The unfortunate reality of the world is that sometimes evil wins.

Elsewhere...Tartarus

Ares surveyed the large cavern towering over their heads, his upper lip curling in disgust.

"How is it that the God of War must surround himself with such ingrates?" He thought to himself, looking in disbelief at the collection of caricatures and weaklings seated around the large stone table in front of him.

Ares briefly considered simply killing all of them with a wave of his hand, allowing them to spend the rest of their days burning in the fires of Tartarus just for thinking that they could sit at the same table as him and treat him with such disrespect. However, he was not stupid and knew that those in the room were the exact individuals that he needed to ensure victory against the Justice League in the coming battle.

Seated from left to right around the table from him was Yellow Lantern Sinestro, Eobard Thawne aka Professor Zoom, Slade Wilson aka the one-eyed mercenary Deathstroke, John Corben aka the kryptonite-fueled cyborg Metallo, Hath-Set aka Dr. Hastor, Black Manta, Rudy Jones aka the Parasite, and Dr. Victor Fries aka Mr. Freeze.

Despite the impressive power that went into this loose alliance, it was the individual still standing that concerned Ares the most, despite his apparent lack of superhuman abilities. Giggling softly to himself and running his hands repeatedly through his sickly green hair, the Joker stood off in the shadows.

Ares had made deals with all the individuals seated around the table, from promises of wealth and power to more personal reasons. However, when he had initially approached the Joker in disguise, he did not even have to entice him. The Clown Prince of Crime was the only one out of everyone that he had enticed to be here that had seen straight through his suave-business man guise. When Ares had persisted in wanting to knowing why he was so quick to agree, Joker simply responded that he took any opportunity "to piss Batman off."

Ares had initially thought that perhaps he would need to recruit more than the nine, and eventually ten individuals when he freed Black Adam from his recent incarceration on the Watchtower. However, with the plan he had in place, this would be more than enough when combined with the might of Set and his undead legions.

"A useful insurance policy" Ares thought to himself, finally allowing a small satisfied smirk to break his visage.

"So remind me again why we are not just going to Themyscira now? At this point I'm sure Hera or Isis has gone to the Justice League and told them our plan to stop the resurrection. Why don't we just go there now and kill Isis?" Zoom spoke up, being the first one that decided to break in. He had other places, other times to be in. The sooner this was dealt with and Flash was finally dead, the better for him.

"Then I can go back to last week and kill him again" He thought to himself, enjoying the possibilities of making the Flash suffer further, despite his repeated failing to do so.

"You would think someone with the ability to time-travel would have more foresight. Eventhough Osiris is still technically dead, he is still alive in the Underworld. Isis only has a very specific window in which to resurrect her husband, and during that time Osiris will be vulnerable" Hath-Set said, earning a glowing-red stare from Zoom.

"You are correct Hath-Set. It is Lord Set's intention to permanently destroy Osiris. And then chaos will reign" Ares said, acknowledging the reincarnated Egyptian priest.

"And when exactly are we going to meet this Set? I brought cookies for everyone" Joker commented, finally moving out of the shadows and placing both his thin white hands on Ares' shoulders.

"In due time Clown, you do not want to anger him" Ares sneered, briefly allowing flames to burst from his back and scalding the Joker's hands, causing him to jump back and snarl.

"You mean like you angered him? Is that why your arms are not all manly and hairy anymore? Did he give you a burning hell wax?" Joker said, pointing to the red burns on Ares' arms still visible from Set's last outburst.

"Despite Joker's insanity, your injuries from dealing with Set are very apparent Earth God of War. Perhaps I should leave this ridiculous group and find another way to destroy Oa. If he kills you, then you cannot fulfill our deal" Sinestro said, causing Ares to rise slowly from the table, his fury burning.

"Let me remind all of you, that with the exception of the accursed Clown, you all made deals with me, and you all know the price for failure. I sit at the right hand of the devil himself, and if I die then all of my deals fall to him. You will find that Lord Set is a far less loving and forgiving god than me" Ares said, causing Sinestro to briefly flinch before sitting back down.

"A ring powered by fear? I bet it's at full power now that you've pissed your pants!" Joker commented, causing Sinestro to round on him, bringing his ring to bear, and forming a construct of a giant claw, ready to rip his entrails out.

Before he could round on Joker, Sinestro's construct was disintegrated by a white jet of ice from across the table.

"Enough! We are wasting time! I have work to do" Mr. Freeze commented, pointing his cryo-cannon across the table at both of them.

"Chill out Freezie, we're cool" Joker said, leaning against a nearby pillar, and pretending to fall asleep.

"Thank you Victor. Now as I was saying, it is Lord Set's plan to move against Themyscira in two days. You all have your specific assignments, but the goal remains the same. We destroy Osiris and then we lay waste to everyone and everything else. By the time we're done, the smoking ruins of the island of Themyscira will be at the bottom of the ocean." Ares said, clasping his hands together, savoring the coming victory.

"We understand you perfectly Ares. Just keep your promise and we will be good" Black Manta said, thinking only of the promise that he be made King of Atlantis following Aquaman's death at his hands.

"I always keep my word. One of the benefits and curses of being a God" Ares smiled, shrugging as he stood up from the table.

"Now if there is nothing else, I will return you all to the surface. It is time to plan" He said, as the others began standing up as well.

"I make it my practice to never question a well-paying customer" Deathstroke chuckled to himself.

"I'm not even getting paid, why am I even here? Oh wait, because I want to be. I'm such a fool" Joker said, breaking out into hysterics before Ares snapped his fingers, causing the laughter to cease as the Clown was teleported away.

Metallo and Parasite remained surprisingly quiet, merely nodding before leaving.

"Ares, if I may have a word in private?" Mr. Freeze had stood and moved over to where Ares was just finishing teleporting some of the others away.

"Of course Victor. I trust that our deal is still satisfactory? You have been trying to save Nora for so many years. It must bring you some satisfaction to know that with a wave of my hand she can be cured of her disease and restored to life" Ares said, placing his hand on the shoulder of Freeze's neon-blue tinged silver-armored suit.

"You must know merely by looking upon me that I do not care for my soul. I already live in a frozen hell Ares. You cannot threaten me, you know this, which is why you have not directly done so yet" Freeze said, allowing his blood-red goggled-eyes to look down at the ground, covered in frost with his every step.

"You are correct Victor, I do know this. What is it you want?" Ares questioned, having foreseen a crisis of conscience from at least one of them, considering what was about to happen.

"This plan to kill Osiris and destroy the Justice League will plunge the world into darkness and violence. If I bring Nora back into that world, she would see me as a monster for playing a role in it. I would lose her all over again. I cannot do that" Freeze said, his eyes affixing with Ares.

"As many centuries as I will live, I will never understand the things mortals do for love" Ares thought to himself, shaking his head.

"Do you see Metallo and Parasite? Did you notice how they did not speak, merely obeyed me without question. Does that seem right to you knowing who they are?" Ares asked, causing Freeze to eye him suspiciously.

"Yes I did notice that. What did you do to them?" Freeze asked, wondering what Ares could have possibly promised them.

"The same thing that I can do for you Victor" Ares said, before waving his hand in front of him, causing Freeze to be enveloped in a golden light.

Suddenly his suit was gone and he stood before Ares, fully healed. He reached up to his head, tears falling in disbelief, as he found that his hair had returned. He felt the warmth of the fires all around him and the feeling that spread from his heart outwards. His skin, returned to its natural tanned hue, seemed to glow in the heat.

Victor Fries coughed and for the first time in many years took in a full breath of warm air. He exhaled, feeling the pure bliss of being able to move around without the prison of his suit. The tears fell down his face, warm and then cold against his skin. He reached up and wiped them away, laughing in joy and disbelief at being able to feel again.

Ares smiled and then with a wave of his hand, Victor again became Freeze, encased in his suit. Freeze stared at his gloved hands and clenched them into fists, pulling out his gun and aiming it at Ares' head.

"Do what I have asked Victor and I will not only return Nora to you, but I will return you to Nora" Ares said, as Freeze slowly lowered his gun.

"You promised to make Metallo and Parasite human again didn't you?" Freeze choked out, hating the feeling of the cold air in his frozen lungs.

"I made that promise to John Corben and Rudy Jones yes, and I am making it with Victor Fries. Do you accept?" Ares said, sticking out his black-armored gloved hand.

"I will deal with the devil to enter heaven" Freeze said, and took Ares' hand, a flash of black lightning surrounding them when they did.

"Excellent Victor. You have made the right choice. Now if you don't mind, I think it's time to execute the first stage of my plan" Ares said, pulling out a small hand-held switch from inside his armor.

"What is that?! You told everyone else that we would move in two days. What are you playing at Ares?" Freeze challenged, caught off guard by his sudden move.

"YOU and the others will move in two days when we take the island. I am just ensuring the victory. Zoom?" Ares looked to his right, meeting Thawne's red eyes, who was still standing off, waiting for Ares' command.

"Yes Lord Ares, I know what to do" Zoom said, before Ares waved his hand, teleporting him away.

"Do you really think Victor that I'd leave everything to chance? How many times have we all been beaten and humiliated by the Justice League? I'm just ensuring that we all get what was promised to us" Ares said, gesturing before him, where a large monitor appeared showing the Watchtower floating in space.

"What are you doing Ares?" Freeze said, his gaze now upon the image of the floating space headquarters of the Justice League.

"You know a bit about true love don't you Victor? Willing to sell your soul for the woman you love? Well I know you will appreciate this. After over a thousand years of 'what-ifs', Superman and Wonder Woman have finally declared their love for one another" Ares said, waving his other hand, causing an image of the two of them to appear next to the monitor.

Superman and Wonder Woman were just exiting the mission-briefing room, clasping hands, and gazing into eachother's eyes. Now that their secret was out, they were taking the opportunity to openly share their affection. They were happier than they had ever been.

"Look into their eyes Victor. This is happening right now at this moment. Do you see that look? The look that you had for Nora when you told her you loved her?" Ares said, noticing that Freeze seemed extremely uncomfortable in that moment, looking away from the image on the screen.

"They were trying to keep it a secret until after they had stopped us, but Flash just foolishly outed them to their comrades. All of them are still on station. Their briefing just ended. I think it's time that I gave them a gift of my appreciation that they are finally together" Ares said, flicking the switch in his hand, causing tiny red-glowing numbers to appear in the bottom corner of the monitor, which showed the live floating image of the Watchtower.

2:00, 1:59, 1:58, 1:57…

"I am willing to bet that everyone thinks that this is going to be a massive battle. Ares, Set, and the Injustice League vs. Hera, Isis and the Justice League. Winner-take-all. That was their mistake. This is over before it ever began" Ares said, watching the numbers tick down, as Freeze looked on in horror.

1 minute, 45 seconds to go…