Sequel to Dark Knights at Gotham City. When the war with Gaia ended four years ago, a fragile glasshouse of peace seemed to have settled over the lives of demigods around the world. However, the aftermath of the reopened Doors of Death still lingers in the mortal world, and life was anything but peaceful for a certain son of Hades.

Now hired as the Underworld mercenary for escaped souls, a now 18-year-old Nico di Angelo was simply finishing his latest job, until he accidently found himself in the wrong phone booth.

Despite knowing full well that re-joining the Team would mean life for the demigod was about to get a whole lot crazier, Nico knew nothing could be worse than what he'd gone through in both the Titan and Giant wars. That is, until a mysterious girl appears at the Hall of Justice, and an ancient evil turns its scrying eyes to Earth…

I dedicate this story to my super annoying but lovable friend, Juliette Ciaccia

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, only the storyline.

Prologue

"He has come."
"For the girl or for the mother?"
"The mother matters naught. It is the girl that holds the power he seeks."

The said young girl entered. She was no older than the age of 12, and she struggled to keep her emotions in check as she approached her mentors.

"Have you seen my mother?"

The three forever-cloaked figures turned in unison to face her, and their hooded faces only made the situation more unnerving.

"She dreads,"

"She prepares,"

"She waits for the inevitable."

The girl huffed, feeling her irritation rise in her chest; she was so done with their puzzling way of speech.

"For what? What can possibly be so important that has her out for two nights in a row?"

"He comes."

It took a moment, before realisation dawned and the girl choked on a stunned breath, her face twisting into one of horror.

"Y-you don't mean…"

"He comes within the hour," rasped another, with an irritatingly calm composure.

"How? I thought this was the safest place in the entire universe for me! How did he find us?"

"He seeks. He learns. He watches."

The girl barely managed to keep the bile from rising in her throat, before she stumbled out of the citadel of the great city. She placed a shaking hand on a nearby column to steady herself from her wobbling knees, and didn't even regard the scornful looks the passing monks gave her.

"There you are. What are you doing, making a public display like this?"

The girl looked up to see her mother standing over her, the white cloak she always wore flowed majestically behind her in the slight breeze.

"I take it the elders told you? Good. Come quickly, we must make haste."

The girl opened her mouth to protest as her mother grabbed her wrist and pulled her along; she was about to have a panic attack for the first time in her life.

"Wait! What if the elders are wrong?" she exclaimed, and as if in answer to her question, the ground began to rumble, and her mother turned to give her a look of grim acceptance, as if she knew it was coming.

"I have been seeing the omens for some time," said the older woman, and the young girl gasped with shock when a streak of red suddenly appeared in the clouds above her, and an awful screeching sound was heard as the streak began to shred outwards in flames – as if the heavens were being ripped open and torn like a piece of fabric. An inhuman bellow suddenly erupted from the sky, and the city began to shake as if someone had thrown it in a mixer bottle while the monks around her began to panic and run.

They knew this day would come.

"Hurry! He comes!"

The girl wordlessly followed, too terrified to form words with her gaping mouth. At the entrance of the temple that was built for this very scenario, the runes that were carved into the ground glowed white as she neared, as if beckoning her.

"You must go at once."

The girl closed her eyes and chanted the mantra she was taught since the age of three, and at once the portal sprung to life. Just before stepping into the portal, however, she hesitated. She glanced behind her, to see her mother standing just a metre away, and couldn't help herself; she sprung for her and hugged the older woman fiercely. The mother seemed surprised for a moment before returning the hug, until a sharp scream of terror ripped through the normally peaceful atmosphere.

"Remember, no emotions, understood?" the girl nodded, and she was shocked when she tasted salt on her lips and realised it was her tears.

Quickly, she reached up and wiped her face with the sleeve of her royal blue cloak. Her mother then handed her a bag of what little belongings she owned, and the girl prepared herself.

"I'll come back, when I'm stronger. I promise."

"No. Do not ever come back, and you must warn the people of Earth of his coming. There is no stopping the inevitable, but you will try. Promise me."

The girl looked down despairingly, but then an explosion rocked the temple, and suddenly, the girl felt a hand on her back, and she was sent plunging into the portal.

"Mother!"

The older woman looked upon her daughter's face for the last time; the young girl's usual blank and emotionless face was now a genuine guise of anguish, confusion and horror.

"Good-bye…my sweet Raven."

The girl's form vanished and the rune stones began to crack; the power from the one-way portal was collapsing in on itself as the once great city of Azarath trembled before another unholy roar.

"It's nice to see you again, my lord," whispered the woman as she closed her eyes.

It was the last thing that would ever sprout from Arella Roth's lips, before she pulled a dagger from her sleeve and plunged it straight into her heart.

1: The Mercenary

"Please…I-I didn't do nothin'. Who are you?"

"You know who I am, don't bother hiding it. You owe my father five seconds of having to include your name on my list, and owe me about a thousand more for tracking your sorry ass down. Now, do you want to do it the easy way or the hard way?"

"No! E-everyone was doin' it, but I swear I didn't mean—"

"Easy, or the hard way?"

"I-I…"

"Hard it is."

Within a blink of an eye, the streetlights went out as the world turned cold, and a second later, the man's body fell to the ground, his head rolling a few metres away. As colour slowly flooded back into the world, Nico di Angelo muttered out a chant, and the concrete ground cracked open as the man's head and body were sucked back into the Earth where it belonged.

The 18-year-old half-blood sighed, his hand passing through his shadow mask to rub his temple tiredly. His job as the Underworld mercenary was tiring and time-consuming, but someone had to do something to collect all the escaped souls back to the Underworld.

He'd first gotten the job just a year after the end of the war, when things settled down. Will had decided to go back to school that year, and invited Nico, but he'd declined without hesitation. Nothing could've swayed his choice, even if his then best friend – now boyfriend – was attending.

Nico slipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out a black hPhone (brought to you by Hephaestus). The son of Hades still remembered the first time when everyone finally convinced Hephaestus to make monster-proof phones for half-bloods. At first it was ridiculously over-priced, being a hundred drachmas each, but eventually it was dragged down and almostevery half-blood now owned one.

The phone was very simular to the mortal iPhones, but it had a waterproof, fireproof, acid-proof and magic-proof shell with an eternal battery life. For just 5 drachmas a year, a hPhone was provided with global (and Underworld) coverage of the Hephaestus-Iris Fast Internet network, or Hi-fi.

Nico opened the hMessage app just as he got a message from Thanatos.

The soul of Harry Barnes collected. Will send u next name soon xoxo

Nico rolled his eyes at that, before slipping the phone back into his pocket. Three years of hunting souls…Nico pulled the hood of his cloak over his head and headed for the busy street just literally around the corner. He had just stepped under the dim light of a light bulb hanging from a telephone line, when he caught his reflection on the reflective window behind a convenience store.

A hooded black figure stared back at him, and baggy sleeves from a black cloak hung from long arms as he lifted them. All he needed was a scythe to complete the grim reaper look. At that thought, Nico allowed himself to smirk. He was just seconds from stepping onto the busy street when he changed his mind and decided to look normal for once…well, at least not looking like a poorly dressed Halloween enthusiast, since thatHades worshipping day wasn't for another few weeks.

The half-blood subsequently pulled off his robe and stuffed it into his pocket, before waving away his shadow-mask. Once again, he stared back into his reflection; now, obsidian black eyes stared back at him, eye-bags hanging heavily from underneath them, showing his lack of sleep. His face was weary, skin pale as usual, and black hair messy. He noticed how his hair barely grazed the collar of his shirt, and remembered how Reyna had practically strapped him to a chair and cut his 'gods-awful hippie hair' a month ago. Hey, it wasn't his fault he never had the time to cut his hair or had the effort to get the damned knots out. It was odd seeing his own face again, as he hadn't for a while.

Nico headed out towards the crowded street as he shook his head to clear his thoughts; he was far too tired to shadow-travel again, and dug out a few mortal bills from his pockets, surprised to find a good amount of change.

Perhaps he'll have his first hot-meal since his last visit to camp a month ago.

"Tigress…Tigress! Hey! Artemis!"

"W-what? Oh, sorry. Was lost in thought."

Kid Flash frowned at his teammate's response over his earpiece.

"You alright?"

"I—"

"Kid, a little help here?"

"Sorry."

Kid Flash lowered his finger from pressing his inter-com, and sped towards the column where Guardian and Bumblebee were trying to short-circuit the power box of the Lex-corp building.

"We've got nothing. If we disconnect one wire the other will send a signal through as a distress call, and there's no other way to defuse it."

"No problemo."

The Lex-corp security system hadn't accounted for hands that could move at super-speed, and a blur of hands and fingers later, the box was defused and the lights – including the barely noticeable laser beam trap that would've butchered the entire squad – was deactivated.

"The lights are off?"

Artemis heard Kid Flash's hushed question, and she confirmed when all the lights abruptly flickered off.

"Crash. Let us know if any of Lex's lap dogs show."

"You got it," said Artemis, who was situated on the roof of the building while the rest of the team scoured its interior.

By specific orders (but with the least offence, of course) from Aqualad, Artemis was to remain as far from the stealth jobs as possible, mainly because of what happened with Beta squad's last mission to recover an important briefcase hidden within one of the Reach drink's old factories. Let's just say she got distracted when a random civilian who was tall with a slight muscular frame and flaming red hair caught her eye, which made the ex-archer mistake said civilian for a certain late-speedster.

Her moment of distraction nearly cost them the mission and was very, very close to blowing Kid Flash's cover, but they had pulled through in the end and returned to the Watchtower safely. She'd blamed fatigue for the slip-up, having had insomnia ever since Wally's…no.

Artemis shook her head slightly at the thoughts, forcing the lump down her throat and squeezing her eyes shut to stop them from watering. She claimed she was fine to everyone, surprising even herself at how good she was at acting…but there were slips – times when her emotions were too strong which in turn let loose a torrent of useless tears that were absorbed into her pillow.

The heroine surveyed each direction from her vantage point on the roof of the building, her mask giving her heat and night vision thanks to Nightwing, who had modified her mask prior to his indefinite leave of absence, and when the coast seemed clear, Artemis inhaled a deep breath as she leaned against an insulated power box.

She had only managed to not cry herself to sleep just a month ago, and believed she was on the road to recovery from her emotional trauma, when she'd gotten a call from Dick to meet up. He'd been waiting for her just a few blocks from her house, and it was only when she arrived at the meeting point that he'd proposed the idea…the idea that'd dug up fresh emotions that caused her to have a near mental breakdown.

Even as she reflected on it now, a hot, scathing wave of grief and fear seemed to burn her insides raw. The memories brought up were still too fresh; it still hurt too much. She still remembered every word in their conversation just two weeks ago.

"How can he still be alive? Everyone saw him, it's not possible!"

"Artemis, just listen to me. There was nothing left, no bones or ashes. You know the rule of conservation of energy? It's not possibl—"

"'It's not possible', you mean the disintergrated ashes of my dead boyfriend might've been transported into another dimension?"

"No! Both Barry and Bart said that his form simply vanished when the lightning hit—"

"Thank you so much for reminding me of the details! Because I totally haven't been picturing it every time I close my eyes!"

"Artemis, please just calm down. I'm just saying—"

"No, Dick, just stop. You have to face the fact that Wally's gone forever and he's never going to come back…"

She had not only been trying to convince Dick to drop the subject, but also convincing herself. When he'd first told her his idea and theory, she'd been shocked, then scared. She didn't dare hope that Wally was still…Artemis gripped her sheathed knife tighter.

She'd grown livid because of how much Dick's theory and idea had made sense, and panicked at the thought. Her thoughts had scattered and mixed, and her mind reeled in reaction and she'd responded to her friend with her walls up and mind closed off; she couldn't let hope get in, because no matter how tough Tigress was on the outside, the house of cards that was Artemis Crock could easily topple over as soon as the ball of despair even grazed the support cards.

Suddenly, her phone vibrated from within a pouch on her belt, and after glancing around once more to make sure there were none of Lex's security around, she answered.

"Have you considered it?"

It was Dick's voice, no doubt about that.

"I'm on a mission, Dick,"

"You're on monitor duty. Kaldur agrees with me, you know,"

"Can you drop it please?"

"Please just think about it," said Dick with a resigned sigh, and Artemis tightened her jaw at the question, about to decline again when the sound of helicopters drifted through the air, and Tigress rose from her hidden spot, "I'll…I'll see," she sighed, and with that, she hung up her phone and crouched to intercept the guards, unsheathing her bo-staff and knife in the process.

"Whoa. That's a sick iPhone, where'd you get it?"

Nico shifted uncomfortably on his stool as he noticed how the blonde waiter ran a finger down his arm suggestively. Though he was admittedly cute, he had nothing on Will.

"Er…it was a gift," he coughed, and was relieved when a waitress brought him his food, flashing him a sweet smile – until she saw her male blonde co-worker next to him and her expression turned apologetic.

"I have a boyfriend," said the half-blood finally, but the waiter wasn't having it, so Nico pinned him with the deadliest glare that even shook ghouls – who didn't even have eyes – and the blonde finally fled with a squeak.

Smirking to himself, Nico dug into his semi-hot cheeseburger, and was finished within minutes. Throwing a couple of bills on the table, he sauntered out; he was far too tired register where his feet had taken him when he found himself at the mouth of an alleyway.

At the end of it was an old phone booth that looked out of order, so Nico headed towards it. He'd slept in worse places, so he figured he could just spend the night there and hope that Thanatos would message him the next target by morning.

The son of Hades pushed at the doors, expecting it to be locked, but it slid open easily. Frowning slightly, Nico slid into the booth, glad to find it wind-proof and the ground surprisingly comfy. He was just about to doze off when suddenly a monotone voice rang loud and clear that made him freeze.

Recognised, Ghost King. B-2-7.

Shit.