"You really thought you could get away?" Val asked with a cocky smile, standing alongside the other Lanterns as they trapped the Omen clone inside a sphere of solid willpower.
The clone, once directly linked to the original Omen, had known everything. But that connection had been severed the moment Omen was cast into the Phantom Zone.
Now, this clone, like the others scattered across the universe, possessed free will. They still maintained a network between each other… but they were no longer puppets.
"Haha, don't worry," the clone said with a grin. "We clones can make clones of ourselves. I'm just the clone of a clone."
Val and the other Lanterns froze. Realization dawned like a thunderclap. This one hadn't been trying to escape. It had been a distraction, drawing their attention away. They hadn't known. None of the clones across the universe had shown signs of replication. Until now.
"I wish to speak with the Justice League," the clone said casually, a relaxed smile on his face. "So, where are we having this talk? The Watchtower? Hall of Justice? Don't worry—the other clones aren't your enemies. Well… not exactly. Let's just say we share the same goals for now."
The three Green Lanterns exchanged tense glances before finally contacting the rest of the League. Before long, the clone was brought to the Watchtower.
He sat bound in reinforced chains forged from magic, powerful enough to keep even beings like him from making a move… although this clone was extremely weak for some reason.
Batwoman stood before him, her gaze sharp and unreadable. "What do you want?" she asked coldly, her voice giving away nothing.
She didn't trust him. Not for a second. This was a clone of a clone—meaning whatever he had planned… it was targeting the original Omen.
"I want to make my main body's life a living hell," the clone said with a grin that stretched too wide. "He thought he was finally banished—trapped, unable to spread any more chaos. But imagine the look on his face when the very people who stopped him are the ones who end up setting him free from the Phantom Zone."
He burst into laughter, twisted and sharp. The mere thought of his original self experiencing that kind of betrayal filled him with uncontrollable joy.
"Like hell we'd ever set him free," Green Arrow snapped, her voice laced with fury. Her grip tightened on her bow, knuckles white as she held herself back from planting an arrow straight through the smug thing in front of her.
"But you will," the clone said confidently. "I have a feeling Superwoman might want to step into the Phantom Zone herself."
He turned to look directly at her, and instantly, every pair of eyes in the room shifted to her in confusion. Superwoman's expression darkened, her eyes narrowing as a deep unease settled in her chest.
"Even though my link to the main body is gone," the clone continued, his grin growing wider with each word, "I can still see through her senses."
He leaned forward slightly, chains clinking. "And that means I know a little fun fact… one you don't."
"You see," the clone said smoothly, "when your homeworld was on the brink of destruction, you weren't the only one sent to Earth. You had an older cousin—someone meant to protect you, raise you. But his ship was knocked off course. He ended up in the Phantom Zone. And now… he's with my main body."
Superwoman's body froze, the words hitting her like a sledgehammer. Her pupils shrank in disbelief, her breath caught in her throat. She turned sharply to the Martian Womanhunter, silently begging for an answer.
The Martian was already in the clone's mind—and after a moment, she gave a slow, grim nod to confirm the truth. Her face twisted in disgust as she did.
Superwoman's legs buckled slightly. She had unknowingly condemned her cousin to a fate worse than death.
"For years, he fought to escape," the clone said evily. "For years, your cousin struggled to reach you, battling Zora and the others nonstop in the Phantom Zone. And now?"
He leaned forward slightly, savoring the words. "Now he screams for my main body's amusement."
Superwoman's eyes burned with growing rage.
"I wonder how long until he breaks. Or are you going to harden your heart and ignore the cruel fate you've given him? Not just him, but everyone else trapped in the Phantom Zone. Some were prisoners… others, just unfortunate souls who ended up there by mistake."
His words struck deep, and Superwoman's fists clenched as her eyes glowed a fiery red. Her fury was undeniable—but so was the question that hung in the air. Could she allow Omen to return to Earth?
The clone smiled wider, enjoying her silence.
"And here's another reason to bring him back," he added, voice low and wicked. "Since the clones scattered across the universe are no longer under his control… we've decided to entertain ourselves in other ways."
His eyes gleamed. "What better way than ruling entire planets? Turning their populations into weapons—sending them into war with the rest of the universe. Letting them believe they're fighting for some noble cause… while we sit back and watch it all fall apart in agony and suffering?" The grin stretched across his face, twisted, cruel, and utterly pleased with itself.
"How about we make sure all resources across the universe are drained?" the clone continued, his grin growing wider. "We'll watch as entire planets go to war over what little remains. Or better yet, what if we take control of the economy of every world? Raise the cost of living until no species can survive without suffering. Drive up rent on every system until lifeforms are forced into homelessness."
He stepped forward slightly, voice dripping with dark amusement. "What if we control the distribution of every resource, starving the poor while motivating the rich to gorge themselves in waste? Let them feast while the galaxy crumbles."
The clone burst into uncontrollable laughter—mad, sharp, and utterly inhuman. And in that moment, the Justice League understood something horrifying. The clones weren't just fragments of Omen's will. They were worse.
Omen granted people a slow and painful death. But the clones? They were planning to give the entire universe a slow and painful life.
"Many of the clones are already working on a virus," the clone said casually, his smile disturbingly bright. "But not one meant to kill. No, this virus will gift powers—powers to everyone across the universe. Because surely… someone out there will awaken an ability to enter the Phantom Zone."
He shrugged lightly. "So even if you don't open the door, someone eventually will. And when they do, we clones will be right there, ready to watch our main body suffer."
His eyes sparkled with twisted delight. "Meta-humans are already being kidnapped. Don't worry—we clones possess the combined mental capability of beings like Batwoman, the Martian, Wonder Man, and countless other enhanced minds. Creating this virus? It's not a question. It's a promise."
The room went silent as the weight of his words settled over them.
"And now," he continued, his tone almost playful, "the third method to ensure our main body's return… Darkseid."
That name alone caused several members to tense.
"A few lies here, a few lies there. Stir the right pot, light the right fuse… and I'm sure Darkseid would be more than happy to step into the Phantom Zone for a visit." He tilted his head, grin widening.
"Would they fight? Maybe. Would one kill the other? Who cares?" His voice dropped to a whisper. "Just imagine the outcomes that could come from that meeting."
The Justice League stood frozen, saying nothing—because every possibility they imagined… ended in disaster.
"…I didn't think a monster worse than Omen could exist," Val said quietly, staring at the clone with visible disgust. His Lantern ring had just confirmed it—every single Omen clone scattered across the universe had suddenly vanished without a trace.
The clone had been telling the truth. "But you and your kind have proven me wrong."
"I'll take that as a compliment," the clone replied cheerfully, his expression twisting into a mockery of delight. "Now then, shall I start giving you a bit of hope about defeating the main body?"
He chuckled, eyes dancing with cruel amusement. "Don't worry—he won't know about any of this. The connection between us and him is one-way now. The main body made that choice. He doesn't want to know what we're doing. His little way of ensuring he doesn't end up wanting to come back."
The clone smirked mockingly. "How… sweet."
"Speak," Batwoman said coldly, her voice sharp and unwavering. The clone smiled, almost pleased by the command.
"Step one in defeating my main body: target his weakness—his attachments. Specifically, his love for you two." He gestured toward Batwoman and Superwoman. "It's the main reason he didn't kill any heroes after Val that day. He realized that the fewer heroes he killed, the greater the chance someone might stop him one day."
He leaned forward, voice dropping into a darker tone. "He's holding back—not out of mercy, but because deep down, some part of him wants to be stopped. Still, if he loses control of his urges… he might cross that line."
The League stayed silent, listening closely as the clone went on.
"Another weakness? He avoids instant kills unless they serve a purpose. If he thinks killing someone quickly won't leave lasting damage, he usually spares them. Val got an instant death—because he realized it would scar Shazam." The clone's grin widened, teeth showing. "And judging by the fact that Shazam isn't here, he was right."
He let out a cold, cruel laugh—clearly savoring the pain he'd stirred.
"Shut up!" Batwoman snapped, her voice cracking like a whip as she grabbed the clone by the collar, yanking him forward with barely restrained fury.
The clone's twisted grin faltered, the smugness draining from his face as he stared into her furious eyes.
"Shazam is a soft spot, I see," he muttered, trying to keep his tone mocking, though his voice wavered ever so slightly. "Why are you so angry, Bats? Hiding something?"
He tried to smirk again, but it was strained, unsteady. Even the clone, for all his darkness, clearly felt uncomfortable beneath her glare. It was subtle, but there. Because deep down, clone or not, he still carried the same attachments. The same memory of the only real care he had ever received.
And seeing Batwoman's anger, because of her care for someone else, stirred something ugly inside him. Jealousy. Resentment. And a growing unease he couldn't explain.
Batwoman was pulled back by Superman, who placed a firm hand on her shoulder, silently urging her to let it go. There would be time to talk later—right now, they needed answers, not emotions.
"Another way to deal with my creator's creator? Easy… date him, or something," he said with a lazy grin. "He'd be too caught up in the idea of being with one of you to stay focused on being a full-time villain."
He leaned back in his restraints, shrugging. "Of course, it's only a temporary fix. He'd still go off and do evil things behind your back—like a part-time job, really. Kind of like how someone can go a while without watching porn, but eventually… well, you know."
The League collectively stared at him, somewhere between disturbed and incredulous. The clone tapped his chin, pretending to think hard.
"Honestly, I'm struggling to come up with a way that would stop him permanently—you know, without killing him for good." His grin returned, but his eyes gleamed with something else now. Uncertainty. Even he didn't know how far his original could fall.
"Well, goodbye," the clone said with a smug wave. "To avoid any risk of the original hearing your little plans, I'm out. But I'll be watching… I look forward to making him suffer."
He paused, eyes glinting with cruel satisfaction. "Oh, and by the way—you've got one week. After that, we clones will be paying a visit to Darkseid… or Trigon… or anyone else with the power to drag the original back."
With those final words, the clone was undone—erased by the very clone that had created him, leaving behind nothing but a silence thick with tension.
"…I say we throw the original into the sun," Green Arrow muttered, breaking the silence. Her tone was cold, final. "If we get rid of the original, the clones go with him."
She turned to look at Superwoman, her gaze sharp. Because she could see it, clear as day. Superwoman was already thinking about saving her cousin.
"It's too risky," Zatanna, mother of Zatara, said firmly, her voice cutting through the tension in the room. "We should focus on stopping the clones. Yes, tracking them down won't be easy, but we only need one. Once we capture a single clone, I can cast a spell to trace the rest. We can root them out."
She looked around at the League, her gaze sharp with conviction. But Green Arrow wasn't having it.
"How long until Omen's real body gets bored and tries to escape the Phantom Zone?" she snapped, stepping forward. "What if it isn't tomorrow, or next year, but a thousand years from now? Will the people of that time have the means to stop him? Would they even know what he's capable of?"
Her words struck like arrows of their own, and the room fell into uneasy silence.
"Omen's main body is a ticking time bomb, and you all know it. What if something inside the Phantom Zone ends up killing him, just to empower him even more? If that happens… who's going to stop him when he comes back stronger than ever?"
The weight of that possibility hung over them like a shadow.
"There's also the risk of Omen letting Zora and the others kill him… just to gain Superwoman's powers," Cyborg added, her voice heavy with concern, a deep frown carved into her face.
The room grew even more still.
"That's my point," she continued. "Do we even understand how his powers really work?"
She looked around, her expression serious. "If Wonder Man kills him again, does Omen just get everything twice? Would he gain double the divinity? Would he stop being a demigod and become a full god?"
"I'll be straightforward," Joan said, stepping forward with a deep frown. "It's obvious Superwoman's going to try and save her cousin. And honestly? If I were in her place, I couldn't ignore him either—not knowing he's trapped in the hands of that monster, in a place where he can't even die."
Her eyes swept across the room. "I think we should all go. Save her cousin. Save everyone we can from Omen. And while we're there… end Omen. Once and for all."
Before anyone could respond, Batwoman turned toward Zatanna, her gaze sharp. "Then why didn't you cast the spell to locate the Omen clones while the clone was still here?"
Zatanna froze for a moment, clearly caught off guard. But she quickly composed herself and answered.
"Because that clone wasn't created through bio-fission," Zatanna explained, her tone calm but serious. "It was formed from air.. That's why it was weaker than the others, but strong enough to carry out its purpose. And more importantly, it left no trace to track back to the original."
Batwoman stepped forward, her eyes narrowing. "Then it's settled… who's ready to enter the Phantom Zone?"
She scanned the room. "It's best we move before Darkseid makes her move."
One by one, the League members stepped forward—unflinching, united in resolve. They were ready to end this. And this time, they would make sure Omen stayed down for good.