Chapter 39

Maril flew around firing warning shots at any slaves or parademons she came across. They were all easily spooked as they knew their master was fighting a superhero and they were unclear who was in Apokolips. They were afraid Maril was part of a larger force that had come after them.

After giving her the information she needed to arm the hellspore, Rex had told her he was on his way to help her evacuate the blast area of the hellspore. Maril was relatively certain he would be able to make it to her without too much trouble. Most of her concern was directed at Helena as she had the huge task of keeping Lash occupied and trapped in the blast area just before the hellspore was set to blow.

As Maril thought about Helena she wondered if she should run off and help her friend. She thought better of it, as she knew she was needed to clear the slaves out of the area. If Helena believed she could handle Lash on her own, then she could handle Lash on her own. Maril heard a sound that could have only been the collapse of a building. She looked in the direction the sound came from and thought about flying over there to see what was happening. She knew it had something to do with Helena's fight with Lash and thought the girl might need some help. She stayed put as she figured she had to trust her friend.

As Bruce and the others flew to Amanda Waller's he hoped he was correct about where Helena would go to get the Mother Box fixed. Amanda was one of the few people who could fix it discreetly for them. Helena would not have gone to someone who would let the whole world know they were headed to Apokolips.

The computer in the Batwing notified him he had an incoming message. He figured it was a message from Lois updating him on what she was able to find out from the Jor-El computer files that had been transferred to the Batcomputer. He wasn't completely surprised when he saw it was a message from Helena that had been sent on delay. She knew if she failed others would have to go after Lash and Brainiac. He figured this was a message about that.

The moment Bruce brought the message up and Helena's face appeared, he could see the pain in her eyes. He made sure the sound went through the communicator in his ear so Olivia couldn't hear it. As she talked he sensed the sadness in her voice. She explained what Lash and Brainiac were up to and what needed to be done to stop them. She then explained why she was sacrificing herself and how sorry she was she had to do so. Bruce teared up as she said good-bye to him, but fought them back to keep his focus on what he was doing.

Bruce was glad to have the message from his daughter as it gave him confirmation she was doing what he thought she was doing. He knew she would have originally timed the message to be received by him right after she had planned on dying. Having to fix the Mother Box would have thrown off the timing, meaning they still had a chance to find her and stop her. As they approached Amanda Waller's mansion he hoped they would still have a chance to save her.

300. . .299. . .298. . .297. . .The pain Helena felt was unbearable. When the building had collapsed on her, the feeling of utter failure filled her mind. Lash had buried her under a ton of rock and it was unlikely she was going to be able to get out of this in time to hold Lash down. When the hellspore blew it would kill her while Lash would be able to fly out to safety. She was going to die and it was all going to be in vain. She kept the countdown going in her head so she would know how long she had until she felt the sweet relief of death.

She had wondered if Lash would actually stay around. She thought back to the Fortress when she had seen him make the extra effort to kill Superman himself. Lash was likely still around, waiting for some confirmation she was not getting out of her predicament.

When Helena had been buried she thought she would pass out of suffocation before the hellspore blew. To her surprise, the weight of debris wasn't quite enough to keep her diaphragm from moving. Her breaths were weak, but they were strong enough to keep her conscious.

Helena was ready to give up and accept her fate. As she laid under the pile of debris, she thought about everything her father had taught her. As a young girl, before she had gone to live with him, she had always been amazed at the respect her father had among the more powerful superheroes of the League. Many of them could do so much more then her father could, yet they looked up to him and were in awe of him. It took her a long time to understand they were in awe of him because everything he did he did because of sheer determination. He often faced and dealt with pain they would never experience, and they respected him for what he put himself through.

When she started fighting by his side she saw this determination. There were so many times where the sheer force of his will carried them to victory. While it was true her father would have easily been crushed by the ton of rock Helena now found herself buried under, she couldn't let herself see that as an excuse to quit. For her, getting out from under the debris was no more an impossibility then some of the things she had seen her father do. After two minutes on the bottom of the debris, Helena had convinced herself she could get out and went about doing so.

258. . .257. . .Helena moved her arms so she could push herself up. She did so with all her strength and could feel and hear the rocks shifting around her as she lifted everything that was pushing against her back. She gritted her teeth and roared as she placed her feet against the ground.

246. . .245. . .Helena stood as the rocks poured down all around her. She lifted one of her feet and let the rocks fall and form a stable floor where it had been. She pushed her foot down on the rocks and then pushed herself up through the next level of debris. The rocks cut at her skin, but she was invulnerable enough that they didn't break it.

200. . .199. . .As Helena pushed herself through the debris it became easier with each step as there were fewer and fewer rocks to push out of the way.

180. . .179. . .After pushing through a few layers of rock Helena felt so exhausted she wasn't sure if she could go any further. She told herself she couldn't be far from the top. She had no idea if she was close or not, but she had to tell herself whatever she needed in order to keep herself moving.

170. . .She pushed herself up and could see a hint of daylight making its way through the space between the rocks. She became heartened and knew she could make it the last few feet to daylight.

165. ..Helena started flailing her arms around and was able to push away some of the rocks above her. She took a few more steps and burst out of the pile and collapsed on top of it. She laid down and caught her breath. She realized for the first time she had lost her cape while pushing herself through the rocks.

150. . .She knew Lash was around as she heard footsteps coming to her. She was so exhausted and beat she couldn't even lift her head to see if it was truly him.

140. . .139. . .138. . .Lash clapped in perfect time with the clock still running in her head. "Very impressive," he said to her. "I'm actually glad you made it out of there. I'm not done having my fun."

129. . .128. . .Helena wanted to stand and fight, but her muscles had no energy for her to do so. She looked around the best she could for her utility belt. There was no sign of it. There was no hope to find the Kryptonite and use it. She was going to have to go through with the plan to hold him down and sacrifice herself.

121. . .120. . . Lash picked her up and punched her in the stomach. Helena had the wind knocked out of her and gasped for breath. Lash grabbed her, stood her up, and gave her a swift uppercut. She flew up in the air and fell down hard on the pile of rocks.

112. . .111. . .110. . .Helena was beginning to become despondent. She had fought her way out of the debris pile only to find herself too weak and exhausted to take any actions against Lash. If she didn't do something soon the hellspore would blow while Lash was free to escape.

105. . .104. . .She heard Lash running towards her swiftly and she knew immediately what was coming. He kicked her in the ribs so hard she could hear them crack. The kick sent her flying through the air. She saw she was heading towards the metal frame of the statue and she pulled out her crossbow from the harness on her boot. As she flew through the frame she fired her grappling hook at one of the beams and it caught it. As the rope went taunt she stopped and swung back to the ground. She let go at the low point of her swing and fell to the ground.

99. . .98. . .Helena tried to summon her strength so she might be able to stand. She started finding some reserves of energy and was able to get to her feet, although she was wobbly. She staggered around a little and then leaned up against one of the metal beams to help her keep her balance.

89. . .88. . .She wondered if she would have to go and find Lash, but he floated over to where she was. He brought himself down in front of her. For a while he watched her as she tried to stand.

80. . .79. . . "You're tougher then you look," he said to her. "I could use a queen in my new empire, in case you're interested."

69. . .68. . . "I would rather fuck a goat then share a bed with you," she said to him. She tried to yell in disgust, but she didn't quite have the voice for it. She said it softly, but knew with his hearing he could make out everything just fine.

62. . .61. . .She could see the anger come over his face. She was surprised he was holding himself back and not rushing right at her. She felt she had to up the ante some more. She aimed her crossbow at him as she thought of a certain arrow. She fired it at him and before he could grab it the arrowhead blew and hit him with a sonic boom. His nose started bleeding from the force of it.

56. . .55. . .Lash charged at her and knocked the crossbow out of her hand. He tried to make a jab at her, but she jumped up out of the way. She grabbed on to a beam that ran parallel to the ground. She twisted the metal around her arms so it would be hard for Lash to pull her off the metal frame that was anchored to the ground.

54. . .53. . ."I can't understand why you came here," he said to her as he looked up at her. "Did you really think you would get out of here alive?"

51. . .50. . .Lash flew up and punched her at close range. She took the punch, but wrapped her legs around his waist and squeezed with all her might. "What made you think I ever planned on getting out of here alive?" she snarled at him.

47. . .46. . . A pure look of terror came across Lash's face as he tried to fly away. He couldn't move as Helena was able to hold him tight. Instead of pulling himself out of her hold he merely pulled the metal frame a few feet.

41. . .40. . .Lash stopped his attempt as he seemed puzzled at what Helena was doing. He looked thoughtful for a moment and Helena guessed Brainiac was telling him something. She wondered if the computer had found out what she was up to and told him about it. Lash stared at the ground and Helena just knew he was using his x-ray vision. She knew he saw the bomb when he looked back at her with sheer horror on his face.

36. . .35. . .He tried to fly away laterally with all the force he could muster. Helena had to summon all her strength, but she kept her legs wrapped around him. Once again the force of his flight started pulling the metal frame of the statue.

31. . .30. . .Helena saw Lash staring at one end of the beams on the ground and could feel heat coming from him. She looked down and saw one of the beams starting to melt and knew he was using his heat vision to do so.

27. . .26. . .She unwrapped one of her arms from the metal beam and grabbed his chin and pushed it up so all he could do was stare at the sky. When she did this it put all the pressure on the one arm still wrapped around the metal beam. She howled in pain as she could feel her shoulder being pulled out of its socket.

20 . . .19. . .Lash grabbed at the arm holding up his head and tried to pull it off him. Helena summoned even more strength and held her arm steady. She kept her legs wrapped tightly with the little bit of strength she wasn't using to keep her arm in place. She gritted her teeth as the pain from her arm being ripped away from her body became even worse.

15. . .14. . .Helena was in unbearable pain. She was tiring by the second and wondering if she could last the short while until the bomb went off. Lash's feral instincts took over and he started punching her in the face with everything he could muster.

12. . .Lash had pulled on the frame of the statue so hard he jutted up against the other side of it. He stopped flying laterally and started flying straight up in the air. As he did so he began pulling the metal frame out of the ground.

11. . .Helena could hear the sounds of the frame being pulled out of the ground. She figured the statue would stay put long enough. She wondered if she would last though. The pain and exhaustion she was experiencing now was easily a hundred times greater then anything she had ever experienced before. She found comfort in the fact it would all be over for her in a matter of seconds.

Olivia brought the Batwing down on the front lawn of Amanda Waller's retirement mansion as the sun rose. He saw the Tamaranean ship land on the lawn next to his vehicle. He jumped out of the Batwing and ran to the house without waiting for anyone else. He didn't want to waist time talking and he didn't feel like telling his wife about the video he had received from Helena.

Bruce entered the entry code for the front door and ran through. "Amanda," he screamed out as he ran through each room of the house. The others were slowly following after him. He guessed they were a bit puzzled by what he was doing.

He found Waller in the dining room. She had a plate of scrambled eggs in front of her and was sipping her coffee. It seemed like a placid and normal morning to her, except for the Mother Box that was lying on the table to her side.

Bruce wasted no time in talking to Waller. He simply grabbed the Mother Box off the table and started working the controls.

"Do you even know where she is, Bruce?" Waller asked her.

"Tell me," he yelled at the old woman.

"I knew you would come and I entered the coordinates you need to go to. If you changed them just reset everything."

Bruce did as he was told and opened the portal. Wind started blowing through the room. Without saying anything to each other, they all ran through the open portal.

6. . .5. . .A sense of pride came over Helena as she realized she was going to succeed. Lash was gradually pulling the frame out of the ground, but it wouldn't be enough in time. Helena still had pain shooting through the arm wrapped around the beam. She was almost out of energy, but she had just enough to carry her these final few seconds.

4. . .3. . .Helena was fully prepared to die, but she had an idea that might give her a slight chance to survive.

2. . .With the last bit of strength Helena could muster she rolled Lash over so he was under her and in position to shield her from the coming blast.

1. . .As the bomb blew Helena found herself engulfed by fire and thrown up in the air.

Maril and Rex flew around as they saw the last of the slaves running out of the blast sight. The area around them was deserted and they were able to hover undisturbed.

"It's almost time," Maril said to her husband.

"Where was Helena supposed to be when this was all over?" her husband asked her.

"She was supposed to trap Lash in the metal frame of an unfinished statue and then run to safety. I'm not sure where."

Rex flew up higher and looked in the direction of the statue. His Thanagarian genes gave him great distance vision. She knew he would probably be able to see Lash caught in his trap.

"Maril," he screamed as he looked down at her. "Helena is-" He was unable to finish his sentence as the exploding hellspore hurled them away.

Clark, Diana, Bruce, Olivia, and Richie exited the portal to find themselves a good distance from the frame of the statue where everything was happening. Bruce started running towards the statue. After just a few steps Clark grabbed him and started flying away. Bruce heard the hellspore blow and saw Diana and Richie holding Olivia all following them as they flew away from the blast. Bruce almost lost his mind as he thought about how he had failed and his daughter was now dead.

When the force of the blast had washed over them Superman landed and dropped Bruce on the ground. The heat from the newly formed firepit was intense, but not unbearable for him. It was nothing compared to the pain he was feeling over the loss of Helena. He knelt on the ground and began to cry. It was the exact same pose he had taken several decades earlier when he knelt over the bodies of his dead parents.

He felt Diana's arm wrap around him from behind. She could feel her body agains his back and could hear her whimpers as she started crying. He found her arm and started rubbing it. For once in his life he wasn't thinking about any danger that might be around them.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Clark fly up and hover above the ground. He knew their friend was scanning the area for any sign of their daughter. He also knew it was completely hopeless.

"Diana, Bruce," he yelled down at them. "Get up here."

Diana knew exactly what Clark meant and grabbed Bruce and flew up to meet him. Richie followed with Olivia. Clark didn't say anything to them. He led them over the destroyed land to a pile of debris where even Bruce with his old eyes was able to see the body of his daughter in the middle of it.

Diana had them on the ground in front of the pile in a flash. Superman didn't follow them and they didn't see where he disappeared to. Diana dropped Bruce and she immediately started throwing the debris off their daughter's body, along with Richie's help. Bruce stood by as he was powerless to lift anything in the pile. As Diana lifted the last bit of debris off her body, Bruce rushed over and lifted Helena up and cradled her body. He almost had a heart attack when he heard her groan.

He started trembling as he knelt to the ground with her so he could rest her body on his knee. Diana was standing over them, watching and wiping tears away from her eyes. Bruce looked his daughter up and down. She was bruised and burned all over her body. Her face was covered with blood that had come out of her mouth and nose. Her right arm had been stretched out and yanked away from her body, although it was still attached by the skin. The metal beam that her arm had been wrapped in had melted and adhered to her.

Bruce heard her groan again. "I'm here, Helena," he yelled at her. He had no idea how loud his voice was as his hearing had been dampened by the explosion. "It's your father."

Bruce's heart leapt in his chest as his daughter tilted her head in the direction of his voice. He had her head resting on his arm and was trying to support it in much the same direction he had when she was an infant. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at him. He could see her try to form a smile, but she was too weak to do it.

Diana knelt down next to Bruce and cradled her daughter's head in her arms. Richie and Olivia moved back so the family could have a private moment. When Helena felt her mother's hands on her she looked back at her mother. Diana smiled back at her before Helena had to close her eyes again and rest her head closer to her father's chest. Diana pushed several strands of bloody hair out of her daughter's face.

"Mom, Dad, I'm sorry," she groaned.

"Don't be," Bruce said as he held his sobs back. "We are so proud of what you did."

She opened her eyes to look at him again. "Do you. . .know. . .if Lash-"

"You did it, Helena," they heard Superman yell to them. They looked up and saw Clark hovering over them with the body of his dead son in his arms. His body looked broken and his skin was charred. He was clearly dead.

Helena tried to lift her head and look, but she didn't have the strength to do it. Diana helped her so she could see the body. "You did it," she told her daughter. "You stopped him and saved us all."

This time Helena found the strength to smile for a couple of seconds. Diana laid her head back down on her father's arm.

Superman flew away and left the Waynes alone. He flew towards a large group of slaves he had seen earlier. He threw his son's body in the middle of the group. "This is your dead leader," he yelled at them. "Let it be known to every warlord on this miserable planet the throne is there's for the taking. Go and find your next master," he declared to them.

Superman hovered over them to see what they would do. His attention to them was diverted by the presence of Nightstar and Warhawk. The two of them looked disheveled and despondent. "Do you know what happened to Helena?" Nightstar asked him.

Bruce could feel the breaths of his daughter getting weaker. Diana was able to feel her body losing its temperature. They both realized they were experiencing the last moments of their daughter's life.

Helena opened her eyes and looked up at her father's face. "I'm glad I had these last few moments with you," she said to them. "Before I left, I had come to see you one last time. I had wanted to hold your hands, to feel them one last time."

Diana and Bruce both knew what she was asking of them. Bruce pulled out the hand that had been lying under her body. Diana removed the gauntlet. Bruce grabbed his daughter's hand. Diana did likewise.

"Thank you," Helena said as she made her last smile. "I love you."

Helena closed her eyes and Bruce could see the few unburned patches of skin she had turning blue. Diana continued stroking her daughter's cheek and forehead with her free hand. Bruce could see their daughter take her last breath. They both felt the life go out of her body through the hand they were holding. Diana leaned down and kissed Helena on the forehead. Helena stayed motionless and Diana knew she was dead.

Their crying increased as Bruce pulled his daughter's body closer to him. Bruce felt the presence of others around them and opened his eyes to see the blurry outline of Clark, Rex, Maril, Richie, and Olivia. He wiped the tears from his eyes to get a better look at them. Clark's face was stolid and emotionless. The faces of the children were filled with outright shock. Maril and Olivia started crying and embraced their husbands as they buried their faces in their chests.

Bruce noticed that Diana had stood up and was slowly walking away from him. Most of her tears were gone and he could tell she was thinking about something. "I always loved you, Bruce," she said as she took off and flew away. None of the others said anything to her or made an attempt to follow her. Bruce knew exactly what she was up to, though.

He stood up and thrust his daughter's body at Clark. "Take care of her, please" he said to his old friend. He ran after his wife. Superman simply watched his old friend run away, puzzled by what he might be doing.

Diana walked through the hell that was Tartus. The place bore a remarkable resemblance to Apokolips, the place she had just come from. Walls of fire flamed all around, giving off an intense heat which was hard to bare. She noticed little of the heat as she had only one thing on her mind at the moment.

Tartus was filled with demons and other minions of Hades. They all ignored her and ran out of her way when they saw her marching through. They had learned long ago not to even confront her when she was in a good mood, and she clearly was not in one at the moment.

She reached the doors to Hades' chamber and the guards dropped their pitchforks down to block her path. She charged at the one on the right and picked him up and threw him at the one on the left. The two of them went flying and hit the far wall.

Diana walked through the door and up to the hedonistic Hades as he sat on his sofa. He was flanked by two servants, with each one fanning him with a large palm leaf. He had a table next to him that was filled with food and wine. He was always eating despite his immense size.

"You really should treat my guards better, Diana," he said to her while shoving grapes in his mouth. "It's so hard to find good ones."

"There won't be anything permanently wrong with them," Diana snarled at him. "I'm here to make a deal with you."

"Straight and to the point," Hades replied to her. "That's the one thing I always liked about you."

"A while back you made a deal with Ares where if he killed my daughter you would bring her back in exchange for my soul. I need to know if that deal is still available."

Hades took a long time to answer her. He took a couple bites of an apple and a few sips of wine. Diana had no choice but to wait patiently. Hades got a thrill over leaving her hanging for a long time. When he finally began talking, he did so in a nasally voice with an annoyed tone. "Yeah, I think I saw something on the ticker about your daughter's death. You should know her soul is not my property. I don't know what-"

"I know you have connections and can have souls sent back to Earth," she yelled at him.

"Yeah, that's true. I guess. But I would have to owe someone a favor in exchange. And I would need a high price for doing that. I know I made that deal with Ares, but I did it so I would have the fun of Ares playing games with your family and all that. I've gotten to see you squirm enough recently. That's placated me in a lot of ways. I'm not that interested in having your soul right now. You're going to have to come up with a better offer if-"

The voice of Bruce interrupted them. "What about two souls for Helena's return to Earth," he said.

"Bruce," Diana said as she turned around in shock at the presence of him.

"Batman, now this is interesting," Hades said in wonder.

"How did you get here?" Diana asked her husband.

"I'm the goddamn Batman," he replied. He walked over to her and the two embraced.

"Two thirds of the triumvirate of the Justice League," Hades said to himself. "Now that's a trophy I can't easily pass. I'm willing, if the two of you truly want this deal."

Diana and Bruce stared at each other. "I have nothing to go back to," Bruce said.

"I could never live with myself if I passed on this," she replied.

A sly smile crossed the lips of Hades. "It is settled then. I am now bound to send your daughter back."

Bruce and Diana kissed one last time, before Hades snapped his fingers and their bodies were turned to dust.