and reassurance. He was granted a suit of Heavenly armor and a new headquarters, the Aerie, a structure floating over Los Angeles. Accepting the JLA's offer for membership, Zauriel joined them on various missions. Asmodel did not stay beaten for long and soon bonded himself to the hostless Spectre in the Day of Judgement crossover using the ashes of an angel's wing feather, aided by Etrigan the Demon. Gaining sudden, immeasurable power, Asmodel froze Hell and returned to Earth, leading to immense destruction. Zauriel confronted and attempted to battle Asmodel directly, but Asmodel effortlessly overpowered him by turning his very wings into stone. The heroes of Earth united, the bulk of which went to fight Spectre directly, while a smaller detachment, led by Zauriel, left for Purgatory to find a soul eligible to replace Asmodel's inside the Spectre. They found Hal Jordan. Returning to Earth with Jordan's soul in tow, the group met up with the others and Jordan entered the Spectre, leading to an internal conflict that ultimately forced Asmodel out, establishing Jordan as the Spectre. Zauriel also confronted a version of the Spectre in JLA #31, stopping him from delivering a death blow to Triumph, a former superhero turned supervillain. Spectre told Zauriel that his insubordination would not go well for him in the Courts of Light. Zauriel's career with the JLA continued until the galactic threat known as Mageddon arrived, whose hate-mongering effect motivated Lex Luthor to join up with Prometheus, Queen Bee and General Wade Eiling, a.k.a. the General. With the Earth facing immediate destruction, both from itself and Mageddon, Luthor planted bombs on the Watchtower. As the JLA evacuated, Zauriel deliberately stayed behind and removed his helmet just before the bombs detonated. He was caught in the explosion and died. Arriving in Heaven, Zauriel discovered that Paradise had abandoned all hope for Earth's survival and was already designing a replacement world. Zauriel begged Heaven for aid, but was turned down. They did, however, grant him the option to return to Earth himself and stand by the mortals. Zauriel accepted and asked the others to listen to the Presence in their hearts. He was about to leave when countless hosts of angels volunteered to accompany him back to Earth and aid in the struggle against Mageddon. Leading his army of angels, Zauriel returned and prevented the nations of the world from destroying each other, while the