Ivy fired a single round into the back of Emma's head, halting her incantations. She stood motionless for just a moment before dropping to the floor.

"Well," Miron said slowly. "That was easy."

"You stupid brutes," Vandal said, rubbing his wrists where he had been tied. "She's not dead."

Both Hunters looked at him in confusion before laughter echoed through the foundry.

"That never gets old," Emma chuckled as she floated back to her feet.

"What the hell?" Ivy fired three more shots into various parts of Emma's body, but she barely flinched. Dropping her pistol to the floor, she drew her sabre from its sheath on her back. This weapon had been a gift from an English noble, blessed to kill the mermaids off the southern coast. She had since had it enchanted to kill a wide manner of creatures. She hoped it would work here too.

Emma took one look at the crude weapon and laughed even harder. "Oh my," she managed to say between breaths, unable to stifle her laughter. "You are a try-hard."

Ivy rushed at the laughing creature in front of her, an ill-advised action had she known better. Emma waved her hand sideways and Ivy flew in the same direction, as if yanked by an unseen force. She slammed head-first into one of the support columns, thoroughly knocking the wind out of her. Barely conscious, Ivy couldn't do much more than writhe on the floor in agony.

Miron had snuck up on Emma's side while she was distracted. He plunged his blade straight into her heart. She stopped laughing and glared at him, a confused look upon his face.

"Rude!" she stared him for a moment, her blue eyes shimmered red. With a swift motion, she thrust her hand into his chest, throwing him back several meters. Then she noticed Vandal halfway across the foundry attempting to escape. "Oh no you don't," she disappeared, leaving just a wisp of black smoke where she once stood. A heartbeat later, she appeared in front of Vandal, almost causing him to crash into her. She grabbed him by the throat before blinking back to the bonfire and throwing him to the ground. It was then that she noticed Miron's knife still lodged in her chest. She pulled it out and tutted at the damage to her clothing.

Miron was the first to recover and rushed for Ivy's dropped pistol. Emma caught him before he made it there, grabbing him with telekinesis and throwing him towards her. He slid along the ground and landed at her feet, where she put one foot on his chest and held him in place. He couldn't budge, her strength was incredible and felt like a two tonne weight crushing his ribs.

"What are you?" he gasped, barely able to get enough breath.

"The girl of your dreams," she smiled down at him. "Or nightmares if you're so inclined."

"Just forget it," Vandal said, exhausted. He still lay on the ground near the bonfire, too weak to try and escape again. "Eligos is a Hell Knight, now the last one. You stupid hunters are way out of your league."

Eligos, or Emma as she now prefered, gave him an evil glare. She was now the last Knight of Hell after the death of Abbadon by Dean Winchester's hand. Vandal had kept tabs on her for a long time after his brother, Kain, went on his killing spree of all the Knights of Hell. Kain never knew of Eligos' existence. She was actually created as a side project Lucifer, in an attempt to copy Kain's power. She was both more violent and unpredictable than Lucifer himself and she did not remain under his thumb for long. Vandal was perhaps the only one other than Lucifer who knew of Eligos. His estranged brother refused to talk him since Abel's murder and without the Mark of Kain or the First Blade, Vandal could do nothing more than keep track of Eligos, which was a rather hard thing to do thousands of years ago.

"So it's true, my last sister is dead?" Emma asked him.

Vandal looked up at her sourly. "How does it feel to be an endangered species?"

She thought about it for a moment before replying. "Empowering," she grinned evilly.

She walked towards Vandal, Miron's ornate blade still in hand. He watched her, a touch of concern visible on his hardened visage as she raised the blade and uttered a few last incantations. The foundry echoed with Vandal's screams as Emma sliced his chest open with incredible ease. With a sharp yank and the accompanying sound of tearing flesh, she ripped his still beating heart from his body. Vandal lay there, blood frothing at his mouth as she stood over him, waving his own organ casually in front of him.

"I always knew your heart would be mine one day," she smirked at her own joke as the life left his eyes. "Though I never thought I'd lose you in the process." Her smile faded, replaced with an unfamiliar sense of loss. Without looking away from his lifeless corpse, she threw the heart in the bonfire.

For a moment nothing happened and then everything happened. The blue flames grew in intensity tenfold for just a second before the fire seemed to to burn a hole through the ground beneath it. The pit grew wider and wider becoming almost ten meters across. Miron, still on the ground, clambered away frantically to avoid falling in the growing hole. Ivy, now with a bleeding head wound, staggered over to her pistol. Falling towards it and kneeling on the ground, she emptied the clip in Emma's direction. A desperate attempt to achieve something.

Emma ignored the hail of bullets; all but a few missed her entirely. She just stood over Vandal Savage; her oldest friend's body. She'd never felt, 'what did humans call it again?' she thought. 'Sadness' she recalled. It was a strange feeling, and she wasn't expecting it despite knowing what was going to happen here. Even though the pit next to her began to emit an ominous sound, like the roar of a thousand beasts slowly getting closer, she completely ignored it. At least until Ivy spoke to her.

"What have you done?" she called out, still groggy from her head injury.

"Before I was born," Emma began, turning away from her lost friend, her face devoid of any emotion. "The earth was populated with all manner of creatures many equally as terrifying. God didn't want all his 'little experiments' scaring his favourite humans, so he locked away many of his pets and took away the power from who was left."

Emma slowly walked to the edge of the pit as she continued. "Demons were forced to take human hosts, no longer able to assume their true form." She looked down the pit as the roaring reached a crescendo, before turning to look at Ivy. "And now I've set us free."

Arms outstretched, Emma let herself fall forwards into the pit. Not a moment later, familiar blue flames erupted from the pit like an explosion. They washed through the foundry like a wave of powerful energy. Ivy and Miron's skin tingled from the flames, but there wasn't any pain. Once the wave had passed, the building fell eerily silent.

Miron rushed to Ivy as she fell onto her hands and knees, exhausted.

"Careful," he said as he briefly looked at her injury. "You're gonna need a good dozen or so stitches for that."

"No…" she struggled to think straight with the throbbing in her head. "We...need to…"

"We need to get you to a hospital," he interrupted her. "There's nothing more we can do here."

After collecting their weapons, Miron picked up Ivy and threw her over his shoulder. Her long red hair, matted with blood, fell over her face as he carried her out of the foundry. As Miron reached the outer door of the smelting room, a loud scratching sound came from the pit. Ivy was barely conscious at this point, but Miron was curious and he turned around. He grew a few shades paler.

A grey hand, slightly larger than a human's with a set of four-inch-long claws, appeared over the edge of the pit. The claws found purchase in the solid concrete easily. Almost crawling, the beast climbed over the edge of the pit with ease before standing upright. It was just slightly larger than an average person. Its skin was a sickly grey, covered in sores and wounds that didn't seem to bother it in the least. The face was devoid of features, bar where a large portion of skin around its mouth was missing, revealing the muscle underneath and a gnashing maw with jagged, sparse teeth. Despite it clearly standing still, its body shimmered as if shaking at incredible speed, except its mouth. Its mouth held still, drawing your eyesight to its sickening maw. Even the beast itself seemed to be admiring its features, as if seeing itself for the first time. Miron realised why when it finally spoke with a raspy voice, lacking any femininity, but not in the words it spoke.

"Don't I just look fabulous?" Emma said as she admired her claws. "These look particularly flesh rending," she looked at Miron with a frightening grin.

"The fuck happened to you?" he took a step back, trying to edge towards the door without being noticed.

"This is our true form," the hulking creature started shambling towards them, slightly ungainly in its stride as she was not used to moving in her new body. "Few would perhaps be as awesome-looking as yours truly."

"You're a fucking crazy bitch, you know that right?"

'It' somehow managed to feint being insulted despite no facial features. "You don't like me like this? Here let me try something," she said, taking a step back.

Her body started shifting shape and Miron could hear the sounds of bone breaking and readjusting. Skin began to twist and warp and slowly the beast began to grow smaller. The transformation didn't seem to be painful, as least not as much as it sounded. It was over in just a few seconds until she had completely returned to her human form. She was either unaware or unashamed of now being naked, or how Miron was especially aware.

"Ummm…" he stammered, momentarily distracted. He then turned and slightly more briskly headed for the door.

"Why do they always run off before the fun part?" Emma seemed a little disappointed. She cupped her C-cup breasts in each hand. "It's like they're scared of nipples," she shrugged and turned to find something to wear.

A cool, damp wind blew on Ivy's face as she began to stir. She licked her dry lips and tasted old, coagulated blood. She opened her eyes sharply, or at least tried to. Her right eye was slow to open, glued shut with blood. She was in the passenger seat of a van, the wind coming from the open window next to her. Miron was driving, focused on the road ahead he didn't notice her wake up. Sitting up, she clutched her head as it throbbed painfully. Her hair was sticky, but there was no fresh blood on her hand, so at least the bleeding had stopped.

"Hey, take it slow." Miron noticed her movement, but didn't take his eyes off the road.

Ivy groaned and lay back in the seat. "What happened?"

"You took a pretty nasty bump."

"I know that," she said irritably, the headache not helping her mood. "What happened after I had the shit knocked out of me?"

"Oh, well," he paused to try and think of a way of explaining it. "So the crazy lady jumped down the pit and then climbed out of the pit all ugly and then turned back into a woman and then I hijacked one of their vans to take you to the hospital."

Ivy looked at him with a mixture of irritation and confusion. "What do you mean 'ugly'."

"You ever read those old books that have pictures of the old-timey monsters and demons?"

"Yeah."

"She looked like a demon from those books," he couldn't hide the slight doubt he had believing his own words.

The pair didn't talk much after that, neither sure how to explain the night's events. Ivy reached into her jacket and found her phone. Thankfully it wasn't damaged, but she had several missed calls, all within the last half an hour. It immediately began to ring again, the contact on the screen said 'Ben'.

"Finally!" Ben almost shouted as soon as Ivy answered the call. "I was just about to send Dispatch to recover what was left of you."

"I wouldn't want to give you the inconvenience of being dead now would I?"

"No, it's a lot of paperwork," Ben said, playing along. "Now what the hell happened there? Everything went to shit thirty minutes ago and you're the only one on a job."

Ivy rubbed her temples. "What are you talking about?"

"Monsters, everywhere!" his tone sounded concerned. "We've had reports flooding in from across the globe of creatures appearing, many of them don't match anything in our database. It's like someone just opened the gates to Monsterland?"

"Monsterland?"

"You know, the island where…" Ben tried to explain. "Ah, forget it, just tell me what the hell you've done?"

"WE didn't do shit. There was this woman performing some sort of ritual..."

"Hell Knight," Miron corrected her.

"Right, she was a 'Hell Knight' apparently and she was casting some spell, and we couldn't stop here."

"What do you mean you couldn't stop her?" Ben asked anxiously.

"I don't know Ben," Ivy almost shouted back. "I fucking shot her in the head and she took it as if it was nothing!"

Miron held out his hand and beckoned for the phone. Ivy handed it over with an irritated sigh.

"Hey Ben, it's Miron. Ivy's not making this shit up, I even stabbed her in the heart and nothing happened."

"So what did this, Hell Knight, do exactly?" Ben asked.

"Some sort of ritual that she said would 'set them free'. Then she turned into an ugly demon monster."

"Ok…" Ben's thoughts were going a million miles an hour. "I need you to describe exactly what happened. Every detail."

Miron looked at Ivy. "Not now Ben. Ivy is pretty beat up and I'm taking her to the hospital."

"Yes, 'now' Miron. I ain't joking around here," Ben snapped back.

"You're not my boss, Ben," he hung up the phone on Ben's shouting and put in the center console of the van.

Ivy looked at him with a forced smile. "Thanks for pissing him off."

"I'll deal with him later," Miron said, returning Ivy's smile. "We need to get you patched up. You look like shit."

"I feel like it too," she lay back, her eyes heavy. The cool wind was refreshing and made her feel a bit better. It wasn't long before she fell asleep again.

A few hours later in the local clinic, the doctor was finishing the last few stitches in Ivy's head wound when Miron walked in.

"Ben's a little happier now," he said.

"At least that's one less problem I have to deal with," she said with a sigh.

"Except we just got a whole new set of problems to deal with," he reached for the TV remote on a nearby bench and flicked on the clinic's television, catching a news report halfway through. A newswoman was sitting at her desk, 'Breaking News' was plastered all over the background screen behind her.

"...The Justice League has released a statement, with Green Lantern hosting a press conference in Washington. We'll switch to the broadcast now."

The scene switched to a camera shot of Green Lantern standing on a podium. He appeared to be waiting for the crowd to settle. Putting a hand up, he motioned for them to quieten down before beginning his speech.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thankyou for coming at such short notice. I know this is a little weird, seeing me on a podium like this. Since when do I have time to stop and chat," he laughed, but the crowd remained silent. Hal chuckled awkwardly. "Umm, anyway... we had an emergency meeting… by 'we' I mean the Justice League and we've been discussing the appearance of the monsters all over the world. With the rise of criminal activity on both Earth and the rest of the galaxy, the Justice League does not have the manpower to deal with this additional threat."

The crowd grew restless at this. Most people began to chatter amongst themselves, while others shouted questions at Hal. The Green Lantern put his hands up again to silence the crowd and shouted over them.

"This doesn't mean we're gonna leave you hanging!" the crowd grew quieter, though some murmuring continued. "We've organised a new team of heroes who will be responsible to dealing with the Supernatural threat. I will be personally responsible for the actions of this new team and I'll sometimes come and help them out when I'm in Earth's neighbourhood," he grinned and paused for a moment, hoping his joke would ease the tension. It did not.

"Gee, tough crowd," he wiped his forehead. Hal had overestimated his ability at public speaking and suddenly the lights felt really hot. "Anyway, the members of the new team are…" he turned and put a hand towards the side of the stage, hidden behind a curtain.

"Supergirl!"

The blonde strutted on stage, smiling and waving, at the cameras specifically.

"Green Arrow!"

A figure in a green hood strode forwards. The light cast a lot of shadow over his face, but you could see he wasn't impressed with the public attention.

"Zatana!"

Her boots clicked along the wooden floor in perfect rhythm. She was dressed to impress as no stranger to the limelight. She took her place in the lineup and bowed gracefully.

"Hawkman!"

The tall man stepped forward, somewhat dazzled by the lights. He quietly walked forward and stood in line.

"We also have Plastic Man going the group, but he wasn't able to make it tonight. He's a bit 'tied' up at the moment," one man in the crowd laughed. "This guy gets it!" Hal grinned and pointed at the man.

One reporter took the brief pause to shout a question. "Green Lantern! Does the Justice League know the source of the monsters or why they have appeared?"

"We have a few theories," he began. "But we don't really know. We are working with our 'other' new found allies at the Exodus Battalion who are collecting data and reports and will relay it directly to our new team here and their own agents in the field."

"How do you feel about working with the Exodus Battalion after the incidents between their agents and other metahumans?" another reported chimed in quickly.

Hal thought for a long moment before carefully answering the question. "I'm not going to say that we've let them off the hook for that, but we need allies against these creatures this stuff is their ballgame."

Several reporters started shouting at him, but Hal shouted louder. "Sorry guys, but that's it for today," he walked offstage, followed by the members of the new team.

Miron switched off the television.

"Great," Ivy sighed, burying her head in her hands.

"Hey!" the doctor scolded. "I'm trying to stitch you up here."

"Sorry," she muttered.

"It's not all bad," Miron sat on a nearby stool. "At least the heroes have admitted that our job is needed. Should do wonders for your career."

Ivy blew a raspberry in response. "Yeah, sure. Remind me to put career murderer on my resume."

He shrugged. "At least it's some recognition."

Ivy's phone started ringing in Miron's pocket. He pulled it out and glanced at the caller ID before handing it to her. The doctor said something about the use of a cellphone in the clinic, but Ivy ignored him. She too looked at the caller ID and sighed heavier than before.

"Recognition that comes with a shit-tonne of extra work," she said as she answered the call.