she threatened to destroy humanity. Though Superman was understandably hesitant to ally with Vera's new Elite, Raven confirmed Vera's prophesies. The JLA and the Elite subsequently staged an elaborate battle and convinced Gaea that humans were worthy of inheriting the planet. After this, Vera boldly proposed the formation of the Justice League Elite: a black ops team organized to fight extranormal threats before they reach the public. Superman and Batman denied Vera membership in the League, which angered several of their teammates, including Raven, the Flash and Major Disaster, who all believed that Black had proved herself worthy. These members left the main JLA and allied with her in this new venture. Thus the Justice League Elite became a sort of "not-exactly-sanctioned don't-ask-don't-tell" covert operations unit. Their mission was to hunt and eliminate extranormal threats to the Earth before they went public. This new undercover branch of the League moved to a secret base in New Jersey called The Factory. In their first mission, they infiltrated an organization of assassins that led to the takedown of the despotic dictator, Hi-Shan Bhat. Once Bhat in custody he was mysteriously killed by a member of the Elite. Vera knew this bode poorly for their future; upon their return, she charged Raven with divining the identity of the team's traitor/Bhat's killer. During this time, Dawn became distanced from her husband. His constant attention to work and the trials of the "Stony Path" kept him from satisfying her needs. Dawn became friendly with Green Arrow, who had vowed to quit the team because of Bhat's death. Soon the two engaged in a sexual relationship — not unbeknownst to Raven. Raven was angered of course, but consumed by his work. He acquired the "Eye of 18 Pupils" in order to divine the truth behind Bhat's death. But before Raven could reveal the team's killer, he followed them in pursuit of the villain Aftermath. There Raven invoked his magic one last time and died taking the brunt of a bomb. This would not be the last heard from such a powerful magician. Just after his death, Raven appeared to several members of the Elite. His spirit convinced Major Disaster (who felt responsible for Raven's death) to seek treatment for alcoholism. Dawn entrusted Raven's hatchet to the Elite's coordinator, Naif al-Sheikh. Then in grief and anger, she too summoned Raven's spirit via the staff and uttered his