cousin. Her father was Jor-El's younger brother.

Now everyone was paling. Jason stepped forward as the rest of the group prepared themselves to attack, the Balance dangling from one of his hands. "What's your game, Savage? You know you don't need the girl to escape. If you have enough power to clone the universe and merge our souls with our counterparts then you certainly have enough power to wipe out every single person here, even White Lantern." He ignored the gaping at his explanation, and glared hard at the caveman, the white lenses of his helmet flashing.

Savage shrugged. "You're correct, Batman. I don't need the girl to escape. In fact, take her." He took the knife away from Kara's throat and shoved her forward, into Jason's arms. Jason quickly dispersed the Balance back into his soul to catch her, holding her steady. Immediately, Kon was there next to him, taking his young cousin away from his friend and into his arms.

When Jason looked back up, Savage was gone. He scowled.

Don't worry, little heroes. Savage's voice suddenly echoed in his head. Jason didn't need to look around to see that everyone was getting the same message. You'll see my plan soon enough. Until then, I suggest your prepare yourselves. The game, as you call it, has only just begun.

Then, the voice was gone.

M'gann.

He's not here. Not anymore.

Jason wasn't surprised. He sighed.


There was no point in checking anyone over for injuries, not with Kyle's abilities. Instead, the Flash's gathered up any remaining weapons and projectiles they could find and handed it off to their respective owners. Then, as one, the group made their way to meet their remaining comrades, who had been watching the entire battle. On the way, Kon and Clark kept close to Kara, explaining, in Kryptonese, who they were and presumably some vague description of the situation. Both of them knew better than to unload everything on the young girl at once, especially since she had just gotten out of a suspended stasis.

Upon arrival, Kyle immediately healed the rest of the remaining heroes, much to their relief. Then, he took a look at the prisoners. It was relatively benign, just a check to see if he recognized anyone and to see if anyone was thinking of running — until he spotted Sinestro, at which point the temperature of the atmosphere ratcheted up several degrees and his visor began glowing red.

Before he could move in on the Korugarian, Jason held an arm out in front of his chest. Kyle looked down, blinking when Jason's hand open to reveal a familiar yellow ring in the palm. The artist stared hard at it for a moment, before smiling.

It was not a kind smile.

A second later, he had taken the ring from Jason's hand and was approaching his most hated enemy. Sinestro watched him, glaring with both disgust and confusion. Kyle paid it no mind as he went down on one knee and presented the ring to the bound Sinestro, placing it in the middle of the palm of his hand.

And then he closed his fist around it, making a show of shuffling his fingers back and forth. When he opened his palm again, all that was left was bits of yellow chunks.

Sinestro's jaw dropped, and he stared up at the other Lantern in horror.

Kyle was still smiling, even as he tilted his palm and let the bits and pieces fall to the ground. He stood back up, and placed his boot on it, grinding it until it was all dust. Then, he leaned down and patted Sinestro on the cheek. "Don't worry about the Central Battery, by the way," he mentioned conversationally. "I'll be sure to destroy it the next time I make a visit to the Anti-Matter Universe."

That said, he turned on his heel and walked away.

The mission was over. It was time to go.


And finally, the chapter has ended, and the fic is now on hiatus. I'm not sure when I'll update again, but it won't be for a while. You might get an interlude or two though, depending on my mood.

Kara is here, and she's going to get a lot of focus in the following chapters. If you've read The Supergirl from Krypton storyline in the comics, or watched Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, you'd know why. However, if you don't, I'm not going to spoil anything for you.

If you're think Kyle is OP, you'd be right. He is by far the most OP character in the JL. That was balanced out by the fact, however, that he was only on Earth for like one week every month, if that. Even still, he was well-known enough to scare the shit out of everyone there.

As for Jason, in his adult body he's heads and above effectively every normal combatant in the story, especially with the suit and weapons. Skill-wise, I hesitate to say he's better than Shiva or Richard Dragon, but he's certainly in their weight class and could give them a run for the money. Compared to people with actual superpowers, however, he's a comparative lightweight. Hence, he's the weakest member of the Era 2 Council.

As for the others, any one of them could be considered second to Kyle, it's just largely dependent on what the situation is. Some excel better than others in certain types of battles. It is what it is.

Well, this it for a while. I highly suggest you update the TV Tropes Page — I've further divided up the Characters Page for further editing, and I'm going to link the index page in the AO3 version, in the first chapter, beneath the summary. The main page, however, needs some love too. You can reread this story, reread one day at a time, or (re)read To Hell and Back, which is going to be my focus for the upcoming months. That story's page could use updating too, FYI.

Next Chapter (when I get around to it): the aftermath.