Happy New Year
Chapter 14
Earth's Orbit
A beam of red light shot from an Alien craft, striking John Stewart and Hal Jordan. Screams could be heard across the globe as the heroes were disintegrated. Several other heroes who could survive the vacuum of space were deployed, but they were made short work of.
The team was assembled in the Cave, watching the events unfold. Conner tensed up as watched Superman vanished in a flash of red and M'gann sighed unhappily as her uncle was vanquished.
The massive ship began releasing smaller vessels, an armada of war ships built for one purpose: destruction. There was a beeping and Zatara appeared on one of the holoscreens. "Tornado," he said in shock, "Did…did you-?"
"Yes, Zatara, we saw," said Tornado, his fingers flying over the holographic keyboard, "Cosmic defenses have failed. Initiate all planetary measures."
Zatara shook himself out of his stupor. "Affirmative."
His message feed was cut off and Red Tornado turned back to the team. "I am needed in the field. The League will defend the planet at all costs, but should we fail," his mechanical eyes scanned the team, "The responsibility falls to you."
"Understood," Draken said grimly
Tornado left the cave and the team watched as news feeds from around the globe reported on the alien attack. Fires and riots broke out in cities as the attacks descended upon them. As they watched, the entire Justice League was taken down one by one. Draken watched it all sadly, but calmly. The others quietly mourned the loss of their mentors. After only about an hour, a message came through to the Cave. "Red Tornado to Cave," said the android, "I fear I am all that remains of the League." There was a rush of static as the line was cut.
Draken glanced up at the news feed and watched as the alien mothership fell to earth, completely engulfing a small town in Kansas and the entire surrounding area. The ship itself was the size of a large city.
"We are Earth's heroes now," said Kaldur as Draken closed the holoscreens.
"So what are we waiting for?" asked Conner, "A theme song?"
"A strategy," Draken said. "We need a plan. Obviously, nothing we've thrown at them so far has been effective."
"So our first order of business is to find something that can hurt them," Artemis said,
Draken nodded in agreement and Robin fiddled with his wrist computer. A holographic globe appeared, covered in splotches of red dots. "Here's where the aliens are now," he said.
Conner nodded towards the Arctic Circle. "This one get lost?" A singular red dot was roaming around the 30th parallel near Greenland.
"Dude!" whispered Robin in awe, "That's Superman's Fortress of Solitude!"
Conner blinked. "Superman has a fort of what?"
"Its power source must have attracted a scouting ship," said Wally, rubbing his chin.
"Must be some fortress," Conner muttered.
M'gann patted him gently. "Conner-"
"It's okay," he sighed, "I guess there's a lot Superman won't be able to tell me, you know, now."
Draken turned and headed for the hangar with the team behind him.
"We will target this lone ship." Draken said, while pointing to a ship on the hologram.
"Yeah. Break it down. Build more. Hit those ugly aliens with their own mojo." Wally said, only to get whacked across the head by Artemis.
"OW!"
"Kryptonian and Martian in the house, moron," she smirked as Draken began leading them to the bio ship.
"Oh, right," Wally realized with a blush, "Not that, uh, all, um, aliens are, ah, automatically ugly, right green cheeks?"
Arctic Cycle, Fortress of Solitude
The Bioship hovered behind the scout ship in camouflage mode as the scout slowly circled a massive, steel door built into a mountain with the 'S' shield emblazoned on it.
Robin looked over the strange ship critically. "There," he said, pointing to a small orb on the ship's arm, "That's their communications."
"Then let's move out." Draken said, as M'gann established a mental link between the team. The Bioship drifted close to the ground and the team jumped out of the back, quickly diving behind snow banks and ice formations to stay hidden from the scout ship. "Everyone in position?" he asked. Once every team member had confirmed they were ready, Draken gave the signal. As he watched, the communications array suddenly exploded from the inside out, ripped apart by M'gann's telekinesis.
"Communications, check," she said. There was another explosion in the ship and it fell with a hard thud onto the ice. "Engines, check."
Artemis rolled out from behind a pile of snow and loosed an arrow at the ship. As it hit the tinted visor, it exploded into high-density foam that covered the entire hull. "That should do it! Aqualad, you're up!" The gun began to swivel and shoot wildly. Draken dodged to the side as a beam of red light shot past him, leaving a carved out crater in the snow behind him. The ice beneath the ship suddenly erupted as Kaldur pulled the hull under water. The gun swiveled towards him but before it could open fire, Wolf and Conner grabbed the gun and shoved it out of the way just in time for the blast to hit the ice next to Kaldur. Conner got under the gun with a grunt and began to pull hard. Wally spun Robin into the air and the boy wonder landed on the ship next to Conner as Wally shot off into the distance. Robin opened his wrist computer and analyzed the gun's connection to the ship. "Stress points here, here, and here," he pointed out on the gun. Draken blasted the areas with a lightning bolt and Conner began to double his efforts.
As the metal started to rip and tear, a few wires fell from the connection. Wolf growled and tackled Conner out of the way just as two wires sparked and a red beam engulfed Wolf, disintegrating him out of existence. Conner stumbled back and fell off the ship in surprise.
Draken stared at the place where Wolf had just been, having felt the creatures life fade away.
"Wolf," thought Conner sadly.
"There was no indication of feedback," said Robin softly, "I'm sorry."
"Can't do anything for him now," sighed Conner as he jumped back onto the ship and grabbed the gun. With a mighty grunt, he ripped it from the ship. M'gann brought the Bioship around and Conner held the gun over the cabin area.
"I'll need to de-camouflage to integrate the gun," she said as the Bioship became visible and reached up to grip the gun's base, "This'll take a few minutes."
"Guy!" shouted Wally as he speed behind them, "Two ships! Closing fast!"
"Ms. Martian! Shoot them down!" Draken said.
"Weapons are offline to incorporate the new cannon!"
"Gotcha covered!" shouted Artemis, "Get inside!" Draken leaped into the air before flying one of the ships, as though he was just tearing paper. The explosion of the ship lit the sky as he flew out of the other side. Artemis was also shooting down one of the ships. It exploded and a piece of shrapnel stabbed into the ice next to her feet. She yelped and made a run for the Bioship. Another ship appeared and came in for a second run.
"Dark Inferno" Draken hissed, and like a Matador, he swung his cape open, unleashing a fireball the form of a flaming Magma towards the enemy. The ship managed to fire a single shot at him, but the advance Hellfire attack powered through the beam before boring through the ship like hot knife in butter, which resulted in the ship exploding.
As the ships destruction lit up the sky, Draken couldn't help but admire his handy work. "This is probably the first time I've used this spell." He thought to himself, as he remembered the time his father thought him said spell.
While he was distracted by this, another ship appeared and unleashed a beam at Draken. The vampire managed to fly above the beam, but his survival resulted in the demise of another. Artemis was struck square in the back and Draken got a good look at her expression of fear before her body disintegrated before his eyes.
"ARTEMIS!" screamed M'gann in horror.
An intense wave of mental agony suddenly struck Draken, causing him to grip his head in pain.
"Draken, look out!"
The voice of Robin instantly snapped him out of his dazed state, allowing Draken wheeze through multiple energy beams, while also studying the spot Artemis was just killed. Her footprints were still fresh in the snow.
"Artemis," Wally stumbled back against the hull of the Bioship, "No. No. Nononononono."
Conner and Robin grabbed him and took him inside the Bioship, but his cries of anguish were still audible.
As the others retreated back to the ship, Draken unleashed two sets of Dark Inferno's at the ship destroying it. Another ship suddenly appeared, prompting the vampire to launch another Inferno at it…but something shocking happened. The spell had no effect on this new ship. The realization filled him with horror and without thinking teleported out of the way of an approaching beam before staggering back into the Ship.
"They're all dead!" hissed Wally from his seat, "All of them! Every single one! If it's the last thing I do!"
Draken took his seat wordlessly as he massaged his head, while glancing at M'gann. The shock seemed to have worn off and tears flowed freely from her wet eyes. "N-now what?" she asked.
"The world needs to know they still have defenders," said Robin, "I say we head for the Hall of Justice. Make a stand there."
Kaldur nodded. "I agree. Hope and motivation is a powerful weapon, one the Earth desperately needs. Set a course for Washington."
Hall of Justice
The ride to Washington was quiet and solemn. As M'gann circled into towards the Hall, they saw that a large military unit was already defending the position from a large contingent of ships. Their conventional weapons, including tanks, seemed to do some damage, but the ships were so fast and agile that they wove through machine gun fire.
Dismissing the throbbing pain in his head, Draken looked down on the ships disdainfully. "Conner." Draken called
Not even needing an order, Conner leaped out of the ship with Draken the moment M'gann opened the hatch for them.
As Conner beat the ship down, Draken landed on another ship before placing his palm on it.
"Hellfire."
The entire ship suddenly lit up like a Christmas tree, effectively killing it's residents and destroying the ship.
With the ship destroyed, Draken flew towards Conner's direction, just as the clone drove his ship into the earth and M'gann shot down the last one with the Bioship. The military personnel seemed stunned as they watched the enemy be taken down, but cheers went up as M'gann uncloaked the Bioship and familiar heroes began to step out.
One of the soldiers caught sight of Conner's chest. "See!" he said excitedly, "I told you Superman wouldn't abandon us!"
"I'm not Superman," Conner snapped.
"I don't know who you are, son," said a gruff, gray-haired man with four stars across his cap, "And frankly, I don't care. You wear the 'S' and you got the job done."
"I'm not Superman," Conner protested softly.
Draken stepped forwards and the man saluted. "General Wade Eiling," he introduced himself, "United States Air Force."
"Draken Tepes." He said, not bothering with using his hero name in this crisis. "Justice League. Thank you for keeping the enemy out of the Hall. We'll use it as a base of operations until we can mount a counter-offensive."
"Very good, sir," nodded Eiling, "What's our next move?"
Draken thought for a moment. "Pull your men back into the Hall," he said, "My team will work on overriding the Justice League systems to gain access to their archives and armory. With the right combination of both, we can defend the Hall until we can amass a force large enough to take the fight to the enemy."
"Understood," said Eiling with another salute, "Men! Fall back to the Hall! I want defensive sentries posted at every line of sight! If so much as one enemy ship gets within a mile of this place without me knowing about it, I'll make sure to use you as cannon fodder!"
Draken motioned to the team and they followed him into the Hall.
The main lobby of the Hall housed several large statues of the founding heroes of the Justice League, still standing proud amongst the ruins of the city. Robin gazed up at the statue of Batman. "They're really gone," he murmured, "It never really hit me, but they're gone."
Conner stared at the statue of Superman and his chest rose and fell with his angry breath. He grabbed a chunk of rubble from the floor and hurled it with a frustrated yell. The stone hit Superman in the jaw and the entire statue shook. Superman's head tumbled off and knocked into the Martian Manhunter's arm, sending the other statue crashing to the floor.
"Conner." Draken said softly as he place a hand on the clones shoulder.
Conner sighed apologetically and walked away, sitting down besides Superman's dismembered head.
M'gann flew over to the fallen idol of her uncle and began to weep.
Draken was about to comfort her when suddenly he felt something off. "Did you feel that?"
M'gann blinked. "Feel what?"
Draken didn't respond. He walked over to the the fallen statue of the Martian Manhunter and began lifting it. As it slowly rose, M'gann caught a flash of green skin and a blue cape as a figure rolled out from underneath it.
"I don't believe this" he whispered as M'gann's uncle slowly stood up and gripped his head.
"Uncle J'onn!" M'gann squealed as Draken dropped the statue and dove in to hug her uncle. J'onn seemed dazed and confused as he looked bewildered around the Hall. Before M'gann could reach him, Kaldur leapt in front of her.
"Read his mind!" he called, "Make sure he is whom he appears to be."
"It's him!" cried M'gann, "He's real! And he's alive!"
"How can this be?" Draken asked, "We saw you get disintegrated!"
"And Superman!" Conner put forth, "And everyone!"
"Yes," said J'onn slowly as M'gann helped him up, "I remember, but…I cannot remember how I survived, or how I came to be here of all
M'gaan came up with a quick and easy solution, "Maybe you were… density shifting! The beam passed right through you!"
Robin lifted his hands trying to make sense of things, "Scrambling your brains in the process!"
"My mind is clouded, I feel I had something important to tell you…" He looked off trying to remember but, couldn't grasp the thought properly.
"Hello Wally," Kid Flash said sarcastically motioning towards the Bio-Ship where the alien canon was integrated, "Come on!"
As they all circled around the ship, Draken could feel his headache returning.
"I knew it!" Wally shouted as he analyzed the canon with Robin's wrist gauntlet, "It's giving off zeta-beams, the same stuff that powers our zeta-tubes! This thing doesn't vaporize, it teleports!"
"Maybe…" Robin checked his math as Wally shook his shoulders excitedly.
"No maybes, they're all alive!"
M'gaan looked up to her Uncle with a smile, "That must have been what you wanted to tell us, right?"
"Perhaps…"
Suddenly, Draken tackled Wally and Dick to the ground narrowly missing a beam of energy carving into the ground at their feet.
"M'gaan, camouflage the Bio-Ship!"
Before she could do so, a beam struck it dead-on causing it to disappear, the psychic backlash knocked Martian Manhunter and Miss Martian and Draken onto their sides as a tear streamed down her left eye, "That didn't feel like…" more explosions distracted her from her train of thought as the military open fired on the skies.
'We're falling back!" Robin shouted as Draken and Wally all followed a dozen soldiers into the hall meeting Kaldur, Conner , M'gaan, and Manhunter inside, facing the door leading to the inner-sanctum.
"We're trapped," Conner said as the door slid open leading them to a dead-end.
"Maybe not," Kaldur noted as they all filed in, with the soldiers methodically standing post with their guns trained on the doors; "We can zeta out of here if you can get us access to the tubes," he looked towards J'ohn who nodded.
"I can only give access to one at a time," He noted approaching the console and typing in multiple command codes.
"The soldiers go first then-"
"Delay that!" General Eiling shouted, "The world needs you lot far more than it needs us, right now."
"I'll buy you some time." Draken said before speeding out through the front of the hall.
Once outside, Draken took notice of multiple ships hovering above the cave. For what felt like an eternity, Draken stood there as his breathing suddenly became slow and even, and without warning manifested a Fidelis glyphs.
"Comfort forth, Seiryu!" With a mighty shout, Draken proceeded to slam the glyph on the ground.
As though responding to his word, a massive black portal suddenly appeared behind Draken, while releasing a Eerie wind from within.
Slowly yet menacingly, a Massive Silver Dragon began exiting the portal. Once completely free, the Dragon unleashed a massive stream of fire that destroyed about two dozen ships, causing an exploded which could be seen from a distance.
Falling to his knees, Draken watched as the Dragon continued to destroy more ships, but there numbers kept on increasing. With a bit of effort, Draken rushed back into the cave, leaving the Dragon to wreck as much as possible.
On reaching the Inner Sanctum, he noticed the soldiers were all firing up at a hole in the ceiling where the aliens had mounted an assault from above, each solider was being vaporized one by one as the general took a position at the forefront using his AK-47 to fire rounds above. Kaldur, Conner, and Manhunter were the only ones left as Conner lifted a bolder up freeing a pinned solider.
"He goes next!" He shouted as the scanner recognized the man as a private.
"Thank you, Superman!" he shouted before being teleported away.
"I'm not…" He groaned and turned around as the scanner automatically lit up slowly analyzing him as Superboy.
Draken nodded towards Kaldur as he too stepped into the teleporter, vanishing in seconds; The Atlantean shouldered Manhunter until they made it to the scanning bay, "You should go now, Kaldur."
"They need you more than me, now go!" Kaldur forced J'ohn into the teleporter beam sending him away as he was struck in the back by a beam only half a second later, the other soldiers were picked off effortlessly and the Hall of Justice fell.
…
"Our next mission is clear," Robin announced as Draken, Conner, Wally and M'gaan were all standing in the center of the holo-ring; the other soldiers that had teleported through were either cleaning their weapons or showering, "If we believe that the aliens are taking prisoners-"
"We do!" Wally interrupted.
"Than the only logical detainment facility would be here," He summoned a large holo-screen with images of a massive mother-ship identical to the one that killed Superman and the others in space, "Their mother-sip, atop what used to be Smallville, Kansas."
"Ring any bells?" Wally looked back toward J'ohn who was holding his head in the background.
"Superboy and I will cause a distraction," Draken spoke up.
Wally stepped into the middle of the conversation, "At worst you guys will be teleported inside where we free them with the others…"
"Indeed…" Draken whispered grimly
Smallville Kansas.
Robin and M'gaan sat atop a hill overlooking the massive ship with binoculars in hand, "Stay close to J'ohn, he's still a little iffy."
She nodded in response as Draken stepped between them and analyzed the giant mother-ship, "First team: deploy," he announced with M'gaan and J'ohn floating up and cloaking themselves, the mounted weaponry couldn't even detect their approach as Manhunter helped his niece phase through the wall with an awkward grunt, "Ready, in position."
"Second team; we're up…" Draken took to the air as he channelled as much Dark Magic from the Chaotic Realm into his himself, beyond the limit his body could handle. He could feel his Sclera turning red as the only thing that now filled his mind was blood and Rage.
Superboy gulped in fear as he looked his teammate. Everyone suddenly had goosebumps as they felt the bloodlust dripping out from Draken.
"Go now, team three, get ready…" Robin managed to say.
Conner nodded and sprinted off of the cliff, spanning over two hundred feet before landing on the hull of the ship. He quickly ran towards one of the mounted weapons before ripping it from its coupling, "Careful, don't disconnect the power-source." He followed Robin's instruction and held the massive gun above his head.
"Alright, you glorified trespassers, how about I show you how a real alien fights!" he fired off several beams that destroyed other sentries causing several drones to be deployed in his immediate vicinity, "Now or never!"
Robin hopped on Wally's shoulders as he super-sped from a half-mile away using the momentum to leap across the canyon and tumble to a halt on the other side.
Robin and Wally ducked behind a large canister as several drones flew overhead, deploying to the distraction outside, "Way is clear, go!"
Draken's Scythe now emitted a crimson aura, and with all his might, he swung his weapon at his enemies. The resulting shockwave was so intense that the nearby mountainous range around the was completely obliterated; hundreds of miles of mountain had been stripped of its landscape and sent into oblivion.
The base shook with incredible force, knocking Conner off balance and sending him tumbling to halt; he narrowly dodged a beam of energy before ducking behind a lone sentry, "Watch where you swing that thing!"
The attack made a large dent in the ship but, didn't carve through it, "Tck…" Draken growled as he sped towards the ship, attempting to tear it open.
…
Wally and Robin snuck through the mother-ship quietly; keeping their balance as best they could from the commotion going on just outside. They dipped behind a pillar and avoided being seen by an insectoid-like drone, however; another drone lowered down from an upper level aiming directly at them. They had no time to prepare so, it seemed they were done for until a metallic trunk of some-kind flew into the drone's blaster disabling it.
M'gaan and J'ohn floated down still camouflaged, giving them a nod which they could barely see; they ran down a long corridor heading for the main hall of the ship.
Conner ducked out from the path of a beam which exploded at his feet sending him tumbling back; he stood and scanned the area but, never saw the drone floating behind him, min his blind-spot, which shot him in the back and vaporized him.
M'gaan felt the disconnection from the psychic link and fell into her Uncle's arms, feeling extremely fatigued she sighed, "He's gone, Superboy is gone…"
Wally approached her and put a comforting arm around her shoulder, "Don't worry, we'll find him and Artemis, I just know it!"
J'ohn stood up straight, looking around he blinked, "No, my mind is much clearer now, there is no detention facility, no prisoners to save; the disintegration rays are exactly that," he sighed as Wally faced him, "Our mission holds no purpose."
"No! You're wrong!" he grabbed Manhunter by his cloak, "They have to be alive, the Zeta-Radiation proves-"
"Stop it, KF!" Robin grabbed Wally by the shoulders and shook him, "I've been scanning for infrared life signatures since we got inside, they're not here!" he let go and looked around, "The only things in here with us are cold, reptile-like, alien monsters."
"Our mission still holds purpose though, to blow this mother-ship to hell where it came from."
J'ohn helped his niece up as she nodded and wiped her tears, "Let's send these invaders off our planet."
They all ran down the hall, aside from the Martians who flew, as they took several turns before finally arriving in a large room illuminated only by a bright yellow spherical power source. Robin stepped forwards and scanned it with his holo-gauntlet, "This is the power-core, blow this and the entire mother-ship goes with it." He ran forwards but, was surprised when he felt a gravitational force tugging on him and pulling him off his feet towards the power source.
Wally grabbed Robin's hand but, found he too was being pulled off of his feet; they flew towards the power source before Robin shot a grappling hook that caught itself on another platform, M'gaan lowered them down slowly with her telekinesis.
Wally grabbed Robin's hand but, found he too was being pulled off of his feet; they flew towards the power source before Robin shot a grappling hook that caught itself on another platform, M'gaan lowered them down slowly with her telekinesis.
Robin unhooked two artillery-belts stuffed with C-4 strapped to his chest and laid them flat on the power-source.
"You knew…" Wally said aloud, "That there were no prisoners…"
"So did Draken. But we don't have time for that now, let's just get this done and get out of here," He activated their timer as a drone spotted them and aimed its weapon toward their defenseless selves. Manhunter came in with a right hook, as M'gaan finished it off by shattering it with a heel-kick to the center-plate.
Robin and Wally jumped off of the power-core with M'gaan and J'ohn covering their decent; the earth's gravity pulling them down was enough to overcome the core's force.
…
Draken tried with all of his strength to rip the entire base off the ground, but even with the backing of an entire dimension he wasn't capable of doing so in time. As time went on, he could feel his body getting weaker from the power strain.
"I need to retreat." Draken thought to himself before teleporting away from an approaching beam.
…
M'gaan tore open a hatch leading to the exit that they had arrived at in the first place, however; it was now sealed tight with no openings.
Wally grabbed Dick and pushed him against the wall behind the canister they hid behind earlier.
M'gaan and J'ohn turned invisible as the drones continued without noticing them, "Come on, we can all phase out of here!"
"No, we'll hold them off, you two get out of here before this place goes up in smoke!" Wally shouted telepathically.
"I'm coming back for you!" M'gaan shouted as J'ohn helped her phase through the ground, escaping the ship with seconds to spare.
Wally sighed and slid down the canister, with his butt hitting the ground in a heap, ignoring the explosions currently approaching them, "This is it then, huh?"
Robin pulled two shuriken out in each hand, "It's been an honor, Wally, really."
Wally chuckled in response, "You too, boy-wonder…"
…
M'gaan and J'ohn floated up from the ground a quarter mile away from the mother-ship as only seconds later; a massive explosion engulfed the area. J'onn who was closer to the explosion was instantly killed while M'gann was knocked back by the shockwave.
As M'gann watched the exploding ship, Draken suddenly appeared a few feet away from her. His eyes were no longer red, but he had a sad expression on his face as he looked at M'gann.
"Don't tell me we won, we lost too much… the price was too high," an expansive mushroom cloud formed in the sky, drawing their attention up towards the stars where a massive identical mother-ship floated down taking the destroyed ones place atop the now nonexistent Smallville.
Draken look at her as though contemplating his next action, but his mind was already made.
"We have to move, we have to hide somewhere…" M'gaan grabbed her arm and moved for the opposite direction.
"No," Draken stated calmly, "I know what must be done…"
"Draken?"
"Forgive me, M'gaan," Draken said as he grabbed her by the shoulder and plunged his fist into chest, tearing through muscle and bone, to where his fist flew out on the otherside covered in blood, dripping down his knuckles.
…
M'gaan gasped as her eyes snapped open, she wasn't dead or in the middle of a destroyed corn field outside of Smallville; she was in Mount Justice lying on a cot in the center of the holo-ring. She sat up slowly and watched as Artemis, Aqualad, Conner, Wally, Robin and Draken slowly sat up groaning and holding their heads as they did. Captain Marvel caught J'onn as he stood to his feet but, fell faint half way through; it seemed he had been lying on the floor but, was too weak to stand on his own.
"You're all alive!?" M'gaan shouted as Batman put a hand on J'onn's shoulder.
"What happened in there?" Batman asked drawing the attention of the entire group but, mostly speaking to J'ohn.
"The exercise, it all went wrong…" he moaned as he held his head in discomfort.
"Exercise?" Wally asked in serious confusion.
"Try to remember; what you experienced was a mental training exercise designed by me and established via a mental link which Manhunter set you in. You all knew this going in; you also knew none of it was real, including the deaths of the entire league."
Robin looked up and muttered, "Which is exactly why none of us mourned or even cared about their deaths, because we all knew it wasn't real."
"Yes, exactly, but everything changed when Artemis was killed," J'onn looked down in shame as he felt most responsible for this part in particular, "When Artemis died, M'gaan's subconscious failed to make the distinction between simulation and reality; her psyche latched onto the situation and forgot what was real. I was not expecting such an intense burst of emotion so suddenly, I was unprepared to fight M'gaan for control causing me to lose my grip over the simulation, and allowing her to spread her fear and loss through the mental connection I had established curropting all of your minds as well, making you forget too."
They looked to Batman as he motioned towards the entire team, "This situation was a train-for-failure, and no matter what the team accomplished the situation was designed to grow worse."
"So strong was her hold on the scenario that instead of waking up upon their deaths, Artemis fell into comas believing that she was truly dead."
M'gann looks around at her friends. "I…I didn't know!"
"So you were able to free us how?" asks Wally still shaken about his death.
"Not me," J'onn looked over at Draken. "It was him." The team turns to look at the Vampire as well, who looked away regretfully.
J'onn spoke up turning back to them, "I attempted to enter the mindscape and force the control away from M'gaan but, as I entered I was bombarded by your collected emotions and thoughts. There was too much noise to think clearly. It wasn't until Conner, Robin, and Wally had been silenced that I could think clearly enough to remember my objective, but it was far too late to fight M'gaan for control and the only other option was to shock her out of the simulation. But before I could do that I died again, leaving the only survivor to take up the task of stopping her."
"Wait, that means-"
"He killed her." Robin said grimly. Causing all his teammates eyes to widen. Even some of the leagues seemed surprised by this.
"I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me M'gaan." Draken said before turning to grab his Scythe before making his way to the Zetatube.
"I am so sorry," M'gann cried as Captain Marvel tried to comfort her.
Batman could only stare at the retreating form of Draken.