JustIce League: The Malignant Uprising

Hell Never Waits

John's blood began to pool at my feet as I stood and stared at the chaos that just occurred. Moans of the wounded rang throughout the smoky air as I looked back down to the five dead heroes. 

Well aren't you something. The cold voice taunted me as my heart stiffened from guilt. My blood raced as it gazed at what I had done. I felt happy and hated myself for it. Father would like this. 

You like this, corrected the hollow whisper. 

I stood still as I peered through the smoke around me. I gave a cough as my ashy hair tumbled over my nose. From what I could see, the soldiers' silhouettes were preparing for the bigger fight: the ending battle with the Justice League. 

I lifted my head high and gave a confident strut as I began to walk out of the plane's smoke. Slow and careful heads turned as they saw what I had done to the dispatched team not so far in the distance. Blood ran down my swords and stained my ankles maroon with each step. The crowd split as I walked between them. I heard whispers. They were talking about how excited they were about my new developments. 

Hear that?  The chilling echoes of the dark voice returned. They like it too.

They like father, not me.

Right, no one will ever like you. 

I felt a sudden burst of anger consume me and I let out an irritated scream. Realizing the mistake, I looked at the large crowd around me. I could feel their distrust from the stares. They suddenly doubted me. They thought I was losing it. 

"Laugh all you want," I said in retaliation, "but I can end the world!" I ended with a sneer on my face as I continued to walk through the crowd, but my stature started to shrink. 

********

The Watchtower

The Young Justice looked at Nightwing for guidance. The silence in the air just made everything more tense and frustrating as everyone stared at the monitor's.

"What do you think will happen?" Spoke Superboy. His question broke the strange silence.

"Heroes always win." Replied Nightwing. His rather quick reply gave way to suspicious glares.

"How powerful are these creeps anyway?" The anxious stares went to Artemis as she walked toward the front of the crowd and crossed her arms. The silence stretched on and on, making everyone more anxious. When Artemis finally replied, everyone's spirits shrank from an eager confidence to something that plagued everyone with nervousness. 

"That bad, huh?"

"From what I understand," Nightwing said with a sigh, "the Complex is much more powerful than what the League has ever dealt with before. They've adapted from the last encounter."

"Last encounter? We all know that from the little information Bats has been telling us that they were bad. But how bad is bad?"

"Oh, come on guys." Impulse zoomed forward. It looked like he was full of nervous laughter. "We're the Young Justice. We've saved the world, like, a bajillion times."

Nightwing's mind prodded at responses again, but he knew that no matter what he did, that they would find out the inevitable truth. 

"But we've never saved the world from something like this. Yeah, we've faced something like that before, fifteen years ago. But now, they actually can and I wish that we just win this one." Nightwing saw the worried looks on the faces of his teammates and said,"Look, I know we can take them. It's gonna be rough, but we-" 

The monitor suddenly gave way to a vile shrieking noise.

Nightwing turned and his eyes widened as he saw a fiery figure emerge from all of the dust and shadows of the battlefield. The figure pointed a hand at the League and the wounded moans gave way to the pitiful shrieks that demanded mercy as giant flames engulfed them. 

Nightwing held his breath as more and more chaos rained on the site. Nightwing felt his stomach drop to something it hadn't in a long time: fear. Because now the white figures struck faster than anything he had ever seen. Before Nightwing could even blink, half of the League was gone. Nightwing clenched his teeth.

"I guess they're worse than bad. " Squeaked Me'gann.

Nightwing faced the team. His face was trying to hide his emotions, but the mask couldn't hide them completely. He led the team to the zeta tubes. "If it's Heaven they want," he stated irritably, "then let's give them Hell."