7038/Age of Despair Pt 3: Apokolips

Age of Despair Pt 3: Apokolips
Date of Scene:	26 March 2019
Location:	Watchtower
Synopsis:	Through tremendous sacrifice, blood, sweat and tears, the Justice League was succesful in rescuing Superman from Apokolips! Although he is near death, there is hope he will recover.
Cast of Characters:	Superman, Willow Rosenberg, Constantine, Power Girl, Supergirl, Captain Marvel Jr., Flash, Red Robin, Kaelyn Silverleaf, Hellboy, Mon-El
Tinyplot:	Age of Despair

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Superman has posed:
    The Showdown had come. The Justice League and the Justice League Dark teams utilizing mysticism, BRPD files, super hero energy, determination, spirit, heart and a little spit and polish, had re-opened the portal that had gated Superman somewhere else. Now they knew where - Apokolips!

    Even on the decks of the JL Watchtower, they could spell the brimstone, the ash, the heat and the death in the air. The Fires of Apokolips were perpetually burning, fueled by hate, death, and rage. The rage of the Gods of Apokolips! It was a Land of Despair in this, the new Age of Despair.

    Using the magic of the members of the Justice League Dark, they had pierced that veil in an attempt to rescue the Guardian of Hope himself. Superman. They could see him in the distance, surrounded by darkness, and Darkseid's vilest minions - and most powerful.

    Of course, there was the Parademons, and Kalibak, standing firm with a large, metallic club in his hands. Next came five female Furies, all in armour, with different weapons at their disposal. Gilotina. Lashina. Mad Harriet. Speed Queen. Stompa.

    The enormous drain of power to maintain this bridge to Apokolips required the energy and power of several mystic guardians - Constantine, Hellboy, and Willow, all struggling with the drain, even if they didn't let it show. The spell had had an unforseen effect on them. Those with mystic sight could tell that the anchor was the only thing keeping this portal open. That anchor was none other than Freddy Freeman. Captain Marvel Jr., Pantheon.

    Dozens of Parademons were between the heroes and the chained Superman. Glowing emerald chains were wrapped around him, and Kalibak himself stood beside him, in the way of any hero attempting to free Apokolip's greatest prize.

    Looking closer however, a smaller woman, almost ancient, wizened, with silver hair, in blood red armour, peers around Kalibak holding a syringe. Or was it two syringes? Laughing maniacally, she looks first at the Female Furies, and then at Kalibak. "Hahahahahahaah! I have it! The prize!" Looking at Superman, she points. "Kill him..." then sweeps her free hand towards the heroes, "...kill them all! Darkseid commands it!" Turning to flee up a circular stone staircase, she disappears cackling, "Desaad, Desaad, Desaad...where for art thou, Desaad! Hahahahahaha".

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow's nose crinkles and wrinkles the whole time she's casting and focusing the spell that is allowing her and the others to reach where Superman is being held. It's not really her favourite smell, though she can say it's not the first time she's smelled it.

She has to admit, she really would like to jump in there with the rest and do some pew-pew and pow-pow ... only, you know, mystically so. Only until she knows doing so won't compromise the connection between worlds, she's not giving into that impulse.

Yet. There will be time enough for that.

Constantine has posed:
John feels the drain keenly, but keeps on, a testiment to the depths of power hiden beneath his ragged exterior. His hellhounds set free, he yanks on them with the chain of his will and saying each of their names, commanding them: "Protect the anchor," but he's savvy enough not to point at Freddy.

"Betting the old Bag's the one we really got to worry about," he says keeping his eye on the portal for any who try to crossover and take out Willow, Red or himself. "Steady on!" he calls to them focusing his power back into the portal.

Power Girl has posed:
    Power Girl just literally dragged Supergirl back from rushing headlong into Apokalips to rescue her cousin. She doesn't blame Supergirl for doing that, but POwer Girl is trying to keep a clear head. She sort of berates Supergirl for rushing in because she doesn't want her to get into the same situation as Superman....and she would, since she recognizes the chains on Superman, and why Superman isn't fighting back. Power Girl also did a 'thing'....

She pulled Supergirl back by the cape.

Supergirl has posed:
You don't tug on Supergirl's cape nor rip the mask off the Lone Ranger. It just isn't done. Yet, Power Girl did it.

Only due to the quick thinking of Power Girl does Supergirl not go rushing into the fray. In her mind, it all made sense. Yet as she is yanked back--by the CAPE--by her big sister, Supergirl glares at the blue eyes so similar to her own. "They will get the chains off and..." Her yelling tirade stops as fast as it started because, honestly, getting in there to get those chains off will not be a walk in the park for her teammates. She wasn't thinking rationally. Rao be told, she wasn't thinking, just reacting.

She takes a deep breath and nods, "Alright. Slow and stead--did she just say to kill him?!" All that calm that she just fought to regain is gone again and she is in the air, despite her sister. But she isn't flying in at top speed. She has to maintain enough distance from the Kryptonite to not feel the effects but that doesn't mean she is without her own weapons.

Any of them go near Superman, she will blast the closest one to her cousin with her heat vision in an attempt to blast them from hurting him.

Captain Marvel Jr. has posed:
Freddy is the anchor...which unfortunately means he is pretty immobile, moving toop far would break the link, sending the portal snapping back onto the mystics holding it open, who knows what the consequences of that would be?

Freddy can hold off the Parademons all night, but destroying them is something else. Apanel shows him the chained spirits within each of them and Zonuz delights in telling him how they are created, inhabitants of planets that Darkseid plans to create are kidnapped and let loose in Armaghetto. They are watched and those that survive and are fierce, wicked, and cunning are gathered up and their tissues are cloned with alterations and their minds are twisted into fierceness and loyalty. The cloned tissues are added back into their bodies along with other things, turning them into biological cyborgs. They are then used as the primary shock troops to conquor their own home worlds.

Freddy has compassion for the poor innocents they once were and restrains his power not to destroy...even though he easily could. He does, howeverm surround himself with a mix of mystic fire and lightning, that will make touching him painful and possibly incapaxcitate the parademons...while using his strength to knock back any that grab him and using the energy of any weapons they use against him to help keep the portal open...

Flash has posed:
"What a wonderful smell we've discovered..." Barry says as they pass through the portal from Watchtower to Apokolips with trails of electricity arching out behind him as he runs. "Alright, gotta get those chains!" Having skid to a stop, the energy around him is stilla vibrant field of interlacing threads of orange and gold running around his torso, eyes, and thighs. "Gonna need a little help though.." Said to himself with an idea starting to imerge.

No sooner do the words exit his mouth, that the Flash is running, fast. Not just fast, honestly, but too fast. The kind of fast that defines him, the kind of fast that can get him in trouble. Tiny little cracks as one, then two, then three Barry's begin to appear, running side by side until it's a full on red, gold, and orange tidal wave crashing in the direction of the prone Superman. "Am I ready for this?" Barry says to Barry running beside him, who nods grimly, then nods grimly as he asks himself again, and nods grimly as he asks himself again, three seperate times down the line.

All three are willing to die for the singular purpose of getting, those, chains. If you want to make kryptonite you have to break a few speed limits... or so the speed force eqivilant omelets goes.

Red Robin has posed:
Tim Drake moves in, but instead of rushing towards Supes, or at the villians, he uses a grapple to a higher ledge and zips himself upward. As he does. He throws not one but two pellets, but again not at the villians, tihs time at big blue. The throw is good right into the center of barry's whirlwind, and Superman, the chains, and maybe the Flash as well. The first pellet covering with a fine sticky mist, and then as the second one hits and there is a flash of grey smoke. The smoke sticking to Superman, the chains, and maybe flash some, but the interesting thing about this smoke, it is a fine lead powder, which is now coating most of the kryptonite to protect the other kryptonians, and maybe even protect Supes some.

Kaelyn Silverleaf has posed:
It was a normal day and all, Kae was about to make her monthy trip out to KnowWhere using a translocation spell. Just as she cast it, well there were a few oddities, the portal instead of its normal ripple and seeing Knowhere on the otherside, suddenly 'boomed' into existance, the tunnel looking like concentric rings inside darkness with white on the other side. The other oddity, is well, it simply sucked the red-head artificer/sorceress inside... Kae really only has time to give out a squeek as she's blasted to another planet entiredly, and well there's a second squeek, when said ripple/tube opens up with a dull throng and well, Kae ends up tossed out of the thng and ends up bouncing along the ground on her bum...

She sits there, all sprawled briefly before rolling to the side and grabbing her now tender derrier, and whining "Owwwwwwww......" eyes closed for now as she starts to work her way to her knees, the eyes open and she blinks "Oooooh, ummm this is bad..." She mutters quietly... Now one doesn't go unnarmed to Knowhere and all, and Kae really didn't make that exception, she quickly pulls what looks like a small rune-engraved rod from a pocket, well the rod's like 18 inches long, and how it fit in her jacket pocket is a complete mystery as she gets up and looks around. "WHat in the hell? This place looks soo much like the stuff those Darkseiders invaded with about a year ago!!!"

"Ooh I so bet Im not gonna be popular here..."

Superman has posed:
    Those that exit the portal can see they arrive in what appears to be a giant mausoleum, with a raised platform housing Superman on a metallic table. All around are Parademons, flying, and gliding, waiting for the heroes to arrive. Each of the Female Fueries grin, and shriek their battelcry, looking at the opposition, and laughing, insanely. Brandishing their weapons, they arrange themselves around the upraised platform housing Superman and Kalibak! Behind them, a set of stairs goes up into darkness, heading who knows where.

    The drain of the spell is formidable, and the storm is only beginning. Willow and Constantine sense something...the vestiages of another presence, a mystical presence, hovers outside the mystical area. They can sense someone or something watching, with great interest, tapping into the mystical veil for a peek. Constantine's hounds snort and growl and bark, heading for Pantheon, to protect him as best they can, already snarling at the Parademons.

    Supergirl, stopped by Power Girl was right. Granny did just say to kill Superman! And them all! Several Parademons hovering around Kalibak and Superman hesitate, looking at Kalibak with fear and deferrence. When one of their number bursts into flames, out of the fight, the others howl, and turn to face Supergirl. Ignoring the Kryptonians, and growling, Kalibak raises his adamantine club above his head, and prepares to strike the death blow to Superman!

    A few dozen Parademons, somehow sensing what Pantheon was, try to swarm him almost instantly. Something drew them to him, like a moth to a flame! His tactics are effective, as many scream in agony from touching him, and many more fall before his strength and his new-found energy weapon. However, they seem to be endless in number!

    As the blur that was the Flash heads to Superman, his actions are mirrored by another creature that suddenly appears in his path. Although not quite as fast as him, the Fury known as "Speed Queen" attempts to intercept Flash with a side attack of her own.

    Expecting a Speedster, DeSaad had given her a special gift he said. An injection that made her feel so good! SQ shrieks in joy, as her evil-looking double bladed weapon flashes towards one of the Flashes, hard to tell which one, in the blink of an eye!

    To everyone else, everything was happening so fast. To the Flash, he was watching the slow motion view - Kalibak, raising his weapon...and Tim Drake's throw, the pellets moving ever so slow, like light snow falling in a soft breeze, as they impact with the chains, and everything else in the area, including Kalibak!

    Looking back to where the pellets had come from, the Flash also notices something Tim Drake may have missed...one of the Furies, Lashina, sneaking behind him in the shadows on that ledge, readying her whip for a potentially fatal encounter!

    Kaelyn's arrival shocks a team of six Parademons, who had been flying towards the Vortex. Stopping with a shriek, they turn their attention to her!

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
The drain is real. Sure, Willow is being fed everyone else's magic, and in turn funnelling that to Freddy (it is what is keeping the link between the places open, after all), but even with that boost, and it not all coming from just herself, she can feel herself tiring faster than she would expect. Especially with the help of the others helping power her magic.

"I really hope this doesn't take too long," she mutters, keeping her focus as best she can, pushing Superman's glasses back up her nose to perch there more firmly. "Because it won't matter if we can fight those things if they make it last long enough."

Which is weird, she thinks to herself, this whole drain thing must be what Superman feels around Kryptonite.

The feel of that other presence, when so many other mystical forces are nearby, is an unpleasant niggle on the periphery of her attention.

"John?"

She's not yet noticed the abrupt arrival of Kaelyn on Freddy's side of the equation. Hopefully she'll figure things out on her own, or, you know, find him.

Constantine has posed:
John feels his power flowing away through Willow into the spell. "You and me both," he bites out to his apprentice. He was going to be knackered after this one.

...Povided he survives...

Those parademons rushing for the portal are missed entirely, that dark presense is felt, and draws all of John's attention. "Yeah, I feel it too. Hold the door a sec, yeah?"

He draws some of his own power back into himself and out into a spell: â??Five elements of the earth, I respect and invoke thee. From the six directions, converge here. Lift all concealments. Reveal thy truth.â??

The flowery words are followed by a bitten off curse, "C'mon you bastard, where are you hiding!"

Power Girl has posed:
    Power Girl might've held Supergirl back, but she now lets the youth go. "Looks like they've done a bit of upgrading since their failure a year ago." She then uses her eye lasers to lop the arm off of a parademon. "No holding back." She says to Supergirl as she flies off, starting to knock Parademons this way and that....even pointedly throwing a few towards Kalibak, and a few of the nearby Furies. She even grabs one of the Parademon's 'spears'...and starts to use that as a weapon for herself.

When this is what you were created for, you go all out.

Supergirl has posed:
The glow from the chains seems to be less than it was. Supergirl can see there is something coating them, thanks to her vision being enhanced. She doesn't have time to figure out what it is but she does have time to do what she started to do in the first place. She may regret it.

She is gone in a streak of blue and red, making sure to get a bit above the battle field. There is a BOOM as she breaks the sound barrier. Her target is Kalibak! She is trying to slam into him full force, center body mass, while grabbing that club so that it won't fall onto Superman. The force of the impact, if this works, should get them clear of the Kryptonite's effects.

Rao willing, that is. She sends up a prayer as she streaks toward her target.

Captain Marvel Jr. has posed:
Freddy is not worried about the number of enemies. Both S'ivaa and Zonuz took everything this planet could throw against them...and are proudly telling him so. He does not let it distract him, overconfidence is likely to get him killed. He DOES note the arrival of someone else nearby and the parademons who divert towards her. That is not likely o be good news for that person, whoever they are. Freddy Calls on the fires of H'ronmeer and breathes out of cone of flame at the six Parademons...they are likely immune but it should get their attention.

That is part of his job here, to keep as much attention as possible on him. He is able to withstand the powers of Apokalypse, oddly enough better than just about any other planet in the galaxy. Only here and New Genesis have weapons that focus the power of the Source, weapons whose energy he can easily absorb and use.

Watching Flash and the Kryptonians act does make him momentarily envy Billy the Speed of Mercury. There are times being able to act faster than the eye can follow would be usful...

Flash has posed:
The problem with breaking the laws of the Speed Force is not terribly unlike that of breaking the laws of magic: It comes with a punishment. Each of the duplicate Barry's is as keenly aware of the dangers they now face as they are, by all stretches of the imagination, exactly that: Barry Allen. That doesn't mean they drew straws beforehand to decide which of them were willing to die and after a few minutes barely remember which was the original since the process isn't an exact science.

It can get kind of dicey in that way.

The Flash sees Speed Queen in her just slightly slower form and one of the three versions of him does his very best to duck beneath the swing of that wicked looking bladed weapon. His back archs so, his body tries to twist, but he's a milisecond too slow and a milimeter away from keeping out of harms way. The Speedsters red clad, headless, body errupts out of the electricity like a bullet and smashes against the base of the collumn upon which Superman lays and Kalibak is slowly raising his weapont o kill the Man of Steel.

Two Barry's remain and they're still no closer to those chains than they were before one of them is killed. "Robin!" Barry #1 shouts, pointing in the direction of a creeping creepster, hoping that the sound isn't like a sonic boom while moving at such speeds.

Hard to tell.

But the two Barry's start running in different directions to one another, both sending up dust and electricity behind them until they come together at the appex of their circum-navigation of the room. #1 grabs #2's arm and spins, hurtling a duplicate with the full force of BOTH speedsters top speed (in this inclosed environment anyways) towards Superman and upon the monolth. The one left behind stumbles and crashes and goes into a series of rolls that leaves him all but prone and panting for breath.

Red Robin has posed:
Tim Drake will turn to see the lash coming from the warning of the speedster. The body flying shocks him, but time to deal with that later. His staff comes up just in time to try to block Lashina's whiping cloth "Well, hello, if you wanted to dance, you just had to ask." he says and will try to swing towards her to get inside her reach.

Hellboy has posed:
    The Samaritan was in its holster, waiting to be unleashed at the right time, but for now with the sky filled with flying skittering litle creatures(Maybe not 'little' compared to people, Hellboy probably had a few inches on them.)? HB reached into his shoulder-holster, pulling out the 500 Magnum and firing off shots that sounded something like thunder traveling through an exploding car engine. Smaller than the Samaritan, these were still powerful shots aimed for the center mass of alien monstrosities even as Hellboy ran across the ground of this world with a snarl on his face. Truth be told, he had no place trying to perform magic alongside actual professionals like Constantine and Willow. His place was out here.

    Now, leaping through the air, he threw a big, wild haymaker against one of the armored women, his Red Right Hand pulsing with yellow light and energy every so often. It knew how serious a fight like this was, it knew what was on the line.

    "HRAAAAGH!", Hellboy spoke to the punched woman cleverly as a retort.

Kaelyn Silverleaf has posed:
Kae has just enough time to emit another squeek when she sees several parademons coming at her. "Oooh, not you guys agaiiin! I thought..." She doesn't get to speak, when her magical barriers are slammed into by one of said demons, who gives an odd look of angry confusion at the fact that suddenly there's now a very real magical field between its target andwell its self... It even makes another look when Kae raises her rod. A head tilt by both and suddenly a blast of eldrich energy explodes from the end of the rod with the force of an anti-tank missile.

Kae then turns, and starts heading towards others she sees, running as best she can as she digs through her pockets.

Her barrier is impacted again, this time as she's shot at, and the sorceress trips, or maybe goes into a tumble, who knows, but as she pops up, she flings a handfull of small baubles at trailing demons. As some get close they suddenly glow and expand into large bronze-colored magically heavily reinforced nets, others, turn into tiny short-range portals, who's end points point directly at each other, or even at a wall or the ground... Still another couple turn into either a giant flying anvil racing toward a parademon, or even in one case a giant hammer...

Kae pauses and blinks "Wondered what I did with those.." She then shrugs and starts running away again.

While running, Kae tugs what looks like a miniature broom out with her now free hand, and gives it a shake, the thing glows briefly and snaps to a full sized broom, complete with foot stirrups and the woman hops onto the thing as she begins flying in the direction of other 'earthlings' she's seeing, while she's turning and firing bolts of energy at any trailing parademons.. "I don't like these, they're scary, I don't like em I don't like em" *zap* "I realy don't like them" Another zap follows as bolts of blue energy fly from the woman on the broom.

Mon-El has posed:
    Since no one has tried to pull him back like Power Girl did to Supergirl earlier, Lar simply made a beeline for the stone pedestal where Kalibak is about to deal a finishing blow. Why they waited until now to try that if they were planning on it all along is a question for another time.

    There's a flash of red and blue, and he sees that Kara has the executioner handled for now, so he goes straight for the chains, lead powder or not, and tries the first thing that comes to mind which is simply rip them to shreds. Hopefully, that serum XY-4 that he has come to rely on in order to survive on Earth and many other planets will do its job here just as it always has. Of course, there's always a risk that for some reason it won't work, but where Superman is concerned, that's not going to stop him. After all Kal can just put him back in the Phantom Zone again right....? Not that it would be...preferable.

    Also he -really- hopes the chains aren't magical too because magic sucks.

Superman has posed:
    It was like a seductive whisper on the wind, a warm summer breeze, the smell of fresh roses in the garden, a cool glass of water on a hot day...the presence that was near her. "Just let go, and you will have the power you need to save your friends. Let me in, and all of your worries will be gone. Just say yes, and all the power you will need will be there. You don't want them all to die, do you?" Willow can feel the portal pulling her in.

    Then, Constantine does his thing, which weakens the portal, reducing their timeline - and with a hiss, a feminine form is revealed, all in shadows, and all the seductive smells turn a bit sour. "Hissssss. Ah, Johnnie boy, Johnnie boy. I am not here for you. I am here for her. Such a luscious glow, all power and need and want...she is open for the taking, and you can't stop me. A Dark Willow can be born today..." the talons at the end of her hands reach for Willow. Distraction would be bad here. "...just give in."

    As Power Girl starts to wade into the Armies of Apokolips, they storm towards her and Supergirl, trying to stop them from getting to their goal. Their smells and shrieks were maddeningly loud, almost preventing any verbal communcation from happening. After putting down a Parademon hard, PG notices Gilotina pointing her blade at her, and then charging her at full speed! Raising her blade for a killing stroke, she aims it at Power Girl's neck!

    Supergirl's single-minded devotion to Superman was incredible. It was truly a sight to behold! As she streaks towards Kalibak, her speed allows her to see something just out of the corner of her peripheral vision. A very large woman, who attempts to attack her, but just missed kicking her as Supergirl sped towards Superman. A loud, "crack-boom" happens where she was a few moments ago, and the ground shakes throughout the whole mausoleum. Stompa shrieks in frustration at the departing Girl of Steel!

    Freddy does indeed noticed the arrival of someone else. Someone who was not a member of the team. As it was, six Parademons were heading to kill her, and more on their way. When Freddy uses the flames, it brings those Parademons up shirt, shrieking at him. Confused, they decide wheteher or not to attack him, or Kaelyn! However, it was soon obvious, that she could take care of herself! As more swarm towards her, she gives much better than she gets!

    Speed Queen shrieks in victory, having killed the Flash, and then stops moving as fast as she was, confused for a moment. "A trick!" Now three steps behind the speedster, she turns and heads back towards the Flash, who was now, or at least one of him, was right there with Superman and the mess that was coating the chains!

    Lashina grins at Tim Drake, a predator's grin. "Ah. You must be the little Bat. I heard Robin called out. Well well. I guess I will have to settle. Let's see what you have!" When Tim swings at her, she uses her lashes, to attempt to enfold his staff further, as they begin the dance. She blocks, he parries, and it goes on. Neither getting one up on the other. "I'm impressed. Not bad...for a boy-child! If you were a girl, I would train you myself as a Fury. If you could survive." Another strike towards Tim.

    Every round Hellboy fires ends the "life" of a Parademon. However, for everyone that falls from the sky, three more takes its place. Leaping down, and towards that "armored woman", the last of the Furies was none other than "Mad Harriet". Cackling in glee as the blow struck home, she turned head over heels until hitting the ground hard. Wiping the blood from her lip, she looks up at Hellboy and says, "Hahahaah! Love taps! You should be on our side Demon Prince! Hahaha. Come, let us make more "love!" With that, she brandishes her claws, made entirely of dark energy, and leaps at him!

Superman has posed:
R
    As Supergirl and Mon-El both streak towards Superman, Kalibak hesitates for a much needed moment when he sees the body of one of the Flashes impact the platform nearby. Then, the loud "BOOM!" from Supergirl breaking the sound barrier, followed by a loud, "CRACK" as she strikes Kalibak with her full force. Forced to drop his weapon at the "scene of the crime" into Supergirl's hands, Kalibak and Supergirl plunge into the stairwell right behind the platform! The crumbling masonry bury both of them under a ton of debris.

    The serum works for now against the lead, but try as he might, something was preventing him from breaking the chains. Some of the lead wear off onto his hands, and the eerie green glow of the Kryptonite under the lead starts is seen once more. You can hear Superman groan...he was still alive! It was obvious to the newly arrived Flash's and Mon-El's eyes though, that it wasn't good. His flesh was pale, and had a green tinge to it. There were also two puncture marks in his neck.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Oh, the siren's call of it all. It's likely a *really* good thing John isn't aware of what's going on in Willow's brain, or he might not have tried to step back from the link enough to locate and deal with the other threat - a threat that seems to have been waiting specifically for him! (How do they know how to do that, anyway??)

Leaving Willow chewing at her lower lip and in a quandry: The link needs power. Is she even adequate to it, to hold it alone (so to speak) when John pulls away.

Really, someone got a two-for-one right there in blows to the party.

There's a waver and a sway to Willow's resolve. She can feel it. Oh gosh, can she feel it. It's the answer, right? If she /just/ reaches out and takes it, she could fix all this, couldn't she?

Willow closes her eyes and searches inward for answers - and power.

But what answers, or power will she find?

Constantine has posed:
John growls as the creature makes its move towards Willow. "Don't you dare!" he shouts at the creature. "You can't have her!" He wasn't going to lose another one.

He digs inward and deep to the reserves of his own power, an great pool of magic walled up deep behind layers of self-loathing. Grabbing hold he channels it not at the demon but at Willow a counterpoint to the demon's lure., saying: "Don't listen to her, Will, it's nothing but bollox, those gifts, they don't save not in the long run, they just hurt everyone around you. I know, so trust me," he says holding out his hand. "Don't listen, think of your friends, they know you're better than this. /You/ know they're better that. Let's get this done and bring Big Blue home!"

Power Girl has posed:
    Power Girl is still tearing into the Parademons....being a huge distraction to them as everyone else works their magic. Power Girl has no compunctions of killing these Parademons either. Lasers through the face, spear cutting heads off.....and more.

Supergirl has posed:
That didn't go precisely as planned. Supergirl found herself holding the weapon in one hand. She managed to get Kalibak away from Superman before he could give the killing blow. Yet here she was, buried under a lot of rubble and seeing only darkness.
    "Darnit." Oh if Superman could hear her now! She starts to draw on her powers.

Above her, the rock and debris begin to shift. Smaller rocks are sent falling down the pile. Then larger. A vibration seems to have begun then a moment later, Supergirl explodes out of the debris and into the sky! Holding the club in one hand, she thuds the business end into her other open palm. Her eyes fall on Stompa. "You tried to step on me!" And she comes in like it's time to hit a homerun--and Stompa's head is the ball.

Captain Marvel Jr. has posed:
Freddy is in a quandry. HE could break the chains, he is certain of that, but he can not move far enough from the portal to do so without possibly breaking the link back to Earth and perhaps stranding everyone else here. For now, he will have to count on the others finding a way, his acting in this case is literally a last resort. He continues to feed power to help sustain the portal, but the parademons have realized their standard weapons are ineffective and havve started gathering large pieces of stone and throwing them down at Pantheon from a height. Not a real threat, but no more outside power either. That means he has to use his own energes to help sustain the portal. He casually swats aside the stones while starting to actually feel the drain of holding the portal. This is probably the most effort he has had to sustain...well at least since facing the Enchantress. He may have trouble keeping up everything at once, and starts deciding what he will sacrifice first to sustain the portal.

Flash has posed:
Can't take eyes off Flash, even if fast enough to actually see him moving. There are two of him yet and while one of them is up upon the dias with Superman and Kalibak, the other is regaining his footing to resume running. This time that track takes him on a crash course with Speed Queen, leaping into each thrown strike, throwing dozens of punches and then whipping off to get speed for another broadside like assault. Meanwhile, his duplicate, is watching chaos errupt all around him. "Hey, Supes, how's it going buddy." Barry ducks as Supergirl, then Mon-El come in to play patty cake with Kalibak's face. He turns just a little to watch Kara tumble away into rubble with a small grimace.

"Hold on, pal. Going to do something about these chains... going to /try/ and do something about these chains. Don't bite me or turn into Dracula.. or freakin Voldimort. Magic, man." Both hands grab hold of some of the chain and begin vibrating, trying to phase it along with him, so that he can unravel the Man of Steel from his kryptonitian prison barge. "If this hurts, try to remember the time I brought you cupcakes? No. Voldimorting." Pause, "Or Dracula. Neither of those work for me."

Red Robin has posed:
Tim Drake will smile a bit. Is the young man enjoying this a bit, perhaps. He will look t her, and says "Now, see I could never work for you, fair hiring practices and al is very important, and discriminating because of gender? Thats like so 90s." He will tell her. He does not mention that he was trained by probably the most dangerous woman on earth Lady Shiva. He will move to fake a thrust, to try to get her to attack it, and move in to hand to hand range on her.

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy stood there looking at the hyperactive green-haired woman, and just for giggles he squeezed off his fifth and final round at the woman who he assumed was bullet proof, judging by how she reacted to his haymaker. As chaos raged all around them, the big man just stood there a moment to adjust his trenchcoat and quickly shove that revolver into one of his pockets, before spitting on the very ground between him and his opponent.

    "Sorry, toots, it would never work out between us. Not much of a rave guy."

    With that said he broke into a run(or at his size, a 'husky kid jog' so that he could throw that stone-fist again, this time in a wild blinding uppercut aimed at the woman's chin. If it connected(if), she'd probably get her frequent flyer miles.

Kaelyn Silverleaf has posed:
Kae doesn't pay attention much to what's going on behind, having thrown stuff in the way of parademons and all, she's now zipping toward where it seems most of the earth-type folks are. As she gets closer she sees Hellboy engaging with well someone.... Kae frowns and dips her broom down, before calling out to the 'Demon Prince'. "Backup's here! Oh, duck!" She calls out and unleashes several eldrich bolts, these lancing out from her wand, and well arcing and changing directions to try and impact the Furrie engaging HB. Each blast should they hit or just detonate on something else strikes like a massive hammer blow.

A concussive wave from each bolt expoding is quite visible as it picks up and washes away debris as they swirl away from the bolt's impact points several yards. Kae turns around again starting to unleash harrying attacks at the Furry, unleashing the occasional bolt, or whip-like energy at the furrie whenever she has a clear shot so as not to hit HB.

As she passes closer to Hellboy, Kae tosses an object to him. "Use that on her, it's a weapon! Ya might like it!" She says with a grin, as the object goes from being tiny to a rather large two-handed warhammer, at least well to a human, to Hellboy? It might be just a one-handed weapon, but it definately glows like it's special.

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar curses under his breath. Of course they had to be magical! Ugh, why can't anything be easy these days! He eyes the stairwell where Kara and Kalibak have gone, looking slightly concerned for his ex for a moment but then deciding she can handle herself well enough. A bunch of rocks would just tickle. It's Kal he should really be worried about! The Man of Steel really doesn't look good at all.

    Hmmm....he watches as the Flash attempts to phase the chains. Then an eldritch blast whizzes past his head. He looks up and grins upon seeing Kaelyn. She always seems to show up unexpectedly at the times she is most needed.

    Whizzing over to her, he levels a laser blast or two at some of the parademons she is trading blows with. "Well you seem to have a habit of showing up at the most convenient of times." he remarks with a chuckle. "I just checked out those chains holding Superman over there, but given even I can't seem to break them, I'm figuring they're under some kind of spell. I know you're busy, but maybe we can trade jobs?"

Superman has posed:
    The draw to the portal is becoming harder and harder to maintain. The distraction was enormous. It was also becoming painful. The seductive siren call from the creature was very tempting. Willow was just about to give in, when the creature's cry of triumph turns into rage as Constantine gets involved. Burning through that energy reserve was going to cost him! It did reveal that the creature was barely human. If at all. A Demon Princess? Something Darker? She looks like the Enchantress, but different? The power radiating off her was familiar, darkness and electricity. "Give into me my Dark Willow...give in...say "yes" and it is done."

    Many of the heroes were making their way through the Parademon ranks, like Power Girl, and Pantheon. Their post was at the portal, preventing anything from getting through to attack John and Willow. They were doing a helluva job! However, the drain was starting to effect Pantheon a lot. He was holding up more than his fair share, as the distractions at the other end come to a head! Pantheon felt the portal starting to close, drawing him back into it. Willpower was now the key.

    Kalibak was out of the fight, and soon, so was Stompa! As Kalibak's, now Supergirl's club strikes Stompa between the eyes, it sends her tumbling through a horde of Parademons, and into the opposite wall, for a ten count!

    The Speed Queen wasn't as fast as Barry, and began to feel the effects of the drug that DeSaad had given her. Getting tired, and trying to maneuver around falling debris from Supergirl's exit from the wall, she walks right into the Flash's broadside assault. That, combined with the rubble from the wall, takes her out of the fight with a "CRUNCH"!

    Flash feels something go wrong right away. A trap. The vibrating to phase the chains off Superman seems to be working, but Flash can feel a dark "electricity" start to course through the speed force. Something "dark" was coming for the Flash. Mon-El can tell something was wrong too with his Daxamite vision, but for the moment.

    Tim's movements were good, and Lashina was cocky. She falls for his thrust at the exact moment Supergirl bursts from the wall, causing everything to shake, and Lashina to lose her balance. Just for a split second. Tim was in hand to hand range right at that moment!

    Hellboy's shot impacts with the woman's skin, and she grunts. "Hahahaha! Nice! I like it rough." She grins, and circles towards him, motioning the Parademons away. When he charges, she is off-footed, not expecting that. As he launches his fist at Mad Harriet, Kaelyn zooms in from the opposite direction. The fist strikes, forcing her face and body right into the eldritch bolts, and even her Apokoliptian skin couldn't withstand that, as she crumples to the ground.

    As the Flash starts to vibrate the chains off Superman, Flash has a choice. Let the trap play out, and free Superman, or stop. Perhaps Mon-El's plan with Kaelyn as backup may work. AT this distance though, did the Flash hear Mon-El's plan? Time is of the essence, because anyone with super-hearing could tell...Superman's heart beat was slowing almost to a standstill.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
It's all angel on one shoulder, devil on the other, and they both have legitimate points as far as Willow was concerned.

Suuuuure, there was the voice of Darkness and all that entailed, but really, wasn't that always something she already felt within? You couldn't just put power where it wasn't, right? Right? So how bad would it be to let herself come into herself?

But John had a point, too. Oh gosh, what to think? If she gave into the draw of that power, what would it mean? That /John/ was counselling against was quite possibly a big red flag she was walking into dangerous territory.

Then again.. who was John to tell her no? Maybe he was just trying to keep her from becoming more powerful. Maybe he was afraid of her surpassing him. Maybe she'd not been insignificant all along and everyone had just been keeping her held back from her true greatness because they were afraid!

Everyone! John. Giles. Buffy. Dawn. Sam... a whole litany of people trying to mold Willow into their own images of her, leaving her confused and insecure at the worst of times.

Like now. What was she supposed to do? Her friends needed her, and they weren't going to have enough power if she didn't do something.. didn't find some well of reserves..

And there was that juicy pool of power just waiting for her...

Constantine has posed:
John sags as his power rushes out of him, but he keeps his feet.

"Ugly one aren't you?" he says to the demon princess. "Got a name?"

He coughs, sagging a little further, but he manages to straighten, grabbing Willow's arm. "Look at her Willow, that who you want to side with? I know, can't judge a book by its cover but that don't work with demons, it's like that old saw in our Art, 'as within so without'," he says to her, reaching into himself to draw on what scraps of power he had left. It would kill him to use it but he hoped, it would be enough to set both him and Willow alight if it came down to it. Better dead than dark. Still he talked hoping it would be enough: "Can't best her Willow, not right now, but you can, trust yourself, be you, not what she wants you to be and kick her bloody arse. You're a same as the rest of this lot, don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Power Girl has posed:
    Power Girl is definitely holding up her end of the bargain all right. Despite the Parademons swarming her, Power Girl continues to fight. One Parademon is punched out of the stadium as she's fighting off all of these Parademons.

Red Robin has posed:
Tim Drake will pull Lashina into a waltz dance move that is ment to through her totaly off as it is not a normal fight move. The hand on her back will plant the handle of one of his grapples in her belts, and with two taps the grapple soots actoss the field to latch onto an outcropping of stone and the second click sends Lashina wizzing away towards said outcropping. He will wave a good bye to her before back flipping from the ledge to land on the back of one of the flying parademons.

Supergirl has posed:
Now that she is without someone to smash, Supergirl floats down next to Superman. She sees his color. She remembers being there and he saved her. A glance to Lar then back to her cousin. "Kal? We're here. We're taking you home, okay? I know a really nice beach where you can soak up some of that lovely sun." She did it during her recovery from Kryptonite poisoning. She just hopes he makes it and will be able to do the same.

Carefully, she slips her arms under him, one below his knees, the other below his back. "I've got you, little cousin. They won't hurt you again." And somewhere inside her, something dangerous is born. Apokolips wil pay for this. They will pay dearly. Then she is rising into the air, screaming out for everyone that might hear. "Get back to the portal! Everyone out!"

Captain Marvel Jr. has posed:
Freddy needs to hold the portal, actually he knows an option he could use, but the consequences are incalculable. He is not about to use the combination of the Fires of H'ronmeer and the Source Manipulation of Zonuz to drain the energy of the nearby firepit. He could do it....but giving that much power to Zonuz by channeling the energy with his power might well set free the most Evil of the Gods of Apokalypse again. Some things are simply not worth it.

If there is one thing Freddy is, it is stubborn, he will keep the portal open until he drops, or Superman is brought out (whichever comes first). He divets the power of the Fires of H'ronmeer to feed the portal, leaving his electrical shield intact for now. Fire is not really all that effective against parademons anyway. The Electical energies will probably need to be diverted before long though. After that he will have to figure out what else to sacrifice...

Flash has posed:
"In for a penny, in for a pound." Barry says with the kind of finality only the truly heroic can muster. Suffice to say, Barry made his decision long before the decision was presented to him, "Supes, buddy, I got you. One last time into the breach." The Flash's hands vibrate harder and yank the chains free, trap or no, the defining characteristic is his willingness to run head on into any challenge regardless of the danger. Bravery, beyond all other qualities, is what so completely defines Barry Allen.

The other Flash in mid brawl with Speed Queen leaps back meer fractions of a second before he too is crushed by the falling debries, "Whoa!" Skittering a little backwards, then up to his feet with a glance in Barry's direction up on the dias, "Something's wrong..."

That something presents itself almost instantly in the form of a howling death eaten black clad Flash with a sallow flesh, hollow sightless eyes, and tattered clothing flying at speed towards the Flash standing upon the dias. He turns, startled, at it's sudden appearance until a voice from down in the field snaps him out of it, "RUN!"

It was the other Flash, one of the duplicates. Barry turns and streaks away, chains carried with him, with the Black Flash fast upon his heels.

Can he escape?

The answer is no.

But he'll run until he can't anymore and get those chains as far away from Superman as he can before fate finally proves faster than than him.

Hellboy has posed:
    The green-haired lunatic went down, Hellboy looking down at the crumpled form a bit quizzically, before looking up at Kaelyn.

    "Uhh...thanks."

    If there was no immediate obstacles, Hellboy with warhammer in hand would rush over to where the Flash was attempting to free the Blue Boyscout. Without any clever words or retorts, Hellboy tossed the hammer to his off-hand while his Right Hand Of Doom grabbed the shackles that Flash wasn't super-speeding. Wrapping the glowing green metal around his hand a few dozen times, he used all his strength..and started pulling. If they were trapped? He kept pulling. If they caused untold agony? He kept pulling. If he saw the face of Darkseid himself coming toward him?

    He'd just keep pulling, until something gave.

Kaelyn Silverleaf has posed:
Kae gives a salute toward HB and glances toward folks holding onto Superman... Kae tilts her head and flies in that direction, whilst pulling some things from her pockets. She blinks again, then waves her hand, a ripple appearing and she kind of flits from onee spot to a giant jump forward to try and get out in front of Supes and supergirl. As she gets close she reveals a couple bottles, they're glowing blue, some green, the liquid is clear though... She then smiles and says "Lets get him this stuff, it'll help his recovery." She says and grins a bit. "Soon as we get these on and in him, I think maybe I can open a gateway back to that portal, least if I can, if not well, y'all are the heavy hitters, put Supes on my broom and I'll fly him back.." She offers, before she glances around again, then proceeds to try and get supes to injest the glowing blue liquid, while the green stuff floats up and well, unceremoniously starts dumping its self on em...

"From what I understand about Kryptonian physiology, if I can get the stuff that's not supposed to be there out, the potions and yer own healing factor should take over right?" She asks curiously... "That and magic works really really good on y'all, so anyhow, I assume healing magics would help too?" She says and then ummms "Sooo who's all for me trying to open us a pathway to the way out of here? I think I have a little left in the tank."

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar had barely finished asking Kae to see about those chains when the Flash succeeds in his attempts to phase the chains. "Never mind!" he suddenly says, practically interrupting himself. The other priority was getting Kal to safety, but it looks like Kara already has that part handled, which doesn't come as a surprise.

    Which leaves that creepy zombie Flash, whom the real Flash might be struggling to get away from. "Everyone get back to the portal, I'll hold them off!" He zooms after Black Flash, aiming those classic eye lasers at the monstrosity's back as soon as he's in range.

Superman has posed:
    The battle between dark and light was happening on both ends of the portal, which was now starting to close. Willow, John and Pantheon could all feel it. They might have a couple of minutes at best. The power drain was enormous. The "Seductress" simply smiles at John, and says, "Oh, no names. Names have power. This June girl's body is a nice place to play though. Now she has power. She could help you Willow...stop what's coming. This is just the start you know."

    Power Girl was doing just that. Keeping the Parademons from getting behind her. Although Gilotina had attempted to strike Power Girl, she was distracted by Stompa flying past her. Looking around the battlefield, she decidees discretion is the better part of valor, and disappears into the smoke.

    Next, Tim Drake sends Lashina off to impact with the putcropping with a cry of rage, and a "CRUNCH" as she goes unconscious, hanging there by grapple before crashing to the far ground. Another one out of the fight.

    As Supergirl cradles Superman in her arms, his eyes flutter for a moment, he looks at her, and smiles. Then falls into a deep sleep. Parademons try and get in her way to prevent her escape, but they are not match for the rage of a Kryptonian! As she approaches, Supergirl can see Freddy's expression of concentration. With Freddy's last bit of power, the portal will stay open for a little bit longer...is it enough time?

    Flash's sacrifice was monumental in saving Superman. The trap was set, and sprung, as the being chasing the Flash screams at the Speedster's past...or was it future...self. The Kryptonite chains were far away from the Kryptonians now, and that "Flash" was now running for his life. "Run Barry Run". The remaining shackles were quickly taken care of by Hellboy.

    Kaelyn's attempts at healing may have worked, it was hard to tell. All attempts couldn't hurt, however, and if Superman was awake, he would probably appreciate it.

    Mon-El's attack on the Black Flash was only partially successful. His heat vision simply passes through the phasing creature, but it does slow him down, giving the "Flash" more time, and just long enough for him to look back at Mon-El...and smile? Or what seems like a smile. Then, his attention was back towards the fleeing Flash double. That was when everyone heard from Supergirl! "Get back to the portal! Everyone out!"

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Maybe it's the voice of reason, or the edge of fear in John's voice. Or perhaps it's even the grasp of his fingers upon her arm. While she has no idea what he intends, gathering power such as he is, preparing to burn them both if she stumbles and falls into the darkness, his words strike a note within the core of her.

The note might be muffled by that siren's call, and her own desires and wishes to say yes, but she hears that note and it's just enough for now.

"Of course," she says, blinking absently at John before shaking her head and pulling herself back together with a sharp yank of focus and redirection of focus, leaving the path safe for her friends to return home.

She hears the words of the Seductress, though, and they form a melody around John's singular clear note in her head. Together, the song haunts her. But as he says, there will be time, again. Today is not the day.

Captain Marvel Jr. has posed:
Freddy focuses the lightning imto maintaining the portal. Next would have to be poldness, he decided, if he needed more power for the portal...the portal is held on his part by the power of Zonuz, he has to keep that. He needs the Compassion of Apanel to control Zonuz, so he has to keep that also. He needs the strength of S'ivaa to fight off the Parademon attacks...so Ate's power it will have to be. He realizes the others are returning and adds more power to the matrix...just a bit more...

Red Robin has posed:
Tim Drake will work on the parademon's jetpack. He aims the parademon towards there the black flash should be, and himself with the jetpack, will heads towards one of the Barrys. To offer him a hand and ability to fly towards the portal hopefully out range of the death.

Constantine has posed:
John knew what he faced and he knew it's name but to hear it from their own lips would have given him power over her. It had been a long shot and one that hadn't paid off.

When Willow relents, he gives the Enchantress a smile: "Nice, try, but sod off before our friends get back, it's your only warning."

It was a bluff, but hell, it might just work. He tightens his grip though on Willow's arm, whispering, "I've got you, we'll get out of this just fine."

That was a bit of a bluff as well, he still held fast to his power ready to do what he had to.

Power Girl has posed:
    "COME ON, K-....SUPERGIRL!" Power Girl nearly blurts out Supergirl's name as she decks a Parademon into the distance. She looks to Gilotina as she runs and smiles a bit. She had her own way to contribute with the Parademons. Once everyone was through the portal, she'd slide through as well....and sigh. "That was not fun." She says looking to Hellboy. "And thank you for helping, Big Red." Apparently...Hellboy has earned a nickname from Power Girl.

Supergirl has posed:
"Thank you but I will carry him," Supergirl says to Kaelyn, not as gently as she might have in other times. She does give a tight smile and a nod as Kaelyn plies her magic to try and help stabilize and heal Superman. "If you can help port the others that are not fliers or speedsters to the portal over there, we need to get through it before it closes." She nods toward the portal where Pantheon is holding down the fort with his presence.

A moment later, she is gone in a streak although she doesn't break the sound barrier this time. Instead, she dashes through the portal.

Flash has posed:
"God speed, Flash." Flash says to his double as he runs from death in a race he cannot win. The remaining Scarlet Speedster looks around the battlefield with a growing frown and then in a crackle of electricity, rushes towards Tim flying upon the Parademons jetpack and motions for him to hop on. "I'm way faster than that thing, buddy. Let's get the H. out of H. Five by five, my dude."

Because that Black Flash, stalled as he may be in chasing his duplicate, might suddenly decide to turn around and take another Barry sacrifice instead. Never any telling when it comes to how things will play out when he monkeys around with time.

Flash continues running, one step, three steps, four or five steps ahead of the tattered dark image of death chasing him. More so as a parademon is suddenly the spectres path, which errupts in glorious gorious detail as it simply phases straight through.

Tim and Barry exit the portal and skid to a stop, sweat pouring down across the Speedsters face from so much exercision. He bends forward and plants his hands upon his knees for a second, and turns just enough to watch the portal close. "I want to go on record here... you guys are freakin' amazing." Motioning around at the magic users, witches, warlocks, and big red rock armed Hellboys, "All of you. Aces in my book. Does someone have a candy bar? I'm starving..."

Because of course he's thinking about food.

Hellboy has posed:
    Once others grabbed the Man Of Steel, Hellboy threw the weird shackles aside and made for the portal like everyone else, though as he ran, just like the world's deadliest flower girl he was chucking out a number of concussive and frag grenades on either side of the party, chucking them HARD with super strength toward flying groups of Parademons and the rare few on the ground. They cost a pretty penny, but it was worth it to rescue Superman, right?

    Once through and back on the Watchtower, HB stood up to his hooves, patting Apokalyptic dust off of his coat, clothes and skin. He didn't seem very amused by this, but when he looked up to Power Girl, he gave a nod.

    "Not sure if it was wholly needed considering the company we're keeping. But you're welcome. Letting a guy like Superman wind up in a lousy place like that? That didn't sit right with me."

Kaelyn Silverleaf has posed:
Kae blinks and shrugs, looking around, she would help anyone else who needed a ride, the thought of Hellboy riding a broom brings a grin to her face... She then hears Kara and nods "Ayup.." She says and a few whispered words, these actually seeming to carry faaaar further than any whisper should and a portal opens up, this having an anchor point near the tunnel.. "C'mon folks, witch-born expressway coming up! Timer on this thing by the way!" She calls out, then steps through her self, before waiting on anyone taking said express way. Then as soon as everyone's next to the home portall, she'd collapse her own little portal before tossing her hat on, this well litterally being one of those point witches hats, then skipping, yes skipping through the tunnel.

On the other side she steps aside, waiting for the last folks and grins at Willow, offering a tip of her hat, while idly relaxing her broom over her shoulder. The Redhead then notes John, and offers a tip of her hat to him too... Now just where in the world did Kae come from and whyfore is she coming out of the apokolips portal? That might be anyone's guess.

Mon-El has posed:
    Ugh, Lar mutters to himself when he can't seem to grab Black Flash's aggro off of the real Flash. Or...was that a duplicate? Oh, grife it didn't matter! The point of what he's trying to do, is draw the baddie's attention -away- from his friends so that they can get back home easily. "Hey zombie Flash thing whatever you are! I dunno about you, but I don't like being ignored. It makes me angry. And you won't like me when I'm angry!" he shouts at it.

    At this, he speeds up, trying to overtake the thing and clock it hard enough to send it into orbit. Could Superman or someone with his abilities out-fast someone like the Flash? Maybe we get to find out...

Superman has posed:
    As the last of the heroes get through the portal, it closes behind Supergirl carrying Superman, Kaelyn's attempts at healing, Powergirl and Hellboy, watching everyone's back, and Billy, who was the last. Hordes of screaming Parademons were the last sounds of Apokolips the intrepid team could hear, as the Portal closes with a "POP".

    As soon as the Portal closed, the "Enchantress" fades from view with a soft laugh echoing in Willow and John's ears, amused at his remarks. "Until next time...." It was now as though she was never there.

    Tim and Mon-El's last attempt to stop the Black Flash buys that Barry a little more time, hopefully it would be enough. With the Flash's help, Tim and Barry reach the portal as well, in record time, through almost as fast as thought. As the Flash and Black Flash fade from view, faster even than the fastest Kryptonian, Mon realises...the portal!

    It was an exhausting fight, but it was a win. A win with some big time sacrifices, but a win. Now that Superman was back. He was in a catatonic state, and critically ill, but with Kaelyn's help, and Supergirl's will, he stabilized, but it was uncertain how long he would take to recover. Or if he even would.