Immortal Undeath

Disclaimer: All familiar characters belong to DC or Marvel. I own Farrah/Persiana and Leon/Crisis.

Chapter 13: Darkest Before Dawn

Crucifer, now in full possession of Daken's body, glared at the two teams,

"You will now know true power."

Deadpool unsheathed his swords and shouted,
"CHIMMICHANGAS, UNITE!"
He boldly rushed in, but got a taste of Crucifer's power when the ancient vampire raised his hand and cast Deadpool across the dark desert sky. The insane mercenary landed head first in the sand, his swords on either side of him. He pulled himself up and shook his head, complaining,

"Hey! What gives?"

Superman tried to land a punch on Crucifer, but their foe became a gaseous black cloud and avoided the blow. Then, it tried to asphyxiate the Man of Steel by enveloping him in the cloud. Guy Gardner and Hal Jordan double teamed with their rings, blasting the cloud with their emerald energies. The blast hurt the cloud and Crucifer became solid again. Superman caught his breath and that was when Batman said,

"Hit him again. Those rings can hurt him."

Guy looked back,

"Don't tell me what to do, Bats. I got this!"
He launched another blast of emerald energy again, this time hitting the solidified Crucifer and driving him deep into the sand.

For a moment, it looked like the League was victorious. Crisis shook his head,

"This was too easy."

Just then, the ground started to erupt and a massive wall of sand was coming at them. Fury ordered,

"Everyone, scatter now!"
Hal and Guy tried to hold the enormous wall of sand back, but it was too much and it showered on top of some League members and Howling Commando members as well. Wonder Woman looked on,

"How can he have so much power?"
Batman looked around,

"We have to find the heart and separate it again."

Crucifer chuckled,

"You mean THIS?"
A grotesque display appeared before the League and the Commandos as Daken's adamantium rib cage began to protrude out and, in the center of it all, was the glowing black gem that was Crucifer's heart. Then, the ribs receded back into the body and the evil vampire laughed,

"I'd like to see you try, mortal creature."

Leon asked,

"So, does anyone else have any idea on how we should fight this guy? I'm all out."

Satana readied a fireball attack,

"I say we hit him until he falls."
She launched the fireball, but, as it hit, Crucifer deflected it, sending it harmlessly away. Some sort of dark energy shield prevented him from taking damage. The succubus swallowed,

"O-K, that didn't work."

Farrah rolled her eyes,

"Nice one, Satana"

Crucifer then waved his hand and suddenly, the League members and the Howling Commandos were now sinking into the sand. He then said,

"You will do well to serve me as vampire lackeys, mortals. This world is meant for darkness, and there is nothing you can do about it!"
He began chanting in an ancient language, indecipherable to many of the heroes, but, one thing could be certain by those words; it meant big trouble. A darkened sphere appeared in the center, and everyone could feel their life essences being drained.

Donna, who had been on the other side of the camp, had rushed and found what Crucifer was doing. In a fantastic display of speed and power, she rushed in and slammed a powerful blow from behind. This disrupted Crucifer's concentration and the spell disappeared. Though weakened by the attack, they were still alive.

Crucifer looked back at Troia,

"Wretched girl! You think you can defeat me!"

A dark glare entered the Amazon warrior as she stared coldly at her adversary,

"I am no mere girl. I AM A GOD!"

She raised her hand and a dazzling beam of light shot forth, sending the ancient vampire flying across the desert. Crucifer looked back up, frightened,

"You, what are you?"

He then realized in horror what he was fighting,

"No. You can't be…you just can't be!"
In a dark flash, he disappeared.

Farrah smirked,

"Nice one, Donna."

Hal and Guy managed to dig everyone else out of the sand and Diana looked at her sister,

"Donna, you drove him away. How?"

The younger Amazon's hair was still shimmering like the starry night. She looked back and smirked,
"He knows what I am."

Fury looked at Hippolyta,

"Any idea what she's talking about?"

The queen shook her head,

"No, I do not. To be frank, I have never seen my daughter act this way before. It is almost…unearthly."

Satana shrugged,

"Well, looks like we're done here, kiddies. Crucifer is gone and I've got a wedding to plan."

As she turned to leave, Leon grabbed her arm,
"You're not going anywhere, not until Crucifer is dead."

The half-demon rolled her eyes,

"Oh, come on. Clearly you've got this. I mean, I can feel the power from here."

Batman went to investigate the camp and found Ra's al Ghul's body, in its bloody, decapitated state. The detective then looked at the sarcophagus that had been in the tent and began studying the inscriptions on it.

Everyone knew, somehow, this was just the opening salvo. The next time they met Crucifer, it was going to be winner take all…

Next Chapter:

As Crucifer is recovering from his wounds, questions arise about Donna's mysterious new power. Stay tuned, fellow readers!