Teen Titans: Arcanum

Arc Four: Memory

It was a peaceful day in Jump City. The sun shone brightly, the children ran through the parks and playgrounds, cars and buses moved through the streets, and people walked through the sidewalks and alleyways. One particular pedestrian strode amongst the masses, wearing a pair of green-tinted sunglasses and dark clothes. The man carried a duffle bag that he had slung across his right shoulder, and in his left—crunched up into a ball—was a ragged patch of quilt.

The man wandered into an empty alley with a single steel door at the end, walking until he was right in front of the entrance. The man lifted his left hand and wrapped his dry knuckles on the door.

When no response came, the brown-haired man sighed and began to walk away from the steel door…then he froze and turned as the door opened with an ominous screech. The man smiled and walked into the darkness.

Inside, he found a room similar to the hovel that he had once discovered in Gotham. It was a small place of worship, with church pews and an altar, along with a statue of the one he served. The man turned to the dark corners of the church and spoke. "Reveal yourselves."

A voice responded. "Who are you to command us?" It hissed.

The man unfurled the parchment, revealing the green sigil that it held, and a multitude of voices gasped and muttered.

"The prophet!"

"The servant!"

"The seeker!"

"Scarecrow!"

Jonathan Crane smiled. It seemed that some meals did come free.

"Goddamnit!" Isaac cried as Beast Boy let out another whoop of victory as his character knocked Isaac's off of the screen.

"HAH! Guess who has to do dishes for the week!" The changeling yelled, pumping his fist into the air.

"Isaac?" Cyborg asked as he read a car magazine. Said mage sighed in disappointment.

"Well…" Robin began to speak. "There are worse chores to be stuck with."

"Like BB's laundry?" Cyborg inquired, a conspirator's smile on his face.

"Hey!" Beast Boy shouted while Isaac laughed.

"Like Beast Boy's laundry." Robin replied, a smile on his face while said teammate made his indigence known by shouting more. Isaac stood, walking away from the ensuing argument and toward his room.

Isaac entered the dorm that was given to him when he had joined the Titans. Even now, after his many weeks of staying here, the room was practically bare, save for a desk, a bookshelf, and a bed. Out of all of the artifacts, only one had stayed in his room constantly.

It was the knife. Its golden handle and black blade seemed to glow, even when no light could possibly hit it. Robin, Raven, and Constantine had all reasoned that while it could be used for combat, the knife was mainly for ceremonial usage…

"Ceremonies?" Isaac asked, staring at the other blond with a look of horror on his face. "Like what? Human sacrifice?"

John examined the knife, turning it over and over with his hand. "Only if you're really unlucky mate. For all we know, this trinket could have just been some really old butter knife." The dabbler said, handing the blade back to the boy, who handled it as one would handle a snake.

"Point is, we don't know what the knife will do if it actually scratches someone." Raven spoke. "So, I suggest that you don't use it unless absolutely necessary. We don't know what we could unleash if we do use it on a living being."

There was a moment of silence, and then John spoke again. "Well, I know a perfect way we could find out—!"

"Damnit John, I said no!"

Isaac sighed, and retrieved his necklace from around his neck. Ever since Jinx had tried to take it from him, it had begun to…speak. No in words, but in dreams. Emotions. Certain thoughts that either emulated the Voice or obscured it entirely. It was perhaps the only reason he kept it…

Robin stared at the formerly lucid criminal known as Jinx, and then turned to the officer who was in charge of the HIVE trio's transportation. "Where is she going." The officer—a man named Blake Herrings—looked at the girl and her empty eyes which seemed to be staring at something that wasn't there.

"Probably an asylum." Herrings admitted. "Somewhere that can actually deal with mentally ill metahumans—no offense to you or Gotham, Mister Robin."

"None taken." Robin replied, raising a hand. "Just…make sure she gets whatever she needs."

As Jinx was wheeled away on a cart, Robin swore he saw a hateful, pink eye land on him…

Isaac placed the necklace on his desk, and walked over to the bookshelf, which only held a single book. It was the spell book that he had retrieved in Delta's home, apparently an ancient tome not dissimilar to a certain book created by a madman who lived somewhere out East…

"Good news!" John yelled as he closed the book. "It is not the Necronomicon, nor is it connected to the madman who made the damn thing!" John paused, sitting on the couch and lighting a cigarette. "However, there are a lot of dangerous spells and rituals in here that I have marked with a red sigil, so don't do anything involving those."

"Great." Raven spoke, her dry voice cutting through the silence of the common room. "So, when do we start training him?"

"We?" John replied. "Who said anything about a 'we'? You're going to train him, while I—!" The man suddenly slumped downwards and began to snore.

For a moment there is silence. Then Raven sighs. "Of course." The goth then turns to her new student.

"Good. You're doing good." Raven congratulates while John applauds.

"Circle's a bit off, but you're close." John instructs, both of the more experienced mages watching the young man's progress.

"Well…I think he's just about ready. I'm gonna go ahead and take off. Good luck to both of ye!"

Isaac snaps back to reality as the alarm begins to sound once again. His bedroom door opens, revealing Beast Boy, who has a panicked expression on his face. "Dude. Come on. Now."

They both rush to the main room, and Isaac is shocked by what he sees. Several buildings in Jump were emitting a foul green gas, and as the citizens inhaled the substance, the effects were shown to be horrific. Cars ran down pedestrians. The residents in Jump began to attack each other with whatever they could get their hands on, some using only their hands. Police began to gun down those they were sworn to protect. Certainly, there was rage on the faces of the victims of the gas, but there was something else too.

Fear. Unrelenting, unforgiving fear. A fear so powerful, that it could drive men to murder their families, provoke neighbors to harm each other, entice the swore defenders of humanity to become the very things they hated. In that one moment, Robin uttered a single word.

"Scarecrow."

"You are certain they will come?" One of the men in the hoods asked, as a large crate was hauled out of the room.

"Yes." Crane replied. "The transmitter will ensure that."

"But the gas—!"

"Is not meant for them. The enchantments made it so."

"…Will he bring the Gem?"

"…The Gem wishes to return to the True Wielder. He has no choice."

As the Titans flew and drove towards Jump City, the green gem attached to the necklace began to gleam.

AN: And so what has been foreshadowed begins. The Titans now face Jonathan Crane, former scientist, now a servant of madness. Scarecrow desires the Gem. And Isaac must not allow him to take it.