Episode 52: Last Supper
Takes place 21 June-4 July 2011.
This is officially a Paragon episode, but the Renegade has an almost equal role.
Short version
Paul traps Klarion and transfers his power to John Constantine, leaving Constantine as a Lord of Chaos and Klarion as an Empty Shell.
The Renegade destroys the Light, but is then visited by Darkseid and has a fragment of the Anti-Life Equation embedded in him.
Longer version
Paul visits with Hephaestus and Vulcan to arrange for them to work with KordTech — particularly in making arcane metals — and receive renewed recognition.
He then contacts Lex Luthor and sends a message for Klarion to meet him at Roanoke Island. There, he and Zatanna present Klarion with a ritual site to help him reconnect with his full power, in order to help them fight Nabu. Klarion is skeptical, examining the site carefully and grumbling a lot, but ultimately it's too good an offer to pass up.
Once Klarion is in the ritual space, Zatanna activates the whole thing — several times larger than what Klarion had seen. Paul reveals that it's a trap intended to transfer Klarion's power to John Constantine, who then takes his place and engages in an invisible struggle, eventually emerging victorious as a new Lord of Chaos while Klarion's body is left soulless and comatose. Paul delivers it to the Chinese government for trial and execution, with the provision that they wait until after the date he's facing Nabu.
The mayor of London confirms that he's prepared to let Paul use Hyde Park for his upcoming confrontation, and Paul is temporarily sworn in as a Special Constable in order to have arrest authority.
At Superboy's birthday party, Diana lets Paul know that the Justice League intends to offer him a place once he returns to Earth. She expresses concern about tension between him and Nabu, but he assures her that it won't be a problem on professional occasions.
The Renegade destroys the Light, starting with Mordru, who reveals that his phylactery is a page in Destiny's book and therefore cannot be destroyed, but who is still vulnerable to the Sword of the Fallen — especially wielded by Jean Robbins, who isn't in Destiny's book. He assimilates Vandal Savage, and Ra's al Ghul, and the Brain, killing their minions along the way. but spares Lex Luthor and tells him to assemble a better roster.
He then intends to marry Jade and head off into space. However, he isn't diplomatic enough in handling Jade's shock at the destruction of the League of Shadows, and she becomes angry at his change of allegiance, accusing him of betrayal and telling him that she never wants to see him again.
Before the Renegade can properly adjust, Darkseid visits him, expressing approval of how he betrayed and ruined the Light, and embedding part of the Anti-Life Equation in his soul. Grayven becomes catatonic, reliving the worst experiences of his life continuously for two weeks.
The title likely refers to the last supper of Jesus and the Apostles, before everything blew up and Jesus was gone from the Earth.
- The Assimilator: Grayven turns Vandal Savage, Ra's al Ghul, and the Brain into Construct-Lanterns.
- Can't Kill You, Still Need You:
- Played straight by Klarion, who doesn't just attack Paul immediately, because he knows Nabu will arrive when he regains his power, and he'll need an ally to tip the balance of power in his favor.
- Subverted by Paul, who claims to likewise need Klarion's help to beat Nabu and get him off Mr Zatara. Turns out? Paul was lying, and actually plans to end Klarion and transfer his power to John Constantine.Paul: See, this isn't a trap for Nabu. We're doing that in a few days. We talked about asking for your cooperation back when this first happened, and the answer was a resounding 'no'...But some other Lord of Chaos, that could be useful.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Mordru, upon returning to the universe, took the new rulers of his planet and made them wear pendants that drain almost all their magic, then put them to work on his palace walls. The strain of casting magic in such conditions would soon have been fatal if Mordru were not deposed.
- Combat Pragmatist: Grayven is fighting without Justice League rules of engagement. Mooks tend to simply explode in a burst of orange light.
- Did Not Get the Girl: Grayven's plans to marry Jade and honeymoon in the Vega Systems crash and burn when she reacts violently to his takedown of the League of Shadows. It's not the end of the whole story, but with his year of service up, it's the end of an era, and it's also the end of their relationship.
- Empty Shell: After his link to the plane of chaos is hijacked and his power stolen for good, Klarion ends up without enough soul remaining to fully animate his body, leaving him in a Convenient Coma. Paul can think of possible ways to revive him, but instead he just hands him over to China for trial and execution.
- Evil Gloating: Paul really needed to get a good gloating monologue off his chest once he had Klarion trapped in his ritual setup. But having learned a thing or two from Truggs, he made sure in advance that Klarion couldn't interrupt.
- Heel Realization: Grayven reflects on the choices that led him down the Renegade path.
- Immortality: Subverted. The Light includes members with regeneration From a Single Cell, Resurrective Immortality, and a nigh-indestructible Soul Jar. Grayven kills them all.Grayven: Savage, one little piece of wisdom, from Apokolips? There's no such thing as truly immortal.
- Immune to Fate: Doctor Robbins has this. So when Mordru reveals that he's used the Book of Destiny as his Soul Jar, she's the appointed hatchet woman to cut off his head.
- Loyal Phlebotinum: It turns out that Grayven's Father Box has been reporting his activities to Darkseid all along.
- Nay-Theist: Paul goes on TV to talk about his religious views, which are generally this, though technically he has devoted himself to Eris.
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: Lex Luthor voted against summoning the King of Tears, and has generally kept himself hard to prosecute, so he gets one of these instead of execution.
- Oh, Crap!: Darkseid turns up in Grayven's home, congratulates Grayven on betraying and ruining the Light, then implants a piece of the Anti-Life Equation in him so that his breakup with Jade will stick. Also because he wants to watch what happens. Grayven falls into catatonia, reliving the worst parts of his life on Earth 16.
- Pals with Jesus: Paul has a drink with Hephaestus and Vulcan while discussing how to get them involved in the wider world again.
- Poor Communication Kills: Grayven and Jade really weren't on the same page about him destroying the Light, especially the League of Shadows, which had been like a family to her.
- Power Parasite: Paul, Zatanna and John Constantine are able to trick Klarion and transfer his power to John.
- Punch! Punch! Punch! Uh Oh...: A trigger-happy soldier shoots Grayven when he arrives at the Brain's laboratory. Grayven consciously decides to let him off easy.
- Sadist: Darkseid was reading a story to Grayven's daughter, at 9am. Her routine is to have a story before bed at 9pm. Since the effect of Darkseid's very presence is to suppress and erode the souls of all around him, this wasn't just a harmless prank, but it fits Darkseid's sense of humour exactly.
- Serenade Your Lover: Miss Martian sings "Happy Birthday to You" at Superboy's party. The Marilyn Monroe version.
- Taken for Granite: Captain Adams has his arms and legs turned to stone by Mordru. And given the realistic ramifications in this fic, that means he's in immediate danger as his heart tries to pump blood through rock.
