smallwonder:

Hope rolled over in bed when she woke up that morning, not surprised to find that Rex was already up and out of bed. She knew that he was trying his best not to worry her, but she was perfectly aware of the fact that he hadn't been eating or sleeping very well over the weeks since Nic had died and they found out that her body had been stolen by Vandal Savage. She'd moved in like he had asked her to, mostly because she didn't want him to be alone...and risk doing something really stupid, and because she wanted to be there for him. They were supposed to be looking for a house, but those plans had gotten shoved aside, and Hope didn't press the issue.

She got out of bed, walking into the kitchen where he was. She walked over to him and kissed him on the cheek. "Good morning," she said. "Want me to make coffee and breakfast?"

And by make breakfast she meant put poptarts in the toaster.

smallwonder:

It was Rex's birthday. And Hope wasn't going to miss Rex's birthday.

She knew he would be out during the day, but she decided to surprise him when he got home. She showed up an hour before he would be home, bearing steak, potatoes, green beans, beer, and of course, chocolate birthday cake. She had also gotten him a couple of books in architecture, since he had told her that he was interested in opening up his own firm.

When Rex came home, he would find dinner on the table, and Hope standing there in a little red dress.

"Happy birthday, Rex," she said, going over to kiss him.

dc_holiday:

A man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his mother the longest. ~Irish Proverb

smallwonder:

Since things had died down considerably, Hope decided to take advantage of it. She arrived at Rex's place that evening, bearing cheeseburgers, beer, and chocolate cake.

ms_miracle:

Avia was hard at work in the "lab" space in the Free house basement.  While her father had offered to help, this was something she needed to do on her own.

Her Mother Box had sacrificed itself to save her life against the Black Lantern Lex Luthor.  She'd felt the loss, painfully and completely.  She had given her life freely to save Avia, but the pain was still there.  It was the closest she had ever come to dying, to joining the big cosmic harmony of the Source.

It was one of the few times Avia had ever been afraid.

Now, she was hard at work building herself a new Mother Box.  It would take time.  But it was the least she could do.

dc_misc:

The city of Star City looked deserted. The citizens had either fled or had been turned into black lanterns. At the heart of the city was the entity known as Nekron. Nekron used the city as his base as his black lanterns ravaged the Earth.

The black lanterns increased their numbers each day and the power levels of the black lantern battery increased with each person that died.

Soon Nekron would have enough power to obliterate all life on this planet.

black_lantern:

The sun was just setting in the western sky as night settled in over Metropolis. Along with night came another form of darkness, one more sinister and evil. The black lanterns move through the city looking for victims to rip hearts out of and add to their numbers.

dc_holiday:


I arise from dreams of thee
In the first sweet sleep of night,
When the winds are breathing low,
And the stars are shining bright.
I arise from dreams of thee,
And a spirit in my feet
Hath led me -- who knows how?
To thy chamber window, Sweet!

The wandering airs they faint
On the dark, the silent stream--
And the Champak's odours
Like sweet thoughts in a dream;
The nightingale's complaint,
It dies upon her heart,
As I must on thine,
O belovèd as thou art!

O lift me from the grass!
I die! I faint! I fail!
Let thy love in kisses rain
On my lips and eyelids pale.
My cheek is cold and white, alas!
My heart beats loud and fast:
O press it to thine own again,
Where it will break at last!

Percy Bysshe Shelley

dc_misc:

At the Hall of Justice, where the YJLA was currently taking refuge, everything seemed calm and quiet. In spite of the recent Black Lantern attacks, the team seemed to be holding up well, and many of the members were currently resting and recovering from helping out with various relief efforts.

Yes, all seemed well and good for the Young Justice League...

Outside, a dark cloud grew over the Hall of Justice...and a horde Black Lanterns closed in on the Young Justice League.

tiny_tornado:

Years ago, the Hall of Justice had been the Earthbound headquarters of the Justice League, the compliment to an orbiting satellite portion.  It had eventually been discontinued as a headquarters, but the museum portion remained and much of the equipment was still present, usable as a back-up location.  Located in Washington DC, where the All-Star Squadron had once had their own headquarters, it remained a popular tourist destination.

Traya had spent a lot of time here, once upon a time, when her father had been damaged and stored in the computer system.

It was to here that she and Michael had come, to get the warning out to everyone else.

The headquarters portion was dusty, but Traya whisked it all away with a couple of well placed gusts and got the computer systems running.

"This is Whirlwind of the Young Justice League, to anyone reachable by this message.  Firestorm and I have encountered a zombie version of Kid Flash.  We defeated him, but we don't... we don't know if there are more of them...   YJLA HQ is wrecked.  We are requesting anyone available converge upon the Hall of Justice... repeat..."

dc_misc:

The YJLA and the Avengers had a busy week. They had been searching the globe for signs of Kang all week, but no trace of the time-traveling conqueror could be found. The people who attacked the YJLA seemed to have disappeared into thin air as well. It had been a quiet week for both teams. Little did they know it was the calm before the storm.

The two teams met at the YJLA headquarters for a brief meeting to go over the results of their searches and to lay plans for the upcoming days. Both teams were gathered in the conference room when there was a bright flash and they were all transported to a spot some distance away from Kang's Fortress at the End of Time.

It was time to fight what should be the final battle in this adventure.

smallwonder:

One of the good things about being a YJLA reservist was that Hope got access to all of their training facilities. While the at-home gym that she had at her house was nicely equipped, Hope enjoyed taking advantage of the training simulators and if she could find one, having a sparring partner. Rex was always fun to spar with, but a change of pace never hurt.

Hope was dressed in a simplified version of her armor that she normally wore when she was training, as this one allowed her to move more freely, and her head wasn't covered.

Currently, she was running a training simulator, enjoying smashing some robots with both her fists and her Mega Rod.

shield_maiden:

The Avengers were shown to quarters in the YJLA headquarters and given some time to get cleaned up and settle in. When the allotted time was up everyone on both sides were called to the meeting room. It would be a time to do formal introductions and figure out why the Avengers were here.

Svalin found the room without any problems and entered. It was empty and she took a seat in a chair that allowed her a good view of the door.

injus_society:

It had been simple, very simple, and he couldn't be happier. Lex Luthor was dead. Superman was dead. Now the Justice League would be destroyed. It was the ultimate victory and it was his. He had succeeded where all others had failed. They lured them out with some random violence on ground of their choosing and then attacked.

“Now. Destroy them,” he said to his “team”.

He was invisible as he wore a helm similar to Hades'. The shadowy figure raised the trident in his hand and struck it on the ground. The ground began to rumble and shake as an earthquake shook Metropolis. He smiled and hurled the lightning bolt in his hand at the son of Superman. It was time to kill the son like he had killed the father. The Kryptonian couldn't fight what he couldn't see.

Lyta was busy controlling the demon like beings she had summoned using the Pandoran Box. The demons were currently attacking Corinna, the Amazon. In addition to her minions she wielded the Chronian Sickle which boosted her magical abilities. She was driving the Amazon back it was just a matter of moments until the Amazon fell.

Kandra had taken on the male Green Lantern and had used her yellow and violet rings against him. The man had held his own for quite awhile, but eventually Kandra had overpowered him. She was using the yellow ring to beat him into the ground.

Serendipity shouted “SIVANA!” and the proceeded to take on the new Firestorm. She called down the thunderbolt and hit Firestorm with it. Then proceeded to use her strength and speed against him.

Devil Ray was holding his own against the Atlantean, but neither one seemed to have the advantage. Though Devil Ray did wear the Cape of Leviathan hide and would not be hurt by the Atlantean's blows.

Ocelot was running circles, literally, around the Gardner girl while M'stee M'ai used her Kyptonian like powers to shoot heat beams from her eyes at Petra.

Fury attacked Alina and blinded the magic user with a burst of light brighter than the sun. As soon as Alina was temporarily blinded, she attacked with fists while as dense as she could be.

The Young Justice League was against the ropes and it would only be a matter of moments before they would be defeated at the hands of a shadowy figure and his team.

dc_holiday:

The beginning of a New Year, a time for new hopes, new experiences to come. A time to reflect on times past, remembering fond memories happily and trying to put less pleasant thoughts and experiences in the past.

It is a time of renewal, a time of rebirth. And for much of the world, it is a time of celebration. This is no less true for the super hero set as anyone else. If anything, they just have that much bigger of things to look forward to.

dc_holiday:

There's a piece of paper and a pen attached to a bulletin board. Across the top is written:

New Year's Resolutions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
+

Anonymous entries accepted.

dc_holiday:

Invites had been sent to the YJLA, JSA, Teen Titans, Outsiders, Birds of Prey, Shadowpact, and anyone affiliated with the various teams.

Once again, the time had come for the annual Christmas party at the Justice League Watchtower. The entire Watchtower had been decorated for the holiday, and there was more food than anyone could ever hope to eat. Some heroes attended in costume, while some were out. A giant tree stood in the center of the room, having been decorated earlier that day. There was also mistletoe, hidden in several clever locations.

It was time for everyone to celebrate and be with friends, and forget about any worries for a little while.

greengenes:

Mickey had roped off the living room in the JSA Brownstone for the afternoon. She had spent the entire morning getting the food ready and setting up. She had sent out invites to the JLA, Titans (both East and West Coast), Shadowpact, Outsiders, Birds of Prey, and of course, the JSA girls. She had also invited Cindy in case she wanted to come, and Angie, as she was basically a JSA brat herself. Mikey had built her a projection bot, and security bot that would alert her if any of the boys thought to try and see what the girls were up to.

Mickey finished setting up the projector. She had pictures of all the guys from the various teams that she had managed to get to her hands on. She made sure that there would be enough food and drinks for everyone, and waited for people to start arriving.

dc_holiday:

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." JFK

In America today is a day for being thankful for the things in people's lives. Today was a day to celebrate family, friends, prosperity and health with food, family and friends. It is a time to reflect on what is important us and to recognize the gratitude we hold for having those things in our lives.

dc_titansofmyth:

Rhea stood outside the sprawling farm that was owned by LexCorp. She stood near one field and waved a hand and the crops began to wither. She smiled and moved on to the next field. One by one she moved across the fields and all of the crops began to with and die.

young_swimmer:

Cait had called Jon and a meeting had been set once all the avatars had been located. It seemed like every god and goddess had chosen an avatar to act in their stead during this crisis. They would all be needed along with the rest of the teams. Their opponents weren't just supervillains, but were gods.

Cait along with Ty, Ruth and Dinah headed for the JLA headquarters. Dinah was Hephaestus' avatar, Cait was Poseidon's, Ruth was Hera's and Ty was excellent at coordinating and knowing things. They would be the representatives for the Teen Titans.

They arrived and took seats at the table.

dc_gods:

Ares appeared before Hope Free in an instant, signaled by a thunderous boom and wisps of fire.  "Hope Free," he announced.  "I am Ares, the God of War."

dog_of_rage:

Meanwhile, on Apokolips...

warriorwilled:

An hour after Hope's abduction, Rex asks Avia to call her parents and tell them he needs to speak to them immediately at the Brownstone. 

Rather than hunt them down, he'll let the people with Boom Tubes come to him for ease of travel...and because most people would rather die someplace familiar than elsewhere. 

smallwonder:

Hope checked herself over in the mirror another time while she waited for Rex to come and get her.

When he said he wanted to take her out for her birthday, she assumed that they'd go out to a bar. Or spar, then go out to the bar. Then he said he wanted to take her somewhere nice.

Hope tore through her closet, looking for something "date worthy". She wasn't sure how nice where they were going was, but she'd managed to find a nice blue dress that she'd worn to a couple of nice parties.

Hope finished smoothing her hair for the last time when the doorbell rang.

A smile on her face, Hope went to open it.

dc_holiday:

The weather was absolutely perfect for holding a cookout.

Tables had been placed on the roof of headquarters and the large grill fired up to get nice and hot. Burgers, hot dogs, sausage, ribs, corn on the cob, pasta salad, salad and fruit salad were just some of the food available to eat. Soda, water, fruit juice and other beverages were on ice.

The JSA worked as a team to prepare the food. When they were ready, they carried it all outside and started their celebration.

It was a day of rest and relaxations for those who put their lives on the line for others.

dc_monsters:

Podagros (the fast), Lampon (the shining), Xanthos (the blond) and Deinos (the terrible), known as the Mares of Diomedes raced through the streets of London. Fire streamed from their mouths and nostrils as they ran.

The unlucky citizen or tourist who couldn't get out of the way fast enough were either burned, or on the rare occasion ran down and eaten by the flesh eating horses. Police tried to set up barricades to stop them, but the wild horses would not be stopped or contained.

in_a_snap:

(Timebendyed so anyone can be involved)

Jerry had heard that there was suppose to be an amazing meteor shower tonight and the best place to see it was in the Arches National Park in Utah. He had let dad knew he was going to spend the night there which his dad was totally fine with.

After teleporting in with some basic supplies he started looking for a good place to watch it from. Teleporting around the park he saw a mesa that looked like he could get a great view from. He snapped his fingers and appeared in a flash of green at the top of the mesa.

What he saw up there was something that he Jerry Carr had trouble believing. There was a organic looking machine with little robotic drones eating the rocks. And one charged right at him.

Quickly snapping both hands he teleported away and teleported a boulder right on top of the drone crushing it. Jerry let out a sigh of relief until he noticed that the drones were now eating the boulder and forming even more drones.

This was bad and Jerry knew he could not handle this by himself and felt that it would be smart to call in as much help as he could.

Teleporting back to his stuff away from the mesa he grabbed his cell phone and started calling all of the people he knew who were superheroes to get as much help as he could.

warriorwilled:

(Backdated to June 17th)

Rex hasn't been big on birthdays since he was ten years old. Since his father disappeared, every year has just been one more that he hasn't hasn't seen his father. Having Nic around makes things nice, but today, Rex is seriously reconsidering his idea of giving up drinking. An all night bar-craw with one of the few friends he has that ends up in a fight and a night in lock-up.

It sounds like fun, but he can't. His sister needs him.

So, tonight, Rex Stewart starts in on the heavy bag in his home gym, deciding that spending the evening sparring is better than nothing.
 

lantern_rogues:

Malicor watches as Avalon falls asleep in his Earthly bed. He watches, though, from a place that none but Avalon would even be aware of. The Dreamtime. He waits until the boy is fully and soundly asleep and then goes after him... The chase is quick and easy. The Orange Lantern's ring allows him to draw the boy into a nightmare realm and from there, he doesn't have to work very hard to restrain him. Unlike many of those pesky people from Naltor, Avalon doesn't have the powers that they might in the Dreamtime. In fact, Malicor laughs over Avalon's bound body at the sheer ease of it all once it is all done. He does not put Avalon with all the rest of his captives, but instead puts him in a special place where he is hidden away.

The next part isn't quite as easy. Avia Free is another of his Earth targets, yet she takes a bit more work. No doubt to her, she is simply having a bad dream where some unknown man is chasing her.. But eventually he captures her as well and locks her away with all of the rest of the Naltorians that he had captured. He will have use for her and them later.. Specifically he plans to drain their life force into his depleted rings. Avia has been chosen because of her extraordinary cosmic powers. Malicor had been surprised when he discovered her, but then came to the decision that she would make a perfect "cherry" to top off his ring recharging. He's fairly sure that her life-energy will repair his failing Star Sapphire ring.

The last thing that he does, though, is a final blow to Henry's pride. It's meant to be that, at least. With Avalon and Avia locked away in the Dreamtime, he then sneaks into Avalon and Josh's room and takes something very important. Avalon's Blue Lantern ring. Oh the power that courses through him when he slips it onto his own hand and admired the shining blue bauble. He can't quite get it to function but that won't matter soon. He figures that it won't work until Avalon is dead... but it won't be long from now. He leaves the sleeping boy there to be found in the morning.. Ringless and unresponsive. If anyone were to examine Avia or Avalon, they will find that both simply sleep, but will not wake no matter what is done.

As he retreats back tot he Dreamtime to hide and start recharging his rings, Malicor can't help but laugh. Henry Jordan will rue the day he crossed paths with Malicor! By the time this is all over, Henry will learn what true loss is.

lantern_kid:

Once Sodam Yat finally was done with his mission and could reply to Henry's message, he was on Earth in the matter of hours. A short time later, and they'd assembled their team.

Lead by the Ion-powered Yat, the rest of the team was made up of Henry, Avalon, Katima, LifeForce, Jon Kent, the Free kids of Hope and Avia, and, of course, Alerron, son of Starfire and Yat.

The plan was a simple one. There would be many Tamaranians unhappy with Blackfire's rule. Head down to the surface, take out Blackfire, free Starfire. Once Starfire was free, the ruling of the planet should be easily transferred.

This had been Josh's first trip through space, and he was still worried about his boyfriend. He made sure to hold his hand tightly through the space-trip, which thankfully was faster than he could do alone due to the warp capabilities of a Blue Lantern.

He glances back to the others as the world comes into view below.

"Everyone ready?" he asks them. "Remember, Yat and Alerron handle Blackfire. Hope and Avia, find Starfire and get her free. The rest of us, provide cover where needed. She'll probably have some muscle in there to help her keep power, but it shouldn't be anything too powerful -- she'll want to have control over them. Which means the rest of us can handle it."

He leans over to whisper in Josh's ear, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. "We're almost there. Hang on, handsome."

dc_holiday:

Mothers are the place that we call home.
On them we rest our heads and close our eyes.
There's no one else who grants the same soft peace,
Happiness, contentment, sweet release,
Erasing nighttime tears with lullabies,
Restoring the bright sun that makes us bloom. - Anonymous

geekgreek:

Will hasn't had a lot of time to get to know his new JSA compatriots. It was still a bit of a blur, with people randomly appearing in bathrooms and getting to know everyone, then his grand tour of the Big Apple. It may be no metropolis, but it was still amazing. The food, the girls, the architecture, the bustle, the girls...he said that one already, didn't he?

Well, Will now sits at the top of one of the buildings, the one called the Sony Building. It is large, but what draws him hereis the ability to sit and look around without getting bugged for an autograph or a date or a marriage...

Boy, that was a weird day. Crazy lady threw herself off of a building to have a hero save her. And then she would propose. Well, it may have had a more experienced hero possibly wave it off as a crazy lady. But it doesn't work so well when said hero is really an awkward 16-year-old like Will.

But, the woman was rather cute. Out of her mind, but cute...

Gah! too much to think about. He'd only been at the hero business for a little while, so how would this kind of situation work?

Will sits to ponder, but in his solitude he seems to make out a sound that seems not unlike water, and a lot of it, being displaced. Will looks up, then towards the Harbor. A few seconds go by, and Will thinks it may have been nothing...

...until a gigantic robot slowly emerges from the harbor, moving slowly towards Mahattan.

"Saved by the robot, I suppose," Will mumbles to himself before flying towards the gigantic robot. After a few flybys, the Wisdom of Socrates tell Will that this is an automaton. After a few seconds, Will realizes what it means: It doesn't have a pilot. Its just a robot. So Will hovers in the way as the oddly humanoid figure moves slowly towards him.

"Uh...Big...robot guy! Stop!" Will calls, the giant robot unmoved by the plea.

But, almost as if an aside, the robot gives Will a second glance over.

"CAPTAIN. MARVEL? MY. PROGRAMMING. INDICATES. THREAT! ELIMINATING.  NOW!"

Will barely has time to respond before a gigantic robot hand swings at him at an alarming speed. But it's no match for the speed of Hermes, and Will flies out of the way of the gigantic hand and straight at its forehead. Wills fist balls up and swings at the gigantic metal head, confident that it would be removed in a single swing.

It wasn't. Mr. Atom did stumble backwards into the surf, Will was now holding a throbbing hand. That hurt!

But his second reaction wasn't to just wait for the robot to catch its bearings. Quickly, Will summoned his JSA communicator and inputed the command to call for assistance from everyone who was available in the vicinity. Then he flies forward, trying to ensure that Giant Robot Man (or whatever his name is) from getting back into the city.

ms_miracle:

Hands tied and blindfolded?
In a multi-lock safe barely big enough to fold a person into?
Which is also chained shut?
Which is also hanging in mid-air, by a slowly lowering chain?
Which is lowering it onto a fire already shooting bits of flame into the air?
And swinging like a pendulum?

The tumblers in the locks turned and the door of the safe opened just enough of a crack for gloved hands to work the combination lock of the chains.

The safe kept lowering.  A white-haired dwarf nervously bit his nails and wondered how many of his bones Barda would break if this went badly.  Or how he would explain it to Scott.

The chains slipped free.  A red, gold, and green clad figure, hands still bound, fell out.  The crowd gasped.  Nimble legs wrapped themselves around the safe, still lowering, and with her upside down over the rapidly rising flames.

"C'mon, girl, you can do it..."

Bonds were unworked.  The chain holding the safe up snapped!  At the last possible second, she leapt free, landing perfectly in front of the fire.

She finally removed her blindfold and took a bow to the crowd assembled in Central Park.

"I am definitely picking up good vibrations tonight!" she shouted to the crowd, taking the microphone from Uncle Obie.  "Now, just in case there are any kids in the audience, I want to repeat, Do not, I'm gonna say this again, Do NOT try any of the stunts you've seen here tonight at home.  I'm a highly trained professional.  However, tapes of this and my other escapades are available for purchase, with all profits going to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.  We are all part of the cosmic harmony and we can all do our part to make the world a better place!

And now, the band you've all come to see, and let me say, they have been most rad about letting me open for them... the one, the only... SCARE TACTICS!"

Avia accepted the bottle of water from Uncle Obie as she headed backstage.  She knew her sister and some of her friends had been in the audience and had rangled them backstages passes.