Lex Luthor prided himself on his ability to control his emotions. He firmly believed that one could not rule an empire as large as his if one could not even control oneself. Yet now, as he watched the news showing Jump City being razed to the ground, he could almost feel the blood running from his face. The television showed a city on fire as screams echoed from every corner of the ongoing battle, and Lex could occasionally see a hero fighting off multiple adversaries before disappearing into the smoke. Already, reports were coming in that the death toll had reached more than five hundred, and Lex almost scoffed at the absurdity of that statement. He owned the building that Giganta had brought crashing to the ground, and he knew for a fact that it housed more than a thousand workers, and that was just one building that had been destroyed!

"Stupid fools!" Lex snarled as he watched Bane fighting against Batman for a moment before the camera panned away to show Wonder Woman fighting off Cheetah. At the same time, Superman chased down Firefly, who was laughing manically as he set fire to everything around him. Raven quickly disappeared and reappeared in a cloud of shadow, taking as many people with her as she could. Lex felt a grudging respect for the girl as he watched her try to save as many as possible.

When Lex had put out the bounty for Lunatic and Arcane, he had thought that the would-be bounty hunters would be discrete; looking back now, Lex could have hit himself for his naivete at having believed that those animals could be anything other than what they were.

The bad publicity from this would be like the wrath of God, and Lex knew that even with all his wealth, the people would demand someone be held responsible for this destruction; he could bribe his way out of almost anything, but this? This was something that the people would never forgive, and if it was discovered that he had a hand in it…. Well, if the courts didn't kill him, then the families of those who had died most assuredly would. Even now, Lex could imagine those same families storming whatever prison the courts put him in, like the people of France storming the Bastille and ripping him limb from limb in revenge.

Looking over at his assistant, Lex could see that even Mercy realized how bad their current situation was; the woman was almost unnaturally pale, and as Lex narrowed his eyes, he could see that she seemed to tremble a bit. Turning back to the television, Lex felt his heart rate skyrocket as the camera suddenly showed two adults lying motionless in the street, a pool of blood quickly surrounding them. But what made it worse was the little girl between them, clutching a tiny stuffed bear.

Unable to watch anymore, Lex turned to Mercy and immediately began barking orders,

"Cancel the bounty on Lunatic and Arcane's heads!"

"Wha?" Mercy replied in a small voice, turning to face her boss in confusion,

"When this battle ends, there will be hell to pay!" Lex responded angrily, "And if it's discovered that we are the reason for it, the courts will bury us beneath the rubble of the prison, and that's if they don't hang me on the spot! We need to get ahead of this while we still can."

"Get ahead of this…?" Mercy replied in shock. "Lex, the whole world knows by now that you placed the bounty on Lunatic and Arcane! There's no way to hide this!"

"There are always ways to hide things like this!" Lex snarled back, his eyes taking on a demented look for a moment before he regained control of himself. Taking a deep breath, Lex spoke again in a much calmer voice, "Get our people working on this immediately. I want every trace of my involvement scrubbed. Offer to pay them whatever they ask, but make sure that by the time the sun sets tonight, there is absolutely no evidence of my involvement in this matter, do you understand?"

"Yes sir," Mercy replied softly, "And afterwards? When the jobs finished, and they come asking for their pay?"

Lex stared at the television for a moment in quiet contemplation at his assistant's question. He could just pay them off, but what would happen if one day they got greedy and decided to use the information they had to try and blackmail more money out of him…?

"Once their job is done, dispose of them," Lex replied coldly, "Quietly."

"Understood, sir," Mercy replied in the same cold manner before turning on her heel and striding away.

Alone in his office, Lex continued to watch as Jump City, once a pinnacle of science and technology, was reduced to a smoking ruin; he imagined this is what the last emperor of Rome felt like as he watched the sunset on what was once a beautiful city, now razed to the ground.
XXXX

James Tigger had been a mercenary nearly all his life; growing up on the streets of Bangkok hadn't offered very many choices in life, especially when one's mother was a 'streetwalker' who didn't even know the name of the man who had knocked her up. He'd learned early on that if he was to survive in this world, he needed to be able to do whatever it took.

It was that same realization that had led to him killing his first person at ten years old, all for a loaf of stale bread. Many more deaths had followed since then, but no matter how bad the job was, James had always managed to survive, if only barely. The one thing that set James apart from every other merc, at least in his own opinion, was his ability to tell when a job was more trouble than it was worth.

That's why he joined up with Gorilla Grodd when word about the insanely massive bounty on Arcane and Lunatic's heads came down because even though James knew he would most likely end up tangling with the Justice League, the amount of money being offered more than made up for any issues they might encounter. That's what he had thought when he first took the job, but now? Now, James was wishing he had never even heard of Jump City or the bounty being offered that had brought him here.

At first, everything went according to Grodd's plan. James and the rest had managed to get into Titans Tower with no problems, thanks to Gizmo. But when Grodd ordered everyone to split up and tear the Tower apart, everything went straight to hell.

James had been leading six others when they turned a corner and came face-to-face with one of their targets: Lunatic, who had apparently just finished knocking out four others. At least, James thought they had been knocked out, but judging by the pools of blood surrounding them, he wasn't sure.

At first, James thought he was lucky to have encountered the brat so quickly and was already deciding what to do with his share of the money in his head. Raising his M16 rifle, James immediately began barking orders.

"Don't move, brat! You're outnumbered and trapped!"

Rather than looking scared, Lunatic instead seemed almost gleeful as he straightened his hat and looked at the seven men across from him.

"That would appear to be the reality, wouldn't it?" Lunatic smirked, "Unfortunately for you, reality is whatever I want it to be."

Before James or the others could do so much as twitch, Lunatic snapped his fingers, and James suddenly found himself frozen in place, his rifle still raised to fire; only James' wide eyes showed that anything was wrong.

Reaching into his coat, Lunatic suddenly pulled out a long black cane with a silver top. He twirled it around his left hand once before slamming it to the ground with a gigantic smile on his face.

"Let's have some fun!" Lunatic cried gleefully as music began to echo throughout the hallway; as the music built up, James suddenly recognized the song, and if he could, he would have groaned in annoyance, especially when Lunatic began to sing as he twirled his cane around himself.

"If I, I get to know your name,

Well, if I could trace your private number, baby!

All I know is that to me, you look like you're lots of fun,

Open up your loving arms, I want some, want some!"

As James and the other mercs watched, Lunatic suddenly began a strange dance, thrusting the cane into the air and walking in a circle beneath it as he continued to sing before suddenly bringing the cane down and pointing it right at James and the others as the chorus began. It suddenly felt as though someone had taken control of James' body as he suddenly started to walk in a circle, holding his rifle in both hands and thrusting it up and down repeatedly. As he continued walking, James saw that all the others were doing the same thing, and he felt humiliated by what this brat was making him do. That feeling intensified a second later when he began to sing the chorus involuntarily along with the others.

"You spin me right round, baby, right round,

Like a record baby, right round, round, round.

You spin me right round, baby, right round,

Like a record, baby, right round, round, round."

Spinning on the spot, Lunatic began to dance away from James and his team, and they suddenly found themselves following behind the brat in a long line as they continued to thrust their weapons up and down.

As the mad little bastard continued to sing, they encountered other groups, but just like what had happened to James, Lunatic would simply twirl his cane, not even breaking the song, and suddenly, those same mercs would end up in the same situation as James. Soon, the line contained over a dozen men and women, each red with humiliation as Lunatic forced them to follow him, only stopping to walk in a circle and sing during the chorus before once again following him down the hallways.

As the song began to end, Lunatic directed the mercs to stand in front of a wall in one long line. Twirling his cane one last time, James felt his head pull back, and he paled at what the brat was about to make him and all the others do. Slowly, almost methodically, Lunatic raised his cane, and a cruel look of glee came across his features before slamming it to the ground with a sickening "Crack."

Instantly, James felt as though someone had grabbed the back of his head and slammed it into the wall as hard as possible; the last thought that ran through his head before he lost consciousness was,

"I wish I'd never taken this job!"
XXXX

As he watched a dozen mercs fall to the floor unconscious, Lunatic cackled in absolute glee; while these plebians would satisfy his blood lust for the moment, there were two that the boy wanted to track down above all others.

Star Sapphire and Livewire had hurt him badly, but more than that, they had destroyed his home, and Lunatic desperately wanted to find them so that he could thank them for that. Though he promised Harry long ago that he wouldn't kill, Lunatic chuckled merrily at the thought that his friend had never said anything about making them wish they were dead.

Stowing his cane back in his coat, Lunatic spun on his heel and began to whistle a merry tune as he went in search of his next toys; he'd already taken care of perhaps two dozen by this point, but by the sounds echoing throughout the Tower, there were plenty more to play with.

As he rounded the corner, Lunatic smiled as he saw Dr. Light leading three other thugs from Starfire's room,

"There's one of them!" One of the goons shouted,

"Don't let him escape!" Another goon shouted.

With a cry, the goons charged forward as Dr. Light hung back and powered up. The hallway dimmed as the villain siphoned off the energy.

Pulling a metal bat from his coat, Lunatic raised it high and shouted,

"For the Shire!"

His strange battle cry seemed to do the trick, for the goons paused momentarily in confusion before continuing their charge. Unfortunately, their lapse in momentum would cost them, and a few seconds later, all three of them were unconscious while Lunatic carelessly tossed away his bloody bat.

The boy had barely turned to face the last enemy standing when Dr. Light sent a wave of light straight at Lunatic. The boy backflipped as the energy sailed over him, almost brushing his nose as it passed.

"Hey!" Lunatic shouted angrily, "You almost hit me!"

"I was trying to!" Dr. Light shouted back, "So, stand still and let me!"

"Sorry, I don't need a tan, thanks," Lunatic chirped back with a grin that made Dr. Light growl,

"Disrespectful brat! I'll give you a tan that you'll never forget!"

As the villain began to shower the hallway with bursts of light, Lunatic cackled merrily, avoiding every one as he slowly inched closer and closer to his target.

So invested in blowing Lunatic to bits, Dr. Light failed to realize the danger he was in until the boy was only a few feet from him, and by then, it was too late.

Pulling both arms back, Lunatic suddenly shot them both forward and slammed his fists into Dr. Light's stomach with a cry of,

"Shoryuken!"

Dr. Light gasped in absolute agony, spittle flying from his mouth, as Lunatic's attack sent him flying several feet down the hallway before slamming into the far wall, only to slide down it in an unconscious heap.

"Flawless victory," Lunatic chirped before a confused look came across his face. "Oh wait, those are two different games." Shrugging his shoulder in indifference, Lunatic continued, "Meh, whatever. I still win."

Snapping his fingers, a unicycle suddenly appeared in front of the boy, who quickly jumped onto it and wheeled away, laughing as he looked for his next fight.
XXXX

"Reducto!" Andromeda shouted, blasting yet another nameless thug down the hallway as she and the others desperately looked for somewhere to hide.

"There's too many!" Ginny cried in fear, causing her mother to quickly pull her into a hug,

"It's okay, everything is going to be okay."

"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep, lady," a voice suddenly said, causing Andromeda to raise her wand again as she looked around for the voice's origin.

A moment later, Livewire suddenly exploded out of a computer terminal a few feet from them; as the group watched warily, the villainess cracked her neck twice before looking at them and smirking sarcastically.

"I just want Arcane. Tell me which of these brats is him, and I'll let the rest of you go free."

"Reducto!" Shouted Andromeda,

"Bombarda!" Shouted Dora,

"Petrificus Totalus!" Molly shouted.

Three beams of light sailed toward Livewire, who only had a moment to stare in shock before she quickly zapped away into the lights overhead, causing the three spells to sail harmlessly down the hallway; seeing their target disappear, the witches pointed their wands up warily as they tried to see where Livewire would come from next.

"You have to use water!" Harry cried, "It's the only thing that will hurt her!"

"Didn't your parents ever tell you not to give out spoilers, kid?" Livewire asked from behind the group, causing them to spin in place. Unfortunately, they were not fast enough to stop Livewire's next attack; reaching out, the villainess suddenly put her hand on Molly's shoulder, causing the woman to cry out in agony as she suddenly found herself being electrocuted, sparks flying off of her body.

"MUM!" Four voices cried out at once as Livewire laughed at the damage she was doing,

"Confringo!" Hermione's voice cried out, sending a blast of energy slamming into Livewire, sending the villainess sailing backward and slamming into the far wall with a painful,

"Crunch."

As the Weasley's surrounded their downed mother, Andromeda stalked toward Livewire, who was shakily getting to her feet, using the wall to support herself.

"What the heck was that? That hurt!" Livewire demanded, eyeing the group with a more wary eye. She had never been hurt like that before, and as far as she knew, nothing but water could even hurt her! Yet someone, that little bushy-haired kid, had caused her more pain than she had ever felt with a single word, "What are you, a bunch of witches or something?"

"You like causing pain, don't you…" Andromeda asked in a deadly cold voice that seemed to freeze Livewire in place, "Then how about you experience some of it, yourself! Crucio!"

A red beam of light slammed into Livewire. Pain, unlike anything she had ever experienced before, took over her, causing her to collapse to the ground as she shrieked in absolute agony and twitched on the floor. For several seconds, Andromeda held Livewire under the torture curse, the fabled 'Black madness' appearing and making the witch look almost like a mirror reflection of her sister.

"Aunt Andy! Stop!" Harry screamed, causing Andromeda to end her curse as she turned to her nephew, "You're going to kill her!"

Seeing the look of horror on Harry's face seemed to snap Andromeda out of her madness. She turned back to the villainess, only to see that her curse had caused Livewire to fall unconscious from the pain, though her body still twitched from the after-effects.

Quickly striding toward Molly, Andromeda pushed her children away before running her wand over the pale woman; she was badly injured from the electrical attack, but nothing that a dose of Dittany wouldn't solve, thankfully. Turning to the children, Andromeda saw that Hermione was still standing with her wand pointed at where Livewire had been, apparently in shock at what she had just done.

"Hermione, love?" Andromeda said gently, causing the girl to flinch before slowly lowering her wand and turning to face Andromeda, "That was very well done. Good job."

"Yeah, thanks, Hermione," Ron added, hugging the girl, who returned the hug a moment later.

"Dora, help me get Molly to her feet! We're leaving!" Andromeda said quickly as she threw one of Molly's arms over her shoulder. A moment later, her daughter had done the same, and the two of them began to drag Molly to her feet before slowly making their way down the hallway.

"What do you mean 'leaving'?" Harry asked as he and the others followed,

"I had an emergency portkey made a few days ago in case the worst should come to pass," Andromeda added, "We're going to use it to take us back to England."

"No!" Harry cried out angrily, "I won't leave Raven and Looney behind!"

"This is not up for discussion!" Andromeda snapped back, "I am your Aunt, and you WILL do as I say!"

"But... but what about Raven and Looney?" Harry asked pathetically. "They could be killed!"

"I very much doubt that," Andromeda scoffed, "Your sister is more than capable of taking care of herself. And as for your mad little friend, I would be more worried about what will happen to them than to him."

"Perhaps your time would be better spent worrying about your own self," Grodd's voice said silkily as he rounded the corner at the head of a dozen goons, causing the group to collectively pale as one.

"Get to my room!" Andromeda snarled, throwing off Molly's arm and causing Dora to gasp at the weight she suddenly had to support herself, "The portkey is a rubber duck sitting next to my bed! The activation word is England! Now go!"

Drawing her wand, Andromeda immediately began firing off every curse and hex she knew, dropping three goons before they dove for cover.

"I'm not leaving you, mum!" Dora shouted back as the mercs began to fire around the corner, causing Andromeda to throw up a shield. Turning her head to look behind her, Andromeda all but snarled at her daughter,

"Your responsibility is to protect your cousin and the other children! Mine is to protect you! Now go!"

"I don't know what a 'portkey' is!" Grodd roared, "But none of you will leave this Tower alive!"

Pulling a Black family spell from her memory, Andromeda slashed her wand through the air, sending a sickly green beam of light that began to melt everything it came into contact with. Grodd and his men stared in horror as the once pristine hallways suddenly looked like a smelting factory of twisted metal and burnt rubber.

Biting her lip in self-hatred at what her mother was asking her to do, even as she realized that she had no other choice, Dora began to slowly back her way down the hallway toward her mother's room. Seeing that she couldn't protect them and carry their mother simultaneously, the twins quickly took Molly from Dora, causing the girl to nod her thanks as she drew her wand and began to lead the children back down the hallway from whence they'd come. Behind the group, Dora could hear her mother screaming out curses as the giant Gorilla they'd encountered roared angrily.

As they reached Andromeda's room, Dora sighed in relief, only to swear angrily a moment later when the door wouldn't open,

"You didn't really think it would be that easy, did you?" Gizmo's voice said from out of the speakers.

"You bastard!" Dora shouted angrily before blasting the speakers to bits. Turning back to the door, Dora exclaimed, "Bombarda Maxima!"

The door and the surrounding wall disappeared in a shower of dust and debris, causing the group to cough as they entered the room. Spotting the rubber duck sitting next to her mother's bed, Dora immediately grabbed it and spun around so that the others could do the same.

Dora couldn't help but smile as she saw that everyone had a finger on the portkey; the twins had pressed their mother's hand to the duck to ensure she wouldn't be left behind.

"We're safe…" Dora thought with relief, even as she felt sadness rip through her at the thought of leaving her boyfriend behind, "Forgive me, Garfield…"

"England," Dora said softly as she shut her eyes in despair; instantly, she felt the familiar pull around her naval as though she were attached to a bungee cord, and the world began to spin uncontrollably.

A few moments later, she and the others crashed hard onto the carpet of her home and began to groan in misery; rising to her feet, Dora's sense of relief vanished as she saw that Harry was not among them.

"Where's Harry!" Dora cried out in horror, "Where is he!"

"He must have let go before anyone noticed," Hermione replied in shock,

"That stupid, pig-headed son of a…!" Dora shouted, stopping herself from cursing at the last minute through sheer force of will.

"What do we do!" Ron cried out in fear, "Harry needs help! He's going to get himself killed!"

"There's nothing we can do!" Dora shouted back, "Your mother needs to see a healer, and that portkey was a one-way trip! Harry and Mum are on their own…"

As Dora began to help the twins lift their mother towards the fireplace, everyone closed their eyes in horror at Harry's stupid decision to stay behind, each praying that he and all the others in Jump City would be alright.
XXXX

Gizmo stared at the screen in front of him with a slacked jaw; he still couldn't believe what he had just seen, to be completely honest, because it simply wasn't possible. One minute, the group was standing in the center of the room holding a rubber duck, then the teenager shouted out 'England,' and they had all disappeared without a trace.

Only Harry remained, and as the others disappeared, the boy quickly dove out of the hole that once was a door before disappearing down the hallway and out of sight.

"How the crud did they do that!" Gizmo spat angrily as he began furiously typing commands into his portable computer.

"Oh, Gizmo!" A voice suddenly sang out from behind him, making the teenage spin about wildly, only for his face to fall as he saw Lunatic standing in the doorway, holding a giant mallet and grinning at him in a way that promised nothing but pain, "You got some splaining to do!"

Before Gizmo could do anything more than cry out in alarm, Lunatic rushed forward and slammed his mallet across Gizmo's face, spinning the teen completely around and sending some of his teeth flying through the air.

Seeing the teeth sail past him, Lunatic chuckled for a moment before singing out,

"I'm the cavity goooooon!"

Looking down at the unconscious teenager, Lunatic frowned at his lack of reaction, "Seriously? Nothing? Don't tell me that you've never seen Timmy the Tooth!"

Gizmo said nothing, still unconscious, and Lunatic kicked the boy's body in disgust,

"I'm surrounded by philistines!"

Taking a moment to smash Gizmo's laptop to bits, Lunatic turned and strode out of the room to look for another person to fight.
XXXX

Author's Note:

You Spin Me Right Round is the property of Dead or Alive, and as such, I claim no ownership of it. The same goes for Timmy the Tooth, which is owned by Bomp Productions. I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter. The next one will be the last part of this battle.