Chapter 68: The Fall of the Shadow Warriors.

Authors Note: Everyone thank you for your reviews and your support. Now here is another heartbreaking chapter. I'd like to thank Lightseeker for his help in all this so give thanks men.

Disclaimer: I do not own Batman or any of the dc characters mentioned.

The Shadow Warriors were rushed into the nearest hospital they could find. They escorted most of the civilians out and to Gotham General. Batman knew Zooms mom and didn't want to explain why her only son was currently having seizures.

While all this was a happening J'ohn along with Nightwing and Aqualad were interrogating Megan about the orb she had used. She hadn't said a word or looked anyone in the eye since she was brought in.

"I know you were deceived, but why did you not warn us about this Light, and why didn't you tell us about the orb?" J'ohn asked in a stern tone. Megan had tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I didn't know." She whimpered. "I thought he was a former member of his team. He said he wanted to help him." She then held her legs to her chest. "I'm sorry…I feel sick."

J'ohn wrapped an arm around her and held her tight, easing her queasiness and calming her nerves.

"I know you are." He whispered. "But you need to learn to block out the minds of those who might take advantage of our mind abilities, such as this Light. Understood?" Megan looked up and nodded, still letting out small sniffled.

"Shadow…I hope he and his team are okay." She whispered. "By the way what did you do with the orb?"

"It took some time but we tracked down Raven from her exile." He explained. "She has been invited to study it. She knows more of Trigons artifacts than anyone else."

"I guess it takes a demons daughter to know a demon." She chuckled bitterly before sobbing again.

(!)

In the E.R all the Shadow Warriors were still tossing and turning in their beds but they were strapped down to prevent them from falling out and hurting themselves. They had a few Leaguers looking over them but Jayden was being looked after by his little brother Damian who sat by his side since he heard of the incident. He hated Megan. Not for using the orb, but for trusting Light. How could she just use something a stranger gives her out of the blue?

Jayden started sweating and muttering in his sleep about Jason and was actually crying. Damian let out a heavy sigh when a shadow loomed over him. Damian readied himself for an attack but stopped when he saw who it was.

"Jason Todd." Damian stated.

Jason took off his helmet and sat on the opposite side of Jayden's bed as he pulled out a bandanna and wiped the sweat from his head. After Jayden started to calm down Jason looked over at Damian.

"So you're the son of Bruce's bitch?" Jason chuckled. Damian glared at him as Jason held his hands up. "I'm just kidding. I'm actually surprised he has a son. A real one. I guess the Batman and Robin shtick will now truly be a father-son team, eh?" Damian looked down remorsefully.

"I'm not Robin. Drake still has that title." Jason sniffled a little, then Damian continued. "Why are you here anyway?" Jason looked at him with a frown.

"You may be related to him, but Jayden was my brother first. I may not act like it, but I do have concern for him." Jason said defensively.

"Like that night you tried to kill him when you kidnapped Sarina and her clown father?" Damian snorted causing Jason to glare at him again.

"That was a personal matter, Damian." Jason grunted. The younger boy snickered.

"Please. You're just like Jayden in every way. You show no mercy when it comes to killing especially if that subject is vengeance. You and he have the potential of joining the League of Assassins." Damian grinned.

"Unlike your grandfather and mother," Jason snarled. "Jayden knew to stop. He doesn't always have vengeance on his mind!" Damian's expression dropped.

"Oh? And what makes you think he won't have vengeance on his mind when he kills Adrian for using him?" He asked offensively. Jason walked over and grabbed him by his collar.

"Because it's not about vengeance anymore. It's about saving the world from a demon god!" He grunted. "Why do you think I'm here other than to watch over Jayden and his friends?"

Just then, the Shadow Warriors sat up in their beds, and began whispering in an unknown language. Then they looked over at the two boys, who gasped at what they saw. All the warriors had one facial feature that was the same: four glowing red eyes. The warriors grinned, and then spoke in unison.

"I see you." They all said in a sadistic tone before they all began flailing their arms around and screaming.

Jason and Damian grabbed Jayden's arms and shouted out his name. As quickly as the Warriors started screaming, they stopped and spoke in a deep voice.

"So you are the Shadow Warriors." They said in union. "You are much shorter in person." The voices chuckled before it released they're control and they started screaming again.

"BRUCE!" Damian and Jason shouted at once. "SOMEONE HELP!"

"AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS!"

Instantly, the Warriors flopped down onto their beds and went silent. The boys recognized that chant. They turned around to see a pale woman wearing a purple robe and one-piece with the hood up.

They were surprised to see her here along with the rest of the League and the Titans. Damian was still distrusting of them for their mutiny against Jayden, but right now would do anything to help him.

"What the hell is she doing here?" Damian snapped. "And what did you do to them?" Raven held her hands up defensively.

"I sensed my father's presence in the room. As soon as I heard him, I knew I had to cut off his connection with the Warriors." She stated when she heard

"Bruce...Jason...Help..." Jayden whispered.

Raven marched over to Jayden and placed a hand on his forehead. He still had four glowing red eyes when he spoke. He sounded frightened. Frightened in such a way that it even disturbed Batman. "Help..." he repeated. Batman rushed over to his side.

"Look at me," Said Raven to the Warrior. "Do you see something?" Jayden nodded.

"Fire...everything's burning...people...turning into monsters...zombies..." His eyes widened. "Oh, no!" He started to fidget and writhe again. "NO! MAKE HIM GO AWAY! MAKE HIM GO AWAY!"

At the same time, all the other bedridden Shadow Warriors began writhing and screaming too. Then as quickly as it began, they stopped as soon as Raven subdued them.

"Now," She whispered. "What is my Trigon doing, Jayden?"

He remained silent and twitched a few more times before someone else spoke up.

"He's talking to someone," Replied Ally. "Someone in a black cloak. He looks like the Grim Reaper..."

Everyone was stunned when they heard that. Were all the Shadow Warriors having the same vision? When they heard that, they looked over at Flynn who said, "It's not me...its Death the Destroyer of Worlds. I can see his minions."

"I can see them too," Said Sam, sweat running down his cheeks. "They're wearing black rings and black clothing."

Hal Jordan and John Stewart's eyes widened. "Black Lantern Corps!" they exclaimed.

"No," muttered Hal. "No, that's not possible! Nekron is gone. He can't come back!"

"Now I see his plan," growled Raven. "My father and Nekron must be teaming up in order for this world to be covered in darkness. If Nekron is released, he will create a whole new army of Black Lanterns made from the bodies my father will leave in his wake."

Everyone shuddered. Now two gods were now eying on the earth. One was the devil and the other was Death himself. This just kept getting worse and worse for the Warriors and the League every second. Stewart stepped out with a determined look on his face.

"I'll take Hal and warn the Guardians. They must know of the situation," Said John Stewart. Hal nodded and stood next to him. Raven shook her head.

"I don't know if the Green, or any of the other Lantern Corps can stop this," said Raven sadly. "There's nothing that can stop Trigon from being released."

"Unless we destroy the soul collectors once and for all," Explained Jason Todd. "Problem is how do we do that, Raven?" Her response was a heavy sigh.

"It might be possible. But it's never been done before." She explained solemnly.

"We can't take that kind of chance then," Said Diana. "If Light is indeed working for Trigon..."

"Light is Adrian Baron," said Jayden out of nowhere. "I spoke to him while I was in London. He's manipulated everything to free Trigon: the team, the criminals, Deathstroke, this little incident."

"What?" Superman exclaimed. "That's crazy. Why would a professor of a university want that?"

"He believes that he can cleanse the world of sin by releasing Trigon and then leading mankind to a new world, but we all know that can't happen." Jayden explained.

Megan and J'ohn walked over to him and placed their hands on his head. Instantly, the four red eyes disappeared and his two normal green and blue eyes returned. The same thing happened to the other Warriors.

"Whew," Flash sighed. "I was getting a little freaked out by those red eyes thing. Two is enough, but four is an eyesore. Get it?" No one laughed and just gave him an unimpressed look. "Just trying to lighten the mood."

"I thought it was pretty funny." Kid Flash encouraged.

"He's telling the truth," Megan concluded. "I can see everything. Adrian is behind everything." Aqualad approached Jayden.

"I guess we owe you an apology." Jayden muttered something he couldn't hear. "What?"

"Say it. Say you were wrong and we were right." Aqualad grumbled, and then sighed.

"You were right and we were wrong."

"Louder, Ariel!" Jayden shouted grabbing Aqualad by the back of his neck and pushing him down.

"YOU WERE RIGHT AND WE WERE WRONG!" Damian laughed when he heard this, and soon, Jason Todd, Jayden and the team joined him.

"You have no idea how long I wanted to hear that!" Jayden exclaimed.

"Jokes aside," said Batman. "We still have no idea where to begin."

"Hold on," said Jayden, ceasing his laughter. "Why don't we use Barbara's hacking skills? If she can get into Adrian's computers, we can find out what the next move is." Batman nodded admiring his skills being as accurate as his own as he pressed his fingers to the side of his cowl.

"Oracle?" asked Batman to his communicator. "Did you get that?" But all he heard was static. "Oracle!"

"I'm sorry, but the person you're contacting is unavailable. Please a message after the tone. Beep!" Batman's expression turned confused when he recognized the voice.

"Sarina?" He asked with concern. "What are you doing?"

"Just helping the winning team. Right, daddy?" She asked in a chipper tone. A dark chuckle made Batman, Jayden and Robin's blood boil when they heard that laugh.

"Oh, yes," said the Joker's voice. "She's finally decided to be a member of her true family. She won't be traipsing about in some skimpy, pointy eared, black leather costume anymore." Everyone's eyes widened.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?" Jayden shouted. Just then Joker's voice started to sound ecstatic on the other line.

"Is that Jayden? Or should I say Sparrow? Or maybe Shadow?" His eyes widened as did a few other members. "Oh, and before you say anything boring like threats, swears and hero speeches, I'll say it. Yes, I know everything. Everything about you and the Titans and the Justice League, the Young Justice and my dear friend...Bruce Wayne."

"Mommy's little angel knows better than to keep secrets from her family," Chirped Harley's voice.

"What did you do to her?" Jayden growled through his teeth.

"Like I said," said the Joker. "She's finally decided to join the winning team. With a little help with my mad-as-a-hatter friend, Jervis Tetch, of course. Even though he doesn't know I borrowed some. All I had to do was send a signal to her cell phone to activate the true Sarina Gibson in her. She's a real Joker Junior now."

"Oh, she tried to deny it at first." Harley chirped. Just then a projection screened on the X-Ray monitor. The vid was mute but they didn't need sound to understand what was happening.

"Who turned that on?" Sam demanded.

"Those are Warnye-Tech X-Ray monitors we have them controlled by the hospitals computer." Thomas shouted.

The video showed Sarina Gibson fighting the Joker's control. Then the heroes watched as the Joker walked over to her and cupped his hand under her cheek. Sarina started smiling.

"But all too soon, she finally decided to stop fighting and stay with us." Sarina on the video walked over to Harley and the two of them hugged. Sarina's hair started turning green as she started laughing out loud.

"And soon, I wanted to share how much I knew of what we've been doing, along with a few names," said Sarina's voice. "But you know this." Jayden's gritted his teeth.

"It's true," said the Joker's voice. "I know everything. Your missions to stop Trigon, your own personal vendetta jobs, the soul collectors, everything. Even if Adrian talked me into joining him." Everyone gasped at what they had just heard.

"YOU'RE WORKING FOR LIGHT?" Jason Warney shouted. "HE'LL KILL EVERYTHING IF HE AWAKENS TRIGON!"

"I know," replied the Joker. "The world will be boring if Trigon's released. I just joined just to get my dear daughter back away from you. No, I plan on making the ultimate joke now that we're reunited once more. Adrian and soon all of you in the medical ward will be laughing when you hear it."

"That's not going to happen!" Sam snapped.

Damian looked as if he had sat on a thumbtack.

"Wait," he said. "How do you know we're in a med ward?"

"Simple, Bat Jr," said Sarina's voice. "We're here already." Suddenly, the air vents began to flow a green vapor.

"Joker Venom!" Batman shouted.

Quickly, he placed on an oxygen mask and tossed more to everyone in the room. However, some were too slow. Jayden started to hear Damian, Ally, Flynn and Sam giggling, and then they burst into uncontrollable fits of laughter.

"Guys!" Batman, Wonder Woman, J'ohn, and Hal grabbed the laughing victims. "We have to get out of here, now." shouted Jayden.

"Ah, ah! I wouldn't do that!" Sarina walked into the room. Everyone gasped at what she was wearing: a dark purple coat with matching shorts, a black and red tank top with matching gloves and boots. Her blonde hair was now green, her face was smeared in white make up and she had a smile painted in lipstick. "Not until you hear the punch line!" She pulled out gun from her bra and aimed it at Jayden's face.

His eyes widened in horror and Sarina smirked before pulling the trigger. In an instant Jayden fell and his world went black.

(!)

Jayden let out a groan as he slowly opened his eyes. He felt like that morning after their first celebration when they first became a team and took down Dent.

"Guys?" He said in a shaky voice wondering where everyone was. "Ally, Jason, Flynn anyone?"

He slowly walked down the tunnel and realized that he wasn't even in the hospital anymore. He still had his equipment and slowly pulled out his sword. He jumped when he heard a loud noise and watched as the walls started opening shining a bright light in the darkness.

It was hard to see what was happening but he made out a few shadows standing in a row.

"Jayden…" Ally's voice groaned.

"Ally!" Jayden shouted as he ran towards the shadows.

When he got closer to the outlines his heart stopped and his feet gave away as he fell to the ground. They were all alive.

"Damian Cole?" Jayden exclaimed when he saw the former scientist standing before him, but he wasn't the only one. "Frost, Bruticus, Gallagher, Phantom, Black Beard, Lotus, Double Johnson and Javier?"

Every villain they had gone up against was now standing in front of Jayden each baring a malicious grin.

"Yes, every one of them has been useful to me." Adrian said as the row of dead villains split down the middle to reveal Adrian, wearing blue cloak and wielding a gold staff with a dark orb on the top. "After you killed them I resurrected them with a few dark souls and gave them a little of Trigons power."

"W-What, how are they, how did you do this?" Jayden gasped.

"A little bit of science and magic." Adrian explained. "I used DNA from their original bodies to construct a clone for their new souls. I use a good amount of dark essence and whatever soul essence from a prized possession they held dear and was able to save their soul before it became nothing. Then I attached it to a familiar shell it once recognized. It was hard especially since Gallagher died three times but I managed to keep them out of Trigon's hold."

"Why?"

"So they could collect more dark essence from criminals." Adrian said. "You see, evil knows evil and since they know how to recruit the worst scum on this Earth it was very easy."

"What about the criminals you stole from the Green Lantern Corps?"

"I needed you guys out of my hair but didn't want to kill you." Adrian stated playfully. "So the Green Lantern Corp will be on their way and you and your friends will be here to arrest you…so this is the end of the line."

Jayden looked up at the ceiling to see his friends hanging from the ceiling in chains. They were torn up pretty bad probably from the Soul Eater's attack.

"I am giving you one final chance to join me." Adrian said more threating than welcoming. "What is your decision?"

Jayden looked up at his friends and knew they would die if he said no. They relied on him to make the right decisions for the team.

But Armageddon was not their game, they were assassins no cultist they didn't believe in their false goal.

"I won't join you." Jayden said raising his sword. "I'll die before helping you."

Adrian let out a sigh but kept his superior demeanor.

"This is it then." He said in a solemn tone. "Goodbye, Shadow."

Just then Cyrus dropped down behind Jayden and stabbed him with a poisoned knife. Jayden struggled against the hold and the poison as his vision was focused on Ally. He reached his hand out towards her before his gripped loosened on his sword and his vision went black once more.

He had failed.