Arcane didn't know how long he had sat there holding Cassie, his body shaking with sobs; was it minutes? Hours? He didn't know. Only when a strong gust of wind hit him did he look up to see a helicopter had landed not far from him. Lois Lane exited out of it, quickly approaching him with a look of supreme distress. Unable to suppress the rage coursing through him, Arcane's arm shot out, and one of his tentacles exploded from his open palm, wrapping around Lois' neck and causing her eyes to widen in alarm as she was dragged across the ground toward him.
"Come for an interview?" Arcane snarled, "Now that you are no longer in danger, you filthy parasite!"
Lois said nothing, Arcane's tentacle slowly tightening tentacle, making it almost impossible; as she clawed at her throat, Arcane was aware of the red-headed photographer yelling something at him, but Arcane was too enraged to care.
"Where were you when I was screaming for someone to help!" Arcane snarled, unseen tears running down his cheeks, hidden by his hood, "When I was begging any of you to help! WHERE WERE YOU?!"
As Lois began to turn purple, Arcane was aware that the other reporters were filming his actions, but he didn't care and slowly willed his tentacle to tighten.
A second later, Arcane felt a gust of wind hit him as Superman suddenly appeared, a look of fury on his face as he grabbed Arcane's arm in a vice-like grip, makng him wince slightly.
"Let. Her. Go."
"Of course, you'd show up to save your pet reporter," Arcane hissed, his anger overruling his fear of the man before him.
Seeing the dead girl lying in front of Arcane, Superman's face softened slightly, and he loosened his grip on Arcane's arm.
"I'm sorry, son," Superman said softly, "I know you're angry, but you know this is wrong. Please let Lois go."
"She just watched!" Arcane snarled, "While my friend bled to death! I begged her to help me! For any of them to! But she just watched!"
Surprise shot across Superman's face at that, and he quickly turned back to Lois for a moment, disappointment evident on his face, before he turned back to the broken child.
"Even so, is this what your friend would have wanted? To let your anger at her loss make you do something you can't take back?"
For a moment, Arcane and Superman stared at one another while Lois's movements began to slow from a lack of oxygen. Superman was about to force the boy to let her go when the tentacle suddenly loosened its hold on her, quickly springing back into Arcane's hand.
As Lois hit the ground on all fours, she began to cough violently and gasp for air; offering a nod of gratitude, Superman turned and quickly strode toward her, gently helping her to her feet as she rubbed her neck, which was quickly beginning to bruise.
"Is what he said true?" Superman asked, "Did you just watch?"
"Of course not!" Lois spat, "How can you even ask that!"
"Then what happened?" Superman demanded, "A child is dead, Lois! So, why is Arcane saying that you refused to help him?"
"I tried!" Lois growled, "I ordered the pilot to land so we could help, but the damn coward refused! Told me 'I wasn't paying him to commit suicide, which is exactly what would happen if he went anywhere near Grodd.' Do you honestly think I'm so cold-hearted that I would leave a child to bleed to death in the street!"
Turning back to Arcane, Superman felt his face drop in sorrow as he took in the boy's appearance; Arcane's left arm appeared to be broken, and he was holding the girl's body close to him with his other arm as his body shook with sobs. Looking up, Superman could see several helicopters still hovering in place, with reporters all still filming. With an angry scowl, Superman shouted as loud as he could,
"Leave. Now!"
Wisely deciding that angering Superman was not in their best interest, the helicopters quickly began to leave the area, eager to find other areas of destruction to film and report on.
Slowly approaching the boy, Superman kneeled in front of him,
"Arcane... You have to let her go..."
"No!" Arcane snarled at once, bringing Cassie's body closer to him.
"Arcane..." Superman replied softly,
"NO!" Arcane snapped, six tentacles suddenly shooting out of his back and turning into black spears that sailed toward Superman and stopped mere inches from impaling him.
As slowly as he could, Superman raised his hands and spoke again,
"Arcane, I know she's your friend, but there's nothing more you can do for her. And I doubt she would want you to be in such pain for her. You need medical attention, son. Please let me make sure you get it."
The spears hovered mere inches from Superman's face as Arcane's green eyes glared from beneath his hood.
"I won't leave her!" Arcane retorted, and Superman couldn't help but wince at how broken the boy's voice sounded. "Not like this! She... She deserves to go home!"
"And I promise you I will make sure she gets there," Superman replied gently, "But you need attention more than she does. Please, Arcane. Let me help you."
A sudden crash made everyone jump and turn to the noise's origin, only to see Lunatic leaning against the entrance to the nearby alley, looking both seriously injured and thoroughly annoyed.
As his eyes turned to Arcane, Lunatic's face fell, and he slowly limped towards his friend, collapsing to his knees and head dropping to his chest as he reached Arcane's side.
"This is all my fault..." Lunatic whispered painfully, "I'm so sorry, Harry..."
As Arcane turned to his friend, the black spears slowly began to pull back from Superman; the man of steal tensed in case Arcane decided to make Lunatic his next target, and even Lois looked slightly alarmed as Arcane slowly turned to look at the madman. Lunatic simply kneeled in front of his friend, head bowed as though expecting Arcane to turn his rage on him.
Instead, to the surprise of all, the black spears shot into Arcane's back with a 'snap.'
With as much tenderness as he could, Arcane lowered Cassie's body to the ground and gently crossed her arms over her chest before rising to his feet with a wince.
"Looney... Can you take me back to the Tower, please...?"
With a sad nod, Lunatic slowly pulled off his top hat and threw it to the ground; a moment later, both boys were sucked into it and disappeared without a trace.
With a sigh, Superman bent down and picked up Cassie's body,
"Superman... I..." Lois said softly,
"Not the time, Lois..."
"But I..."
"I said not the time!"
Without another word, Superman flew into the air, Cassie's body held in his arms, bridal style.
XXXX
As Arcane and Lunatic appeared in Harry's room, the pair collapsed onto their stomachs in absolute exhaustion. For several minutes, the two lay there as they struggled to breathe through the agony that their bodies were currently in.
"Harry..." Lunatic gasped before breaking into sobs, "I'm so sorry... I never meant for this to happen..."
"I know, Looney..." Harry replied as he rose into a sitting position and pulled his hood down, showing his tear-stained face, "I don't blame you... You know that, right...?"
"You should," Lunatic sobbed, "I just got your friend killed!"
"No..." Harry replied, slowly crawling over to his friend and pulling him up into a hug, "Grodd killed Cassie, not you..."
"But-"
"Looney, please..." Harry said, cutting his friend off, "I've already lost one friend today... I can't lose another one. So, please... Just stop talking..."
As Lunatic's body wracked with sobs, Harry gently rubbed his friend's back as he tried to fight back his own tears; as much as Lunatic might try to pretend otherwise, he was just a kid, and right now, he needed someone to be there for him. Even though Harry was hurting, he knew his friend was hurting more, no doubt blaming himself for all the deaths that his simple prank had caused.
"It's not your fault, Looney," Harry whispered, "It's Luthor's, and I promise you, we will make that bald-headed bastard pay!"
Looney's sobs stopped at that, and as he pulled away, Harry could see his tear-stained face morph into an expression of pure anger before he nodded in agreement.
"Together?" Lunatic asked, holding out his hand shakily,
"Together," Harry agreed, clasping his hand into Lunatics.
"And if the courts let him go?" Lunatic asked, "If he uses his money to buy his freedom from this?"
"Then he's mine..." Harry growled, "And no one will stop me."
"Agreed," Lunatic growled, his pupils narrowing into slits of anger and giving him a catlike appearance.
XXXX
Several hours later, once Raven had ensured that the rest of the day's victims were safely evacuated, she made her way back to Titans Tower. Passing by the Infirmary, Raven could hear her Aunt Andromeda screeching at Lunatic for being injured yet again and suppressed a smirk before quickening her pace.
In truth, she had wanted to return to the Tower the moment Superman had arrived with Cassie's body, knowing that her brother was probably in unimaginable pain at the loss of his friend. It was only because of the astronomical number of victims that still needed help that she had agreed to stay.
Approaching Harry's room, Raven sighed sadly as her mind went back to the moment Superman arrived with Cassie's body; her parents had been nearly catatonic at the sight and had to be taken by medical personnel and sedated.
As Harry's door slid open, Raven immediately heard the sound of the shower running and made her way into the bathroom, taking a moment for her eyes to focus through the fog.
Harry was kneeling, still fully clothed in his robe, in the shower, desperately running a brush over his hands as he sobbed incoherently; turning to see who had entered, Raven's heart broke as she saw the look in her little brother's eyes.
"Raven..." Harry sobbed, "I can't... I can't get her blood off... I... I..."
Without a word, Raven climbed into the shower with her brother, pulling him close as the water rained down on them, soaking her robe in a matter of seconds.
"It's okay, Harry..." Raven whispered as her little brother sobbed into his chest, "It's all going to be okay..."
"I'm sorry..." Harry cried, "I'm so sorry for how I've treated you! Please don't leave me..."
"I could never leave you, Harry," Raven whispered gently. "You're my brother, now and always."
"I did what he wanted..." Harry sobbed, "I gave him what he asked for! Why did he kill her?!"
"Because he's a monster," Raven said at once, "And I promise you that he will pay for it. I give you my word, Harry. Grodd will pay for what he's done."
"I tried to save her," Harry sobbed harder as the water rained down on them, "I tried so hard! Why couldn't I save her!"
"Harry, this is why I never wanted this life for you," Raven replied as a wave of sadness ripped through her, "Because the hardest part about this job is that no matter how powerful you are... You can't always save everyone..."
Harry began to sob even harder at that, and Raven knew that her little brother was dangerously close to having a panic attack; as gently as she could, Raven laid her hand atop Harry's head and pushed what little power she had left into him,
"Sleep, Harry. I shall be here when you awake."
As though on command, Harry collapsed into her arms, his body going limp as Raven's magic compelled him to obey. Slowly reaching over, Raven turned off the water and gently picked her brother up before making her way to the Infirmary. Though thoroughly exhausted, her Aunt Andromeda had turned the medical center into a veritable 'Superhero Hospital,' forcing all the injured heroes who had taken part in that day's battle to lay down and let her examine them. Green Arrow had tried to tell her off, only for Andromeda to stun him and then demand if anyone else wished to complain. They had wisely decided to shut up at that and done whatever the witch had ordered without further complaint.
Making her way down the hallway, Raven caught eyes with the other Titans, who were all standing in the hallway as though waiting for her. Cyborg had managed to come through the battle relatively unharmed, but he was one of the lucky ones. Nightwing's right arm was broken, and Starfire had received a nasty wound above her right eye, courtesy of Killer Frost; Beastboy was limping heavily after a run-in with Adonis, in which the criminal had thrown the green shapeshifter through a car's windshield.
"How is he?" Cyborg asked as Raven approached,
"How do you think?" Raven retorted, "The very first friend he ever made was just murdered in front of him. How would you be?"
"He'll be okay, won't he?" Starfire asked softly, making Raven worry her lip as she gazed down at her little brother.
"I don't know..."
"No matter what happens next," Nightwing said gently, "He won't be alone."
Nodding in gratitude, Raven stepped into the Infirmary, a smirk tugging at her lips as she watched her Aunt flick her wand at Lunatic. Ropes appeared around the boy, snapped taut, and tied him to the bed.
XXXX
Far away from Jump City, Chesire stood before her master, Ra's Al Ghul, as he looked at the paper she had managed to steal from Titans Tower.
"Hogwarts..." Ra's said thoughtfully,
"You know of it?" Chesire asked, "Sounds like some kind of disease to me, master."
"On the contrary, my dear," Ra's replied after a chuckle, "It so happens that Hogwarts is the premier school of magic in Europe, at least according to some. Though if that fool Dumbledore is headmaster, I can only surmise that its standards have grown quite lax..."
"I take it you know him, father?" Talia asked with a raised brow.
"Oh yes," Ra's replied with a sneer, "I know him quite well..."
"What is to be done about the boy?" Chesire asked, "Shall I capture him, master?"
"No..." Ra's replied after a moment of thought, "There's no need. Now that we know who Arcane is, we can take him whenever we wish. No, instead, we will watch and wait. I have a feeling that boy will grow to be an incredibly powerful magic user. And if we cultivate him adequately, he may prove to be an even more powerful ally."
"As you wish, Master," Cheire replied with a bow before she quickly backed out of the room.
XXXX
Author's Note:
I didn't like how I ended the last chapter, so I thought I would finish the Arc with this late addition. I hope it is up to your standards. As always, please review it and tell me how I'm doing. As promised, Harry will no longer be with the Titans but with the Young Justice team within the following two chapters, though I still haven't decided whether or not Lunatic will be joining him. I'd love to hear your opinion on that particular problem. Until then, ta.