A/N: Just read. It may seem crazy, but I'll explain it all in the end. Trust me. Please.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Critical
"Well, it started out kind of normally. I was at school, and it was dress like a geek day or something and, for some reason, Artemis was at my school. I'm not sure why, but she was. And for some reason, we were like best friends. It was creepy. Like, the kind of best friends we are. Maybe even closer. Joined at the hip kind of close. It felt good, but weird in a way.
"But anyways, I was proving just how geeky I could be by throwing myself down a flight of stairs. It was a bad idea, but I wasn't totally sure what I was doing either.
"But then, the scary things started. Like, I've seen some creepy stuff and I know you have too, but this is creepy on a higher level. So I look back up the stairs and she's just gone. I'm not too worried, you know, but I still go up and look for her, pull my phone out, call her. She's not picking up her phone, and I can't find her. And that's when the fear sets in and I just know it's a critical situation. I don't know how I know, but I know something important is up and that something is seriously wrong.
"And you know those times when you just know things? Like, you don't know how you know but you know that you know? Yeah, I'm babbling. But anyways, I knew that for some reason, you were leading a revolution agains congress to stop animal abuse or something. It was some crazy stuff.
"Then it just got weirder. So I'm in a big house, don't know how I got there, what's going on, but I know I'm in a house and that it's your headquarters for your animal abuse war thing. And for some reason, I know that you're leading an army of about two thousand kids from like five to fifteen year olds, and you're all at the congress building pelting them with cereal. It was weird, don't ask.
"But then I'm hearing music. In my head. It's like the sad, depressing, panicky upbeat music and I'm freaking out 'cause I'm hearing Artemis screaming a lot... Then I can like hear splashing water and it sounds like she's drowning... It was horrible. I mean, heart-pounding, head-throbbing, chest-tightening kind of fear. You know the falling in your bed feeling? Like that, times twenty. Horrible.
"The worst part was when it got really quiet. The music cut out, splashing stopped, she stopped screaming, I'm still freaking out, you're still pelting congress with Lucky Charms and Cocoa Puffs, and Artemis could be dead. Worst feeling ever.
"Then I have another one of those moments where I just know where she is. So I'm bolting up stairs and cutting corners and plowing down a couple of the kids in your army and just as I'm about to duck into the bathroom that I think she's in- like, I could see the tub and the wet floor and everything- I notice a side door closing. Like a hall closet or an empty room.
"I open the door to the side room, figuring that whoever hurt Artemis is probably hiding in there, and Meg's inside looking really sad and angry and her eyes are red like she was smoking weed or something. I told you you had to hear this! Superboy was in there too, but he was just off to one side looking all emo and stuff. But anyways, she's like, 'It's all my fault. If only I'd been second instead of her. I don't even want this.'
"Before I even know what I'm doing, I'm pinning her against a wall and getting ready to strangle the life out of her. Just that primal urge that makes you want to kill. I get that sometimes, but it was just so raw... But there was some more talking. Apparently, Artemis was the army's second in command and Miss M was third. For some reason, I was fourth and I didn't even know about you leading a war on animal abuse until the school thing. It was weird. But here's the trippy part: I told Meg to go drown herself.
"Totally meant it too. I wanted her dead so bad I could taste it. I still didn't know if Artemis was alive or dead or whatever, but I knew Meg had some part in it and she had probably drowned Artemis. What's worse is that Miss M actually left the closet thing and went and drowned herself in a toilet.
"Not even kidding you. I pulled her body out later. I don't remember when, but I did. It was just sick. I thought I was going to die this morning when I realized what happened. But whatever. It was just freaky. But the same theme music was playing when she died as when Artemis was screaming.
"So I went back to my frantic search for Artemis or at least her body. I just wanted to be sure she was dead. Not in a bad way, but it's one of those moment where you want to know. I'd rather know if you were dead than not know, know what I mean?
"Anyways, every time I got close to the door, something happens. The first few times, it was one of those, every step I take, it gets ten more steps away. And I wasn't even going fast either. Just normal running. But I'm not getting any closer and then eventually, one of your little minion people says that you ran out of cereal and now the military is after you and I give the kid a Jenga game and tell him to go use a billion Jenga games. I figure, 'What the heck? Let's fuel the board game industry in the middle of a kiddie war.' I thought it was good logic. Better than cereal.
"So then I get back to running and I'm still not getting any closer. I just want to know if she's really gone or not and then I wake up. So I don't know if she really died or not."
There was a long moment when Robin had to drink in his friend's narrative of the dream and try and compute it all. Then he asked, "Cereal?"
Shrugging, Wally said, "I don't know, man. I don't know. I was freaking out the whole time and you were pelting congress with cereal. That's what I dreamt. I can't control it!" The redhead leaned back, hands folded under his head as he rested; Wally hadn't gotten much sleep the night before because of his epic tale of the worst nightmare he'd ever had. "But do you know what it means? You're the smartest guy I know, and if anyone could help me sort through that craziness, it's you." His jade orbs found his friend. "So can you help?"
Robin was still trying to figure out how the animal abuse tied into anything. Regardless, he pieced together a general outline and came to a decent conclusion. "You and Artemis are connected somehow."
Wally scoffed.
"You threw yourself down a flight of stairs for her, heard music as she died, and tried to find out if she was really dead even after you pretty much already knew." Robin was sitting on the couch with a pillow tucked to his chest as he analyzed. "In reality, you guys hate each other. According to Sigmund Freud, dreams say something. That dream definitely says something, dude."
There was a long silence. Wally had to think this over. Then he asked, "Could you call her?" At the sight of Robin's smirk, Wally covered with an excuse. "To make sure she's not dead, I mean! If we're connected, maybe I'm like her psychic or something, ya know?"
He wasn't buying it; without argument, Robin put down the pillow and headed into a darker cavern of Mount Justice to trace Artemis. He would comfort Wally just to say he did, but he still wasn't sure how throwing cereal at congress would stop animal abuse.
A/N: I actually had that dream, except for Robin was my sister and Megan was my cousin. But Artemis was Artemis and that was the freakiest part. Anyways, thanks for reading through the craziness. But that's what really happened. It was scary. And if you're curious, the background music was "Critical" by Jonas Brothers (I left my iPod on…) and that's where the title came from too. So reviews would be great.
~Sky