LOVE + FEAR

CONTROL

The room stilled. The mention of the new "god" seemed to cast a spell of silence upon their surroundings. Raven noticed Clark lean forward intently out of the corner of her eye.

Raven knew little of Darkseid. His name had popped up numerous times in the past years. He reminded her of Trigon, and that always turned her off towards the subject. As if on cue, the gem on her forehead burned at the mere utterance of Darkseid's name.

"Darkseid is not just a global threat: the entire solar system is at risk." Wonder Woman's voice rang throughout the dim room.

Clark shifted closer to Raven, accidentally ruffling her hair with his boulder-like shoulder. "Do you remember anything yet?"

She turned slightly to catch a glimpse of his exotic lapis orbs. It took a moment of thought to understand his question. "You mean the Flashpoint?"

"Yes."

Raven looked away from his intensity and unintentionally caught Conner's gaze. He could probably hear their conversation. There was a puzzled expression on his face across the room.

There were so many things she wanted to ask Clark. What happened during the Flashpoint, why he treated her like an old family friend, how Conner was his son. So many inquiries lingered on the tip of Raven's tongue. She hadn't had the chance to pose any of them to Clark. Since Conner's arrival, Clark's presence at Titans Tower was scarce. Raven would ask him soon, but not here. Not beneath Conner's concrete-gray gaze.

"I don't remember anything," Raven breathed. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Please keep trying." She could feel Clark's emotions dip at the news. His chair creaked as he shifted in his seat, staring at the large screens hovering in midair.

"Another attempted invasion is inevitable," Cyborg strolled along the curving table. "We need to have some kind of contingency plan for the worst."

The atmosphere of the room had an unbearable weight to it, like Darkseid was the next Doomsday. Raven resisted the adamant feeling of urgency spreading across the table. Between Project Cadmus, tracking down the Sins, and the appearance of her own clone, Darkseid was the farthest threat from Raven's mind. Part of her wanted to shut out the entire conversation and focus on the current threats.

The sound of Damian's chair scraping across the tile shattered her plan of neglect.

Everyone stared, including her, as Damian stood. The image on the screens changed, brooding over him. A tall figure shrouded in armor and smoke. Blazing eyes with deadly rays. Like something from the end of the world. As Raven's gaze tore between Damian and Darkseid, an uneasy feeling settled in her stomach.

"If we are to consider a contingency plan for Darkseid, we should know our enemy. Why is he conquering?" Damian said.

Cyborg and Wonder Woman exchanged a wordless look.

Damian's eyes narrowed behind his mask. "What is Darkseid's ulterior motive? Every conqueror has one. Ra's al Ghul wanted to eliminate all crime and prevent ecological devastation to the planet. Trigon destroyed for his own pride and amusement."

He paused, glancing at Raven as if for confirmation. She nodded, and he continued, "What information do we have on Darkseid?"

The screens around the room changed; an intricate metal sphere was displayed on a background of stars. Raven realized it was a planet, bubbling with magma and metal.

Batman gestured at the screen nearest to him, "Darkseid's base of operations is Apokalips, a world infested with parademons and operated by the stolen matter of other planets."