A/N

Welcome back to the grand finale, and I hope you all enjoy the things I have lined up for you in the future, my , I have begun reading the New 52 Nightwing comics and they are actually confusing at times. Not the best, at least up to where I am at- Issue 17. Superboy/Young Justice is next on my hit list!

9,450 views! 78 Reviews! 35 followers and 28 favouritors!

Reviews

MoustachedCat: Nope, not at all. Green Lantern was a great show and I advise that you should watch it. I'm glad (kind of) that you are on edge for the final chapter, as it does tell me that I'm doing my job properly.

Elvisfonz23: Cheers for the review, old pal. It really cheered me up when I looked through it. Hope you enjoy!

Guest 1: I didn't really intend to reference LoT, but maybe the show did influence the choice of words subconsciously. You get friend points for watching Legends of Tommorow. MILD SPOILERS: What do you think has happened with Mick?

Guest 2: Thanks for the kind words! I'm sorry that this took longer to bring out, but I was trying to perfect it as much as possible.

Chapter 30: In Blackest Night

Kyle Rayner's POV- Bialyia

Well... I'm afraid to have to say it, but here it comes anyway: this really puts the proverbial icing on the proverbial cake. If things were confusing, weird and stressful before, it is most definitely bewildering, bizarre and overall heart destroying at this moment in time. Mind-boggling and over the top and beyond; two phrases that only mildly describe the weirdness unfolding in front of my concentrated eyes. Although, with all the witchy-woo happening over the past few months, nothing would surprise me... except for this.

Earth has become such a confusing place for hero and villain alike, that surprise is nothing to you. In a world full of magic, aliens capable of destroying entire solar systems and people wearing rings that allow them to do incredible things, nobody can define what the true meaning of normal is. Is it the life of a civilian? Whose every waking minute is plagued by the constant war between good and evil?

And yet, even the darkest of days will inevitably end and the gleaming sun will rise over everyone, bringing with it the age of peace and prosperity. As long as a select few are willing to sacrifice everything to hold on to the hope of a saving grace, evil has no power.

That's what makes the Justice League so inspiring and full of hope. Every last member gives it all on a daily basis;not for a pat on the back, but to see the hope welling in children's eyes.

Swiftly glancing to the left, everyone's face remains in a state of shock. Even the Flash's rapid brain hasn't processed the madness.

"What's the matter with all of you, guys? Has my handsomeness got your tongue?" looking back to the chaotic sight, my eyes narrow on the person that spoke. The thing that's so unnaturally strange is that I'm actually staring at... me... wearing... guy-liner? "I wouldn't be surprised- divine light radiates from this face."

"Clones." our Superboy breaks the trance that the others had fixed themselves into, hands clenched and face tensed.

Mockingly, their Wally points at Conner with mock horror. "Clone!" it theatrically shouts, bursting out laughing afterwards.

"Evil me is such a douchebag. What did the researchers do to mess me up this bad?" our Kid Flash incredulously shakes his head, horrified.

"Quite the contrary, 'heroes'" Lex Luthor lands in front us, wearing some sort of armour over himself. "I improved the future protectors to what they need to be. Once the originals are destroyed and the Justice League is gone, humanity will receive the heroes that it deserves."

"Luthor. I should have known you would be behind this from the start." Superman glares, showing a rare glimpse of contempt from the Man of Steel.

"Nice to meet you as well, alien. Long time no see, I presume." he shoots back, earning evil chuckles from the clones behind him.

"Really, baldy? You think that clones of us can beat us all?" Artemis snorts, dangerously close to jinxing it.

"Oh believe me, I don't underestimate any of you one bit." Luthor smirks, signalling that shizzle is about to break out. With that sentence, several of the most powerful villains ever drops down from the sky, appearing out of a portal directly above. Landing next to Luthor with smiles upon their faces are the horn boy, Mammoth, Parasite, Vandall Savage, Black Manta, and beside him is Aqualad.

"Come closer, Kaldur. I want to see your face clear as day when I knock you out." Artemis threatens, voicing the thoughts we are all sharing. Of all the potential people to betray us, how can he be the one. In the darkest of moments, he was there alongside us, inspiring us to go on. Now, I can't help but believe it was all an act.

"I'm sorry, Artemis, but I can't let you do that. Out of family or duty, I had to choose my father." he answers, retaining the monotonous tone we all accossiated him with. Not a shred of regret or sorrow flashes across his face as he unveils his true identity, and it's infuriating.

"We were your family!" Robin yells, only being restrained by as strong arm from Batman. "Are you telling me... that for all these years... it was a lie?"

"We don't need to know the answer. Either way, he's going to get what's coming to him." our Conner snarls, staring directly at Kaldur with fire in his eyes. From here, I can taste the pure, primal fury radiating from the friendly clone and for once, I agree with him all the way.

Not answering and instead stepping back, forming a line with our evil counterparts, it looks too much like how we used to be; together, we faced down any threat that dared to stand against us, but now... he's doing it against us in defiance. "Times are tough. You have to decide if the side you are on is for the best." he eventually says.

"Cool your anger, Superboy." Wonder Woman commands, utilising a battle stance. "And direct it these evil betrayers."

Peering down the, judging how I should be reacting, the rest of Young Justice and the Justice League is similar- ready and willing to face down the foes. Truly, this is the end that I marked down as a worst case scenario. With determination on both sides of the law, someone will pay the price.

"Ohh, look at how distraught they are. Friendships are such fickle things, aren't they?" the magical boy tutts. "You never know when the bond withers away and dies, forever lost to each other's undying hatred. I could almost cry, but no one wants to see that."

"Can't decide if that statement is a joke or real." Flash speaks out loud. "Not sure which creeps me out more." he adds on.

"Enough of the small talk, Luthor. Are you going to surrender or not?" Hal ends the conversation on a sour note, pushing for the conclusion.

"Why should we surrender ourself, Green Lantern? You are hopelessly outmatched and outgunned. Although you can't see it at the moment, I have made... improvments to the original templates you have at your side. A Mark Two Superboy against your Mark One. Genetically enhanced Robin versus a standard one. Plus, my friends here would already take you down, anyway." Lex Luthor cooly smiles, with an unmistakable air of arrogance around him.

"After all that we've been through, nothing is going to stop us. Not you, not your friends and not your twisted versions of us." Miss Martian brazenly states, showing a side to her that we never imagined would exist in the darkest of hours.

"How could you possibly hope to defeat your better halves, let alone the plethora of other things?" Lex raises an eyebrow, intriuged.

The ugly mess named Parasite sighs. "I'm starting to get hungry, Luthor. Do not test my patience any longer."

"We may be less powerful than the... uh... other us, but we have something that means we always walk out as the victor." I speak up. "Something that you, or anybody else that thinks they are superior, can never replace with inventions and powerful armour. Something that entire worlds fight over, yet only a select few have."

"Oh, and what might that be?" Luthor asks, unfazed.

Looking to the other determined faces meeting mine, I utter the words that will spark the battle to end all battles. "Courage," I whisper, loud enough that the rest can hear.

"For Justice!" Superman lets out a war cry, immediately throwing himself at his armoured arch nemesis, sending them both into the mountain behind the ruined castle with a loud crash. I guess... that was our cue, I assume, selecting my target amongst the Young Justice clones. Also, I'm guessing that the JL is taking down Luthor's gang, leaving the responsibiliity of handling 'Project Solar Dawn' to us. We should know ways to beat us, right?

Out of us all, I guess that fighting ourselves is the best option. Less chance of confusion that way. Damn, just noticed that they are similar clothes. Although, there is a slight difference. For my duplicate, his body is wrapped in just golden yellow, making it easier on me. Artemis and Robin- the cloned ones- are wearing darker coloured versions of their own costumes. Miss M two has pretty much the same outfit on, and Conner Mark Two has a white solar suit on. Still, Wally's twin has a silver suit on instead of yellow. Okay, it isn't too bad.

Out of nowhere a blue hammer smashes into my face, knocking me to the ground a few feet backwards. The recipient of the attack- the traitor, Kaldur- along with evil me approach me, calmly strolling towards me, currently on the ground and thinking of a construct to get out of this mess.

Targeting Kaldur with my rage ring, I unleash an Indiana Jones style boulder at him. Right at the last second before it barrels into him, he dodges by rolling to the side. Smirking, I simply make the ball swerve to the right, rolling over him in a comical fashion.

Having bought myself precious few moments, I adopt the age-old strategy of divide and conquer. Soaring into the air upwards, the faint swooshing informs me that the clone is on my tail. Unluckily for him, I've been trained by the experienced Kilowog in the art of combat flying, something that being born in a test tube doesn't provide.

Dodging energy blasts sent from directly below me, I perform an Immelman maneuver as you would in an aircraft. Now facing the oncoming traffic so to speak, a large, crimson hammer suddenly appears in my hands, which I use to crash into the follower with an almighty bang. Following as the clone soars back to the earth, I continue unleashing blow after blow on the clone, satisfied by the groans with each hit. Letting off one last smash, his body crashes into the ground in the middle of the action, kicking up a dust cloud. Once the dust cleared, the prone body of the clone lies in a sizabe, deep crater.

Allowing me to sit back and search for anyone that needs instant support, I notice how Black Manta and Mammoth have already been dealt with, unsuprisingly leaving the weird boy and Parasite left to beat, both of whom seem to be holding their own against the founding members. However, Miss Martian appears to be struggling against her counterpart... or is it the other way around? I cannot tell which, so... I'm thoroughly confused.

"M'gann! Which one are you!?" I yell, hovering close by the action, ready to pounce.

"It's me!" one of them shouts, continuing to struggle with the other, extra limbs battling it out in arm wrestling style.

"Don't trust her, it's me!" the other also shouts at me, fairly bemusing me further. Come on, real M'gann, give me something to go on.

As though hearing my thoughts, one of the two looks straight at me with resignation upon her face. Suddenly, her form changes until she takes the shape of a White Martian. Brave enough to reveal herself- that's our friend, all right.

Launching rage blasts at the unchanged M'gann, she changes to avoid the energy, bending inwards to avoid the ones straying to the outside and making holes for the few directed towards the chest. However, the real M'gann takes advantage and seizes the upper hand, grappling with the fake roughly.

Before I could react, a heavy body lands across my chest, bringing me to the ground in a heap. The furious figure of Conner gets off me, clutching his ribs. From here, the body language all points towards the real version (as real as a clone can be)- angry, getting angrier and heaving with rage.

"You okay, buddy?" I ask. "Nice of you to pop by."

"I can't beat the other me. Somehow, he's stronger than me. Really stronger." he answers. Sinisterly, said other clone floats above us ominously, faint sparks of red coming from his fingertips.

"Plan B, then. I get this guy and you get Aqualad." I say. Reluctantly, Conner nods and jumps away. "It's just me and you now, pal." I taunt the flying clone.

"A ring user... too easy for me." he replies. In the blink of an eye, his face is practically touching mine. "Shall we?"

"Let's dance!"

Richard Grayson/Robin's POV

Sloppy, evil Robin down with several broken bones, I join the fight against Artemis. The two trade arrows and blows simultaneously, both within a millimetre of hitting their targets. Palming a shock disk, I catch the evil Artemis by surprise, causing her to drop down convulsing with the electrical current flowing down her body. Badly bruised from my fight, I couldn't risk engaging in close combat, despite both Artemis' obvious discomfort and shallow cuts.

"Glad you could lend a hand. She was starting to overmatch me." Artemis huffs, her breathing laboured. Scanning the battlefield, the Justice League has somehow found a way to defeat their share of the foes, with Superman dropping Lex Luthor's unconscious body with Parasite's. However, the boy is nowhere to be seen.

M'gann and Wally have completed their battles, both are sore sights, adorned with cuts and bruises more severe than any we possess.

Crashing into the ground and having Superboy two landing on him with two feet down is Kyle, grunting with the impact. Trapping the Superboy clone with a lasso, he shapes his hand into a golden mace and punches his enemy in the face, who is sent catapulting backwards into the keep of the castle. "Wooo!" he screams into the air. "That boy sure is powerful."

"And so am I!" suddenly, a bright blue sword pierces through an exposed piece in Kyle's armour. Stood, Kyle lets out a pained cry.

All time seems to halt. Memories of joy, friendship and good moments flash before my eyes. Time slows down, every second lasting an eternity. People shout Kyle's name. Aqualad gets pulled through a portal with a smirk on his face. YJ and JL rush to our comrade.

As fast as it slowed down, it returns to normal. Kyle falls to the ground, eyes fixed forwards, never blinking.

"Kyle!" Artemis gasps, hurrying over along with the rest of the team.

But... fate has already chosen our friend's path. One by one, his rings take off in a sombre exit. The words everyone dreaded speak out.

"Sinestro Corp Lantern of Sector 2814... deceased."

A/N

This is it folks- the end of a story I so desperately wanted to tell. The end of a story of redemption, comradery and the never ending search for purpose.

Taking this back a notch, I want to say that I am deeply humbled by the endless support recieved from you people. Nearly 10, 000 views; the greatest amount I have ever recieved in any story that I have done so far.

If you are reading this, don't be mad, please. And, check out the timetable I will be posting on my profile. It will tell you when I will be updating each week and the one after.