Chapter 122 : End of the Third army crisis

Author note : Hey ! Here's the last chapter. Frankly, it's not exactly satisfying… Then again, I don't really see how to END a superhero story short of killing him off or making him hang up the cape. Besides, there are still unresolved issues… anyways, hope you'll enjoy !

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Constantine struggled to open the rift up again a second time. It was like something or someone was actively disrupting his efforts from the other side. According to Ned's internal clock, it took Constantine 2 hours, 44 minutes and 21 seconds before it looked like space was opening up again. On the other side, Ned saw Sinestro, as expected, seemingly waiting for the rift's opening, a sole guardian knocked out and kept in a yellow bubble construct. The leader of the Sinestro corps exited the dimensional prison plane, soon followed by other malthusians, wearing an assortment of different clothes. Just with a glance, it was obvious these malthusians weren't 'guardians'.

Another thing that was obvious… At least, to Ned. Sinestro had killed the other guardians. Otherwise, they no doubt would have flocked out of the prison plane. They've been scrambling to get out ever since Volthoom's locked them inside with his former jailers. Speaking of jailers, unlike the blank-faced, cold as ice guardians douchebags, these guys expressed a lot of emotions.

In fact, they looked especially fascinated by Oa and the empty space around them. Ned guessed it was to be expected : these people had been stuck with Volthoom and each other as company for an eternity. He'd be thrilled to see the vast void of space too if that was the case. In fact, he wondered if they were more templars before who were just killed off because they were annoying, or simply decided to off themselves due to depression. It was clear though, that those that were left were crazy. Isolation for an extended period of times played tricks on one's mind, no matter how put together and prepared for it you were. Those people had spent eons in the prison plane, guarding an overpowered nut-bag.

Speaking of nut-bag, Ned looked to the side, in the distance. And yep ! They were still at it. Though it did look like the First Lantern was losing steam. Not that he hadn't done a lot of damage as well. Bodies were floating in space, mostly motionless except for the blasts of energy pushing them back. And those were only the whole ones. Heads, limbs, pieces of flesh like an asteroid field littered the space over Oa. If they were dragged into the planet's orbit and the atmosphere was thin enough, they'd be a blood rain for a few days, tainting the green planet red.

For some reason, Hal Jordan had changed outfit, wearing a all-black suit and sporting a pale, cadaveric skin tone.

« A Black Lantern, huh ? Guess he was killed in battle and used a second life… »

Ned muttered without thinking, his comms open. Batman scolded him :

« This isn't a game ! »

The Dark Knight's growl brought his attention back to his 'team'. He shrugged and said :

« There's a White Lantern over there. I'm sure he'll be able to do something about it… »

If the Black Lanterns were a universal menace with the power to turn the fallen into their members, the White Lantern had the power of life itself. He hadn't read the Blackest Night fiasco, but he was pretty sure the White Lanterns simply reset reality or resurrected everyone who died. That's how bullshit their powers were !

Of course, none of the members of the future Justice League, plus guest stars, knew much about the Lanterns. As for the Black and White Lanterns, they probably knew nothing about them. After the hours spent fighting a god-like entity, the strategists in their group probably had a pretty good idea about their capabilities.

As for Ned ? Watching the fight happening from afar, he felt extremely conflicted once again. On the one hand, he was extremely glad for the arrival of the Black Lanterns as it allowed them all to snap out of Volthoom's modified realities. Alone, he would have never been able to escape. And that was part of the reason why he was conflicted ! He disliked relying on someone else's strength to help save his own hide. Especially if the group or person in question was someone like Black Hand, one of the scourge of the DC universe.

Part of him wanted to rush back into the battle against Volthoom, to lash out, pay him back for rendering him helpless, powerless. However, the First Lantern was no longer holding back. He didn't care to capture them, trap them into dreams or modified realities in order to suck out their emotional energies. No, right now, he simply wanted to kill them all !

It was such a gruesome battle, that soon, most of the close ranged fighters had been replaced, either because they realized it was pointless or simply because they died, by members of the Black Lanterns. You couldn't kill dead people after all. Plus, unlike the living Lanterns, they could use their construct to stitch their bodies back together, making them virtually indestructible, unless the First Lantern disintegrated them, or blew them up in small pieces. Even then, they didn't need all their limbs or organs to continue functioning. As long as they had their ring finger and their head, they would keep on fighting endlessly.

Ned realized once again how truly terrifying this reality was. It was even more terrifying to think that the DC comics were written for kids, teenagers and young adults. Granted, the gore was kept to a minimum, but the implications of large scale fights… Actually, the Man of Steel movie, with the fights between Superman and the Kryptonians, and the last duel between him and Zod showed this pretty well. The destruction of the cities when they were thrown around like human wrecking balls… The panic of the bystanders running for their lives and often failing.

Reality was far from the idealized stories of good versus evil, with good winning in the end. The truth of the matter was that it was a meat grinder, with little regard for the aspirations of the masses. Thankfully, this particular war happened far from Earth… Still, it was a little hard for him to fathom how many lives this conflict had cost.

As he glanced at Sinestro who returned in the fray, Ned nodded in approval at the man's decisiveness. He wasn't for the Death penalty, but in this case, he felt there really was no other choice. Imprisoning them was risky since they were powered. Even with facilities specifically designed to contain them, Metahuman villains often escaped their prison on Earth. Moreover, the Guardians no doubt held a great deal of political power. Political power meant possible allies willing to spring them from their jails, even despite their madness. And then, there was the god old greed ! Ruling the galaxy for eons probably made them wealthy beyond measures. All it would take was a group of money hungry and decently strong bastards with the idea of ransoming their freedom or simply take their wealth… And the Malthusians would find a way to profit from the situation.

Of course, Ned knew that Sinestro had only one thing on his mind at the time : his desire for revenge. He wasn't sure who the man kept alive or why… Perhaps as some sort of bargaining chip ? It didn't really matter in the end. The threat the Guardians represented had passed.

Now, all that was left was Volthoom.

« Enough gawking ! » Batman's cold voice sounded in Ned's head. « I finally have a plan to tilt the fight in our favor. »

Although Ned had his doubts about going against the equivalent of a god, he trusted Batman strategic mind… Somewhat. The man was intense and intimidating and even though he tried to mess with him, he admitted that he was brilliant.

So, when he told Superman to dive into the melee with Steel while the rest of them stayed back to bombard the First Lantern with everything they got, he listened and obeyed.

Soon after that, the battle ended, Nekron himself taking Volthoom's life. Just as Ned thought the battle would resume but with the Black Lanterns as enemies this time, Kyle Rayner saved the day. Channeling his bullshit life giving powers, he brought back Hal Jordan as well as a few others. Nekron decided it would be better to bide his time and left with his forces.