Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or DC

Treat for Young Justice fans, this chapter we return to that world

The Redeemer

Chapter 14: Kryptonian Wrath

Cade thought he had known the devastation a being of power could wrought when guided by rage. He was an imaginative person, so when he felt Power Girl strike his barrier, he imagined that if he hadn't used energy to block it then he and Huntress would be dead. The very force of the punch threw them both back and sent cracks across the ground. Cade slid across the floor, looking between Huntress and Power Girl. Huntress, Helena he recalled the Red Skull calling her looked like she was ready for a fight, but she wasn't reaching for any of her gadgets. She probably knew better than him that they couldn't beat her friend in a straight fight. But like him she wasn't going to go down without some kind of fight. She threw a few bombs from her belt, hitting the ground where Power Girl stood. Cade saw the green gas and knew they were in actuality anaesthetics and not smoke. Power Girl however knew this too, it seemed that Red Skull hadn't actually taken control of her mind, but had simply released her inhibitions. Cade rushed towards Huntress, grabbing her arm and concentrating. Armour began to cover the woman as her friend unleashed a blast from her eyes.

'No inhibitions, equal us dead if I don't find a way to wake her up,' Huntress thought, like Cade she was analysing the situation too.

The armour faded as soon as the energy passed through them. They were intact, but the area around them had been reduced to a crater. Cade concentrated as hard as he could, summoning his armour. In his mind there was only one way to wake Power Girl up, she wasn't the only one with a lot of anger and Cade had faced the wrath of people with more devastating furies before. He rushed towards Power Girl, prepared to take anything she would throw. She swung her fist around, striking him across the helmet. The helmet shattered as Cade flew back, bouncing across the water before sinking.

'My god,' Cade realised something that truly terrified him, whatever Power Girl was she hit harder than She-Hulk.

Kai-Vell raised his head from his hiding place. He cautiously looked at the Reach ship and his blaster.

"You are way out of your league Vell," he told himself in embarrassment.

He wasn't a captain, his rank within the Kree was the equivalent of an Ensign. His experience had been reduced to skirmishes before the big invasions of Earth began. Despite being a soldier Kai didn't like fighting, if anything he hated it. Not the violence but the possibility that he could die. Black Beetle was a devastating force in combat, he had bested some of the best the Kree and Skrulls had to offer. Once Grim Reaper converted Miss America the Avengers were helpless, the vessel Prodigy flew was shot down and he was collected by Chitauri troops. The Chitauri and Reach ships had left the planetoid's orbit and Kai-Vell had the feeling that they would be guarding the portal they came through for a long time. He analysed the portal with his binoculars and noted that every so often a small ship would fly out of the portal, no doubt taking cargo to the other ships.

"Now's the time for the Guardians of the Galaxy or the Nova Corps to save the day, I'll even take S.W.O.R.D's help," Kai-Vell continued nervously speaking to himself.

He wanted any kind of hero to appear, to save the day as they always did. Someone besides him had to take the burden, after all Kai-Vell was no warrior, he mainly served as part of a ship's CIC. He was the kind of person who admired the courage and heroics of warriors, not the kind that joined them in fighting impossible battles. Kai-Vell loved super heroes, especially Mar-Vell, his mother always spoke fondly of the great Kree hero who was apparently a distant relation.

"Any minute now, any minute now the Avengers or Guardians are going to come flying in to rescue the Young Avengers, it always happens Kai-Vell, it always happens like that..." he drifted off, looking up at the fleet with uncertainty.

His eyes grew wide, lit by a spark of hope as portions of a Reach ship exploded. Two figures flew out of the ship, moving faster than any fighter Kai-Vell had seen before. They slammed into the planetoid, causing the ground beneath Kai to shake as crevices form. He jumped, flying with his rocket pack over a crevice. The young Kree soldier flew to the epicentre of the conflict, driven by his curiosity. There he saw them, fighting one another so viciously with such power Kai never thought it was possible for beings of such power to exist. He was part of a new generation of Kree that began to value power and great deeds, not the claims of wisdom the supreme intellects made. But even he had difficulty facing the reality of what he was seeing. Human like beings with similar power to what Karabai the great galactic conqueror wielded. One was a teenage male with black hair, dressed in a black suit with red lines across the muscle areas, a red and black S was written across the chest of his suit. The second was female and wore a blue and red, long sleeved one piece, with thigh high red and yellow boots and a red cloak on her shoulders. She had a similar symbol on her chest to the male, though it was red and yellow.

'Okay, clearly they don't like each other,' Kai-Vell thought, hearing them yell at one another in a language he didn't truly understand.

The girl fired a blast from her eyes, narrowly missing the boy's head. Kai-Vell dived out of the way, the girl's heat vision swept over where he once stood. He looked towards the two titans as they punched one another again. The shockwave they generated threw him back, knocking off his helmet and revealing his blonde hair. He slammed back first into the Avenger's shuttle, landing right next to the opening that had been formed by the invading Reach. They had searched the vessel and apprehended Prodigy, intent on collecting anyone who could report back.

'And you get left behind Kai-Vell, ignored by your peers because of your blood and ignored by superiors when you request more missions, you're a failure Kai-Vell,' he thought as he walked into the wreckage.

He looked at the remains of the Reach drones, they had been hit by a blaster of some kind. Two drones had been the best Prodigy could do to stop the aliens. As noble as his stand must have been it was ultimately useless. Kai-Vell rested against a glass case and sighed, all of his life he had been mediocre, it was no surprise to him that he wouldn't be able to do anything to save the heroes.

" Captain Mar-Vell was a decorated Kree soldier..."

Kai-Vell immediately stood up, seeing what he had been resting against. It was a case with a costume inside, along with much to Kai's shock a pair of Nega bands. The glass case also showed images of the Kree hero, from his time in the army to his days flying the cosmos.

"Assigned to watch planet Earth by his superiors, Mar-Vell later became one of its greatest heroes, at the cost of being able to return to his own home. After a battle with his nemesis Nuke he died peacefully of cancer and was posthumously acknowledged as a member of the Avengers. Mar-Vell had however established a powerful legacy even in death, religions and churches formed across the galaxy, and others heroes even used his name in honour of his memory," an automated voice narrated the story of the Kree hero, showing images of the man's final moments, the heroes who took his name such as Carol Danvers, Monica Rambeau and Noh-Varr. "Even the Kree tried to continue his legacy through genetic creations, whom genetically were his children," Kai-Vell widened his eyes slightly as he saw images of Genis and Phylla in their Captain Marvel costumes. "But Mar-Vell was survived by his son with the Skrull Princess Anelle, whom though never went by the name has more than lived up to the reputation his father established," Kai Vell touched his face as he looked at Hulkling, in both his Skrull form and human form.

The young man looked a little bit like him, a little extra body fat on the cheeks but one could mistake them for brothers. He pressed his hand against the glass, tracing over the starburst symbol on the chest of the costume, it wasn't an exact replica as it had a few tweaks on it. Kai-Vell gasped as the case began to glow. He stepped back, pulling his blaster out of its holster. A human teenager appeared across the screen, he had black hair and slightly pale skin and wore a green jacket with a hood concealing some of his face.

"Hello Kai-Vell, I installed this biometric scanner in case the worst happened, my team has either been captured or they succeeded in finding you. Nothing ever goes as we hope, so we have to make contingency plans...one of those is the expansion of our ranks. These Nega bands only respond to people who are genetic matches with Mar-Vell, Hulkling doesn't want the power they offer so it leaves you, if Hulkling hasn't already told you, you are the son of Mar-Vell, you're Hulkling's older half brother. I know a thing or two about revelations concerning family, Mar-Vell named you as his son, whether that's true or not I'm sure this news has made you question your origins anyway, you wonder whether you have any obligation to Hulkling, or any obligation to take over the name of Captain Marvel, we already have one but there's more than one version of a super hero. Another part of you might wonder whether you deserve to be Captain Marvel, I'll tell you this, you will never know until you find out!"

The casing suddenly opened, giving Kai-Vell the opportunity to grab the costume. He looked at it and then at the destruction spreading across the planetoid. It had become a reflection of what was going through Kai-Vell's mind. Part of him doubted sceptically, another part of him wished with excitement that it was true. But looking at the star burst symbol Kai-Vell began to feel what he felt on the battlefield, fear, fear of failing the people the Reach had taken, fear of shaming the legacy of the captain and perhaps the most primal of all fears, the fear of dying. He grabbed the nega bands and clasped them over his wrists, he gasped, already beginning to feel the surge of cosmic power. The young man narrowed his eyes in a determined gaze as he looked at his father's image one more time.

The Superior Spider-man looked over the grunts he had to work with. His expertise was best served in a lab and yet Onyx insisted that he, Deadman Wade, the Blackfire of that immature Earth and a Jocasta (whom resembled the form Ultron took when he/she appeared when the Mighty Avengers were first formed) work with the Light of Earth16. Thus Otto Octavius had to walk with the likes of Icicle Junior, Mammoth and Blockbuster towards a dirty alleyway on a mission to capture mere teenagers.

"Such stupidity," Otto growled.

"It is pointless to complain, our mission is clear," Jocasta said.

"You know, you look much more intimidating than the Mammoth of my world," Blackfire said, seemingly admiring the Light enforcer.

"But no less intelligent," Otto muttered.

"You're clearly not as intelligent as you think Octavius," a voice spoke from the shadows.

The Light enforcers remained silent as their leader emerged from the shadows. He wiped the side of a knife against his brown leather coat. Underneath that coat he wore black body armour with shades of grey on the knees and abs. The jacket he wore included numerous pockets for equipment and zips on the wrists of the sleeves. His gloves had padding on the knuckles for added protection and damage for his punches. Even his military style boots had subtle additions of armour. He put the blade back in his pocket and walked closer towards the enforcers, revealing his face to Otto and his allies.

"Oh, I was looking forward to meeting my DC comics counterpart," Deadman/Deadpool sighed.

"Deathstroke earned a seat on the Light, leadership of operations has now gone to me," the mysterious man said.

He traded a glance with Otto, not bothered by the anger on the body snatcher's face. The Light had been as quick to replace Deathstroke as they had Sportsmaster. Like the two assassins, he kept his face concealed with a red helmet with white lenses on the eyes. Unlike his predecessors though he had no criminal record or convictions that the Light or League knew about, only that he had been causing a stir in Gotham's under world and was good enough to outrun and outthink Batman. That was enough for the Light to recruit the Red Hood and accept his terms of employment.

"Red Hood, signs were seen of his debut across eastern Europe, he had bought down mercenary companies and terror cells but didn't begin making a name in the criminal underworld until he arrived in Gotham six months ago," Aqua Lad was not Gar, but rather Kaldur the son of Black Manta, taught by Aquaman and appointed to lead the next generation of heroes.

His team mates together were known simply as 'the team' and Aqua Lad had spent the past year trying to get back into their good graces. A year ago he had spied on the Light, the collective super villains who had begun striking back against the League and other potential competitors. It had been a year since Nightwing, the original Robin had left Aqua Lad in charge. A year since they had lost a team mate and valued friend. Many things had been sacrificed during Kaldur's infiltration of the Light, there had been many scares but there was always a plan to ensure no member of the team was ever killed. That dream went out of the window when the team had provoked the Reach into unleashing their ultimate weapons. It was only through sacrifice that the Earth was saved.

'Wally,' Kaldur thought of the speedster, when the first iteration of the team formed Wally West, AKA Kid Flash had been the trickster of the team, occasionally the annoyance but often the glue that held them together.

He was the most determined person Kaldur had ever met, not only to do good as a hero but to live a normal life as well. Wally had grown the most over the years, yet the enormous potential he possessed had been wasted. Kaldur appreciated and honoured Wally's sacrifice, but he also thought of the good Wally could have done if he lived. Artemis could have gone back to using her archer identity, yet instead remained Tigress, not wanting to remind herself of all the good she had done as a hero. Bart Allen was a worthy successor of the Kid Flash mantle though, and though he was still hyperactive and a joker (like Wally) he was much more serious. Artemis loss inspired new pairings within the team, the third Robin Tim Drake and Wonder Girl finally became a couple and Superboy and Miss Martian decided to give their relationship another try.

"Red Hood's first move was to take control of the drug trade," Robin continued Kaldur's briefing.

Robin was a good leader, Kaldur had already begun considering recommending him for the second in command spot as opposed to Batgirl. Despite the grandness of the Justice League watch tower, it did nothing to affect the feeling that Robin belonged there, leading a team on his own.

"He tracked down eight of the most infamous street dealers in the city and took them out," Robin said.

"Define take out," Beast Boy said.

"It wasn't for dinner I'll tell you that much, and it wasn't our way of taking someone out," Robin said, leaving the rest to the youngest team members imagination.

"Oh," Beast Boy's eyes grew wider, he'd hit the phase where he had started watching more violent films (much to M'Gann's disapproval).

"Totally not crash," Bart muttered.

"Red Hood took over some of the dealers and established firm ground rules which he enforced, seventy percent of profits went to him and the dealers couldn't carry out their businesses anywhere near schools or playgrounds, no dealing to the underage and no recruiting the underage either," Kaldur explained.

"So he's taken Slade Wilson's place as the top enforcer of the Light," Artemis said.

"Any ideas on whose underneath the helmet?" Blue Beetle asked.

"None, not that Batman would let us in on his suspects anyway," Batgirl said.

"I have some ideas but..." Robin paused as the tower alarms began to blare.

A screen appeared in front of the team, showing the tower's cargo hold. There, a portal of some kind had appeared but it was completely unlike the boom tubes of Apokolips. Several figures stepped out of the portal, some the team recognised but others they didn't. The one in the lead was the very person the team had just been discussing. Red Hood looked up at the camera and carried out a two fingered salute.

"All right people, you know the drill, hit the team hard and fast," he said.

"With pleasure," a voice said as a figure rushed past him.

Bart reacted first, running into the Light's speedster and tackling him to the floor. Both slid away from one another and the team got a good look at the first attacker. He wore black costume with a yellow 'W' symbol on his chest and helmet.

"Nice costume, who are you supposed to be?" Bart asked.

"The Whizzer!"

Both speedsters then carried out their 'race', running around the team and the approaching Light at a rate few could keep up with. They punched and kicked each other as they ran across every inch of the tower, sliding underneath and jumping over bodies and energy blasts that flew across the battle.

"Whizzer huh? You might want to rethink that name," Kid Flash said as he dodged a round house kick.

He countered with a punch, Whizzer however grabbed his arm and threw him over his shoulder. Kid Flash ran in midair, 'landing' on the wall and running across it. He threw several punches at Whizzer, the older speedster dodged two but got caught by the third.

"We already have a Speed Demon in the group and I wasn't going to touch the names of people from your dimension," Whizzer explained.

"Other dimension, are we talking about pocket dimensions or parallel Earths?"

"How do you know about parallel Earths?"

"Back in the early days bro, the League had a crash adventure and fought evil versions of themselves, well you can say themselves but they had way different names and origins," Kid Flash explained.

"Oh you mean the Crime Syndicate, that Johnny Quick is great at parties," Whizzer grinned as he dodged Kid Flash's punches.

"Just one more thing dude, what is up with your voice?"

"Oh that, I'm vibrating my vocal chords to make my voice sound like this!"

"That is TOTALLY CRASH! I had no idea we could do that!"

The speedsters slid to a halt, with Kid Flash clumsily hitting the glass of the window screen overlooking space.

"It makes hiding your secret identity easy, and it's great," Whizzer suddenly disappeared, appearing behind Kid Flash. "For intimidation," he whispered into the teens ear before stomping on his knee.

Bart let out an agonising scream, feeling his bone break. The members of the team looked away from their battles at their screaming friend in shock. Whizzer then grabbed Bart and continually smacked his head against the wall, shattering his goggles and tearing bits of his mask. He threw Kid Flash to the ground and grinned at the other members of the team.

"Team, DEFENSIVE FORMATION NOW!" Batgirl yelled.

She flipped back as Blackfire fired several energy bolts at her. The bolts struck the ground, releasing shards of light that singed some of the team members. Superboy and Wonder Girl immediately rushed Blockbuster and Mammoth respectively. The Kryptonian clone continually punched his transformed creator, snarling with every blow. Wonder Girl wrapped her lasso around Mammoth's neck and threw him towards Red Hood. Much to her shock however the man easily flipped back. She rushed him again in midair and was shocked again when he twisted and planted his feet on her raised fists, jumping off of her and performing a perfect landing near Beast Boy. Having transformed into an ape, Garfield swung his fists down the instant Red Hood landed. But Red Hood dived forward and threw a disc shaped device into Gar's chest. It ignited a rocket, sending Beast Boy crashing into the wall.

"GARFIELD!" M'Gann yelled.

"Okay, that was unexpected," Blue Beetle said.

"It appears Jaime Reyes that this Red Hood is not someone to be underestimated, his fighting is very reminiscent of Nightwings or perhaps Batman without their foolish inhibitions," the reach AI inside the scarab explained.

"Well let's see if he can take a hit like Batman," Jaime shaped his hands into two sonic cannons and fired them at Red Hood.

The masked man stabbed a knife into the ground, using it to keep himself steady. He then jumped up and delivered a roundhouse kick to Beetle's face.

"His helmet must have ear plugs in it," Robin said as he, L'Gann and Artemis ran towards the enforcer leader.

"Wow, you must be a master detective to work that out," Red Hood said sarcastically, dodging both Robin's staff and Artemis's kicks.

Artemis jumped and delivered a knee to Red Hood's helmet. With the first blow struck Robin tried to take advantage, Red Hood however grabbed his staff with his bare hands and threw him into L'Gann. Kaldur drew his water bearers, forming two whips as he jumped at Jocasta and Spider-Ock. Otto activated his mechanical arms, swinging the bladed appendages at the team leader. Kaldur easily dodged them, turning his left whip into a shield and deflecting Otto's blows. He swung the right whip, but Otto flipped back and fired several web lines. One caught Kaldur's wrist, but he changed his shield into a sword and cut it off. Bumblebee and Guardian then joined the fray, both attacking Jocasta and Deadman Wade.

"This isn't Pg-13 rated, then again the DC cartoons haven't been as set in their age group as Marvel cartoons," Wade said.

"Funny considering prior New 52 all DC characters looked more childish than Marvel's."

"Yet DC in both cartoons and comics are more violent, when Marvel has guys like me and Wolverine!"

"Hulk Vs was more loyal, god I love that version of us!"

"Me too, I can't wait to meet him."

"This guy is completely insane," Guardian said as he blocked Wade's gunfire.

"Sweety I think we've already gotten that, I can't see any radios on him," Bumblebee said as she flew around Wade, hitting him with energy blasts.

"YOACH!"

"Whoever said Wasps energy blasts were useless never actually got hit by one."

"I bet Bumblebee would look good in a Wasp costume!"

"I agree with you on that childish voice in my head, YOACH!"

Bumblebee hit Wade with another energy blast, dragging it across his rear end. The scarred merc let out a scream as he jumped upwards 'accidentally' kneeing Guardian in the chin. He then 'accidentally' flipped back, falling towards Bumblebee. She flew around the mercs body, only for her leg to get caught underneath his hand. Bumblebee quickly grew to her full height and kicked Wade's hand away.

"I don't if that was really good planning on his part or incompetency on ours," she said.

She looked over her boyfriend and saw that he was unconscious. An energy blast suddenly hit her in the back, knocking her out. Jocasta then fired a blast at Kaldur, who flipped back and blocked a punch from Octavius. Otto then thrust his spider leg forward, scratching Kaldur's cheek. Kaldur shaped his water bearers into hammers and swung them at the Superior Spider-man. Otto however continued to dodge both attacks. Superboy delivered a strong punch to Blockbuster's face, sending him flying towards Otto. But the body snatcher jumped over the flying body and stuck a blob of webbing between Superboy's eyes. Whizzer then slammed into Superboy, sending him bouncing until he hit Kaldur in the back.

"Too easy," Whizzer laughed.

The speedster was suddenly lifted off of the floor and thrown into Otto. M'Gann's eyes glowed as she used her telekenisis, pushing Icicle and Mammoth away from her. L'Gann expanded his muscles and let out a roar before running at Red Hood. Static then came up behind Red Hood and fired a blast. But much to his shock, the electricity had no effect on the man.

"Insulated inside the armour, conductive outside," Red Hood then jumped, avoiding Lagoon Boy's punch and touching his shoulders.

The charge that had ran through Red Hood's armour then passed through to L'Gann, causing the Atlantean mutant to scream in agony. Red Hood then jumped off of Lagoon Boy as he shrunk and punched Static in the face, knocking him off of his disc.

"Too weak, with Nightwing gone you're not as effective as you used to be, then again the team always had a habit of losing members no matter what they did," Red Hood explained.

"What do you know about what we've lost?" Artemis demanded, swinging a kick at Red Hood's face.

He blocked it with his wrist and countered with a jab.

"Poor Artemis, lost her boyfriend," Red Hood laughed and avoided Artemis's anger driven punches.

He bought his arms up, deflecting Artemis's haymaker. Then he grabbed her arms and slammed his head into hers, shattering the Tigress mask. A swift kick to Artemis's chest knocked her back, her head hitting the floor was enough to knock her out.

"Poor Jaime, no matter how hard he tries he always gets compared to the old Blue Beetle," Red Hood removed several explosive discs from his coat and threw them into Beetle.

The resulting explosions threw Blue Beetle onto the ground.

"What about you Tim Drake, you've got a lot to live up to, or I suppose you haven't," Red Hood threw several blades at Robin, scratching his arm and face.

Robin attempted to punch Red Hood, but the man grabbed his wrist and kneed him in the stomach. Wonder Girl flew to support her boyfriend, but was caught by an energy blast from Jocasta. She turned, blocking blasts from both Blackfire and Jocasta and dodging ice shards thrown by Icicle Jr. Cassie took out her lasso and tried to wrap it around Jocasta, only for Whizzer to intercept it and throw the girl into the wall.

"Tim," Cassie gasped.

Mammoth suddenly punched Cassie in the chest, slamming her into the wall again. Robin turned for a moment to hear his girlfriend's cries, and that moment was all Red Hood needed to grab him. He pinched a tazer against Robin's shoulder, causing the boy wonder to cry out.

"How long did it take Batman to replace the second Robin? A year? Two? Maybe three? When did he start trusting you in that role? When did the rest of the League and the team accept it? Too quickly wasn't it?" Red Hood bombarded Robin with both questions and punches.

Batgirl hit Blockbuster with an explosive and attempted to kick Spider-Ock. Otto however grabbed her leg and threw her against the wall. Then he wrapped webbing across her arms and legs.

"Face it Drake, Robins are expendable, easily replacable because there's always another kid with a screwed up past waiting to be taken in by the bat," Red Hood huffed before kicking Robin in the gut.

Red Hood turned to M'Gann as she approached, her eyes glowing green in her rage. He removed a bottle from his coat pocket and threw it at the Martian. The contents spread across her skin, causing her to gasp in horror. She looked at Red Hood, who held up a match in a taunting manner. He lit it and threw it onto M'Gann's face. The conscious team members widened their eyes as the flames spread across her body. She cried out in agony, changing to her white Martian form as she flew into the wall. Kaldur threw a stream of water into his team mate, dousing out the flames. But the damage was already done, M'Gann had been in so much pain that she was on the floor, her skin burnt and drifting in and out of consciousness.

"M'Gann," Superboy whispered, looking at his girlfriend in horror.

His eyes then turned to Red Hood. The Kryptonian clone let out a roar of unrelenting rage before he jumped at the masked man.

Kara Zor-El was angry, as was Kon-El, both for reasons that were different and quite similar to one another. The girl from Krypton had been the first to strike, unnecessarily in Kon's eyes. She was the last daughter of Krypton, its only survivor. Though she had met Superman, she didn't consider him her cousin. It was impossible, her cousin was just a baby when Krypton was destroyed, yet he continued fighting for a world that so far had only tried to kidnap and experiment on her. Then she met Superboy, a clone, an abomination. He had been raised with the purpose of replacing or destroying Superman, depending on whether he continued to be a help of nuisance to the American government. Superboy had been used by his creators, rejected by humanity and given countless expectations by his older counterpart. He didn't want to be Superman, just as Kara didn't want to be the world's Supergirl.

"You see son, Kryptonians like the Kree believe that they are a superior race to others, yet look at what they do, they fight for the most insignificant reasons, only one can be a true symbol of how grand and good the Kryptonians can be."

Kai-Vell looked up, upon putting on the nega bands he saw the ghostly image of his greatest hero, Mar-Vell. He then realised what Mar-Vell had called him and gasped.

"Father?" the single word was all the question Kai needed to ask.

Mar-Vell nodded his head and the young man, his son fell to his knees.

"I wish I could explain more, I wish I could explain why Una and I had to keep you a secret, but you are more important than you realise my son, more important than your own desires, or the flaws of a species that sees itself as superior. We Kree like the Kryptonians, like many alien species in the galaxy see ourselves as superior to the others, and yet we have all committed the same atrocities, every one of us has repeated the same cycle of selfishness, the Shiar betray and usurp one another, the Kree drive peaceful worlds to war in the name of conquest and the Skrulls commit genocide over love for their god. Even the Martians and Kryptonians destroyed themselves and a corruption is forming at the heart of the elders of Oa," the cosmic hero explained.

"What are the elders of Oa?" Kai-Vell asked.

"Self proclaimed Guardians of their universes, but they are steadily being manipulated, their soldiers will fall under the sway of the dark one," Mar-Vell said.

He showed Kai-Vell holographic images of aliens all wearing similar green uniforms. But the green aspects of their uniforms turned black and the warriors spread throughout their respective universes. Kai-Vell knew the implications, these 'Green Lanterns' would fall under the sway of the person responsible for the collisions. Any reality that had a Green Lantern corps was under threat.

"Do not despair my son, for there are people within the corps who suspect the Guardians of corruption," Mar-Vell then showed Kai the images of other members of the Lantern corps, untouched by the corruption.

A bald human child set in a Buddhist pose, two identical pink skinned men with dark hair and goatees and a bald pink skinned alien.

"Are these people our last hope?" Kai-Vell asked.

"No, there is hope everywhere, you just have to be willing to see it my boy, do not give up hope," Mar-Vell said as he floated down towards his son.

He wrapped his arms around the young man. Kai-Vell expected the embrace to be cold, yet there was a warmth in it. He felt tears trickle down his face and bought his arm up to wipe them. His arm stopped however, even though Mar-Vell was a ghost his son could still touch his back. Kai-Vell threw caution and suspicion aside and hugged the man tightly.

"Some people also need to be reminded of hope my boy, and what the symbols on their chests stand for," Mar-Vell smiled as he stepped away from Kai-Vell.

"But wait, what am I supposed to do?" Kai asked.

"You are a warrior of the Kree empire, show them what that should mean, show them what that symbol on their chests should mean and fight," Mar-Vell spoke more like a commander to a soldier than a father to his son.

It was enough for Kai-Vell, he nodded his head and slammed the nega-bands together. The resulting explosion of light threw Superboy and Supergirl away from one another. They looked towards the new arrival in shock as he emerged from the light. Rather than wearing the costume of his father he wore a full black body suit with the star burst symbol on his chest, red armour was on his shoulders, running down his legs across his boots, it seemed more like traditional Kree sentry armour than a super hero costume. Completing his look was a red helmet while black fabric obscured his face, revealing only his glowing yellow eyes. He looked at the two Kryptonians and raised his arms, revealing the nega-bands.

"You two are insults to the greatness of the Kryptonians, their culture will never survive if they are left in your hands," he said.

The two Kryptonians looked at Kai-Vell in fury.

"That's pissed you off? Good, but I don't want cowardly children throwing hissy fits, I want heroes, warriors, COME ON SHOW ME YOU AREN'T JUST ANGRY CHILDREN!" the new Captain Marvel challenged his foes, bracing himself as they rushed towards him.

Helena Wayne never crawled, even in the face of a Kryptonian. She was a lot like her father that way, whatever Earth Bruce Wayne never bowed to Kal-El. His daughter the Huntress stood up, nursing her bruise arm as he best friend approached her with the intent to kill.

"Everything that happened was his fault Helena, Kal dead, Diana dead, who knows what has happened to our world thanks to your fathers useless sacrifice, we're now stuck here because of that, five years we've been here and we're still no closer to finding a way back," Power Girl ranted.

"Yeah dad did pretty much the only thing he could do, Kal and Diana weren't watching their backs and we're only here because we jumped the gun and flew through a boom tube thinking we could stop Darkseid. As for us getting home I recall you saying you'd find a way Kara, that's on you," Huntress explained.

"What have you done to help Helena? Fought insignificant villains? Tried to solve this world's problems for it? You've wasted time helping a world THAT ISN'T OURS!" Power Girl yelled.

"If you believe that, then you don't know a thing about being a hero!"

Power Girl looked behind her and widened her eyes at what she saw. Cade stood before the two girls, his costume and even his very flesh had been replaced with bright gold energy. Every step he took was gentle, not aggressive in any way. He raised his hand towards Power Girl. She rushed forward, only for a blast to fly from Cade's hand, hitting Power Girl in the chest. Much to Helena's shock, the blast put her friend through agony and even burnt away part of her costume.

"We sacrifice, we compromise, we tear ourselves apart to save worlds, even if they are not our own, that is what it means to be a redeemer," Cade's voice echoed both on the docks and in Power Girl's mind. "Return to your masters evil intent, return to the skull and his lackey, restore this woman's true self!"

He intensified the blast, making it grow until it consumed Power Girl. Huntress raised her hands as the blast swept over her. But much to her shock it didn't hurt her as it did Power Girl. The energy faded and both Power Girl and Cade fell to the floor. Power Girl was the first to rise, looking at Cade with as confused an expression as Huntress. Helena ran to Cade, ripping his mask off of his face and looking at his shocked expression.

"What was that just now?" she asked.

"It-it was...my original power, in its uncorrupted form, but I rejected both forms of that power, my old identity," Cade said.

"What identity, what power?"

"The power of Deathblade!"

Next Chapter 15: Alliances

Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, Cade discovers that the source of his old powers is still clinging onto him and Kai-Vell accepts the legacy of his family. Red Hood was a character I really wanted to introduce, he's one of my favourites and if Young Justice was ever picked up for a third season his introduction would, or I suppose should have been a no brainer in terms of the story that could be told there.

Next time its Superboy vs the Red Hood, meanwhile Cade and the world's finest part ways and he looks for help with an unexpected partner. From the Marvel side of things Kai-Vell rallies Supergrl and Superboy in an attempt to strike against the Reach but face resistance from a face Kai-Vell can bring himself to strike. Meanwhile Virgil continues investigating A.I.M and makes two shocking discoveries in the Multiverse.