The Ultimate Warrior - DC Justice League version

by long night of solace

Humanity is an impressive intergalactic empire. When John-117, supreme commander of human military and his AI friend Cortana discovers a mysterious signal from another universe, the truths and the hidden secrets will force them to ally with the native heroes on a race to save the multiverse.

10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Halo or DC franchise

"We are the Flood. There is no difference. Until all space and time are rolled up and life is crushed in the folds ... no end to war, grief, or pain. In a hundred and one thousand centuries ... unity again, and wisdom. Until then -sweetness."

-Primordial

Previously on Justile League...

"I will be leaving the league for sometime-..."
"Hope you can set things straight with your people-..."

...

"Bring me the relics or your people will be doomed to this fate forever!"
"If you go back against your word, there will be no magic in this universe that will save you!"

...

"The city council is gonna be pissed for breaking the museum"
"We will help with the compensation"

...

"What did you do with Superman and Spartan!?"
"You both were under an illusion caused by the magic"
"What horrors have we unleashed!?"

...

Intro: As the sun rises above the horizon, 8 figures walk slowly towards the front, prideful and confident.
Then comes a man in Bat themed costume throwing a batarang at unknown enemy, then a woman with a tiara and patriotic colored dress, blocking bullets at high speed. A man surrounded by emerald green energy forming a lantern shape as a green costumed man clench his fists as his ring glows with energy. Then a man in a blue dress and red cape smashing through a wall as he flew in. Then a dragon like being morphing into a caped man with yellow eyes.

Then a red costumed figure with yellow lightning streak in the chest sprint towards the unknown. Then in the sky, a woman with wings and a hawk mask carrying a spiked mace flying in the sky.

The finally a tall stocky armored being jump the ground with blast carrying a rifle in one hand and a hammer in another hand as huge dark monsters were ready to kill him as he turned and ran towards them with a hammer slash that cuts to all 8 figures standing side by side.

Chapter 9:

Diana was holding onto the relic as she was going through the events that transpired, leading them to an uncomfortable situation.

"Powerful forces are at work here" Diana said as she observed the object in hand.

"I agree on that. We are still oblivious to why Faust needs these relics" Spartan said voicing his opinion. Diana and Superman were quite surprised that he wasn't as shaken as them and that the fact that they both beat him so hard under the spell and he didn't mind any of that. Yet, it didn't diminish the shame they felt in trying to hurt their friend. And if not for the Spartan, who knew how long it would have taken for them to break free of the illusion and how much they might have hurt themselves before it happened.

"This was all my fault! I shouldn't have dragged them into this mess!" Diana thought somberly.

Then all of a sudden, Batman's voice broke through the comm.

"Diana, I dug up something on your friend Faust" Batman said that got their attention.

"What is it?" Diana asked eagerly.

"It better to see it for yourself" he said as he closed the channel.

"Well, then lets move. Time is of the essence" Superman said before looking at the Spartan.

"Spartan, are you alright? Can you make it to the location?" Superman asked concerned about the damage they might have inflicted on him.

"I'm good Superman, This armor is resilient to survive a supernova" the Spartan replied with no malice in his voice. He was calm the entire time as if the last few hours of events never happened. Diana was relieved to hear that even though she was still guilty of what he did to him.

Then the 3 looked around the mall with all the destruction they have wrought.

"I hope we have better alibi for all this" Diana said concerned about the ruckus they have caused.

"Please talk to the mall owner. I will have Cortana divert some of the converted funds to be supplied for the mall repair and rebuild" the Spartan said to which Superman smiled with a satisfied nod.

They better not lose the public support as it would become more consequential and may even lead to the disband of this team. Back in his Universe, the Spartans always had a public and government backing since they always boosted the morale in war like during the covenant era. But the case here was much different.

"If there is nothing, off we go" Diana said as they left the place.

...

Atop Faust's home...

The league members Batman, Superman, Jonn Jonz, Flash, Miranda, Diana and the Spartan were inside a tall building at the top floor, which served as Faust's home or base of operations for whatever he was upto.

They all met with Batman at the roof top and Superman explained everything that happened at the mall as Flash told the tale of what happened in South America. But everyone were astounded with what happened between Spartan, Diana and Superman as they were trapped in illusion and fought each other to death.

"Geez Spartan! I thought we had the worst. But it seems you guys look like you went toe to toe with godzilla 10 rounds!" Flash quipped.

"That overgrown leather belt was putting up one hell of a fight!" Miranda added.

"Comes with the job as risky as this. In a fight, its okay to be on the receiving end as much you give it" John replied casually that surprised the others.

"Pfft-...If not for your armor, Superman and Diana would have snapped you in half" Cortana took a jab at him having witnessed everything that happened through the armor's recording. John already asked her to develop countermeasures against these type of magic through a scientific approach. Also outside the armor, John is capable to lifting 50 to 100 tons above his head with his body density above Osmium, but Superman and Diana possess strength to move the very Earth. So what Cortana said was true, without armor, if one of them got lucky to grab him, he would have been dead. But it needs to be taken into account that John is a seasoned veteran.

"Even without the armor, I would have found a way to get through the illusion and helped them both. This armor is only a tool for me, not a liability. I am the real strength here, not the weapons I carry" the Spartan replied.

"John, that's kinda sugarcoating. Did you know your vitals went red all over there!? The neurons in your brain were firing like hell to a point of sensory overload! Your mind would have snapped back there if you hadn't pulled yourself through on time" Cortana said loud with concern that got the other's attention.

"Wait, what is Cortana talking about?" Jonn Jonz asked with his eyes glowing bright.

"What happened to you back there Spartan? Is what Cortana said true?" Diana asked now worried if John went through something worse and he kept it to himself. The Spartan looked at them all waiting for an answer.

"The spell did create an illusion though not like it did with you or Superman. But for the time being, I was trapped in my own worst nightmare. Only after I worked my way through I realized I was hallucinating and the illusion dropped. In the process, I also hurt Superman and yourself unwillingly" Spartan said with a hint of regret.

"Then maybe you should sit this one out Commander. We can handle this. You need to rest. When was the last time you even had a good sleep?" Miranda said worrying about his health, though she had a faint idea what sort nightmare he might have faced, the one involving a certain parasite.

"It not a problem Captain Keyes. I am all good now! Besides, every second we waste here, Diana's people are running the risk of being destroyed" He said with concern.

Diana heard that and was so moved by his words.

"I was feeling regret for hurting him and Superman. But the Spartan, despite having gone through the worse still pulled himself through and saved us too. Now he is worried about our people! I dont know how I am going to repay his kindness" Diana was so immersed in her own thoughts.

"Lets drop this. Batman, What do you have on Faust!?" the Spartan asked leaving no room for further argument.

"Yeah aside from the fact that there is no information about him on the whole planet!" Cortana said as she did her research before.

"Follow me" Batman said as the others followed him down to his apartment where Faust lives.

The Spartan then noticed Diana stopped midway hanging her head down in despondence.

"Are you alright, Diana?" the Spartan asked.

"John, I never wanted you all to be dragged into this mess. Perhaps I should do this alone and face the consequences" Diana said. John understood her words deeply and he knew Diana doesn't have to blame herself for anything. John may not be the best person to give advice to someone, but he has enough experience to give some words of wisdom rarely.

"Diana, back at home, I would do anything for my Spartan family or the soldiers in my command. This is no different than that. We always find strength in unity. We chose to help you. And I promise, we will get your people out of this trouble. Besides, you know me when I make a promise" John said to which Diana smiled remembering he same quotes he told a lot of his people including Cortana.

"You keep it. Thank you Spartan" she replied.

"And I will make sure no harm comes to you and the others ever again!" she thought with steel determination.

Inside Faust's residence...

"Quite fascinating. It seems Faust was so invested in the Occult and mystic arts!" Jonn said looking at the historical collection of magical items.

"Where did he get all this stuff? Warlocks-R-Us?" Flash asked holding a golden staff that had a gem and a circular medaglia at the tip. Suddenly the medaglia opened to reveal an eye and glowed. Batman noticed that and was worried.

"No! Dont touch that-...!"

*ZZZAAT* *BOOM*

An energy blast fired as Batman ducked under. The blast hit the wall and scorched it to few layers.

"Oops! he heh-..." Flash gave a cheeky grin in fear. Batman walked fast and plucked the staff away from him.

"Dont touch anything! We dont know what forces are we dealing with!" Batman yelled as the others placed the artifacts immediately where they were kept.

"This is why I hate magic, too many variables, too many unknowns! If not for my acquaintance with certain individuals I will be having a hard time dealing with these types of criminals!" Batman thought to himself. Superman looking at the blast in the wall reminded him of the past events where magic was used as a weakness against him. He shares an equal animosity towards this subject as Wayne does.

"So what do we know about Faust?" Superman asked.

"Felix Faust, he was once a professor in Archeology. But over time, he grew fascination in the mystic arts" Batman said as he placed his picture on the table which the others took a clear look at.

"Guess it didnt sit well with the others?" Miranda presumed to which Batman nodded.

"He was expelled from the university for his heretical ideas that were not very welcoming. He even once went on a fight with one of my mystic associates, John Constantine who worked to stop Faust from summoning demons to do some of his dirty work" Batman finished which made John to raise eyebrows.

"So he swore vengeance upon those that mocked him and ruin his life. Some of whom disappeared under mysterious circumstances" Batman said looking at Diana. Diana turned to look above a cabinet to see human heads pinned to the wall.

"I guess, I know what could have happened to them" Diana said as other looked at the human heads too. They were shocked to see the maniac of a man, Faust was.

"Eww!" Flash was disgusted to see the heads.

"He is definitely a mad man!" Superman said disgusted at how someone can have a blatant disregard for life to do all sort of evil things.

"Gotta say, calling him evil is an understatement. I would rather have him locked up in slipspace for all eternity" Miranda said gazing at the heads.

"Actually it gets worse" Batman said.

"How worse?" The Spartan asked to which Batman took a journal belonged to Faust.

"He kept a journal to record everything he came across. The last entries here make reference to Tartarus" Batman finished which stunned Diana of all. She now understood what this whole hassle was all about. She understood what Faust was seeking all this time and who exactly he was serving which made her worry even more as this is no longer a threat to her people, but to all of Earth itself.

"The pit of lost souls" Diana said in her grim tone.

"But isn't that just a myth?" Superman asked having read a lot about Greek mythos, but rarely place any importance to them in reality.

"If only it were" Diana replied as she looked at several vases arranged in front of her.

"In the ancient times, my mother, queen Hippolyta fell in love with a God, Lord Hades" Diana said as she narrated a story from her past life.

"God of the Underworld?" John asked curiously though he had a feeling her story was not going to have a sweet ending. Diana nodded in affirmation.

"When the war broke out between the Olympians and their ancient foes, the Titans, Hades struck a treasonous bargain with the enemy. He would deliver mount Olympus to them in exchange for domination over humanity on Earth" She finished. This didn't sit well with the Spartan.

"How did your mother play into all of this?" the dark knight questioned trying to put the pieces together to make sense of the situation.

"Hades tricked my mother to open the gates of Olympus to the invading Titans. There are muses singing about those battles even to this day. Through lots of bloodshed, the Olympian gods won, but at a great cost. As a punishment for his high treason, Zeus cast down Hades to the pit of Tartarus where he would rule over the souls of the damned for all eternity. My mother was tasked with guarding the sealed gate forever for her unwilling role in this calamity" Diana finished as she turned to look at her friends.

"To make sure Hades never set foot on Earth, the key that opens the gate was broken into many fragments with one my mother chose to guard as a reminder of this treachery and her eternal shame and duty. The rest of them scattered across the planet, hidden from anyone's reach" Diana said concluding her story.

"My god! Then the pieces we have been collecting are-..." Superman said as he already realized what they have been oblivious to.

"The pieces of the key" the Martian finished in a grim tone.

"But how does gathering these pieces gonna help this nut case?" Flash asked to which John already had the answer which then Batman voiced it for them.

"Only one reason-..." Batman said as he assembled the pieces together and showing it to the others. Two small cylindrical pieces acting as handle, a double handed lever with the big body serving as possibly the main component that unlocks the seal.

"He intends to use it" Batman replied.

"And that means unleashing the God of the Underworld upon this world" Superman said much to his dismay. John for his part now realized their situation got worse. Its not just Diana's people. But this is about the fate of Earth itself. If what legends surrounding Hades says are true, then Hades is a threat to every life on Earth, possibly the planet itself. The Spartan now steeled his determination in doing everything to stop this from happening.

To him, this is a matter of safety for humanity which he swore to protect when he became a soldier. This world may not be his, but they are humans nonetheless. He will never allow innocents pay the price for someone's insanity.

"Wow! Gods, Demons, monsters!? This is just keep getting better and better!" Miranda whistled at the situation they find themselves in.

"Yeah I will totally feel warm and cozy since we are now dealing with a god that will unleash hell upon Earth. What are we gonna do!?" Cortana said feeling uncomfortable at the situation.

"Diana, you cant give Faust the key" Superman said though he didn't like it since it was asking the Amazon to choose between her people and life on Earth.

"If I dont, my people will remain petrified forever!" Diana spoke with concern.

"And if you do, all of Earth will be doomed" Batman said unnervingly. Diana was conflicted in this situation. For the Spartan, this reminded him of a Situation where Halsey gave him the research records of Johnson's apparent flood immunity. He was conflicted whether to give it to ONI who may or may not succeed in developing a cure that could possibly save billions of lives or destroy the Data and save his friend, thus never knowing the consequences of the former choice

"What are you going to do?" Jonn Jonz asked to which Diana didn't have an answer. This time John replied.

"We will fight then" John replied to which other looked at him wide eyed.

"Spartan, this is Hades we are talking about. One small misstep will have us lose everything!" Superman said concerned about the fate of everything.

"We will use Strategy. Faust wont know we will be accompanying Diana. Soon as she gives him the key, we take him out by surprise and force him to reveal how to turn back her people to normal" Spartan explained to which Batman immediately acknowledged it as a brilliant strategy.

"Hmm, yeah, this can work. But we also need to be prepared for the eventuality that Hades may be freed and we will be forced to face him" Miranda added the obvious to their plan which the others acknowledged though they had a similar sentiment too.

Facing a pantheon head on, that was something new for the Spartan but he cant let his doubts jeopardize the mission.

"Well, if this course of action will help us achieve victory, then lets do this!" Diana said with a nod.

"Then lets leave while we still have time" The martian said as they all left the building.

The others were on front while John, Miranda and Cortana were walking separately. John didn't waste time as he decided to inform them a few things.

"The illusion I faced was that whole place turned into a flood swamp" John said which worried Miranda and Cortana.

"What? Are you serious?" Cortana asked.

"Yes, though the spell worked in a way to summon my own worst fears" John replied.

"Then what are you even doing here!? You need to abandon this! We will take care of this, please!" Miranda pleaded.

"He is still the stubborn soldier and hasn't changed a bit! And now that's going to get him killed!" she thought cursing the situation.

"You know I will never do that Miranda. Besides, I need you two to listen carefully. If it comes to Hades being freed, it will be a hell of a fight. In doing so, my mind may stress a lot that could affect the psychic fortifications. If things go out of control, you need to remotely activate protocol RED FLAG" John said which stunned both the ladies.

"You're kidding right!? You must be! I cant-...I will never do that!" Cortana clapped back.

"No, I am dead serious on this. And its an order!" John said as he walked front as his two friends were feeling conflicted but decided to put those thoughts behind.

...

At Themiscyra...

The home of the Amazons was still on fire and ruins since Faust laid siege to the island. Faust was in the demolished throne room where he was awaiting patiently, reassured of his own success in gathering the pieces of key and free his master.

"Ah, I should thank you for raising such a devoted daughter" Faust said with a grin gently stroking the cheek of the petrified queen.

"Ha hah! And the plans I have for you all once the key is restored-..." Faust said as he suddenly heard the doors bash open. He turned to see it was none other than the Amazon princess.

"Faust!"

"Ah, back already!? And still an hour left. I am impressed!" He said as he summoned the hour glass that still had some sands left.

"Did you find the relics?" he asked to which Diana wrap opened a cloth to reveal the assembled key which Faust was grinning at wide eyed.

"Wait, free my mother first!" Diana said as she took away the key.

"Of course, a deal is a deal after all!" he said as he summoned a medallion that glowed and he raised it towards Hippolyta. The spell turned Dianas mother back into her normal self as she gasped for air. Diana immediately gave him the key and went by her mother's side.

"Mother..."

"Diana? What have you done!?" Hippolyta asked looking at her and the assembled key in his hands.

"Curse the fates! My life is not worth this Child, now you have doomed this world!" Hippolyta thought of the consequences of these events.

"At last, after 3000 years, the key finds purpose to be used again!" Faust said as he held the key high.

"Thankyou for your assistance, now that your usefulness has come to an end-..." Faust said as he finally prepares to double cross them and charged the medallion. But before he could fire it,

*WHOOSH* a sudden red flash stole the medallion from his hand much to his shock.

"What!?" he said as the red figure stopped before him.

"You think you are the only one in town with cool tricks!?" Flash asked as he blitzed away from the place. All of a sudden Batman appeared swinging at high speed with his grapple and lunged at him delivering blow to his face.

"Uhh!" Faust felt the power behind the punch.

Hippolyta was shocked to see the Male heroes here.

"Diana!? You brought men here? To Themiscyra?" the queen asked accusingly much to her dismay.

"Mother, I will explain everything later, but we have a problem at hand" Diana said expecting this backlash and she knew she will have to face trials for the consequences of her actions.

Batman landed in front of the fallen Faust

"Do you think she would trust a scum like you Faust?" Batman said.

"Its over, come quietly" Superman said as Martian stood besides Batman.

"Never!" Faust said in anger as he was so determined that nothing can come in his way in his quest for attaining eternal knowledge.

He conjured an energy sphere and send it to the trio. Batman dodged it to his right side as Superman evaded it to his left. As the bolts flew, one of them managed to hit the kryptonian as he was sent reeling down.

"Agh" he yelled in pain as the magical nature of the attack weakened him. He then got back up to his feet.

Diana moved to protect her mother. To do a clean sweep, Faust conjured a bigger energy sphere and charged it directly towards them. The energy leaked out causing multiple explosions that Martian and Batman were evading and running ahead. Diana was horrified to see the sphere was about to hit her mother.

'MOTHER! NO!" she yelled as Hippolyta watched in horror covering her face with her forearm.

Then all of a sudden, a 7ft 10 inch tall dark silver armored being landed with a heavy thud and raised its forearm. The energy sphere exploded with a huge ball of fire and a loud bang. As the dust settled, Diana realized it was the Spartan. He used telekinesis to block the attack.

"What!? How is this possible!? Who are you?" he yelled and a few moments later, he recognized he armored individual.

"Ahh yes, you are the infamous Spartan the world was talking about!" he said with a wide eyed grin.

John then immediately summoned a GMX-100 pistol as the directed energy weapons would kill him. He aimed at the sorcerer and started unloading the magazine. Faust used magic to protect himself though the bullet rounds were very hard and dense that it even stressed the magical energy barrier and one bullet was lucky enough to hit his arm.

"AHHH!" Fuast growled in intense pain as the bullet pierced his flesh broke the bone and took big chunk of flesh with it.

"Diana, he is magically protected from psychic intrusions. So we have to get physical" he said to which she nodded.

"Flash, flank his left" John said as hthe crimson speedster blitzed towards Faust tapping his shoulder.

"Hello! Now you see me!" he said as Faust cant keep up with his speed to target him. He then appeared again in front of him.

"Now you dont" he said as he vanished before him. Faust cast a spell to heal himself from the bullet wound and fired random energy projectiles at them. He then noticed Flash cruising at random directions and headed his way, Faust had the ground break before him which didn't sit well as he stumbled upon the debris and rolled over multiple times before coming to stop.

"Ahh crap!"

Jonn immediately bashed him with his shoulder that sent him crashing onto the ground. After seeing the key slipped away from his hands, It angered him further as she summoned a rather large energy bolts that each exploded with a grenade force.

Batman used his grapple to tie up Faust and pull him. Diana did the same with her lasso as they tried to pull him towards them but he was resisting it with magic. He then sent electricity on the ropes that shocked the dark knight and the Amazon

"AHHH!" Both yelled as they fell down.

Jonn and Superman had to dodge all the attack and thats when John telekinetically held the sorcerer and lifted him up in the air.

"What!? What's happening!? Let me go!" He yelled as John was holding him firmly. Now that Faust was totally restrained,

"Now tell me how to revert back people on this island or I can crush every single bone in your body and toss it into slipspace" John said slowly tightening the hold that caused physical discomfort.

"You-...kill me-...they will stay a lifeless stone forever. If you still want to gamble, go-...ugh-...ahead! Without me, that medallion is useless as only I know the spell" Faust trembling trying to get out of the hold. John for his part was not big on magic so he didn't want to take a chance. But before he could let go of Faust, he uttered an incantation that suddenly lit the sky bright, John's x-ray vision in the visor scanned through the structure to see a big meteor about to impact on top of them.

"Damn!" Superman yelled as he tried to stop the meteor by holding it, bu the magic around weakened him to se couldnt decelerate it. It crashed so fast in the building and caused a huge explosion akin to TNT. John used telekinesis to swat away Batman and Diana who were unconscious still and protect them as Batman especially would be killed by it while he, Superman and Jonn and Diana would survive. The blast threw them all out of balance and Faust managed to escape and he ran away with the key again. But at the entrance, Jonn phased out from the ground.

"Stop! Thats enough!" he said as he took few steps back. Behind was Superman and Flash and the Spartan who climbed his way out of the debris.

"Empaloy!" he said as he threw a few seeds on the ground. Immediately, the seeds germinated sending huge monstrous vines that got hold of everyone and Faust made his exit behind.

Superman, Jonn and Flash struggled to get out as the Spartan immediately summoned his telekinetic baldes in his wrist and started to slash them all to pieces.

"Crap! Someone get a weed killer" Flash said as he managed to grab a sword stuck on the ground before he was grabbed by the vines. He started slashing them.

But the efforts were in vain as they instantly regrew to full length. Batman and Diana who were now awake ran towards them grabbing a couple of swords on the ground.

"Come your highness, We dont want to be late for the grand opening" he said as he grabbed Hippolyta. She resisted by swinging her knife though he managed to shock her and put her unconscious.

"MOTHER!" Diana cried as Faust and Hippolyta vanished into thin air.

"Damn it all! I failed her again!" she thought as tears were about to fall down. She then felt the vines grabbing her as she broke free with a blade in her hand.

Then they started slashing them all. Even though they were all freed, the vines came non stop.

Then all of a sudden,

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" a female voice came in, a familiar voice as multiple missiles headed their way. Everyone got out of the way with Superman carrying Batman away to safety.

*BOOM* *BAAM*

Multiple explosions rocked the place as the fusion plasma fire engulfed all the flames and incinerated the vines to dust. As the black soot settled, they all saw Miranda Keyes walking towards them in her armor.

"Good to see you here captain Keyes!" Superman said.

"Likewise Superman. Guess you folks had all the fun it seems" she replied looking around.

"It didnt matter, Faust's magic was quite adept to be honest. He was able to shield himself against psychic intrusions and the energy bolts he shot had the power to wipe an entire covenant platoon. The unknown form of this energy kept interfering with my armor's systems" John answered going through the experience of the unknown. Even back at his home, the technologies while being hyper advanced and even considered as impossible to exist, still, it was science. This magic was an entirely unknown territory.

"Where were you, by the way? Thought you would hop in" Flash asked.

"I volunteered to help Batman complete a case he was working on in Gotham while he helped you with Faust, since he didn't want to leave it hung and dry" She said turning to Batman, " And turns out, Penguin was indeed smuggling a cache of cryogenic weapons. I managed to intercept one, but turns out, there were two more that slipped away" Miranda finished which made Batman widen his eyes a bit as he put the pieces together and made a guess on what might have happened.

"So Freeze is involved, but Gordon only said it was one, unless it was 3 packages, but someone made sure 2 got away. Had to be an inside job. Thanks for the help, captain Keyes. I will take it from there" he said to which she nodded.

"Well, its all nice and good, but we have a situation here, remember?" Jonn said bringing everyone back to the current crisis.

"But Faust and your mother are gone already" Flash said turning to Diana.

"So is the key" Superman said to which Diana groaned in defeat. But John pushed through.

"Its not over yet! Diana, do you know where they are headed to?" he asked.

"Yes, to the Necropolis. Follow me" Diana said as they walked towards a big door. Diana took a torch as she opened the door and everyone saw the spiraling stairs. They all descended down. The pathway looked old, as if it hadnt been used in ages. Crawling with spiders and webs cogging everywhere.

Suddenly everyone smelled something weird, more like rotten.

"Whoa! Whats that smell?" Flash asked

"Dont ask!" Diana said as she was quite uncomfortable talking about that. Necropolis, as the name suggests, the place reeked of death.

They finally reached another place downstairs that looked like it was another city. It was vast and filled with ruins as if no one has visited this place in really long time.

...

In the Necropolis...

Queen Hippolyta was chained to a huge rock as she was struggling to get out. She watched in helplessness as Faust was preparing the place the key upon the lock pedestal and crank it open.

"I beg you Faust! Please dont do this!" Hippolyta pleaded him to stop, but alas it fell on deaf ears as the mad sorcerer turned archeologist was about to unleash hell on Earth.

"I have little care for that as I have come too far to turn back now. Now be silent watch me bring a new lord and master of this realm" Faust said as he placed the key over the lock and cranked it clockwise direction.

"Gods above have mercy on us! Please help stop this!" Hippolyta could only pray at the moment as she watched in horror of what has transpired.

In the distance The others felt the entire place rumble and shake as if struck by earthquake.

"Hera help us all! Its happening!" Diana said as she realized that they have reached a point of no return. She knows that the God of the Underworld is coming and nothing can stop it.

"Its too late, Hades is coming" Miranda stated the obvious.

"Then we deal with him. If he steps on Earth, the entire planet and all its life is doomed. We need to stop him right here!" John said determined to stop the God of the Underworld, through any means necessary.

Others silently agreed with him as they knew now is not the time to let fear take over them.

The gates of Tartarus slowly had its large rusted gears turning and horizontally removing two iron bars out of the hold. Then the door opened as a tall stocky figurre in a black chainmail like armor and a horned helm that covered his face and revealed his burning eyes shining like a sun. The figure walked slowly and spoke in heavy tone.

"FREE! AT LAST!" the Olympian God said with grim satisfaction.

"Welcome back Lord Hades, to celebrate your triumphant return, I bear gifts for you" he said pointing his hands towards the tied up queen.

"DO MY EYES DECEIVE ME? COULD IT BE MY DEAREST HIPPOLYTA HERE TO GREET HER MASTER ON THE TRIUMPHANT RETURN FROM-AH, YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN! Hades said as he removed his helm to reveal his face, the eyes burning like red hot coal.

:Not a day goes by I do not recall the treachery you had me perpetrate or the sting of your betrayal" the queen spit her words in anger and disgust.

"Does it matter? Once I step on this miserable race called humanity, i will be welcoming my lover back in my arms to turn her to my cause, like old times" he thought with a grim smile as he held Hippolyta's chin for a forced kiss which the queen tried her best to avoid.

"Uhh, my lord? I upheld my end of the bargain, by delivering the queen and free you from the pit/ Now I demand that which is owed to me!" Faust said interrupting the lovers and also breaking the tension. Also looked away only to notice Diana was hiding behind a rock watching over this. She hoped Diana and her friends doesn't blow their cover up till the right time.

"AH YES, ULTIMATE KNOWLEDGE!" he said though letting an evil smile as if its not going to end well for Faust and ironically, that became true.

"ULTIMATE PAIN AND SUFFERING IS ALL THAT MAN WILL EVER KNOW!" Hades said as he touched Faust's forehead and he glowed in glittering red.

"What!?" Faust was shocked to see what was happening as he felt his life slowly being drained away as he turned old and skinny, screaming in agony.

"NOOOOOO-...!" Faust was thrown across the place as he flew back and crashed onto the ground.

"Good lord!" Superman muttered in horror as he and the others watched what was happening with nothing to do. Diana had enough of this as she ran out of her cover, grabbing a sword from a dead skeleton. She then leapt high and cut the chains that were binding her mother.

"QUICK, MOTHER! This way!" she yelled as she grabbed her mother's arm and both ran for cover.

"MY DEAREST HIPPOLYTA! YOU NEVER MENTIONED YOU HAVE A DAUGHTER!" Hades said as he sucked the air into his mouth and blew it out as a big fire ball came out and exploded violently on the ground nearby them.

*BOOM*

"Diana and Hippolyta" managed to escape just in time by hiding behind a tiny peak on the floor.

"I WONDER HOW SHE STACKS UP TO YOU IN THE FIELD OF BATTLE-..." Hades said as he stood above them behind.

*WHAM*

"GUH!"

Superman came out of nowhere to deliver a powerful punch that the Olympian felt it even mildly hurting as it sent him few meters back.

"Impressive! But not enough to beat a GOD!" he thought as he swatted away the speeding man of steel towards a column.

He then casually walked front as he suddenly felt a black object which he grabbed.

*BOOM*

But the batarang exploded violently though the god was unfazed.

"AND NOW YOU THROW MERE TRINKETS AT ME, DISAPPOINTING!" he said as he swatted away another explosive batarang the blasted behind him.

"Well then, how about you eat this!?" Miranda followed behind as she took out the talon launcher and shot two missiles that raced at the god at high speed.

*BOOM* *BAAM*

"AH!" Hades felt the heat and the explosive force of the missiles fusion warhead that released a short burst heat of 100 million degrees that set Hades on fire, but still, only an irritation was all she could draw.

"CANT SAY THAT DIDNT HURT, BUT YOU NEED MORE THAN THAT TO-..." Miranda didn't waste time to as she instantly pulled her Ion-Particle rifle and unloaded the weapon on him. Hades crossed his hands to cover and she didn't waste time as she ran towards him and delivered a jumping side kick only for her to be bounced back with an air dodge. Hades immediately stomped the ground hard,

*CRRAAAKK*

"SHIT!" Miranda cursed

and the shockwave sent both Miranda and Batman flying back few meters.

"YOU ARE BRAVE FOR A MORTAL, WOMAN!" he said as he pushed forward. John helped Batman and Miranda to a safe place as he took out his Pulse Fusion rifle.

The Martian and Flash raced towards him as Flash blitzed around the god dealing hundreds of punches a second all around his body. But Hades was able to keep track of him as he blew a continuous stream of fire towards the speedster which he then ran in random directions to avoid getting hit by.

"Wow! Someone get him a breath mint! We don't know what kind of crap he's been eating down there!" Flash said as he was running fast to Evade Hades's flames. John immediately started firing his pulse fusion rifle unloading barrages of proto stellar rounds.

"WHAT NOW!" Hades yelled as he felt the proto star plasma rounds were piercing his godly skin and burning it causing irritation. But again, that's all he felt.

"Jonn, drop him!" the Spartan telepathically told the Martian.

Immediately the Martian flew from above and landed straight on the god's shoulders and used his strength to bury him under the ground.

*WHAM*

But not 2 seconds later,

"AHH!"

The victory didn't last though as Jonn cried in pain blasted out of the ground by ethereal fire that caused some injuries to him. Hades then walked slowly out of the ground.

Superman immediately blasted him with heat vision that sent him back gathering the dust and smoke.

"I dont think this is over for someone who took it all!" Miranda said as everyone looked at the clearing dust and Hades was walking front, gritting his teeth in anger.

"YOU PATHETIC MORTALS! CHALLENGING A GOD!?" Hades growled as he raised his arms and summoned the armies of the dead. Suddenly hundreds of skeletal beings in armor with sword and shield in hands rose from the ground.

"This is getting much worse!" Batman said as he watched the undead ready to pounce on them.

"Uh oh! I think we've just made him mad!" Flash quipped.

"It matters not! Hades has to be stooped. I was afraid of this very moment" Hippolyta said as she grabbed a sword and shield in hand as she realized they have no choice but to go through all these ordeal to stop the mad God.

Several undead soldiers popped out straight below Flash and grabbed him.

"Ahh Damn! Get off me!" Flash yelled.

"On my way Flash!" Superman said as he cut through all the soldiers with his heat vision. Some soldiers struck their blade on him to no effect as they all shattered. Superman then carried Flash away from hundreds of the soldiers.

"Eww! Gross!" Flash said as he punched a soldier that was still by his neck. The body got destroyed but the arm was still clinging to him much to his disgust.

Some soldiers tried get hold of Batman. He immediately grappled to the top. As one undead was hanging from his foot, he kicked it face so hard it turned to dust and died. But the other undead were quite smart as one of them threw an axe at him, cutting the grappling rope making the dark knight fall down. But he glided to the ground and threw an explosive Batarang.

*BOOM* it exploded killed more than a dozen undead soldiers.

"BEHOLD THE FATE OF ALL HEROES" Hades said as more and more undead started to popup some even in skeletal horses.

As for the martian, he phased out when the soldiers attacked him all around. The blades simply passed through killing each other, effortlessly.

"Diana, Keyes? Protect the queen. I am going to take the fight to Hades" John said which quite troubled Hippolyta.

"This man who calls himself a Spartan, is either brave or a fool. Taking a fight to a God of Hades reputation!?" The queen thought to herself.

"Sure thing commander", "Will do, be careful Spartan!" Diana and Miranda said as they readied their weapons.

Without wasting time, Diana, Miranda and Hippolyta charged at the undead soldiers. Miranda unloaded magazines after magazines from her rifle and occasionally using the talon launchers to make mass slaughter. Diana and her mother used the swords in hand to fend off the soldiers.

John summoned his telekinetic wrist blades and slashed his way through to Hades who was standing tall on a pillar. He immediately charged forward leapt high and swung his right arm blade fast that managed to cut through Hades's skin in shoulder.

"RRR-..." Hades grunted in pain as fury consumed him.

"YOU DARE STRIKE ME!" Hades growled as he threw quick punches which the Spartan evaded by moving his torso beneath, Then he delivered a quick jab to his abdomen with his knee.

*WHAM*

"GUH!" the god of the underworld felt the jab as there was a significant force behind it.

Hades didnt waste time as he countered with an uppercut which John evaded by moving his head and torso back as it missed by mere inches. John Then delivered a right and left hook which Hades blocked with his let and right forearm. But in unexpected fashion, John jumped and launched his legs to his chest with a power kick as he landed on his back. John immediately launched himself with his hands upside down and stood on the ground ready to take on Hades again.

*THAM*

Hades for the first time was toppled from the ground as he fell. Hippolyta and Diana were stunned to see that.

"I cant believe my eyes! No mortal has managed to topple a god on his feet!" Diana's mother said.

"Well, considering the life he has led and the enemies he faced, its not so surprising-..." Diana said as she slashed a few incoming soldiers, "He has faced much worse horrors than Hades" Diana said which surprised her mother.

"She speaks highly of this man! That is not so typical of my daughter! What has even transpired without my knowledge all these times!? But enough questions for now!" Hippolyta thought to herself as she killed a few undead.

Hades immediately got up to his feet and blitzed towards him in an unexpected move. But the Spartan's lightning reflex helped him dodge to the right on the ground and immediately translocated above in the air and stomped the ground at blinding speed.

*BOOM*

The stomp sent tremors and the ground shook violently and broke apart. It made Hades to lose control of himself as he stumbled back and then re-positioned himself looking at the armored figure.

"NO MORTAL HAS EVER DARED TO STAND BEFORE ME! YOU-...A WEAKLING STILL TRY TO TOPPLE ME!? I WILL ADMIT, YOU HAVE IMPRESSED ME QUITE A BIT. WHAT ARE YOU?" Hades asked throwing both a shade of compliment and insult his way.

"A Spartan who swore to send you back to wherever you came from" John replied.

"AHH SUCH A HUBRIS! BUT I AM AFRAID THIS GAME IS OVER!" Hades said as he floated above and launched powerful flaming spears. They appeared long, red hot and big.

John raised his left arm and used telekinesis to stop them from hitting him. The spears kept flurrying in sheer numbers.

But using that distraction, Hades broke the ground used his powers to pull him under the ruble.

"Uhh-...Damn!" he cursed as he was stuck and unable to rise above. Hades's magic was so strong that John was rendered immobile. He didn't waste time again as he charged a powerful energy ball that glowed in crimson red with blue electricity. The ball grew big each second and compressed to smaller size instantly and sent it his way.

The Spartan's visor read the energy ball and its output. He knew what he was getting into as he braced for impact.

But Hades grinned with evil in his eyes as he turned look at the other league members. John instantly realized what was happening. The energy ball he conjured was not for him, but his friends.

Hades sent the huge energy towards them that moving at great speed to unleash hell.

All of a sudden, time started to crawl to a near stop as he was looking at his friends faces. Memories of the old wars and losses he suffered flashed in his mind.

He immediately used the armor's anti-gravity generator to nullify the force that was holding him and immediately teleported from there and appeared out in front of Diana, Hippolyta and Miranda. But before he could block it with telekinesis, the energy ball reached him, so John decided to improvise as he caught the ball. Soon after that he was sent flying away crashing through multiple columns and

*BOOM* *BAAM*

The energy ball engulfed the place all over the Spartan and glowed the entire battleground. The energy exploded violently, blasting everything around, sending the huge columns and rocks flying in the air. Everyone noticed John was violently pushed far back by the blast as he crashed upon multiple ruined buildings and columns as they all fell upon him.

The blast destroyed half of necropolis.

But it didnt end there as the fire raced towards Batman and Jonn Jonz as they ran at great speed to avoid the magical fire, but it caught up to them

"AAHH" Batman and Jonn were blown by the explosion shock wave that sent them rolling on the floor though they didn't suffer much damage.

"Oh no! Jonn! Batman!" Flash cried out as he saw them both knocked out.

Superman was closer and the explosive ethereal fire blasted him on full contact

"AAH!" Superman yelled in pain as he crashed over multiple columns

Then the others watched the Spartan on the ground and the other columns and rocks started to fall upon him, burying him under all that weight.

"NO! COMMANDER!" Miranda cried at the sight of horror that befell her friend and commanding officer.

"JOHN!" Diana called out his name too with her eyes widened in shock.

"This cant be happening! He chose to help me and I cant even protect him with my strength!" Diana ran her thoughts, recriminating herself.

Hippolyta couldn't believe what just happened. The blast would have definitely killed some of them for sure. But the Spartan came in front and took it to himself, practically saving her and her daughter.

"Gods above have mercy!" Diana's mother prayed for him. She never expected honor and self sacrifice among men, but then she never had experience with the current human culture and how things are running in man's world. In her eyes, as of this instance, she saw him as an honorable man who put his life at risk to save others. But it was too late...for them all.

Superman, Batman and the Martian slowly got up to their feet and looked around the heap of destruction Hades has wrought.

"Oh no! Spartan! What happened to him? Superman asked horrified at the sight. He was still feeling a bit weak from that magic blast. Miranda and Diana didnt respond but felt an anger towards the god.

"Ah HAH HA HA! FOR A MOMENT I THOUGHT THE SPARTAN WAS QUITE A CHALLENGE. BUT IT SEEMS APPEARANCES CAN BE DECEIVING. THIS IS ALL THAT HE CAN DO-...HM HE HE HE!" Hades spoke loud.

"YOU BASTARD! You will pay for this!" Miranda yelled as she loaded missiles into the talon and switched it to the beam mode. The weapon rearranged itself as Miranda pulled the trigger. The warhead inside triggered an uncontrolled chain reaction and concentrated all the energy density through the opening.

*ZZZAAAT*

A powerful beam of nuclear plasma hit Hades

*BOOM* and exploded that sent the lord of tartarus a few feet away.

"AHHHH-..." The beam explosion this time dealt a significant damage to a point Hades was engulfed in fire as his face and body started to shape shift.

"My God! What is happening!?" Batman asked looking at Hades's transformation.

Hades began to change as is armor began to gain fire like features, his face turned demonic with horns protruding from his forehead, eyes like serpent and sharp fangs and snake like tongue.

"Great Hera!" Diana looked at his demonic form, horrified at the sight of what he turned into.

"Now you see him for what he truly is" Hippolyta commented having seen his real face before, now even more disgusted.

"Then lets not waste time" Superman said as he flew past them at great speed and punched the god in his face with jab and cross. In the third punch, he caught Superman's arm and threw him around. Jonn Jonz immediately transformed into huge dragon and started to constrict the god and spew fire on him. But it did nothing as he tore the body with brute strength that forced the martian out of his form.

"AHH!" the martian yelled in pain as he fell to the ground.

Flash raced towards him delivering punches with gained momentum that slowly started to move Hades. But Hades sent a shockwave that toppled the crimson speedster.

"Ahh Damn!" he flew crashing on to a broken wall.

Batman meanwhile was doing his best to fight the remaining undead soldiers after a lot of them were destroyed in the huge blast.

Miranda kept launching the missiles and fired her rifle as Diana flew towards him. The missiles and the particle rifle no longer had effect on him.

But Hades slapped her.

"GUH!" Diana flew back crashing onto a huge column as she fell to the floor.

Miranda charged towards him as she summoned an energy sword, old covenant made and slashed at his body.

"What would it take to pin you down!" Miranda said gritting her teeth.

"DONT MAKE ME LAUGH, MORTAL!" Hades said as he slapped her armor.

"Guh!" she flew back crashing to the ground.

At the same time Hippolyta lunged at him swinging the sword. But Hades got her blade to which she was hanging.

"AHH, DONT BE SHY, MY BELOVED!" Hades said and immediately he felt his hand tied by a lasso.

"NO! Get away from my mother!" Diana said as she pulled the lasso with all her strength. Hades was unfazed as he held the lasso in his hands and pulled it towards him that sent Diana crashing over a huge rock.

"Ahh!" she screamed in pain again.

"Damn it! I need to do something or Hades will be unstoppable! And the Spartan-..." Diana thought to herself looking at the distance where the Spartan fell with sorrow.

Hades grabbed Hippolyta as he pinned her to the ground, holding her arms as she struggled to get out.

"ONCE I LEAVE THIS ISLAND, EARTH WILL BE MINE TO RULE AND YOU WILL BE MINE-...AND MINE ALONE!" Hades said with a demonic grin and all of sudden.

*ZZZAT* *BAAM*

A powerful bluish white energy hit Hades and sent him back as the energy exploded over him.

"AHHH!" Hades roared as he felt the pain behind this blast.

Everyone who were fallen in battle raised their heads to see a tall being in dark silver armor standing and glowing with mysterious energy. Everyone had their eyes widened in shock as they cant believe what they just saw. Diana for her part slowly got up as she walked slowly towards the being with surprise and joy in her face.

"Ss-...Spartan!?" she called out.

A while ago...

John was buried under a big rubble of rocks, columns and broken walls. The blast managed to weaken the league, destroy half of Necropolis itself. But apart from messing with some sensors and computer systems, he was perfectly fine. The armageddon battlesuit and the metaphysical connection his mind has with the armor protected him from blast. But it was the force behind it that knocked him off his foot.

**ECHOES**

"HEART RATE IS FALLING-...DID I WASTE THEIR LIVES OR SPENT THEM?-...CHIEF! HELP US!-...DONT BE A FOOL-...LEAVE ME-...DID YOU THINK ME DEFEATED SPARTAN!?-...JOOOOOOOOHN-...AAHHHHHHH RAAAAAAAHHHHH"

**ECHOES END**

John heard voices and all of a sudden it turned into a roar of anguish. John's mind went blank as he was in a place mentally, a dark corridor with nothing around except pitch black. There was no start, no end and no corners.

John was in his officer uniform looking around and all of a sudden another being materialized in front of him but in sage green colored skin with several mutated parts of his skin. His face grotesque in appearance with human face. It was as tall as him wearing the same uniform, except it was leaking the green blood and rotten skin.

"You!" John said, glaring at the being in front of him, as if his mind was acting as mirror that reflects his darker shade.

"HOW LONG DO YOU PLAN ON STALLING, SPARTAN? THE OTHERS DONT HAVE MUCH TIME!" the being spoke but the voice was too familiar for him that he realized what being was talking in front of him. It was the keymind, that took the form of himself but partially consumed by the flood.

"You know why I do" John rebuked.

"AFRAID THAT USING SO MUCH OF YOUR POWERS WILL BREAK THE WALL THAT SEPARATES US?" the keymind said to which John didnt answer.

"HMM, I THOUGHT SO. BUT YOU ARE ONLY DELAYING THE INEVITABLE. YOU COULD HAVE STOPPED THAT MAD GOD, BUT YOU WERE AFRAID. FEAR OF LOSING YOURSELF TO THE GRAVE IN YOUR-...MIND! NOW YOUR HESITATION IS GOING TO OCST-...A LOT" the being spoke.

"Others will find a way to stop Hades. But if I lose to you, you will force me to hurt the innocents, the very people I sworn to protect" John replied. He was still wondering why is he talking to the keymind shard. A creepy sensation ran over him as a part of his consciousness believed the blast attack might have unexpectedly damaged the psychic block.

"IS IT-...SPARTAN? YOU ALREADY FORGOT THE PROMISE YOU MADE THAT AMAZON THAT YOU WILL DO EVERYTHING IN YOUR POWER TO HELP HER PEOPLE" the keymind asked accusingly to which John recalled the words he said to Diana.

"We chose to help you. And I promise, we will get your people out of this trouble. Besides, you know me when I make a promise"

"What are you getting at?" John chided back at the flood hive.

"ISNT IT OBVIOUS!? YOU EITHER DO YOUR BEST TO CONTAIN ME HERE AND LET HADES KILL THEM ALL-..."

"Or I fight Hades tooth and nail and-...that sets you free which is an even bigger threat!" John concluded.

"A RISKY GAMBIT INDEED. SO WHAT WILL IT BE?" the keymind asked as John took time to ponder on that. As much as he hated the fact, this was the ultimatum as he recalled the quote by one of his best friend, a Sanghelli when he and the Spartan formed a temporary alliance to stop the prophet of truth from activating Halo.

"We trade one villain for another" John muttered. But he had a choice to make and he will keep the promise he made Diana. Even if it led to his downfall. Besides, John didn't worry much since the Keymind doesn't know about Protocol RED FLAG. He made sure that information has been compartmentalized enough. So he decided to use his full powers and risk the keymind to get a free estate, then activate the protocol to kill himself.

"Fine, I made a promise to Diana, I will keep it" John said.

"HA HA HA HA! A WISE CHOICE SPARTAN! WE WILL MEET AGAIN-...VERY SOON. REMEMBER THIS, NO ONE EVER SURVIVED THE TOUCH OF THE GRAVE. ASK THE DIDACT-... IF YOU EVER SEE HIM" the keymind said that made John look at the being in confusion as it slowly walked away into the darkness as light started to fill in.

John woke up as he broke free from the rubble and saw the heroes were struggling against Hades and Hippolyta was pinned to the ground. He was still feeling the effects of having a mere conversation with the keymind as if he was actually fighting its indoctrination.

"Time to end this!" he thought as he started to run towards Hades and channeled energy from the Nexus dimension using the siphon he had in his armor. He started to glow in bluish white as the energy covered him.

Then he raised both of his arms front with open palms and all the energy around him concentrated over there and shot towards the god.

*ZZZZZAAAT* *BOOOM*

Hades was thrown several feet away as he crashed onto the ground.

Everyone were shocked as they turned to look at the same direction, the Spartan was standing tall with energy glowing around him. Then it cooled off.

"Ss-...Spartan?" Diana stumbled as she cant believe her eyes.

"COMMANDER!" Miranda called out overjoyed seeing him back on his feet.

"This is impossible! A mortal that hurt a god and make him fall like that. I have not seen this spectacle since Zeus. But this makes me worry more. Who is this man? Is he truly-...human!?" Diana's mother thought with equal pride and wariness.

"Spartan!? My god! What happened!? I thought that blast took you out!" Flash said as he raced to his position.

"Not today flash!"

"Good to see you again. Thought-..." Superman said before being cut by him.

"Apologies, but we dont have much time. Diana, what is the plan to permanently end him?" the Spartan asked hastily.

"The key to the gates. It must be broken" Hippolyta answered.

"Then your highness and Diana get to work. Jonn, help them. Superman, Flash, Keyes and Batman will take out his army. Lets move!" the Spartan laid out orders and the others saw logic in it as they all nodded in agreement.

"Mother, lets go!" Diana said as she, Hippolyta and the martian made their way towards the key.

John watched as Hades got back to his feet and he was really pissed off.

"ZEUS WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO COULD HURT ME LIKE THAT! HOW DID YOU-...A MORTAL NOBODY DO THAT!? EITHER WAY, THIS BLASPHEMY WILL END NOW AND YOU SPARTAN, WILL DIE TODAY!" Hades growled.

"Spartans never die, Hades" John replied as John charged forward as he summoned the adamantine gravity hammer that was charged with vacuum energy.

He leapt so high and raised the hammer and

*THOOM*

the hammer hit Hades's face as shockwave rocked the entire place.

"GUH!" he yelled in pain. The Spartan then swung the hammer left to right as Hades ducked under.

Then from right swing, Hades blocked it and blasted the spartan with the fire ball from his mouth. But this time, he took it as he was sent a few meters back. Hades then shot a continuous beam of fire and the Spartan used his left arm to telekinetically block it and pushed it forward. He charged at him and slid to his left side as Hades tried to grab his neck. Then the Spartan did a left swing and

*WHAM* the hammer hit Hades in his torso and was sent crashing on the ground a few feet away. John then ran towards him and teleported directly in the air appearing above him and charged the hammer at full energy and hit the god at full power with the head of the hammer.

*BAAM*

The place exploded as Hades was crushed even below the ground.

"NOOO!" Hades roared as he blew a shockwave that sent the Spartan fly back hitting a column as it snapped in half. John dropped the hammer as he got back on his feet.

Meanwhile the others were busy fighting Hades's undead army and so far they have been managing on their own.

Hades immediately summoned powerful magic steel spears from thin air as they glowed in purple and launched it toward the Spartan. Spartan telekinetically lifted broken rocks and clustered in front of him that absorbed the impact. He then immediately launched the rocks at Hades that shattered upon hitting him.

John didnt waste time as he decided to capitulate on the momentum he gained as he lifted a huge column that was 40 meters tall and 2 meters in diameter. He lifted it with ease and leapt high in the sky hit Hades's head with full force.

*BOOM*

"ARGH" the column broke into several pieces and as Spartan gave him a left uppercut.

"URK!" the power behind the uppercut was high enough to make Hades feel it.

Hades then swung his arms in great speed with a series of left and right jabs followed by left and right hook. John evaded the jabs by moving his torso left and right and ducked for the hooks like a boxer. John immediately grabbed his head and gave jumping knee jab to his face.

*WHAM*

"AAH! DAMN YOU!" Hades cursed as he couldn't believe this mortal was getting the best out of him.

Unknown to them both, other members of the league were spectating the fight. They were flabbergasted by how the Spartan was fighting the god in equal footing. Sure they have seen the Spartan back in his universe have fought very powerful enemies that will horrify the natives here, but taking a fight to the pantheon was something they didn't expect, which made them to respect and also be a little worried about him, should he ever become a threat, atleast thats what was running on Batman's mind.

"If-..should the Spartan become a threat, I need to come up with a contingency. Though its going to be hard" Batman thought as he always go 8 steps ahead of everyone

"I dont understand, why did the Spartan was holding himself back before" Superman asked confused.

"Maybe to avoid hurting us in the process too. Some of the weapons he uses could not only hurt Hades-..." Jonn said as he punched an undead soldier and grabbed two soldiers and bashed their heads against each other "but also us and not to get into the crossfire" Jonn replied.

"True, though I am not sure, what is running through his mind right now" Miranda said as he fired her rifle at the undead soldiers that were charging at her.

Meanwhile Diana and Hippolyta ran towards the key.

"Its quite satisfying to see Hades being handled like that by your armored friend. But that also worries me. What kind of mortal is he to fight a god head on like that?" she said with mix of doubt and worry in her eyes.

"Mother, you need not worry about the Spartan. I have seen what he is capable of back at man's world. He is more than the sum of his actions! He is keeping up a promise he made" she said they both reached the key. Hippolyta was gazing at Diana on her response.

"Hmm, my daughter defends him so much. What kind of relationship they even have! Perhaps I need to talk to the Spartan too" she made a note to herself.

Some undead soldiers followed them and were ready to attack.

"Diana, break the key! That will drag Hades and his armies back into Tartarus. I will hold these things" Hippolyta said as she held her sword high and started slashing through the soldiers.

Diana held the key in hopes of taking it out. But all she received was a surge of electricity all over her.

"AHHHH-...RRRR" she grunted in agony as she could feel the pinch of magic skinning her. But she still pulled it with her strength.

John and Hades were fighting head to head, toe to toe. Hades swung his left arm which he ducked under and delivered a liver shot and a cross to his face. Then a series of left and right cross, uppercut and hook punches. Each punch felt like a huge battering ram. The raw strength reminded him of Hercules, the prince of power.

John then delivered another kick which Hades grabbed threw it up. John countered with a back flip. But Hades instantly struck the Spartan with a kick to his torso that sent John a few feet back scrapping the ground with his feet.

Hades then moved just like flash near him as he was about to deliver a left hook. But John saw his fist coming slow because of his fast reflex. He ducked under and turned around, delivered a Capoeira back kick with his right leg.

"RRRHHH!"

*BOOM* Because of the speed at which Hades charged at him and the speed with which the spartan reacted, the kick sent an explosive shockwave cracking the nearby stone walls. Hades fell down.

By then, Diana used her strength to overcome the pain.

*CRACK*

The key started to crack apart and finally after much struggle, it came out. Diana immediately punched the key as it was shattered to pieces.

"Its over Hades" the Spartan said to which Hades was stunned.

"OVER!? ITS NEVER OVER-...WHAT? WHAT IS HAPPENING!?" Hades asked confused as he suddenly felt an energy that was pulling him back. He turned back to see the cause, much to his horror.

Batman, Miranda, Martian and Superman watched the undead soldiers started hover in the air they were slowly drawn to a certain direction.

"What's happening?" Miranda asked.

"Look over there! I think Diana has broken the key. Its pulling back everyone" Batman said pointing out in the distant.

The entrance to Tartarus glowed bright as a spiraling energy started to suck in everything like a vacuum cleaner.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?"

"Ended your plans vile monster. Begone and never return from the pit!" Diana said as Hades was dragged by the entrance. Hades used his powers to resist it. Superman and Jonn flew towards him and delivered a double knockout punch.

*WHAM* *WHACK*

"AHH!" Hades screamed as he rolled in the air and once again back in his feet, but close by the door. John telekinetically lifted multiple rocks and columns and hurled it towards him. They all crashed over him with great force pushing him back. This time, he was touched by the swirling energy vortex and pulled violently. Hades used his arms to hold on to the side of the gates.

Diana immediately went straight towards him to deliver a punch that could send him descending. But Hades managed to grab her by her waist with his huge one arm.

"DIANA!" he mother cried as she believed she was about to lose her daughter.

"HA HAH HA! IF I GO DOWN, I AM TAKING YOU WITH ME!" Hades said in a maniacal way.

The Spartan immediately teleported and appeared nearby them and delivered a kick that made him drop Diana as Hades dropped deep even further, but grabbed the Spartan's leg.

"SPARTAN NO!" Diana cried in horror as she held Spartan's left arm as she was holding on the gate trying to free him from Hades''s clutches.

John kicked his face so hard multiple time and finally summoned an energy ball from the Nexus and shot at him.

*BAAM* the energy ball exploded and the god lost his grip.

"UHHAHH-...HIPPOOOOOLYYYYTAAAAA-...!" The God of the Underworld growled in fury as he was consumed by the vortex. With him gone, his undead army were all sucked inside. Felix Faust who was stripped of his powers was turned into skeleton and was dragged into the pit.

The Gates started to move as it began to close. The Spartan used his right arm to grab to the ledge and used his arm held by Diana to push her out. Then the Spartan got out in time as the gates closed permanently.

"DIANA!" Hippolyta rushed to embrace her daughter.

The others gathered around them. They all took a look around them, the destruction Hades has caused and the silence that reigning over in Necropolis.

"Its over" Martian manhunter said.

"Gods above be praised!" Hippolyta said.

"But still we need to figure out how to save the others, those that are turned to statue" Flash said which brought them back to the other problem.

They all got out of the Necropolis and saw their people were still petrified.

"Nothing has changed here though" Diana said in somber.

"But hey, I still got this. I stole it from Faust!" Flash said as he showed them the medallion.

"With Faust dead, so is the spell" Jonn Jonz added.

It was at that time, the sun rose and shined the light on them. The medallion glowed much to their surprise and sent a flash of light across the island.

Then all of a sudden, the statues returned to life as the once petrified Amazon warriors moved, gasping for breath.

"Its a miracle!" Diana said.

"Faust was only able to keep them this way as long as he willed it" Batman said explaining the scenario.

"So with , gone with the wind, the magic is dead" Miranda finished it.

"So, its time we helped them all and get things back to normal" Superman said.

The Spartan all of a sudden felt the same darkness as his visions distorted.

"RRRHH-...NO!" John started to stumble a bit.

"Commander!? What's wrong!?" Miranda asked. Others started to tense as the Spartan was feeling unease as his helmet retracted back revealing his head. He then held on to his forehead in pain.

"NO!-...You-..Cant!-..." John stressed his words in agony which didnt make sense to the others.

"Cortana! What is happening to the Spartan!" Superman called out to his AI.

"I dont know! His armor looks like its shut down! I have been booted out! Batman, get it ready!" Cortana said to which others looked at him confused. Batman took a small device from his utility belt.

"Wait what is that!?" Flash asked wide eyed. Batman was waiting for the moment.

"John! John! Look at me! Please, what's wrong!?" Diana said holding on to him, placing her palm over John's cheek to make him focus on her voice.

"By the gods! Is he alright!?" Hippolyta asked concerned at the armored human.

"AHH!" the martian screamed in pain as well.

"Jonn!" Miranda called out his name in worry.

His mind, I-...a dark entity in his mind!-...Its too powerful!" Jonn said as he was able to feel the overwhelming psychic energy emanating from the Spartan.

John then heard a voice that spoke to him.

"NOW THE GATE HAS BEEN UNLATCHED, HEADSTONES PUSHED ASIDE. CORPSES SHIFT AND OFFER ROOM, A FATE YOU MUST ABIDE!" the Keymind directly spoke to him. John finally dropped to his knee and breathing loud. He stopped thrashing himself so the other felt safe to approach him.

"Spartan! Are you alright!?" Superman asked placing his arm on his shoulder. And that's when,

"GUH!" The Spartan choked the Man of Steel by his neck as he slowly rose above and stood firmly.

"Spartan!" Diana called out in horror, but John threw her to the left.

"DIANA! SPARTAN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Flash yelled in fear.

Then they all saw John's eyes, they were sage green in color.

"Oh my god!" Miranda said as she realized what had happened to him.

"Ss-...SP-...SPARTAN! This-...is not you" Superman struggling to get away from his chokehold.

"HMM, THE SPARTAN'S ON A SABBATICAL! I NOW OWN THIS ESTATE!" The Spartan spoke though in a deep growling voice, not of his own. He lifted the kryptonian in the air.

"Its you! The Keymind" Miranda said in horror. Others were confused..

"OFCOURSE CHILD! IT IS I, THE BEING THAT TRANSCENDS THE COSMOS! NOW THAT THE SPARTAN HAD TAKEN CARE OF THAT GOD, TIME FOR ME TO TAKE OVER THE SPOTLIGHT" He said, grinning at Miranda.

"Spartan! Whatever this is! You can fight it! Remember who you are!? The hero of humanity who fought hundreds of thousands of wars! You have always put yourself in harm's way so no one died! That is the warrior i remember!" Diana cried out looking at what John had become.

"FOOLISH AMAZON! YOUR SPARTAN CANT HEAR A WORD YOU SAY!" John said as he threw Superman and punched the ground with brute force.

"AHH!" The shockwave sent everyone flying back.

"Yes, I got inside again. BATMAN! DO IT NOW!" Cortana all of a sudden screamed from the battle armor.

"WHAT!?" the Spartan asked confused.

Batman immediately shot the device using a gun like gadget. The small device latched on to John's forehead and started to send neural overload signals directly to his frontal lobe, disrupting his thought process and another signal to the neocortex to reboot his nervous system.

"AHHHH!" John yelled in pain as he became unconscious and fell down with a thud.

"Holy Crap! What was that!?" Flash asked looking at the Spartan, afraid to touch him and get another nasty surprise.

"Before we came here, Cortana contacted me and explained a few things about his mental state that the fight with Hades will trouble him. So when that happens I was supposed to use this device" Batman said as Cortana's hardlight avatar popped up.

"Will he be alright? Great Gaea! I have never heard a voice so evil and dark. I can say something possessed him for a moment!" Hippolyta said still reeling from the events that happened.

"You are not wrong your highness! The spartan has been keeping that evil contained for a really long time!" Cortana replied with sorrow as she she had to hurt his friend to save him. She then walked slowly towards him and knelt down.

"I'm sorry John, this was the only way!" Cortana said gazing at him before turning to the queen.

"I need to treat him now" Cortana said.

"The Spartan and the others, you all helped to stop Hades and without that, only gods above knows the fate that we would have been thrusted into. I am in your debt. Kindly use our medical hall to treat your spartan. We need to get inside and fix this mess" Hippolyta said which Cortana smiled and bowed in respect.

Then Cortana had a pelican deliver a Entropy dilation chamber. She then placed the spartan inside and activated the temporal stasis. And moved it to the Amazon medical hall.

...

A few hours later...

Rebuild works in Themiscyra were underway, Faust has done extensive damage to the island fortress and other buildings. Superman helped with the heavy lifting to clear up the boulders and the patch work. His heat vision came really handy in welding.

Cortana even fabricated materials in the Labyrinth to assist with rebuilding the lost structures assisting Superman with the repairs and refit.

The Amazons were given medical attention by the healers as they were still reeling from the effects of petrification.

Hippolyta was overseeing the recovery process. Normally men are not allowed to set foot on this island no matter the circumstances, but since the league helped with Faust and Hades, she allowed it to pass, just this once. This could be a way of repaying the debt for their help.

But one thing everyone were concerned was the Spartan's health condition. He truly scared the hell out of everyone with that last fiasco. But at the right timing, he was stopped and saved from being completely taken over by the Keymind.

Diana, Donna and Alexa were in the medical hall. The Spartan was lying on the bed with shirt and and pants, with bare feet.

"I can't believe we have men on Themiscyra. Its been like what? 5 millennia?" Donna said.

"The one in the red suit is cute, I would say!" Alexa said with a cheeky smile.

"You better stay away from him, for your own good Alexa! He can kill you with jokes!" Diana said with warm smile.

"So man's world is always like this? With Super heroes?" Donna asked feeling excited to learn more about the outside world having been isolated for really long time.

"Not really, not all of them are like the Justice league. But there are enough that does right by the people every day" she answered her sister.

"This Spartan here, are the tales true? Did he fight Hades? The Queen told us that this was the first time, a human mortal defeated a god of Hades's reputation" Alexa asked as the tale of Spartan's fight with Hades spread throughout the island. Half of the Amazons were wary of that, half were surprised a human was capable of such feat.

Diana sighed looking at him.

"Is something wrong sister?" Donna asked.

"He went all the way to help me out. He was not feeling well right from the beginning, having serious problems of his own which I wasn't aware of. When Faust's magic trapped us in illusion, myself and Superman were baited into fighting each other. The Spartan found his way out of that and saved us both. We even tried to hurt him bad, but he didn't give up. He made a promise and he kept it-..to the end. In some ways, that also got him into this-..." Diana said with sadness pointing out to his current state.

"So him and this Justice league in general must be something special to you to go to such lengths to talk about them" Donna said looking at her elder sister.

"Every single member of the league became heroes by losing something they held most precious. Batman, his parents, Superman and Jonn Jonz being the last survivors of their civilization. But the Spartan here, has lost his childhood, so many of his friends, the ones he call his family in a brutal war. And he kept going unfazed by them all, with only goal in his mind, protect humanity from any and all threats. Trust me, none of us are even mentally prepared to face the horrors he has seen. In that way, the Spartan here is unique" Diana said recalling all the footage and history she saw back at the ship.

Alexa and Donna were quite taken back. They have never seen Diana talk about a man with this deep sense of empathy. Surely Artemis and Aresia wont appreciate that and thank goodness, both weren't in the hall. Both would jump on Diana and castigate her for even talking to men. Having them both in the same place is asking for literal hell.

"Either way, thanks Alexa, for helping with healing him" Diana said,

"Me? I didnt do anything, except helping that weird-...blue-...lady!? She is not human, is it? But I loved talking to her, I mean, she is not a typical human" Alexa said referring to the AI, though struggling to explain her characteristics better to which Diana smiled at her.

"He he! Cortana is Spartan's most trusted friend, an AI that helps him with everything. Let him rest. He's been through enough today. Alexa, I hope you can stay here for quite some time. I will leave now" Diana said

"Will do, Diana" Alexa replied as Diana and Donna left the hall. But unknown to them, Hippolyta was already listening on the conversation.

"She speaks highly of these men from the so called 'Justice League', the Spartan in particular. If it were a millennia ago, she wouldn't be comfortable. Looks like the outside world had a much bigger influence and new perceptions than I thought" she thought to herself as she walked away.

Meanwhile Batman and Superman who was back from helping with repair and refit, were in the old library of the olympians that had books and manuscripts with ancient knowledge. Batman and Superman browsed through a few out of curiosity.

"So Bruce, what do you think will happen to Diana?" Superman asked. Batman while brooding at the book understood exactly what he was referring to.

"Whether we like it or not Clark, we have broken the Amazonian law. The queen is Diana's mother so one could expect her to be lenient. But she is also the queen of this island. So she will judge fairly, even if it not going to end well for her" Batman presented the logical facts. As much as he hated the facts, he had to see through all possible outcomes of this and if this leads to some form of exile, he wouldnt be surprised, given how Diana has mentioned the island laws are strict that it spares no one.

"Hmm, I was afraid you were gonna say that. Atleast we haven't done anything to antagonize them. Besides, we were indirectly responsible for Hades's release by collecting the relics" Superman said as he knew how Bruce would approach a situation like this.

"But we did try to stop Faust once we learned the truth" Superman said.

"You and I know that. But the others on this island wont see it that way. A society of immortal female warriors defeated by a wizard from man's world, thats how this will be perceived" Batman said to which Superman sighed since he knows well that Bruce was right.

"Now we have one more thing to worry about, the Spartan" Bruce said as he placed the book aside on the table and took another one.

"You mean the way he changed, his eyes, voice and strength, something did happen to him. As if something evil possessed him" Superman said still horrified by the way how the Spartan changed all of a sudden and attacked them.

"Yes, Cortana gave me some vague details. She knew that this fight with Hades will do something to him that we may be forced to stop him. She said, there were mental fortifications placed around his neocortex to contain a scar from the past battle and that it should never take hold of his consciousness" Batman said still trying to figure out what happened since Cortana refused to give him full details at the moment.

"Hmm, he has been fighting for 60,000 years. That kind of career puts a stress and trauma on a mind, maybe even too much for someone like him. But what concerns me the thing about containment you mentioned. Sooner or later, we may have to deal with that" Clark said as he too was worried of the situation.

Then there is this threat of Didact which they not yet even seen full. But the fact that a mother box and white lantern ring has been stolen was enough for them already. John voluntarily came to this universe to stop the threat, so the league agreed to help him.

"Lets hope it never comes to that Clark" Batman said to which Superman nodded.

The Martian was outside the castle under the sun, meditating to calm his mind after a brutal battle. Flash was in the Javelin minding his own business playing videogame.

Meanwhile Miranda Keyes was in her officer uniform standing before the statue of Athena admiring the architecture. She even came across certain artifacts or weapons of the ancient times, like the staff of Hermes, Zeus's lightning, Staff of Poseidon. She wasnt sure whether they were replicas or the actual weapon of the gods.

"Admiring the beauty?" A voice came from behind as Keyes turned back to look at none other than the queen of the Amazons.

"Your highness! Yes, that is an exquisite piece of architecture" Miranda replied.

"Our finest artisans of the old times, gave these rocks life as if the goddess themselves live inside" Hippolyta said with pride.

"May I ask you something? That is, if you are fine with it, since I dont mean to impose" Miranda said feeling bit tensed since didnt want to offend a royalty and cause new trouble. But the queen didnt take any offense as she nodded.

"I know you and a some of the amazons here dont like men walking around and I understand that based on what Diana has told us about Themiscyra. But they were also wary about my presence too. Is the Island secluded from outsiders in common?" She asked in hopes of understanding where these warrior women coming from.

"*SIGH*...We dont like anyone from outside world stepping on to this island. But out history with men is a different, a bitter story. We were once living together in distant times, but then Zeus's son Hercules, with all his pride and ego, challenged us to a fight. I stepped in to face him in the duel" She said as she started walking around as Miranda followed her.

"Guess, that expression says, it didnt end too well" Keyes surmised as what could have probably went over.

"True, I lost. He tricked me into giving up a magic girdle that was given to me by goddess Athena. The lies and deceit had me lose not only the fight, but all my Amazon warriors were enslaved by him and his men. Artemis, captain of our guard, she suffered the most and thus holds deepest hatred for mankind among us, even for those who had nothing to do with it" Hippolyta said recalling the past events that still hurt her to this day.

"How did you free yourselves?" Miranda asked now finally getting a picture of why the Amazons are the way they are and she couldn't blame them though she also felt that holding grudge for several millennia for those bitter past was pointless either as dwelling on it would change nothing, so does blaming someone who had nothing to do with it.

"I wish they started to see how far things have changed in the outside world and understand its no longer the way they have lived through" she thought.

"We rebelled and when I prayed to Athena, she responded, helped us push back our oppressors and free ourselves and also strictly passed on the law that Themiscyra must sever all contacts with the outside world, man or woman" she said as she concluded the story.

"So what will happen to Diana now? That she brought us here" Miranda asked making the queen's face go sad. Miranda can easily understand that expression as what could be going through her mind now.

"I am her mother and I would give anything to keep her here. But I am also a queen and should judge her without bias. It pains my heart that I have to do this to my own sun and stars" Hippolyta said as she was on the verge of tears.

"I may not be the best person to tell you this, but your daughter is a hero loved by everyone in the outside world. She only did that to help you and your people" Miranda said trying to make the queen understand and see a bigger picture.

Miranda of all people would know about bending the rules to do the right thing like she did back in covenant war. Hell, John has made it a regular habit of breaking rules that pulled humanity tons of surprising victories out of nowhere.

"She always was the best of us and none had her spirit. But I'm afraid as a queen I have bear the weight of leadership and make the tough choices" Hippolyta said.

"I can understand that, your highness. Being a leader is as we used to phrase it 'One heck of a whack job'" she said to which it drew a smile from the queen.

"Sometimes, you are only left with binary choices. Either lose a few to save more or risk lose everything, lives hinge on your decision. *SIGH* I was born when Humanity was already fighting for its survival and when I first had a ship to command, it was at its peak" she said to which Hippolyta gave a stare processing her words and could relate to herself.

"Was it bad? How long?" She asked.

"3 years for me. But the commander, he had the worst of it. He was fighting for 27 Years" she explained. Well for her, the war ended with the covenant. But John had to live with the memory of losing everyone in the war, and keep fighting even bigger and nastier conflicts in the future. He would continue that for the next 60,000 yrs with no rest. Hippolyta was confused on that though, she may not know much about the outside world, but she knows she doesn't remember humanity fighting any 3 decades war.

"I am confused, 3 decades of war? I dont remember or even sensed any conflict among the humans in outside world" she said which made Miranda raise her eyebrows.

"Wait, Diana didn't tell you where myself and the Spartan come from? Well, we are from a totally different world. I hope we can explain that part to you once the Commander wakes up"

"Is that how you always call him" the queen asked curiously.

"Yes, since he is my senior officer, I call him using his rank on a battlefield. But back during the war I spoke about, He was under my command, one of the best I've ever served with. He comes with tactics that helped humanity win against what would seem like total defeat and we always wondered how his thought process worked" She said as she always believed John deserved a lot while she also knew what he would say.

"Huh, he will say there are others who deserved more, so like him" she thought amusingly.

"I would like to learn more about the Spartan myself. To take on Hades was a godly feat by itself. After Zeus, he was the only one who defeated him fair and square. That would also help us understand more about man's world. My daughter's trust on your kind and her experience may be needed for us without risking the safety of my people, especially after an outsider managed to enter our lands and sow chaos, we have to be prepared for everything in future. This is the first time it has happened since we secluded ourselves" she said hoping to get some answers.

"Sure your highness, once he wakes up, we'll give you a glimpse of who we are" Miranda said with a small bow as they walked further.

...

Memories flowing like lucid dreams.

"The UNSC has agreed with the covenant leadership that the Halo array must be used" Lasky's voice
...
"We still have hope Cortana, we can stop the flood" - 117
...
"CAPTURING YOU WAS NO SMALL FEAT! I WILL STUDY YOUR MIND AND TEAR IT APART TO LEARN THE SECRETS" - Keymind
...
"Congratulations Masterchief, you saved the galaxy!" - Lord Hood
...
"We need to keep you grounded for a year due to your exposure to the keymind. We thereby confiscate your armor, weapons and place you in solitary confinement with psych evaluation" - ONI
...
"You Spartans have achieved the next stage in evolution. Unlocking the psychic abilities. I have created the new Armageddon Battlesuits that will enhance the bond between your armor and your mind woven through the very fabric of space and time. You will be gods with this weapon!" - Halsey
...
"Sir, the Ceph has launched a full scale attack in the delta sector of M33 triangulum, I am sending 3rd through 7th fleet to deal with them. Intel suggests a litho ship on a remote colony has awakened" - Fleet Admiral
"Roger that Admiral, deploy ground forces to secure the colony, make sure no ceph forces leave the galaxy to regroup. I will follow their trail through the wormhole. We are tracking their movement" - 117

...

"We have the motherbox, there is nothing you can do!" - Warden Eternal
...
"How does holding the shard of Keymind in your head works, Spartan?" - Didact
...
"JOOOOOOHHNNNNN-...!"

...

The dream sequence were nothing but a series of noise and nightmares of his past. As the torment came to an abrupt end with someone crying out his name, he opened his eyes and inhaled a lot of air into his lungs, letting a deep breath. He then woke up and sat upon the bed he was lying all this time. He was trying to process everything that happened all this time. he remembered fighting Hades, then being blasted away. Coming back for round 2 and beating the hell outta him. Then something happened. Something crawled its way back and locked him up as if his soul was replaced by another ghost.

The Amazon red headed healer noticed the Spartan to be awake.

"Ah, Spartan! Glad you are awake. Was waiting for you" Alexa said with a warm cheerful smile.

John looked at her confused. But judging by her attire, he deduced her to be an Amazon.

"Waiting? How long was I out-...Ms-...?" John asked wondering what to call her.

"Alexa, you can call me Alexa! I'm an Amazon healer and the younger sister of Artemis. You were unconscious for few hours" she said that threw John on a loop.

"Damn! I was out for quite a while it seems" he thought.

"Besides, please have these. Its a soup and we have made some breakfast for you. Will help you replenish your belly and spirits" she said as she brought a platter with a bowl of soup and fried fish and some fruits.

"Thank you Alexa" he replied with an evasive smile as he took it and true to her words, he was feeling hungry and tired. He started sipping on the soup and felt the warmth in his body as he felt the spirits renewed. He finished the soup and ate the fried fish ad fruits.

"This was truly amazing, I do feel fresh" he said with a nod.

"Its nothing. Besides, after fighting a god, anyone can become tired. The tales of this fight would be told for several centuries in Themiscyra" she said chuckling at him. John then recalled his fight with Hades though, it wasnt a tale he would like to remember, especially the aftermath.

"Also your lady friend-...Cortana? She was the one who healed you inside that weird box with strange lights" she said which made John promptly look at her. He understood, Cortana must have refortified his mind within the entropy dilation chamber.

"Thank you Alexa. I prepare myself I need find the others" he told the red headed Amazon to which she nodded as she left the hall. John was then looking himself at the mirror as flashes of the fight with Hades hazed through, his conversation with the keymind.

"KEYMIND!" he thought to a grim realization. By all means, he remembers giving order to activate RED-FLAG. But that hasnt happened since he is still alive, even after the keymind took over his consciousness.

He then wore his boots and activated the wrist communicator to interface with the armor. The hologram popped up from the wrist device.

"Protocol RED-FLAG...Status" he said.

"RED-FLAG on Standby, Authorization code: CTN0452-9, PROTOCOL OVERRIDE ACTIVATED" the hologram displayed the message. That confused John wondering as to why the override was activated.

"ACCESS LEVEL: SIERRA 117" he said.

"SIERR117, RED-FLAG Access denied" it displayed in red which shocked the spartan.

"What the hell!? How did this happen?" he muttered and thats when he heard the footsteps. He turned to look at who was coming. It was Miranda and the queen, Hippolyta.

"Miranda, your highness" he said as he closed the communicator device.

"How are you now commander? Guess Cortana's treatment worked again-..." she said as she looked at the bowl and platter "...-and I guess you enjoyed a nice meal" she said folding her hands.

"I did. But also learned Cortana blocked the RED-FLAG access. Tell me, why am I still alive?" John demanded in his stoic commanding tone which made Miranda feel a bit guilty though not regretful. She knew she and Cortana had to face this music since his orders were clear. But what orders? It was to kill him and they wouldnt do it no matter how much the situation got worse.

"I dont understand. Is this related to what happened back there, Spartan?" the queen asked confused and especially asking why he was alive raised so many questions in her mind.

"Indeed. I had a protocol to kill me should that ever happen. But somehow, I am kept away from it and still breathing. If this happen again, I dont know if I can even hold that thing back" John said holding his hands behind.

"Thats because I know you will find a way to end your life. I had to deny your access. And dont even think about putting a bullet on your head. I wont let that happen either" Cortana said popping out of nowhere in her hardlight form standing beside Keyes.

"And by doing that, you broke protocol and have endangered everyone" John said in his cold stoic tone.

"And I dont regret one bit trying to save my friend. Do you think life would have thrived in the galaxy for the next 60 millennia, humanity conquering other galaxies if the flood had won back then!? And who stopped the parasite when everyone gave up?" Cortana said her tone taking both hint of sadness and anger. John was a bit silent on this he didnt know what to tell her.

"You wanna court martial me? Fine I'll gladly accept the punishment, go ahead and lock my matrix in a pocket dimension. But if it comes to doing this again, I wont hesitate to repeat it. Besides. I may have possibly found a way to extract the keymind shard out of your brain" Cortana said to which John looked at her with sharp focus.

"This procedure, does it work?" John asked curiously, though he didnt hold his hopes high. Since every other option they have tried for thousands of years have failed. If this one was no different, he wouldnt be surprised. But he never says no trying.

"Well, we hope, that can fix the problem. Cortana will provide the details once we are back at the ship. Though there are some risks involved" Miranda answered.

"Well, it doesnt matter. If we have a shot at this, lets do it" John said firmly to which Cortana smiled and nodded.

"Maybe you wont need that RED-FLAG after all" Miranda said though he hasn't gone that far, not yet. Cortana left the hall. The queen who was listening silently was thinking about what the Spartan said. She was surprised, he was ready to kill himself to prevent the evil inside his mind causing harm to anyone around.

This reminded her of the Spartans of the old, they were selfless and laid their lives for Sparta and fiercely protected their families.

"I believe its time then. I will let the others know that you are awake" Miranda said to which John nodded.

"And I too have to make preparation. As much as it hurts me, I need to uphold the Amazonian law and today is-...the judgement day for my daughter" Hippolyta said to which John and Miranda looked down as they know what the queen was exactly talking about.

"Does that mean she could be exiled from Themiscyra?" Miranda asked shocked at how indifferent the queen spoke.

"Among all the things, yes. It is possible. Anything I go against will be seen as an offense by the gods above" Hippolyta said though she was sad when she said that.

"I know Diana broke the law, but we too had a hand in it, whether we liked it or not. Is there something that can be done by us, so that she never gets exiled?" John asked trying his best to help a friend. Miranda let an evasive smile

Hippolyta was taken back by surprise when the Spartan before her made such an honest request. These people were simply outsiders and doesnt have to care or go to these lengths to help Diana.

"I dont understand! Why would you even do that for her? You are just outsiders and almost everyone here sees you with such mistrust" Hippolyta asked curiously. John took a calm breath to answer her question.

"Back in my universe, not everyone were accepting of us Spartans. Some hated us for who we are and some even wanted us dead. But we never forgot our duty, to protect humanity. We were never biased towards anyone. Over time the opinions changed as people gained new perspective. This is no different than that. And I personally dont want Diana to lose the only place she calls home and the people she calls family" John replied which made Hippolyta to rethink her hate for mankind.

"Times have changed. Perhaps we need to reconsider learning about mankind instead of spewing hate on them" she thought.

"But why is that personal to you?" she asked wondering why would the Spartan see Diana losing contact with her home and people would be personal to him.

"Huh, perhaps a little history lesson about us and the place we come might help you understand" Miranda said.

"As we alerady discussed, lets go to the main hall. I am interested in learning about you all" Hippolyta said as the three walked out of the medical hall.

The queen, the Spartan and Miranda walked to the main hall where everyone's eyes turned to look at the towering man. Whispers started to fill the hall the amazons were talking about the Spartan. The news of him defeating Hades in a one on one fight spread throughout the island that many were quite astonished at the feat. But also they learned about how he suddenly turned evil and attacked his own league members and were wary of him.

"Spartan!" Diana called him out looking at John with a joyous smile as she approached him. The other league members approached him.

"Are you feeling alright? I hope that thing in your head-..."

"I am fine Superman, Diana" he said looking at them both giving an assuring nod.

"Jonn, do you still feel the same thing in his mind that you did back there?" Batman whispered to the Martian. Jonn's eyes glowed in yellow for a second and turned off.

"No, I dont feel it. Its as if its been contained beyond a telepath's reach" Jonn whispered again.

"Good, then" Batman responded.

"Where is Artemis?" Hippolyta asked inquiring about her captain of the guards.

"Well mother, Artemis-...didnt take it quite well with our presence. She was really angry at the men's presence. She's is outside the fortress on her regular duty" Diana replied. The Queen wasnt surprised. Artemis and Aresia hates them to the core with prejudice.

"Hmm, well atleast thats one less thing to worry about. Who knows how she would react if she were here" Donna spoke and she wasnt wrong on that one.

"Very well, I hope we can begin before we all head out for the feast" the queen spoke to which John nodded.

"Cortana, do you have the holo emitter with you?" John asked.

"Well, its in the Javelin I guess. Where's flash anyway? Yo speedster, come in!" Cortana called out through the comm.

"Whoa, easy! I was just playing a videogame! Didnt do anything!" he said to which she rolled her eyes.

"Yeah put the console down for few mins and bring the holo emitter in the Javelin to the main hall inside the palace" Cortana said.

"In a jiffy" he responded and blitzed inside the hall bringing the emitter to her. Others were taken aback by the speed at which he stopped inside, it was like looking at Hermes for a second, except in a red spandex suit.

As flash handed over the emitter to Cortana.

"Seriously, games in the middle of-..." Cortana asked raising her eyebrows

"Hey, dont judge me! I burnt thousands of calories helping Superman and Jonn" he said as he blew the dust of his finger tips, getting defensive about his habit.

The queen and then others took a seat side by side including the league members.

John took the emitter and pressed a holographic button on it as it glowed and then suddenly it expanded to the entire hall and was filled with blue hue along with tiny dots of lights clustered with appeals of glowing gas representing nebulae.

The Amazons gasped in anxiety seeing the hologram representing the cosmos.

"Our Human empire spans several galaxies over 64 million fertile worlds. Our technologies have no parallel. We have thrived for 60 millennia maintaining peace amidst several conflicts. The time we come from is 62558 AD precisely" Cortana said bringing the images of the human empire as everyone in the hall looked in awe at the might of humanity. But the queen was shocked to hear that they were 60000 years from the future. She may not know much about man's world, but she keeps track of their time.

"Incredible!" Alexa commented wide eyed.

"Its not only that mother, The Spartan here is 60,000 years old himself" Diana said which stunned the other Amazons in the hall. He was very much older than them, as old as the time, when their gods walked the Earth.

"Now you would understand how the Spartan managed to fight a god" Jonn Jonz supplemented.

"But we had a modest past. In the late 21st century, our ever expanding sense of nature helped us push through the boundaries and confines of our home world to go out and conquer the stars. To deal with the political intricacies and a centralized governing body to act as an oversight to make sure things ran smoothly, The UNSC or United Nations Space Command acted as military body and UEG, the UEG, Unified Earth Government acted as exploratory government" Cortana said as she displayed the 3D holographic images of the humans constructing starships for the first interplanetary expedition.

"This looks wonderful" Donna said waving her hands through the hologram.

"But in spite of that, we had problems. Even with the unifications, there were those who would try to topple the efforts" she said as she brought the images of destructions wrought upon on Earth and the other planets and moons in Sol system. Donna and Alexa were were shocked at the amount or death and destruction they saw and league members understood their reactions.

"Anyway, we used the old school strategies to gain back our footing to repel these civil conflicts. But over militarization and lack of resources from the local wars created problems"

The images of UNSC and UEG working their way to rebuild everything popped up.

"In time, we developed the first translight engine that helped us propel ourselves into the stars to establish colonies light years across, thus beginning the forging of our interstellar empire" Cortana said as she changed the images to colony ships being fitted with slip stream drive. Then the colony vessels punching hole in space as then entered the unknown dimension, coming out to the view of new planets. They also saw how the people were selected through gene pool filtering to send the best of humanity to start the civilization on other worlds.

"This is amazing! To have come this far in terms of advancement" the Queen commented as she watched the humans daring to venture into the unknown even with the dangers it entails.

"This is still only the beginning. Later you will understand this is basically human nature, charging head first and not caring about the consequences" Miranda said.

"But peace never lasted long enough. In time, we would have colonized 800 worlds, divided into inner and outer colonies. The more things change, the more they stayed the same. With the colonies spread too far, some started to rebel against the government to opt for independent rule, many demands unable to be met" She said sighing.

"Balancing the needs of people and what is best for a kingdom is always hard to achieve, sometimes, it goes so far that it threatens the stability of the kingdom itself" the Queen replied having gone through these situations before.

"Thats true. Now imagine that for a population or several billions" Cortana said the queen grimaced at the thought of that.

"So the civil unrest still continued?" Donna asked wondering the human advancement may have changed their base nature of conflict.

"yes, first, it was peaceful protests, but then it escalated into minor firefight and much worse-..." Miranda said as the images of the interplanetary war played out one by one. The pictures of war, fires blazing and finally a huge impact crater in a place what appeared to be a city, was once a city.

"Oh my god! What was that?" Alexa asked wide eyed at the destruction. The other Amazon soldiers in the hall were also terrified of the destruction they saw.

"Its a low yield nuclear warhead used for mining operations. But this was repurposed to destroy a city, the crater you see" Miranda said sympathizing with the Amazon as she had been exposed to the cruelty of war and conflict on this scale. She didnt even want to know the body count as that would make her sick.

"From then on, it was one fight after another and UNSC have been trying to pacify the colonies and prevent the insurrections, but every attempt to thwart it became futile as the insurrectionists were led by former military leaders who had knowledge of how UNSC operated and it became a huge disadvantage for us" Cortana explained.

"Our scientists back then predicted that if the Insurrections were not stopped, Humanity will be on full on civil war. So to mitigate that, a radical idea was proposed. A project that gave birth to the enhanced super humans" Cortana said looking at John. Hippolyta noticed that and assumed this is where his story comes in.

"So this enhancement is what the Spartan is all about?" the Queen asked curiously wondering if this was what made the Spartan to defeat a God.

"Yes, but before I came into be, the first one was Project ORION, where 300 soldiers were biologically enhanced to chemical and surgical procedures. The first line of Spartans. They were faster and stronger. Their first mission was to recapture a station. The mission was success with only one loss of life" he explained as the images of the enhanced humans firing at the enemies and destroying enemy foothold was shown.

"300 spartans, like the tales of the old" Alexa commented drawing comparison to the old battle of Thermopylae.

"True, but over time, age started to take effect on these Spartans and couldn't serve actively. So they were sent to live among the civilians and start families. But the training methods used for this gave birth to a faction called "Orbital Drop Shock Troopers" or Helljumpers as we call them. Since they literally go through hell to take the fight to the enemy" Miranda said as the pictures of ODSTs, both men and women dropping from heights in the middle of an active warzone. Some dont even make it as their drop pods gets destroyed mid air.

"By the gods above! These people do that willingly!?" Donna asked stunned at the daring feats of these black suited hell jumpers, not even ready to think of entering a battlefield like that.

"Well, their motto is "Feet first into Hell". But things still didnt improve as we would be fighting to keep the resources for other colonies that need them at the time and give it all up to the outer ones" Miranda said.

"Doing so would undermine your UNSC and your government" the Queen added understanding the implications of this crisis.

"True, so to put a permanent end to his, another idea took shape and thats where the Commander comes into picture" Miranda said as she and Cortana looked at him.

"Back in those days, a brilliant scientist named Halsey proposed an Idea of reviving and evolving the original Spartan program. They would be called the Spartan-II. This project was even more radical than the original due to the dangers involved in the procedures and its subjects"

"Why would that be?" Hippolyta asked confused as to why he called it too radical and this is where the league felt slight discomfort since they knew what this project entailed and no matter how barbaric they felt, they have come to accept living with that knowledge.

"When the ORIONS were sent back to the population, they started families and have kids. And with that, their genetic legacy would also be passed on them. Halsey would meticulous filter the subjects having those traits for Spartan II program selection. Originally 300 were chosen, but due to budget constraints, it was cust short to 75, I was one of them and the first handpicked" He said.

"So what would make you special to be this thorough?" Alexa asked still oblivious to the dark reality behind this program.

"I was quite taller than most kids of my age, had more body mass, quick reflex and-..."

"And very lucky too!" Cortana said with a smirk.

"In any case-..." John had to cut short since the reason behind the luck might not sit well with the Amazons here. The Amazons also saw the picture of a white haired woman approaching a boy and tossing a coin where John would predict the outcome.

"Once I was chosen, I would be covertly taken from my home and replaced with my flash clone to cover my absence in my home. The same happened with the other 74 subjects" he said which once again drew a frown upon the league's faces.

"I do not understand. Why is my sister and her friends are sad all of a sudden? What is a flash clone?" Donna asked confused at the looks in their face.

"Back in our reality, medical science were advanced enough to create a copy of human body parts for surgical replacement. But creating a full clone, that is an exact replica of a human being was banned due to its moral issues like existential and identity crisis. Besides, flash clones were highly unstable and would die out in 2 or 3 weeks" Cortana said which didnt sit well with the Amazons as they felt discomfort when they started to put the pieces together.

"Will die out in weeks? Wait, does that mean-...!?" Hippolyta came to a grim realization.

"Then why would your clones be made? Couldn't they ask your parents to send you to train for warfare like the Spartans of the old?" Donna asked confused.

"Well, the world doesnt work that way anymore. Training children for warfare was considered unethical and illegal despite this would soon prove to be important. The flash clones would die out eventually making our parents think they died of some disease and they would never know about us being kidnapped and no questions were raised. I would no longer see my parents and to them, their son died young and they had buried their son. They would never know what happened to me" John said which made a lot of Amazons feel uncomfortable. Even Hippolyta was quite shook at the fact.

For Donna and Alexa family was everything and seeing a man in front of them who robbed of that was abhorring to them. When Diana left the island, Donna felt broken apart. Even the ancient Spartans were not denied family, a basic comfort. They would be trained at the young age to be inducted into the Spartan ranks, but they will always have access to their family.

"Did ever get a chance to meet them again in future when you were old?" Hippolyta asked.

"No, your highness. I dont remember their faces anymore. The only blurred memory I have of them was when we were playing at the beach on an evening on my home world. I would see that a few times in my dreams. But that is all" he said which made Hippolyta regret bringing up the topic. Now she understood why Diana and the League were a bit sad when talking about that.

This made her recall the previous conversation where he said it is personal for him that Diana doesn't lose her home or people. Because, he was a man who lost that and didnt wish it upon her daughter.

Donna held this Halsey woman with a mild distaste for what she did to 75 children.

John decided to move on with the story.

"All the 75 children would be taken to a training facility on Reach, our fortress world" he said they showed a lush green world with cities and forests mixed with military complex nearby hills. The Amazons found the world to be peaceful and beautiful.

"This is where we would start our training by this man, Senior Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez, the one who would shape us all in the soldiers they needed to be. He was in a way, our father figure. He was extremely tough, but fair, pushed us all beyond our limits. He taught me about the value of team work, duty and honor. He also taught me the difference between wasting lives and spending them" he said thinking about his old mentor with deep admiration.

"Halsey took care of our educations, medical and dietary needs. She was in a way our mother figure. She may carry an immense guilt but she did what had to be done" He said. They were surprised that the Spartan still defended her despite the atrocities. But to John, it was understandable since they have not been exposed to these sort of extremisms.

"By the end of the training, we the Spartans were the only family that we saw within each other. Once this phase was over, came the next one, the augmentations" he said.

"The augmentations? you mean the enhancements you were talking about?" Alexa asked to which John nodded.

"A series of procedures to make us much more better...but not without costs" he said and the Amazons witnessed the biological enhancements in all its glory. The unbearable pain the men and women felt reacting to the procedures. They one man throwing up all the fluids as the technicians tried to stabilize his vitals. He then closed his eyes as his heart gave away. Then there were others who became deformed as the bones started to protrude and deformed in weird angles.

The Amazons couldn't even bear the sight of that.

"Gods above have mercy!" was the thought running in queen's mind as she watched the horrors and even regretted a bit for seeing this.

"In the end, 30 died of complications, 12 were crippled and sent to other departments to work once they were recovered. 33 became what was expected, supersoldiers" John said.

"So how did it feel?" Donna asked trying to forget about the 30 dead.

"We would adjust to our abilities until the UNSC saw us fit for undertaking missions" he said. Then they all watched the young Spartans testing their abilities. One girl named Kelly ran faster than anyone, Linda was the best sharpshooter humanity had ever seen. The Amazons were amazed by the so called female spartans and their abilities and even had a tiny bit of envy that they had abilities that could surpass them. Jorge and Sam benched heavier than anyone. Fred, Cal and Li were the best martial artists. Batman, seeing this clip for the first time was mentally looking at them in awe, the way they fought with speed and precision made his inner martial artist to cheer for them.

One thing the queen noticed was how the male Spartans had respect and camaraderie for their female counterparts made her realize why her own daughter spoke highly of him.

"Once we completed the post augmentation training, we took on the insurrectionists on numerous missions and almost succeeded in all given what we can do. But this all changed soon and we were put to the real test in the forthcoming war of survival" he finished which made Donna and Alexa uncomfortable to an extent.

"How so?" the Queen asked curiously though unaware of what she was gonna see next. Miranda then shifted the holographic display to show a planet. Everyone found the world lush green and beautiful.

"This is planet Harvest, or rather was before what happened to it. Its an agricultural world that produces food crops for the inner and outer colonies. It went dark and UNSC sent a small ship to see what happened and it too never returned. So another 3 ships with tactical crew was sent to Harvest to investigate. This is what they found-..." Miranda said as they showed Harvest in its unrecognizable form.

The Amazons were horrified at the sight of planet that was burning like hell fire that made Tartarus look not so bad. Soon whispers began to happen among the warrior women.

"Oh my god! What happened to that planet!?" Alexa asked couldn't bear the sight of a once lush green world.

"They happened" Cortana replied as she showed a purple colored ship, a Covenant vessel. The enemy that would haunt humanity for the next 30 years.

"Your destruction is the will of the gods-...and we are their instruments"

a message played as the prophet spoke in chilling tone.

"This started the war that we have referred to you before, including Diana" Miranda said as the queen turned to look at her. Diana gave a sorrowful nod.

"This wasn't a war about ideals, resources, power, honor and glory. This was a war for the right to exist as a race" Cortana said as the images of the conflict between UNSC and the Covenant. Some of the Amazons were stupefied at the levels of destruction the war caused and the amount of death, the likes of which the warrior women had never seen before. They watched how the alien coalition of species were technologically superior to humanity and how they laid waste to human colonies and military vessels.

Their hearts bled watching the poor souls beings burnt, mauled and incinerated to death. They also witnessed how the brave men and women in UNSC fought the battle against the aliens and tried to save as many civilians as they could. The Covenant were relentless and hellbent on wiping out humanity. Alexa was visibly shaken by the amount of death as a kind hearted healer and she closed her eyes and face with her hand not able to bear the sight. The league, Miranda, John and Cortana felt empathy for the amazon. The Amazons have seen war, but this whole new level of brutality makes their past feel like a cake walk.

Hippolyta understood she had to bear witness to this and is not gonna go away from their memories soon. She knew she had to face the consequence.

They saw the different species that make up the alien coalition, Unggoy, Sanghelli, SanShayuum or prophets, Kig-Yar, Jiralhanae, Mgelogolo, Yanme. Each serving different roles roles in the war.

But that was not all, while Covenant had the superiority in space, on the ground side, humans fought with equal tenacity that scared the covenant.

Then the Amazons witnessed the green armored Spartans landing on the ground from sky and charging against the enemies and dropping the bodies of the covenant. The Amazons understood how once the Spartans entered the battlefield, the odds shifted to humanity's favor. The Spartans were the first to instill fear among the covenant.

Then they watched John-117, Masterchief who led the Spartan fireteams that effectively took out the Covenant troops, ships, stations and even some of their planets, like blowing up a Nova bomb that completely rendered a covenant world inhabitable. They also saw clips of Cole's last stand, Operation Silent Storm, Warm blanket. The Amazons now realized how the Spartan was able to go toe to toe with Hades. He was force to be reckoned with.

The Amazons then witnessed how the Covenant started to target the chief as he had singlehanded costed severe losses to the covenant like fleet and even strategically important stations.

"After 27 years, We finally found what the Covenant had been searching all along. Halo" Miranda said as they all witnessed a planet sized artificial ring built by an ancient prehistoric race called the Forerunners and what their actual purpose were. The Amazons were astonished that a species managed something as huge as this ring and also terrorized them when they learned it was weapon and together with the 6 other such rings can kill all life in galaxy.

But the reason for this weapon's existence came in the form of the parasite, the Flood.

"What is that thing?" Donna asked looking at a small green bulbous thing with small tentacles.

"That is flood infection form" John answered as they all watched horrified at the sight of how the parasite mutated both the living and the dead alike. This war now took a turn into a whole new level with the parasite in picture.

"*SIGH* I lost my father to this thing!" Miranda said sadly as John himself was feeling regret, not able to save Jacob Keyes on time. The queen saw the image of Miranda's father assimilated by the flood and turned to look at her with a hint of sadness.

Then they watched the covenant discovering Earth and how the tides turned with the Sanghelli being revealed the truth about Halo and Forerunners and how the prophets lied to them about humanity. Then they all watched Cortana left at High Charity with the Gravemind, a huge flood hive that sent chills to the spine of every amazon, the torture she had to endure earning her the empathetic looks from others.

Then the images of how the war finally ended with the covenant separatists allied with humanity to kill Prophet of Truth, defeating the gravemind, Death of Miranda and Johnson which earned her the look to which she said she would explain it. Final run that saw Chief, Arbiter in a warthog escaping the newly built Halo.

"The ship was severed in half with me and Cortana on one half and the Arbiter to the other. We were lost in space. The war was over after 30 years. We lost a lot of people, friends, families" John said recalling the ancient war.

"So what happened to you and Cortana here? Were you rescued?" Donna asked.

"No, after almost 5 years, we were pulled into a forerunner world where we accidentally awakened a slumbering forerunner from a cryptum" Cortana explained as multiple images of John cruising through the forerunner world, fighting new robotic aliens that screamed of terror. Then inadvertently releasing the tall forerunner, the Didact as he wrapped himself in black orange armor and restrained John easily.

"By the great Gaia! Who is that forerunner?" the queen asked wide eyed at the being, looking at his beast like face.

"Didact, a forerunner commander who was in stasis for 100,000 years. He hated humanity so much that he set out to finish the task once and for all" John said.

Then they watched how UNSC Infinity came into picture with new crew, spartan regiments and ODSTs into the planet. The queen disliked the attitude of the one Captain Andrew Del Rio, though found the Commander Lasky to be the most level headed and kind man.

"Guess some things never change. How could a leader care about his skin when there is a bigger threat looming in the shadows?" Hippolyta thought to herself.

"Besides, why is Cortana acting strange?" Donna asked to which Cortana herself answered the question.

"Well, AI like me, when we accumulate more knowledge, we will struggle to process those information and because of the scarce processing capacity, our personality starts to fragment and become unstable. In simple words, imagine reading thousands of books in a day and store all that knowledge in your mind and make sure you never forget even a single line. It will start to create a headache as you will force yourself brain to keep all that together. But in my case, when that happens, we die" Cortana explained which made Donna's head spin to such complexity.

They watched how John learned that Didact was seeking a device called composer that would turn humans into those robotic armies which John explained to them as Promotheans. Then with this knowledge, he confronted Del Rio who had other plans.

"This isn't about this ship or this planet anymore!" Cortana argued.
"Sir, we know what the Didact's after. If we let him leave this planet, Humanity will be at risk!" John complemented her statements.

"Listen, I know what you think you saw!?" Del Rio said with regards to the Spartan's warning.
"With all due respect sir, I know what I saw" John hit back at him.

"And with all due respect to you soldier, I'm not willing to Jeopardize my ship or its crew because of the hallucinations of an aging spartan and his malfunctioning AI" Del Rio said.

"Sir, what if he's right?" Lasky came into support the Spartan. Del Rio looked at his CO with surprise and spoke.

"Nav? Soon as we know we're air tight, I wanna lay a course to Carinae station. Comm? Prepare a warning beacon" Del Rio said as the holo table started to glow in red and blue. Cortana was changing hue between Red, blue and purple.

"I will not-...allow you to LEAVE THIS PLANET!" Cortana yelled in anger that stunned the amazon looking at her in confusion.

"Cortana?!" John called out in worry.

"Commander? In pursuant of article 52, regulation 12-14472, I am ordering you to remove that AI data chip and retire it for final dispensation" Del Rio ordered as Cortana was rambling in fear. But Lasky was hesitant to do that.

"Remove the chip NOW! Commander!" Del Rio raised his tone. Lasky feeling defeated, went to unplug the matrix. But before he could, John pulled the chip by himself.

"Give..me...that...CHIP!" Del Rio said gritting his teeth.

"The Didact has to be stopped. If you wont do that? I will" Chief said to which the Amazons were amazed by his defiance to his superiors.

"I'm ordering you-...TO SURRENDER THAT AI!" Del Rio growled in anger. John was calm as he took a step forward.

"No-...Sir" he said which surprised the captain.

"Lieutenant, Arrest that man! ARREST HIM!" Del Rio said though Palmer didnt take a leap.

"Get a word to Earth that trouble's coming. Cortana and I will do what we can from here" John said to Lasky to which he nodded and left the bridge.

"I can't believe this! The Spartan here is trying to save humanity and this captain is worried about his own skin and his vessel?" Donna jeered at the attitude of this man.

"Well, it didnt end well for him. After he abandoned Chief and Cortana and reached Earth, the UNSC fleet command didnt like him marooning them, so he was relieved of command and the ship went to Lasky. Guy's a real jerk!" Miranda said drawing a contrast with her own father Keyes who would do anything to help the spartan.

Then they showed how John defeated the Didact and nuked his ship and in process, losing Cortana. The queen visibly felt the Spartan's emotions though she couldn't see his face that he was in deep sadness. Then Chief getting rescued as every soldier in the Infinity paying respects to him.

After that, he showed glimpses of mission to composer's forge where he and his team fought the Didact once more and this time, with the Spartan ending him for good by throwing him into the composers that shredded him to nothing.

Then after multiple missions with his team, learned about survival of one of Cortana's rampant personality that entered the domain and she started causing havoc across the galaxy using forerunner guardians.

"By the gods! You did this? I dont understand, how are you here, standing when all those things happened to you?" Alexa asked confused at the survival of Cortana.

"Well, when I died, one of my rampant personality entered the domain where I was cured and obtained the power to conquer the galaxy, it thought it could uphold the mantle of responsibility, the stewardship of all life in the galaxy. But there was a logic flaw" Cortana explained.

"On search for a way to bring her back, we found a being that called itself Abaddon. A precursor AI that is billions of years old and the guardian of the domain. We convinced Abaddon to pull Cortana out and bring her back. It eventually helped us and thats how Cortana survived. But that peace didnt last long" John said which garnered looks from the others.

"When I activated the forerunner guardian custodes, I accidentally awakened the Juridicals, an assembly of forerunner AIs that once served their masters as the judge, jury and executioners. It took control of the guardians and threatened everything. So with the knowledge I gained, I managed to defeat the juridicals and once again peace flourished for the next couple thousand years.

"Humanity expanded beyond the milkyway for the first time in to the Large Magellanic Cloud. The vast amount of resources helped us propel us to Tier-1 technological species" Miranda said as the images of the leaps and bounds of advancement flowed that stupefied the amazons.

"But like I said, peace never lasts. By the 47th century, when we were at the technological height, our ancient enemy entered the galaxy once again" Cortana said recalling the horrors.

"Which enemy?" the queen asked after seeing the sad reactions in league's face.

"The Flood parasite. This time, they came in huge mass that they totally got us by surprise. This was not like the covenant war where we fought for survival our race. This war was for the survival of the entire galaxy and all its life forms, perhaps even the whole universe" Cortana said as the images of flood war rocked the amazons to the core. The flood controlled space ships were dealing mass casualties on other species whereas the humans and the new covenant space vessels while destroyed their ships, the flood always gained advantage as they assimilated all life forms one planet after another through flood dispersal pods.

"Gods above have mercy! This parasite is ruthless! What does it even want?" the queen asked unable to bear sight of life forms mutating into the flood through gruesome invasive methods.

"Their goal is to assimilate all life forms into their own and then move to another galaxy and repeat the same, till the whole universe is nothing but flood" John explained which horrified the amazons. They have never seen anything like this.

"We managed to stall them for 960 years. Both sides dealt heavy losses. But the flood was still more in numbers and we had an even bigger problem. They gained sufficient biomass to form a hive mind, the most powerful of them, the Keymind. When the flood mass creates a Keymind, then it gains the ability to manipulate the space, time and reality on a galactic scale, an intelligence unmatched with raw neural processing power. It coordinated the flood assets in the most efficient way that we had no defense against. It was able to manipulate the star light into something that drove a lot of people into madness. All of the Milkyway was close to extinction. We even accepted defeat and the grim fate that was awaiting us" Cortana said with hint of sadness as she herself couldn't forget the past that haunts everyone.

"This Keymind, is it like the Gravemind we saw earlier?" Alexa asked.

"More powerful than a typical gravemind. More intelligent and dangerous" Cortana said which made Alexa shake her head to not even think about it.

"Some of the human and covenant command made a choice to activate Halo array and destroy all life form, so the galaxy would bear life after thousands or millions of years later. They decided to sacrifice themselves so the universe would not succumb to the flood" Miranda added.

Hippolyta was bilious to such horrendous decision to sacrifice all for the greater good.

"But the Spartan here, didnt give up. He was the only one who fought for another way to defeat the flood and save the galaxy. We all owe it to him, being the sole reason to be alive" Cortana said as she and the league looked at him.

"Your highness, your people have disdain for men because of your past, thinking they are selfish or cynical. But here is a man who would challenge that notion of yours"

This is where Hippolyta looked at them confused.

"John, I believe we owe them the answers. After what happened to you today, after you hurt the league unwillingly, they need to know how much you sacrificed for that you had to go through this" Cortana told him to which the Spartan was silent.

"Is this about the information that Spartan referred to as classified, the 117 gameplan?" Superman asked curiously voicing the league's question. Cortana nodded in acknowledgement.

On one hand, she was right, after hurting them, he cant simply get away with that. But one the other, revealing those information would deeply traumatize them. While Miranda knew what John did to defeat the flood, even she doesn't know the whole story yet.

"Fine, I would be against that normally. But the league deserves to know what happened to me. But I ask this, do you wish to know this? Because, this is too traumatizing and my conscience wouldn't allow me to be at peace should this bother you" John said which made the Amazons to tread this carefully as they glanced at each other.

"Its alright Spartan, please tell us what happened. Maybe in future we too can find a way to help with your problem" Diana said with a smile. John sighed as he turned to look at his AI friend and gave a nod.

Cortana then brought up a video log of mission. It was inside some sort of chasm with walls and pillars created by nature, water flowing on the floor.

"What is this place?" Flash asked.

"It was year 5660 AD, August 19th. Our mission was to eliminate a gravemind on a remote world, Ramses, located in the perseus arm. I took the blue team in" John explained as the video log played.

Blue team were running at top speed through one of the tunnels. The chasm was deep underground and had network of large burrows that easily confuse anyone.

*BOOM*

Kelly threw a plasma grenade to her right that exploded incinerating multiple flood combat forms that were chasing them.

"YOU WONT ESCAPE OUR CLUTCHES!" a combat form roared which was in fact the gravemind talking through it.

"Kelly, once we are out, seal the entrance. Linda, watch our 6!" John gave orders.

"Yes Chief, aye aye chief!" Kelly and Linda responded. Kelly being the fastest managed to reach the tunnel entrance. She readied her rifle, and managed to fire past John, Linda and Fred directly towards the approaching flood forms.

Once they were all out. Kelly took out a missile launcher and shot at the entrance top that exploded and made huge chunks of rock to fall down and seal the entrance.

The flood kept growling for couple of minutes and it all went silent.

"Guess, they left. We need to call for evac. Anti-matter charge will go up in T minus 30 minutes" Fred said.

"Go ahead. We need to hold the line until evac arrives" John said as he changed magazine for his plasma rifle.
"Blue team to Archon, Anti-matter charges are primed for detonation in 30 minutes. Requesting evac" Fred called the comm.

"Blue team, we read you load and clear. Evac is on its way" the comm officer replied.

"This is still taking so much time sir. We are still not close to finding the location of the Keymind. The flood has still outnumbered us all 50:1 and the flood are always 10 steps ahead of us. This war is not taking us anywhere" Kelly said in frustration to which John placed a hand on her left shoulder.

"Dont worry, we'll get through this. We have managed to fight this far" John consoled her brethren.

*RUMBLING NOISES*

The place suddenly started to shake like earthquake.

"What the hell!?" Linda said and all of a sudden the ground cracked and large tentacles came out.

"DAMN! OPEN FIRE!" John and Fred unleashed the plasma rifles on it and Linda spotted several flood combat juggernauts popped out. Linda managed to climb a rock and sniped the flood forms with incendiary explosive rounds from her sniper rifle. Kelly used the missile launchers to target the tentacles that exploded and caught fire, dealing great deal of pain.

"The flood have surrounded us" Fred said as he fired the rifle to John's left's side. John concentrated fire on the right where several flood combat forms and juggernauts charged at him.

Fred used the plasma blades to cut through the ones that got close. John was suddenly ambushed from the top by a combat form that used its weight to pin him down. The shields dropped to zero as it recycled.

"RRRHH-..." John grunted as he struggled to get the heavy combat form away from him as it was reaching out to his neck.

*BAM* A shotgun round blasted through it as it dropped dead. It was Kelly as she offered her hand. John took it and armed his rifle again and fired at them. But he knew they cant keep this going. So he scanned the chasm for weak spots and the visor display highlighted them. John then sent the targets to Kelly.

"Kelly, Target those pillars, that will cause the place to collapse" John said as he provided covering fire to protect Kelly.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Kelly yelled as she sent multiple missiles headed to the pillars.

*BOOM* *BAAM*

The explosions cracked the pillars and shattered. This caused the roof to fall apart completely.

"Everyone stay close!" John yelled as he activated the super charged energy shield dome created from the 4 spartan's armor shielding system siphoned and refocused.

The whole roof fell down destroying the flood forces and completely covered the shield with rocks. The shield gave away though under tons of weight and the rocks directly sat upon the spartans as they passed out.

But it was only 10 minutes as the UNSC Archon and a covenant cruiser came to evacuate the Blue team.

To everyone's surprise, Arbiter was there as he and few covenant soldiers and UNSC soldiers walked through the debris. Arbiter's armor scanner picked up the position of the blue team under the rocks.

"There! Under those rocks. Lets get them!" Arbiter said as he jogged through the fallen rocks and placed the rifle on his back and started to lift and move the rocks which he can.
"Dont worry Spartans, We will get you out of this" Arbiter said as he used his plasma sword to cut through the bigger rocks which he cant lift. After clearing the rubble, finally he saw the Spartans laying unconscious.

"Over hear!" a marine yelled as the others came there to pick the Spartans up. Slowly they gained the consciousness.

"We need to leave, the charges are about to go off in few mins" John said.

"We will, lets go!" Arbiter said holding the chief as they made their way to the dropships. Then after reaching to their ships, everyone watched the anti-matter charge go off that sent a huge nova that shone bright in the night as if the sun itself has rised.

An hour later after the spartans received medical aid. The blue team, Halsey, Cortana, Arbiter and R'Tas and finally, Exuberant witness, the forerunner monitor that was helping the galaxy since the flood war started were in the Covenant cruiser holding talks on what to do next.

"We are effectively losing this war. For 960 years, all that we have managed to do is to stall the flood ships, ground forces. But the keymind is coordinating against us so great that now even slipspace jumps are becoming simply problematic" Halsey said out of frustration.

"How bad is it looking?" Linda asked.

"Too bad Linda. Too bad. The galaxy has lost so many life forms. Even some indigenous ones that will take god know how long for such a life to grow again. Our forces are spreading thin. We may last another 40 years until-..." Halsay said with a brief pause as she looked at the others.

"Until life cease to exist in the Milkyway. This is just like how it went down with the forerunners. Except it was only 300 years. We are fighting them close to a millennia with nothing to our advantage" Arbiter said in a grim tone as he knew things are looking bleak.

"What about the evacuation of the survivors?" Fred asked.

"We managed to send them to the Ark. But half of them were intercepted by the flood and consumed. Some of our ancillas succumbed to the logic plague and lost to the flood. That also gave them few more numbers to add to the flood fleet" Exuberant spoke.

"So what had HIGHCOM decided? Judging by what we are hearing right now, this is a war we already lost. Then why are even fighting? knowing that this is not gonna get us anywhere?" Kelly spoke.

"We knew we are going to lose this war 60 years ago. We already started the evacuation measures to send enough population to the Ark from all the species and hope they would repopulate the galaxy once it is clean. We are not fighting anymore, we are just stalling them at this point" Halsey replied which spooked John as he swiftly turned to look at Halsey in shock though it was hidden by the helmet.

"I dont understand, what does that mean?" John asked and Cortana decided to answer as she logically came to a conclusion on what could the HIGHCOM be planning.

"Conservative measures for future repopulation. Mass Evacuation of species and stalling the flood. Where have I heard this before? Ofcourse, during the forerunner flood war...John, the HIGHCOM has decided to use the Halo array to cleanse the galaxy clean of all life including the flood" Cortana said as she walked towards John. The Blue team were stunned at her theory and so much wanted it not to be true.

"Is it true?" John asked looking at the doctor.

"Yes, Cortana's right. HIGHCOM made that decision. We know we cant defeat the flood, but atleast the best we can do is not let the other galaxies suffer the same fate" Halsey said to which John became speechless. He couldn't believe the human and covenant military has given up the fight.

"So this is it" Linda said feeling defeated already.

"You already know about this?" John turned to ask the Arbiter.
"We do Spartan. Lord Hood and Admiral Lasky relayed this decision to us a long time back" R'Tas Vadum replied. John was wondering why the Spartan IIs were not told about this.

"And you decided to keep us in the dark, because-...?" Fred asked accusingly.

"Because you wouldnt have let us do this in hopes to find another way to defeat the flood. We have always relied on your optimism that got us so many victories. But this war has left us a lot less to be desired. We either save a few and send them to Ark and hope to god they are enough for repopulation or risk losing everything" Halsey said looking at John because she always knew her spartans very well and if he already knew this, he would have done anything to stop this since he is not the one to give up any fight.

"And what makes you think we are giving up this fight now? We still dont agree to this!" John asked to which Halsey had no answers.

"Whether you like it or not, this is happening John. Deal with it. And please for once in your life, sit this one out. I want you all to be among the survivors on the Ark" Halsey said, pleaded to her spartans. John saw desperation in her eyes, something he has never seen before. Halsey was one of the bravest civilians the spartans have ever seen.

The league members and the Amazons watched and listened to the talk and they realized how grim the situation was. Miranda for her part was happy to see her mother again but the footage really bothered her.

"So you people decided to do the same thing your ancestors did to protect the galaxy from the flood? Using the Halo? The very weapon that was the reason the covenant decided to exterminate your kind?" the Martian asked perplexed by the decision. Human mentality always confused him without end.

"Indeed, But I dont blame them. The galaxy was close to extinction. We had to do something. And thats when a year later, the Spartan here came up with a totally insane solution only an irrational mad man would come up with" Cortana explained which quite puzzled the league and the Amazons.

"What would this solution entail?" Batman asked curiously eager to learn how he singlehandedly managed to defeat a universal threat. Miranda was curious too since she

"Let me play the video and see it for yourself. This was another meeting on a planet Heian, an ancient human colony world where we had a military complex for strategic meeting" Cortana played the footage.

The Blue team, Halsey, Cortana, Exuberant Witness, Lasky and the Arbiter were in a conference hall.

"Chief, I managed to come as fast as I can when you mentioned you had a plan to defeat the flood. So what is it?" Lasky asked as he was eagerly waiting to see what the Spartan came up with.

"Ofcourse Sir" he replied with a salute and the rest of the blue team followed the same.

"I hope its not anything batshit crazy" Halsey said folding her hands. John then brought up a holographic image of the galaxy.

"Cortana, can you highlight the places occupied by the flood and connect the dots?" he said to which she did the same.

"What exactly are we looking for chief?" Cortana asked.

"This is the flood network. These are basically nodes, like the synapses in our brain. The keymind is the CPU and uses this network to communicate with the flood forms and coordinate with them across the galaxy" John explained.

"Then basically it would be the flood neural network. The keymind forming a metaphysical connection with every node" Exuberant added.

"Precisely. Now the keymind has been evading our detection so far because its using this neural network to create a magnetic distortion on a galactic scale, scrambling our sensors" John said.

"One of the biggest reasons why almost every time, the flood ships catches us off-guard" Lasky said rubbing his chin as he processed what the spartan was telling them.

"Yes, so we cant ever find the keymind. But-..." John said pausing for a moment as he himself was not sure how the others would react. The other folks were eagerly waiting for him to proceed.

"What if we can tap into one of its node? Connect with its hive network? We can trace the steps leading to the keymind's memory banks that would reveal its location" John said which made everyone gasp in terror.

"That-...would mean linking a sentient mind with its network? Thats not even possible!" Halsey said, her breathing a bit erratic as she started to put the pieces together to understand what John was trying to do.

"What are you implying on Spartan? Connecting with the flood hive? The overwhelming amount of deranged thoughts would simply snap anyone" the Arbiter said.

"But we have to do that if we need to have even a remote chance of finding the keymind. Without it, the flood forms will be feral without guidance and they can be easily eliminated. Cortana can remove the neural blocks in my brain. That would help me interface with the flood network and-..." John said which was immediately interrupted by Kelly.

"Thats enough Sir! With all due respect, Are you out of your damn mind! Volunteering to get caught by the flood with your pants down? No, we wont agree to this!" Kelly blasted John for proposing this idea.

"Well, I do agree with Kelly on this one. We can go to the Ark with the survivors and plan to fight the flood later" Fred said.

"We still have 40 more years and the galaxy still has enough population to sustain life. If we dont do something, Halos would destroy everything and the recent intel from ONI suggest that some of the flood already have fled the Milkyway. We have to stop them from repeating this cycle again in other galaxies" John countered his spartan teammate.

"This leaves a lot less to be desired, but what this reclaimer suggests is doable if carefully planned" Exuberant said which stunned the others.

"Oh C'mon! You are supporting this crap!?" Cortana chided the forerunner ancilla.

"Even if you manage to connect to flood network. The keymind would easily identify the foreign presence and can easily snap your head in half as the Arbiter put it" Halsey said.

"Then we need to make sure the keymind cannot tell the difference between me and the other flood consciousness in the network" John said which made Lasky slowly come to a grim realization.

"Wait, chief! Please dont tell me-... you are planning to do that" Lasky said which confused the others a bit.

"You need to inject me with flood spores into my spinal cord. The infection will try to hijack my brain through neuro chemicals and make it resonate with its own frequency. But it will take another 2 hours to mutate my cells since spore take so much time to infect a living, that is the time I need. This infection will mask my presence in the network and keymind wont see the difference" John said.

"By the gods above! You willingly infected yourself with this parasite?" Diana cried standing from her seat that made everyone's eyes turn to look at her.

"After what it did in the past your people, knowing the dangers?" Diana said. Even Hippolyta and the other Amazons were stupefied what the Spartan suggested in the footage. Other league members shared the same sentiment with wide eyes and horrified looks in their faces.

"Soldiers make the sacrifice play in wars to win, but even then, they too draw a line. This-...how could you even think about that?" Superman asked. Batman was silent though in his mind, he didnt like this one bit.

For Miranda, this was beyond anything moral. Never in her life she thought any soldier would go this this extreme immoral lengths to pull victory. This was batshit crazy in her opinion and no one has the balls to pull this sort of sacrificial act to win. Just when she thought she cant be surprised anymore with John's antics, this totally shut her mind off by sheer absurdity behind this.

"I thought what I read about this mission was the complete one, but this-...this is not what I expected to see. I didnt know this was what led to the victory. I do believe in victory at whatever the cost, but this madness" Miranda said with all the emotions hitting her head.

"I know this would be morally degrading to you and that's why I was hesitant to show this" John explained.

"So did the UNSC approve your idea to go ahead with this?" Donna asked still reeling from what she saw in the footage as all the amazons have seen what the flood can do.

"No, they didnt" he said as he waved Cortana to continue.

"You are out of the line, Spartan! I wont let you do this. You dont have to prove anything by doing these damn it!" Lasky castigated him.

"Sir, Our duty as soldiers is to protect this galaxy, whatever the cost. We have only 40 more years of survival. If my plan doesn't work and the flood wins, there is nothing to lose. The galaxy will be cleaned by the Halo array and life would cease to exist anyway. Why should we hesitate to do this when I believe we have a chance to save this galaxy?" John asked to which Lasky was speechless. He wanted to deny his statement with logic, but he cant. Deep down, he too agree to his point.

There was an eerie silence in the hall until the Arbiter spoke.

"If you think we still have a chance, then I swear on my blade, I will stand by you to the end, Spartan" Arbiter said.

"Count us all in Chief. We are with you" Linda said placing her arm over John's shoulder with a nod.

"This is crazy. But unfortunately for us both, I like crazy" Cortana said assuring her support too.

"Well, if you all have made your mind, then I will work on preparing the serum with the flood spore and an anti-gen to remove it once its no longer needed" Halsey said with a smile. Lasky sighed and spoke.

"I will try to convince the HIGHCOM. But what's next after we find the Keymind?" Lasky asked.

"Before we kill it, we need to stretch the flood military forces thin. It will take a long time to complete that, a year atleast" John replied.

"Guess you already planned that too" Exuberant asked.

"Yes, We need to create slipstream networks from the star systems where the flood has highest number of ships. Each network will have 15 jump points. Every point in every network will be different, but the final exit is all the same, to Sagittarius A*" John replied.

"The black hole!" Halsey said wide eyed to which he nodded.

"Yes, we need to lure those flood vessels and send it crashing into the black hole. Exuberant, is it possible to block slipspace entry from all other locations in the galaxy except these jump points?" John asked.

"Yes, we can do that. The forerunner shield worlds have that technology to achieve that. But why?" Exuberant asked.

"We need to make sure the keymind is not aware of our plan. If it analyzed the pattern, and become alerted and will backfire at us. The keymind can manipulate the slipspace to become unusable for us" John explained. Others nodded in agreement and John was glad they were all in the same page.

...

6 months later...

John was running through a dark corridor that had flood biomass all over with ceiling lights dimly lighting the path.

'John, going against the HIGHCOM is going to cause a lot of problems" Cortana warned through helmet speakers.

"They failed to listen. But we need to go with the plan if this galaxy needs a chance of survival. There is a proto-gravemind behind this wall. I will use this cradle to interface with its network to access the hive. Once done, the flood forms will come to capture me" John said which shocked the AI.

"Capture-...What the hell are you talking about?" she asked feeling tensed.

"*SIGH* There is something I didnt tell you about this plan. I know its hard to fool the Keymind with this trick of ours. It will see through our plan and foil it. If that has to be stopped, I need to bait my own capture by the Keymind" he said which stunned the matrix of his AI friend.

"You Son of a B**ch! You never told me about this!" Cortana yelled in anger.

"I know, the part about luring the flood ships to black hole? Well, I will keep the keymind distracted by feeding it false information under the ruse of location of worlds with potential flood hosts. But I wont give it right away as it would become suspicious. So I'll let the keymind rip those locations from my memory by force. These locations I will give are infact nothing but the first jump point of the respective slipstream network from where it will be lured to its death. You need to inform Lasky about this and wait for the signal. The only way we can defeat the flood is by outwitting the keymind" John said.

"No! I wont let you go in alone!" Cortana resisted.

"Cortana, without you, UNSC cant pull this. They need your help to make sure this works. Now unhatch yourself from my armor back to the longsword. Will see you on the other side" John said as he ejected cortana's AI logical matrix to the longsword computer which he used to come to this abandoned facility in a remote colony.

"Come back to me alive big guy! Or i will hunt you down and kick your ass!" Cortana said before cutting the mentally laughed at her threats then proceeded to walk through the door in front to enter the hall where the proto-gravemind is present.

With that John stopped the footage...
Everyone in the hall were shocked at what they just saw. They realized they were not looking at some simple soldier, but the galaxy's ultimate savior. One who was defiant against fate itself and beings of godly powers. Miranda and the other league members and Hippolyta now understood and they were even stunned to see how far he would go to protect the ones he deeply cared about.

"So did you find this keymind?" Alexa asked feeling empathy for the spartan who subjected himself to so much pain to give the galaxy a chance to survive.

"Yes, once I entered the flood network, I identified its location and relayed it to Cortana. I then baited the flood to capture me. And as I planned, the flood took me to the Keymind. There I was brutally tortured by the entity for one year as it ripped the information about the locations of potential worlds I falsely uploaded in my neural implants, slowly. So it assumed I was giving it real information and as planned, the flood ships were lured to their deaths into the blackhole. Then once the forces were spread thin, my team came to the keymind's location and we nuked the planet from orbit. The keymind died and the remaining flood forces defeated, bringing the 1000 years war to an end" John finished.

"You are truly blessed by the gods Spartan. Without your selfless sacrifice, your galaxy would have never seen the light of the day" Hippolyta praised the supersoldier.

"I was doing what a soldier does, nothing more. Every man and woman gave their life in this war. I would never let their deaths go in vain.

"So what happened today after Hades?" Batman asked though he had an idea of what it was as he now pieced the puzzles together.

"The psychological scar the keymind left in my sub-conscious due to the tortures I endured for a year. I was carrying a shard of its personality in my mind. It couldn't be cured. So Cortana created psychic blocks to contain it though at times it weakened and risked letting it loose. I would keep it contained for the next 54 millennia" John answered which made the league members to feel empathetic for him.

"After this war, humanity would start exploring other galaxies and by 62558 AD, we were the apex technological civilization ever to exist" Cortana said as showed glimpses of Humanity's intergalactic exploration and images of its war with the Ceph. The Spartan IIs becoming the leaders of the human military forces, John being promoted to Supreme commander. First contact with several other civilizations.

This was truly an eye opener for the queen and the other Amazons. While they have seen only the ugly side of the man's world, this day helped her to see the brave warriors who selflessly put their lives down to help Diana and the people of this island and this Spartan defeating a god. Hippolyta now understood why John said it was personal about Diana being close to home. Because he spent 60 millennia sacrificing his childhood, his family ties, his friends to be the ultimate soldier that puts his life on the line to protect everyone so those who can't protect themselves would live peacefully close to their family and home.

"That is purpose, his duty as a soldier. It is time, we changed our ways of life and thinking" Hippolyta thought.

"We are sorry Spartan. I believe telling your life stories must be evoked the suppressed sorrow and losses you endured again" Donna said genuinely.

"Yes, but know this. We are very glad to have known you. In my personal opinion, I consider you a friend of the Amazons" Alexa said which surprised her fellow amazons.

"I agree on that. I would gladly have you by my side in my toughest times and trust you to watch my back even in the situations impossible to escape" Diana said with a smile which even made Hippolyta get surprised.

"I am grateful for your words. But what happened was in the past and nothing could change that. We can only move forward for a better future. So I have no regrets sharing this with you" John said which drew a smile from Diana's sister.

"It is time I finished my one last duty to my people and this island" Hippolyta said looking at her daughter.

An hour later, the league were in the throne room where the queen was seated and the amazon soldiers were lined up on both sides. The league members were standing in the middle.

"This day will go down in the Amazon history that treachery and evil cannot triumph over good. With that said, for the bravery portrayed against Faust and Hades, We are forever grateful to the heroes of the man's world. Please accept our royal offerings" the queen said as Alexa brought 5 circular ornament on a platter which Jonn, Superman, Miranda, Batman, Flash and the Spartan took. Cortana was standing aside separated from them.

"Thankyou your highness" Superman said with a respectful bow.

"But as a queen of the Amazons, I cannot share the same enthusiasm about the final judgement on my daughter. Though your actions on bringing the heroes from man's world were for noble cause, the sacred Amazonian law has been broken. For that I exile Diana of Themiscyra from ever setting foot on this island" Hippolyta said which made everyone's face go sour, including Diana.

"But-..." the queen stood as she stepped down the throne earning curious gaze from the others.

"Times have changed. I believe we have been dwelling on our past for too long that we have forced ourselves to perceive only the bad ones from the outside world, while there are a lot of good qualities that escaped our blind eyes. It is time that changed, for the betterment of our own people, It is time we reconsider learning about man's world instead of shutting ourselves in isolation that does no good to any of us. With that said, I revoke the exile judgement I passed on Diana and instead make her the ambassador of man's world, representing Themiscyra" the queen said which drew enthusiasm on everyone's faces.

"Thank you mother!" Diana was teary eyed as she hugged her mother. Hippolyta hugged her tight with joy.

"But what about the law, what would the Gods think of this?" Diana asked worried about the ramifications of this action.

"Well, The gods watch over us, But I am the queen of this Island and I want my daughter to come and go as she wishes. If the Gods have problem with that, they can deal with it" the queen said which cheered Diana up.

"Farewell my child" Hippolyta said as she and Diana walked front. Diana and the others made their towards the Javelin.

"Spartan?" the queen called him out as he turned to look at her.

"Yes, your highness?" he said.

"Thank you for everything you did. Because of your words, I was able to change my mind about my daughter's exile. Please take care of her as this is still an uncharted territory for her" the queen said to which he nodded.

He then proceeded to make his way to the phantom class ship that Miranda used to get here. Before he entered, he took a loot at the sun above the horizon as he walked inside. Both the Javelin and the phantom ship took off as Hippolyta watched with smile.

...

Somewhere in an unknown territory...

A tall 14ft robotic figure was walking towards a being covered in turned black cloth. The place was nothing but a desert filled with sand and stones and rocks. The gentle wind carried the fine grains in the air as it let a gentle howling whistle. The sun light barely passed through dust wind.

"The almighty, Shadow, I bring forth the artifacts your seek. The time for your redemption is now" the robotic figure spoke as the voice echoed around. It placed a mysterious black box and a white ring that floated in the air.

The black cloaked figure slowly turned towards the robotic being glaring at it with its burning fire like eyes, the body that held parts of broken armor and a face that felt war torn.

The being walked a couple of steps front as it sucked the air through its nostrils gazing at the floating objects.

Another being in a strange ornate armor walked beside the cloaked figure.

"Shadow, is this what you truly want? This place is vast and you can spend your eternity at peace here" the being said.

"If only you had seen what I had, what the future holds, you wouldn't talk me out of this, Confirmer" the cloaked figure said.

"And what of it? There are more powerful people in the real world that are taking care of the galaxy, the universe. Humanity-.." the Confirmer said and the cloaked being grunted at the word humanity.

"Humanity is the biggest threat and they need to be eradicated. But we have a much bigger problem that needs our attention, my attention. And I cannot do anything about it walking this endless desert in this Domain" the being said.

"Very well Shadow, you have made your choice. But remember, the actions and the consequences are yours and yours alone" the Confirmer said as the cloaked being touched the white ring and its body all of a sudden glowed as it felt the power.

"Let the universe embrace the return-...of the Didact!" the being spoke as it grinned.

...

A/N: Phew! Finally this chapter is over. Hope you guys enjoyed it. And yes, the last segment is slightly based on Halo Epitaph, I read the book and truly enjoyed it.

Next chapter will involve Brainiac and Darksied and then the storyline with Aresia. Soon the Didact will cross paths with the DC universe. Stay tuned for the next chapters.