"With all we've seen, how can you not believe in ghosts?" Harley asked Ivy as they entered the church. "I mean, we've worked with Grundy."

"He's a reanimated corpse," Ivy replied, "not some poor schmuck that decided to stick around after he died to make cold spots in the air. I've died briefly a time or two and I've seen nothing that makes me believe there is an afterlife, much less that you can put it off to perform parlor tricks."

"There are multiple afterlives," John told her, "and the Greek gods have occasionally popped by to say hi. I'm surprised you are so skeptical."

The three waited in the foyer while the church services came to an end and people stood up to either leave or talk to one another.

"I hardly count Maxie Zeus as proof," she told him, "he was just another lunatic with more money than brain cells."

"Not him, he was just a nut," John agreed. "No, I mean actual Greek gods. Wonder Woman is pretty directly related to them and there is footage available of her fighting Ares."

A number of departing parishioners startled at seeing Ivy and Harley, but immediately calmed down on seeing a Green Lantern talking to them and simply nodded as they left.

"Give a man enough power and he'll claim to be a god, that's hardly proof of divinity, just human ego," Ivy argued.

"I know the location of a gate to Tartarus," John told her, "and if you want to take a trip to California I can personally introduce you to Lucifer."

"Shouldn't he be ruling Hell?" Harley asked. "Though I suppose there ain't that much of a difference."

"He abdicated," John replied with a shrug. "He runs a bar now, though his brothers are trying to get him to take back his position."

"I can't tell if you're joking or not," Ivy said, shaking her head, "but regardless I don't believe a normal human soul hangs around after death, no matter how tortured their existence or macabre their end was. In fact, the worse it was the more likely they'd quickly pass on, since death at least promises an absence of pain."

"I've apparently stepped into the midst of a most interesting conversation," the priest said as he joined the three.

"Professor Isley is directing me to locations where people have dumped massive amounts of chemicals that are polluting the environment and making people sick," John explained. "We're going to check out a radiation hazard she can sense in the nearby closed down asylum and she doesn't believe in ghosts."

"I'm not sure I believe in ghosts, except for the holy trinity of course," the priest offered.

John nodded. "That's understandable, however I know a fair bit about the supernatural and can honestly state that ghosts do in fact exist, though it covers a number of phenomena."

"What about Gentleman Ghost?" Harley said suddenly. "We've met him and he's a ghost."

"He's a meta," Ivy argued. "Normal people do not become energy beings after death, they lack the... power or oomph."

"Gentleman Ghost was in fact a normal human, though he was in no way a gentleman," John said. "Of course there's a magical dagger and a pair of destined lovers who keep being reincarnated involved."

"I've died before," Ivy said flatly, "and I can assure you there were no harps and halos, nor was I in any way hanging around."

"That's because your soul belongs to the Green," John said. "The parliament of Trees sent you back just in case they need another champion and Alec Holland falls."

"That... That feels right, but how do you know that?" Ivy asked in disbelief. "And I'm not sure why I know that to be true now."

"I really should have cards printed up," John said with a sigh. "I'm from an erased timeline, my ring prevented me from being wiped from existence, but all my personal memories and any physical evidence that I existed before the time change was deleted from reality, so while I have quite a bit of knowledge I have no idea how I learned it."

The three just stared at him.

"You seem far too relaxed for that to be true," Harley eventually said.

John chuckled. "So I've been told, but all I can say is I'm not a big fan of angst and I can't see myself brooding about a timeline I don't even remember. I am a Green Lantern with one of the most powerful and versatile tools in existence, so I can't really complain."

"You've got two of them," Harley noticed. "Why does the blue one have Supes' logo on it? Got it out of a cereal box or something?"

"No, I traveled to the remains of Krypton and took it from one of their museums," he replied. "Blue rings are powered by Hope and are better than Green for healing people."

"You're the Green Lantern who healed all the children in the cancer ward and paid off their hospital bills," the priest said, eyes lighting up.

John nodded. "And now with Professor Isley's assistance, we are dealing with the pollution that caused their illness."

"And you need me to bless the old sanatorium?" the priest guessed.

"No, we just need holy water and blessed crosses," John said. "It may not be filled with the souls of the restless dead, but why take chances?" He was pretty sure it wasn't haunted by anything but fading emotional trauma being imprinted on the walls, but the fact that Harley was gungho, or was at least playing it that way, about getting some holy protection and the fact that he found the entire thing amusing meant he was going to play it as if it were true as well, just to be able to laugh about it later.

"Amen to that," Harley agreed.

"Can we go back to where I was resurrected by The Parliament of Trees?" Ivy asked dryly.

"Sure," John agreed. "The Green, as you well know, is the morphic field that encompasses all plant life, with The Parliament of Trees being the guiding intelligence. When you were poisoned by Dr Woodrue, he was using a derivative of the formula Holland was working on to discover the source of the Green. That allowed them to resurrect you as a backup champion or protector of plant life."

"And Alec?" she asked, recalling him as one of the few men it was actually a pleasure to work with when she was human.

"He and his wife managed to invent a bio-restorative formula that would solve world hunger and turn deserts into tropical rainforests, so naturally a criminal organization knocked him unconscious and planted a bomb in his lab. End result, while covered in the formula and on fire he dove into a swamp in Louisiana and now looks like a bigfoot made out of grass and vines," John explained. "He's not really a people person and tends to avoid humanity unless called into action, which seems to involve fighting a lot more demons than you'd expect."

Everyone stared at him again.

John shrugged. "What can I say, the world is a very strange place."

"It might just be you," Ivy suggested.

"It could be both," John said. "Anyway we are getting way off topic. Sanitariums, especially the way they used to be run, are exactly the type of places you can expect to find ghosts, demons, serial killers and the like. So, since we are planning to go into one, we'd be a lot safer with some basic faith based precautions."

"I'd be happy to help," the priest said, "because while I have doubts that human souls remain on this plane for long after death, a little extra prayer has never harmed anyone."

"Thank you, father," John said, "I'll be sure to make a donation to the church before we leave."

"It's not necessary, though it is appreciated," the priest said, gesturing for them to follow him.

Arkham Sunnyvale Bedlam

"I feel like Batman," Harley said, a belt filled with vials of holy water and communion wafers around her waist.

"How much did you pay him?" Ivy asked as she examined the steel reinforced bible she'd been given.

"Enough apparently," John said with amusement as he waved to the departing priest who'd insisted on giving them a ride over in his station wagon.

"I feel like I should have brought a leather trench and some wooden stakes," Harley said with a grin.

John pulled a brown leather trench coat and a bandolier of wooden stakes out of subspace, much to their shock.

"I don't suppose you've also got a big wooden mallet on you, do ya?" Harley asked hopefully as she put on the trench coat and strapped the stakes on over it.

"Just normal size, sorry," John said, pulling one out of his subspace storage.

"Why are you gearing up to hunt vampires?" Ivy asked.

"Why not?" Harley asked, confused as to why her girlfriend would ask such a strange question.

"And why do you have vampire hunting gear, but not holy water and blessed crosses?" Ivy asked, deciding not to question Harley further.

"I really don't like vampires and hadn't found the time to visit a church and finish stocking up on anti-spook supplies," John said with a shrug.

"Think we'll run into any vampires?" Harley asked.

"Probably not," John admitted, "but then if I expected to run into them I'd have brought a flamethrower."

Ivy shook her head. "I seriously doubt we're going to run into any supernatural problems, regardless of how much this seems like the perfect horror movie setting. Now, let's just go in, locate the source of the radiation, and remove it. It's rather weak, thankfully, but I'm assuming that just means the casing around it is deteriorating and not yet cracked."

"Excuse me, what are you all doing here?"

The three turned and saw a half dozen young adults approaching, one of which had a video camera held up to her eye as she filmed everything.

"We're hunting down a radiation leak that's coming from the property," John answered the dark haired young woman who had asked. "You?"

"I just inherited the sanitarium from my great uncle and thought I'd see if I could turn it into a dorm for me and my friends," she said, adjusting her glasses nervously.

"You inherited a closed down sanitarium in Gotham City, and your first thought was to turn it into a place for you and your friends to live?" Harley asked with a wide grin.

"Yeah... is that a problem?" the young woman asked cautiously.

"No," Ivy said, "once we've located whatever piece of antiquated medical equipment is leaking radiation and decontaminated the area it'll be fine."

A well built blond man stepped forward, wearing his varsity football jacket. "Chuck," he introduced himself. "How did you three end up working together? I mean, two villains and a hero is a pretty unusual combination."

"Professor Isley is only a villain because she feels it's the only way to prevent humanity from destroying all life on the planet," John offered. "Since I have shown a willingness to actually clean up the pollution that is making everyone sick, she has agreed to work with me."

"And her?" Chuck asked, gesturing towards Harley.

"She's Harley Quinn," John offered and didn't say anything more.

Chuck eventually realized that was all the answer he was going to get and turned back to the bookish girl who had inherited the place. "So, Linda... how are we getting in?"

"I've got a key," Linda said, pulling a large metal skeleton key out of her purse.

Chuck looked at the massive metal gates that were closed in front of them. "Doesn't look like they've oiled them in forever, not sure your key is going to work."

"Allow me," John said, extending a fist towards the gate, numerous green threads vanishing into the lock and hinges. After a second the gate unlocked and smoothly swung open without even a squeal.

"How'd you do that?'' a young black man in a sports coat asked.

"I reversed the metal's oxidation and used a bit of axle grease on the hinges before unlocking it," John replied.

"Thank you, that makes this a lot easier," Linda said. "Well, let's go, everyone."

"Wow, I've heard of dead lawns before, but this one looks undead," the blonde girl in a mini-skirt said as they entered the grounds and saw where a massive lawn with well trimmed bushes used to be.

Ivy extended a hand and several of the skeletal bushes trembled. "There are a lot more mold and fungi than actual plants present, but then there is a distinct lack of sunlight and far too much moisture to expect much else."

"Solomon Grundy would feel right at home," John agreed as they walked up the cracked asphalt drive towards the main building, a towering five story construction made out of granite that looked more like a penitentiary than any kind of hospital.

"Why are there bars on the windows?" the blonde girl asked.

"To keep the patients from escaping," Harley replied. "Back in the fifties, the way mental patients were treated was more like what you'd expect to see in a concentration camp than a hospital."

"At least there'll be plenty of room," Chuck offered, "and we won't have to worry about break ins unless someone brings an acetylene torch."

"Did they give you a key to this?" the girl filming everything asked.

"I should have one," Linda agreed, pulling a massive keyring out of her purse that had at least three dozen keys on them, none of them labeled.

John held out a hand and threads of green energy sank into the hinges and lock which shortly unlocked with a loud click and the door slowly swung open, revealing a dusty and dimly lit interior.

After a minute the blonde girl in the mini-skirt spoke up, "Well, don't everybody rush in at once."

"Hey Ray," Harley said, causing the black guy to glance over at her, "you wanna go first?"

"How'd you know my name was Ray?" he asked, surprised.

"You look like a Ray," she replied with a shrug.

He slowly nodded as if that made perfect sense. "I've seen these movies, the black guy always dies first. I'll stick to the middle of the pack, thanks."

"We are not in a movie," Linda said, before adding unsurely, "are we?"

"We have three supers with us, we can't rule it out," the girl filming everything said, "reality gets kinda fuzzy around them."

"Really?" Harley asked with a wide grin, just radiating amusement.

"Depends on the super," John said, "there are a number who alter reality, or at least attract those that can, but we really aren't part of that group as far as I know."

"How do you know?" Chuck asked.

John grinned widely and pulled a card out of subspace, handing it to the jock who read it, with his friends leaning in close to look over his shoulder, their disbelief growing as they read the card.

Ivy extended a hand and John pulled out a card to hand to her.

"When did you get a chance to make these?" she asked in disbelief. "You only mentioned the idea about an hour ago."

"Power ring," John said with a grin.

Typing By: Abyssal Angel

Beta By: Abyssal Angel and Mist of Shadows

TN: "Give a man enough power and he'll claim to be a god, that's hardly proof of divinity, just human ego," Ivy argued.

"THANK YOU!" Abyssal Angel stretched up his hands into the air in vindication. "SOMEONE SAID IT! I'm so sick and tired of people claiming to be gods just cause they've got a bunch of power under their belt! Usually it just makes them tyrants. There's a level of divinity you actually have to have to claim to be a god, and even then that often doesn't count either! And don't get me started on the idiots who force their beliefs onto others. Just because the dude or dudette is more powerful than you lot doesn't make him a god. Hero? Maybe. Villain? Sure. God? Nah."