A/N:Before anyone asks... No, this is not a crossover. I wanted to poke into a character that isn't relatively normal and legitimately fell into a life of a crusader. I wanted to create a character that would easily keep up with the boys without being a liability. Normally it's not common of a lifestyle choice. It will later be explained how she was capable to live a double life and why. She didn't start with major crimes she mainly worked stopping things like petty-theft and snow-balled from there. Perhaps as you get to know her...She might become a tad relatable.
Chapter One : Paradox
I was born and raised into a world of combat and battle- I knew exactly what I was getting myself into when I took on the role of a masked vigilante. I knew about the dark and sinister nature of the game. The bruises and broken limbs? Oh. Those would always be nothing to the world I would be exposed to. Witnessing the more brutal and gory scenes that always managed to claw at my very soul was utterly repulsive. You name it, I've probably already seen it. I've only made it this far due to my heritage.
I was a Vigilante, a person responsible for battery assault, breaking and entering a home or place of business without warrant, Petty arson...I was responsible for breaking the laws of man in order to selfishly gain what I wanted the most...
Answers.
I'm the worst type of criminal there is aren't I?
The worst part if the job was having to see the most darkest sides of human nature...I can't begin to tell you how shocking it is that most of these people responsible for such crimes looked relatively normal from the outside. They were what you call " a wolf in sheep's clothing."
I had been the daughter of a Martial Arts Master and a retired Police Officer offered me to opportunity to follow in my father's footsteps. Martial art had been taught by my estranged Grandmother and my father carried her legacy. He often joked about how he had always picked fights in school to show off his moves as a child. It went without saying that my Grandmother beat him to a bloody pulp for being irresponsible. Despite being a Master of the art, he only learned seven different forms of fighting that suited his form best. So teaching me had been difficult for him as I had been vertically impaired like my grandmother. It was only through miracle that he remembered the way Grandma used to move that he became limited to teaching me her form of fighting.
My mother had never been a part of my life as she had passed months into my birth. She suffered postpartum depression. I never liked to bring her up...anytime I did my father, a man of power, with strength crumbled into nothing more than a burning man. A man desperate to find yet another reason to wake every passing morning. So, I never ask of her anymore in fear of seeing him that way again...
My father, now retired-spent a lot of his time teaching me the thrill of the hunt, taking down big game like buck with a simple bow and arrow. He claimed guns where far too loud and could easily frighten another possible target nearby.
Needless to say I firmly agree...
I could practically hear his voice even now...
The sweet scent of pine was overpowered by cinder and ash that lingered on my parka. The campfire from the night before left us smelling like charcoal and was perfect for masking out scents from the wildlife. We trenched through the sloshing snow before we came near a clearing. Most of the shrubbery and underbrush was burnt from the cold, the remaining forest floor that was left visible through the piles of snow was mere soil and moist twigs.
A sloshing sound followed three meters away. I looked at my Father and simply nodded his head towards the creature.
'Your turn biscuit. That's it. Slow you're breathing."
I carefully loaded the arrow with practiced ease on the bow's steel rest and steadied my gloved fingers on the fletching.
I can recall the warmth of my Father's palms as he steadied my shoulders and as he smoothly ordered me to slow my breathing, the feeling of my heart beating loudly until it drowned the whispers of his husky murmur.
My eyes narrowed as the small furry creature grazed from the leaves of wild mint. The blank look on his onyx eyes told me he wasn't aware of our presence just yet. It's a shame...had the circumstances been different maybe I'd kept one as a pet.
I however was not raised that way.
Letting go had never been easier...I had practiced on stagnant targets numerous times before and knew my target was a hit before his small head was pinned though the ground by the arrow.
You can imagine the utter horror and disgust my classmates felt when I told them that story for show-and-tell.
I was so naïve back then. I never even realized it was a bad thing at the time. After all, It was a constant in my life that never once made me question it.
Like now.
"Artemis do you copy?"
"Understood. I've breached the vantage points of the lab located in the stronghold. I'm currently awaiting my next target under the ventilation shaft of the building. I'm here picking of the grunts one-by-one. What's your status Oracle?"
"Wonderful, short-stack. I'm hacking into Paradox's database as we speak." From her end of the line I could hear her fingers typing rapidly on her keyboard before speaking once more. "Whatever he's up to...it's not good. Says here he has enough juice to power an entire metropolitan city for three days. We'll have to take him down quickly and quietly."
I hadn't bothered answering her or paying mind to the snippet of my stature. I was far too occupied, listening to the sound of slow, thick, and heavy footsteps above me. I made sure he was at least five feet away to make my next move. With practiced ease I silently moved the lid of the grate over and hopped nimbly from the vent and into the line of sight. Moving quickly, I shadowed behind him as the grunt made nearly made his way to the corner. I took my opportunity to strike and grabbed the back collar of his jacket and used it as leverage to drag him down into a sleeper hold.
Classic Silent Takedown.
The real trick however was to evenly apply pressure on the neck to keep him from alerting others as he thrashed around. Of course if I wanted to make it quicker there was always the Rohypnol...but I didn't want to waste any of my resources just yet.
His face went blue and his body felt limp and for safety measures I did keep his there a few seconds longer. It would be to much work to move him now so targeting the other two without raising alarm would need to be quick.
Taking in my new surroundings I loomed over the pearly white walls of the laboratory, the cylinders were a part of some generator. The vibration of it's humming filled the room. The cylinders were filled to the brim with a cobalt liquid that was eerily vibrant. These cylinders were connected and branched into the wall to the next room. Judging from the guards I'd say Paradox was in the other room...
As I peered through the corner while in a crouch I noticed the last two grunts positioned by the massive stainless-steal doubt these cylinder tubes were powering the mechanism through that of the grunts started to speak inaudibly. My eyes widened as the receiving end came from the earpiece of the unconscious body. The grunt growled and tensed.
"She's here! Soldier's 10-04, 09-06, 10-03 and 08-73 are not responding! Keep you're eyes peeled."
The other grunt looked visibly shaken. Good. His reaction time would be slower than that of his comrade. Looking around the room I spotted an archway directly above them. A ventilation duct was located three feet above it. Perfect.
Quietly crouching, I made my way again toward the grate near the wall of massive cylinder tubes. Silently lifting the iron grate with my gloved hands I looked around before dropping to the bottom with a small thud.
I crawled noiselessly in the hallow ventilation grates and took towards the vents that began to travel upward. The forest green armor piece on my glove served as a secondary grappling gun. Shooting it upwards sent me careening towards the grate opening. I reached into my utility belt for my tools and took out a small screwdriver. I unhinged three of the screws give me room to exit without dropping the grate. I didn't want to compromise my position.
I dropped from the vent on to the metallic arch. My cape billowed slightly, but was silenced immediately after my land. Padding my feet slowly while wearing my steel-toed combat boots I positioned myself from their line of sight and unsheathed my bow. Made of crisp-smooth emerald green carbon fiber and black steel. I reached into my quiver and pulled out a trick arrow.
The trick arrow itself was black and hat a flat head with two small rods to pierce the target. To dictate the difference among the rest it was lined with a pulsing neon blue light indicating it's type. Taser-Arrow.
I loaded the arrow on the rest and took aim on the more experienced one of the two. Witch wasn't difficult seeing how he berated his comrade for showing signs of cowardice.
"Come out pip-squeak and we might just show enough mercy to let you live."
Them show me mercy? Oh, really...? I fired remorselessly in response, immediately the room lit up in spasms and flickers as the electrical currents coursed through his body. Wasting not time I took advantage to strike once more meanwhile his frightened comrade watched in horror leaving himself wide open.
I didn't waste time and ran across the rail of the metallic arch and dove into his shaking form with bow-in-hand. I came crashing down on him with full force causing his firearm to skid across the floor. I began digging my knees into his back. He cried out in agony as my steel knee-caps pierced through his uniform.
I grabbed his head and slammed it aggressively on the stainless steel floor. "Tell me what Paradox is planning and I might spare your precious disk!" I said, growling in his ear.
"I ain't telling you nothin'! GO. TO. HELL."
"You're going to regret that," I warned under my breath. I reached into my quiver and pulled out an ordinary arrow and hovered it inches from his face. "See this? If you tell me what I want to hear, You will walk another day... If you waste my time and give me cryptic answers..." I pressed the tip of the arrow against the lining of his spine as I growled, "-I'll rupture your peroneal nerve so you can live the rest of your days on some godforsaken wheelchair..."
His eyes widened at the thought before he cried out in fear. "NOOOO! Please! O-Okay! Paradox is creating a dimensional rift to cross to some world! He says the power it has is immense! He said we would be granted the strength to finally dominate this world and that we would be blessed with unimaginable power and wealth. Everything we ever dreamed...even bring back those who left us..." His body began to rock back in forth as he sobbed. "Emilia...I wanted to see her again..."
I kneeled above him in silence and withdrew the arrow from his spine placing it back in my quiver. Picking a cloth from my utility belt I hovered over his face. "Wha-" The confused look on his face vanished before I pressed it over his nose.
His face felt limp over my hand and I let go instantly hearing his head meet the floor with a thud.
"You had a noble cause, but at what cost? Whose lives did you need to destroy in order to achieve your goal?" I asked him as his unconscious form lay crumpled on the ground along with his comrade. I searched their pockets and found an access card on the "experienced" grunt. I rushed by the door and slid the card across a scanner. The doors opened with a thunderous blast of air pressure much to my chagrin. So much for the element of surprise. I angled myself on the corner and crouched.
"Artemis to Oracle. I'm entering the chamber where the mechanism is located. It looks like the lab is used to generate and transmit energy to the unknown mechanism. " I loaded my bow with old fashioned arrows and readied myself for a possible ambush. "No sign of Paradox..." The room was spherical in shape, It was safe to say it was bigger than the dojo my uncle owned. Computers, monitors, pipes (undoubtedly from the laboratory next door) aligned the walls.
"Good Girl. Wait there and be on high-alert. No doubt Paradox is nearby. Stand-by on my way."
"Roger." I sauntered to gather information by the super-computer located in the farthest edge of the room. My eyes roamed and examined the various blueprints of the arch structure in the middle of the room. I placed them in a manila folder before I ransacked the desk. In the various papers read the detailed notes of how he described his findings on a new universe parallel to ours. How it was a place where power was obtainable in the most purest form. He went off saying that if one had the sort of energy they could even grant the ability to resurrect...those who have since passed as long as it wasn't of old age.
"Such garbage he's feeding them...With powers like that in this world it would only promise ruin and corruption."
My body went cold and rigid and acting upon instinct I dropped to the ground in a only to avoid a rod to the head.
"See something you like my dear Artemis?"
I threw myself in a dodge roll to gain distance from the deranged scientist and rushed on my feet quickly withdrawing my bow. "Cut the crap. It's over Paradox. One wrong move and I'll send you to oblivion." The man before me didn't look lanky. He was quite tall and was of average build in forms of weight for his height. His oily golden locks where tied back into a low bun and lacked a healthy shine. His glasses where thick and framed his long dreary pale face.
When was the last time this bastard saw the sun...or a shower for that matter.
"A superhero kiling the villain? I find that hard to believe."
"Well believe it. You know full well I'm no hero. You're life is hardly worth the taxes I pay to keep you locked up anyway."
"Oh-Sassy too! You're not like his other fledglings my dear!~"
"Put down the rod or I'll shoot you crazy bastard!" I demanded angrily. "You're testing my patience old man." I began to prowl towards him and he stood there smiling. I stooped a few feet away. Warning bells started to go off in my head, I knew any sign of movement could be a potential threat at this point.
"What are you smiling about?" His smile never faltered. I could feel unnatural rage boiling inside me. I rushed him and gripped the hem of his coat slamming him with force against the capacious monitor of the entire room."What's so damn funny?" He shook with laughter under my grip and let his head drop. I locked my jaw and glared icily. Oh, this man is really asking for it.
He chuckled and brought his head inches from mine. He whispered, "What if I told you...You can bring her back?" My eyes widened for a moment before having to compose myself to the strong abrasive demeanor I once held. How could this...how does he know about that.
"What do you know of me?" I asked with a hiss.
"Enough, Miss Irina."
My blood ran cold then. Nobody should know my real name. That was the point of the mask. Shit... I was compromised. If anyone on the black market or deep depths of the internet knew...They'd kill or likely torture us for monetary gain."I cannot let you live for the sake of my family and my own. You're not worth the risk to have around." I rammed my foot in his throat and drew my arrow to fire. "Die. Paradox."
"Artemis! STOP!" I could hear the Oracle's voice crack loudly in my receiver.
"He knows who I am. There's no telling what he'll do to my remaining family."
"Artemis. Please." Oracle sounded desperate on the other line and I couldn't help but feel...guilty."-You can't take a life. Let us worry about Paradox. You aren't going to burden yourself with the weight of such an action!" It took everything I had to not crush Paradox's windpipe with my foot and even withdraw the firearm the would dictate his unruly demise.
He crumbled through the floor panting and gasping like a fish out of water. The rod rolled near my boots before I sent it flying across the room to keep Paradox from sneaking in a dirty move. I was indeed cautious by nature.
"...Artemis?" Oracle called out with uncertainty.
I could feel myself falter as I answered her."I was hoping to crush his windpipe and keep him from ever speaking again..."I heard a sigh in response on the other end of the receiver. I walked steadily towards Paradox, but was interrupted by blaring sirens and alarms going off and bathing the room in an eerie red glow.
My eyes snapped towards Paradox and growled in irritation as I realized he had managed to activate the mechanism from his position near the monitor.
"It's a touchscreen dear Artemis." He stated with feigned innocence. "Get with the times sweetie.", Paradox stated matter-of-factly. The sound of a massive generator boomed through the dome-shaped room, steam from the pipes signaled the running of an active energy source pumping through them. For once in my life I thought maybe somewhere along the line I was way in over my head. This wasn't something I could handle alone. The weight of the world was now suddenly resting upon my shoulders.
A new noise blasted through the room and the vortex of air began to whip wildly in the room. I held my hand in an "X" formation to keep from being assaulted from any debris in the room that was now considered a projectile. I made haste towards the CPU and fiddled in my quiver searching for the proper trick arrow.
"C'mon! EMP. EMP." In the midst of the haze a force against the right side of my head threw my senses into disarray. My ear had also been a victim and the right side of my head was reeling and shooting with white hot agony. I gasp and groaned as I gingerly cupped my injured head on the metallic floor. I screamed in aching pain as yanked the receiver from my right ear. It singed and had combusted in my ear on impact. The blood dripping from my neck likely from a ruptured eardrum.
"What's the matter my dear Artemis? Why do you fight the urge to deny this opportunity? Don't you want to see her again? Your sweet grandmother?"
Shut up.
"-What was her name?"
Shut. Up.
"Oh-Yes, Lubella? She wen by another name too didn't she?"
-!-
"...Gen-"
"ENOUGH!" Without wasting more time I collided my forehead with his, causing both of us to stagger back. I practically jumped when I saw the EMP arrow and narrowly escaped another crack at the head with Paradox's own foot this time. We exchanged an array of punches and kicks before I hurdled myself over his shoulder as leverage. I rushed past him and mustered all my strength to penetrate the arrow through the mainframe fo the CPU.
You can imagine the horror on my face when The entire room was engulfed in a blinding flash of light before it knocked me through the air. The sounds of screams where muffled by torrents of wind-the screams of a woman in agony-my screams. The unforgiving turbulence robbed me of all the oxygen and It felt like I was swirling deep into a void of unconsciousness. The thing that scared me the most in that moment.
I never hit the ground.
In another realm.
Stubby nimble fingers pulled paper past paper and stamped with swift aggression. Through the size of his child-like eyes he was able to detail each eulogy and determine the appropriate jurisdiction for their place in the spirit realm. It took him mere Nano-seconds to stamp them one-by-one accordingly, but despite his incredible speed, the stacks of claimed lives seemed to pile within the minute. Even his Ogre's where working double-overtime and where scrambling to organize the placement of these arriving souls.
His head nearly exploded when a familiar ghoul came bursting in the room arms loaded with yet another stack of Eulogies.
"George, What did I say about knocking? I am very busy! Make yourself useful and grab a stamp will Ya'!" George sighed at the verbal abuse and muttered more complaints about needing a different job before picking a stamper and helping the young Spirit God.
In the middle of the stamping Koenma's whole body went rigid.
The amount of energy he was sensing was so unreal...it felt like it was ripping a hole through the world-so heavy in fact he thought his own father was responsible for such a pulse. He dropped the stamp and scrambled to opened up a screen on his massive moniter with a few strokes of his keyboard. He checked the radio-frequency meter and within minutes of his search he was able to determine a location.
An electromagnetic pulse formed over a forest so strong it's wavelength travelled thousands of miles. In the midst of his all-seeing view an object in dark-olivine cloth was sent rocketing into the forest floor below. In an array of a wave of light the pulse was gone.
"What in the world was that sir?!"
For once in his existence...Koenma did not know. "I'm getting Botan on the line. Keep stamping. Whatever it is...Nothing can be good with that source of energy."
What had enough power to generate such a wave? Perhaps the unknown object holds key to the answers...
A/N: I'm debating on starting in the Dark Tornament Arc. Normally, I don't like starting in the middle of shows, but I feel like Artemis/Irina will blend better into this arc than any other. I will not overpower her as her strength is not going to be her deciding factor to defeat an enemy. Stradegy will be her ace and soon you'll see how parallel their worlds really are.
I wanna hear your thoughts on this spin of an story. Leave reviews if you have any suggestion or how you think the characters will react to the lovely Artemis based on personality alone.
I will need a beta-reader to help me out so if you're willing to read and edit my word-poop feel free to DM me!