A/N: Well... here we are. The epilogue of this story. I still can't believe it, I've been writing this thing for a whole year! I would've gotten done much sooner but new developments for this series came up in my mind that's really been halting production on this story, plus personal life stuff. But alas, we've made it anyway.
A portion of this Chapter is actually an adaptation of the Sandman 1x6, and the rest of it is my own original stuff since everything pulled from the Justice League Dark animated film (the original Dark Legends 2 story by extension) is completely finished. With that, let's meet up with the man of our dreams one last time... at least for now.
Now Playing: A Nightmare on Elm Street Main Theme
Hell
In the very low depths of the Underworld, a man was seen standing around in a crumbling building with his arms crossed, seemingly pondering about something. He had a burned face, a green and red striped sweater, a fedora hat, and knives for fingers.
This was none other than Freddy Krueger, the Springwood Slasher who had killed several children across the town of Springwood until their parents burned him to death. But unluckily for the parents, Freddy would come back years later in the form of a Dream Demon and haunt and kill the children in their dreams over the course of four decades.
But sadly, many people over the years kept getting in his way of taking over his town, such as most recently with that stupid bitch, Gibb Smith and her exorcist buddy John Constantine, who had the audacity to send him to this shithole and be stuck with a certain 7 foot moron. He did briefly manage to escape four years ago when some guy named Damien Darhk used some book to bring him back to the living world, but then Gibb came around and sent him back here again!
Anyways, enough of that. There was something bubbling in Krueger's evil mind. One having to do with his origin…
"So… Granddaddy Sandman is back in town." Freddy remarked, forming a sinister grin on his face. "I gotta say, if I wasn't stuck in this prison, I would've been very interested to see how I'd fare against him."
Freddy took a good look at his left hand as another thought relating to this popped in his mind.
"And honestly, the whole supernatural plague thing was very impressive of those old-ass losers. I honestly wished I did something like that before, and that way, I could've really taken over my town, and had them know my name, including that good-for-nothing red capped bitch named-"
STAB!
Krueger then screamed as he felt something stab him in the back at that moment. Freddy then turned around and saw the person who stabbed him was a giant hulking man wearing a hockey mask with a large machete.
Ki-ki-ki-ma-ma-ma
"You dipshit, I was fucking monologuing!" Freddy yelled.
Jason Voorhees then took his machete out of Krueger's chest, and the Dream Demon glared at him with venomous hate, baring his teeth.
"I swear, I can never catch a fucking break from you!"
With that, Freddy started swinging his bladed fingers at Jason, getting some decent hits on him, but Jason ended up regenerating quite quickly. Subsequently, Voorhees started swinging his machete a couple more times at Krueger, and landing each time inflicting immense pain to him.
And thus, this long endless cycle of the Springwood Slasher and the Camp Crystal Killer beating each other to a bloody pulp continued for all of Hell to see.
Constantine sat at a dimly lit bar nursing down a big glass of whiskey. It had been only a day since the defeat of Doctor Destiny, and John felt really tired after the whole ordeal, especially with the whole thing about Alice being his daughter still being very fresh in his mind. And now with the Sandman back at full power, Constantine could definitely use a bloody drink right about now, especially with Gibb now back at Springwood.
Also, John kept thinking about his late ex-partner, Rachel Moodie, who had just passed away about two or three days ago. While it definitely was saddening to see a good person like her leave this world, at least she got to die peacefully after abusing Dream's sand. And in a way, meeting her again did give Constantine a good sense of closure with her, as he got to make up for abruptly leaving her a couple months earlier. And like I said, Rachel was actually a good person, unlike himself, who just had too much darkness within him that she couldn't possibly handle. It was the exact same reason he and Zatanna Zatara, one of his very first girlfriends, broke it off shortly after the Newcastle Incident from eight years ago, though in her case, they at least remained somewhat in touch. And then with Gibb, he always considered her as just a friend, his best friend in fact second only to Chas Chandler, and nothing more (though they did sort of shag the first time they met, but that was just Gibb being a little mischievous).
To be honest, could there ever be a lady out there that could handle a bloke such as him?
Just as Constantine thought this, a figure came into the scene and sat right next to him. Constantine noted that it was a young woman, no older than 21, with brunette hair and brown eyes, wearing a blue jean jacket. But as she was ordering her drink, John noted something… feisty about her.
"So, uh, I'm guessing you're paying for that, luv?" Constantine asked the woman.
"Yeah. What's that mean to you?" the woman smugly inquired.
"Oh, nothin'. Just curious is all." Constantine shrugged.
"Well… that's about as curious as you could get about someone as clouded with darkness such as myself…"
Now that last sentence really piqued John's curiosity.
"Really? What kind of darkness are we talking about?" John asked.
"You probably wouldn't believe me on the things I'm about to tell you." the woman said.
"Try me." Constantine insisted, smirking.
The woman then formed a smirk of her own, and then gave the rundown.
"Well, long story short: I'm a Vampire Slayer, one girl in all the world chosen to fight the forces of darkness, like demons, zombies, and well… Vampires. But… let's just say I've done terrible things over the years, including hurting innocent people, and I'm on a soul-searching path to redemption."
Constantine nodded, having a good understanding of where the woman was coming from.
"Well, luv, I know the history surrounding Slayers quite well." Constantine said.
"Ah… so you're aware of the Slayer line?"
"Indeed. As a matter of fact, you could argue that the Slayer line is in my blood, considering one of my ancestors was a Slayer, and now I find out that I have a daughter who's currently a Slayer."
"Shit… you're B's Dad?" the woman asked curiously.
"B?"
"Buffy." the woman elaborated. "I mean, does explain the blonde hair, but I never would've imagined her Dad being British. No wonder she never-"
"Oh no, not that one, although we have met once or twice, and a guy like me could be old enough to be her Dad." John chuckled. "But the Slayer I'm talking about, her name is Alice Pierce."
"Oh. Yeah, I know Alice. Had to help her and her buddies out save a friend of mine from some red-haired psycho bitch, who made my old evil self look like an amateur. Ended up dying briefly at that time, but managed to send her packing eventually. But… Alice is someone that I do admire quite considerably."
"Yeah, the kid does have some guts. Just like me." Constantine grinned.
"I'm Faith, by the way." the woman, Faith, introduced herself. "Faith Lehane."
"Constantine." Constantine replied. "John Constantine."
Constantine then reached for his pocket, and handed Faith a small card.
"Exorcist, Demonologist, and Petty Dabbler in the Dark Arts."
"Yep." Constantine nodded. "For a long time, that sodding card actually said 'Master'. So lucky to have eventually gotten it fixed."
"Well… I think I like the sound of 'Petty Dabbler' more." Faith said.
"Oh really?" Constantine inquired. "Because I gotta tell you, luv. When it comes to me, a lot of people consider me a world-renowned asshole."
"Is that so?" Lehane asked, raising a curious brow.
"Yes. I'd often piss them off with my arrogant Devil-May-Care attitude, kick demons in the bollocks, and spit on them when they're twirling around back to Hell, with only a wisecrack, wink, and possibly even a middle finger to add salt to their broken wounds. And what's that you said about being clouded with darkness?"
"Damn…" Faith smirked, sounding impressed. "I think I gotta learn a thing or two from you next time I'm fighting demons."
"You really think you have what it takes to keep up with a guy such as me?" Constantine asked with his own smirk.
"It's definitely a challenge I'm willing to take… Petty Dabbler."
"We'll see about it… Rogue Slayer."
Constantine and Faith continued to stare at each other for what felt like an eternity, as they both found each other's personalities quite fascinating. For Constantine, it felt refreshing to meet a woman with as much of a confident and swagger attitude as him. Very much different from most women that he knew, with the only one that came close being Gibb. Yet, even then… that still felt different from the type of energy he was sensing with Faith.
And then with Faith, John's carefree nature felt unique from most of the people she met over the past four years, such as Buffy and her Scooby Gang, Angel and his team, and even Alice Pierce and her Dark Titans buddies. There was Buffy's almost black-and-white sense of justice mindset and her believing in the law, which to be frank, considering that she had put Faith in a coma for nearly a year, kind of made her seem like a bit of a hypocrite. And then, there was Angel's whole motto of helping the helpless, the biggest example of that being when Lehane attacked him and his team, but Angel went out of his way to try to save her corrupted soul rather than kill her, and almost succeeded until Buffy showed up in L.A. out of nowhere and messed it all up.
But here, we have Constantine, who just looked like he couldn't really give a damn about almost anything. And… Faith kinda liked that about him.
So today, after a long weekend of stopping the supernatural plague, family revelations, and a little heartbreak, it seemed like Constantine may have found a new trusty ally within Faith. And who knows. If given time, the exorcist and the Slayer might… just might… evolve into something greater.
Now Playing: "Blue Dream" by Hironobu Kageyama
It was a sunny day at a park, and now that the world was pretty much back to normal after the past few chaotic days, everyone appeared to be much happier, with some people playing ball, chatting amongst themselves, or even just having a good old fashioned walkaround. In the corner though was Dream, sitting alone on a bench, appearing to be feeding some bread crumbs to pigeons.
Ever since the supernatural plague had come to end, Dream felt himself… a little bit of an empty feeling. Like, after over 100 years of being imprisoned and feeling powerless when his possessions were stolen from him as the waking world and his kingdom suffered, when it finally reached its breaking point, he had been released from his cage and then went on this massive quest to reclaim his tools, which consisted of getting his helm back from Hell, retrieving his leather pouch filled with sand from a dying Rachel Moodie, and then having Alice Pierce destroy his ruby and finally bring him back to full power. He was at last complete again…
Yet… he still felt utterly… rudderless. What exactly was this-
"Head's up!"
Morpheus suddenly sensed something rushing at him, and quickly raised his hand… and then casually caught a soccer ball.
"Sorry man." A young man said, running up towards Dream. "Nice catch though."
Dream then handed the man back the ball.
"Thank you." the man nodded, before walking off.
As Dream continued to feed the pigeons, a dark-skinned woman with curly hair and wearing black gothic clothes walked up towards him and then proceeded to sit down next to him with a mischievous smile on her face. However, even while looking directly at the pigeons, Dream still felt her presence as he'd recognized it anywhere.
"What're you doin'" the woman asked.
"I'm feeding the pigeons." Dream said, still not drawing eye contact at the woman, who then nodded.
"'You do that too much, you know what you get? Fat pigeons'" the woman cited. "That's from "Mary Poppins". Did you ever see it?"
"No."
Death of the Endless amusingly shook her head. But then, she noticed that Dream still wasn't paying any attention to her. Something was clearly up with her younger brother.
"Okay, so what's the matter?"
"What do you mean?"
"I can tell something's wrong. I mean… look at you." Death started, pointing at the pigeons. "Sittin' here, moping, pigeon-feeding. It's not like you."
"No. Perhaps, it isn't." Dream sighed. "I don't know what's wrong but… you're right. Something is the matter."
'Yep, knew it.' Death thought. And so, she just sat back and observed as her brother started to explain himself.
"When they captured me, I just had one thought: Vengeance. It wasn't as satisfying as I expected. Meanwhile, my kingdom had fallen apart. My tools long since stolen and scattered. And so I embarked upon a journey to find them. Which I did… with the help of a few others, including Lucifer Morningstar. Thanks to them, I'm now more powerful than I have been in eons. And yet…"
"Here you are, feeding the pigeons." Death murmured, finishing his sentence.
"You see, until then, I'd had a true quest." Morpheus continued. "A purpose beyond my function and then suddenly, it was over, and… I felt disappointed. Let down. Empty."
Dream then finally laid eye contact at Death.
"Does that make sense? I was so sure that once I got everything back, I'd feel good. But in some ways, I feel worse than when I started. I feel like… Nothing. There. You asked."
Death then gently placed her hand onto her brother's lap, showing a bit of sympathy in her eyes.
"You could have called me, you know."
"I didn't want to worry you." The Sandman insisted.
"Oh, I don't believe it." Death groaned, as she then stood up from the bench and took the bread out of Dream's hand.
"Let me tell you something, Dream. I'm only gonna say this once, so you better pay attention. You are utterly the stupidest, most self-centered, pathetic excuse for an anthropomorphic personification on this or any other plane. Feeling sorry for yourself because your little game is over and you haven't got the balls to go out and find a new one. You're as bad as Desire. No, worse."
She then tossed the bread back to Dream.
"Did it never occur to you that I would be worried about you?" Death asked.
"I didn't think you'd-" Dream was about to say, but then Death interrupted him.
"Exactly! You didn't think." Death said.
"Head's up!"
Another soccer ball was heading towards the Endless' direction, but luckily, like Dream earlier, Death caught it very effortlessly without even looking at the ball. Like brother, like sister.
"Wow." Franklin, the young man from earlier, said. "You're as good as your… friend there."
"He's not my friend, he's my brother." Death said, passing the ball back to Franklin. "And he's an idiot."
"I'm just feeding the birds." Dream muttered, as Franklin then walked away.
"Look, I can't stay here for long. I've got work to do." Death announced. "You can come with me if you want, or you can stay here and sulk."
"I'll come with you, I suppose."
"Well, don't do me any favors. You're not the Devil."
Morpheus then looked up at his sister very curiously, to which she chuckled. With that, Dream stood up as well, and the Endless siblings began their walk. But then, Franklin walked up to them again.
"Sorry, before you go, um… could I maybe see you again?" he asked.
"Sure, Franklin. You'll see me again." Death replied mischievously.
"Seriously?"
Death nodded.
"Soon."
"Okay, cool. Yeah, let me just get your number and…" Franklin said, as he tossed his soccer ball around… but then something clicked in his mind.
"Wait, how did you know my-"
Franklin turned around to see that the two… siblings? They had both mysteriously disappeared. Okay, what the heck was that about?
"Oh come on, Franklin!" Franklin's friend yelled. "Are you playin' or not?"
Dream and Death found themselves walking in a slightly crowded area, with Death then spotting a whole bunch of fruits up for sale.
"Look!" Death said, as she walked up closer to the counter. "Yum! Okay, two, please."
"None for me, thank you." Dream said.
"They're good for you." Death told her brother.
"I'm not hungry."
"You can just have it later."
Dream then gave Death an insistent look, which made her nod in understanding.
"Just one. Thanks." Death said to the fruit seller.
"There you go." the fruit seller said, giving Death an apple. "It's a gift."
"Awe, thank you." Death said, turning to Dream. "So nice."
She then took a bite out of the apple.
"Mm. That is delicious." she exclaimed, before noticing Dream staring at her.
"What?"
"You are good with them." Dream muttered as the Endless siblings continued their walk.
"Apples?" Death asked.
"Humans." Morpheus made himself clearer.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Death nodded. "I mean, most recently, I'd befriended this one girl named Kendra Young. Very stoic individual, but rather kind on the inside."
"How is she doing now?" Dream inquired.
Death then let out a sigh, as she stared sentimentally towards the ground.
"No longer in this realm. She had become one of those demon slaying people and then… died."
"So she was a Slayer?"
Death didn't answer his question, and instead offered him her apple as an attempt to change the subject… and mood.
"Bite?" Death asked.
"No, thank you." Dream respectfully declined, to which shrugged and took another bite at the fruit.
From there, Dream and Death decided to talk about the rest of their siblings and whether or not either of them had seen them at all, with Death mentioning that they all had one family dinner when Dream was away, with Desire being in high spirits, which Dream didn't doubt in the slightest. You see, Desire always had a tendency to really ruffle Dream's feathers with their cruel and scheming personality, meddling in his affairs in many ways that came off as a sick joke to them.
Dream had always compared Desire to Lucifer Morningstar given their similar personalities and always making deals with humans, except when it came to Lucifer, while he was pompous, at least he still had some sense of civility and respectfulness, given his authority as the Ruler of Hell (or… former Ruler, Dream was still trying to get used to that), whereas Desire always took a more… malicious approach to everything.
After that, Dream asked Death if there was any word on the "prodigal", to which Death informed that they were still missing. Both Dream and the "prodigal" were missed in a way.
At that moment, Death was feeling like really… lightening up this particular conversation.
"'How are you, sis? How have you been keeping?"" she said. "Aw, I'm well, Dream. Thanks for asking."
Dream then rolled his eyes.
"How are you, my sister? How have you been keeping?" Dream asked.
"I'm worried about my brother." Death replied. "And I'm enjoying this apple."
Suddenly, violin music was faintly heard in the distance. This particular music really perked up Dream's ear, as it sounded…. familiar to him. One that sounded very… very…
"Can you hear it?" Death asked, as if she could read her brother's thoughts.
The Endless siblings then looked up at a large apartment, as the music grew even louder.
"I know this piece." Dream murmured. "I haven't heard in 200 years."
"Come on." Death told him, and the two then walked inside of the apartment building.
As the siblings walked around the building, the music grew even stronger and they found that the person playing it was an elderly man, as he used his violin very eloquently. And he just kept playing his very heart out…
Until he started to cough. Oh dear.
"No. Don't stop, please." Death said to the man.
"Sorry for the noise." the man apologized.
"It's not noise, it's Schubert. Keep going."
"I can't. He never finished it," the man stated, chuckling nervously. "All we have is a fragment."
Death kept her smile.
"Oh, forgive me, I… I am Harry."
"I know who you are, Harry."
Death then walked up closer to Harry, and then proceeded to kneel down in front of him.
"Do you know who I am?"
Harry stared very closely at the woman, seemingly very confused on what she meant. But then suddenly…
Death's skin turned pale, just as pale as Dream's. It was then when Harry realized who she was and what this meant.
"No. Not yet, please." Harry stammered.
"It's time." Death nodded.
Dream just stood in the doorway observing this interaction.
"Can I just…" Harry continued to stammer. "There's something I have to say, if that's all right."
"Of course." Death approved.
Harry then sat his violin aside, and then put his hands together and began to say a Hebrew prayer.
"Sh'ma Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Ehad. Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God. The Lord is One."
After Harry finished the chant, Death rose up from her knee and then reached her hand out to Harry… which the man grabbed and rose up from his chair.
"I'm glad I said the Shema." Harry muttered. "My old man always said, it would guarantee you a place in Heaven. If you believe in heaven."
Just then, Harry then turned around and saw a very interesting sight.
"I look so old. So empty."
What Harry saw was his own body sitting on his chair, seemingly resting in peace.
"So, I'm dead." Harry said as he turned back to Death. "Now what?"
And all Death simply said was:
"Now's when you find out, Harry."
Suddenly, a golden light shined across the room, blinding Harry but Death kept her eyes open. And then as it shimmered down… a young woman with Angel wings and a bowl cut stood beside Death. The Endless then smiled at the Angel.
"Thanks for coming, Rae-Rae." Death said.
"It's no problem at all, boss." Azrael nodded. "I'll take it from here."
Death nodded after Azrael said that.
And with that, Azrael walked up to Harry, and then grabbed his hand. And then, Azrael and Harry slowly floated up in the air and phased through the ceiling as the Angel took the elderly man out of this mortal plane.
As Death watched the two leave with a smile on her face, her skin morphed back into its dark skinned color from before and then she turned back to Dream, who had his back turned.
"You ready?" Death asked.
Dream nodded his head "yes" and the Endless siblings then left the apartment building.
Death and Dream then found themselves back on the street once again, continuing their stroll.
"I thought he was sweet. Didn't you?" Death asked her brother.
"Sweet? I don't know." Dream shrugged. "Perhaps."
But then, at that moment, Dream remembered something.
"My sister…"
"Yeah?"
"When I was captured, it wasn't me they were looking for… It was you."
There was about 3 seconds of silence as Death stared at her brother. And then she just shrugged.
"Yeah, I know." Death said.
"How do you do it?" Dream asked.
"Do what?"
"This. Be there for all of them."
"I have a job to do. And I do it." Death nonchalantly said, shrugging once again. "When the first living thing existed, I was there. When the last living thing dies, I'll put the chairs on the table, turn out the lights and… lock the universe behind me when I leave."
Dream actually formed a bit of a smirk after she said that, finding her joke a bit amusing.
"And I'm not there for all of them." Death continued. "There are exceptions. Mad Hettie. And then there's your ongoing project. How's he faring up after all this time?"
"Who? Hob Gadling?" Morpheus inquired, to which his sister nodded. "I don't know, I was forced to miss our last appointment."
"Well, I'm sure he'd love to see you." Death quipped. "They're never too keen to see me though."
"Does it not bother you?" Dream asked.
"I actually used to think I had the hardest job in all our family." Death stated
"Oh, did you?" Dream mused.
"They fear the Sunless Lands, yet they enter your realm every night without fear." Death continued.
"And yet, I'm far more terrible than you." Dream made his own quip, making Death chuckle.
Now Playing: "A Kind Word and a Friendly Face" from The Sandman OST
At that moment, Death started to look down onto the ground, feeling a bit sentimental.
"It was fine in the beginning. Dying and living were new things and people did them with the enthusiasm they always bring to new things. And then after a bit it just got harder."
"But you continued." Dream pointed out.
"I thought about giving up. Walking out." Death admitted.
At that moment, Death walked her way towards a random house before entering inside with Dream following her.
"This was a long time ago, long before this world. It really started to get to me, I got kind of hard and brittle inside. I mean, people feel as pleased to have been born as if they did it themselves. But they get upset and hurt and shaken when they die. But eventually, I learned that all they really need is a kind word and a friendly face. Like they had in the beginning."
Death then turned her attention to a fussing baby girl in her crib while her mother was tending to her.
"Hello. Hello, baby girl." the mother said as the baby continued to fuss. "Mum had better get you a bottle then."
As the mother ran off to fetch the baby's bottle, Death walked into the room, and stared at the little infant.
And then, the Endless' skin turned pale once again as she picked the baby up.
"Yeah, I'm afraid so." Death murmured holding onto the baby. "That's all there is little one. That's all you get."
With that, Death walked herself and the baby into another room, and as she stepped inside, a golden light shined through the room, and as it shimmered down, Azrael had appeared in front of Death once more.
Death and Azrael then nod at each other, before Death handed the baby to the Angel, and she floated up in the air, phasing through the ceiling as the baby was now leaving this realm.
Morphing back to the dark skin color, Death then walked back to the baby's room, noticing Dream staring at the empty crib.
"We can go."
And with that, the Endless siblings walked their way out of the house, all while the mother had noticed the baby's unmoving body.
From there, Death and Dream continued their stroll around the town, and Death continued to do her thing, showing many mortals her gift. At first, they had visited an ill woman in a hospital. Then, Death held her hand out for a man who was seemingly shot in the heart. And finally, Death had comforted a woman who had most likely overdosed from drugs.
Throughout the entire walk, Dream had wondered why humanity's attitude towards the gift was so… strange. Why exactly did they fear the Sunless Lands?
But what he learned… what Death had taught him… was that while people may not be ready for their gift, they will receive it no matter what the circumstance is. At the end, everyone stood alone, with the journey to the far away Sunless Lands being a tough one. But most people would be glad to have the company of a friend.
After a while, Death (now keeping her traditional pale skin color) and Dream found themselves in the middle of the woods, contemplating about the stroll.
"It's funny looking back now." Death said. "I used to think I had to do this all by myself."
"But you do." Dream told her, to which she shook her head.
"No. At the end, I'm there with them." she continued. "I'm holding their hand and they're holding mine. I'm not alone when I'm doing my job. And neither are you."
Dream stared at her for 2 seconds, feeling a bit confused on what she meant by that.
"Think about it. The only reason we even exist, you and I, and Desire and Despair, the whole family, we're here to serve them. It isn't about quests or finding purpose outside our function. Our purpose is our function. We're here for them. Since I'd figured that out, I realized I need them as much as they need me."
At that moment, Death's words truly started to settle in for the Sandman. And after giving them some thought he had realized… She was right. Humanity didn't just serve Dream… he served humanity.
Perhaps having been imprisoned for over 100 years really clouded that thought from Dream's mind. And in a way, thinking about it now, the quest with the Dark Legends actually had reminded him of it when it was in fact them that stopped the supernatural plague caused partially by his imprisonment, not entirely himself.
"I've seen so many cool things and people and worlds and even universes." Death said, leaning closer to her brother as they walked their way back to the park they had met up in. "I've learned so much. Lots of people don't have a job they love doing, do they? So, I guess I'm really lucky. Listen, I've got to head back soon."
Suddenly, Dream turned around and stared at her sister directly in her eyes.
"You've taught me something I had forgotten. I thank you, my sister."
Death smiled.
"Aw. That's what family's about, little brother."
Okay, Death may have spoken a bit too soon as now she sensed something… or someone that was in need of her assistance.
"One last appointment, then I have to go." Death announced, as a car crash was heard from behind both of them.
"I, too, am late for an appointment." Dream replied.
"Tell him I said hello." Death said, to which Morpheus formed a small smirk. "I have to go."
And with that, the Endless siblings parted ways, with Death walking her way towards an approaching Franklin.
"Did you see that?" Franklin asked. "That car came like this close to hitting me."
"This close, huh?" Death inquired, and Franklin nodded. "Come with me, Franklin. I need to show you something."
Death then held onto Franklin's arm, and then gave one last look at Dream.
"See ya, Dream!" Death yelled at her brother, causing him to turn around. "Don't be a stranger, okay?"
With that, Death and Franklin started to walk their way out of the park as they stumbled upon the sight of Franklin's body lying dead on the floor after a car had hit him, with so many people gathering around him.
After a few minutes of walking, Dream found himself standing in front of a closed down bar. But this wasn't any random bar, no. This was the bar he and Hob Gadling would meet up at every century after Death had Gadling eternal life. But due to having been imprisoned over the last century, he of course was forced to miss their last appointment. Now with his quest over and having taken Death's advice, he figured it was time to perhaps reunite with Hob and then make up for all of the lost time they had.
But then, as he stared at the abandoned building, he then looked down and saw three simple words written on a wall with an arrow pointing at the left direction:
The New Inn…
And so, Dream walked towards where his new destination was… and then found a new bar that was sure enough called "The New Inn". He walked inside and while it did look different from the old tavern, this bar did pretty much have the same atmosphere, so he didn't feel lost.
And then… he spotted him. He had spotted Robert Gadling in the corner, still looking young as ever (which should've been a given), and filling in what appeared to be paperwork. Thus, Dream walked over to Hob and then simply stood over him in hopes that he would notice him… which he did.
At the sight of Dream, Hob formed a smile on his face.
"You're late."
Dream formed a smile of his own, which was rare for someone like him.
"It seems I owe you an apology. I've always heard it impolite to keep one's friends waiting."
Hob's smile grew even bigger after Dream had said that, with Dream keeping his own smile.
With that, Morpheus sat down in the chair and the acquaintances… no, the two friends were about to begin their chat. Dream had been through a lot when the Dark Legends had helped him find his tools and stop the supernatural plague, and in some way, the whole journey with them reminded him of his past meetings with Hob. And now, he had been reminded of a valuable lesson by that quest and his sister's words that despite there being mortals such as Roderick Burgess or even Ritchie Simpson, at the end of the day, he needed humanity just as much as they needed him.
And now, Dream was going to live up to that lesson by making the most of his time with Hob Gadling. And the Sandman felt the happiest he had ever been in eons, and more alive than ever before.
Now Playing: "Where the Lines Overlap" by Paramore
Central City, One Week Later
It was a sunny day in Central City, and over at the Allen household, Barry Allen and his wife Patty Spivot were currently hosting a special baby shower celebrating the upcoming arrival of their baby boy, Henry Spivot-Allen. The theme of the shower was Flash-themed, which made sense considering, well, Barry was the Flash.
For the guests, they had invited many of their dear friends.
First, there was the Queen family consisting of Oliver Queen, his younger sister Thea and her husband Roy Harper, Oliver's son William Clayton and his girlfriend Nora Darhk, and Oliver's young 3 year old daughter Mia.
Then we had Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow, two of Barry's most loyal friends that he could ever ask for.
There was also Bruce Wayne as well as his adopted son Dick Grayson and his girlfriend Barbara Gordon.
After them was the Barclay family with Andy Barclay and Nica Pierce as well as their niece Alice Pierce and their 3 year old daughter Cindy.
And then there was Lucifer Morningstar, his stepdaughter Trixie Espinoza and his infant biological daughter Rory.
Next was Buffy Summers and her younger sister Dawn, alongside Willow Rosenberg and her girlfriend Tara Maclay who seemed to be carrying a black cat in her arms.
Besides them were Cordelia Chase, Charles Gunn, and Fred Burkle, with Cordelia holding the infant son of Angel, Connor.
We also had the beautiful presence of Diana Prince on sight.
Then, there was Ash Williams and his Ghostbeaters team consisting of Kelly Maxwell, Pablo Simon Bolivar, and Ash's daughter Brandy Barr. Only for their situation… Ash appeared to be drunk. Oh dear.
And finally, there was Constantine and Gibb who were both being accompanied by two women, with John having Faith by his side, and an older woman with light brown hair and a very calm face by Gibb's side.
With that, Barry and Patty then turned their attention to all of the guests, with Barry clearing his throat before speaking.
"Friends, thank you all so much for coming here to celebrate this wonderful occasion for us. After the madness we had endured last week, I'm sure we all earned ourselves a time to get together that didn't require peril. Because what is it you always say, Oliver? That you wish it wasn't the dark times that brought us together…"
Oliver raised his glass before finishing Allen's sentence.
"But it's our friends who make those times worth having."
"That's definitely something I can agree with." Buffy said, looking at Willow, Tara, Dawn, Cordelia, Gunn, and Fred.
"Well, I guess it must suck that dark times are pretty much a daily routine for ya, oh-so Chosen One." Cordy roasted, making Summers rub her neck with her cheeks blushing a faint red.
"Oh, I so wish Spike was here right now…" Summers muttered, as her Vampire boyfriend Spike did not make it to this occasion due to it taking place in daytime, the same reason Angel wasn't here. Likewise, Xander and Anya were still over in Sunnydale planning for their wedding with Giles also staying behind to help out, and Wesley was still in Los Angeles due to some apparent extensive research on something.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get this party started!" Patty exclaimed, to which everyone else cheered in agreement.
With that, the baby shower took off in full swing, with everyone having the time of their lives. As Cindy and Mia started to run around, as well as the babies playing with each other, Willow and Tara walked up to them with the black cat still in Tara's arms.
The kids then gasped at the sight of the cat and both excitedly squealed.
"She's so cute!" Cindy said.
"Can we play with her?" Mia asked, staring at the two Witches with puppy eyes.
"Yes, you absolutely can play with Miss Kitty." Tara said warmly, giving Miss Kitty to the little girls.
"Just make sure she's not any crossbows." Willow muttered, handing them a ball of yarn.
Cindy and Mia cheered in excitement as they then started to play with Miss Kitty, throwing around her yarn and making her catch it, and the babies Connor and Rory even laughing at the cat's sight. As this went on, all of the adults couldn't help but yell a little "Awwe" at Miss Kitty, which… who'd really blame them? She was that adorable.
Meanwhile, Constantine, Gibb, Andy, and Nica watched the kids playing with the cat rather… solemnly. You see, when Alice had come home after the plague, Constantine and Gibb were there with her and saw how traumatized Cindy looked after Nica tried to kill her when under the influence of the dreamstone. And so, knowing how that image would scar Cindy for life, Constantine and Gibb did a simple memory wipe spell on her to erase that from her head, as well as Mia's.
But even with Cindy now in a better place with no recollection of that, Nica just couldn't help but feel so much guilt right now.
"She's awfully cheery right now after we cleared her head." Constantine said.
"Yeah." Gibb muttered. "Messing with people's memories is usually a big taboo in the magic world, but in this case, it was for the best that she didn't remember."
Nica then closed her eyes and put her head down.
"I still absolutely hate myself for doing that. I wouldn't even deserve to be a mother after trying to kill her."
Andy then gave his wife a comforting hug, to which Nica returned.
"Nica, it wasn't your fault… you were hallucinating." Andy whispered softly. "But all that matters is that Cindy remembers nothing from that. So now, let's just try our best to forget it ever happened and then be the best parents that we can be."
After he said that, Andy then placed a soft kiss onto Nica's forehead, to which Pierce smiled tearfully.
Constantine and Gibb stared at the Barclays comforting each other and felt a lot of sympathy for them. It actually brought them back to the aftermath of their encounter with Freddy Krueger 7 years ago when John had wiped away pieces of Krueger out of Gibb's memory, as that was the very thing that gave him power, so it was best that Smith didn't remember them. No different from Cindy right now.
"Hey."
Gibb turned around and saw Faith looking at her with her arms crossed.
"You look hot." Lehane quipped, making Gibb smirk.
"Thanks, I get that a lot." Smith said with a hint of sarcasm.
John and Faith then glanced at each other with smirks on their faces, before Faith then walked off to greet some of the other guests.
Gibb turned to Constantine with a curious look.
"Who exactly is she?" Gibb inquired.
"Let's just say a new friend… and a new addition to my ever growing harem." Constantine quipped, to which Gibb playfully rolled her eyes.
Constantine then took a look at the brown haired woman beside Gibb.
"While we're on that subject, who's your friend?"
"Oh right, this is my friend, Carrie White." Gibb introduced the woman to John. "Carrie, this is John Constantine who I've been telling you about all the time."
Carrie simply bowed down to John in a gentle gesture.
"It's an honor to meet you." Carrie said in a soft voice.
"Is it okay if I tell him?" Gibb seemingly asked, and then White gave her a nod.
From there, Gibb gave the rundown of her story.
"So, here's her story: she's got super crazy telekinetic powers. She was raised and abused by a crazy religious woman, and then was bullied in high school by a couple other kids… including my cousin." Smith explained, starting to feel a bit of disgust from what she heard about Carrie's high school experiences, especially a prank involving tampons. From there she continued.
"Later she was asked to her high school prom, decided to go, and was crowned Prom Queen, but then it was all a setup for a prank where those assholes poured pig's blood on her and that caused her to go into a trance and then kill everyone in her school and destroy her town, Chamberlain, Maine. People generally assumed she was dead but she actually faked her death after her friend Sue revived her from her Mom drowning her and then drove her away from the town, leaving her to wander the world a bit before ultimately settling in Springwood."
Everyone was very fascinated by what Gibb had just explained regarding Carrie, especially Nora who felt very sympathetic towards her given that the trance she was in when destroying the town reminded Darhk of when she would be under possession of Mallus. And then there was Andy.
Andy was always the type of guy who would do research on the supernatural, given his experience with Chucky, and so when the infamous Black Prom incident occurred in 2002, he immediately suspected something supernatural about the events that the news didn't cover. Unfortunately, everything Barclay had found was very limited, but there was something in his gut telling that Carrie didn't truly die, and was out there somewhere.
Now… 20 years after that incident, here she was in the flesh, standing amongst everyone else. Gibb then continued talking.
"Me and Carrie first met a day or two after I had met you, and I'm glad she did, because… I really needed somebody to connect with at that point in my life."
Carrie formed a small smile after Gibb said that, and then gave her a warm hug, which Smith returned.
At that moment though, Willow, Tara, Cisco, and Caitlin walked up to the scene, all looking very curious.
"You know… I kinda wonder if you're by any chance a meta-human." Cisco commented.
"I'm wondering the same thing." Caitlin added. "It could be interesting to see one who came before the particle accelerator explosion happened."
White looked at Team Flash with a bit of a confused expression on her, and blinked a couple of times. But then, Tara placed her hand onto Carrie's shoulder.
"I'm sorry all of that happened to you." Maclay said softly. "You may have killed all of those people, but you weren't in control. And I know very well what it's like to be hurt by your family."
"Well… when I first moved to Springwood, I did train myself to eventually control my powers so that nothing like that tragedy could ever happen again." Carrie explained. "And then, in case I were to lose control again, Gibb's always gonna be here to keep me in check."
"You betcha bottom dollar I am, Care." Gibb assured, patting Carrie on her back.
"Well, at least it's good that you've improved yourself." Willow said, having recently experienced some self-improvement herself over the past month. "And who knows, maybe someday we can test your powers with our magic."
Once again, Carrie formed a small smile after Rosenberg said that.
"I'd love that."
"Ehh… magic, schmagic." Cisco sarcastically said. "There's no real such thing. All you so-called Witches, or warlocks, or sorcerers, all you have is just.. advanced science."
"Yeah, literally anything you guys could do can be performed by just usual experiments." Snow added. "Does magic create an alter-ego with ice powers? Science can do that too, and I'm living proof of it."
"Well, can science create a literal reality altering Key?" Rosenberg inquired with a smirk on her face.
"Or help you fight a Hell-God?" Tara added with her own smirk.
The two scientists just stood there, trying their best to come up with an argument. Hm… Barry did create Flashpoint, but that was probably not the same as the Key the Witches had just mentioned… And then Savitar came to Cisco's mind as he claimed to be the God of Speed, but that was still most likely nothing compared to a God that was hailed from literal Hell…
…
Yeah. They had nothing.
"Alright, I guess you guys win on that one." Ramon shrugged.
Just then, Fred walked up to the group, with a bit of a smirk on her face.
"I'd like to add that as a scientist who spent the past five years in a Hell dimension, I've seen both sides of the coin. So, really, you two never had much of an argument." Fred stated, pointing to Cisco and Caitlin. "And besides, magic and science in a way could actually mesh together really well."
"That's a good point there." Caitlin nodded.
"I can definitely see that." Tara agreed.
"Well, I did once meet Dr. Wells and Dr. Stein before I ended up in Pylea." Burkle nonchalantly added.
With that, Fred walked away to greet some of the other guests, and Willow and Tara walked to help out the kids with Miss Kitty. And as Fred was walking, Cisco and Caitlin couldn't help but form rather… worrying expressions on their faces.
"Oh, she has no idea…" Cisco murmured, with Caitlin nodding in agreement.
Meanwhile, Oliver was seen standing around with Bruce, Dick, and Barbara.
"I do have to admit, you three are some of the most skilled fighters that I know." he complimented the Batfamily, and then turned specifically to Wayne and Grayson. "When you fought me, you actually gave me a decent challenge, which after Ra's Al Ghul, no one has really done that outside of Adrian Chase."
"Well, I am quite flattered about those words, Ollie." Bruce said slyly. "But I think I still acknowledge you as one of the best overall fighters there is."
"That I can agree with." Dick commented. "The fact I even manage to stand any chance against you of all people is nothing short of a miracle."
"Yep, very impressive, Dick." Barbara smirked, before something popped in her head. "Though, what about that Diaz guy?"
"Oh, he wasn't anybody special." Oliver shrugged. "The only reason he even stood any chance against me was because I wasn't in the right mindset at that time, and well… I eventually got over that and brought him to justice."
"Yeah, makes sense there, otherwise why would some random thug take on the Green Arrow himself?" Gordon muttered, making everyone laugh.
As Oliver and the Batfamily were talking, Roy and Gunn were in the middle of a conversation about their upbringings in the streets.
"Damn… I feel bad you had to go through all that, man." Gunn muttered.
Thanks. It was hard out there living in the Glades." Roy said. "In a way, you actually had it easier than me, because at least you were fighting with a sense of justice."
"Not too sure if I consider hunting Vampires all my life is all that better than being a criminal in order to survive, but either we both had it rough."
"But… we did eventually find people who actually look out for us. People that we can honestly consider friends." Harper trailed off. "No… family. I'm glad I had met Oliver and especially Thea. I don't think I'd be anything without them."
Roy stared at Thea as she was talking to some brunette woman he didn't recognize as well as Oliver talking to Bruce and his companions, and couldn't help but form a small smile on his face.
"I'll tell you what… I never thought I'd consider leaving my old crew in favor of working with a Vampire to be one of the better decisions I've made in my life… but honestly… I think I do." Gunn said, staring at Cordelia as well as his girlfriend Fred, and also forming a small grin on his face.
Faith was in the middle of talking with Thea, and the conversation was… let's just say interesting for Thea.
"Honestly, I think I can say despite all of the stuff you did, you're actually cool." Thea told Faith.
"I appreciate that, T." Faith said, looking towards the ground. "It's just for the past year since your brother broke me out, I've been on a soul-searching journey, if you get what I mean."
"I do, Faith. I myself had made some… terrible decisions in the past, but I've learned to never make anything like them ever again." Queen continued. "But in a way, you sort of remind me of my old friend, Sara."
"I do?" Lehane asked.
"Yeah. You and her have very similar personalities in that… you're both pretty kickass. I think you too would get along greatly if she was… she was…."
Tears then started to form in Thea's eyes, as she began to think about Sara Lance. The White Canary and Thea's best friend, who had always looked out for her.
It had been over four years since Sara had died on the timeship known as the Waverider alongside the rest of the Legends, and upon hearing about her death, especially after having regret for killing Sara before when drugged up by Malcolm Merlyn, Thea had gone into an emotional breakdown and had almost quit vigilantism altogether. But luckily, Oliver was there to comfort her and remind her that she needed to keep fighting as a way to honor Sara's memory, to which Thea took close to the heart, and had continued protecting Star City.
But still… it was a cold world for Thea without Sara…
Faith placed her hand onto Thea's back as if she was reading her thoughts.
"Sorry."
"You're fine." Thea mumbled.
Just then, Oliver walked up to the women and turned his attention to Faith.
"Hello, Faith."
Lehane formed a small smile on her face.
"Hello, Mr. Queen." Faith greeted back. She'd normally call him a nickname, but considering Oliver was a bit of a legend, she decided to show him a bit of respect towards him.
"How have you been holding up lately?" Oliver asked.
"Well… trying to do better." Faith replied. "Thanks for giving me this second chance. I really appreciate it."
Oliver grinned and then walked off to greet some more guests, but then saw Gunn standing next to Roy and formed a bit of a… shocked expression. This understandably made the other two, especially Gunn, very confused.
"Ummm… you okay, man?" Gunn asked.
"Oh, sorry, you… remind me of someone I knew." Queen stammered.
Gunn was still a bit confused about what he meant, but then an idea popped in his head, and he just couldn't help but roll his eyes.
"Oh boy, you must be talking about my evil ass uncle, Blank." Charles grumbled.
"He was your uncle?" Oliver asked, a little bit flabbergasted.
"Yep, and was actually the reason I had to be the one to look out for my sister while we were raised in the streets after he had killed our Mama, his own sister."
"Well, at least you don't seem to be as bad as him." Oliver muttered.
And with that, Oliver walked off.
Cordy was seen laughing her ass off as she was talking with William and Nora.
"Seriously, your Step-mom did that after finding out about you?" Cordy laughed.
"Yeah… I respect and love Felicity, but… I'll admit she is not perfect whatsoever, especially during those days." William replied, rubbing his neck in slight embarrassment.
"You're telling me, that sounds like a scene straight out of a soap opera like the Young and the Restless!" Cordelia quipped.
"I mean, if you think that's ridiculous, wait till you hear the stories Barry told us about his first wife." Nora muttered.
"Nope! I think this is enough for me, just enough for a good laugh." Cordelia said, still laughing before walking off to meet some other guests.
Just as Cordelia was walking, she suddenly bumped into someone.
"Oops, my apologies, I did not see you there-" Lucifer tried to apologize before noticing who had bumped into him. From there, he had formed a puzzled expression which just made Cordelia confused.
"Umm… what?" Chase asked.
"Jamie?!" Morningstar exclaimed.
"Uh, no, my name is Cordelia."
"Your name is not Jamie Lee Adrienne?"
At that comment, Cordy snorted out another laugh.
"Oh no, that's my older but lamer sister." Cordelia snarked. "No, I'm the former Queen Bitch of Sunnydale and the Powers' chosen guide for their Champion!"
"Oh really?" Lucifer inquired. "Because I'm pretty sure that's nothing compared to the Devil Himself, which is me!"
"Well, you may be the Devil, but my Champion, who I'm also in a fabulous relationship with, used to be 100% scarier than how you look right now!"
"I've already met your so-called Champion once thanks to my own fiancee and I'll just say he just comes off like a brooding Vampire version of the bloody Green Arrow and Batman!"
"Okay, you have a point about his brooding, but at least the Hotel is still beaming with my glorious presence!"
"It'd most likely be more alive if I was around!"
"You really think that?"
"I know that!"
Everyone else chuckled as Cordelia and Lucifer continued to throw snarky comments at each other. Oh, what a show this was.
All the while, Alice and Dawn were sitting next to each other as Alice had just got done telling Dawn about her adventures from last week.
"Damn, you really showed that old geezer who was boss, huh?" Dawn commented, awed at everything Alice had told her.
"Yep, I sure did." Alice said.
"Somehow, that makes you look even more badass… and hotter." Dawn continued, with a smirk.
"For real?" Alice chuckled.
"Oh yeah! Although… the whole thing about Constantine being your biological father…" Dawn trailed off, shifting the mood a little.
"Yeah… I still feel so overwhelmed by that." Pierce sighed.
Dawn then gave Alice a warm hug, to which she returned.
"I get it, Al. I totally get the feeling. I was in a similar place as you when I found out I was the Key." Summers softly said. "But, let's not make that trait define you, just like how me being the Key doesn't define me. For all I know, you could be the daughter of freakin' Albert Einstein, and that still wouldn't take away from who you are as a person."
Alice smiled after Dawn said those words, with tears forming in her eyes.
"Thank you, Dawnie."
"No problem."
Pierce and Summers then stared at each other for a good 5 seconds, and then their faces started to lean towards one another…
Then their lips made contact. And they started to share a very passionate kiss with each other for what felt like an eternity.
But then some giggling was heard behind them, prompting them to break up the kiss and turn around. From behind was Cindy and Mia seemingly giggling at the young couple, all while Cindy still had Miss Kitty in her arms.
"Alice and Dawnie sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" the little girls sang, walking in a circle around Alice and Dawn.
"Okay, that's a little bit embarrassing." Alice said, blushing a little bit.
"Eh, it's no biggie, I kinda did the same thing when Willow and Tara got back together." Dawn shrugged, which made Alice chuckle.
Meanwhile, Nora and William began to have a conversation of their own.
"Quite an adventure we had last week, huh?" William asked.
"Sure was." Nora agreed. "People hallucinating demons… the Sandman… Ritchie… Destiny…"
Nora then closed her eyes with a sad look on her face.
"Mallus."
At the mention of the name, William formed an expression similar to Nora's.
"I swear for the past year, even since he'd reawakened inside of me, his voice keeps getting louder, screaming for me to let him out, torturing me to no end… And sometimes, I question myself if I'm strong enough to fight him."
Clayton placed both of his hands on Darhk's shoulder, and stared at her straight in the eyes.
"Nor, you're one of the strongest people I know. As far as I'm aware, Mallus doesn't stand a chance against a girl like you, even if he's a demon of the highest order. You just gotta keep fighting him to prove that to him."
Nora smiled hearing after Will's words.
"Thank you, Will."
Will smiled back, and just like Alice and Dawn earlier, the two stared at each other for what felt like an eternity… and they started to lean towards each other's faces…
Until Trixie suddenly got in-between them!
"Ooh, I see it's getting hot up here between you two." Espinoza joked.
"Is that really any of your business?" Darhk asked, slightly annoyed.
"Maybe…" Trixie said smugly.
At that moment, Trixie felt like she was suddenly being picked up from the ground. And sure enough she was, as she turned around and saw that the person who had picked her up… was Rory using her Angel wings!
And also, Connor was right by Rory's side, holding on to her onesie as she started to fly around in circles carrying her big sister around.
Trixie let out a scream as Rory flew around, and she of course started to feel a little air sickness from the flight.
The baby Morningstar suddenly let go of Espinoza, causing her to fall down straight to the ground, and…
BOINK!
She hit the back of her head upon landing.
"Ugh… just a typical occasion of a sister who's half-Devil…" Trixie groaned, causing everyone else to laugh, especially Nora.
As the babies floated around, Diana was seen observing them with a curious expression on her face.
"These baby showers are quite beautiful." Diana commented. "It's too bad that we Amazonians don't have them as we are made out of clay."
Everyone else just looked at Prince with confused expressions on their faces. Umm… that was a bit specific.
Meanwhile, Constantine, Faith, and Lucifer were in the corner talking to the drunk Ash. As this was happening, Brandy, Kelly, and Pablo tried their best to keep him in check, and… they were surprisingly doing a decent job at that.
"And then after I blew Eligos to pieces, I said "Shoot first, think never!"" Ash slurringly said, causing Faith to laugh.
"I gotta say, you're actually pretty cool and fun to be around… even if you're a dumbass." Faith said.
"Tell me about it with the dumbass part." Brandy muttered. "Upon meeting me, he told me to go fuck myself if I was a Deadite, and then slept in my Mom's casket during her funeral service."
"Well, at least now I also know what's like discovering a daughter I never knew I had." John commented.
"I love you too, Brandy." Williams said, causing Barr to chuckle.
"Well, if it makes you feel any better… I'm actually naked right now." Lehane nonchalantly informed. "John here cast a spell to convince everyone that I'm wearing clothes when in reality, I'm relishing at this party fully in my birthday suit."
She then breathed a deep sigh.
"And it feels so freeing."
"Ha, that's funny! One time when I was in Jacksonville, I went outside streaking in hopes all the ladies would see me!" Ash exclaimed, which made Kelly and Pablo playfully roll their eyes.
"Yeah, that's our El Jefe for you." Pablo said.
"But after hanging around with him for the past seven years, we're kinda used to it." Kelly shrugged. "At least he gets the job done most of the time."
"Trust me, I get that feeling." Constantine agreed. "It's a miracle we were able to survive 2 years on the fucking Waverider with this guy."
"No bloody kidding, Johnny!" Lucifer said. "Especially given how many times he kept screwing up anachronisms!"
"Hehe, yeah, me and time travel have a very interesting relationship." Ash chuckled, still drunk. "I did end up in the Middle Ages after all."
"Hmm… maybe we can team up sometime." Faith suggested. "What would you say about that?"
"Fuck yeah!" Ash exclaimed. "Two chosen ones kicking evil's dead butt!"
Faith smirked at Ash's enthusiasm, even if he was… well, you know.
"We'd definitely love to have you around, maybe even chilling in the RV with us." Kelly said. "Just be warned: it's gonna be hard to outshine the Kell-Master."
"I'll definitely accept that challenge." Lehane smirked.
"Bring it the fuck on." Maxwell quipped.
Everyone laughed at Faith and Kelly's little banter.
Just then, Alice walked up to Constantine with Dawn by her side as the two hold hands.
"You having a good time?" she inquired.
"Yeah, as a matter of fact I am." John replied. "Very surprisingly considering this is not my type of thing, but... I guess I have to given I am a parent now."
Pierce then formed a smirk on her face.
"Well, glad to hear it... Dad."
Constantine smirked back after she had said that.
"Everybody, it's picture time!" Patty called as she and Barry stood in front of a camera.
All of the guests did exactly what Spivot requested and walked towards the couple, and then stood right beside them, focusing their attention on the camera.
"Alright now… let's say Superfriends!" Barry announced.
Everyone responded:
"Superfriends!"
SNAP!
The camera flashed and the group photo was taken. The photo was shown with most of them having big smiles on their faces and a few (particularly the kids and Dawn) doing silly faces.
This whole occasion was just a big reminder of how much of a family the Heroes had become over the days, starting all the way from when Oliver Queen had returned to his city to save it in 2012 up to this very moment. And no matter what, no matter how small or how big the situation was, whether or not it was peaceful or if the world was in danger… they were going to be by each other's side.
Forever and always.
FIN
A/N: *deeply sighs* Quite the journey we've been through here, hasn't it? I still can't believe its finally over. But let's go over this Chapter, which is definitely a lot longer than I was expecting.
First off, the scene with Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees in Hell. Since I've connected Freddy to Dream, I just couldn't resist a cameo from having him, especially with him getting his by Jason. And this is meant to tease some stuff I have planned regarding both of them in the future of this series, more so with Jason than Freddy, who... let's just say might get retired after this. That's all I'll say for now.
Next we have Constantine meeting Faith Lehane. This idea of them meeting each other came at a very last minute, but honestly, given that they're both clouded in darkness, they could easily form a connection and friendship with one another. Could they form something more? We'll just to wait and see about that...
I know Faith at this point in time is supposed to be in prison, but here, Oliver Queen had broken her out a year prior to this story, which I will elaborate on in my next story, thus she is currently atoning for all the terrible things she had done over the past few years. And I've just finished Buffy Season 6 and Angel Season 3, and I did hear Faith comes back in the next Seasons, so I'm hoping me doing this doesn't conflict too much with her involvement in those ones. If it does... oh well.
Now let's talk about Dream hanging out with his older sister Death of the Endless. As you can see, this was an adaptation of the sixth episode of the Sandman Netflix series. And I loved this episode, possibly my favorite of the whole show, so I had to include it in some way in this story, especially since this was already included in PotCFan101's original Dark Legends 2 long before the show was even a thing.
However I did adjust the content of this episode somewhat, with Death switching from her dark skin color to a more pale skin color much like her comics counterpart before taking mortals out of the living, and that also gave me the opportunity to include a cameo from Azrael from Lucifer given that she is the Angel of Death. Speaking of, I did realize upon writing this story how challenging it was to have Netflix Sandman and Tom Ellis' Lucifer co-existing, because as some people had pointed out, Lucifer is almost like Desire of the Endless. I mean his literal catchphrase is "What do you desire?". But I think I've came up with a good excuse for this, why Dream here treats Lucifer basically the same he does with Gwendoline Christie's Lucifer in the show and yet still can't stand Desire, it's because Lucifer still has respectfulness to himself given that he is a former Ruler of Hell and more powerful than Dream, whereas Desire is just cruel and malicious especially towards Dream. So if I was Dream, I'd definitely be more acceptable to Lucifer than Desire, and Lucifer just seems to be more fun to be around anyway.
Also, I've just established that Death had a bit of a friendship with Kendra Young. This idea came from a fic I've read titled "Death is My Gift" by Barefoot XO, and it was a very heartwarming read, so I had to make it somewhat canon here. Plus, it was a nice way of maybe adding to Kendra's character as we didn't get to spend a lot of time with her during Buffy Season 2, which was a bit of a shame considering I really liked her. Though, her death (no pun intended) did gave us Faith, so... I can't complain too much.
But the basic premise of Sandman 1x6 is the same as I feel Dream would've still felt like he'd lost all purpose, if not even more so here than in canon given the help he needed from the Dark Legends, and that it was Alice that destroyed the dreamstone. But his experiences here was meant to remind him that humanity didn't just serve him, he served them, and Big Sissy Death just evaluated that lesson even further. And so that made him reunite with Hob Gadling after missing their last appointment as well. Of course, I completely skipped all of the flashbacks from this, mainly because I'd already shown one of them a few Chapters ago, that being the Johanna one albeit heavily modified to have her be a Slayer, and beyond that one, they'd all just be the same as in canon. And it'd just make this Chapter even longer than it already is.
From this point on, the rest of the Sandman show will happen the similarly as it originally did, with Dream finally meeting Matthew (since I did cut him out here) and then helping out Rose Walker and finally destroying the Corinthian. Only difference here is that the scene at the very end of Sandman 1x10 with Lucifer meeting with Azazel and them plotting against Morpheus doesn't happen at all due to Cain not being that malicious (at least not as much in this series as he is in the Lucifer show) and Azazel is a completely different character in my series anyway.
And then we finally have the very end with the baby shower, and boy did I have a lot of fun writing this one. So many fun interactions between these horror characters, Arrowverse characters, and Buffyverse characters that it's kind of hard to pinpoint which was my favorite. But I guess I'll just go over the biggest things to note here.
First things first: Carrie White! Yes,Carrie as in the one from Stephen King's famous novel! I know some of you may be a bit confused as why she's here because, well, isn't she supposed to be dead? Not this one, as this Carrie is the version from the TV movie released in 2002, where she had survived at the end. I was inspired recently to give this movie a watch, and it's actually pretty decent, and so it gave me the idea to have this version exist within my series. And I had her be a friend of Gibb because Katharine Isabelle actually played one of the bullies of the film, Tina Blake (who I have be Gibb's cousin in this universe) and she was basically a much meaner version of what Gibb was in the original Freddy vs Jason film just without the smoking and drinking, so I thought it'd be fun if Carrie were to befriend the more mature Gibb of this series.
So basically, after Sue Snell brought Carrie back, she dropped her off somewhere in Florida, and then Carrie went around the world for a bit before finally settling in Springwood, hiding herself from the world after she had destroyed Chamberlain, Maine to control her powers before finally coming out to reinvigorate herself into society with an alias. Let's just say she met Gibb met very shortly after PotCFan101's story Constantine vs Freddy, and then when Damien Darhk unleashed Hell on Earth, Carrie stayed behind in Springwood to fend off all the demons that had risen from the sinkhole that opened up there. Same thing can be applied to here for whenever Dee caused the entire world go haywire when entering 24 Hour Diner in the last Chapter, so Carrie probably wasn't affected and then defended herself against the hallucinating civilians of Springwood.
Now this film is actually the first Carrie movie I've ever watched, which I know, it sounds kind of sacrilegious that I've never seen the original 1976 film or the 2013 remake, but I'll definitely give the original a watch one day as that is a horror classic, the remake not so much (which is a shame because I love Chloë Grace Moretz). But I've always had it in my mind that Carrie existed somewhere in this universe, but I didn't know how I was going to mention her because for a long time I've just shrugged it off and assumed the 1976 film was canon and Carrie was dead. In fact, one of the original ideas I had for Enter Gibb was having her show up in the Hell on Earth battle as one of the escaped villains, and possibly having her fight Nora Darhk, either the Kid version or the Future version. But upon more research on the character, she didn't seemed to be a villain at all and more on the lines of a tragic anti-Hero, so because of that, I had to cut Carrie out of that.
But now, I actually regret not seeing this movie earlier in my life because then I could've easily had her fighting alongside the other Heroes against all of the escaped villains. Heck, since I'd already shown Pennywise in that, instead of having Jax fight him, I easily could've had a Carrie vs Pennywise showdown, due to both of them being Stephen King characters! Now tell me that wouldn't have been fucking awesome!
But oh well. It is what it is. Anyways, that's enough Carrie talk. Do expect her pop up more in this series going forward, especially some adventures with her and Gibb.
Regarding the Buffyverse timeline here, given that this took place a week after the main events, Buffy 6x13 would've taken place... but once again it didn't, because there's no Trio running around, meaning Katrina is alive and well without anything of those horrible things happening to her. Kudos to that.
However as you can see, Willow and Tara are back together again, as after Willow had almost attacked Tara in the last Chapter, the scenes from the ending of 6x18 and the beginning of 6x19 ended up taking place as a way of the two making up for that. And thankfully, nothing else had had taken place in that episode. Nothing at all! And there is a good chance that 6x15 and 6x16 could happen here, but they might go much differently, especially the latter.
As for Angel, 3x13 and 3x14 did happen after the main events, but the difference is Angel and Cordelia are now in a relationship together instead of Cordelia and Groosalugg, because don't even get me started on how infuriating it was at the end of the former how they completely win me over with Cangel (Bangel can rot!) throughout the entirety, and then Groo showed up out of nowhere and all of a sudden Cordy's all weak knees for him. Seriously, Groo should've stayed in Pylea, because that was perfect for him at the end of Season 2.
But anyways, before I start going into a tangent, here Groo does still show up... but after Angel and Cordy confess their feelings for one another, and then doesn't get in the way. And this whole thing would take place right before the major 3-parter of 3x15 through 3x17 (evident by Angel and Wesley not being here), which... once again, may or may not turn out differently than in canon. You'll know what I mean in the distant future, folks.
If anyone wondered why Oliver and Lucifer reacted to Gunn and Cordelia respectively, it's because in Arrow 1x20, J. August Richards played an assassin named Mr. Blank, and in Lucifer 2x5, Charisma Carpenter played the scheming ex-wife of a popular movie star. I definitely couldn't resist having Jamie be Cordelia's older sister here, and while I was considering having Gunn and Blank be twins, Blank seemed like an older guy to me personally, so I figured having him be Gunn's evil uncle was a better choice.
And finally, this was my first time writing Alice and Dawn together as a couple. Now, I don't know what it is, but I've always pictured Alice, if she was actually given the proper usage within the Child's Play franchise, being a lesbian. I mean, in Curse of Chucky, Barb was shown to be bisexual given how much she was making out with Jill. And also, Don Mancini is an openly gay man and has incorporated a lot of that into his later works, including making two of the main characters of the show a gay couple. So all of that could've applied to Alice, and it honestly sort of became my headcanon that she was. Thus, I've always wanted to give her a girlfriend in this series, I just couldn't for a long time figure out who I'd pair her up with. I was sort of thinking about maybe having her and Trixie get together, but I quickly decided against that because they work best as just besties... no pun intended. So that forced me to potentially come up with a minor OC to pair Alice up with.
Then I started watching Buffy, and met Dawn... And at that moment, I'd found the perfect match for Alice. Because the way Dawn acts within the show is so similar to how Alice acted in Curse, it's not even funny and the fact they've both been through such horrible experiences, Alice being a pawn to Chucky, and then Dawn being hunted down by Glory due to being the Key. So because of that, I just had to pair the two up together, especially since Dawn hangs out with Willow and Tara (two lesbians) 24/7. Romance is not exactly my strongest suit, but hopefully I've managed to do a good job at my first showing of these two's relationship.
And yeah... that's it for this story. It's been a long ride, but it think it was all worth it in the end. As far as if I'll bring Dream back in the future, it's definitely something I want to do and I already have one idea for a cameo by him, but it'll be in a much later story, so hopefully I'll bring him back earlier as I did enjoy writing him for as complex as he is.
Now, I can finally move on to new stories within the Enter Dark Legends series. Yes, that is now my official title for this series. The next story after this that I'm planning is going to be my adaptation of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 5 involving Alice and her friends, and oh boy, am I so excited to write that one! I've been coming up with so many ideas for that as I've been watching the Season for the first time and it had been a blast! Thanks so much to Aragorn II Elessar for helping out with those. Let me tell you, while the basic plotline of the Season will be the same, the Dark Titans' presence here is gonna change certain plot elements around and there's even gonna be some original mini-arcs of my own to splice things up a bit. And as I've said, it'll be a prequel to this story, so lots of elements we saw here, particularly Alice and Dawn's relationship and the former becoming a Slayer, you guys will see the origins of them in that. So I'm thinking I'll start releasing it sometime in March or April.
And then I do have plans to write adaptations of the other Buffyverse Seasons as well, such as Buffy Season 7, and even Seasons 4 and most likely 5 of Angel, but I do need to continue my Buffyverse watch through in order to fully formulate what I'll be doing with those. Then I'll also need to squeeze in a couple of shorter original stories between all of these, like a crossover with Supernatural (another damn good show!), and after all this is done, I'm gonna get cracking on my reimagining of Dark Legends 3 by PotCFan101, which is another one I'm super excited to do whenever I eventually get to it, as unlike Enter Gibb and to a lesser extent this story, that is going to be a completely different and unrecognizable beast from his original fic, and possibly even darker.
But with all of that said, I hope you guys enjoyed this wild ass story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Special thanks goes to Aragorn II Elessar for helping me a lot in the back half of this story, and of course, to PotCFan101 for writing the original story, and giving me his input on this as well. In the meantime, I'm definitely gonna release some more Chapters of Dark Legends Tales starting in January, just to get content rolling while the main stories are in development.
If you excuse me... in the spirit of the Sandman, I'm gonna go take a nap, haha! Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year, and until next time: See ya!