EDITED 1.9.12 10:16 PM
Artemis's first week at Gotham Academy was... Strange to say the least. Some weird kid had taken a picture of her on the first day. She never did get a good look at him and she had a good feeling she'd never know who it was. She'd been hanging out with some people, but mostly Bette and a girl named Barbara Gordon, a junior and sophomore respectively.
Apparently, since it was the first week back, they were having an assembly on Friday. It was at the end of the day, so technically, she didn't have to go. Yet here she was, at the assembly, her butt aching from the plastic seats and sitting next to Bette. Apparently Barbara was on the Dance Team, which was why she wanted them to attend.
I didn't even know we had a dance team... Artemis thought, sending a puff of air to try and push a strand of hair from her face.
"Being on the dance team's better than being on the cheerleading squad." Barbara had defended herself. Artemis had teased her about it when she found out. She had said her friend had convinced her to join. Someone named... Dick? She laughed at that name too.
A voice blasted from the speakers, shaking Artemis from her reverie. "Let's give a big round of applause to our choir with the Star Spangled Banner. Everyone please stand." Bette had hauled Artemis off her seat to face the choir. As they went on, Artemis had to be impressed. They sounded like angels. I guess that's what happens when you have hundreds of thousands of dollars of funding. Then you can get some professional director. Artemis mused. They got to the high point of the song, each voice hitting the note perfectly and holding the note out, allowing for several whoops to go through the auditorium. The group finished off the song, receiving cheers.
Artemis sat back down while Bette turned to face her with a small smirk. Artemis's face must have been showing just how impressed she was. Embarrassed, she closed her mouth, which apparently was open the whole time, and changed the (implied) subject.
"So when's the dance team coming out?"
"Well first the cheerleaders are going to dance to the band playing the school song," Bette explains, smirk still slightly present, "then they're gonna do a legitimate cheer routine. Then the dance team." Artemis nods and turns back to the performance. She notices a glint of gold as the trombones lift the bells of the giant instruments. The band starts to play and she watches the cheerleaders with their overbearing enthusiasm do simple kicks, jumps, and every now and then thrusting out their pom-pom covered hands.
The cheerleading team had good form but Artemis couldn't stand how fake they were. She had seen them making fun of a group apparently on the science team before the assembly so they'd lost her respect. (She also told herself it had nothing to do with Wally being a science nerd.)
After a fifteen-minute routine, definitely overkill but schools always spoiled their cheerleaders, the dance team was announced over the speaker. They came out, dressed in black spandex shorts and sequined crop tops. She noticed that Barbara was in the front, smiling like she'd conquered the world. Of course she was lead.
As they started she noted how Barbara was trying to conceal her natural grace and was literally slacking off. If Artemis wasn't as trained as she was she wouldn't have noticed, so she couldn't think just how amazing she would be if she was actually trying. As she was right now she was easily surpassing all of the girls on the dance team. She had skill, no doubt about it.
The dance team started to do flips and acrobatic feats, stretching and spinning. Artemis narrowed her eyes. She had the grace and control of people who trained for years on end, but Barbara had said she'd taken gymnastics for a couple of years, definitely not enough to get in that condition. She'd have to ask about it later.
Eventually the beats of the song came to an end, all of them ending dramatically, hair covering their lowered faces and chests heaving. After a few seconds they flounced away like pixies or something.
There didn't seem to be anything else they could possibly do so Artemis reached for her backpack, only to be stopped by Bette.
"It's not over yet," Bette says, amused, "We have an All Male Dance team." Artemis raised an eyebrow. An All Male Dance team? That was stupid. What self-respecting school would have one? Gotham North definitely didn't. Well, then again, Gotham North didn't have a lot of things.
As she watched, a group of boys came out wearing sagging fit but not overly tight jeans and loose t-shirts. She wondered briefly how they got the school to approve their costumes, let alone having a hip-hop team. They had a strict uniform dress code.
She recognized the song to be Look At Me Now and raised an eyebrow. Strange song choice.
She noticed at the head of the group was a younger boy who couldn't be more than a sophomore. He was short compared to the rest of them with black hair and wore a smirk she'd seen on Barbara many times as he danced. He too, was holding back and was also the best one on the team. His movements were fluid and graceful and each time it was his turn to solo, he did acrobatics that and flexed in ways that were unheard of. Artemis blinked before deciding to ignore it.
The next assembly they had was exactly the same. It seemed the only thing that changed about it was that the decorations were gold stars and silver confetti. The assembly was because homecoming was coming up and decorated to match the theme. Artemis hadn't bothered to learn what it was, mostly because she didn't care enough to go to the actual night. The cheerleaders had a different (yet still way too long) routine and then Barbara lead the dance team into the center of the auditorium. They danced and Barbara flawlessly so, then to the boy's dance team.
She couldn't help but look at the same boy in the center again, curious. He was doing his solo and she could've sworn something was familiar about it. Again, she shoved it off. She waited for the boys to be done before gathering her stuff, only to pause at a booming voice from the speakers.
"We're doing something a little different today. We're going to combine the women's and men's dance teams!" The voice said enthusiastically. Artemis rolled her eyes. She watched as the women's dance team floated over to the men's, who were still in center. They moved around to get into different positions.
She trained her eyes on Barbara, who had been paired with the boy from earlier. It was obvious they knew each other, since he seemed to be cracking jokes to which she laughed and smirked. They'd be a cute couple, Artemis muses. She has a feeling Barbara would smack her for that if she knew, which makes her laugh a little.
When the two start dancing, which was a mixture of swing dancing and hip-hop (how the choreographers managed to make it look good, she'd never figure out.), she noticed how good they looked. It was as if they were one and had been trained to work together their entire lives. Artemis was certainly no dancing expert but she knew good dancers when she saw them. In fact, she'd never seen anyone as good as those two. And they were still holding back. She watched as Barbara seamlessly used the boy to pull off a spin before he launched her into the air and caught her again as she laughed. Artemis turned to Bette.
"Are they…?"
"Huh?"
"Barbara and that boy. They seem like they kinda click. I don't know." Artemis says, pausing to look back at the dancing pair.
"Oh! Remember that boy she always talks to… And hangs out with… and talks about?" Bette says, smirk widening with each point she makes.
"Yeah. Dick." She has to stop herself from laughing at his name again.
"Yeah. Let's just say that they, uh, associate with each other a lot. For training too." Bette says, laughing a little. Artemis notes she seems to be leaving off something but doesn't bother to ask.
"For dance?"
"Yeah… Let's go with that." Bette laughs again. The routine ends and Artemis gets her stuff.
"Let's go see Barbara." Bette says, before heading off towards the dance studio. Artemis follows dutifully and they eventually reach the studio. By the time they get there they note that it's nearly empty other than a few stray people still hanging around, including Barbara and Dick, who are chatting and laughing. She notes that Dick's hair is a bit messed up from what should have been slicked back and his eyes are giant and blue. Batman. Always making me analyze people when I don't have to. She sighs quietly to herself before smiling a bit at the two.
"Hey Artemis! Bette!" Barbara calls out, leaving Dick's side for a bit. She grabs their wrists and drags them towards him.
"Artemis, Dick. Dick, Artemis." The boy smiles warmly before shaking her hand.
"Oh! Aren't you Wayne's ward?" Artemis asks.
"Yeah." He says and his smile falters just the slightest.
"Oh my God I'm sorry." She says, amending what she said. "It kinda just came out." He shrugs.
"I'm used to it by now. So I've heard all about you from Babs." He says, smirking. Jeez, anyone here not smirk every five seconds?
"I've heard a ton about you from Barbara too." Barbara looks horrified for a moment, face darkening a few shades of red.
"Oh really now?" Dick turns to her before letting out a bark of laughter, getting a teasing nudge from her.
"Hey, Barbara, I thought you said you only took a couple of years of gymnastics and no dance?" She asks, turning to her.
"More or less."
"I'm pretty sure it takes a lot more to move like that." Artemis states, raising an eyebrow. Dick and Barbara share a knowing look, which Artemis can't help but feel confused at.
"Let's just say I had a good teacher." Barbara states, looking between Dick and Bette, whom are all smirking at each other.
"You guys are always acting like there's something you're hiding." Artemis says accusingly, to which they all laugh.
"Nah, don't worry about it. Well I gotta go," Dick says, "I'm meeting with some friends." Dick says, cheekily looking at her and Barbara as he says "See you later!" Barbara smiles and Artemis is suspicious. He hugs Barbara before leaving.
"He's kind of weird." Artemis notes, turning to her friends.
"You have no idea." Bette deadpans, earning a scoff from Barbara, as if to say 'That's an understatement.' Artemis smiles before checking the time.
Oh crap. I have to go to the cave in five minutes.
"Oh, I have to go to. My…. Uh… I have to go home and do homework. Yeah." She finishes lamely. Note to self: work on alibis. Barbara smiles as if she knows something she doesn't but Artemis shakes any paranoid thoughts and heads for the exit. Deciding she didn't have time to go home and change she heads to the zeta-tube transporter in a rush. She makes it in the cave with a minute to spare, noting that Robin and Wally are playing video games in their civvies.
"Recognized: Artemis-B0—" Wally out yells the announcement with a groan, throwing down his controller.
"Seriously dude? I've only been here for two minutes and I already beat you." Wally stands up, facing Robin and pointing at him.
"You cheated! Somehow." He accuses lamely. Robin looks up, noticing Artemis and raising a hand.
"Hey Artemis." He says, while Wally is giving her a once-over.
"What's with the uniform?" He asks.
She stares down at her uniform before sighing and tugging down on her blazer.
"I didn't have time to change. We had an assembly and it went over. They wanted the women's and men's dance teams to do a dance routine."
"Dance teams? How good are yours? Our school's sucks." Wally states, dropping the controller.
"Your school has a men's and women's dance teams? Is that normal?" She looks at Wally, who shrugs.
"Depends really. Usually it's just women's but some schools have enough guy dancers to make a team. I don't know." Wally pauses. "But yeah. Our teams suck at dancing. I know and I don't even dance. At all."
A giant smile passes over Robin's lips, which could seriously put the Joker to shame.
"So how are your dance teams Arty?" She shrugs.
"They're good. My friend's lead of the woman's."
"Oh really now?" Robin looked like his face was about to split in half.
"Yeah. She's really good. A bit too good if anything." Artemis briefly wonders why on Earth she's saying so much. "I don't know much about dancing though. Her and the lead of the men's dance team dance really well together." Robin barks out a laugh, which earns a few strange looks from Wally and Artemis.
"Asterous. Hey Wally, wanna play again?"
Just like that, the subject was dropped.
Dick had joined their little group, acting as a little brother to them. As she sat down for lunch, she waited for the rest. Although she was on scholarship she refused to use more of it than she had to and therefore brought her own lunch. When the three sat down she scoffed at their filet mignon dishes the school served.
"You guys are way too rich for your own good." She said, smirking. She'd finally gotten a hang of the Gotham Academy smirk everyone seemed to have.
"Shut up." Bette teases good-naturedly, pausing cutting the meat.
"Wow Dick, are you sure you can finish that? Maybe you should get something from the kid's menu." Barbara pokes at Dick's ribs, who only pouts.
"How long will it take before you guys quit it with the freshman jokes?" He rubs at his ribs.
"When you stop being a freshman!" Babs laughs, earning a glare from Dick.
"Isn't there another assembly tomorrow?" Bette inquires when the laughs stop.
"Yeah. It's the day before Winter Break, what do you think?" Barbara says sarcastically.
"So you guys have to go to the dance room afterschool?" Barbara and Dick nod. Artemis asks another question.
"Why are you two on the dance teams anyways?" Dick smiles, looking at Barbara.
"So you know how I used to be an acrobat?"
"Who in Gotham doesn't?" Artemis deadpans. Dick only laughs.
"Well the dance team coordinator came up to me in 8th grade and asked me to join. I wasn't going to but he kept bugging me about it so I joined." He explains, smirking all the way.
"Then I forced Babs to join because I was lonely." Barbara laughs and smiles at him.
"You should've seen them when he danced the first time. The coordinator looked like his eyes were going to pop out of his skull when you pulled off all their choreography without trying his first time." Bette supplied, smiling at the memory. "And then Barbara joined the women's and at tryouts she actually started correcting the senior in charge of drills. It was priceless."
"Ha. Sounds like them." Artemis nods, a sly smile on her face. "You guys just have to be prodigies at everything, don't you?"
"Now, now." Barbara intervenes, pausing to ruffle up Dick's perfectly gelled hair. "Dick's daily butchering of the English language doesn't allow him 'prodigy' status."
"I swear aster and whelming are real words!" He defends. "In Lord of the Flies by Golding, he uses 'whelming.' And aster is in science!"
"You're not using them right." Bette deadpans. Artemis's eyes widen just the slightest. As some hair falls in front of Dick's face, she can't help but think…
"Robin?" Three heads turn to look at her, hair whipping and Dick hurriedly swipes his hair back into place, blue eyes widening. Artemis's face reddens as she realizes she said it out loud.
"Um… What?" Bette says, first to recover. Dick laughs, but Artemis thinks there's something different about it. Almost nervous but she can't sure if she's imagining it.
"Yeah, Artemis? What are you talking about?" Barbara sends a concerned, perfectly puzzled look towards her.
"I—uh…. I meant that Robin uses the same words." Artemis is sure she imagined it now, because Dick is completely relaxed and nonchalant and far too calm to be nervous earlier.
"Yeah, I heard it on the news once and I guess it kinda stuck. I didn't realize I took it from him until Barbara pointed it out. But seriously," he nudges Barbara teasingly with his elbow. "They're real!"
She leaves it alone, but somewhere in her subconscious, very, very, deep, she knows it's him.
Artemis forgets.
"So do you think I could watch your practice later?" Bette says, pushing aside the filet mignon, barely touched. The dancers shrug.
"Don't see why not." Barbara says, slowly chewing the meat. "Wanna come too Artemis?"
She thinks—her mom said she would go to a doctor's appointment that afternoon and didn't need her and the team didn't have a meeting or training. She supposed that she could lie but she loved to see them dance so she decides against it. She gives a firm nod, absentmindedly fiddling with her enormous ponytail.
"We're doing another collaboration with the girl's team again." Dick explains as they walk to the dance room.
"You're paired with Barbara again, right?" Bette teases. Dick's face turns red and Artemis barks out a laugh.
"Y-Yeah." He stutters. Barbara turns red too, and Bette and Artemis are laughing at the two's expense.
"Shut up." Barbara grumbles, causing Dick and Barbara to turn even redder and Bette and Artemis are sent into another fit of chuckles.
"You guys are great. They'd be crazy not to pair you two anyways, you're the best dancers on your respective teams." Artemis states, honesty seeping in her tone.
"Thanks." They both reply, albeit shakily due to their embarrassment earlier. The rest of the walk is spent in silence. They enter the dance room, Dick and Babs heading off to change into more comfortable clothes than their stiff uniforms. Each come out, Barbara wearing sweatpants and a fit t-shirt, Dick in a white t-shirt and basketball shorts, hair de-gelled.
Artemis takes a seat on a bench on the side of the room, facing the mirrors that covered an entire wall.
As they go through the complex dance moves Artemis can't even begin to try and explain, she notes how comfortable and the same time awkward Dick and Barbara are acting around each other and stifles a laugh from coming out. She also notes how smoothly and efficiently they dance compared to the others. She admits the others are good, but not nearly as elegant as her friends are.
She does laugh, however, at Dick's apparent showing off in front of Barbara as he lands a back handspring and vaults over his teammate for a spin and lands smoothly without a single tremor.
She does not think about how, circus training or not, he should have faltered the tiniest bit. It doesn't even cross her mind.
Artemis's first year at Gotham Academy breezes by and she refuses to think about how much better it is, her life now. (Especially compared to her life with the Shadows. But that's something she resolves to think about as little as possible.)
With Bette, Barbara, and Dick by her side and now, a certain ginger that runs by to walk her home after school (because that's what boyfriends do), she couldn't be happier. Obviously, there were a few snags along the way, including Shadows messing with her and her past coming out, but the team was stronger now and even closer.
The team got two new additions—one was long coming though. Zatanna was finally able to join the team under circumstances that were almost as strict as Batman's. Speaking of which, they got another Bat added the team—Batgirl. Apparently, there was a Batgirl before her but she had to retire her identity. Either way, the current one had to have sunglasses with reflective lenses that were huge and covered her cheekbones and hair was in a ponytail when she was in civvies. She hadn't been allowed in the public yet, so the covert-ops team was perfect.
Of course, Bette, Barbara, and Dick didn't know about the team.
Assemblies came and left and Dick and Barbara grew better and better. The teams became more and more accustomed to be doing extreme gymnastic moves combined with dance. Of course, they didn't do all-out gymnastics routines, which Artemis was thankful for. They couldn't stoop down to the cheerleading squad's level (although she was dating him now, she still wouldn't admit that she was mad at them for constantly making fun of the science team was because of Wally).
Things run relatively smooth for the next year too. Well, smoothly for her seeing as usually she'd be carted of spontaneously to a foreign location to assassinate people as of two years ago. Bette had graduated and Dick grew taller and (finally!) hit puberty. More people joined Young Justice, Batgirl and Robin are still stuck behind sunglasses, and all is right in the world.
…Although, she really should have seen this coming. She knew that the possibility certainly wasn't impossible—it was actually very plausible and she wonders why she never bothered to prepare for it. Artemis used to keep an extra set of arrows in her locker but last month she brought it home after two years of nothing.
Gotham always finds a way to keep you on your toes.
It's a member of Batman's rogue gallery that isn't as popular as say, Joker and Two-Face, but just as dangerous. Mad Hatter had broken into the school.
She assesses everything she knows about Mad Hatter and admits to herself that it's not much. Obviously, it was an insane genius type, as most of Batman's villains are, and also obviously he was obsessed with Alice In Wonderland. Basically it meant that he was crazy, which meant he wasn't afraid to do things according to impulse (including blowing up the school), he was smart, so he couldn't be duped easily, and he was a main rogue in batman's gallery, meaning there was no way in hell she could do this by herself. Well, shit.
She supposes she could find a way to call the police, but she knows it would be too late and she's pretty sure that Mad Hatter has them under mind control. She could call Wally but the students know that the police are incapacitated as well. She can't say she's going to call the members of Young Justice to save them because she simply can't. She knows that she can't lie and say she's calling her mom or the police because that makes no sense. She doesn't have her own phone or communicator on her, and she's sure that if Batman were able to do something, they would have gotten out three hours ago.
This was not going well.
All two thousand students were face down in their gymnasium, whimpering and panicking. Although the school is filled with preps and rich people they know that a super-villain in Gotham means they're ready to kill to get what they want. Unfortunately for the school and occupants, Mad Hatter hadn't made any demands. He just wanted to play.
Everyone was in danger and the factors were unpredictable. Yup. Exactly what I wanted to do today. Well it's better than taking that trig test.
Artemis shifted uncomfortably on the floor. Thankfully, she was with Barbara and Dick simply because they had been walking to class from lunch when they'd all been ushered into the gym. At the same time, it wasn't a good thing—it meant that if she tried to sneak away to her spare costume in her locker, they would notice and wonder why. She was trapped.
Echoes of footsteps ran through the large room as they thudded closer and closer to the group. Barbara had a firm grip on Dick's hand, and if it weren't for the circumstances, Artemis would have been teasing her. The Mad Hatter slowly approached their group and Artemis's heart threatened to burst from her chest and sighed with relief as he flounced away. However, he spun on his heel and grabbed Barbara by her hair. In shock, she had let go of Dick's hand, blue eyes wide in fear.
"Hello my dear. I do believe you're the commissioner's daughter?" Mad Hatter quipped, tipping his large hat. "No matter, you're my Alice once more." (1) Barbara attempted to free herself, fear evident in her eyes. Panic grew as a nice was pulled from the man's pocket.
Barbara's eyes flashed with determination as she struggled in his grasp. Dick's rage was palpable and Artemis felt as if she could reach out and feel his anger. As if he were about to stand, Barbara whispered urgently to him.
"Don't." Her eyes glared down at Dick. Artemis watched with wide eyes as she watched Dick mouth something back.
"I won't let it happen again." In a flash, Dick jumped up, kicking away the Mad Hatter with strength Artemis didn't know he had. Grabbing Barbara, he runs towards the exit. Artemis blinks before following them out. After a series of winding hallways and shouts from henchmen, the trio finally found a safe place to hide.
"What the hell, Dick?" Barbara scolds, eyes narrowed in anger. "You could've gotten us all killed! You're lucky Hatter always goes to find his Alice or else the rest of the school would have been dead by now!" Dick stops her, face solemn.
"I wouldn't let you sacrifice yourself."
"I could have handled myself!" She defends.
"Not as a civilian, you wouldn't." Artemis is immediately suspicious, but decides that it doesn't matter with the situation at hand.
"I need to get to my locker." She states and hopes that her eyes are commanding as her voice was. "I have equipment in there." Thankfully, although she doesn't have her spare bow, she does have a backup in her backpack. You don't go on a team with Batman as lead without picking up some of his habits. She hesitates, knowing that once she goes through with her plan, there's no going back.
She had to reveal her identity.
To her relief, they simply nod and Dick starts to list what he knows.
"Hatter is probably going to take use of the video feed to look for us, as well as send his henchmen after us." Artemis nods in understanding.
"Look, I'm going to reveal to you something that I never should… but this is really tricky so I have to." She states the last three words with resolve, trying to convince herself it was true. She hesitates before shaking it away. "I can trust you guys, right?"
"Artemis, we've been your friends since your sophomore year. Of course you can." Dick states.
"I'm Artemis, Green Arrow's sidekick." She does not expect the accepting look on their faces and can't help but feel a bit disappointed at the lack of astonishment.
"Alright." Barbara says, face set. "What's the plan, Artemis?" She sends a glare towards her.
"You two are staying here until I come back from you or the police does. Don't attract any attention from guards and don't be stupid." She instructs. "I'll be back."
Artemis leaves them be, running down the hallways with light steps and eyes darting for danger. Peering into a classroom, she manages to find three metal rulers and keeps them firm in her grip. As they approach her locker, as predicted there are two goons waiting for them. Hiding in a corner, she eyes the machine guns in their hands (which was much too excessive for this sort of capture). Taking a split second to calibrate her aim and speed, she hurls the rulers, effectively disarming them.
As she starts to dart from the corner to take them out, two figures easily flip into the guards, their heads colliding with the linoleum. She knows that curly red and black slicked back hair and she'd be damned if she didn't know it at this point.
"I told you guys not to be stupid and stay there!" She rants, giving each of them a glare, only to be met with identical smirks.
"Couldn't let you have all the fun." Dick says cheekily.
"Besides. You're the hero. If you get injured in the little fight then the rest of Gotham Academy's doomed." Barbara rationalizes, arms crossed.
"You really shouldn't have though." She grumbles. Barbara gives her a look. "But thank you."
"You're welcome. Now go change and get your gear. Dick and I will make sure no one comes." Artemis, hesitant but understanding, grabs the uniform and changes quickly in the bathroom.
About twenty seconds later, she came out in her full gear walking while attaching her quiver. Dick and Barbara both nod in appreciation. They step back, both at either side of her.
"Alright, we have to go into the gym at a high point so I can shoot this arrow," Artemis explains, picking an arrow. "It releases a smoke. Then I'll shoot another one and it releases a net. We're probably going to meet about five to six more guards."
"There's a sound booth on top of the bleachers. You can get there by a staircase from the locker rooms." Dick says.
"Good, we'll get there." She pauses, looking both of them in the eyes.
"Are you ready?" They nod firmly. "Once this is over, don't be thinking you can be a vigilante. Gotham's got enough of those and you two aren't trained for that." Their mouths twitch upwards but the serious expressions on their face still are intact.
"Let's go."
Surprisingly from there it runs smoothly. Barbara and Dick fight as gracefully and synchronized as when they dance. She knows better than to watch, but their fighting style is almost beautiful. They take their time taking down a single guard in the time it takes Artemis to take down two. She notes it's better than the normal civilian and smiles.
As she ducks from a meaty fist swinging her way, she watches them from her peripherals. Dick had knocked his guy out and lunged at a thug that tried to get Barbara from the back. Unlike his first few, that one went down in seconds. It was really adorable, actually. It had taken all of last year to convince herself that Dick was not Robin and Barbara was not Batgirl. She figured the more she knew about them, the more it would seem that they had secret identity because of the familiarity she felt. She constantly had to remind herself but she was able to finally set the thought aside and just have friends. God knew she needed friends.
Besides, if that was Batgirl and Robin, they would have already had the thugs down as well as have Mad Hatter in. So it couldn't be.
The last of the guards was set in the corner, a net entangling them in their unconscious state. Subconsciously, she notes the small blinking metal devices on the backs of their necks. They'd been brainwashed as well.
"The room is that way." Barbara points at a door labeled "staircase" next to a set of lockers near the end. The teens make a dash for it, Artemis leading. She reaches the booth and peers into the gym, as if to make sure Mad Hatter didn't end up blowing up the place. He wasn't. Instead, he was playing tea party with a few terrified students. There was a long table of various teacups and oddities like a boot. Any food had a small hat on it. The table itself was on a raised platform in the middle of the gym.
She noticed the rest were still on the floor and the ones playing tea party were dressed as a hare and a dormouse, just like in the tale. She winced when she thought about Cheshire and thanked the odds that she wasn't involved. Things would be a lot harder as well as a hell of a lot more complicated if she were there.
She hadn't seen her sister in years.
She slams her elbow into the glass window, causing it to shatter. Picking shards of glass from her now bleeding elbow, she pulls out the desired trick arrow.
"Watch the door." She commands and her two companions rush towards said spot.
She puts the nock on the string, aiming right next to villain. Her eye closes, eying down the shaft. With trained and nimble fingers she lefts go and watches it fly. In an instance, the smoke is released. She then sends a line across the gymnasium, using it like a zip-line.
"That wasn't part of your plan!" She hears Barbara shout behind her.
"I know!"
Artemis knew that if she just sent a net, then the guards could easily get him free. She had to knock him out first and then get the mind control devices off the teachers standing by and Hatter's henchmen.
She dropped down with a flip, placing a well-aimed kick to the Hatter's jaw. Much to Artemis's chagrin, he simply stepped out of the way, a mad smile spreading across his face. Artemis was forced to do a quick roll to absorb the effects of the landing. Her eyes narrowed at the villain as he started to chuckle menacingly. The rabbit and the dormouse quickly fled, and Artemis was able to notice the whole school was watching from their positions lying on the ground.
"Hello, my dear." He says, the shadow from his hat making his eyes glow in comparison. "I suppose you aren't here for tea." His smile is seriously scaring the hell out of her and she wants nothing more than to wipe the smirk off his face.
"Maybe you should try some." He quips before throwing a cup of tea at her. She dodges it and watches it make contact with the platform. The "tea" eats holes into the platform. Acid, wonderful, just what she needs.
She knows that the Hatter had his mind control devices in his hat and she needed to steer clear of anything from there. It wouldn't help anyone if she wasn't in control of her body.
The Hatter smiles at her again before doing something with his gloves and suddenly the dormouse and the hare are back with blank expressions in their eyes. She gasps. She can't hurt civilians. As they attack she can simply block them. As much as she would like to incapacitate them, they were civilians and she would have to take the devices off. A blur of black hair whizzes by her, followed by Barbara's perfume.
"Get out of here! You can't fight this one!" Artemis says, ducking another punch.
"Forget it. You need to go get Hatter, he's getting away!" Dick grinds his teeth as he flips towards the hare. She peers behind the dormouse she's fighting to find that Hatter is, in fact, getting away and sighs.
"Barbara, take dormouse. There are little devices on the backs on their necks, destroy those. I'll be back, don't be stupid!" Artemis yells before taking off after him. If Artemis knows anything, she knows about Alice In Wonderland. She was the Alice to her sister's Cheshire and she couldn't help but miss her each time she disappeared. She'd always leave her with misleading directions and when she found her, she'd disappear without a trace.
She shook her head, clearing her thoughts.
"Hullo." The Hatter said. She grimaced. With a blink he was attacking her, and she fought with all she could.
"I heard of you. You know the Cheshire." He laughs, a deep throaty chuckle that makes her shiver.
"Always disappearing but you can't quite catch it." Her eyes widen in surprise. She realizes that he's going on a whim and doesn't actually know she has a Cheshire in her life. But still…
"You're useless. You should have disappeared like it." A hit is able to make contact with her stomach, followed by another hit and another.
"What are you going to do? You think you're in Wonderland when really…" He crashes his elbow across her face, sending her down.
"You've only to wake up now." She groans and scolds herself for letting him get to her and distract her like that.
"I do believe you would look better with a hat." Her eyes watch in horror as a green top hat makes it place on her head, and she can only stare, mesmerized.
Artemis is unable to control herself as she fights with Barbara and Dick. They're holding back, she can tell, just like the assemblies all those years ago.
Hit me! She screams in her mind. Get this stupid hat off of me! Do something!
Barbara is good-naturedly blocking all her hits, although she can tell she's fighting an internal conflict whether or not to inflict damage.
Do it!
Barbara can't hear her. Dick is sadly dodging as well. Unfortunately, her arms reach for her bow and aim at Dick as she puts down Barbara. In seconds, Dick is captured in a net.
"Very good." Hatter says, petting her head. He pulls the groaning Barbara up by her arm.
"Welcome back Alice." In an instant, Dick darts from his net, apparently having had escaped it, and grabs a discarded teacup and hurls it at Hatter, who dodges.
"Missed. Too bad."
"Not the target." The hat is off her! "Too bad." With Dick, Barbara, and Artemis now hitting the Mad Hatter all at once, pouring their frustrations out with the man. With a yell and a punch, Artemis knocks Mad Matter out.
They all step back, looking at the fallen villain before Artemis ties him up.
"Nice work." Artemis says, turning to them, who smile appreciatively.
"No biggie. We were just helping the hero." Dick nudges Artemis's side, laughing a little, even though they're all worn down and bruised.
"What's with the belly shirt anyways? I think you can fight crime with your midriff covered." Barbara teases.
"Hey, it was Green Arrow's idea. Mostly." She defends. The three start to evacuate the school, so they can take care of the mind-controlled school staff and police force. Suddenly, a dark laugh rings behind them and they turn to see Hatter has regained consciousness.
"You honestly thought I was done?" Mad Hatter scolds, He stands, bonds cut and they tumbled to the ground. "We're just getting started." The lights flicker and students start to panic. At each exit is a police officer with a gun visibly pointed through the glass of the window.
"Dad…." Barbara whispers, in shock.
"We can stay in Wonderland, Alice." He says, producing a gun from his jacket. "We can all stay in Wonderland." The students are now crowding away from the doors, whispers of fear floating around.
"Quiet!" The villain shouts. "Down on the ground!" All the students immediately drop to the floor in the same position they were in before, facedown and shaking.
"I have an idea." Dick says, low and careful into Artemis's ear. "Babs and I need to get somewhere. Distract Hatter." She isn't sure why she trusts it, but she does, and it sounds so familiar but she doesn't acknowledge it. She nods and the two inch away.
He starts to ramble and Artemis needs to make some sort of commotion. On an impulse (damn, she's been hanging out with Wally far too long) she punches him. The Mad Hatter's head recoils and he spits some blood out to his side.
"That was not wise at all." He says, glaring. "Not at all." The fight begins. She's bruised and tired, so are Dick and Barbara, and she wants to give up. She notices Dick and Barbara being shot at as they run around, but the manage to not get hit. Mad Hatter is going strong, and here she is, knees ready to buckle beneath her.
Where the hell did he get all this energy? She sneers in her head bitterly after what could have been a half an hour of half-hearted fighting.
"You're friend will come back with my Alice." He quips, dodging a weak kick form Artemis.
"My henchmen are getting them now." As if on cue, Barbara returns, hair in her face and two stronger teachers grabbing onto her arms. Hatter lands a kick to Artemis's weak knees and she collapses, exhausted. With a heaving chest, Barbara speaks.
"You're not getting away with this."
"Oh nonsense. I already am."
"What do you want?" Barbara half screams. The Hatter's mouth grows into a giant, sinister smile.
"Once I've had my fun in Wonderland, I'm simply going to destroy it." He says simply. Artemis's and Barbara's eyes widen in unison. Barbara yells out before taking out the two men with ease. Artemis's mouth pops open in surprise. Mad Hatter reaches down to the table, picking up an acid filled teacup.
"Would you like a little more tea?" It's a quote. Barbara notices it too.
"Well, I haven't had any yet, so I can't very well take more." She states, playing her part. He smiles gleefully at their little game and they skip the March Hare's parts and circle dangerously around.
"You can always take more than nothing."
"But I only meant that…"
"And now, my dear, something seems to be troubling you. Uh, won't you tell us all about it? … Yes, yes! And when you come to the end, hehehe, stop! See?" He laughs again; a group of brain washed policemen with guns, including Barbara's father, point them at Barbara while surrounding her.
"I'm not Alice. The tea party is over now." Barbara quips, smirking. Artemis is confused, so is the Mad Hatter.
"Hey!" They turn to see Dick in the sound booth, holding a small device. "Never assume your captors don't have EMP transmitters in their lockers." He flips a switch and the mind control devices fall off the teachers and police officers. As they blink in confusion, they slowly register what's going on.
"Barb?" Jim Gordon says before turning his pointed gun from his daughter to the villain.
Artemis snuck up behind Mad Hatter before hitting him on the back of the head with her bow.
"I couldn't help it, sorry." She says, not sounding sorry at all.
"It's fine." Commissioner says, before feeling his pulse turning to his men, he commands them to get a pair of handcuffs and send him off to Arkham and people start to evacuate again. Dick comes out from the locker rooms, smiling tiredly at them.
"We did it." His teeth show in an honest-to-goodness smile as he hugs Barbara before turning to Artemis. (Thank goodness he grew up taller than Barbara and Artemis.)
"So I think we need to talk." Artemis raised an eyebrow at Dick.
"Are you going to explain why you have an EMP transmitter in your locker?" Barbara laughs.
"Yeah, just c'mon." They follow the vacated halls to Dick's locker and finally stop.
"Alright, talk."
"We were going to tell everyone today but obviously we got held up." Barbara states. "Obviously. Anyways, we think it'd be great to tell you before we tell the rest."
"Oh my God, you're not pregnant right?" Artemis blurts, eyes wide. Dick and Barbara splutter, turning pink before regaining their stature.
"How did you know?" Dick yells, earning a slap from Barbara on the arm.
"OhmyGod, ohmyGod, ohmyGod… Holy shit!"
"No! I'm not pregnant! God Dick you're so stupid." Artemis relaxes.
"Okay, the real news before my heart gives out on me." The two reach into Dick's locker, each pulling out a black thing that… Oh my…
A mask and a cowl are soon placed on each face, obscuring the real face from view.
"Batgirl! Robin!" Artemis yells in surprise, and they only smile.
"This makes… So much more sense now." Artemis says, slapping her forehead. "Hey!" She suddenly exclaims before hitting them on the arm.
"Ow! What?"
"Why the hell didn't you help me? We could've gotten out of there much faster!" They take their mask and cowl off respectively.
"We couldn't risk our secret ID's. Besides, we knew you could do it by yourself. And now you know that one day when Red Tornado's family attacked the cave? Yeah, I was serious when I said I was out of EMP transmitters. I usually have one." Artemis laughed and shook her head.
"It only took Bats two years to finally let us know your ID's." She laughed.
"Well…" Barbara says, trailing off. Artemis lets out another bark of laughter.
"How much begging did you have to do?"
"Two months worth and we have to clean the Batcave and the Batmobiles for the next three months." Barbara lists.
"Ooh, and before I forget." Dick says, pulling out his phone. A picture of her on her first day of Gotham Academy, disoriented and younger, shorter Dick smiling into the camera is looking up at her.
"It was you!" She accuses.
"Yup. C'mon, you know you like it!" Artemis smiles and shakes her head.
"Alright. Batman's going to want a mission report once he gets back from the dimension mission with the League." Now it all made sense why he didn't come. Artemis notices something.
"What time is it?" The sun is starting to slowly seep into the school.
"About five o'clock in the morning." Artemis groans.
"I guess we're not having school today." Dick muses. Barbara laughs.
"You think?"
"Well, they're probably going to make the assembly on Friday anyways."
"You guys are such trolls, you know that?" Artemis puts her hands on her hips. Dick and Barbara, or should she say Robin and Batgirl, both turn to each other before turning back to her and answering in unison.
"Yup."
A/N 7,721 words. 21 pages. I'll read through this later and not like it. (Edit: It's true. I hate it.) Great. Soooooo tiiiiiiired. I've been working on this for a week now. When I started this I had no idea what I was getting into. I thought it was going to be a quick one-shot but the story took control of itself and wanted to be longer. I was already 4,000 or so words in when I realized it and I couldn't delete it. I wrote too much. So this derptastic fic was the result. I KNOW MAD HATTER IS OOC. I don't know him well enough to write him in character. And the ending is weak, there are probably a million mistakes I'll catch in the morning but I could care less right now. It's one in the morning and I have to work on my English homework. So please go easy on me before I edit it. (I still have to get around to it)
Goodnight.
(1) Barbara got captured by Mad Hatter in the comics before and forced to be his Alice. That's why she's Alice and not Artemis, even though it makes a hell of a lot more sense to have Artemis as Alice. Deal with it.
(2) The quotes Barbara and Mad Hatter were spurting off were from the Disney movie. I was too lazy to get a quote from the book. I'm sorry.
(3) In this I just made it so that Bette was trying to cover for Dick. She wasn't actually annoyed with him.
Please review. Please.
EDIT: So to explain why the scenes with Mad Hatter is so bad-I honestly just wanted the story to be over. It was taking too long and I rushed it because I was tired of it just sitting in my files. I wanted it out so I didn't have to deal with it anymore. I might try and rewrite it but for now it's going to stay bad. I apologize.
...
Seriously though. Please review.