"Oh, crap! Crap, crap, crap, CRAP!" Harry thought as he ran down the darkened hallway, "I'm such an idiot! Why did I let go of the Portkey! Aunt Andromeda is going to kill me!"
Slowly peeking around the corner, Harry could see the hallway looked empty—completely trashed but empty. Releasing a sigh of relief, Harry slowly closed his eyes and slid down the wall, stopping on the balls of his heels and resting his face in his hands.
Finally alone, Harry slowed his breathing and tried to regain control of his panicky thoughts; in truth, Harry had no idea why he didn't simply leave with the others. It was as though some part of him refused to flee while his friends stayed behind to fight. Fight for him. Harry fully acknowledged that this situation was partly his and Looney's fault; Lex Luthor played a MASSIVE role in this meaningless slaughter, no doubt, and would pay for his part if Harry had any say in it. But Harry had to admit that he and Lunatic also played a role in this violence, and he would face the consequences without complaint when it came time to do so.
"What are we crouching here for?" A voice suddenly whispered into Harry's ear, making the boy cry out in a shrill voice as he jumped away, landing a few feet away on his butt; not far away, seated on his own butt and holding his sides, Lunatic was cackling merrily at his friend's reaction.
"You sounded like a girl!" Lunatic laughed as he began to roll from side-to-side, still holding his sides, "Oh man! If the press could have heard that! I can see it now! 'Arcane screams like a little girl after being surprised by his friend!'"
"Shut up!" Harry shushed as he jumped to his feet, jumped on top of his friend, and hurriedly put his hands over Lunatic's mouth to make the boy quiet down. "There could be someone nearby! You wanna get us caught?!"
"So what if we are?" Lunatic sneered, "These morons are weaklings! I've already taken out like two dozen. Five more, and I get a free Mcflurry!"
As Lunatic cackled at his own joke, Harry couldn't help but shake his head in exasperation,
"Looney, I really need you to pay attention for the next few minutes, okay?"
An enormous smile and a nod were the only responses that Harry received, and he had to take a moment to swallow the urge to strangle his best friend before he managed to calm himself down enough to speak again.
"Okay, good. Now, we need to clear out the Tower. THEN we need to go out there and help Raven and the others."
"We do?" Lunatic asked in surprise, "But Raven told us to stay here."
"That was before she realized the size and scope of this battle!" Harry argued, "There's no way that any of us were expecting something like this! And the heroes out there are gonna need all the help they can get!"
"But…" Lunatic replied warily, "But I'm not a hero…"
"You could be," Harry replied with feeling, "I've always said it, Looney! You help me today, and I promise that CADMUS will never be able to come after you again! You'll be a hero that the whole world over will celebrate, and CADMUS won't be able to touch you!"
Harry could see that his argument was working on Lunatic, who was anxiously worrying his lip as his eyes flashed back-and-forth madly.
"But what if I don't want to be a hero!" Lunatic whined, "Being a hero is so boring! Plus, I won't be able to make merry anymore! I'll have to be a goody-goody!"
"No, you don't!" Harry retorted, "Haven't you ever heard of Deadpool? He's a hero—maybe not all the time, but he's regarded as one!"
"Deadpool….?"
"I'll lend you my comics later!" Harry said quickly, waving away Lunatic's up-coming question, "For now, though, I need your help! Please."
Lunatic stared at Harry for a moment, and Harry wondered worriedly if his friend would accept, then the boy's face split into a massive smile before he jumped to his feet and quickly pulled Harry to his own.
"Of course I will!" Lunatic replied, "That's all you had to ask!"
Unable to show his gratitude in any other way, Harry pulled his friend into a tight embrace, hugging Lunatic for all he was worth,
"Thank you, Looney," Harry breathed as his friend hugged him back.
"Looney will always be there to help his best friend," Lunatic replied softly before the two boys pulled away from each other and stood awkwardly.
A sudden shout made both boys turn to see where the noise had originated from, only for Harry to turn red with rage as he saw a thug run past carrying his cherry-red guitar.
"That's MY guitar!" Harry snarled, extending his arms; a moment later, four of his tentacles came out of his back and wound themselves around Harry's body. In an instant, Harry had transformed into his Arcane persona, his green eyes glowing with power and four tentacles extended from his back and swaying threateningly.
Turning to his friend, Harry almost laughed at the expression on Lunatic's face,
"That was awesome!" Lunatic breathed in awe before he began to bounce on his feet, "Do it again! Ooh, ooh! This time say, 'It's morphin time!' Please! Please!"
"God, you can be annoying sometimes…" Harry scoffed as he turned and began storming toward his room, Lunatic trailing behind him with a pout.
"Nuh-uh! You take that back! Hey, don't ignore me!"
XXXX
Raven gasped for air as she leaned against the Hospital's pillar. This had been her thirty-third time teleporting survivors and victims alike to safety in larger and larger numbers. What had started as a small battle had soon transformed into a war, and Superman had been forced to put out a call to any and all heroes nearby who could help. Not long after that, the governor declared Marshal Law and sent in the National Guard to try and aid the heroes in putting an end to the villain's brutal destruction.
Soon after this, the General in charge and Superman agreed that those with teleportation abilities would be used to try and evacuate as many innocents as possible. Raven and the others had immediately been put to work, but after three hours of this, Raven was running on fumes and desperately needed a break. However, there were still so many people in the city who might be killed if Raven didn't get them to safety. As she wearily rose back to her full height, Raven couldn't help but look toward Titans Tower, though she couldn't see it through the smoke. Silently praying that Harry and the others were still safe, far from this battle, Raven took a deep, shuddering breath and teleported away again.
XXXX
Floyd Lawton, also known as Deadshot, was having the time of his life from his perch high up in a skyscraper that was still under construction; as one of the most sought-after mercenaries on Earth, Deadshot had the privilege of being able to choose which jobs he would take with a more discerning eye than most in his line of work. When he'd heard about the price that Lex Luthor had put on the heads of Arcane and Lunatic, Deadshot had almost turned the offer down, not wanting to participate in an alliance with what he saw were 'lesser criminals' than himself.
He'd finally accepted Grodd's proposition because of how dangerous Deadshot saw this job as being. If there was one thing that Deadshot loved above all others, it was danger. The more dangerous a job was, the more excited it made him feel. It reminded him that he was alive, and every time he came home victorious, it gave him a better high than any drug ever could!
Laid out flat on his belly, gazing through the scope of his high-powered sniper rifle, Deadshot gave a sigh of satisfaction as he gently pulled the trigger and watched as a nameless National Guard soldier was sent over the hood of a parked car in a shower of blood.
"Fifty-two," Deadshot whispered happily as he began to look for his next victim; before he could lock onto anyone else, however, something suddenly grabbed his leg and violently pulled him backward across the floor. Flipping onto his back, Deadshot raised his arm and fired his wrist gun at his assailant, watching with annoyance as the bullets bounced off of Batman's armor. With a grunt, Batman releases his hold on Deadshot's leg and leaps away from the bullets, disappearing into the shadows a second later.
"Why don't you come out and face me, Bat!" Deadshot growled as he quickly rose to his feet, his wrist gun moving back and forth as he looked up at the rafters for his hated target, "Surely you're not scared of little old me?"
"Why are you here, Lawton?" Batman's voice growled from somewhere in the shadows, making Deadshot spin around and draw a second handgun from his side, "You've never taken contracts on kids before. So, why now?"
"Oh, I ain't here for the kids, Batman!" Deadshot replied, "Personally, I hope you and your friends keep both them boys safe. I'm only here for the fun! And to keep my numbers up."
"Those people aren't numbers!" Batman roared, coming out of the shadows from behind Deadshot and delivering a devastating punch to the man's head before he could turn and defend. The punch sends the hitman flying several feet across the room, finally coming to a stop when his back slams into the wall. With a groan of pain, Deadshot rose shakily to his feet and aimed his wrist gun at where Batman should have been, but he was gone again.
"What else should I call them, then?" Deadshot yelled, "What have those pathetic sheep done with their lives except wait for me to blow their brains out!"
"You're insane," Batman's voice growled from seemingly everywhere yet nowhere, making Deadshot back away slowly as his weapon swung back and forth.
"Damn it," Deadshot growled, "WHERE ARE YOU?!"
"Here," Batman's voice hissed in Deadshot's ear, making the hitman cry out in alarm before his world went dark.
XXXX
"Enough!" Superman snarled, holding Firefly by the throat and violently ripping the pyromaniac's jetpack off in a shower of sparks and smoke. Superman had been chasing Firefly for quite some time now, but the man had managed to evade Superman at nearly every turn until now.
"Aw, you're no fun!" Firefly growled,
"Fun? FUN!" Superman yelled angrily, spinning the man around and forcing him to look at the burning city around them, "Look at what you've done! How many are now dead because of you!"
"Isn't it beautiful?" Firefly gushed, "My finest work yet. It'll be pretty hard to top this one!"
At that moment, Superman would have given anything to hand Firefly over to his alter-ego, the homicidal Superman who had once killed President Luthor; instead, he swiftly lowered the two of them to the street and bent a nearby lamppost around the cursing villain. Growing weary of the still-taunting villain's voice, Superman silenced him completely a moment later when he quickly punched Firefly's head, knocking him out and leaving him unconscious in the street. A moment later, a military Humvee came screeching to a halt in front of him, out of which jumped two soldiers,
"Superman, sir!" the sergeant called out, "General Miles sent me to find you, sir! There's a group of villains tearing up downtown, and Green Arrow is trying to hold them all alone! Our troops are spread too thin to offer any aid."
"Tell the General that I'm headed to back up Green Arrow, then the Justice League will start deploying heroes to back up your troops on an as-needed basis."
"Yes, sir!" the sergeant replied with a salute before jumping back into the vehicle and quickly speeding away as Superman shot into the air and disappeared in a flash toward downtown.
XXXX
Oliver Queen, also known as Green Arrow, joked many times, 'I'm gonna die!'
He'd done it as a cry of terror after angering one night stands by forgetting their names. He'd done it as a cry of boredom on those days when he was forced to attend those tedious board meetings, where his directors would bellow and complain about one thing or another that was costing them money as if they weren't already richer than most could ever dream. At the moment, he was currently using that cry as proof of his own idiocy as he narrowly avoided being hit for the third time by one of Heat Waves fire blasts.
When he'd seen what was happening in Jump City from his penthouse apartment, he'd immediately suited up and used one of the Justice League's zeta tubes to teleport to the battleground, determined to help in any way he could.
Three hours later, Green Arrow was bruised, bleeding, and running dangerously low on arrows; dodging another near miss of fire, Green Arrow reached behind him and grimaced when he felt only three arrows remaining in his quiver.
"Give up, elf!" Heat Wave snarled, "I promise I won't burn you completely! Just a little bit! Think of it like a sunburn, only a lot LOT worse!"
"I appreciate the offer!" Green Arrow quipped back from behind his hiding car, scanning the area for the rest of Heat Wave's allies, "But I can't afford a sunburn! It'll keep me from enjoying the rest of the summer!"
"Yeah, I don't like fire either," someone laughed from behind Green Arrow, making him turn around and see Captain Cold grinning down at him from atop a pile of destroyed cars, his freeze gun pointed right at the horrified hero.
Before he could pull the trigger, however, Jinx suddenly appeared as though out of nowhere and delivered a powerful sucker punch that knocked the ice villain off of his perch and to the ground ten feet below with a painful cry.
"Thanks for the assist," Green Arrow replied with a nod, "Wasn't too sure I could nail him in time."
"Then maybe choose a better weapon," Jinx smirked back. "I mean, what exactly are you when you run out of arrows? Green…. man?"
"I prefer to call him elf," Heat Wave said from his cover where he'd been listening,
"Yeah, elf works…" Jinx replied, rubbing her chin thoughtfully and making Green Arrow shake his head in exasperation.
"Are you gonna help me or just continue to insult me?"
"Well…. Since you asked so nicely…." Jinx smirked before taking a running leap into the air and unleashing a virtual volley of pink destruction upon the street and anything that might be on it. Several cars exploded into oblivion as Jinx's pink blast hit them. Green Arrow heard Heat Wave cry out momentarily before he was silenced. Several moments later, when the destruction had finally ended, Green Arrow rose shakily to his feet and surveyed what Jinx had done. The street was utterly destroyed, with deep pits gouged into the concrete; cars burned out of control everywhere, creating a furnace of fire and smoke that began to make Green Arrow tear up, and lying unconscious near a burning vehicle was an unconscious Heat Wave.
"Are you crazy!" Green Arrow asked Jinx, leaning uncaringly against an overturned car and examining her fingernails.
"Quite possibly," Jinx replied, stunning Green Arrow with her honesty,
"Regardless!" Green Arrow continued, unwilling to lose the initiative, "If you're a hero, then you should know that we don't kill our enemies!"
"Oh please…" Jinx scoffed, rolling her eyes, "If I wanted to kill him, he'd be dead! I was in complete control!"
"You call THAT control!" Green Arrow demanded, sweeping his arm out towards the destroyed street.
"No, I call THAT job security for the construction companies of Jump City!" Jinx spat back, causing Green Arrow's mouth to drop open at her reply. Before he could reply, Green Arrow heard a distinctive hiss and turned around, drawing and pulling back his bow to see Killer Croc climbing over a pile of fallen rock and looking hungry.
"Well, look here…" Croc drooled, "Someone left me a snack…."
"Not today, Croc," Green Arrow quipped, "Why don't you go track down Captain Hook and finish him off?"
"Amusing little worm, ain't ya?" A silky voice said from the darkness of the alley next to them, causing Jinx to raise her fists defensively, circles of pink surrounding them.
A moment later, Plastique and Scarecrow walked out of the alley, causing both heroes to share a worrying look; a second later, Mammoth walks out behind the pair, causing Jinx's eyes to widen in surprise.
"Jinx…?" Mammoth asked before a dark look of hate came across his face, "You filthy traitor…."
"Calm down, Mammoth," Scarecrow says quickly, "There's no need for this to get ugly."
"Too late, I think…" Green Arrow replied looking at the villain, "I mean, have you even seen a mirror lately?"
"Enough jokes," Plastique sneered, "Surrender, and your lives will be spared. Or fight and die, I really don't care which."
Pulling the bowstring back further, Green Arrow simply sneers at her,
"No thanks, not in the mood to surrender. Especially when I've got you right where I want you."
By this point, Mammoth had completely lost his temper and issued a roar of rage before leaping into the air with both fists raised as though to crush Jinx and her green ally flat; both quickly leaped away, causing the other villains to attack as well.
"You left us!" Mammoth snarled as he swung left and right, desperately trying to hit Jinx, who danced out of his way effortlessly, "You betrayed us! And for what? Some brat!"
"Don't call him that!" Jinx snarled back, unleashing a dozen pink blades that spun forward and slashed Mammoth's arms to pieces from where he covered his head to avoid her attack.
"We were your family!" Mammoth growled, "And you threw us away the first chance that something better came along!"
"I offered you the chance to join me!" Jinx spat, "I gave you the same chance I was given! And what was my reward for that? You attacked me! You broke my arm! You made your choice! Just like I made mine!"
Mammoth said nothing as he remembered the last time he'd spoken to his friend. It was true that she'd offered to let him join the Titans as well, but he was so disgusted by her supposed 'betrayal' that he'd lost himself in his rage and attacked her, breaking her arm before the other Titans came to her defense and arrested him.
He had no chance to respond to her words. The moment he opened his mouth, a red and blue blur slammed into him, sending him through a nearby wall and into oblivion.
Green Arrow was not doing much better in his fight against Plastique, Scarecrow, and Killer Croc; immediately put on the defense, Green Arrow fired his last concussion arrow into Croc's mouth as the monster tried to tear off the hero's arm. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the arrow went off, and Croc's head was blasted backward, causing him to fall to the ground, unconscious as smoke billowed out from his mouth. Reaching back again, Green Arrow loaded and fired another arrow at Plastique, which she ducked quickly; as the arrow hit the ground, it began to billow smoke, temporarily creating a cloud cover that left everyone in the vicinity coughing slightly.
Squinting through the haze, Green Arrow reached back to his quiver again, only to pale as he realized that he had nothing left; shifting his grip on his bow, the hero now held his weapon like a staff as he tried to spot any sign of his enemies.
A sudden grunt of pain behind him made Green Arrow spin around and raise his bow to strike, only for another cry to echo from behind, making him spin around again, only to see a grinning Superman holding an unconscious Plastique and Scarecrow.
"Easy there, Robin Hood," Superman chuckled, "You could put someone's eye out."
"Oh man, even YOU'RE making fun of me now?" Green Arrow groaned, "This day freaking sucks, man."
"On the bright side, it's almost over," Superman chuckled as he threw the two unconscious criminals onto the ground. He casually walked over toward a nearby phone pole and ripped the wire off of it; as Jinx and Green Arrow continued to watch, Superman then wrapped the wire around the two unconscious villains tight so that they couldn't escape.
"Now then," Superman said, clapping his hands together and turning to face his allies once he was done. We've retaken almost the whole city. The few remaining villains are moving towards downtown. I've alerted all heroes to head that way so that we can surround the few that remain and put an end to this."
"As good a plan as any, I suppose," Green Arrow grumbled. I'm going to need more arrows, though."
In the time it took for someone to blink, Superman had disappeared and reappeared with a quiver full to the brim with arrows, holding them out to Green Arrow with a smirk.
"Showoff," Green Arrow scoffed as he took the quiver and threw it over his shoulder, "Shall we?"
Without waiting for an answer, Green Arrow ran toward downtown, while Superman shot into the sky, and Jinx leapt towards the nearest building.
XXXX
With a sigh of contempt, J'onn Jones incapacitated another nameless follower of Gorilla Grodd's mad scheme to take young Harry hostage. These criminals were like cockroaches, in that no matter how many the Martian took down, another seemed to take their place. As he rounded the next corner, he heard an inhuman shriek echo from further down the hall, causing him to quicken his steps to find its origin.
His eyes widened as he round the next corner and saw Andromeda Tonks spinning and twirling as she dodged bullets and screamed in a frenzy, her hair wild and flying about her head, making her look quite mad, wand firing hexes and curses at anyone foolish enough to come within sight of her.
"Someone kill that damn witch already!" Grodd roared from where he hid, only occasionally poking his head around the corner to see how his forces were doing, only to duck back out of sight when a beam of light narrowly missed him, "We're wasting time, we need to find those brats!"
"No, we need to end this!" J'onn said, raising his arms as his eyes filled with power; instantly, the last few thugs lifted into the air before slamming hard on the floor, knocking them all out instantly. Seeing his forces wiped out in an instant, Grodd snarled in fury before making a quick getaway. Seeing that she was finally out of the fight, Andromeda's arm dropped to her side as she collapsed to her knees.
"Where… Where are the children…?" Andromeda gasped as J'onn helped her shakily to her feet,
"I don't know," J'onn answered truthfully. I can no longer sense your daughter or the others in the Tower, so I can only guess that they managed to escape—all except Harry."
"Harry is still in the Tower!" Andromeda gasped in shock, "We must find him!"
"I will find and stop Grodd," J'onn replied firmly, "You need to rest. You've more than done your part, my lady."
Andromeda blushed for a moment before nodding in understanding. A moment later, J'onn helped lower her gently to the ground so that she was seated against the wall; nodding firmly, J'onn turned and began to float down the hall that Grodd had retreated down.
"Maybe I'll just close my eyes for a moment…" Andromeda slurred as her eyes closed softly and slowly.
XXXX
With a cry of pain, the thug who had been trying to steal Harry's guitar slammed into the far wall, no doubt breaking several bones from the force of the impact; sneering in disgust, Arcane swung the guitar over his shoulder and continued making his way back to his room. Behind him, Lunatic was giggling madly at the destruction his friend was unleashing; it had simply been too long since Lunatic had seen Harry's wrath firsthand, and he had forgotten how entertaining it was to watch.
"Bunch of no-good thieves…" Arcane grumbled, "Bad enough they wrecked my house, but now they are trying to steal my Gibson!"
"That's it, Harry!" Lunatic laughed merrily, spinning on the spot and changing his clothes into a long black robe several sizes too big and covering his face. "Embrace your anger, and your journey to the dark side will be complete!"
Harry said nothing, knowing that replying to his friend's annoying antics would only make them worse. As the pair rounded the last corner, they began to hear what sounded like an electric ballad playing, along with the sound of someone screaming.
Sharing a look, Lunatic transformed back into his regular clothes, and the two slowly made their way to Harry's room; peeking around the corner, the pair could see one of the thugs screaming as he played the guitar that Constantine had given Harry, the man's fingers bleeding as they were sliced to ribbons. But the thing that made both boys pale with horror was the long metal tubes that had seemingly stabbed into the thug's arms and were drawing blood from him into the guitar, giving it an eerie red glow.
"Huh… So that's what it does," Arcane replied after a moment, "Thanks for the warning, Constantine. You dick… I'm telling Raven!"
"So, should we save him, or…" Lunatic asked, leaving it up to his friend on what to do,
"Might as well, I suppose…" Arcane replied with a shrug. The pair walked into the room with a casual swagger. Striding right up to the still-screaming thug, Arcane gave the man a hard punch to the face, instantly knocking the man out and causing him to drop to the floor. As soon as the man stopped playing, the metal tubes retracted from the man's arms and back into the guitar, causing it to once again look like an ordinary if badass, guitar.
"Not gonna lie, that's really gross…" Lunatic replied in disgust, edging away from the guitar as Arcane lowered his hood and looked around the room with growing anger,
"Look at what they did to my room!"
The room had been tossed, Harry's once pristine bookshelves left disheveled, with books thrown here and there; so, too, were his DVDs thrown carelessly to the floor as the criminals looked for riches. His mattress had been thrown off of the bed, and in an act of pure pettiness, his posters had been ripped down as well.
Harry's hidden compartment, where he kept his guitars, lay open, with two guitars missing—the one on his back and the one on the floor, thankfully. Harry guessed that when the savage guitar began attacking the thug, his friend must have bolted in terror—understandable, really, all things considered.
"My room…" Harry mumbled sadly, making Lunatic roll his eyes,
"Hey, at least you still have a room! They blew mine up!"
"Pity you weren't in it!" A voice cried, making Harry quickly lift his hood back up and Lunatic to raise his fists defensively.
Harry's door suddenly exploded in a shower of dust and debris, out of which Star Saphire flew, flying up toward the ceiling and stopping there, floating a few feet above their heads and smirking in victory.
"Hello, boys! Thanks for making this so easy for me!"
"You…" Lunatic growled angrily, his iris' turning into slits as he stared up at the woman who had destroyed his Bag End; he'd already found Livewire earlier, but she'd been unconscious, so he'd been unable to pay her back for what she'd done to his home.
"Is she the one who hurt you?" Arcane asked softly, turning to glare up at the villainess when he saw Lunatic nod.
"Children, this doesn't need to be unpleasant," Star Saphire said with a smirk, "Simply come with me, and I promise that no one will need to get hurt."
"You hurt Looney…" Arcane growled, his eyes flashing unnervingly, "Your ass is mine!"
As Arcane launched himself into the air, Lunatic jumped after him, snarling,
"Not if I get to her first!"
With a scowl of disgust, Star Saphire spat,
"So be it!"
Before she could launch one of her blasts, Arcane had shot one of his tentacles at her, latching onto her wrist; Lunatic had jumped onto said tentacle and was cackling madly as he ran up it toward the glaring villain.
Lunatic was an excellent fighter; you had to be, living by yourself in Gotham City. Arcane was an even better fighter, having spent the last three years learning everything that Robin, now Nightwing, could possibly teach him. But together? Together, the duo were an unstoppable force of nature, so in sync with their movements, one could instantly know where the other was and act accordingly.
Lunatic charged up Arcane's tentacle, a large mallet held high above his head in order to brain the scowling villain; with a growl, Star Saphire yanked hard, causing Lunatic to stumble for a moment before he regained his footing. Arcane grunted with exertion as he tried to hold onto Star Saphire, who violently struggled to free her arm, all while Lunatic balanced between the two.
As though suddenly realizing that she had two arms, Star Saphire began to fire blast after blast at the two heroes, forcing Arcane to detach his tentacle, lest he become unable to properly maneuver. Lunatic leaped into the air and cackled merrily as he fell backward onto Harry's mattress and bounced onto the floor. Arcane flew around the blasts and slammed his fist into the woman's jaw, sending her hurling into the far glass wall, which cracked but surprisingly held.
Only pausing a moment to shake away her nausea, Star Saphire blasted the oncoming Arcane into the ceiling, causing him to disappear in a cloud of dust; suddenly, a black tentacle shot out toward her, followed by another and then another, causing her to growl as she dipped and danced away from them all, before finally flying into the air, again.
As he knelt on all fours, Lunatic felt one of Arcane's tentacles wrap around his waist and hurl him into the air toward Star Saphire, who was so shocked at Arcane's action that it caused her to freeze long enough for Lunatic to slam into her, knocking them both to the ground with a painful 'oomph.'
"That hurt, you dick!" Lunatic groaned as he rose shakily to his feet,
"Well, it worked, didn't it!" Arcane retorted as Star Saphire used Harry's bookshelf to leverage herself to her feet.
"I will not…" Star Saphire growled, "I will NOT be beaten by a pair of children!"
"Appearances would say otherwise," Arcane quipped, causing Lunatic to snort and Star Saphire to turn crimson with anger.
Almost as though someone had rung the starting bell, the three charged at each other, Star Saphire screaming in anger and hurling powerful bursts of light at the two boys, who easily dodged and tried to send their own attacks.
This went on for several minutes. Lunatic would conjure an anvil with the intent to squash the criminal, only for her to blast it to bits; Arcane would attempt to impale her, only for Star Saphire to knock it away with a well-timed blast. Before anyone realized it, the three had left Harry's room and brought their fight into the narrow hallway, where Star Saphire's movements were much more restricted.
Dropping onto her shoulder, Lunatic suddenly covered Star Saphire's eyes and cried out gleefully,
"Guess who!"
"Get off me, you little freak!" Star Saphire snarled, managing to grab the boy and throwing him off of her shoulders; a second later, one of Arcane's tentacles wrapped around her throat from behind, slowly strangling her as Lunatic hit the floor and rolled to his feet. Without pausing, Lunatic charged forward and used the wall as leverage to jump into the air towards her, delivering two solid hits to Star Saphire's stomach before latching onto Arcane's tentacle and sliding down its length with one hand, finally landing catlike next to Arcane as Star Saphire collapsed to the floor and gasped for air.
Not giving his enemy a chance to retaliate, Arcane charged forward and slammed his knee into Star Saphire's face as she slowly climbed to her knees, smiling under his hood as he heard her nose break.
As she slammed onto her back, Star Saphire tried one final time to raise herself back up, only for Lunatic to follow up Arcane's attack by hitting a flathead shovel into her face, sending her head slamming onto the floor with a 'slam,' that completely knocked her out.
Leaning heavily on the shovel for a moment while Arcane leaned one hand against the nearby wall, both boys began to chuckle, which then turned into full-blown laughter. That laughter died away instantly as Grodd came charging around the corner at full speed; seeing his two targets, Grodd released an ear-shattering roar of rage, slowing for only a moment before he charged at them.
"It's King Kong! Someone call Godzilla!" Lunatic shouted before throwing the shovel at the charging Gorilla; Grodd batted the shovel away with a snarl as he continued his charge, causing Arcane to jump into the air and fly down the hallway. As he passed, Lunatic jumped onto Arcane's back and began to stand on his friend as he flew down the hallway, like one would stand on a skateboard.
"I can show you the world," Lunatic sang, "Shining, shimmering splendid!"
"Not the time!" Arcane snapped angrily as Grodd roared after them.
Sparing a second, Arcane glanced behind him to see how close their pursuer was, only to gasp as he watched Grodd jump from the floor to the wall and then up into the air, managing to grab Arcane's left leg and bring them the three of them crashing to the floor.
Combining six tentacles into one, Arcane delivered an overpowered punch to the gorilla's jaw in a devastating uppercut that sent Grodd crashing through the drywall of the ceiling for several seconds before slamming back into the ground several feet away.
"Draw him to the Danger room!" Arcane shouted, scrambling quickly to his feet and roughly pulling Lunatic to his own, "It's our only chance!"
"You will not escape me, human filth!" Grodd roared as he charged at them again,
"Run!" Arcane screamed, desperately trying not to panic; Harry was under no illusions regarding his chances of winning in a fight against Grodd. He'd only been a hero for just under two years, for crying out loud!
Flying over Lunatic, Arcane grabbed his raised arms, causing the boy to grunt painfully as Arcane jerked him into the air, the two flying as fast as Arcane could go toward the Danger Room while Grodd roared angrily at them from behind.
"You will go no further!" A voice said suddenly, causing Grodd to stop abruptly as J'onn rose from out of the floor in between Grodd and the two boys.
"Cool, it's a ghost!" Lunatic replied cheerfully, causing Arcane to groan with annoyance as he continued to hold the boy several feet above the ground.
J'onn smirked slightly at the boy before slowly shaking his head and returning to the fuming Grodd.
"The Tower is no longer safe," J'onn replied firmly. "I will hold Grodd here and make sure he can do no more damage. You two should head to Town Hall; it has become the temporary headquarters for the National Guards and the Justice League. Your sister will be there."
"Didn't you hear me?" Grodd snarled, "I said, NO ONE IS LEAVING!"
With a roar of challenge, Grodd charged toward the Martian, who said nothing as he flew forward to meet Grodd's challenge; as they met, a burst of energy flew outwards, making Arcane's cape flap dramatically.
"I say we honor his last wish!" Lunatic said at once, seeing how violent the battle was quickly becoming.
"Aye," Arcane replied, seeing how outclassed he was, before turning and flying as fast as he could straight through the nearest window; as the two boys exploded out of the Tower in a shower of glass, Lunatic issued a rooster crow of delight from where he was suspended by his arms, still in Arcane's grip. With a grunt of annoyance, Arcane pointed the pair toward the burning remains of Jump City and began to make his way toward City Hall, Grodd's roars echoing from the Tower behind them.
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Author's Note:
Okay, I lied. I fully intended this chapter to be the end of the 'Bounty Arc,' but it got so long that I had to split it into two separate chapters, so expect one more chapter after this one, and that's the end of this Arc. I have written, rewritten, and rewritten AGAIN this bloody chapter! So I hope it holds up, lol. To those who have been haranguing me constantly, you win! Arcane will be joining the Young Justice team in the following few chapters. After his part in the 'Battle of Jump City,' Raven and the others will wisely decide to get Arcane out of the state for a little while, as many will end up blaming him for it. However, I have not yet decided if Lunatic will also be joining the team; that depends on whether y'all want him to or not. I may also have to change the Fanbase for this story, as it will no longer be just a Teen Titans story. Til next time.