"She is beaten." Dr. Fate announces as the Granny Box tries to stay afloat, but it is sparking wildly and smoke is rising from it as it sinks to the ground.
"Cy? You cool man?" Changeling asks as Cyborg blinks his human eye, signaling his return to his own mind.
"Heh. Boyah!" He sighs, it had taken every trick he had, but he was fairly certain he helped New Genesis' own defenses hold the line and push Granny out of their systems.
"RRR!" Raven growls from the inside as she put the last nail in Granny's coffin and punches her fist out of the top of the box, getting a screech from it as it falls over on its front. Diana is quickly there to make the hole larger. "Get me out of this thing!" Raven growls.
"Zatanna, a little help?" Diana says as she blocks Raven from getting out, having seen it Raven barely had any clothes on.
"nevaR, eb dehtolc." Zatanna commands and Raven grows a new leotard, cloak and boots as she pushes past Diana before she sinks to her knees.
"Rae?" Nightwing asks as he is quickly be her side. "Are you all right?"
"Carnage is gone." Raven sighs. "As is everything I had in power."
"Don't worry." Nightwing replies, he couldn't care less about Carnage, he was just happy she was all right.
"There is still a fight going on outside." Batman notes from above as they look up and see him swoop down with a man thrown over his shoulder that some of them recognizes as Kanto, Darkseid's personal assassin. "This will only spread to Earth if it's not stopped here, hard." He says as he drops Kanto. "Starfire and J'onn are already outside."
"As are five Doomsdays." John announces as he brings up a holographic image of what is going on outside, which instantly puts a dampener on the spirits of many of the Leaguers. "If you know you can't handle or damage them, stay clear." He says as Raven gets back on her feet.
"Rae?" Nightwing asks, wondering just how much she could manage right now.
"I don't know if the Omega Force is in me or not. How are we otherwise doing?" She asks and looks at the others that had been with her, they are all covered in scratches and wounds, Artemis most of all and Cyborg is a mess.
"Ain't dead, can still fight, could otherwise be better." Io admits.
"Then let's finish this." Kyle Rayner says.
"Orion, you are wounded!" A man shouts as he pulls the groggy New God out of the rubble of a wall he had been punched into.
"Darkseid's teeth… I am not beaten…" Orion rumbles as he takes off his helmet, battered out of shape as it is, revealing the wounds from the fight and the lines hinting at his linage. He looks up and spots the behemoth smashing its way through the melee to get to him. "Get back… it's mine!" He growls as he pushes the man aside and stumbles to his feet and towards the monster. He manages to dodge under it's swing before he grabs it around the waist and pushes, only in his mind is there a fight now and Doomsday doesn't budge before it brings both fists down on Orions back flattening him with the ground.
The limp Orion is picked up by his neck and held up to Doomsdays face, as if the monster was studying him, Orion can only growl his rage as he looks his death in the eyes.
"Amazons! Justice League! Titans! Advance!" Doomsday looks up at the sound of Hippolyta's call and sees a giant green boxing glove coming towards it.
"You need something a bit more solid than that Kyle!" John shouts to his younger colleague as the glove sends both Doomsday and Orion tumbling with the impact. "Scanning: Warning. Extinction level entity encountered, Earth designation: Doomsday, cross reference The Ultimate. Approach with extreme caution." John and Kyle look at each other in surprise. "Ring. Any known contacts between Doomday and the GLC?" John asks as Kyle manages to liberate Orion by bringing a giant green axe down on the monster's wrist. "Affirmative. Last encounter, 250.000 Earth years ago, The Ultimate rampaged across Oa, resulting in the deaths of 87 senior lanterns, 63 cadets and 1 Guardian."
"That's not what I want to hear!" Kyle shouts as he scoops Orion up in a bowl and carries him clear as Doomsday hurls a piece of the ground after them.
"Keep it together Rookie! This your baptism by fire." John barks back even though he knows it's not true, Kyle had seen and lived through quite a few major fights already, but right now Doomsday was in line to take the cake.
"You know…?" Tim shouts as he, Richard, Bruce and Raven are methodically taking down any and all opposition in their path.
"Worst reunion ever!" Raven replies as she headbutts a soldier in front of her.
"Nightwing, left." Batman notes as he has his arm wrapped around the neck of one New God and planting his boots in the chest of another.
"I got him. Right." Nightwing says as the two men end up back to back for a second before they leap into the next opponents.
"I didn't believe he would be that insane." Donna notes as she, Cassandra, Diana, Superman, Supergirl and Superboy note the two Doomsday's that are close to each other, but seemingly oblivious to each others presence.
"We only have one advantage." Diana notes at Superman who nods at her in understanding. "Words of the day are; Speed and Strength. Hit them hard, hit them fast and do not let up before they are down and stay there."
"Well then, this will be new." Cassandra says and looks at Kara.
"Yup, a chance to cut loose." Kara replies as they make ready.
"On my mark." Diana says. "Three. Two. One. Go!" She counts and the group, minus Superman, race into the two behemoths attacking the both at speeds so great no normal eye could see the storm of blows they rain down on the creatures. On the other side of New Genesis, the scene is replaying itself with Wally, Barry, Jay and Bart doing the same to a third Doomsday. And all of them know they can't be anything less than their best with this, because Doomsday never stops, Doomsday could not be stopped by anything short of a miracle.
In the forest below New Genesis, Kalibak lies prone, his world is still a blur after the blow he had taken. But he does see something come into view above him, looking, to him, like a black cloud of smoke with something solid in it. His eye widen as he sees the eyes.
"You'll do nicely, hold still." Kalibak tries to shout at it and fight it off, but it seeps into him and the only thing that comes from his throat is a primal scream of pain and terror as his world becomes unlike anything he's ever experienced before. "Now, Son of Darkseid, on your feet." The thing's voice says in his head and he is left to watch helplessly as his body obeys the command while looking up at the city, and still he can't stop screaming.
"Ok, not that it's a complaint, but this was… easy?" Supergirl asks as the Supers and Wonders catch their breaths, the only thing left of the pair of Doomsdays are two smears of gray matter on the ground.
"Doomsday's DNA must have been too difficult to replicate." Superman says as he vaporizes a couple of rifles. "Question is if the real one is here."
"We will have to find it and get it out of the city." Donna says as she massages her hands.
"Come then Behemoth!" Artemis shouts as Doomsday towers above her with it's fists raised high, ready to crush her as she holds her long blade horizontally between them. As it attacks, she dives aside, dragging her sword along the monsters ribs before she runs clear, feeling the bony fist pass through her long hair.
She turns before jumping aside to avoid it again as it makes a short leap to hit her again, to her worry, her blade made no mark at all in the beasts hide.
"Artemis, get out of there!" Philipus shouts as she, Fate, Zatanna, Jinx and Tempest are all powering up for an attack.
"Whoa! Hey, it works!" Changeling exclaims after Io had used her Purple Healing Ray on him.
"It did?... Of course it does!" Io replies as she also confirms the bite and claw marks left on him have vanished. Then off to their right, they see Doomsday rip a New Genesis soldier apart before it lays it's eyes on them. "Hades' breath…" Garfield's stomach drops at the sight.
"Ah… Io?" Garifeld asks.
"Aye?" She replies as she takes a step back, she knew she wasn't going to have a fighting chance against that thing.
"Tell the others to come find me… as fast as possible. GO!" Garfield shouts before he breaks into a run towards Doomsday who returns the charge. Io is left to watch as Changeling changes shape as he runs, growing larger and larger while green bones appear to be pushing themselves out of his flesh. Garfield waited to change before the last second, because he knew he wouldn't be able to control himself in this form for very long, and he needed to be able to think for as long as possible. As he comes within reach, Doomsday takes his swing at him, only to be blocked with Garfields left arm before his right lands a thundering uppercut to Doomsdays head, sending him into the sky. The ground breaks beneath Garfield, now a green version of Doomsday himself, as he leaps into the sky, grabbing the gray monster before carrying them both over the edge of New Genesis as an eerie purple light wash over the city.
"Tell me again why we didn't just teleport him in one piece?!" Jinx shouts as she is carried clear by Antiope before Doomsday can reach her.
"And let him destroy someone else?" Zatanna shouts as she's been carried clear by Hippolyta while Dr. Fate stalls the beast for a moment before teleporting aside.
"Think this is the right one." Diana says as she, Superman, Supergirl, Wonder Girl, Donna Troy, Martian Manhunter, Superboy, Wally, Barry, Lightray and Bart all gather up in the face of the monster. "Hit…" She doesn't get to finish before Doomsday knocks most of them over with a single blow to the ground before charging into them.
Highfather lands on the battlefield transformed, gone is the calm man dressed in soft fabrics who speaks of peace and philosophy and carried a shepherds staff. What lands now, is Izaya the Warrior, the New God that had lead New Genesis since it's creation and waged the eternal conflict with Apokolips and fought numerous battles personally with Darkseid himself, now dressed in dark armor and brandishing a baton. Part of him mourns his return to this role, but he knew it would happen, peace with Darkseid could ever only be temporary.
"Take heart children!" He shouts across the field of battle before the first of Darkseid's subjects try his hand against Izaya and is swiftly dispatched with a blast of energy without breaking his stride. With the cheer from his men comes the roar of Darkseids new beast as it battles the Justice League, brave mortals in his eyes, but a weapon of Darkseid was something he had to face.
He passes her as he makes his way towards the beast, the woman that had caught Darkseid's attention; disabling four of Darkseids soldiers with a sweep of her legs while choking consciousness out of a parademon. He knows, deep down, that Darkseid had made a mistake when he came for he. She would have been content with having escaped him, but one day, this action could come back to haunt Darkseid. Izaya knows there are reasons why even the New Gods stayed clear of the domains of the monster the Eartheners called Trigon. He only hopes the monsters offspring remains as she is now; dedicated to opposing the likes of him. And now Izaya has to face a different monster as it notices him after having swatted aside the one they call Wonder Woman, he could feel the pressure from the blow even from this distance. And then it lays it's red eyes on him and sees Izaya for what he is; the enemy.
"Raven, get down!" Batman bellows as Raven has staggered back towards Highfather and Doomsday, she goes limp and narrowly avoids the behemoth's bony arm as it thunders into Highfathers energy shield. "Raven!" He shouts before having to deal with more assailants as her momentum and fall has her land under the two combatants that remain oblivious to her; Highfather focused on the fight and Doomsday uncaring what it steps on. She has to roll one way, then the other before being able roll hard enough to get clear of them both and gets up.
Nightwing looks back at her, seeing her rise behind Doomsday, relieved that she had gotten out. But his relief turns to dread as Doomsday pulls its fist back for another blow, because Raven's head is right in the path of the bone spike growing out of Doomsdays elbow. He has a horrible slow moving image of Raven stopping as the bone pierces her skull and her eyes go blank. But then time speeds up, and Hawkgirl dives in as a blur and crashes into Raven, carrying her out of the way of the spikes path and sending them both to the ground in a tangle.
"Eyes open Rae! HA!" Shayera shouts before she gets up and charges into another group of soldiers.
"Damn." Raven mutters as she feels lightheaded and as if there was something sticky in her hair, she doesn't need to reach out to feel it or to see it to know it's blood, but she does anyway, Doomsday had missed her by less than millimeters. And then another assailant in upon her, he tries to impale her with a spear, she batters it aside, driving it into the ground next to her as she reaches up and drags the man's head down on her own. It gives her the time to bounce back on her feet with a pounding head, it's not optimal, but she's done it before. She pulls the spear free of the ground and smacks the man away with the shaft before moving into the melee once more.
Starfire hangs overhead, watching the battle unfold below her and catching her breath, she had seen two of the Doomsday clones fall, she can see the third being worn down by the Flash Family and the fourth engaging Highfather and several of the Justice League. What was troubling her is how torn she is about diving into the combat below her as her warrior instincts dictates, and going off to find her mate, engaging a Doomsday on his own.
"Hey there, are you wounded?" She snaps out of her musings as she is approached by a man with red hair and in a white suit reinforced with gold armor, she has seen his image before.
"I am not." She replies. "You are the one they call Light-Ray, are you not?"
"That I am." He smirks.
"You must come with me, there is a 5th of the beasts we need to take care off." Starfire replies before flying off in the direction she saw Garfield and Doomsday fall.
"Hey wait! Another one? How can we deal with that when Highfather and Orion cannot?" He asks as he easily catches up to her.
"There is only on true Doomsday, the others are weaker, less durable." Starfire replies, like the Lanterns, Tamaranians had legends and stories surrounding The Ultimate. She wasn't sure they were true, but they spoke of the monster having devastated ancient Okaara battling the goddess X'Hal herself before being exiled from the Vega starsystem.
"Uh right, perhaps we should go get Orion or Superman for this." Light-Ray asks as they fly over a valley that had been tranquil, until the two behemoths had landed in it.
"No. I need you to hit me." Starfire replies as they approach the two, both roaring their fury at each other.
"Hit you?" he asks.
"You can project solar radiation, yes?" She asks and get a confirming nod. "My body can convert that into energy."
"Ah, I see." Light-Ray smirks before he drifts away. "When you are ready."
Below them Garfield has given into the primal rage that runs through the beast he has copied, he is so powerful now, he knows that nothing can really stop him. But the other beast is doing it's best, and in the back of Garfields overloaded mind, he is screaming at himself to have even the tiniest bit of control over himself. He isn't worried about this fight right now, he's worried about what happens after. Right now he know he will most likely attack anything in sight, even his own friends.
Fortunately for him, Starfire knows from him, Mento and the rest of the Doom Patrol about how to bring a part of Garfield around when he had lost himself, she had even heard how Raven did it in Tartarus. Since Garfield isn't a brainless beast, and is always present in his own mind, he will respond to things Garfield has learned to recognize even on a subconscious level. One of those things was fear. And one of the things Garfield fears is an angry Starfire. So she sends a tiny starbolt flying in front of their eyes, while Light-Ray blasts her with solar radiation. For a short second, Garfield looks into the sky and sees the glowing figure hanging here and fear takes hold of him.
He quickly smashes Doomsday into the ground before he retreats and hell falls from above. Starfire unleashed a pillar of energy so intense that it has turned from its normal green to white. For nearly a mile away from ground zero, dry wood and bushes burst into flame, streams of cold water begin to boil. The vegetation closest is, only a second later, hit by the pressure wave as the air itself expands explosively, blasting the burning leaves away before many of the trees are pushed to the ground and thrown away.
Starfire pours everything she and Light-Ray has into the blast, keeping it up for over a minute before they give up due to exhaustion and have to drift down into the ash-filled wasteland that once was a beautiful valley, but then again, Starfire herself was pretty sure they had just forced he whole area to experience what the surface of the Sun was like and they keep hovering in the air to keep off the scorching surface.
"Heh… we did it." Light-Ray notes at the smoldering remains of Doomsday, lying in a hardening magma bowl, having died trying to get out from under the starbolt. The two look at the burnt out eye-sockets and imagine the beast panicking as it realized it couldn't withstand the damage. Then a strong gust of wind blasts down the valley, filling the air with hot ash and takes away the shell of Doomsday's skin, leaving only the bones behind.
In the city, things are not going so well, while the Apokolips forces are only slowly being brought down, Doomsday has yet to slow and is now easily keeping all on-comers away while continuing to try and bring Highfather down. Having pushed the fight into a building. He is alone now, on his own request, confident he could take it and seeing how ineffective the League was when it was nearly tripping over itself to get at it.
"Damnable beast!" Highfather curses as he tries once more to aim a blast at the beast, previously he had to stop because of the speed of the thing, this time, the bright beam of energy strikes Doomsday in the chest, taking it off it's feet and sends it flying through a generator. Highfather takes a deep breath of relief. "Source be praised." He says before he feels the tremor in the ground.
Doomsday roars as it sprints out of the wreckage towards its target, Highfather throws himself aside before he can be trampled into the ground. But before he can get up, he sees the behemoth has jumped into the air and is coming down on him. With horror, Highfather looks into the eyes of the monster and realizes that it is not a weapon of Apokolips, it was made by mortals.
The blow is felt in the ground across New Genesis, as is the rumbling following it it ends with one large blow that sends out an energy pulse. For a split second those outside think the night turns into day and many of the electrical systems spark and go out.
"Diana!" Superman shouts as he feels it along with everyone else, New Genesis was starting to fall towards the ground. He, Wonder Woman, Donna, Cassandra, Dr. Fate, Supergirl and Superboy are quick alongside the Green Lanterns to blast off and stop the city's fall.
"By the gods." Hippolyta says as Doomsday rumbles from within the hole it had taken Highfather through, likewise the other defenders are backing away as the monster's eyes shine in the darkness. Their morale is not bolsterd when someone fires a bright flare, showing the blood coating Doomsdays arms and fists.
"If you wouldn't mind clearing the area. Now!" The rumbling voice of Carnage suddenly rumbles within their heads before they feel like they are being pushed aside as a roar is heard from beneath them city. They see a small shape leap into the sky above them, then comes down near their area.
To the New Genesis and Apokolips soldiers, the sight is a ghastly one. They are all familiar with the visage of Kalibak, Firstborn of Darkseid, but they had never seen him like this. Dark flames are slowly consuming his flesh, having already eaten away huge pieces of skin and meat, what is left of his huge mane of hair has turned white and Kalibaks expression is nothing but pure horror. And this is before they see the looming shadow above him, the only thing visible is the four red eyes hanging above him. The eyes do not turn to them, they lock onto those of Doomsday that appears to have been waiting for this.
The behemoth sets into motion, as does the dying Kalibak. Doomsday roars his fury as Kalibak screams in pain. As the two collide, the looming shadow of Carnage seems to slip over both combatants, leaving Kalibak to his fate and towards its real target; Raven.
"Not getting rid of me that easily Rae. Now; RISE!" Carnage roars in her head before they make contact. As Kalibak dies in agony, Raven bellows and changes as she stumbles into the corridor, completing the change as Doomsday turns to face the Demon Queen that takes a deep breath.
Hippolyta feels the pull as she once did and is alone in knowing what was about to happen as Raven exhales, drawing power not only from herself, but from everyone around her. Again the night becomes day once more as she pours it all into the blast, Doomsday roars within the maelstrom of energy, but keeps moving, while slowing down more and more. Raven pushes and pushes, until she can push no more, and the energy has finally dried up, leaving Doomsday a stone statue frozen less than a foot from her. Her twitches and she manages one last trick, her Soul-self rises and engulfs the monster before they both vanish, leaving nothing behind. "Good girl Rae." Is all she hears in her head before she falls over, slipping into unconsciousness not knowing if the voice was that of Carnage, herself or someone else.
Several days later:
Raven wakes up, looking at the familiar ceiling of the medical bay of the Watchtower. "And there we go." She hears Dr. Mid-Night say before looking to the side, seeing him remove an empty syringe from the IV going into her arm, guessing she had just got a shot of adrenaline or something similar. "Morning. Good to see you respond so quickly."
"What happened? How'd I get back here?" She asks, wondering if she had just dreamt all of the stuff on New Genesis up.
"It's been three days since you passed out, they managed to pull out what was killing you before they sent you all back." Mid-Night replies as he pulls out his small flashlight and checks her eyes. "The good news is that you wake up to a clean bill of health, but I suspect you will have to do without powers for a while."
"I can deal with that." Raven sighs, to her it wasn't even that long ago since she last had this. "So Ra's didn't leave me with anything either?"
"If you look under your shirt, explains why Fate couldn't locate you." Cross replies as he notes down his observations.
"Oh for Pete's sake… a tattoo?!" Raven asks as she looks up, she wasn't sure what upset her more, that she had gotten another tattoo she didn't want or that someone in Ra's organization had seen her nearly naked to make it.
"Good thing is that it can be removed, but you know it's going to take time." Peter replies. "Despite your good health, I have to admit, I and some of the others are concerned."
"Any more than I am? Have you any idea what this is going to cost?" Raven asks, not having moved on from the tattoo covering parts of her chest that had been mostly covered by the medical wear she had been wearing on New Genesis.
"Aside that." Peter replies with a serious tone, getting her to look up. "Just because none of us can find any sign of it, we can't guarantee Ra's has not done something to you. J'onn says Carnage, remembers there being conducted tests on you… pretty brutal ones, but your capacity for healing has erased most of the signs."
"But there are signs." Raven notes, being filled with a sense of dread, if J'onn and Peter were right, Ra's could now know everything he needed to know about her, perhaps more than anyone else.
"We have only found some tiny new scars added to your collection, what they mean, however… we don't know." Raven sighs unhappily at this, she feels violated in a way she doesn't remember feeling before; someone had done something to her and with her and she can't remember one bit of it. Knowledge reminds her that all it could be solved by asking Carnage to share, but in a way that prospect is even more terrifying than not knowing. "How is everyone else?" She asks quietly to distract herself.
"We were lucky on New Genesis, nothing major to report. In fact, your friend Io managed to put Superman's arm back on straight with that contraption of hers."
"Did she?" Raven asks, she had her doubts considering how Superman normally reacted to magic.
"Yup, and she's been up and down the hallway to ask permission to use it on people just to make sure it works." Peter replies. "Oddly enough, the only ones who won't have it are the other Amazons, they seem to think it's going to offend someone if they let her use it on them."
"That would be Apollo, they think the machine is something from Hephaestus' department which tends to upset them." Raven replies with a sigh, wondering if any of them were now walking around wishing it wasn't so. "I don't think he'll come down and protest, but they think it's best they don't run the risk."
"I see." Peter replies. "Whats not so good is… well it's New Genesis, the attack on the city to get to you. It came at a cost."
"What cost?" Raven asks, dreading the reply.
"Well… At the time of your leaving they were praying to their Source for Highfather to pull through." Peter replies. "Orion was pretty messed up as well, but from what I heard, far too angry about Highfather to care about it."
"I understand." Raven sighs. "Is there anything else I need to know?" She asks feeling like she needed to be alone now more than ever, but at the same time knowing that her woes weren't over yet, Peter woke her up for a reason.
"Yeah, in three hours the Founders want a meeting with you." Peter replies and looks down. "Is it true what they say? About what happened on Apokolips?"
"I am afraid so." Raven replies after half a moment, wondering who had told them.
Peter sighs a little before putting his hand on her shoulder and gives it a reassuring squeeze. "You're a good person Raven. Better make ready." He says before patting her on the back and leaving.
"Rae, it's time." Flash says as he appears in the doorway of the room, having found Raven having changed into her cloak and leotard after a shower and sitting in meditation on the bed.
"Right." Raven sighs and gets off the bed and flips up her hood before following him out, where the Amazons save for Diana and Hippolyta, are waiting. "It's their rules." She says quickly, apparently someone had told them what was about to happen.
"Yeah, but that doesn't make it any less wrong." Artemis grumbles, the group hadn't been at all pleased to learn what the League was arguing about and how it was most likely to turn out.
"All depends on perspective." Raven replies. "It's their house and their rules, that's all there is to it."
"Are you meaning to tell us that none of these have ever done what you did?" Penelope asks and gestures at Flash.
"We aren't." Wally replies. "It's happened, yeah, but we don't do it deliberately." He says before he and Raven walk on, leaving the Amazons behind.
"I assume there can be more of those on the way." Raven sighs, she wasn't sure she should feel better about people wanting to stand up for her or worried that they would argue against something like this.
"Means they care." Flash replies as they head down the corridor, followed at a distance by the Amazons.
"How bad is it?" Raven asks after they walk up the stairs that would take them five levels up to where the others have gathered.
"I really shouldn't say." Flash replies with a sigh, which was all Raven needed. "But we put those rules there for a reason."
"There was some arguing about it." Raven notes.
"A lot. But that's a good thing for you." Flash replies.
"I guess." Raven sighs. "Doesn't lessen the impact." She finishes as they complete the trip up the stairs in silence. The floor they arrive on is closed at the end, ending in the Founders meeting room with two others on the sides.
"We asked the others to wait in the mess hall, but we weren't sure they'd do it." Wally mentions before Raven can think she was wrong about her friends and he guides her along by the shoulder. She was never good with being told off, she knew it was something she had from Azerath due to what could happen after it, it had helped she could put up a facade in Titans Tower the few times Robin blew up at her, and it helped that Bruce didn't want her to move or argue when he did it, but she still wasn't good at dealing with disapproval from people she valued, and right now he knew she was in for biggest telling off she ever had from people she valued and that it was going to cost her. And this thought continues to occupy her mind till the doors close behind her and she is sitting down facing the Founders and she calms down, seeing as she can't see anyone looking very angry or very pleased, which she thinks is a good sign.
"Raven, while we are happy to see you back on your feet and in one piece." Superman starts after Flash has taken his seat and she has taken off her hood. "It has come to our attention that you have violated League regulations under what we hear were desperate circumstances. We would like to hear it from you; what happened on Apokolips?"
"Granny... tried to brainwash me, tried to twist me around so I'd serve Darkseid. She tried to do this by erasing my memories of my father, and replace them with some where I grew up devoted to Darkseid. The demon part of me reacted to this, it gave me the chance to break free. I knew I couldn't be captured again, I was on the edge of what I could take. I wanted to get home, to be free, but if I couldn't, then I'd rather be dead and have done something worthwhile when I went down." She says with a voice that gradually hardens, she knows it's visible for them to see how hard I was for her to talk about this, to admit she reached a point where she broke. "So... I killed Granny Goodness, because I couldn't stand the thought of her being let loose on some other poor soul, I didn't care if the Furies I met shortly afterwards survived or not. And after Darkseid threw me into the firepit... I cared not if I ripped Apokolips apart and billions of lives were lost with it. All that mattered to me was to get away, or not be alive if I couldn't."
The room is silent for a moment, and she isn't sure it's because there is a telepathic conversation going on between them or not. "And... there was nothing else at play that influenced your decision back then?" Superman asks, she knows this is difficult for him as well, by his own admittance he doesn't see himself as a leader of any kind, he is just Clark Kent from Smallville, but everyone follows the S on his chest, himself included. It doesn't help in this particular case because of what he went through at the hands of Granny himself before the League was formed.
Raven thinks briefly about saying it was the torture, the invasion of her mind or something else, but she decides against it, she needed to be honest now, more than ever perhaps. "I did it because…" She starts, but halts when she realizes it might not be accepted by them when she says it. "Because I saw Granny for what she was, how she truly looked. You didn't see what I saw because of Starfire asking not to experience everything I did. Otherwise no, I was scared and I was desperate. I knew I'd be in trouble if I got home, I didn't know if I'd get that far, but I had to deal with it then if I did."
"What did you see when you looked at Granny?" Diana asks.
"I saw her beyond the flesh, I saw her spirit. In it I could read all that she was… I couldn't believe a monster like her could be allowed to exist… how many children she's destroyed, what she did to me... what she tried to turn me into."
"So, you felt it was the right thing to kill her?" Hawkgirl asks in a calm tone, Raven can remember a time when she would have been sneering it, but knowing her now, Raven was pretty sure Shayera alone would have been giving her a medal of honor, a pat on the back and a hug, in that order.
"No… I felt… It was the only thing I could do… before I was going to die." Raven says and looks down.
"But killing her wasn't the only thing you did." J'onn notes.
"I only killed her physical form." Raven nods. "I cursed her spirit to remain behind on Apokolips, leaving her to feel the atrocities they commit on each other. I didn't do it out of mercy or because I thought she'd come back, I did it so she'd know what it was like for me to be trapped in that place."
"And there was no outside influence on your actions?" Superman asks.
"None what J'onn and Batman heard when I got off the table I think was a ghost of Trigon's will. If anything I would guess it was Carnage that brought it out, reminded that in Trigons world, there is no one to rival him in terror or superiority."
"And did you give any thought to our reaction to this when we found out?" John asks.
"I didn't." Raven replies. "I didn't know if I was ever going to make it home... if I even had any chance of getting and operating a Motherbox. But I knew I couldn't be captured again, because I knew I had reached the limit with Granny of what I could endure, I didn't want to risk being handed over to Desaad. I couldn't hide and I wasn't going to be hunted down… if anything I wanted my death to mean something on Apokolips. If I got home… I'd deal with my actions then. And this is now." John nods in understanding.
"So, you have nothing to defend your actions with?" Batman asks.
"None, I made the choice I made. I hate myself for having made it, for being put in a situation where it was the only choice I could make… but make it, I did… and I can only face up to my actions." She says before looking down, feeling the tears starting to appear.
Superman sighs after a moment of silence before he rises. "Then I am afraid we only have one choice. Raven, your service to the League and the world over these last two years have been greatly appreciated and we hope you will continue to fight evil on your own, but your actions on Apokolips have been in direct violation of the rules we follow in the Justice League. You have broken them, knowingly, and because you have, we are going to ask you to hand over your League communicator and your access card." No one in the room are happy about it as Raven takes out the two items Nightwing had been in Gotham to retrieve, and places them on the table. "You will have time to pack and say what you want to the others before you are returned to Earth. Do you have anything you want to say to us?"
"Only that I am sorry it have come to this. The joining the League was one of the proudest moments of my life… one day, I hope I can redeem myself and stand along side you again." Raven says before rises from her seat, nods at them and leaves the room as a somber mood fills it.
In the hallway her tears flow as she has to stop at the window to collect herself before she has to face her friends and now former teammates.
The mess hall is silent as a tomb as Raven appears in the doorway, being met with the Titans, the Amazons, and a dozen other Leaguer's, they only need to see her face before they know what the verdict had been. The Titans are the first to rise and greet her, with Starfire giving her a reassuring hug. "It is not over, is it?" She asks.
"No, only for now." Raven replies quietly.
"We'll get you back in, one day." Cyborg says. "You can count on that."
"I hope so." Raven replies as Starfire lets go. "And you still have my number if you need me."
"It's a shame really." Beastboy says. "You were like the one that led to the rest of us getting in, and now you're leaving." She likes that Garfield uses the word 'leaving' rather than 'kicked out'.
"Proves no one is above the rules." Raven smiles a little. "I just hope you don't make the mistakes I've made."
"We will try not to." Starfire says.
"You're heading back to Gotham?" Nightwing asks.
"When I'm done here, yeah." Raven replies.
"Good, I will see you at the teleporters then, I gotta go talk to Batman." Richard replies before he leaves.
"That was odd." Cyborg notes while scratching his head.
"I'll catch him later." Raven sighs as the Amazons make their way over, Hippolyta in the lead with a glass of something in her hand. "Your Highness." She says before she bows to her.
"Champion. It is good to see you on your feet. Will you remain? Or will you return to Themyscira with us?" She asks.
"I will remain, for now, there are a lot of things I need to do." Raven replies and gets a nod from the Queen.
"Good, we will see you when we see you Sister." Hippolyta replies before she puts a hand on her shoulder. "Remember, what you did was the right thing and nobody disputes that. This is merely politics." She says quietly to her.
"Some say politics are more dangerous than weapons." Raven notes quietly. "But I understand what you mean. I will return when I can."
"Good." Hippolyta notes before she takes a sip of her drink and makes for the door.
"You know this is wrong." Antiope notes.
"It's the rules, the law up here, if you will." Raven replies. "No matter how vile, every life is sacred."
"Amazons!" Hippolyta calls before the group can start another argument and they are left with sending Raven mixed looks before they follow their Queen out the door, with Artemis muttering something about still not understanding this world. As they disappear out the door, the other Leaguer's line up to say their goodbyes as well, Jinx in the lead.
Author's Notes: Oh dear, whats next? :)