This Is Not My Future

by WonderSuperBat

Batman receives a unexpected visit from a person who came to warn and prevent an apocalyptic future. Join the person in a trip to the future. Watch the Bat-family and the Justice League gather their strongest members to stop a villain from causing a tragic future in where villains are strong, heroes become corrupt or die, and the young heroes are the only ones standing.

4. Chapter 4: Change

Author Note: This chapter takes place in the future and a year has passed since the death of many heroes, to put in perspective Damian would be twelve around this time.

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"I am [static] proud [static] Bruce. Don't [static]. Live well [static]. Forgive [static] and I love [static]. Bruce" The message finished, Bruce for a year used his spare time to work on fixing the damage tape that Alfred, let him.

Today, he finished repairing the tape to the best possible condition and for the last hours, he heard Alfred's last words over and over again. He is able to piece the missing words in the message that is block by static the first time he heard the tape, but he continues to hear in a way not wanting to let go of Alfred. He never wants to let anyone close to him be forgotten. He hears the tape, stares at the picture of the whole Bat-family including Luke and Kate, and reads over the list of heroes that died a year ago.

Nobody should ever be forgotten.

Bruce lost in his thoughts of ways that tragedy could've been avoided. He hears his intercom of the JL buzz.

"Batman…" A similar woman's voice calls out to him.

"I am here, Wonder Woman." He replies.

"It is time to decide our allies and welcome the new heroes." Diana informs him.

"I know. I will be in the Justice League Hall in a couple of hours." Bruce tells her and turns off his intercom. He moves away from his work place and calls the rest of the Bat–family to make their way to the Justice League Hall. Twelve-year-old Damian arrives to the Batcave and presents himself to his father.

"We are leaving, father?" Damian questions

"Yes." Bruce answers. They both get in the Bat car and ride off towards the Justice League Hall.

"Father, are you okay with this decision?" Damian asks his father as they get closer to the Justice League Hall.

"The remaining seven have made the decision that would be best for the Justice League." Bruce replies.

"Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and you are the only one left of the original seven. Could you three really make the right decision?" Damian continues to question.

"Why are against this, Damian?" Bruce interrogates Damian.

"I am not. I know you don't agree with this. Father, you are not fond of the idea of young heroes becoming Justice League members and having to fight in the frontlines, alongside the adult members." Damian argues.

"No, I am not happy with the idea. But that is how desperate we are. We are doing this to protect normal citizens and preparing the young heroes to take up the mantle in case the older members fall." Bruce states.

They arrive at the Justice League Hall they are slowly join by the rest of the Bat-family members; Barbara, Dick, Jason, Cassandra, Tim, and Stephanie.

Dick is accompanied by his wife, Koriand'r, and his daughter, Mar'I. Mar'I holding tightly onto Kory's hand, she is scared. She is not ready to become a hero, but she will not stand back and watch people die. She doesn't want to see anybody die.

Diana arrives with Donna and Cassie. Wonder-family greets the Bat-family. Diana grabs Bruce to converse, before they start the event of welcoming heroes. Cassie and Tim stare at each other and walk off with each other, they both wish to speak of the same thing, Superboy. Donna decides to stay with the rest of the members to have a light chat. Donna explains Diana and her have been finalizing Cassie's training to be a powerful and independent superheroine. She is ready to become a JL member as the rest of the Titans.

Jamie, Connor, and Zachary arrive around the same time. They are the last remaining Titans with Cassie and Tim.

Jamie decided to invite his family to see him receive the JL membership for they understand that he is determined to become a member. This will able him to get his hands on more resources for him to be able to save people, even if it means an increase in danger. His mom keeps looking at him with a mixture of worry, understanding, and proudness in her eyes for her son.

Zachary is with his own mother, Zatanna, she is one of the few JL members still alive. Zachary is not interested in becoming a hero. It is true many heroes have lost their lives this past year, but he doesn't see it as his responsibility to take up where someone left off. Zachary is only doing this because Zatanna guilt him to use his magical talent to become a hero. But it would sharpen his skills in magic and he will be able to parade his JL membership.

Connor is alone. None of his family is left, they all died or are missing. He is the only archer left for the Justice League. He needs to become a member to help the JL and not let anyone else suffer what the way he did.

Linda arrives with her twins, Jai and Irey, they are both in costumes. Irey has been training with Bruce to improve her powers, she is the only speedster they have left. Jai has been training alongside Ray because he has talent in computer and tech. Linda offers her skills in medicine to the JL becoming their main medical doctor. She is showing her own children techniques in medicine.

Ray appears before Jai to congratulate him and Irey on coming this far. His own daughter, Joy, has chosen to learn the same things as Jai and made her own suit, similar to her father. She is optimistic of this battle she has enlisted, she believes the rest of heroes and her will fight and claim victory.

Lois enters the JL Hall and she looks at the sculpture of Superman that stands before her and her son. Chris is determined to become a hero against Lois wishes. She lost her husband because he followed the career path of a hero. It pains her to see her son follow his father's footsteps, but she will not stop him because she will never stop Clark from becoming Superman, even if she knew the things to come. Chris has been practicing his powers endlessly to be able to become member of the JL, to be able to protect many people, to never see someone fall before his eyes again.

Arthur Curry and Mera Curry join the rest of the heroes. Their twins, Mera II and Arthur II, have become known as Aquagirl and Aquaboy, but are moving on to become JL members. Arthur separates from his family to discuss about final preparations with Diana and Bruce. Mera stays with her children, she is proud of her children deciding to become part of the Justice League. She is going to become a member, as well. The whole family will stand strong and united against the enemy who decided to attack them.

Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, Booster Gold, Goldstar, John Stewart and Guy Gardner have come as the remaining JL member or to become JL members.

Diana, Arthur, and Bruce are done discussing and making preparations. Their decision has become final. Diana stands in a platform to present her speech.

"We welcome the young and old heroes. I, Wonder Woman, Diana, the once, princess of the beautiful island of Themyscira, and a member of the seven founders of the Justice League, stand before all of you to welcome and congratulate you as a member of the Justice League. We have not come to this decision because we are in desperate times. We have made this decision to invite you to the Justice League because an enemy has threaten our world and has come to destroy us. We will not fall, we will stand strong. We attack the enemy for hurting us, for trying to break us. We lost many heroes that built this foundation, but we are adding new heroes, today, to keep foundation strong. We will not crumble. We are not receiving you into our league because we want lambs to be slaughtered. We want you to stand firm, to fight, and to stay alive. This is the reason we elder heroes came together to train you and will continue to do so. However, we have seen that you are worthy to become your own heroes, in case we fall, you will be courageous enough to stand where we stood. Stand Now! We are not downgrading the idea of being a member to the Justice League, we are raising you up to be able to carry this mantle!"

Diana finishes her speech, cheers and applause come over the crowd. She begins to give the young heroes their own communicator. Happiness comes around the whole Justice League, welcoming the new members. Lois is happy to see Chris get his own intercom and fly towards her, with his red cape flowing behind him. Chris shows a confused look, while he comes towards Lois. Lois wonders what her son is looking at, so she looks behind her. Lex Luthor is walking towards the group of heroes.

Diana flies towards Lex, she stops in front of him, and pulls her sword towards his neck.

"How dare you appear here!?" Diana demands answers from him.

"I don't come here to cause harm. I wish to talk." Lex answers. "Also, I was invited."

"What!?" Diana asks. Bruce appears behind her and gently pulls her away from Lex.

"I invited him, because he has very interesting information he shared. I want him to tell everybody." Bruce claims. Diana slowly removes her sword from Lex's throat, but continues to glare at him.

"Lex, tell everything you told me." Bruce commands. Lex fixes his suit and commences to speak.

"I am not here as an enemy. I want to be an ally. I understand if I am not a member of the Justice League for my crimes. I do wish to assist the Justice League because I can trust all of you to protect Earth."

"We will protect Earth without your assistance." Arthur interrupts, still not trusting Lex. Bruce stops Arthur from approaching closer. Bruce gives a gesture to Lex to continue.

"I don't mean to offend." Lex continues. "I want to help you by giving all the resources of my company at your disposal and my brilliant mind to assist you. I might've wish the death of Superman, but I don't want Earth to be destroyed or be under the rule of Darkseid. I wish to fight alongside the Justice League against a common enemy."

"You expect us to agree to your propositions?" Diana questions him, not willing to trust Lex.

"I don't expect anything from the Justice League, however Batman is willing to take my helping hand." Lex claims.

"Why?!" Diana turns her attention to Bruce.

"We need his help, we lost many heroes and with them resources. He can provide resources. He gave his word to not turn against us. He prove this by giving me certain information." Bruce explains and switches the attention towards Lex, again.

"I met Darkseid." Lex claims.

"What?" Many heroes question and others gasp.

"Actually I received a message from Darkseid a couple of months back. He wanted me to join his army and he will reward me anything I wish for if I allied myself with him. I thought about it for a couple of minutes, at the end I love this world and want to protect it from aliens who wish to destroy it. So I refused his offer. My rejection was not taken kindly and he warned me that I made a grave mistake. He was able to transport his omega beam through the message and it almost hit me. I didn't think too much about it the message, until I pondered more about the invitation. I realized if he invited me, who else would he have invited? From this encounter it is proof enough that I am not the only villain he is going to contact, he is building his army with some of the Justice League's greatest enemies. You might be building the Justice League with these new members, but he is constructing his army with very strong, experience villains. Once he is done strengthening his force, he will launch another attack to conquer our planet." Lex explains.

~0~

"Oh, Darky! How long are you going to keep me here?" A sinister voice asks and lets out a laugh.

"I will let you out when you give me a coherent answer of my proposal." Darkseid declares.

"It is so boring in this locked room, at least torture me to give you the answer. You are less fun than Supey." The voice keeps joking around approaching closer to the bar window of the lock door.

"I believe that boredom is your torture." Darkseid states.

The man behind the lock door grabs the bars tightly and lets out a maniac laugh.

"Joker, what is your answer?" Darkseid demands an answer from him.

"Why did you capture me instead of give me an email like the rest?" Joker interrogates Darkseid.

"I knew to gain an answer from you I need to trap you long enough to gain a stable response from you." Darkseid explains.

"Do you like games?" Joker gleefully asks.

"What?" Darkseid questions.

"Do you like games, Darky?" Joker repeats.

"Are you playing with me?" Darkseid expresses his annoyance by Joker's question.

"I am playing. You are playing. We all are playing. But do you like playing, Darky, because you will be playing for a long time." Joker remarks and lets out another laugh that rings through Darkseid's castle.

"I will torture her for you can hear her screams." Darkseid threatens.

"I hurt her every day. Why would I care?" Joker retorts.

"You will care once you see Harlequin cry tears of blood." Darkseid guarantees Harley's suffering. Joker keeps laughing, suddenly his smile turns into a deep frown.

"You better offer something more worth more than her life, because once I get out from this box you call a prison, I will escape with her in my arms and laughing as we fly away from this planet of fire. I will leave you without an army and bleeding. Don't test me, Darky." Joker claims.

"I don't bleed. I am a God. You don't want to cross me, Joker." Darkseid replies. Moments pass of intense silence between Joker and Darkseid.

"I do have another offer." Darkseid says. He pulls out a Green Gem in front of Joker. It glows over Joker's large smile.

"The Green Gem of will and chaos." Darkseid introduces the gem to Joker.

"When you have all the will to overpower the universe, to overpower order, you will have chaos. I give you the power over chaos." Darkseid proclaims.

"Why didn't you say that in the first place?! I will trade Harley in a second, for that gem. You know how to please me, Darky. You make me the happiest clown, I accept I will join your army!" Joker gladly accepts Darkseid's offer and sticks his arm out to reach for the gem.

"I demand your loyalty. Let me be able to control you." Darkseid demands.

"Of course! I invite you to enter my mind. Give me the gem!" Joker agrees.

Darkseid enters Joker's chaotic mind and uses his powers to its full potential to control Joker's mind.

"Lord Darkseid." The red lips mutter. Darkseid succeeds in taking complete control of Joker's mind. He puts the gem in Joker's hand. The gem imbeds itself into the hand.

After a moment, Joker begins to chuckle. Darkseid is confused he is certain he had control over Joker. The chuckle involves into a manic laugh. Darkseid realizes that the power of will the gem grants is greater than he anticipated. Darkseid shoots his omega beams towards Joker, however Joker counterattacks with a powerful green blast. The beam and blast cancel each other out, yet Joker sends a giant green fist to punch Darkseid through many walls. This alerts his soldiers and the Female Furies, they proceed to attack Joker.

Joker puts a green shield around him and sends a blast to every direction pushing the Furies back. Bloody Mary was able to sneak behind and bites Joker's neck. She begins to suck his blood and energy. Joker constructs a green hand from his energy to pull off Bloody Mary and forces a surge of energy down her throat.

"Get filled, Honey!" Joker laughs as he witnesses her starting to swell. Her veins lighten up with green energy. The energy fills her and her veins and arteries burst. She explodes. Granny Goodness angry by Joker killing one of her furies, she commences to combat him with her mega-rod. She commands all her furies to destroy him. It is futile, he is able to throw them back. He uses the green energy to form giant knives with smiles drawn on them. He pierces the furies.

"Dammit." Barnadeth curses as she finds one of the knives piercing across her abdomen. Lashina cannot enjoy the sight of Bernadeth dying, because she is trying to dodge Joker's bombs that he created with the energy. Joker is able to explode a bomb in Lashina's face, pushing her back, and construct a hammer to smash Gilotina through the wall. Joker floats over to Barnedth and grabs the knife from her hand. He loves knives. He cuts her face off as a scream of agony rings out. He proceeds to cut her heart out and leave the knife in her corpse to watch it burn into ashes. He retrieves the knife, happy with his new friend, which will join his collection. He tosses her face and heart out the window into a magma river. He bursts into an evil laughter. He begins to levitate and flies through the hallways to find his girlfriend.

"Mr.J" Harley sequels in excitement. Joker knocks the door down and walks towards Harley. He creates two small hands that takes the glove off on one of the hands and slaps Harley with the glove.

"Mr. J. Why?!" Harley cries out in confusion.

"I need to claim you again, Harl." Joker explains.

He sweeps her from her feet and flies away as troops of Darkseid shoot beams to their direction. Joker and Harley are able to highjack a small space ship and launch off. Their laughs fill the blood red sky of Apokolips.

~0~

After a couple of days, they crash onto Earth in the middle of the ocean. They open the door and poke their heads out to investigate their surroundings.

"This is why woman should not drive!" Joker claims and hits Harley over the head.

"You were driving Mr. J." Harley retorts and pushes him off the ship. He pops his head above the water.

"Hmm. Woman are always right, as well. It might be hallucinations that impair my driving." Joker mumbles to himself. A smile comes over his face.

"Never mind! Let's head straight to Gotham, Harley. I must gain Batman's loyalty, again. He will dare to be distracted by Darkseid's attack and not pay attention to me. He will regret it." He says and a laugh breaks out.

~0~

Everybody in the Justice League meeting ponder over Lex's warning. Bruce received the warning first, yet he still thinks about it. This means anybody who was Justice League's enemy at any point could possibly join Darkseid's forces.

Could Joker…

"Bruce." A sensual voice interrupts his thoughts. He turns around to see Catwoman walking towards him.

"Selina. What are you doing here?" Bruce questions.

"You know why I am here. You knew for a couple months, now. I am here for you not to get lost in your grief, Bruce." Selina explains.

"Thank you, but I don't need your help." Bruce rejects her.

She is in front of him, blocking him from his work. They are staring into each other's eyes.

"Yes, Selina?" He questions her.

"Let's have a date, Bruce." She demands from Bruce.

"No. I am busy." Bruce refuses her offer.

"How long has it been, since we had a night together?" Selina asks him.

"I don't know, but I am not in the mood, Selina." Bruce continues to reject her. He returns to his work, but she grabs his chin and turns it to focus on her angry green eyes.

"You are making everyone worry about you. I was going to give you space for a little while longer, if not for your robins' and batgirls' growing concern over you. They don't want to leave you alone, but you have brush all of them off. I am not afraid or have respect for you to listen to your orders. So you will get out of this stuffy cave. We need the night. We need each other. Let's enjoy the stars and a chase around Gotham." She persists.

She approaches the exit of the cave and looks at him over her shoulder. He wants to return to his work and be alone, however her eyes and the idea of the night seduces him. He needs to chase after her.

They run through the city and stop crime when they spot it. They alongside each other, care for one another, and share an intimacy between each other throughout the night.

The night is nearing dawn. They both stare at the sun rising over the city. Bruce spots a ship falling into the bay of Gotham. Catwoman and Batman head to the area to investigate the crash.

The ship floats to the shore. Catwoman and Batman approach the ship, cautiously.

Catwoman sees the door open of the ship. She enters, having her whip in her hand. Harley ambushes her and begins to fight with Catwoman. Batman tries to intervene, however joker shoots a green beam to him to push him into the bay.

"Hello, Batsy! Did you miss me?!" Joker announces his presence to Batman. He creates a large green hand to grab Batman and bring him closer.

"Do you like my new powers? I found it very handy!" He remarks showing the gem imbedded in his hand.

Joker slams Batman on the ground multiple times. Catwoman notices Batman needs help. She wraps her whip around Harley and throws her out of the way. She snaps her whip to Joker's hand which makes the gem flinch for a moment, yet long enough to release Batman from Joker's grasp. When the gem reciprocates, Joker is very upset by her interruption. He attacks her and is able to grab her with the gem's power and slams her into the ocean. He keeps her under the water. Batman punches Joker in the face to let go of Catwoman. The tactic succeeds but Catwoman can't swim, she is drowning. Batman rushes into the water to save her. Joker pulls him back with the green energy.

"You are so mean, Batsy." Joker complains. Batman struggles from Joker's grip, but his attempts are failing. Catwoman is drowning before his eyes.

Catwoman feels the water filling her lungs. She is going under the water.

Wonder Woman dives into the water and flies out with Catwoman in her arms. She begins CPR to revive Catwoman. Catwoman spits out the water that filled her lungs. She begins to recover. Wonder Woman pulls out her sword and attacks Joker. Joker puts Batman as a shield to block Wonder Woman's attacks, however she pushes Batman on the ground and punches Joker, sending him flying, letting go of Batman. Harley tries to attack Wonder Woman, but Wonder Woman picks her up and throws her towards Joker. Wonder Woman leaps and slams down in front of Joker and Harley. She wraps them with her lasso, but Joker is proving with the gem's power he is able to resist the lasso's submissive powers. She lifts her sword above Joker.

"You will not kill me." Joker smirks, confident of his statement.

"I will not, but I will take that hand!" Wonder Woman claims swinging down her sword. He uses all of his energy from the gem to escape from the power of the lasso.

He is exhausted, however he keeps his smile on his face.

"Well this is a great date, but dawn is coming and I have to go, Batsy! Don't invite friends in the next date and I will give you a kiss!" Joker jokes and lets out an evil laugh.

He grabs Harley around the waist and uses the remaining energy from the gem to fly away. Their laughs echoes through Gotham city's sky.

In the Batcave, Bruce and Selina had their wounds healed. Diana is accompanying them. Also, Diana brought the ship that Joker and Harley crashed into the bay of Gotham.

"Joker got a new power?" Diana questions Bruce hoping he would know something about it.

"It is new to me, as well, Diana. However it seems the same as Green Lantern's powers and it comes from the gem in his hand. This tells me if we take away his hand he will lose the power. Also his power likely has the same weaknesses as Green Lantern." Bruce explains.

"Good. You will not fight him alone, I will be there to help you handle the Joker." Diana promises.

Bruce is about to protest but she interrupts him before he can.

"I will hit you if you reject my help. You know if I wasn't there one or both of you would have died. I will help, if you stop me I will break both of your arms and then another hero can come protect you city, maybe Booster Gold." Diana claims, cracking her fists to get ready to injure Bruce. Bruce stays silent. His silence shows he accepts her help.

"We have the ship. We have a way to arrive to Apokolips, Bruce. We can use this." Diana states.

"I know. I am preparing plans for espionage on Apokolips to see who else is joining Darkseid's forces and investigate their plans before the next attack." Bruce says.

"That sounds interesting." Selina joins the conversation.

"This does not involve you." Bruce tires to push her interest away for her own safety.

"I know I am not a Justice League member, but I want to help and I am great at espionage, better than you Bruce." Selina comments.

"No. I have been to Apokolips before and I will go." Bruce retorts.

"What about Gotham?" Selina questions. "You know Joker, you can fight him. Besides, he will create more chaos just to find you!"

Bruce ponders, it is true that he is the only one who can truly defeat Joker. He could leave the city to Diana, but she doesn't understand the Joker. He needs to be here to protect Gotham. Still, he can't let Selina go.

"You are not going. It is too dangerous for you." Bruce orders.

"Are you sending your robins or batgirls? I doubt that!" Selina argues.

"There's other Justice League members that can take this mission." Bruce asserts.

"Nobody as good as us! They will die in this mission!" Selina counters.

"Enough!" Diana stops their argument.

"Bruce, Arthur, and I will be the ones to decide who will be the infiltration team, but I do recognize your talents Catwoman, I nominate you." Diana states and Bruce confronts Diana. He glares at her and she returns the glare. She stands her ground. After a moment of tension pass, Bruce speaks.

"We will discuss about this further, tomorrow, at the meeting. You can escort yourself out, Diana."

"Of course." Diana trades farewell's with both of them and leaves the cave. Minuets of silence pass between Selina and Bruce.

"Bruce I know this is asking a lot, but don't worry about me. I don't want to stand alone or protect myself anymore. I want to fight alongside you to protect Earth." She claims as she caresses Bruce's cheek and brings him into a passionate kiss.

~0~

Barbara is preparing her utility belt with all the gadgets she will need for her mission on Apokolips. Barbara arrives to the cave. She notices Bruce checking the ship. He finished repairs many weeks ago, but every day he checks if the ship is completely functional. He needs to because if unfortunate circumstances unfold, Barbara and Selina will. They both have been chosen for this dangerous espionage mission. Barbara approaches Bruce, she looks over his work.

"Everything looks functional and durable for our travel." Barbara says trying to ease Bruce's worries.

"Batman…Bruce, I will come back with Selina. I know you are worried about us and don't want to lose either of us. You protect me and care for me like a father. I have seen you as a second father. I guess my only father, now." Barbara states and silence remains for a couple of minutes, then she continues to look straight into Bruce's eyes.

"I am afraid to lose you as much as you are to lose me. We both lost people recently and are afraid to lose again. But I would never stop you to risk your life to help others, so don't stop us." Barbara requests from Bruce.

Bruce gets closer to Barbara and pulls her in an embrace. He thinks of her as a daughter, but knows he won't stop her or Selina from this mission. He already accepted it, however he could not help but be anxious. Looking at Barbara's confidence eases his worries.

An hour later, Selina, Diana, Arthur, and other members of the Justice League arrive in the Batcave to see Selina and Barbara off in the espionage mission. Diana, Arthur, and Bruce go over the plan to Barbara and Selina. They need to find any information from Apokolips about any future attacks, a list of enemies they will face, and any other details that would prove to be useful.

"I will pray to mighty Hera to be by your side and for a safe return." Diana says.

"I will take that as wishing us luck." Selina replies.

"Keep in contact with the intercoms there might be a slight risk of losing contact." Bruce states.

"We promise." Barbara asserts.

Justice League members wish them to stay safe and return to them. Barbara heads into the ship, but Selina stays there locking her eyes with Bruce's eyes. They share a deep kiss with each other, not afraid show everyone how much love they have for another.

"Come back." Bruce whispers.

"I will." Selina guarantees.

Selina gets into the ship. They start the ship and launch off to the planet Apokolips. Finally, they will be a step ahead and prevent what happen a year ago to happen again.

~0~

Some days pass since their departure from Earth. Barbara and Selina spent that time conversing and sharing facts of each other's lives; recounting times they have worked with each other. They were finishing retelling of a funny encounter with crime. Their giggles fill the ship, such happiness traveling towards the planet of despair.

Barbara checks on the intercoms, however she only hears a buzz and no reply from Bruce. She calls over a couple more times.

"We are on our own, Selina." Barbara says.

"That's fine. It would be better not having someone shout in our ears about our safety." Selina comments.

Barbara might not have been a friend with Selina all the time, but she knew Selina had a good heart. Selina risks her life to help them infiltrate Apokolips, find out Darkseid's plans, and prevent lives being lost. She needs to be certain that Selina will return.

"You are very important to Bruce, Selina." Barbara states as they see Apokolips coming into view.

"It is the same for you, Barbs. That is the reason we need to come back to him or he will be more difficult to handle." Selina jokes and lets out a small giggle as they approach the burning Hell of Apokolips.

The ship enters the platform, the soldier demands for the ship to open its door. It opens and they enter to notice no one visible. They check the ships computer to notice it has been autopilot to return the platform. They notice nothing strange. However Batgirl and Catwoman clinging on the ceiling, then sneak out of the ship and escape into the darkness avoiding the ignorant guards.

Catwoman and Batgirl sneak around Apokolips and are able to enter Darkseid's castle. Batgirl and Catwoman have been in luck not catching one guard's gaze, yet inside the castle is very difficult to maneuver around trying not to draw attention of the furies and generals. They are searching for the massive database of Apokolips.

Batgirl and Catwoman find it. Batgirl begins to extract data, while Catwoman keeps guard. She transfers data from the database to the computer in the ship.

"Catwoman, it is unbelievable. They extracted little DNA from the original Doomsday to make very weak copies. No wonder they didn't obliterate the cities. Also they have been experimenting on their own soldiers to make them stronger like Rip Roar. Wait…they are going to add a new general…"

Batgirl's mouth is covered by Catwoman, she pulls the devise away from the computer. They are able to hide in a dark corner of the ceiling. Darkseid, Granny Goodness, and Steppenwolf enter the room. They switch into a camera showing Supergirl's and Superboy's burn, scared, broken, bleeding, starve, and naked bodies. Batgirl and Catwoman are disturb by the image of Supergirl and Superboy state, they are barely alive. Batgirl is surprise to see them alive, they have been missing for a year, yet they breathe. But how could she rejoice when their eyes are blank.

"They are about to give in, Lord Darkseid. We should insert the red gem into one of them and make them your new general of an army." Granny Goodness suggest.

"It is the girl." Steppenwolf remarks. "The boy has given up. We should go for the stronger one."

"I know what I must do." Darkseid states and pulls out the violet, red, yellow, blue, and white gems. Batgirl and Catwoman continue to observe in silence.

Darkseid grabs the red gem and the three of them leave the room. Catwoman and Batgirl come out of hiding and continue to look at the cameras witnessing their friends being tortured. Batgirl can't bare this, she installs her drive to continue transferring data, but she is going to save them. Catwoman grabs her arm to stop her.

"If you go to save them, you will give away our mission and our safety. We could die saving them." Catwoman warns.

"I risk my life every day to save strangers. Of course, I will risk everything to save my friends." Batgirl determine to save them.

"I don't understand why you would do that it must be a hero thing." Catwoman comments. "I will help you distract them while you save them."

"No. I can't let that happen." Batgirl rejects.

"Hey, we are partners. I will do this, Bruce can't stop me, and you definitely can't stop me." Catwoman says and steals two gems, the blue and white gem, and heads off to confront Darkseid. Batgirl grabs the violet and yellow gems and follows Selina.

They sneak around not gaining the attention of the guards until they reach the room. They witness that Darkseid is about to insert the red gem in Supergirl's chest. Catwoman wraps her whip around Darkseid's wrist and uses all her strength to slightly pull his arm. It is enough to gain Steppenwolf, Darkseid, and Granny Goodness attention.

"Oh shit." Catwoman says and begins to run for her life.

"After her." Darkseid commands Steppenwolf and Granny Goodness to chase her. He walks towards the door to witness their chase. This gives Batgirl the opportunity to release Superboy and Supergirl from their imprisonment.

"Kon…Kara…I will get you out of here. I promise." Batgirl declares.

She grabs both of them, one in each arm. She tries to make her way towards the exit, quietly sneaking behind Darkseid. Suddenly, his arm swings back, almost hitting Batgirl.

"You think I won't notice you, you humans think too highly about yourselves." Darkseid says.

He approaches Batgirl. Batgirl puts Supergirl and Superboy down on the ground. She pulls out the violet and yellow gems. Darkseid looks at Batgirl.

"You don't know how to control the gems." Darkseid states.

"Well, I must think highly of myself, because I know I can use them to hurt you." Batgirl asserts.

She concentrates on the gem and lets out a small blast of violet light. Darkseid's omega beams are able to destroy the violet blast with ease and continues to move his omega beams towards Batgirl. She is able to dodge it, but it changes its directions and keeps attacking her. She continues to use her skills to dodge; backflips, quick turns, slides, etc. However, the longer this continues the harder it gets to dodge the beams.

She can't lose. If she dies, she will fail getting them out of there. The gem feels the love she has to protect her friends. She doesn't want to lose anyone, again. The gem begins to give a slight glow, she notices and dares to take a stance and concentrate on the gem to give a giant violet blast. It overpowers the omega beam and hits Darkseid. The red gem slips from Darkseid's hand and it falls into Superboy's chest. Superboy lets out a scream of agony. Tee red gem imbeds itself in his heart, red light flows into his veins. He begins to lose control. He vomits blood and starts screaming in rage. He shoots his laser beams all over the place. He attacks Batgirl, grabs her, and crushes through the walls of the castle. She drops the violet and yellow gems. He is grabbing her tightly around the neck.

"Conner! Stop!" Batgirl pleas.

His laser beam builds up to burn through her skull. Supergirl gains the strength to push Superboy away and save Batgirl. She slowly flies down on the ground, then falls into Batgirl's arms.

"I will protect you because you are important to me too, Barbs." Supergirl whispers before losing consciousness. Batgirl begins to carry Supergirl on her back.

Dammit, Kara. Let me protect you.

Batgirl thinks as she heads back to the original ship. Batgirl contacts Catwoman.

"Catwoman, we need to go! We have been found. We need to retreat. Go back on the ship." Batgirl orders.

"On it! Start the ship, I will be there." Catwoman guarantees.

She continues to run from Granny Goodness. Steppenwolf left to deal with Superboy who is losing control. The female furies and Steppenwolf are trying to stop him. Catwoman is trying to lose Granny Goodness by making quick turns in corners, leaping to and from buildings. Granny Goodness keeps her smile as she comes closer to Catwoman. She smashes down her rod and Catwoman is barely able to dodge it. She swings the rod and hits Catwoman's side. Catwoman gasps as she hits the wall. Rubble collapse on top of her legs. Granny Goodness approaches her and lifts the rod over Catwoman's head.

"You have been enough trouble, Kitty. Now to catch you, tie you in a bag, and throw you into the river. Well, it will be a river of fire." Granny Goodness snickers and comes down with her rod. Catwoman uses the blue gem and shoots a small blast to Granny Goodness. It strikes her. Granny shakes her head and a look of shock comes over her face.

"Oh my. I can't believe what I am doing." She begins to lift the rabble off Catwoman's legs. Catwoman is confused by her sudden kindness. She looks at the blue gem.

Could have this caused her sudden change?

She ponders. She test it out by asking Granny to help her.

"I am injured. Could you help me to the ship?"

"Of course, honey!" Granny agrees and lifts Catwoman over her shoulder. She carries her through secret passages to the ship.

Steppenwolf is able to pin him under his foot and knock him unconscious. Steppenwolf is trying to contact Granny Goodness, but she is not responding. Steppenwolf alerts Darkseid.

"Catwoman!" Batgirl calls out and attacks Granny, believing that Granny wants to harm them. Batgirl is able to knock her out.

"She was actually helping me." Catwoman says.

"What?" Batgirl questions.

"It seems this blue gem changes her personality. We have to take these gems it will help us and hurt his plans." Catwoman explains.

"I lost my gems…and I lost Superboy." Batgirl says with disappointment in her voice. She fail to save Superboy.

"Hey! We will find a way to save him. But for now we have to leave." Catwoman tells Batgirl.

Batgirl wishes to save him, but needs to leave now. The mission is compromised and they need to go. She helps Catwoman into the ship and taking the gems from her. More than half of the data transfer into the computer of the ship. However it doesn't seem to be transferring anymore data, this means the device placed on the database was destroyed. They prepare for launch off, but the ship is caught by Darkseid. He pulls the ship down and Catwoman falls out of the ship. He catches her and begins to crush her in his hand. She tries to pull away. She struggles to push his fingers apart to let her go. She screams feeling her bones breaking. Batgirl throws her gadgets at Darkseid to release Catwoman, however it is not working. She grabs the blue gem and lets out a blast, but cancels out with the omega beams.

"Go!" Catwoman screams.

"No! I won't leave you. You will die!" Batgirl replies with tears in her eyes. Catwoman is able to swing her whip to hit the launch button. The ship's rockets blast on Darkseid's face, pushing him back. Batgirl cries out for Catwoman as she leaves Apokolips.

Darkseid furious, how could he be fooled by these humans? He slowly crushes Catwoman in his fist. Catwoman is gasping for air, her veins, muscles, and organs are being compress. The bones are fracturing in many places. In all the pain, she remembers her adventures and romantic last days she was with Bruce. She hopes with tears running down her face.

I hope this tragedy won't make him fall into darkness. I hope he can move on. I love you. I will miss you.

CRACK!

Her back snaps into two. She falls limp in his hands. But he continues to crush her body and treats her as a stress ball. He drops her body in the magma pits of Apokolips and walks back to his castle.

"Call Cyborg Superman, I will need him to train my new general. Granny Goodness will need to answer for her failure. Also, we need to change our plans." Darkseid orders Steppenwolf with frustration on his tone. He will destroy them.

~0~

The ship crashes into the soil of Earth. You can hear small sobs from Barbara. She mourns for the failure of the mission. She uses her intercom to call the Justice League. Bruce answers her call. He has been anxious for many days if they will return. He didn't expect to lose communication, but he finally hears a call from them.

"Oh, Bruce. I am so sorry." Barbara whimpers, he knew something went wrong. He needs her location and he will arrive there as soon as possible with Arthur and Diana.

Arthur, Diana, and Bruce arrive Barbara having tear streaks running down her face. She has an unconsciousness Kara on her lap, wrap in bandages and best first aid Barbara can do.

"Bruce…Selina is…" Barbara is stumbling over her words. Bruce's heart with a deep pain.

Diana picks up Kara and Arthur assists Barbara. Bruce stays in the same place, silent. He could not say anything to her, could not help her. He can't suppress the hurt and move on. He looks at the sky and hopes her return, but knows she will not come back. He knew when he heard Barbara's tone and didn't hear a single word from Selina. Too many memories and feelings flush in. He remains there, until the sky turns dark as his world. She is wrong, he is meant to be the only creature to live in the night.

~0~

A month pass since Batgirl and Supergirl arrive from the world of Apokolips. Supergirl fell into a deep coma from the yearlong of torture. Lois and her son visit Kara in her sleeping state. Chris cuddles with Kara as she lays there. Lois visits her every day, she is family. Happy to see her alive and hoping every day that she will wake up. Lois is not the only one, Linda and Bruce visit her, two medical experience people, who will be able to check her state. Barbara is a good friend who frequently visits her, with another Justice League member. Damian visits Kara many times. He tends to sneak in there when he is done with training and nobody else is around. He work with Kara before, and has a small crush on her, so annoyingly for him he can't help but worry for her.

However, he does find his time occupied. He tends to train with Dick in many different fighting styles. Dick invites the rest of his family, Kori and Mar'I. Kori helps train Damian and her daughter in the aspects of fighting someone who has powers and is much stronger than them. While Dick trains on their techniques in battle and how to outsmart their opponent. Mar'I and Damian have been fighting each other and assisting each other during their combat sessions. They have grown fond of each other and spend much time with each other, even after training. Mar'I has found Damian to be a good person, even with his personality. She has develop a small attraction to Damian. While Damian does find Mar'I very attractive, but doesn't step over his bounds because that his older brother's daughter and in a way a family member. However, Mar'I is proving to be a fast learner, very strong, and dependable partner.

Irey tends to pass by their training sessions and has grown fond of bothering Damian. She finds his reactions hilarious, but she also sees him as not a bad person, only a jerk. Also, she tends to annoy him for his attention because she likes him. Damian finds her annoying, but she does tend to want to train with him and learn many things about him. So he can't help but talk about himself or show that he is better than her. He is surprised she never is upset with her loss in battle or him poking fun of her. She might throw a remarks and puff her cheeks, but never storm off or wish to rip him apart. She bothers Damian, but she is patient with him as he is patient with her.

She loves spending time with Mar'I. She finds Mar'I very kind and converse with about anything, however neither have shared their feelings about Damian. She will talk to Mar'I all day if not her need to train with her mom, Linda, in the speed force or medical training. Linda is showing all the new Justice League members' basic first aid, but she is taking special time to teach Irey and Jai higher medical knowledge.

She talks to her brother about her training with the speed force and her developing new friendships with Damian and Mar'I. Jai finds Mar'I a compassionate person, but he doesn't agree with his sister about Damian. He finds Damian thinking too high of himself and not caring for other members of the team.

Jai is satisfied that he does not have to deal with Damian. He spends most of his time with Ray and Joy building technology that can protect citizens and attack Darkseid's army. Jai is learning from Ray many things about technology and functions of computers. He knows he does not have power, but he can become another tech person for the Justice League. Jai and Joy work together to build new gadgets. He finds her happiness intoxicating, she is very optimistic even these troubling times. She lost her mother in that horrible day, as he lost his father, and yet she is positive that everything will fine at the end. She stutters over her words and is a tech-nerd. She helps him in anything and accepts his help. She is smart, beautiful, and she lifts his spirits. He cannot help but fall for a beacon of light in this dark tunnel. However, he can't tell her, he does not see himself as worthy for someone so happy, and he believes she will not return his feelings.

Joy does not notice Jai's feelings, even how many hours of the day she spends with him. The reason is she devotes her time in advancing her own atom suit that will help her face against the enemies. Ray and her daughter are spending much time updating their suits. He loves spending time with his daughter, it has been healing their heart from the loss of Felicity.

Ray spends most of his time constructing galactic weapons to fight Apokolips soldiers, though. Lex puts himself in charge of the project he finds himself smarter than Ray. Ray does not like Lex and distrust him, however can't deny his technological genius. Lex is helping the Justice League to save the world, but will not make effort to get along with them or teach any of the new members.

Lex in occasions visits Bruce to inspire innovation from the man who thinks of everything ahead of time. However, Bruce mostly these past two months has been pushing everyone away. He wishes to be alone most of the time. Bruce tends to spend many hours in Selina's grave. But he is very determined to destroy Darkseid's army. He found vengeance a motivation from his grief. Bruce goes over the data and makes plans with the help from Diana and Arthur. Bruce takes time to train the new Justice League members like Irey in the speed force, since he does have information about the force. Bruce trains Damian and other family members of the Batfamily because he will not lose them, as well. But he tends to let this Batfamily members be train by Dick and Barbara.

Barbara and Cassandra spar while working alongside Dick and Damian. Cassandra helps with Damian's training because she is the best fighter to combat. Stephanie joins because she wishes to be better in combat. She saw one of her good friends, Kara, become so weak, reminds her humanity and how stronger she needs to get to fight opponents she will face ahead.

Jason is taking time to assist Isabel to become a good fighter in a short amount time. He is giving high military level exercises to develop her skills, she will need to be an expert in many different forms of combat. She is the one who asked him to help her be ready to fight alongside them. She wishes to not stay on the sideline and be useless. She will support them by becoming a pilot and fighter. He will not go easy on her because she is a civilian, a woman, or his girlfriend in these months of intense lessons. She knows this and she is accepted everything to come, but he expects this from her. A woman who can deal with him can deal with anything.

Tim tends to hang around the Batfamily, but he concentrates with his technology and computer. He trains most of the time with Connor, Jamie, and Cassie. Connor practices to become as good as his father because he needs to be the archer of the Justice League. He has this responsibility over his shoulders. Jamie communicates with his Blue Beetle suit to see the advances he can apply to the armor. He works alongside Ray to help in any way he can. Cassie and Tim share the feelings of knowing Kon is alive, but he is in the clutches of Darkseid.

Cassie almost wishes that Kara was the one left behind instead of Kon. However she hates these feelings and tries anything to distract herself. She improves her skills with Donna, Diana, and other Amazonians. She helps the civilians of LA to reconstruct their homes, clean the rubble, and other tasks. She educates herself in ways to be a good leader and be able to govern a group. She will not take a break, she won't let the feelings catch up to her, distract her, or break her down. She needs to be strong and continue to look forward. Her goal is to protect all those she can and save the man she loves, Kon.

Donna notices Cassie is bottling up inside her feelings of the mission failing to retrieve Kon, however with her best efforts to be a kind, older, and supportive sister for Cassie. Also, Donna helps with protecting the cities, mostly LA, by fighting crime. Donna runs into Kyle who tends to paint or sketch her image. He loves drawing, talking, and being around her. Donna finds Kyle good company and both start developing feelings for each other. But her mind is taken up defending the cities and the chance of another attack from Apokolips. She needs to keep helping the cities with the Diana, Cassie, and the few other Amazonians.

Diana has a lot in her hands, she is training the new Justice League members. She needs to be the leader of the Justice League. She helps all the cities in protecting them against crime, especially in Gotham with Bruce against the Joker from causing chaos. She guides her Amazonians and other members. She has so much responsibility over her shoulders. She has the obligation to become the new beacon of hope. Steven helps her with stress and being support her, because she will need it. He helps her in the best ways he can. She appreciates it, but she needs to be strong and patient on her own. It is her duty and in a couple of months she will need to prove it in the UN meeting.

Arthur with his wife, Mera, will be attending the UN meeting as the leader of Atlantis. They have spending time with rebuilding cities, stopping crimes, training their troops, and helping their own children develop the skills to be great Justice League members. Arthur and Mera assist their twins to become strong warriors who will be able to fight the enemies. Their children are improving very well that is one thing they don't have to worry about, yet as parents they will always be anxious about their children. However, their minds are occupied with the UN meeting that is coming up in a couple of months they will need the world to join together to fight against a common threat.

~0~

Two months before the anniversary of the Day of Darkness, what many citizens call the day where many heroes and civilians lost their lives. In one month the UN will meet and decide their course of action towards fighting the threat of Darkseid. However, in this night Bruce receives a surprise visit in his personal chambers from the League of Assassins.

Bruce enters his bedroom and sees Ra's sitting in a chair enjoying a fine glass of wine that he found.

"Hello, Detective." Ra's says and takes a sip of the wine.

"What are you doing here, Ra's?" Bruce questions with a Bat rang in his hand.

"I am not here to fight. I wish to inform you that I am in the same side as the Justice League. The League of Assassins will battle against Darkseid." Ra's claims.

"We don't need the support of the Assassins." Bruce affirms.

"I am not asking permission to join the Justice League side. I am here to tell you where the League of Assassins stand, so the Justice League will not attack us if you see us in the battlefield. Also, I wish to know how my grandson is and the young members of the Justice League. Is it wise to have such youth in your members?" Ra's responds.

"Justice League's choices are none of your concern, neither is my families' wellbeing. You are done here, Ra's. Goodbye." Bruce expresses his dislike towards Ra's.

"You have always been horrible company, Detective." Ra's mentions and disappears from the room. Bruce goes on to check if Ra's has left anything that could be observing Bruce. He finds nothing.

Ra's is join by Tommy and Jade who accompanied him towards Gotham. Now, they are heading back to the League of Assassins.

"Master Ra's. Why do we join the league in their fight, if I may ask?" Tommy questions.

"We want to cleanse the world by ridding some of mankind who don't belong in this beautiful world. Darkseid wishes to destroy this whole planet and make it as horrible as Apokolips. The League of Assassins will not let that happen. We can't leave the fate of the world in the Justice League's hands, we must take action ourselves." Ra's explains as they approach the hideout.

Lian waits for their safe return. She bows to Ra's when he passes her. Ra's looking at her and lays his hand on her head.

"I believe I should not judge the Justice League for choosing young ones to train, because they do have talent laying beneath. One will need to nurture talent as soon as possible to gain the most of it. Tommy and Jade help this young one grow well." Ra's commands them and leaves to his quarters to rest and plan for the next steps the League of Assassins will take.

Lian returns to her training in archery with Tommy, and will move on with hand-to-hand combat with her mother. The past year and ten months, she has been developing her skills and become a prodigy in archery. She might one day be better than Green Arrow. Lian is been spending much time with Tommy and her mother. She respects her teacher and grown fond of him. She had grown very close to her mother, because so far that she knows that is the only family she has left. She is becoming a great assassin for the league.

~0~

The day has come where the UN meets. Diana enters the room as the representative of the Justice League. World ambassadors make their way to UN building and trickle in the room filling the seats. Arthur and Mera enter the room and notice Diana. They greet each other and make small conversation before the meeting begins.

"A common enemy tends to bring world peace." Diana comments.

"Or chaos will fill the world." Arthur replies.

The meeting begins and Diana shares the information they have retrieve from Darkseid computer.

"Greeting ambassadors and leaders of the nations. I will make this short. We want the world to unite to face Darkseid's powerful army. He manage to gain other powerful allies and- "

"Why do the countries armies have to be involved, if the Justice League is there to fight them? What threat can the army provide?" A nation's leader question interrupts Diana.

"We need the whole world to protect the whole world." Diana says and tries to continue with her previous speech, however another person intervenes.

"We need to protect our own nations. We have the Justice League to fight opponents we can't face." The person states.

"Nations should not be on the defensive, but in the-"

"Then, why does the Justice League exist? These are enemies of the Justice League, it is the Justice League's problem." A politician argues.

"No, this is a problem for the all-"Diana begins, but she is interrupted again.

"Yes the Justice League is the one who will be in the offensive and the nations forces will be in the defensive." An ambassador says.

Arguments break out among the world's leaders and ambassadors. They don't hear Diana, anymore. Arthur slam his triton down on the ground to catch everyone's attention.

"Enough! You all our afraid fools. We all lost something on the Day of Darkness and felt weak. We fail to protect what we care for the most. Now, you are scared so you want to protect what you have left. You are consume by fear, so you can only crowd to a corner and stand as long as you can. We all failed defending and fighting, then why try to battle a powerful enemy? We need to fight because we can't let them scare us and kill us. We need to stand together, then we can fight them. We are strong enough to beat them. Don't let them separate us and destroy us one by one. Stand, fight, and live for we can protect those we care for most. Don't throw the responsibility to one group. Instead let's all take charge and defend the world." Arthur finishes his motivational speech and silence covers the room.

"What is the chance for another attack?" The president, of the UN meeting, asks.

"In five months." Arthur answers.

"Let us vote. All nations press the button if you cast a vote to battle for our planet, Earth." The president demands. Many nations, more than half, cast their vote to stand tighter and fight against Darkseid's forces.

Arthur, Mera, and Diana leave the meeting after many hours later. The leaders of the nations discuss plans to go against Darkseid. Amanda Waller was present in the meeting and she exits the room. Amanda Waller approaches Diana, Arthur, and Mera.

"That was an amazing speech, Arthur." Amanda begins a conversation.

"Thank you, but I don't believe you are here only to compliment me." Arthur replies to the compliment.

"All you Justice League members are very suspicious...but accurate." Amanda says. "I wish to inform you that all our forces in the US government will decide to fight alongside the world and the Justice League. We will love to be great allies and trade information with each other."

"We are exchanging the information we received from the data we extracted from Darkseid." Diana states.

"Information of your forces, powers, and weapons that the Justice League has to provide. We want to be certain how much power we have to fight against-"

"No. We will not share any information about our forces and we don't expect any personal information from your forces, either. Don't ask again." Arthur interrupts Amanda. Amanda turns her attention to Diana. Diana nods her head agreeing with Arthur's decision.

"We have to know each other's armies to not be in the dark how much strength we accumulate. We need to surpass Darkseid's forces. We have to trade information of our powers to not estimate and be wrong and pay it with losing many men." Amanda claims.

"Thank you for your concern, but we will not discuss the information of our fellow heroes." Diana affirms.

"We can come to regret this. How about we converse about other matter? I have a source about the Green Lantern's location." Amanda hints. Diana and Arthur are shocked. It has been a couple months since they have last seen Hal. Last time they saw him, he was not himself. He was a villain.

"Where is he? He is one of our own. You can't hide this information from us." Arthur argues and points his triton to Amanda. Amanda is not scared and continues to smirk at them. She will not tell them, until they agree to tell the government about their forces.

"We would appreciate if you share the information about Green Lantern, still we will not comply with your deal. We won't trade our heroes for other heroes." Diana continues to stand her ground.

"Shame." Amanda comments and leaves them.

"Do you really believe she has information of your friend, Green Lantern?" Mera asks towards Diana and Arthur. They could not answer that question because they didn't know. However, it is the feelings and situation is the same. Hal is missing and Justice League members worry about him.

In secret base of the government, Maxwell is sitting in a room, pondering on his failure to convince the Justice League to give him information about their heroes.

"You failed." A voice buzzes in from a communicator, that lets Maxwell speak to people of Apokolips.

"I need more time. I will have to gain the knowledge in other means." Maxwell confirms.

"Darkseid expects data before we attack." The voice tells Maxwell. Maxwell rubs his face in stress.

"Confirm, Brainiac. I will get the data." Maxwell says, then cuts off the communication.

He looks over the files of the Justice League, the Suicide Squad, and the World's armies. He switches his screen between them, but he receives new information from Brainiac. It contains a report about their new dangerous foe, Green Lantern.

~0~

Six months earlier, a man is sitting in alone in a bar with a hood over his head. He watches as a fight breaks out in the bar and other aliens drink until they lose consciousness. Many aliens committing sinful acts of stealing and sex. Crime continues in the streets outside of the bar.

The whole universe is corrupted and need someone to fix it. Start a new and clean beginning.

He watches on the galaxy news as some of the worst criminals are executed.

That is how it is everywhere. The evil get punished and in most planets, the evils that are out-of-control perish to the flames of justice. The universe needs to suffocate and die, for it can be reborn in those flames.

He witnesses in the news that they are discussing about War World and Mongul. Mongul with his alliance with Darkseid has gotten more power and conquer other planets to become part of his War World. The man crushes his glass in his hand.

Evil can't survive in the same world that good reigns. Evil needs to die.

The man uses his Green Lantern ring to stop the bar fight, beats the people who are stealing, and kills others who were hurting innocent aliens. He flies off to gain the power he needs to kill evil.

It is evil to let evil win.

Hal is hovering over the planet, Oa, some other Green Lanterns are there to see him. They approach him.

"Hal! It has been a long time. How have you been?" Arisia says. She is about hug Hal, but notices that he does not seem well.

"Hal, what are you doing here after so long?" B'dg questions. Hal begins to build up the light of his ring.

"Hal! If you don't answer and put your ring down, we will have restrain you." Tomar Tu commands, however Hal attacks all three of them. His ring is running low on energy after so long exploring the universe. He is able to overpower Tomar and B'dg. He murders both of them. He steals their rings.

"Hal! Stop!" Arisia cries with tears running down her face. He conjures two giant hands and squishes her between them, as one will do with a fly. He robs the ring from her corpse.

The guardians are sending an alert to all the lanterns to protect Oa, yet Hal is the strongest he is able to use all his will to kill his friends.

Kill them. They didn't do anything to prevent the destruction of innocent cities. Destroy them.

Hal is slaughtering fellow Green Lanterns. They failed the universe and they are not doing anything to bring justice to the cosmos. The guardians lied and used all of them. It is their fault that he must kill all his friends. A stream of tears go down his face. He cries out as he makes his way to the guardians. He breaks down the doors that lead to their gathering. Kilowog is there waiting for him. Kilowog swings a pillar of energy throwing Hal to the wall.

"You betrayed us!" Kilowog screams.

"I didn't want to! It is the guardians that manipulated us to not carry out justice that the universe desperately needs. I need to fix that wrong by taking all the power of the Green Lanterns." Hal explains and constructs a hand to punch Kilowog through the walls.

"You liar!" Kilowog accuses him and constructs a hand to grab Hal, trying to restrain him.

"I am not! I want to free all of you from the burden that the guardians put us in. I need to take your rings!" Hal argues. He escapes from the construct and shoots a green ray to Kilowog.

"You are murdering everyone! Why!?" Kilowog questions.

"I'm doing it, because they didn't understand my reasoning and resisted me to take the burden and rid the world of evil. They didn't understand, like you are doing!" Hal shouts and pierces green needles through Kilowog's hands and feet.

"Hal, please don't become evil." Kilowog pleads to Hal. Hal forming a giant sword on top of Kilowog's chest.

"I am sorry, Kilowog. I am sorry that the guardians manipulated you so much. I wish I saw it sooner and could've saved you."

Destroy him to save him.

He pierces the sword through Kilowog's heart. The blood flows out covering the floor and the green construct. Hall steps over his blood and grabs his ring. He can't bare to look what he has done, he needs to concentrate on killing the guardians. The guardians wait for him. They have no close Green Lantern's to call on to help them. They must fight the most powerful lantern on their own. Hal enters the room they were hiding in.

The guardians do not hesitate, they attack Hal. They can't waste a conversation on him, convincing him will be futile, they need to try overpower him and kill him. They construct green chains to wrap around him, but he breaks out of them with ease. They send full blasts of green energy, however he constructed a shield to block these blasts. They construct thousands of swords to pierce through his shield but he makes a whirlwind to send it back to them. The constructs pierce some of them through the chest and three of them die. He makes a giant hammer to smash them, yet a few are able to block the force. They send a huge goblet to hit Hal, it is able to and smash him on the floor. They pierce Hal with green constructs, but he pushes the needles out of his body and drives through another guardian, killing him. He covers the whole room with a giant block that is coming down to crush everyone, except him. He stands in a small opening of the construct to keep him safe. The guardians struggle against it, however they realize this is the end. They need to at least have one guardian be able to escape and stop Hal from destroying everything. Gandeth is chose in and the other guardians sacrifice themselves to allow him to escape with one last green lantern ring. Hal notices, he will chase after Gandeth, but first he needs to take all the energy of the battery and the parasite that resides in the battery.

Release me.

Gandeth appears on Earth in front of Kyle who was drawing Donna, while she is afar helping some children.

"You will do." Gandeth says and gives the ring to Kyle. Donna witnesses as Kyle becomes a lantern. Gandeth sends a call to the other lanterns, Guy and John, to help Kyle.

Also, he sends a call to Saint Walker for him to support them in their fight against Hal. Guy and John rush over there. Hal is able to arrive before them. Hal is a new uniform and his body is the host of parallax and the green energy of the battery. He destroyed Oa and Mogo, who got in his way. He uses his own hand to stab through Gandeth and throws his corpse onto Kyle's arms. Kyle is scared he doesn't understand anything. Hal is about to kill him, but Donna gets in the way and punches Hal through a building.

"Run." Donna screams to Kyle. She goes on to attack Hal. She is punching and kicking him, but he constructed a bubble to shield him from all her attacks. He smiles at her, enjoying how weak she is compared to him.

"You think you can beat me!" Hal says and with a huge blast send her through a two buildings. People panic and run into multiple directions to avoid the fight between them. Kyle chooses to run towards the fight. Hal grabs Donna and breaks one of her arms. She lets out a scream of pain. He breaks the other arm and another scream follows. He is having a fun torturing her.

Kyle shoots a small green blast to get his attention and stop hurting Donna. Hal turns his attention to Kyle and flies over. He grabs Kyle's face and pushes it to the ground. He tries to crush Kyle's skull, yet John and Guy arrive to push Hal back.

"Get them outta here!" John commands Guy.

"What?! No! I have to help you!" Guy screams back.

"Dammit! Do it now!" John demands. He traps Hal in chains and drags him to the atmosphere of Earth. He is using all his will and energy to restrain Hal. Hal is too dangerous to remain in Earth.

"Hal! Stop this! You are-" John is stabbed through the stomach. Hal removes his hand and watches John bleed in shock.

"The last person who told me to stop my mission, died. You will receive the same fate, John. But I am sad that I could not save you from this fate." Hal claims.

"I will [cough] stop you [cough cough]." John produces a few weaponized military airplanes to shoot and push back Hal.

Hal receives some energy from them as bullets plow through his shield. He constructs a large shield block the bullets. He creates a giant sword to smash down the airplanes and cut through them. He is bombarded with missiles from the planes. They explode in his face, luckily the green light makes an outline in his body to protect him from the missiles. He continues to swing the sword to destroy John's jets. John constructs a machine gun to shoot towards Hal, while creating military men to shoot Hal. Hal is suffering he sends a large blast as the same power of a nuclear bomb. He renders John unconscious and bleeding profusely. He creates a small gun and about to shoot John in the head with a gun, but Saint Walker constructs a protective blue shield. He creates a small spaceship to smash into Hal. He begins to heal John, but Hal is able to make an accurate sniper and fire straight at John's head, killing him. Saint in shock because he could not protect John.

Hal stars to shoot towards Saint with multiple bullets. Saint retreats to his home planet, Odym. Saint is able to gather the Blue Lanterns to fight back, however Hal never enters the planet. He constructs hundreds of other Green Lantern's to fire powerful energy blast at the blue planet. Their green power is more powerful in the presence of the Blue Lanterns. They struggle to shield their planet, yet it is impossible. The planet explodes from the blast, massacring many Blue Lantern's. Hal believing he killed every single Blue Lantern goes to find a large blue battery energy and observes much of it to increase his power. He goes on to another corps planet.

I must destroy my enemies.

Hal hears the voice in his head speak to him as he heads to Qward.

Brother Warth is missing an arm and very badly injured, but he will use his last surviving energy to heal the unconscious Saint and escort him to Earth. Also has in his hand one of the smaller blue lanterns to help Saint.

Hal arrives to Qward and Sinestro saw him. He gathers his yellow lanterns to watch, but he alone will fight Hal. Hal and Sinestro were always meant to fight to the death and both understand this. They begin this epic fight. He wraps Hal with his greatest fear and begin to overpower Hal, but Hal realizes his greatest fear has already came true, why must he fear it now? He is able to resist the yellow rings power. He constructs a sword and begins to cut Sinestro. Sinestro creates his own sword to combat Hal's sword. They clash multiple times and try to cut each other's arm. Sinestro creates a snake to wrap around Hal and hold him down, he aims to cut Hal's head. Hal bust out of the restraint, dodges Sinestro attack, and cuts Sinestro arm off. Sinestro lets out a scream and Hal drives his sword through Sinestro's body. He pulls his sword out and lets Sinestro's body fall into the dirt of Qward. He floats down and takes Sinestro's ring.

"I will not let you rule the Sinestro Corps!" Arkillo screams. He attacks Hal with a giant insect, however Hal smashes the insect with a hammer. He moves the hammer to smash Arkillo repeatedly until he is a bloody mess on the ground.

Feed me.

Voice tells Hal as Hal continues to kill many members of Sinestro corps. He makes his way to the battery and absorbs the energy, but unlike the Blue Lanterns battery. He carries a yellow ring.

"Welcome to the Sinestro Corps." The ring says.

Hal goes on to kill the rest of the Sinestro Corps members. He is done with Qward and flies off to finally kill Mongul and Cyborg Superman.

Mongul has been hearing about the Green Lantern attacking his War World's trying to find him. He calls Cyborg Superman to join him and for them combine forces to fight against the Green Lantern that is after both of them. Cyborg Superman excuses himself from Darkseid side, even requests from Darkseid military forces to fight this powerful threat and be able to kill him. Darkseid agrees. Cyborg Superman and Mongul wait for Hal.

Hal arrive to the main War World that Mongul has his palace residing. Rip Roar is roaming the streets looking for the Green Lantern. Hal sneaks behind Rip Roar and he wraps his green energy light around Rip Roars arms. Hal is able to pull two of Rip Roar's arms off. Rip Roar lets out a loud growl of pain, he turns and attacks Hal. He grabs Hal and begins to smash him against buildings and other structures. Hal tries to fight Rip Roar, but he is too wild and powerful. The citizens of War World run away from the chaotic battle. Rip Roar throws Hal into the stadium.

Mongul and Cyborg Superman are there waiting in podium, waiting to see Hal's destruction. Rip Roar keeps smashing Hal's body on the ground repeatedly, however Hal constructs a soft base under him, which weakens the blows. He constructs a spike ball and hits Rip Roar sending him flying to the seats of the Colosseum. Cyborg Superman shoots his laser beams in the back of Hal and begins to fight with him. Rip Roar jumps from the seats and back into the battle. Black Fire, is one the furies sent by Darkseid, joins the fight to kill Hal. Hal is being attack by three powerful opponents, he tries to focus his ring into killing Cyborg Superman, but fails to do so because of the other two opponents. Mongul amuse by the battle, joins the battle to get his hand in killing Hal. Hal lets out all his energy to blast his opponents away. He flies over to Mongul and about to kill him, however Mongul has hold of the yellow gem and gives a powerful blast to Hal, rendering his Green Lantern rings useless. Mongul retreats and passes the yellow gem's energy to his people and troops, which causes great hysteria. The people have become frighten of Hal, now he has thousands of people in War World trying to kill him. Hal has to leave the planet, however Rip Roar holds him down. He constructs a yellow spear and impale Rip Roar by the mouth. He cuts off Rip Roar's head and takes it with him, however one victory still doesn't allow him to face all these new enemies on his own. He leaves Rip Roar knowing he needs his own allies to join his fight.

~0~

Three months since his battle in War World, Hal is able to heal and continues to travel through space. He knows he needs allies. He will need the rest of the corps to join his battle. However some will not join him because of the relations he has with the leaders of the corps. He approaches Ysmault, but Atrocitus flies straight to Green Lantern and punches him. He vomits a rage of blood on Hal, burning his skin and continues to punch him. Hal swipes Atrocitus away from him.

"I am here to talk." Hal explains.

"You killed my prey. The guardians and Sinestro Corps were my kill. Now, I NEED TO KILL YOU!" Atrocitus shouts and constructs a red bull to charge at Hal. Hal constructs a green whale and a yellow parasite to fight with the bull, yet Atrocitus battles Hal with his fists.

"I need you to join me in a battle for the rest of the universe!" Hal tries to persuade Atrocitus. Hal makes a jet to hit Atrocious. Atrocitus takes the hit, but makes wolves to maul Hal.

"NEVER!" Atrocitus yells. Dex-starr joins the battle to fight alongside Atrocious. The rest of the corps watches over the fight, cheering for a death.

He struggles combating these two anger filled lanterns, however Hal begins to use a large power of the yellow ring to create horrible memories in Dex-starr mind and he becomes chaotic. Dex-starr is not coordinating his attacks, and hits Atrocious with the red constructs. Atrocitus tries to control his friend, but Hal is able to restrain him with green and yellow chains and begins to strangle Dex-starr. Atrocious angry that he is killing Dex-starr. He tries to charge at Hal, but Hal uses Dex-starr as a shield to take the hits from the constructs, while he continues to straggle the poor scared cat. Dex-starr falls limp from the all the abuse he is taking. Atrocitus loses all control, he exerts all his rings power to slaughter Hal.

"YOU KILLED MY FRIEND!" Atrocitus screams.

He is able to grab Hal and viciously pulverizes his face. He rips chucks of Hal's flesh and burns Hal with his blood. Hal is going to die if he allows Atrocitus to continue, he takes advantage of Atrocitus being lost in his rage. He is able to pierce Atrocitus with multiple blades of yellow and green constructs. Still, Atrocitus continues to bash his face. Hal continues to stab Atrocitus with as many blade as possible. Atrocitus bleeds out and dies. He body floating in space. The Red corps becomes furious of the death of Atrocitus and Dex-starr, they are about to strike Hal.

"Stop!" Hal commands. The Red corp members hesitate and hiss at him, but they are willing to listen. Their intelligence returning to them that Atrocitus took away from them.

"I can provide [cough cough] you [cough] a leader. He suppress you. [cough] I can [cough cough] find one better for you [cough cough] and we can [cough] rule the uni-[cough]-verse!" Hal argues with them.

The new regain knowledge that Bleez retrieved agrees with Hal's plan. She extends her hand and helps him towards Ysmault. The rest of the lanterns realize that Atrocitus oppressed them. They follow Bleez and leave Atrocitus body in space to rot.

~0~

Another month goes by and Hal gains the trust of the Red corps. He tells Bleez that he will need some of their troops to fight against the Violet corps. He wants to gain rule over them and bring the Queen's ring to a person who he trust to lead the Violet corps. Bleez agrees to oppose the Star-sapphires, she does not agree with the Star-sapphires way of thinking. Also, she finds a new respect for Hal for defeating the Sinerstro corps that she hates so much.

The Red corps travel with Hal to battle against the Star-sapphires. The Red Lanterns arrive at Zamaron killing some of the Star-sapphires when they land. Fatality and Miri are fighting among this sudden threat from the Red Lanterns. Fatality surprise that Bleez would be going against her, after all a friendship they form between each other. Fatality continues to battle Bleez, while Bleez explains on how the corps will join together to rule the universe and exact justice with rage of the oppressed. Miri hears about how Hal will kill Mongul, a man she hates very much. A tyrant that she agrees should not live. Miri hits Fatality from behind and renders her unconscious. Miri decides to join Bleez against the other Star-sapphires.

Hal meets with the Queen Aga'po.

"Green Lantern. How dare-"Aga'po begins to speak, but Hal shot a great yellow/green blast through the stomach of Aga'po.

Hal didn't want to waste his words on someone who he knew he had to replace. He takes the ring from her corpse. He shows the corpse to the rest of the Star-sapphires. They knew they have lost and give up to Hal's rule.

~0~

One month before the anniversary of the Day of Darkness and Hal returns to Earth. He sneaks into Earth because he came to gain allies. Carol for these past months has been worried of Hal. She has not seen him, since the incident, they pass on the news about his attack on L.A. These last months she has been helping in any way she can with her airlines. She is not host of the violet ring anymore, because if she was she would have tried to find him and help him. However, she is not prepared to see him in front of her door step early in the morning.

"Hi, Carol." Hal greets her.

.

"Hal!?" Carol shock by his appearance. She has her hand hovering over her gun. She worries about Hal, but knows he is dangerous. Hal notices her gun and creates a rope with the ring to take her gun away. He crushes it and allows the pieces to fall on the ground. She becomes very concern about him.

"I am not here to fight with you, Carol. I never want to battle you." Hal says.

"You fought with me when I lose control. I should do the same for you, Hal. You lost it. You need help." Carol negotiating with Hal, as she slowly retreats to her home. He appears behind her, very close to her.

"I didn't lose control. I open my eyes to the corruption the universe. Corruption we need to fight. Carol, I need you by my side." Hal reassures holding her hand.

Why is it now, that you need me by your side?

Carol thought to herself and stared into Hal's eyes.

He needs me now. I need to save him.

"Hal, don't do this. We can fight Darkseid, together, with the rest of the Justice League. We can save the world with your help. Please, Hal. You are not this weak." Carol insists. He kisses her and whispers to her.

"Join me." He presents the ring of the Queen over the Star-sapphires to Carol.

I can't…but I love him…

She resists, however her blind love eclipses her mind and she takes the ring. She becomes the Queen of the Star-sapphires. She accepts the corruption of the ring and Hal's proposal.

Hal holding Carol's hand flies towards another person. The man he believes should rule the Red Lanterns.

Oliver Queen, all this time, has been killing the villains he could find. He didn't want to risk anymore unnecessary casualties. How could he have gone so long forgiving these villains who killed and tore families apart? He killed so many villains these past two years. If the villains were not being a threat, he would find them and dispose them, not allowing them to kill anyone in the future. His heart is filled with rage against evil that killed his family. It took an innocent life, his baby girl. He finds villains, asks them questions, if they know anything about Darkseid's plans, it doesn't matter the answer because in the end he will kill them.

Hal finds Oliver who is pulling an arrow out of a criminal he recently killed.

"Oliver, you have been busy." Hal remarks.

"What do you want, Hal?" Oliver questions.

"Touchy. I want your help." Hal responds. Oliver glares at Hal.

"I heard you have become a villain." Oliver says with his hand in his bow.

"They don't understand my cause. I want to change the universe by getting rid of evil. Not with a punch to the face anymore, but with a hand strangling the life out of evil." Hal says and throws the head of Rip Roar in front of Oliver. The monster that killed his family. Hal presents a red ring that once belong to Atrocitus.

"Help me change the cosmos. We, as the new guardians, can change everything for the better. This power will help you destroy evil." Hal affirms.

Oliver approaches the ring and without hesitation he takes the ring and fills his whole body with rage. He felt this feeling every day, now he has the power to accompany the emotion. Carol, Hal and Oliver have the power to fight Darkseid and change the universe.

To be Continue…

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Hi! Thank you so much for staying with the story so far. I know I have been posting the chapters monthly or so. But I will take a small hiatus, because I want to post a new fanfiction that I have worked on many years ago. I want to edit it and post it. So I will put the story for a hold for only a little while, and will come back to it as soon as possible. Thank you so much.