Fanfic / Young Justice: Darkness Falls

"The Light tried to bring down their enemies from within. The Reach tried to conquer them by an elaborate ruse. When the time comes, I will conquer them the only way a true god would... by a full frontal, soul shattering assault. Meet your enemies. Degrade your enemies. Crush your enemies. And if there are any survivors... enslave your enemies."

— Darkseid

Set mere hours after the end of the show, Young Justice: Darkness Falls is a Continuation Fic about how the Justice League continued their fight against the Light and foiled the plans of Darkseid.

Following the expulsion of The Reach from earth, the League and Team continued their work, trying to defeat the Light and end their terror over earth. New relations are formed, and old ones reevaluated and repaired. However, little did they know that there was an even greater threat on the horizon. One just as deadly as The Reach, and far less polite about it. With new enemies, new allies, and new revelations, it's going to be a crazy year for sure for the League and Team.

While also technically a pseudocrossover with Teen Titans (2003), it's not treated as such since it handles all the characters that were recognizable from that show as just another part of that universe rather than as a Canon Foreigner. The Light as an organization is far more fragile, and each member has their own agendas and views that they're working for, while the spectre of Darkseid hangs over the whole fic as his machinations for Earth vastly overshadow anything the Light could conjure.

In addition, the "season" is technically only 18 episodes long, so it's even shorter than Season 2 in that regard, but it tries to cram as much character development, action and intrigue as possible in the process.

Spoilers for anyone who hasn't watched Young Justice (2010).

Now with a sequel/continuation: Young Justice Titans.

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Young Justice: Darkness Falls provides examples of:

• Abusive Parents: Well, Darkseid's winning no parent of the year award, because he sent Kalibak to somewhere where he can't even be in the plot. Jade and Artemis also both grumble about this being the reason they'll try to be Good Parents to their kids from now on, as they don't want to turn out like their father.
• Achilles' Heel: The Kryptonian weakness to Magic is actually brought up as something that can genuinely hurt them.
• Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene: Several pop up over the course of the run. The most noticeable though is probably a Quiet EPISODE right before the finale. There's no supervillain fights whatsoever in the episode, and most of the time is taken up with team members making their peace with others, dealing with some personal demons or other things that will give the final battle far more importance.
• Action Mom: Artemis.
• Adaptational Heroism:
  • Jason Todd. While he still returns from the dead and becomes the new Red Hood, he promises to still fight criminals and not harm the Bat Family unlike the comics. The fact that he was presumed dead trying to stop a bomb Two-Face set rather than being beaten to death by the Joker probably helped keep his rage down a bit.
  • Also, Volcanna gets a lighter tone as a Jerkass Woobie.
• Adaptational Jerkass: Jor-El, normally perceived as the all-loving father of Superman, holds prejudice against Superboy due to him technically being made not born. Though he does eventually come around and even apologizes for his treatment of him.
• Adaptational Villainy: Cyborg. While in the comics, he's a man who was saved by his father after an accident, in this version, he's an Apokalyptic creation where his robot part is used to control his every action. HOWEVER, there's an indication that the man underneath it doesn't want this.
• Affably Evil: Lex and Savage.
• Agent Scully: Batgirl functions as this to Nightwing when he's trying to find information on Wally.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Miss Martian as Conner is about to be taken to Apokalips.
• Alas, Poor Villain: Volcanna the fury was a lustful, evil fury for most of the fic, caring little for anything but burning her enemies. However, her death at the hands of Lashanna for choosing not to return to certain death and giving her life for her compatriot Big Barda was surprisingly poignant, and a much more respectful sendoff for the character than you'd expect.
• Alien Invasion: The mother of all ones: Darkseid's invasion.
• All There in the Manual: While not exactly "in the manual", the authors notes helps bring out more of how the author sees how the YJ universe works. For example, instead of the idea of "rotating leadership", there's instead an idea of the trinity helping supervise things, while people like Captain Atom were more interim leaders.
• All Your Base Are Belong to Us: The Watchtower is the latest in the line of hero bases that gets attacked by the forces of Darkseid and Vandal Savage. Fortunately for the League, it's only partially destroyed, and gets rebuilt later.
• Almost Kiss: M'gann and Conner on their first rebound date. Sadly, Beast Boy needed their help, and they had to break off.
• Always Save the Girl: Instead of going to help anywhere else on the planet, Beast Boy gets to go save Raven from Klarion because she's his love interest.
• And the Adventure Continues: The "epilogue" of the fic carries this tone for the "Present" section, as the heroes continue to live their lives as the villains rebuild and plan new moves for Season 4.
• Anti-Villain: Several. Penguin is a type I of sorts. Lex and much of the Light are somewhat of type III's, and Kara is very much a type II.
• Ascended Extra: Several.
  • Ma and Pa Kent get a slightly larger role in the fic compared with a brief cameo in Season 2.
  • Superman himself plays a much larger role overall as the Fortress of Solitude, his rivalry with Darkseid and the destruction of Krypton all play larger roles in the fic, as well has him getting more screen time.
  • Wonder Woman also gets a bit more action, being the first full League member to fight the Furies, and even gets to play mentor to several of the female superheroines.
  • And Beast Boy, while not a minor character per se gets his own subplot in the story.
• The Atoner: Kara and Barda end up becoming this.
• Authority Equals Asskicking: Darkseid. While he doesn't fight all that much, when he does, even the Green Lantern team hardly stands a chance.
  • Also, if you take the author's notes into account, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman have this as well. Being skilled, tactical and powerful, and being in charge of the League.
• Back for the Finale: Several one-shots from the show, including Queen Mera and Tempest end up coming back for the final fight.
• Back from the Dead: Several. Ra's Al Ghul was mentioned to be resurrected, as well as Jason Todd, Superman and even Wally (though technically he was never dead to begin with.
• Bad Future: The world that Bart Allen ends up in on accident, 5 years into the future. The Justice League all died, and a band of new heroes has to avoid patrols much like how The Reach was in Bart's original timeline. Only this time, Darkseid rules.
• The Bad Guy Wins: Several times.
  • First, there's the end of The Catalyst, which ends with the destruction of Watchtower and the scattering of the people on board.
  • The end of Whereabouts also ends in a league defeat, with both Superboy and Superman captured by Darkseid.
  • Strike Back recognizes this as a constant issue, with Lex spinning the attack on DC in his favor, and giving Batman a look that says, "I win again."
• Badass Adorable: Beast Boy and Starfire are the closest to this.
• Badass Family: The Team might count as an extended one, but a more literal example ends up being the Super-Martian Family. To wit, you have the Man of Steel, his clone "brother" and their Long-Lost Relative cousin on one side of the Family, while on the other you have the Martian Manhunter, his niece and her blood/adopted brother. And in the Epilogue, there's hints that there might even be a baby on the way.
• Badass Normal: Aside from all the people before, Red Hood and Red X also get in on the action. X might have some Abnormal Ammo with his scythe, but otherwise is entirely normal.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: The Light and Darkseid do double duty working together, but the main members of the Light have their own plans.
• Big Brother Mentor: Superboy to Beast Boy.
• The Big Damn Kiss: While they had many smaller kisses along the way, there's only one big damn kiss for Superboy and Miss Martian when they reunite after the final battle with Darkseid.
• Bittersweet Ending: Present and Future Revelations: Superman is dead (supposedly). Superboy is unconscious. Darkseid's forces have decimated Metropolis and Gotham, and all the teammates from the future were killed. It's also implied that Batgirl just got crippled. However, the Team is finally back to full strength with Bart Allen's return, and he has a flash drive that will help change the future for good. Also, Supergirl got the first seeds of doubt planted in her mind, setting her up for her Heel–Face Turn, and Vandal Savage was killed by Darkseid, ending his schemes for Earth.
• Bloodless Carnage: Averted. While it's mostly bludgeoning that goes on in the fights, gashes, scars, scratches and cuts are all part of the injuries received in battle.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: For all their straightforward thinking, Darkseid uses this by having Superman and Superboy fight Doomsday rather than killing them right away. Then again, he wasn't planning on killing them in the first place, merely breaking their wills in order to have them more for their soldiers and not to kill them off.
• Book Ends: Several. The fic ends with a resolution of the Bad Future Impulse came from.
• Brainwashing: Surprisingly it's Darkseid who uses this on Victor Stone and Wally West. They both got better.
• Breather Episode:
  • Preparation. Instead of fighting super villains or stopping Apokalips, it's just the League and team preparing and training, trying to be ready for the hardest fight of their lives.
  • Countdown might count as a subversion of this. While nominally it's about the team's last free days before the invasion, some of the members actually have important work they're doing in that time whether it's confronting their father about having more men or preparing to rescue Wally.
• Bridal Carry: Conner does this with M'gann after they're married.
• Canon Welding: On chapter 80, a single line from Hal Jordan incorporates Green Lantern: The Animated Series into the YJ universe. "Let me tell you about a couple I know. Their names were Razer and Aya."
• Cerebus Syndrome: Whoo-Boy. Let's just say that after chapter 40, the fic took a sharp dive into darkness.
• Character Catchphrase: Referenced when they looked up information about Cyborg. Apparently in college, he was known as "the booyah boy".
• Chekhov's Gun: Several, including but not limited to the thefts at Star Labs, the research Dick Grayson did looking for Wally and the grey sphere given by Desaad to The Light.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Cyborg, Jason Todd and his gang.
  • Also, King Shark. Initially a One-off baddie, he turns out to be the leader of one of the arms of Darkseid's invasion plan.
• Chekhov's Skill: The superhero trip. Brought up as a training strategy for larger opponents, it ends up becoming instrumental for Klarion's defeat.
• The Chessmaster: Luthor, who's so prepared he can throw the team off the room he wants with false energy signatures and give the heroes a list of their plans while still plotting to take control of the League via the UN.
• Christmas Episode: The Catalyst, though technically the last part takes place on New Year's eve.
• Completed Fic: Yep. It's done.
• Complexity Addiction: Discussed. Darkseid mentions that while the Light and Reach tried this, he would defeat earth the old fashioned way.
• Continuity Nod: Plenty to the first 2 seasons.
• Crossover: Possibly one with Teen Titans, though not in the purest sense. Several heroes and villains from the titans cartoon are introduced to this fic, from Starfire to Gizmo, and even some plot lines like the "trident clones" are lifted from that show. However, they're also given the Weisman treatment, and thus twisted about some to give them their own flare within the YJ universe.
• Cruel Mercy: The heroes universally agree that it would be far worse to allow their Apokaliptic enemies live and suffer Darkseid's wrath rather than kill them.
• Cursed with Awesome: Cyborg did NOT like his Robotic Reveal. However, that still doesn't change the fact that he's now a part robot man who can shoot Apokaliptic weaponry and hold his own against multiple targets.

• Damsel in Distress: Raven spends a good deal of the backside of the fic in distress. A prisoner of Klarion.
• Dark Action Girl: The Furies and Granny.
• Dark and Troubled Past: You know how Superman had it rough being sent from Krypton? Well, Kara had it rougher. In this continuity, she was taken from her father by force during Krypton's destruction and raised by Granny Goodness as a servant to Darkseid.
• Darker and Edgier: The fic only gets darker the farther on it goes, though also more epic as it goes as well.
  • The origins of Kara and Cyborg also invoke this.
  • Also Gizmo, while still having a bit of Comic Relief is played much more seriously as the head of technology on Apokalips.
• Darkest Hour: The end of Past and Future. Superman is dead. Vandal Savage is dead. Darkseid's first strike crippled Gotham and Metropolis. Superboy is in a coma. Batgirl got paralyzed. The Justice League is still trapped in Washington at the whims of the UN under Godfrey's sway. However Bart Allen finally came back with the information needed to save the past.
• A Day in the Limelight: Some of the episodes are much more focused on some members as others.
  • Depths: Superboy and La'gaan
  • Double Date: Beast Boy, Miss Martian and Superboy.
  • Ghosts: Nightwing.
  • Discipline: Robin and Wonder Girl.
  • Past and Future Revelations: Bart Allen.
• Deadpan Snarker: Raven, very much.
  • Blue Beetle gets some good lines in as well.
• Demoted to Extra: Aside from a few mentions from Artemis on how she's settled down with Liam, Cheshire gets a lot less to do after she found out Artemis was alive.
  • Much of The Light doesn't get as much time due to being captured or just not showing up. Examples include Queen Bee, Icicle Jr. and Psimon (though that could be excused by him still being in a coma).
• Designated Girl Fight: Several. The Wonders vs. the Furies round 1, Jinx vs. Starfire happens later on, Miss Martian and Kara vs. the Furies, and the entire fight on Themiscyra could count as this, as not a single man fights in that area. Instead the main fights are all girl vs. girl.
• Destructive Savior: Godfrey accuses the League of being this due to the collateral damage that happens during their battles.
• Disney Death: Superman. As per tradition, he gets beaten to death by Doomsday, absorbs lots of solar radiation and finally comes back to life when people need him the most.
• Distaff Counterpart: Discussed when Supergirl finally chooses her name.
• Distant Finale: The very last scene of the fic shows Bart's future at peace.
• Downer Ending:
  • The Catalyst. It ends with the Watchtower in chaos as Hal Jordan tries to stop the attacking Parademons by collapsing part of the station.
  • Regroup. It ends with Klarion preparing to drain Raven of her magic.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Several, though of note is the team of the future. Only 4 episodes into his Season 4, and we already know that 4 of them are going to be part of the plot of the present. (Damian Wayne, Kyle Rayner, Cassandra Cain and Cissie King-Jones) Also of note is that at Christmas, Beast Boy meets a girl... named Terra.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Supergirl actually gets this. She goes from an Anti-Villain to the mistrusted member of the team, and then finally finds acceptance and family at the end from everyone, even her sister in law.
• Easily Forgiven: Played with. Usually intent of the wrongdoer is a big factor in how easily they're forgiven. For example, the team doesn't hold anything against Cyborg and Wally for being evil, since they were being remotely controlled in their actions. Supergirl isn't very easily forgiven at first, especially by Miss Martian since she was witness to far more evil, but the League and team doesn't hold the evil origins too much against her because she immediately started helping them afterwards in any way she could. She's eventually fully forgiven after she helps in the final battle. Nightwing on the other hand gets into trouble for holding secrets again (though for a relatively more minor detail than the deep cover mission), and the whole team wonders about his qualifications to lead for it, but they ultimately decide they need him more than they're angry at him. In Nightwing's case, Artemis even brings up that after everything, it'll be harder to trust Nightwing in the future after this happening again.
• Elaborate Underground Base: The Batcaves. Apparently, there were several created, and the team gets one of them after Darkseid's first major attack.

• Ensemble Cast: Nobody is the main character here. Though Nightwing, Superboy, Miss Martian and Beast Boy get a lot of focus, we still have focus episodes for the other members as well.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Darkseid doesn't seem to understand the concept of Heroic Willpower very well in considering the people of Earth.
• Eviler than Thou: However, once Darkseid kills Vandal Savage, the Light essentially goes on the defensive, playing subservient to them, or going into hiding rather than try and subvert a merciless alien. All except for Klarion who ends up carrying out his plans openly.

• Evil Virtues: Despite being, you know, a conquering tyrant, Darkseid is still Honest, and will never carry out deception directly.
• Fantastic Racism: Crops up a little as Godfrey tries to wheedle Earth away from superheroes.
• Game Changer: The Watchtower gets attacked. Now, the League and Team are essentially nomads with no set point of regroup shown.
• Game-Breaking Injury: Like in the comics, Batgirl gets her back broken, losing all movement in her legs. Unlike in the comics, she got hurt fighting the legions of Apokolips rather than having The Joker shoot her.
• Grand Finale: Retaliation. The entire League and their new members have their final battle with Darkseid's forces. Clashes range across the planets and almost all the sub-arcs are wrapped up. Klarion is banished back to his dimension, Wally is rescued and freed from Darkseid's control, Big Barda undergoes a Heel–Face Turn, Volcanna is killed, Superman comes back to life and together with the whole Super Family kills Doomsday, Cyborg has his confrontation with Gizmo, and Darkseid is driven off. Kara also finally buries the hatchet with Miss Martian and Superboy. The Distant Finale also serves partially as a "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue, though with still some room to expand on later.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Darkseid serves as one to the whole Superman family, as he was directly behind Krypton's destruction, Supergirl's kidnapping and partly helped with the genetic manipulation that lead to Superboy and the Genomorph's creation. In a way, he also serves as one to a lot of The Light's plans, since Savage's ultimate goal involved letting Darkseid have his way with earth.
• Guest-Star Party Member: From Present and Future: The new team, which consists of the fourth Robin, Stargirl, Hawk and Dove (the brother and sister duo), Arrowette, Huntress, Cassandra Cain's Batgirl and Kyle Rayner. And they're all Killed Off for Real trying to get Bart back to the past.
• Halloween Episode: The series of chapters titled Ghosts. It takes place on Halloween and deals with trick or treating, scares, and parental fears of the Bat Family.
• Heel–Face Turn: Supergirl, after finding out her true heritage, leaves Apokolips and makes her way to join The Team as a new member.
• Hero Insurance: Played with. Clearly there is a mandate that heroes get some grumbles over the destruction they cause. However, there's also reason to suspect that Batman helps cover any serious damages thanks to a line mentioning that he regularly donates to restoration jobs after his battles.
• Hero Killer:
  • One word: Doomsday. Responsible for killing most of the genomorphs, and Superman.
  • Also, from the future, the Super-martian.
• Hostage Situation: A subverted one in Ghosts. The hostage: Nightwing. The Hostage holder? Jason Todd. However, it turns out that wing was never in any serious danger, but it was just a way for Jason to know for sure that they were both sorry.
• I Choose to Stay: Big Barda makes this decision to stay on Paradise Island rather than go back to the world she almost helped conquer. Starfire and Supergirl both end up making this choice to stick around on Earth after everything's ended. La'gaan also decides to stay around in Atlantis as he felt he was needed there more.
• I'm a Humanitarian: King Shark makes this claim openly, particularly after he reveals that he ate Ocean Master.

• Innocuously Important Episode: Self-Discipline. The A plot is about the team investigating The Penguin. However, their investigations shows that Intergang is essentially destroyed due to Apokolips cutting off their supplies, and meanwhile on War World, Desaad makes one request to Vandal Savage: None of the metahumans are to be harmed. Both these things would hold great significance down the line for villains and heroes alike.
• Ironic Echo: In "Ghosts", Bruce Wayne admits to both his wards that he never trained them to be Batman or him. In Regroup, this is the turn of phrase that Artemis uses to voice her disapproval of what Dick Grayson has been doing. "Congratulations. You are Batman."
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: La'gaan sadly still is a jerk, but at the very least, he gets better at being a team player over the course of the fic, and he even gets to bury the hatchet with Conner.
• Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Warned against in several cases. First, when Artemis starts purposefully injuring criminals severely in frustration towards the Cardboard Prison and the Superhero lifestyle. Green Arrow and Black Canary hold her back from it barely. Then M'gann warns Conner about the dangers of this if he ever got himself tactile telekenisis.
• Kangaroo Court: In an unusual twist on this trope, the predetermined verdict was going to be innocent.
• Karma Houdini: By the end of the story, the Light's leadership is STILL not brought down. Black Manta even manages to escape imprisonment in the process.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: However, Vandal Savage and Klarion are both killed by the end of the fic. Savage by finally making a misstep with his "partner" Darkseid gets disintegrated. Klarion gets banished back to his dimension when a plot to drain Raven of her magic backfires.
• Killed Mid-Sentence: Vandal Savage.
• Killed Off for Real: Vandal Savage, Glorious Godfrey, Doomsday, Volcanna.
• Knight in Sour Armor: Beast Boy knows the hardships their team goes through every time they fight, and definitely knows of the harsher sides of life. However, he's still among the most cheerful and optimistic of the team members because even in losing things, there's a chance to get new things back.
• La Résistance: The Team both present and future take this role as the world turns against the League.
• Last Episode, New Character: The last "episode" gives us 4 new characters for the Young Justice universe. Donna Troi and Queen Hippolyta for the heroes fighting on Paradise Island when they were never mentioned or even seen before, Steppenwolf for Darkseid's forces as the commander of War World, and Orion, for showing the fallout of Darkseid's actions in relation to New Genesis.
• Legacy Character: Tying into the comics, the Brainiac the League fought turns out to be a computed offspring of the original Brainiac that was responsible for destroying Krypton.
• Love Interest: Beast Boy is puppy loved and head over heels for Raven. Notably the only member of the team with an unrequited love. All the others are official couples.
• Loves My Alter Ego: Discussed when it was mentioned that Dick actually dated Batgirl and Zatanna at the same time when he was younger.
• Magic Versus Science: Klarion and Gizmo don't exactly see eye to eye on matters of capturing sorceresses due to this.

• Mind Rape: Narrowly avoided, but exploited. M'gann doesn't brain zap anyone this season, though the reasons vary from person to person. She can't mind rape Parademons due to them not having much of a mind, and she only threatens mind rape to Supergirl with a psychic bomb.

• Mood Whiplash: From the joy of New Year's day to a fight for survival.
• Motive Decay: An argument could be made for Artemis undergoing this in the fic. She's Out of Focus due to her pregnancy subplot in the first half of the fic, and the second half is more dedicated to her trying to get Wally back. So her character became more about Wally than the complexities she had about her Villainous Legacy, being a hero, dealing with suspicion and trust issues. On the other hand, one could say those things are still present, but she's harmonized most of her former problems, and thus has less reason to be alongside the cast.
• Ms. Exposition: Starfire gets to inform the League about the true existence of Darkseid.
• Mythology Gag: Several to comic lore.
  • The one-handed Aquaman storyline is briefly teased at in his battle with King Shark. Fortunately, he manages to escape before it's bitten off.
  • To the "President Luthor" storyline in chapter 15 when Superboy suggests that the presidency would be Luthor's ultimate goal.
  • To "The Supergirl From Krypton" storyline with Supergirl being temporarily turned into a Female Fury.
• Naïve Newcomer: Starfire, though in a different sense. While she might not know all that much about Earth, she is still very much a warrior.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Lex Luthor, in releasing information to the League regarding their plans, was literally fixing up his messes as he seemed to be house cleaning The Light. However, in hindering his own plans in some ways, he was also helping the League prepare for Darkseid. Still, giving the League this information essentially cut off The Light's legs, and removed them as a major player on the whole for much of the fic.
• Nothing Is Scarier: Darkseid's fate for his canon son Kalibak is never mentioned, but it's mentioned that all of Darkseid's minions say that they'd prefer 50 lashes to being sent to where he is now.
• Official Couple: Guardian and Bumblebee, Robin and Wonder Girl, Superboy and Miss Martian, and in the end, Wally and Artemis.
• Older Than They Look: Supergirl despite being around at the destruction of Krypton doesn't look over 18 or so.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: While Raven's name Rachel Roth is known by several people, she's insistent that she's only called Raven.
• Original Flavour: This is a tricky example, as it breaks so many rules of original flavor what with introducing new characters, tricked out plot twists that upends parts of Young Justice's premise and shifting character focuses. And YET, so many of the readers say that what was created would serve as a suitable conclusion to Greg Weisman's vision for the show with villain intrigue, tapping into the deeper DC universe, revised character origins and the same kind of espionage and tricks as the show but in different ways.
• Out-Gambitted: The great Vandal Savage, founder of The Light, get an Omega Beam in the back when he couldn't resist having Doomsday kill Superman instead of just beating him, ending his schemes for Earth.
• Out of Focus:
  • Impulse and Blue Beetle, having finished much of their personal story arcs in Season 2 have much less to do this season. And then Bart was sent to the future to find out how to save the world from Darkseid.
  • Queen Bee also has much less time in the spotlight, despite being one of the more active members in the first 2 seasons.
• Physical God: Darkseid certainly claims this, and the slaves of Apokalips believe this. On the other hand, whether it's literally true is still a matter of interpretation.
• Pragmatic Villainy: The Penguin has little interest in fighting the Justice League because it'd be bad for his businesses, preferring to swoop in with the cleanup crews for what's left afterwards.
• The Prophecy: For Beast Boy and Raven. "One shall become what they were born to be. The other shall become what they were raised to be."
• Quirky Miniboss Squad: The Female Furies. Big Barda, Volcana, Lashanna and Evil Supergirl.
• Ragtag Band of Misfits: As pointed out by Beast Boy, the team's not exactly the most normal and well adjusted of groups, but they're brought together by their common desire for justice.
• Remember the New Guy?: Not exactly blatant, but Donna Troi's introduction in chapter 80 has shades of this. After all, how is it that Cassie wouldn't think to mention an Amazon who's higher ranked than her, but still important enough that she fights in the final battles with the Furies? Still, considering that this was Paradise Island which didn't get a single appearance in the whole show, this could be excused as neither Diana nor Cassie felt any need to talk about their sisters back there.
• Save the Villain: Discussed when rescuing Cyborg.
• Screw Destiny: Bart Allen is the living embodiment of this at work. In fact, the Distant Finale shows just how important his work is. It shows Nathaniel Tyrone in a normal outfit, at Happy Harbor, with clear skies, clean water, happy people, and most importantly, the Justice League still defeating evil.
• Sequel Hook: At the very end of the fic, while their plans have been halted for now, Lex Luthor is now plotting to create Metallo to fight the League.
• Shout-Out
  • The way Nightwing determines Wally's still alive is remarkably similar to the conclusions drawn by Batman in the first Justice League cartoon.
  • Also, as Earth-16 seems more aware of human culture, there are several other references to Garfield and Back to the Future.
    • There was also a reference to Star Wars as apparently the team went as different Star Wars characters during Garfield's first Halloween.
    • Arsenal and Red Hood also make references to Teen Wolf, The Walking Dead, American Horror Story and Being Human during their big battle with Steppenwolf.
  • The Dark Knight Trilogy also gets several mentions. Arsenal's new gang drives the Tumbler, and Raven refers to her relationship to Klarion as something akin to how Bane viewed Batman in The Dark Knight Rises.
  • Also several to Teen Titans. In college, Cyborg was known as the Booyah boy. Beast Boy says that he's considering switching to a purple and black wardrobe. And at the very end of the fic, part of the team splits off to form the Titans proper, complete with an island hope with a giant T building.
  • The Final Battle with Darkseid has several shout outs to various Darkseid storylines, including Batman threatening his planet and the people of Apokalips helping him up after his defeat like in Superman: The Animated Series.
• Smug Snake: Ultimately, this is what leads to the death of Vandal Savage, as he pushed his luck with Darkseid one time too many.
• Spanner in the Works: Bart manages to be this AGAIN when he returns from the future with information to defeat Darkseid.
  • More generally, Darkseid himself was a spanner to Savage's plans.
• Spiritual Sequel: To the author's previous fic Downtime, which moved Destro's attack back a few days and involved some bullying and bonding. It's not an essential read, as you can just follow regular YJ canon to understand things in full just fine.
• The Starscream: Lex Luthor. He wants some "practical" changes for earth, and that involves eventually cleaning up The Light as a force.
• Stockholm Syndrome: Sadly, much like Superman: The Animated Series, the slaves of Apokalips have come to consider Darkseid their god, no matter how poorly he treats them.
  • But on the other hand, Batman points out that with their victory, they showed the people that even their God can be beaten.
• Storming the Castle: Part of the battle plans against Darkseid includes an attack mission to Apokalips.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Played for laughs as Starfire initially thinks that Garfield is M'Gann and Conner's son.
• Superhero Paradox. Discussed, as Superman points out that there probably wouldn't be a Joker or Cheetah if they hadn't gotten involved. Aquaman points out that they're probably more part of a general battle between the establishment and those wishing to subvert it.
• Superheroes Wear Tights: Well, not exactly tights, but Superboy does end up putting on Kryptonian skin tight materials for his battle against Doomsday.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: The final battle on War World takes place fighting a Nigh-Invulnerable alien with yellow skin who can shrug off most of what the heroes throw at him, but who's beaten by some quick thinking. Now are we talking about Mongol or Steppenwolf?
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: While the superheroes generally try not to kill their enemies, there are several notable exceptions. Doomsday is killed, and nobody in the League has any problem using lethal force on the Parademons and Jockeys. Also, when fighting on War World, none of Jason Todd's gang holds back.
• Time Skip: Since this is YJ, this happens all the time in smaller increments, but there's 3 significant time skips within the story. One is from January to March, marking the leadup to Darkseid's first attack. Then there's the time between March and July where the League is mostly just training and rebuilding, and not much else is happening around the world. Finally there's a timeskip between the end of Retaliation and the epilogue of 9 months.
• Took a Level in Badass: The author allows Wondergirl a lot more time to actually do stuff in this fic: fighting the Furies, rescuing herself from Penguin's giant shark, fighting the hordes of Apokalips, and even taking down Volcanna all by herself in the Final Battle. A big step up from her appearances in Season 2.
  • Also Beast Boy, who goes from the goofball with some utility to the Badass responsible for banishing Klarion from our dimension.
  • Superboy also gets a boost after he's partially aged to unlock TTK (Tactile Telekinesis). It gives him a little extra punch to his strength, and even lets him fly.
  • Wally West gets a speed boost from being under Apokalips, allowing him to fight on even terms with The Flash.
• Troll: Of all people, Raven is something of this when under pressure from bad guys.
• Truth in Television: When Batgirl goes over the injuries to La'gaan, Blue Beetle, Zatanna and Static, she mentioned that the Arrow Family used superglue to stop the bleeding. An authors note in the chapter mentioned that while not to be encouraged, this is a technique that can work in the real world.
• Vagueness Is Coming: Invoked by Luthor, foreshadowing the coming of Darkseid.
• Villain Decay: Depending on what you might think about The Light, you could say they underwent a form of this, since a lot of their subtle manipulations, small progresses and the like gets thrown out with what seems like Vandal Savage's nest egg plan to use Darkseid as HIS endgame. And then when Luthor cuts off the Light's legs by giving the League information about their operations, the Light essentially goes into hibernation for the most part, with any plans they have either done in public by Luthor or done by brute force. But even then, Klarion wasn't working for the Light that time.
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: The Penguin, once the more powerful superheroes start showing up.
• We Will Meet Again
• Wham Episode: Wading. The Light was more in control of the situation with the Team than previously thought. Luthor gives Superboy a list of Light plans with the intent of showing him how to stop them and clean things up. Also, Starfire knows about Darkseid and we get our first appearance of evil Supergirl.
  • The Catalyst part 5: After a relaxing holiday season, Vandal Savage uses War World and Parademons to attack and DESTROY part of the Watchtower, with 18 members present.
  • Loss part 5: The UN orders the disbanding of the Justice League as an independent entity, and all the genomorphs were enslaved or killed off by Doomsday.
  • Whereabouts part 5: Superboy is captured, and Vandal Savage demands that Superman come with him.
  • Present and Future: Bart Allen was sent 5 years into the future on accident. Upon his return, he comes back 2 months after he disappeared to a world at war with Darkseid. Doomsday seemingly kills superman and gets away, Savage is killed by Darkseid, Wally returns to the present.
  • Strike Back: The League and team get their first major victory against Darkseid's forces, exposing Godfrey as an Apokalips pawn, fighting off their attack and regaining their freedom from the UN. Meanwhile, the League aspires to rebuild the Watchtower in preparation for Darkseid's return.
• Wham Line: From Wading: Inside this you'll find all the plans The Light has.
  • From Past and Future Revelations: LIAR! The League's all dead. The last one died a year ago.
  • At the last second, Volcanna leaped in front of Barda, taking the blow.
• Wham Shot: The first appearance of Wally in the future, alive and fighting for evil.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: There has been no mention of what Sportsmaster has been doing all this time, though it seemed that his reputation was still in shambles after he deserted the Light in Season 2.
  • While Mongul is finally mentioned as having been shot into space in his pod, there's no mention of whether Despero survived War World's destruction. (A mystery that would remain even in the Sequel Series.)
• What the Hell, Hero?: Artemis to Nightwing when she finds out that he could track where Wally could be.
• Wild Card: Red Hood, Arsenal, Red X, and Jinx AKA Red Hood and the Outlaws. They're not heroes by any mark due to their stealing and destroying technology, but they're not associated with The Light, and help the League on several occasions.
• World of Action Girls: All the female superheroes.
• Xanatos Gambit: Lex Luthor gives Superboy a booklet with "all" the information on the plans the light has. If any hero fails to stop their plans shown in the book, well then all the better for the light. If they do manage to put some of them to rest, then it weakens the strengths of many of Luthor's partners, making him better poised to take over light operations thanks to his own private resources. The more resources removed also gives Luthor more space to have a clean bill as he prepared for his next goal: becoming president. And more to the point, the whole reason he gave them the plans in the first place was to undermine Darkseid's plans for earth. Regardless of the outcome, Luthor would've gained from the result.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Beast Boy gives this speech to Cyborg.
• You Can't Fight Fate: Played with. Bart left his future 40 years in the future to stop the Reach from taking over. When he goes 5 years into the future, he finds almost the same conditions as before, only now it's Darkseid who's taken over. The only difference is that he can still go back and give it one more try first.
• Younger and Hipper:
  • Raven is described as being around Beast Boy's age of 14 rather than her older depictions.
  • Also, Kyle Rayner is subject to this. Here, he's the team's age rather than the adult from the comics.

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