Chapter 19: Devil

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"The path to paradise begins in hell."

Dante Alighieri

Chapter 19: "Devil"

(Friday-April 11, 2014)

Dark Dan's eyes snapped open. He floated cross legged at the side of le Fey's little pocket dimension. With a wide grin on his face, he turned to relaxing le Fey, "It's time."

"I know," Morgaine nodded as she reclined on a large designer couch. The way she was lying on the seat of silk, one would be reminded of a muse posing for an artist, "I can feel the change in energy."

Dark Dan floated over to her, "It's time to move."

Morgaine pouted. Her eyes drifted over the various images that floated around her showing the destruction of Earth, "Oh, do we have to? The good stuff is about to happen."

Dark Dan glared at her, "That's why you agreed to record it."

"But I'm the type of person that likes to watch the newest episode as soon as it comes out," Morgaine had light whining tone to her voice. She slide out more across her couch. Her body was stretched out seductively as she gave him a sultry look, "I changed my mind. I'm going to stay here and watch my entertainment."

Dark Dan's hand snapped towards le Fey's neck. His fingers slipped through her skin as if she wasn't even there.

"Sorry, but no one touches me without my permission," Morgaine let out a giggle.

"Look here, witch," Dark Dan got up in her face, "We had a deal. You don't get to back out of it."

"I can if I want," Morgaine shrugged, "I'm a rather fickle woman. I love to change my mind in the spur of the moment. It's one of the hundreds of reasons that men through themselves at my feet begging for me to give them an ounce of attention."

Dark Dan let out an angry roar. His sharp teeth sneered at her as his forked tongue slid out to show his displeasure, "I will kill you."

"You can try, but many people have tried. None have succeeded," Morgaine smiled and sat up, "But I do love to see that anger in you. I bet you never had someone to deal with something you couldn't kill with ease."

"It…has been a long time…" Dark Dan admitted as he forced himself to calm down, "Forgive my loss of composure. The withdrawals are getting to me."

"I bet. It must be hard to go so long without destruction or murder," le Fey stood and gently traced her fingers down his chest, "I've found the best way to get over such needs is to fill the void with something else. I can think of a few things…"

Dark Dan let out a snort, "Even if you were serious and this wasn't just one of your games, you know that one of us would get caught up in the passion and kill the other."

"The only question would be who," Morgaine agreed, "But the threat of demise…It would make it so much better. The high would be world shattering."

"Unlike right now where the Earth really is shattering," Dark Dan noted as he turned away from the women.

Morgaine giggled once more, "What is it with you Phantom men? Neither of you fall like the other men."

"If it's one thing that my younger self and I still have in common is that we are alphas," Dark Dan noted, "That's why Trigon tried to take care of Danny personally."

"Tried?"

"He won't die so easily," Dark Dan stated, "He'll live on. He needs to if we want to fight whatever Nekron's planning. But we'll also need to complete my plan. And that means, we have to leave right now."

Morgaine let out a sigh, "Fine, fine, let's go. I'll just have to deal with watching the action a bit late."

"Don't worry, le Fey. Your investment won't go to waste," Dark Dan let out a low chuckle, "Because once everything is set, I'll show you something far more interesting than Trigon's little plan."

"Father," Greed bowed before his father, "I found her. She was exactly where you said she would be."

Trigon looked down at his son. The massive devil was using a broken skyscraper as a throne. He had wanted to takedown the Watchtower for his throne, but that would be saved for later when the pests were all dealt with, "Excellent work, my son. Leave her and return to your post. I wish to have a word with her."

Nodding, Greed threw the women he had dragged with him to the ground and began to walk away. He didn't look back, even as the frightened form of Agatha Roth stared wide eyed at one of the strongest beings in existence. Her eyes widened even more when red energy jumped off her and dragged her into the air.

"Ah, my dear Agatha…" Trigon stretched out a massive finger and gently stroked her trembling face, "I have missed you."

"W-well I-I haven't missed you…" Agatha felt like she was hyperventilating.

"Why? You invited me to be with you."

"No! I never agreed to be raped!" Agatha argued, "I was just a kid! I thought that whole demon worship thing was a game to make people mad!"

"They always do," Trigon laughed and pulled his hand away, "The shock is always the same. All seven times. You were different, though. You were the only one to give me a daughter."

"Rachel…Where is she?!" Agatha demanded.

"Oh? You've grown to actually care for her? That's funny," Trigon let out a chuckle, "I thought that little charade you did with Torch and Youngblood was just for show. You secretly hoped that Raven would get killed."

"I would never think that!"

"Really? You never wanted her gone? Not even when you tried to have that abortion?" Trigon questioned.

Agatha flinched.

"Yes, I know about it. Did you really think that I would let that happen? Of course not," Trigon stroked his chin, "After that, I was sure that you would dump my Pride and run away, but you stuck with her."

"I had to…She needed me, and it wasn't her fault she was born," Agatha felt tears run down her face, "Maybe I did resent her a little. It makes me sick, but that's just how I felt. But she was my child. I couldn't just give up on her. Real family supports their loved ones no matter how much it hurts them. Just ask Torch and Youngblood."

"I don't need to. I know their stories. After all, Agent Z was my subordinate. His children were a liability. And as for Thorn…" Trigon trailed off, "She is inconsequential. Her abilities would indeed make her a thorn in my side, but only for a short time. Besides, the child will never release the seal again."

"You really did plan for everything…" Agatha realized.

Trigon nodded, "I did. And now, you get to see how my plans have worked out for the rest of eternity. You will forever be my side, my favorite moral. The one that has given me the most pleasure and opportunity in centuries."

"No! Please, just kill me! Show a mercy, I beg you—" Agatha was silenced when she was quickly turned to stone in a flash of red light.

Trigon reached out and gently moved the statue to the foot of his throne, "Foolish women. You know that I don't comprehend the idea of mercy."

"Oi, wake up," Constantine poked at a downed Zatara with his stick.

"Gah…" Zatara groaned as he forced his eyes open, "John?"

"Yep," Constantine nodded, "Looks like you still got your wits about you. That's good. I'm going to need every magic user we can get."

Grunting, Zatara sat up to see various members of the League and the Team in similar states. Most of them were getting up. A few, however, seemed too injured to move like Aquaman and Martian Manhunter. Fortunately, various ghosts were there to help them all. As his bearings came back to him, the magician noticed that the Cave looked wore down and cracked. Everything had held thanks to the seals they created, but Trigon's power took its toll on the mountain.

Pandora knelt by the children and was helping Nyx back to her feet, "Are you okay? Any injuries?"

"Only a hurt pride and some missing friends," Nyx clenched her fists as she leaned against her mom, "They took Spirit."

Vision and Plasmius let out a sigh of relief. When they had arrived they very quickly noticed that a few people were missing from the group. There was still a problem, though, "And where are Phantom and Dusk?"

"They took Danny too," Kid Flash gained a disheartened looked, "And Dusk…"

"That bastard Agent Z killed him," Robin snapped with an angry snarl, "I'll break that SOB's neck next time I see him."

"He didn't kill him," Jinx's voice sounded out. The members of both the League and the Team instantly turned their gaze to the assassin.

"What do you mean?" Troia glared at the girl.

"I got here when that Blood guy made the announcement," Jinx shrugged, "They didn't know I was there, so I stayed back to avoid getting captured. I saw Z setting Black Bat and Dusk on fire. But I could sense the energy. It wasn't meant to kill, it was meant to teleport."

"She's not lying," M'gann stated as she stepped over to Superboy from the now grounded Bioship, "I had to look away from the fire, but there's a very distinct brain pattern people have when they die. I didn't feel any of that from Damon, Black Bat, or Dusk."

"M'gann!" Superboy rushed forward and pulled her into a hug, "I'm so glad you're safe."

"You can thank Jinx and Ember for that," Miss Martian hugged the clone back, "I would have gotten caught up in the energy waves if they didn't save me."

"Ember?"

All eyes were drawn to the siren ghost as she stood over a still downed Torch. She had her foot on top of Torch's chest and was pressing down, "Trever, you jackass! Keeping all this crap about Dad to yourself! I should kick your ass just like when we were kids!"

"Gah! Let Torch up!"

"Like hell!" Ember glared down at him, "You lied to me and hurt my feelings just because you thought I couldn't handle the truth!"

"Torch just wanted Ellie to be happy and complete her obsession!" Torch argued.

"Yeah…" Ember removed her foot and let out a sigh, "I figured that out, asshole. You were trying to look out for me, but I can look out for myself. I'm a big girl and can make my own decisions. So I'm going to help you stop Dad."

"But Torch didn't want to burden you with that."

"I know," Ember gave him a small smile, "In your own stupid way, you gave a choice. Thanks for that, but I prefer the hard truth compared to blissful ignorance. So, I'm going to help you. He's my family too after all. Oh, and for all of you that are asking what's going on, Agent Z is our Dad. Yep, it's a long story, but the short version is he was our Dad before we both died in a fire that was started by a ghost. That probably explains a few things."

There was a collective silence as everyone absorbed that bit of information. Unsurprisingly, Robin was the first to respond, "So you're going to plan on dealing with Agent Z?"

"Yep."

"Count me in. That bastard messed with my friends," Robin punched an open palm with his fist.

"I concur," Troia nodded, "We can rescue our friends while thou confronts thy father."

"Wait a minute," Wonder Woman gained an annoyed look, "We cannot just break off into groups without a plan. And I cannot let you go off on a mission with so little information."

"No, they're right," Batman decided to speak up, "Trigon's forces specifically targeted the half-ghosts for a reason. That means something. Maybe they could be the key to dealing with Trigon."

"No, this is the key to dealing with Trigon," Constantine looked over to the entrance, "Bring her in!"

"Beware!" The Box Ghost shouted as he backed up into the room. As he moved, he used his powers to control a large metal cube that was pulsing with energy. To assist him, Etrigan flee behind the cube giving the massive box an extra push.

"Right, the Box," Artemis nodded, "Please tell me you got it working."

"Basically, yes. But with Trigon out and about, it'll need more time to power up. But we do have the bonus of having me, Etrigan, and Zatara powering it while the Box Ghost amplifies the Banishing Box's effects," Constantine explained.

"My wife isn't exactly please that I'm here, but I do you all one for saving Box Lunch. Plus this does effect the Ghost Zone as well…" Box Ghost let out a nervous laugh.

"Even then, I really don't know if it will work. Trigon is on a completely different level than anything I ever tried to exorcise," Constantine admitted, "We'll have to try to weaken Trigon down…if that's possible."

"All the more reason to save Dusk and the others," Plasmius reasoned, "Dusk's Twilight Canon is a weapon that could significantly harm the Spectre. Not only that, Spirit and Phantom are powerhouses. We need every bit of power we can get, and recruiting other fighters outside the fold is impossible. With everyone turned to stone."

Superman's eyebrows rose, "Everyone?"

"Well, everyone outside this group," Jinx state, "Ember and I worked together on empowering your shields. With our added boost, this place was pretty much protected. I can't speak for anyone else, though. Although, I don't know how the ghosts survived. Unless one of those bunkers you have like Axion Labs is Trigon proof."

"No, even the scientists in Axion Labs were effect," Vision gave Cyborg a side glance, "Silas barely managed to activate the machine to open travel between our realms again. Luckily, the Ghost Zone was spared any terrible fate, but this is all we managed to recruit."

"My dad turned to stone?" Cyborg questioned with a worried look on his face.

"Yes, I'm sorry."

Cyborg gained a deep frown, "Damn…Well, the only way we can help him is to banish Trigon. If those four are going after Dusk, I think Nyx, Youngblood, and I should go after Spirit and the others. Brother Blood didn't look like he wanted them dead, and we seem to have an immunity to his mind control."

"I'd love to agree with you, Sports Star, but how the hell are we supposed to track them down?" Nyx bit her lip in thought.

"That actually might be easy," Etrigan spoke up as he floated out from behind the Cube, "I know my student's energy signal by heart by now. I should be able to track her down."

"She's…She's still alive?" Rocket questioned.

"Yes," Etrigan nodded, "I cast a tracking spell as soon as I came back to the human realm. Her energy is faint, but she's a live. Perhaps Trigon wants to use her again. Perhaps he's just wants her as insurance. Who knows, but she's alive, and I did sense Spirit's signature with her. If anything, I would bet that they are all being held by this Brother Blood you mentioned."

"His name has come up in a few missing children reports I was looking into," Batman stated, "There was heavy police investigation, but they never found anything. He must have brainwashed them. Based on everything I see, he would definitely be the one to keep a hold on the members of the Team to serve his cause."

"And what of Lord Phantom?" The Fright Knight decided to finally voice his opinion.

A silence spread across the room. Everyone looked to Etrigan, who shook his head, "I did not sense his energy anywhere near Raven, and there's too much interference on Trigon's part everywhere else. It's like when I tried to track Nyx back before the Sorcerer Initiative. Too much static."

Captain Marvel gained a saddened look, "I hate to be the one to point this out, but…Agent Z wanted to kill Danny, right? I mean, Danny was unconscious. There…There has to be a pretty good chance that they killed Danny."

"Like hell!" Pink energy flared around Jinx, "He wouldn't die in his sleep! He would never accept that."

"He wouldn't have had a choice," Batman shook his head, "I know this is disheartening, but it's probably the truth. Danny Phantom is dead."

There were several shouts of protests around the room. That was something no one was willing to accept. Danny Phantom didn't just die. Most of them had seen Phantom go through hell and back without dying. How could now be any different?

"Frostbite!" Fright Knight shouted out over everyone, "Do you have the Infi-Map on you?"

"Yes," Frostbite nodded and pulled out the map that he had grown used to carrying at all times this past month, "This will tell if the Great One is still alive…"

Opening the map, Frostbite said Phantom's name. The map glowed a bit and shook. Its usual response was to immediately pull its user to the destination he needed to be. This time, though, the small trembling was all he got.

"What does that mean?"

"I have no idea. It's never done this before," Frostbite admitted, "But at the very least, it means something. If he was dead, then it wouldn't find him at all."

"Give me the map," Fright Knight stuck his hand out, "I will search for my Liege. If there's anything left of him, I will find him and drag him back from the gates of hell if need be."

"Oh, like hell I'm just gonna let you handle this," Jinx stepped up, "I'm going with you."

"I do not need your help," Fright Knight glared at the woman, "I will help Lord Phantom myself."

"Says you," Jinx got right up to the knight and glared up at him, "I'm going to help Danny whether you like it or not."

"I'd like to see you try to follow me," Fright Knight's flaming hair flared a bit.

"Hey! Hey!" Kid Flash run up to them and pushed them apart, "You can both look for Danny. If he is alive, then he's probably in a dangerous spot. The more people the better."

"Well said, Kid Flash," Plasmius nodded, "Which is why you should go with them. Having a voice of reason would help them."

"A voice of reason?" Nightwing raised an eyebrow, "Him?"

"Normally, I would be like 'Dude!' but I agree with you," Kid Flash rubbed the back of his head, "Only reason I stepped up was because I was the fastest on the team."

"All the reason for you to go. You're fast enough to stop any real tension," Artemis swung an arm around her man, "And I'll be there to be the voice of reason for you."

"Err…" Kid Flash nodded slowly, "Okay."

"Well, then we got a plan to get reinforcements, but then we have a problem with the bloody Cube," Constantine rubbed his temples, "Getting Raven is a priority, but we'll need more help charging the energy. So, I'm enlisting the Atlantians."

"What? No!" Aquagirl snapped at the exorcist.

"Our king is injured," Tempest crossed his arms defiantly, "We cannot leave him like this."

"We have to," Aqualad stepped up behind his fellow Atlantians and placed a hand on their shoulders, "Our king would want us to continue to fight. If he was awake, he would order us to go. You know this."

"I know, but…"

"Not buts. It is time for action," Aqualad released their shoulders and walked up to Frostbite, "I am guessing that everything outside resembles the flames of hell. We will require your help to stay at full strength."

Frostbite nodded, "Of course."

"We will also need some protection for all of us while we focus on the Cube," Aqualad noted.

"I can help with that," Nightwing suggested.

"Me too," Batgirl spoke up.

Batman quickly agreed, "Right. That will be the best place for the Team. All remaining members of the Team will work on fueling and protecting the Cube except for Miss Martian. We will need you to fly the Bioship again."

Vision agreed, "The Council and the League will try to distract and wear Trigon down as much as possible."

"Hahahahahahaha!" Colossus roared out in laughter, "Now that sounds like fun!"

"What about me?" Mal rushed forward, "My girlfriend is being controlled by a cult leader. I have to go help her!"

"I'm sorry, Mal, but you can't come with us," Cyborg shook his head, "I'm not trying to bash you or anything, but these guys are way out of your league. It would be best if you and Harriet stays here. Oh…and we'll also need a guard just in case, right?"

"I can do it," J.A.Z.Z.'s voice sounded out through the Red X suit, "I don't know how effective I would be in the field anyway with everything offline."

"But…" Mal was silenced when Harriet placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Leave it be. Sometimes, there's nothing we can do."

Mal quickly went quiet, but he didn't look happy about it.

"Well, that's as good of a plan as we're going to get," Superman sighed.

"Agreed," Plasmius looked around, "Here's hoping that this all doesn't go even more to hell."

He was so tired. His mind was in a complete haze. All he wanted to do was drift off to sleep and rest. There was something holding him back from the blissful peace of sleep. It was a tiny thread keeping him above the abyss below, but the thread seemed ready to snap at any moment.

"Not yet, Danny. Please, not yet."

It was time. He had given enough. Now it was time to rest.

"That's not for you to decide."

Maybe, maybe not. That didn't matter to him. He was so tired. All he wanted to do was drift off. So tired…

"I understand…Zzz…I am tired too…Zzz…Life is a heavy burden…Zzz…"

Yes. Someone understood. Life was so tiring. It was better to sleep.

"You're not helping."

"I don't try to help…Zzz…"

"He's your responsibility as well now. You knew that the moment you helped him defy me."

"I needed him…Zzz…The darkness was returning…Zzz…It was aiming for me…Zzz…"

"Then why give up on him?"

"I haven't…Zzz…That's why he's asleep…Zzz…And not dead…"

"Gah…" Death felt a new frustration fill her. For the first time in a long time, she wished she asked Destiny for some spoilers, or at least Delirium for some advice. It would have made dealing with the Entity much less frustrating or surprising.

She had always known about the Entity. He was the reason her element was even needed, after all. But she never knew just how much his influence had reached into her domain until Danny showed his connection to the Entity of Life. Then, everything was revealed. Ghosts…halfas…Danny…They all stared with the Entity, and now she had the chance to find out why he interfered.

Hopefully, she wouldn't let the frustration get to her. The Life Entity was even more frustrating than her siblings, and that was saying something.

"Hey, kid, wake up."

Dusk let out a soft grown. Surprisingly, he felt no pain or exhaustion. Maybe this was what death really was, the end of the suffering.

"You're not dead, dumbass. Open your eyes."

Slowly, Dusk forced his eyes open. The bright light all around him nearly blinded the halfa. There was one thing he could make out, though. Above him stood a large man with slicked back blonde hair. His opened black trench coat revealed a muscular frame.

"Who…"

"Names Destruction. Remember it, kid, because it will be important to you," Destruction noted, "Your powers work under my domain after all. You create and then destroy to create again. I'd like that if you were such a pussy about hurting people."

"Destruction…" Dusk blinked, "You're…an Endless?"

"Yep," Destruction looked away, "Be careful what you say around the spazzes, though."

"Wha…"

"Hey, Damon, Dusk is awake," Black Bat stated as she leaned over the reclining halfa, "Welcome back, Joel."

"Black Bat?" Dusk allowed Black Bat to help him into a sitting position, "I thought Z killed you."

"He might have," Damon's voice drew Dusk's attention to the side, "This place seems a lot like hell."

With enough of his senses coming back to him, Dusk could now look around to see where he was. The three of them were all within a cage of flames. Outside the fire, Dusk could see magma sliding across a barren field and the once blue sky was now an angry red. The only thing with any different color was the now unused Exorcist suit that stood outside the cage.

"I've met Death," Dusk pushed himself up to his feet, "I don't think people would get sent to hell without any warning."

"Don't go spilling our secrets, kid," Destruction glared at Dusk as he leaned against the flames seemingly invulnerable to the fire.

Dusk looked over to Destruction. He was about to say something when the Endless raised a hand.

"They can't see me, so I wouldn't talk to me. They might think you're nuts," Destruction explained, "The only reason you can see me is cause of your powers and this whole apocalypse thing."

Dusk bit his lip and turned back to his allies, "I'm guessing that they got to Raven."

Black Bat nodded, "It appears so."

"Damn," Dusk sighed, "Guess this means we have to fix things now."

"We could…if we weren't trapped," Damon rubbed his temples, "So we have to escape, find any other people that can fight, and try to figure out a way to stop an all-powerful demon."

"Assuming that we're even on Earth," Black Bat argued, "Even if Agent Z didn't kill us, he didn't have a reason to keep us on Earth."

"You see, now she asks the big questions," Destruction spoke up, "Don't worry, though. You're on Earth. Trust me, I know this stuff."

Dusk hummed in thought, "What I don't get is why Agent Z didn't kill us in the first place. There's no reason to keep us alive."

"There is a reason," Agent Z appeared outside the cage in a familiar blaze of fire, "But I doubt you'll believe me."

Everyone in the cage turned to the Agent. Destruction let out a laugh, "Here comes the good part."

"Then what do you want?" Dusk questioned.

"I've gotten my revenge. There's nothing left for me to achieve. There's nothing left for me in this world," Agent Z reached up and removed his sunglasses. He then threw them to the ground and crushed them beneath his foot, "I can't bring myself to commit suicide, though, so that leaves me one last choice…"

Destruction snorted, "Here it comes, kid. I can't wait to see how you react."

Dusk frowned, "What's the choice."

"I want you to kill me."

"W-where am I?" A tiny voice sounded out from a small figure hidden under a normal sized cape and hood. A slight shift caused the hood to move away to show the frightened face of a child Raven.

Raven had a very valid question. She stood in what appeared to be a church based on the pews and podium. It wasn't a normal church, though. Everything in the chapel from the carpet to the lights were painted a blood red. Not only that, the images in the stain glass windows and the paintings on the walls were of demons consuming humans.

"This is the Church of Blood, my dear," Brother Blood smiled down at the little girl, "This is where you will be staying for the next couple of days."

"B-but this place is scary…" Raven cowered before the strange man.

"Do not worry, Pride," Lust stood by Raven's side, "We just need to keep you in a safe place. A lot of power and life energy was drained from you."

"Life…energy?" Raven blinked.

"Yes, Father wants to give you a clean slate," Lust explained, "He hit the reset button, and now he can mold you into the way he wants. You will be the one leading the charge when we move on from Earth. There are many more planets to concur, after all."

"What?"

Lust patted her head, "Don't worry about it. I'll keep you safe, sister."

"So…I'm your sister?" Raven questioned.

"Yes. You have five other brothers too," Lust nodded.

"Oh…Do I have sisters too?"

"No. Only brothers."

"Then what about her?" Raven's eyes drifted over to an unmoving Spirit that stood by equally still Lagoon Boy, Zatanna, and Bumblebee.

"She's a member of my church. Just like my other new recruits," Brother Blood smiled as he walked over to the brainwashed members of Young Justice, "Of course, she is definitely my favorite."

Lust rolled his eyes, "Come, Pride. I don't want to see this."

Raven didn't move, though. She kept her eyes on the scene.

"Such beauty…" Blood leaned in close to Spirit's face, "It's a wonder how you keep it up with such a violent lifestyle. Does it have to do with being a ghost?"

Raven's eyes narrowed.

Blood glanced to some of his nearby cult followers, "Get the three of them some robes. I'll handle Spirit personally."

"No!" Energy sparked off of Raven, "Leave her alone!"

Blood rolled his eyes, "Lust, take care of your kin."

Lust sighed, "Pride, let's go. You can't—"

"I won't leave without her," Raven stated.

Lust tried to grab at Raven, but he was stopped when a bird claw of magic smacked his hand away. Her magic then blasted out of her eyes and blasted Blood away, "Sister's coming with me, or I won't go."

With a snarl, Blood pushed himself up. His glowing red eyes stared at her as he prepared for his mental attack. This attempt made him flinch as he felt anger from Trigon roll over his mind.

Lust dusted himself off, "Father won't allow you to hurt his Pride. He still needs her. Just let me take Spirit with Raven to her room."

"But I was promised that I could take who I wanted, and I want her," Blood argued.

"You'll have her, but later," Lust rolled his eyes, "Right now, just go with Pride's wishes. She is the strongest sin, after all. You don't want to get on her bad side with Trigon in this dimension. Despite her weakened body and mind, her power is greater than ever."

"Fine!" Blood threw up his arms. With a nudge of his head, he ordered Spirit to follow Lust, "Take her! I can wait!"

"Good," Lust nodded, "Come girls, I'll take you to your room."

Silently, the girls followed the man. They left a now fuming Brother Blood to rant to his followers. Unseen by everyone, though, but Spirit, who had been unable to say anything, a strange person had been watching the entire time. With an obvious feminine frame, the lady stood out with her mismatched clothing and wild hair that held many different colors.

"Cults are such a pathetic thing. People seeking the truth only to find lies and deception," Delirium noted, "This seems worse, though. Not even reason can cut through this brainwashing, especially if she can't fight against it."

Throwing a frown at Blood, Delirium followed after Raven and Spirit, "It will take some good friends to stop this cult. Luckily, the little green bug on the bird's shoulder is ready to act."

Nightwing watched as all the magic users stood around the Cube and was pumping magic into the Cube. Frostbite was near the Atlantians. He was busy cooling the water based heroes to protect them from the heat. Floating above the Cube was the Box Ghost who was enhancing the Cube's progress.

"What do you think?" Batgirl questioned as she stepped by the previous Boy Wonder.

"I'm thinking that it's only a matter of time before we get attacked," Nightwing let out a sigh.

Superboy looked over to defacto leader of their group, "Well, that's obvious. The real question is what will we have to deal with?"

"Worst case scenario?" Rocket floated a bit above the others and was on lookout for anyone approaching them, "An army of lava beetles and the Sons of Trigon."

"Wow, thanks for that," Batgirl glared at Rocket.

"Hey, I've been on this Team for over three years now," Rocket shrugged, "I'm a realist."

"She's right, we need to be prepared for the worst," Nightwing popped his knuckles and stared off into the distance where the form of Trigon loomed, "Let's just hope that the other squads distract him enough to lighten our load to something we can actually deal with."

Trigon heard the approaching air vehicles before he saw them. Of course, he long since knew they were coming, but his hearing was the first of his close proximity sense that picked up the force heading his way. Still, he did nothing as the aircrafts sailed by him and hit him with blasts from an energy canon. After the quick blitz, the Batwing and the Bioship quickly retreated from the demon lord.

Lazily, Trigon's eyes followed his attackers. The spots where they had hid remained completely unharmed. They hadn't even tickled him. That was to be expected, though. No mortal could hurt him.

Before he could decide what he wanted to do with the fools that dared to attack him, the feeling of tiny bugs drew his attention down. Various members of the Justice League and Council of the Elite were buzzing around him. The attacks they sent to him felt like bug bites that left no mark. Still, they were an annoying bunch, and there was quite a few of them. He wondered how he should deal with them.

"Hey! Big guy!" Colossus roared as he floated in front of Trigon's face, "Man, that's weird saying to someone!"

Trigon looked up at him, "Colossus the Great General. I know of you. Your strength is formidable, but you won't be able to hurt me. This is one battle that no amount of raw strength will win you."

"Blah! Blah! Blah!" Colossus clenched a fist and focused his energy to it, "You talk too much! I thought you were an all-powerful demon! Come on! Show me what you got!"

"Colossus, you idiot!" Pandora shouted up at her fellow S-rank ghost as she tried stabbing at Trigon's legs with her spear, "Stop goading him!"

"I have never been outclassed like this before!" Colossus shook his head, "It's too exciting! I have to see what the big deal is about."

"Very well, bug. I shall grant your request," Energy burst from Trigon's eyes and smashed into Colossus. The giant red waves of energy continued through the ghost and flew far into the horizon.

"Hahahahahaha!" A smoking and burnt Colossus continued to float in front of Trigon, "Now that hurt! I haven't been hit like that in years! Now it's my turn!"

Throwing a punch forward, Colossus sent out a massive shockwave to Trigon's face. Unlike almost everything that stood in Colossus's path, Trigon just sat still and endured the attack with ease. Just like with everything, he remained unharmed. The same, however, could not be said for the building he used as a makeshift thrown.

With several large groans and an uncountable number of crashes, the building collapsed in on itself. Trion instantly fell back as the steel and concrete gave way. With a massive thud, Trigon tumbled through the collapsed wreckage and onto his back.

"HA! How do you like that one!?" Colossus gained a giant grinned, "I knocked you over! First point goes to me!"

"Would you please take this seriously?!" Superman glared at the ghost.

"I always take my fights seriously!" Colossus argued, "I just like to enjoy them too—"

Colossus was silenced when Trigon's massive hands smashed together around him. The giant demon lord had worked his way back to his feet and was now towering over his enemies. Grabbing Colossus, Trigon threw the ghost to the earth below burying him in a crater.

"Alright, mortals. You annoyed me. Great job. As your reward, I'll take this battle somewhat seriously."

"Um…" Kid Flash looked down at the pit his group stood in front of in the middle of a large shattered cavern, "We're going down there?"

"That's what the map says," The Fright Knight nodded as he eyed the map he held in his hands.

"Great…" Artemis sighed as she pulled out an arrow with a cord on it, "We'll just have to work our way down slowly.

"Or…" Jinx waved her hand at the hole. Pink energy danced from her fingers and spread into the ground. Rock shot out at the side of the deep crater and circled down creating a stairway, "We can just walk down."

"Well, that works," Kid Flash nodded.

"Yeah," Artemis frowned as she put the arrow back in its quiver, "I guess that's safer…Hopefully."

"What?" Jinx gave her a side glance, "Don't trust me?"

Artemis placed her hands on her hips, "You already know the answer to that."

Before Jinx could say anything, the Fright Knight spoke up, "You lead the way, Jinx. We need a light, and I can't do that while holding the map."

Jinx didn't look happy, but she did as he said. Raising a glowing hand, she took the lead began her trek down the stairs. She was quickly followed by the rest of her group into the darkness below them. This continued for a solid minute. The only sound that rang through the darkness were their feet meeting the stone.

"How deep does this thing go?" Kid Flash decided to break the break the awkwardness of the near silence.

"The map just says to keep going down," Fright Knight stated, "It could be a bit of walk."

Artemis sighed, "So it's going to take a while."

Jinx gained a small smirk, "Well, I know how to speed this up."

"What do you mean?"

"This," Jinx snapped her fingers and turned the stairs into a large slide, "Next time, maybe you should be nicer to me."

"Oh, you bi—AAAHHH!" Artemis let out a shout as her feet slipped and began to slide down into the darkness along with Jinx and Kid Flash.

Fright Knight just floated above the rock and shook his head. Moving to the center of the hole, he quickly descended downward following the shouts of fear and shock, "This is going to be an experience."

Robin looked across the field of fire and lava that Ember dropped him onto, "So they're around here?"

Torch nodded as he released Troia, "Torch followed his father's trail as best he could. We might be a bit off, but this is the immediate area where they will be."

"And how dost thou plan to find them through this field of sulfur and flames?" Troia questioned.

Torch shrugged uncaringly, "Torch doesn't know. Torch was just going to look around because he is immune to most fire. So is Ellie. It's you two that are in trouble."

"Well, mostly the bird boy," Ember pulled out her guitar so she could be ready for anything, "He's the only one that can't fly after all, which is pretty funny. A flightless bird. You should be called Penguin instead."

"It was already taken," Robin let out a grunt, "I guess Donna's gonna have to carry me."

"Oh really?" Troia gained a sly smirk, "Art thou sure that they masculine pride can handle being carried by a dainty maiden."

"I don't hang around dainty maidens," Robin snorted, "Besides, you can lift a car and I'm allergic to fire. I think I get a pass this one time."

"Very well," Troia took him in her arms.

"I can narrow the search area down," Ember noted as she plucked her strings, "If I send out an echo that only bounces off of living things, I should be able to get a real direction at least."

"Fine," Torch crossed his arms, "The sooner Troch deals with Dad, the better."

"It's not just you dealing with Dad," Ember reminded him, "He's my problem too."

"Ellie should stay back and help the captives escape," Troch shook his head, "Agent Z doesn't show mercy to ghosts."

"And I don't show mercy to anyone," Ember countered, "I'm going to fight him. The only question is if I have to fight you first."

"Hey! Can you two hurry this up?!" Robin shouted at them, "My friends are in trouble, and every second we waste is another where they could get killed."

"I concur," Troia nodded, "We should begin our search."

"Fine, fine," Torch frowned, "We'll deal with this when we get our target in sight."

"Fair enough," Ember pulled out her guitar pick, "Let's do it."

Cyborg silently led his group around the perimeter of a large brick church. There were several guards dressed in white robes, but the ghosts used their ability to turn others invisible to keep them all undetected. Once they reached a window, Cyborg stopped his lead and looked into the window to see more of the cult members.

"This is definitely the place," Cyborg whispered, "It's overrun with the cultists."

"What's the plan, then?" Nyx questioned, "Despite how much I want to, we can't just charge in and tear everyone apart. Those guys are victims of Blood just like our friends."

"We're ghosts," Youngblood noted, "Sneaking in should be no problem as long as no one in there can sense our body heat or energy waves."

"Who knows what types of people Blood have recruited," Etrigan scratched his chin, "The real question is if he has any of them on the lookout for us."

"Blood seemed pretty arrogant, but we can't rule anything out," Cyborg's arm shifted to show a small radar, "I should be able to keep track of people's positions and see if any patterns change based on how we move."

"So we got to move around slowly," Nyx let out a sigh, "Not my style, but I'll do it for Dani."

"Well, that leads us to the big question," Youngblood gave his friends a serious look, "Who do we save first? Because whoever we go after later will be in the greatest danger."

"He's right," Etrigan closed his eyes and extended his sixth sense, "Spirit is with Raven…And the others…They're together…and they're closer…"

"If we free them first, we'll have a bigger fighting force," Nyx reasoned, "Plus, it's not like Blood can control Raven."

"But Raven is the priority," Youngblood argued, "We need her to help take down Trigon."

"Yes, but she's in the least amount of danger and would probably kick our asses if we went to save her before the others," Cyborg stated, "As for Spirit…Well, we all want to save her first, but that's not the smart plan. We'll have to be careful in case Blood order her to kill herself. For now, Youngblood, I want you to stay a bit further back than us. If we get caught up in anything, sneak around, get to Spirit, and de-age her to keep her safe."

"I can't do that."

"What?"

Youngblood looked away, "I've broken my seal two times within the past year. Doing so again might prove dangerous to my obsession."

Cyborg let out a sigh, "Alright. Just do whatever you can then. Try to tie her up or something. And hopefully, it won't come to that. Ideally, we get everyone silently and get out."

"Ideally?" Etrigan raised an eyebrow, "When has anything gone ideally for us?"

"Well…there's a first time for everything."

The first sign of interference was when Wonder Woman began choking herself. The next big indicator happened when the Flash started to run in a circle like he was a dog chasing its tail. By the time that Superman began to hula dance, Vision knew what was happening.

"Greed!" Vision turned away from Trigon to see Greed standing an overturned bus down the street from the current battle. He waved his hands around like a puppet master as he flashed her a mischievous grin.

Just as Vision was about to rush towards her previous enemy, Greed jerked his hands back. Ten members of the Justice League were sent flying towards him. Just as the Leaguers passed a certain point, a large red dome appeared around the area surrounding Trigon cutting off Vision from the ten people in distress.

"Damn!" Red Arrow hissed as he looked over his shoulder to see his mentor and Black Canary get pulled into danger, "We have to save them!"

"That's not going to work, child!" Pandora picked Red Arrow and carried him out of the way of one Trigon's energy attacks, "If we try to get past the shield, Trigon shall tear us to pieces!"

"So we just let them die?" Green Lantern demanded.

"No…" Vision turned back to Trigon and readied her battle attire, "We let the ones on the outside save them."

Outside the dome, Greed hummed to himself. With small twitches of his fingers, he made the various members of the League under his control dance. Part of him was surprised that no one was trying to escape from the dome his father had created. Sure, the ghosts probably weren't too attached to the League members, but he was sure that some of the still free Leaguers would try to save their comrades.

"Whoops!" Greed ducked forward to dodge a sneak sucker punch to the back of his head. Rolling to the side, he controlled Superman and Captain Marvel to get between him and his attacker. That didn't work, though, because there was another attack coming from above him. A quick order to Hawkwoman made it so she went to shield him from the attack.

That stopped the attacker quickly enough, but there were still follow up attackers to handle. As such, Greed ordered Flash to grab him and quickly carry him to the side. Once he was a safe distance away, the Flash put Greed down allowing him to get a view of his attacker.

"I wasn't expecting a ghost," Greed mentioned when he saw various Plasmius duplicates floating around his puppets.

"But I was expecting you," Plasmius noted. In a few blazes of magenta, his duplicates returned to him, "For a being that wants to conquer entire planets, greed must be important. And greed is something I know about."

"Very true," Greed nodded, "I've heard about you. The oldest halfa, yet the one that plays the weakest role."

"I always preferred to work in the background," Plasmius shrugged, "But I am very good at front line assaults as well."

"We'll see about that," Greed smiled at him, "Indeed, greed is an important sin of Father's. It's his second strongest sin after Pride. And my power is amplified with Father so close. I can control ten people. One for each finger on my hand. How will you fight against such odds?"

"I'm aware that it won't be easy, but…" Plasmius's eyes trailed up to see the Batwing and Bioship soaring around the area, "I am not alone."

"Indeed," Greed gave a small laugh, "You know, in different circumstances, I would have enjoyed having a sit down chat with you. I bet you give a stimulating conversation."

"I can say the same for you. Unfortunately, these circumstances are our reality, and we must deal with them," Plasmius's hands began to glow a light pink.

"Well said."

Kid Flash groaned as he pulled himself up out of the dirt. While the slide down had been bad, the landing had been worse. He hadn't been expecting the sudden stop at all, "Well, that sucked."

"It sure did," Artemis agreed, "Jinx, if you ever do that again, I'll kill you."

"No you won't," Jinx nonchalantly dusted herself off, "If you were a killer, you'd be on my side."

"I'll make an exception just for you, frenemy," Artemis let out a small growl.

"Enough," Fright Knight landed beside the young people, "We need to stay focused on finding Lord Phantom."

"Right, right," Kid Flash popped his sore neck, "I'm guessing that we need to go down the only tunnel down here?"

"Right," Fright Knight nodded as he turned and began to lead them through the tunnel exiting the giant crater.

"How far down are we exactly?" Artemis questioned as she noticed the heat blazing around all around her.

"I believe the best analogy I could use is halfway to China," Fright Knight stated.

"That deep?" Jinx frowned, "Then why is this tunnel down here?"

Kid Flash examined the rock as they continued to travel through the tunnel, "Well, I can definitely say that it's not a natural occurrence. No water or earthquake could do this. It's too clean. Some type of energy cut through this."

"Was it Danny?" Artemis questioned.

"I doubt it," Kid Flash shook his head, "If Danny had enough energy to do this, then he would have just flown out of here."

"Then something took him," Jinx noted as they reached the end of the tunnel, "But who?"

"That was my question."

Everyone froze when they heard Phantom's voice sounded from in front of them. They now stood in a giant cavern covered in in glowing red rocks. Heat blared around the room, but that wasn't what bothered them. At the center of the room and standing between them and the exit at the far end of the cave was someone that looked like Danny Phantom. They all knew better, though. Danny Phantom never had such an evil look in his eyes.

"Envy!" Artemis pulled out her bow and pointed an arrow at him.

"Oh! You caught on so quickly!" Envy roared out in laughter, "Probably should have changed it to look like I was hurt, but my job isn't to trick you right now. Father wanted me to make sure nothing funny happened down here. Looks like Phantom is still alive…maybe. I'm not too sure right now."

"So it wasn't you that made this tunnel," Fright Knight put the Infi-Map up and unsheathed Soul Shredder.

"Nope, but I do wonder what did," Envy looked around at the cavern, "This is some pretty good work. And it seems pretty new too, so someone did it quickly. That means that whoever did this is pretty damn powerful. Now that's something I should tell Father."

"We won't let you escape," Jinx glared at him.

"Escape?" Envy gave her a sly grin, "Now that wouldn't be any fun. Instead, why don't I just kill you before leaving? That sounds like it will be loads of fun."

Wrath knelt in the middle of a burning field. His eyes were closed and had a single hand placed on the ground. Despite the flames and heat all around him, Wrath wasn't even sweated. It was his element after all. Heat and anger were always closely associated.

Taking deep breaths, Wrath extended his senses. That was unique gift that his father only bestowed on him. Unlike his other brothers, his sin dealt with one emotion in particular, anger. If he tried, he would spread out his sixth sense and spread out a radar for anyone filled with anger.

It only took a few seconds.

At the center of the field were four people. Agent Z…Two of those heroes…and that half-ghost. Strange. He thought Z killed them, "Why keep them alive? Hmm…Father was right to have me follow him."

For some odd reason, Trigon seemed cautions of the half-ghosts, even the older one. There was something about their toeing of the line between life and death that caught his attention. That and their tendency to ruin plans. Yeah, it was probably that for the most part.

Agent Z was supposed to take care of the youngest halfa. For some reason, he let the boy live. Maybe he wanted to take his time. Maybe he wanted something else. That was yet to be seen. He'd have to wait to make a judgment on that one.

There were other people flying above the field, though. He recognized three of the angers from his fights against the ghosts and Young Justice. That Robin had a kind of explosive anger to him that was hard to copy. The Amazon's anger was there too. It seemed more tuned down than what she had back on Pride's birthday.

Then there were the others. One was Agent Z's son, and the other was probably his other kid. It seemed like Trigon's promise was going to come true. He couldn't interfere until then. But afterwards…

Wrath gave a wide grin, "I'll have some fun turning them against each other."

Brother Blood leaned onto his podium. A deep scowl marred his aged features. His newest recruits were now dressed properly for their new home, but that didn't lighten his mood.

"Are you really still pouting?" Lust questioned as he approached the podium.

"Of course I am," Brother Blood glared at the demi-demon, "Did you expect me to just get over it?"

"I expected you to stop acting like a child about it," Lust scolded the cult leader, "But I guess a man of your talents isn't used to not getting what he wants."

"No, I'm not used to it," Blood sighed and stood upright, "And why are you even here? Shouldn't you be guarding your Gem?"

"I'm here for the same reason you're pretending to put your guard down," Lust stated.

"Tsk, I was going to wait until they got closer," Blood waved his hand. A telepathic blast shot out and smashed into the invisible intruders into the cult church. With loud shouts, the three intruders that were sneaking up on him were sent flying back into the far war. With that done, Blood looked to Lust, "How did you know about them?"

"Father figured at least one ghost would come for Spirit and Pride," Lust rolled up his sleeve to reveal a glowing red brand of a T, "He gave me form of 'ghost sense,' which is why I know that there is one more—oof!"

Before Lust could finish his sentence, Youngblood rammed into Lust and pushed him out of the room, "I'll make this guy tell me where Raven and Spirit are! You handle Brother Blood!"

Brother Blood frowned at the sight, "Hmm…That child might give Lust a challenge. Zatanna, you're the best magic user her. Go help Trigon's son."

The magician quickly followed his commands. She rushed out of the room. Cyborg scowled at the sight, "That might lead to problems for Chuck."

"You should stop worrying about him and worry about yourself," Brother Blood's eyes began to glow once more. The same thing occurred to every cultist in the vicinity, "Kill them my followers."

Nightwing glared at the two people that were approaching the Cube, "What? Not even bothering to sneak up on us?"

"Meh," Sloth rolled his head to the side, "That sounds like too much trouble. It would be a lot easier to make this quick."

"Quick?" Superboy took a deep stance, "You're underestimating us. We completely outnumber you."

"And we completely outclass you," Gluttony gave a small grunt and threw the back of potato chips he was carrying away, "Man, this is going to be great. I can already taste all that energy from here."

"Oi, Teen Justice!" Constantine yelled over to him, "Phantom told me about 'm. Don't let the bloody fatass get too close. If he absorbs our energy, we're completely out of luck."

"Thanks for stating the obvious," Rocket mumbled, "What's our strategy?"

That was a good question. Sloth and Gluttony were hard opponents to face one their own. Together, they might be an unstoppable force. They couldn't get close to them, they couldn't use energy blasts or explosions, and they couldn't focus on one of the demi-demons without the other taking them down.

"Separate them," Nightwing ordered, "It's our only chance. Superboy and Batgirl take Gluttony. Attack from a distance and use anything you can to fight him. Rocket and I will try to take on Sloth."

"The key word is try," Sloth sighed, "Luckily, this won't take a lot of effort."

"We'll see about," Rocket formed an energy bubble around Sloth and moved him away from his brother before Gluttony could absorb the energy.

Gluttony turned to race after his brother, but he was stopped when Superboy chucked a large boulder at him and knocked him away. This worked as Gluttony was sent bouncing away with Superboy and Batgirl on his trail.

"Gee…This seems like a pain," Sloth mentioned. He placed his hand on the bubble holding him. With barely any effort, he shattered the bubble, "Any chance of you giving up?"

"None," Nightwing pulled out his shock batons.

Sloth groaned, "Of course you don't. Bugs always think that biting a giant hurts them. Right up until they get squished without warning, that is."

Amorpho stood off to the side of a large bunker filled with ghosts. Many of them were seated around plain tables covered in small snacks provided by the Lunch Lady. Vision had prepared the bunker for emergencies. Granted, not a lot of emergencies influenced the Ghost Zone, but things like le Fey's attack justified such measures. Of course, the bunker wouldn't do much if Trigon managed to get into the Ghost Zone, but Amorpho assumed that the idea now was to prevent the ghosts from wandering into the human world and get themselves killed.

No one seemed to notice him. That wasn't new. He always blended into the background. It was always his blessing and his curse as well as the greatest talent. Infiltration, investigation, and impersonation were always his talents. Combat on the other hand was his weakest aspect. That was why he was here instead of helping.

…Just like it always seemed to be…

Amorpho clenched his cane so hard that he felt his knuckles were about to crack.

"It's okay, Kitty," Johnny 13 whispered gently to his girlfriend as he slid his leather coat over her shoulders.

Lunch Lady looked up from Box Lunch in her arms, "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," Johnny sighed as he slid next to Kitty's seat, "She's been acting weird lately, but this is the worst I've seen her."

"He's in trouble," Kitty muttered, "He's in so much pain. It's our fault. We should have done better."

"The stress might just be getting to her," Johnny pulled her into a hug.

"I can relate," Lunch Lady's eyes drifted back to the toddler in her arms, "My husband is out there…In danger. I know they need him, but we need him more."

"Well…" Johnny frowned, "It's not like we can do anything now."

"Maybe there is."

Their eyes drifted over to Amorpho, "Huh?"

"Every time there is an emergency, we're either in the way or cowering. I hate it," Amorpho stated, "This affects us too, yet we just hide and let the big wigs take care of our problems."

Kitty seemed to gain a bit of composure of herself, "What can we do? We aren't nearly as strong as them."

"Maybe not, but an army doesn't need to be made of elite warriors," Amorpho noted, "Sometimes, numbers is all that matters."

"How exactly do you plan to get those numbers?" Lunch Lady questioned, "There aren't many ghosts willing to fight."

"I may not have skills fighting myself, but I'm pretty good at getting others to fight," Amorpho's form began to shift to that of Danny Phantom, "You just need to know how to stir people up and point them in the right direction."