After Apokolips

Chapter 5

May 7th, 2018 2:14 pm

On arrival at the Justice League ship, the Titans were immediately led into a conference room where they were greeted by the Justice League. Superman was the first to approach the team, giving a brief handshake to Starfire and Nightwing with Constantine and Zatanna in tow. 

"Titans, thank you all for coming. This is Zatanna Zatarra and John Constantine, two newer members of the league. " He spoke before stepping aside to introduce the two magicians. Zatanna briefly greeted the team before focusing on Raven who stood beside Damian at the back with her face safely shielded beneath the privacy of her hood. "You seem quite strong," The enchantress said, "And you're magical aura exudes power. What kind of entity are you?", 

"I'm half-demon. Part witch." Raven replied simply, suddenly feeling even more self-conscious than she already was. 

"That's an interesting gem you have there," Constantine commented out of interest, referring to her chakra. 

"It's a magically enhanced crystal designed to act as a prison," Raven informed him. "I use it to keep my father locked up." Constantine seemed to take it as a suitable answer and left it at that as Batman joined the conversation. 

Batman's greeting was the opposite of Superman's: cold, grim, and straight to the point. "So now that the Titans are here, I was hoping to receive a reasonable explanation for what happened earlier during the meeting. Something tells me it wasn't coincidental." 

"As far as I can tell, somehow these visions are connected to the three of us. That is- me, Zatanna, and Raven. Other than that, I'm just as confused by them as they are." Constantine said. 

"Then what do you think they're for?" Superman asked. "Because if it concerns the three of you then they must be related to something important." 

"That isn't usually how visions work. They aren't supposed to be linked to more than one person at any specific time. It's uncommon." Zatanna joined in. 

"I believe it would be best to continue this with discussion with everyone seated instead of standing," Batman suggested before leading the way to another adjoined room of the conference room. Everyone silently agreed and followed him into the area. Unlike the last room which was practically bare, this one contained another display screen as well as a massive conference table with enough space for everyone present. The league took to one side of the table and the Titans took to the other, and Cyborg waited until everyone was seated before choosing to join into the prior conversation. 

"If I had to guess, I would say it's because of your all magicians. Maybe the visions are connected to all of you because of your powers, just like with magical enchantments and bonds." He said. "Furthermore, what are the visions even about? Or how long have you all been having them?" 

"John and I only began to have them two nights ago," Zatanna responded. "Around midnight to be exact." 

'Around midnight', Damian thought. Which was around the same time Raven had woken up due to visions as well. Speaking of the demoness. Damian gave her a quick glance to see how she was taking in the current situation. Remarkable, she seemed quite at ease beneath the safety of her hood, which soon changed as Cyborg repeated the earlier question. 

"Raven, how long have you been experiencing the visions for yourself? Or is it the same as with Zatanna and Constantine's case?" 

"For about two days, I think. There were many of them" Raven replied. 

"Interesting," Constantine said. 

"What exactly was in your visions, can you remember?" Zatanna asked. 

Raven nodded. "The main things I saw in the first vision were Darkseid's demons invading Earth. After that, most of the other visions just involved everyone dying and a series of other things I'm unsure of." She is sad. 

After Raven finished, Cyborg once again faced the teams. "That can't be a coincidence with everything involving the sudden arrival of Darkseid. The visions might have been warnings for us and what we should expect in anticipation of Darkseid's raid. I have an idea to propose." 

"What kind of idea?" Batman asked. 

"To help us defeat Darkseid," Cyborg spoke as he got up and went in front of the display screen so everyone could see him. 

"So my proposition is that the Justice League, as well as Raven, will take a stealth trip to Apokolips where I can enact a BoomTube large enough to blast Apokolips and everything on it into oblivion. Which should succeed in getting rid of Darkseid and all his demons for good. The Titans teams can stay on Earth as a backup in case Darkseid attacks Earth while the league is on the mission. 

"Why does Raven need to go as well?" Starfire asked, which many people, including Raven, were wondering as well. The demoness couldn't see how she was related to the plot in any way. 

"We will need someone to keep Darkseid distracted while we're on the planet and while I'm enacting the boom system into the Apokolips core Base. If John, Zatanna, and Raven can keep him occupied that will give me enough time to complete the task." 

At the conference table, Batsman seemed to be thinking over the idea as well as everyone else. "It seems like a good plan, but we'll need to work fast if we want it to work." 

"We would have to do it right away. It is worth a shot though. On one hand, we could either infiltrate Apokolips and take out Darkseid, his minions, and Apokolips all in one go. Or we could wait for him to invade Earth any day now and then we'll not only have to worry about our own safety but also the safety of eight billion people as well. If you ask me, the first choice seems better." Cyborg explained.

"We'll have to take a vote. Titans included." Batman decided as he stood up from the table. "All in favor of going to Apokolips." 

A hefty amount of hands went to the air, Damian's included which seemed to make up at least half of everyone present. Raven chose to keep her hand down, already knowing her decision. It wasn't that she was against the plan, it was more because of the fact that she'd have to be a part of it. Even worse, without her teammates. So she really hoped more people would choose to stay on Earth as opposed to going to Apokolips. 

Seemingly after counting the votes, Batman moved to the second option. "All in favor of staying on Earth." 

This time, only a handful of hands went up, much to Raven's displeasure. The only other people besides herself who had chosen this option included Beast Boy. Lex Luther, Blue Beetle, and a few others. Not really a lot compared to the previous prompt. 

"So it's settled." The Dark Knight decided. "The league will infiltrate Apokolips on a stealth mission and the Titans will stay on Earth as a backup should Darkseid launch an invasion earlier than expected." 

"And when exactly do you intend to go through with this mission?" Lex asked. 

"Tomorrow," Batman replied.