This is my theory on Artemis's past. Hope you enjoy my idea! (Plus a little bit of KF/Artemis thrown in, lol couldn't help it! But that won't be until later.)
I don't own Young Justice, if I did, why would I even be here?
(if my theory ends up being even close to similar, I will be so freaking happy!)
It starts with Artemis dreaming. I hope I did the third person point of view correctly. I honestly suck at it.
-It begins-
A chilling wind blew throughout the room. A young girl, no older than nine, stood in the middle of the room, staring at the grisly scene before her. Time seemed to stand still as a dark figure stood over the body of the child's mother. Blood pooled around the woman's dead body and the child gives away her presence with a tiny whimper.
"M-mama…"
The dark figure quickly turns to find the small child, almost afraid she had been discovered by the villagers. An eerie laugh escapes the killer's lips, confirming her to be a woman.
"Well, well. What do we have here? The target's brat, eh? Seems like I'll have to add another victim, my superior's won't like it though." The murderer approaches the tiny child, a small dagger in her hand.
"Aren't you going to run? Scream? Hmmmm…you're not even crying. Maybe I can use you. The Shadows are always looking for new recruits." She puts the dagger to the child's throat. The tiny girl looks her straight in the eye.
"Why? What have you done to mama? Why isn't she moving?" The assassin notices the child's dark blue eyes are unflinching. The woman gives the child an evil smirk.
"I killed her. She's dead. Your mother will never speak to you again." Her grip on the dagger tightens as she prepares to slit the girl's throat should she decide to scream.
The assassin continues, "I'll give you a choice, come with me and live, or I kill you on this spot."
The girl's hands are shaking. She may not show it on her face, but she is terrified. It takes all of her courage to finally say, "I, will go."
"Good choice brat. From this moment on, you will cease to be a normal human. You will forget everything you once knew. Whatever you were once called, you shall never answer to it again. You are now a Shadow. You no longer have a name. "
"Can I bring one thing with me? It is the bow and arrows my mother kept to remember my father by."
The woman grunts in annoyance but let's her retrieve them regardless. "You'd better know how to use it."
"I do." They are the last words the girl speaks before she leaves her former home with her new master.
-flash forward through the next few years-
Through the next few years, the girl experiences arduous training. Every day is a battle against other recruits, trying to prove their worth to the organization because if they don't the worst awaits them.
She is currently fighting against a fellow recruit. She knows her opponent well, as they have trained together many a time and they are quite "friendly" with each other. It is a battle that determines whether they will become a true Shadow, or whether they will ousted from the organization. The battle is intense.
"I refuse to lose." A girl with long blonde hair says as she aims at her larger opponent with her green compound bow. Several arrows are released as she attempts to hit her male opponent.
He dodges to the side as her arrows lodge themselves into the wall behind him. He slides a deadly sharp sword out of its sheath and rushes towards the archer. As the gap closes between the two, she straps her bow to her back and slides into a fighting stance.
Her opponent makes a slash in her direction and as she slides past him, he whispers, "Even if it means I will be disposed of?" The archer hesitates for only the briefest of moments, but it is enough for the boy, nearly a man, to deftly sweep her legs out from under her with a kick. As she falls, she draws several arrows out of the pack on her back and uses them to block the sword that is aimed at her neck.
"Whatever it takes…" Are the last words she speaks for the rest of the fight.
After a bloody battle, the girl limps out of the stadium that was used for the battle as the winner. She does not feel triumphant. Although she did not kill her opponent, she knows what his fate will be and the guilt is crushing her. She does not let her feelings show; however, as showing guilt or fear of any kind is strictly prohibited. She has been through many similar battles since she first came to the Shadows, but the guilt is much worse than it normally is. He had told her his former name before he came to the Shadows. It was the last thing he told her before he conceded defeat. "Ethan" She knows she will never forget it.
She heads back to her masters quarters, it is the same woman who killed her mother years prior.
"I have won my battle. I am no longer your apprentice once the superiors give me my first mission."
"Good job. You know, I never thought you'd make it this far." The woman smirks at the girl as she turns and leaves.
The archer returns to her own room and collapses on her bed. A soft sigh comes from her lips. She realizes she is doomed to become like her mother's killer if she doesn't find a way to escape.
"Mama…" She continues to whisper the word over and over like a chant, wishing time would reverse and she would be back at home listening to a sweet lullaby sang by her mother as she slowly drifts away into a blissful slumber.
"Mama…"
-The Green Arrows home-
"Mama…" Artemis slowly opens her eyes. She sluggishly gets up from her comfortable bed to open her curtains. It is the middle of the night.
"That dream, again." A soft sigh escapes her mouth as she makes her way to the kitchen to find something to eat, and possibly get her mind off her dreams of the past.
Fairly loudly, she gets a glass from the cupboard and retrieves the milk from the fridge and fills the glass as full as she dares. She didn't have to worry about waking her "Uncle Oliver" because he is on patrol, but before she is able to take her first sip, she is grabbed from behind and slammed against the counter in front of her.
"What the hell?" Artemis fights against her attacker by smashing the back of her head into their nose. Startled, the attackers grip loosens and Artemis slips free from the tight grasp, instinctively reaching for her bow and arrows, only to realize she does not have them. Artemis ducks as a sharp projectile comes whizzing towards her face and she tries to kick her attacker in the knees, but gasps as a short knife is plunged into her thigh.
The attacker laughs as Artemis tries to regain her footing, having lost it when she was struck.
"It is pointless to fight it; I am taking you with me. The poison that coats the knife in your leg is fast acting. You will soon be rendered paralyzed." Artemis scowls as she feels the poison working on her senses. The area where she was hit was already beginning to go numb.
"Who are you?" She shouted at her attacker.
"The Shadows want revenge on you. It was not wise for you to run away like that. At least you joined something like the Justice Leagues little sidekick group. We could use a little info. on some of their identities. I do believe you can help us with that, can't you?" A sick laughter resounds through the room as the Shadow operative removes her mask. It is her former "mentor".
"You! Why do you haunt me?"
"You know, I never thought I'd find you after you bolted. But then I found you when I was ordered to kill Dr. Roquette…haha. Now I can get my revenge for your betrayal. Do you know how embarrassing it was when my peers found out that my only protégé got away from me? You knew too much about the Shadows when you left, and the punishment fell to me! You will suffer for your disobedience before you die, but until then I'll just have to take you back to base. Looks like the poison is taking full affect."
Artemis tries to open her mouth to retaliate with a smart remark, but nothing comes out as she is fully paralyzed. She slips into darkness as she is hoisted over her captors back.
-the next day-
All of the Young Justice team has been called to Mount Justice. Batman and the Green Arrow have a mission for them. But the two mentors have a grim presence as the teams shuffles in one by one.
Kid Flash a.k.a Wally West is the first to arrive. He zooms up to the front.
"Hey, Bats! What's our mission? Come on you can tell me!" The energetic speedster zooms around Batman, happy to have a new mission.
Kaldur and Superboy are next, and they make their way in quietly, trying to ignore the pesky speedster.
"You can wait until the others arrive Wally…" Green Arrow tells the young boy.
"Awwwwww. Fine! I can wait…." The young man walks over to stand next to Robin as the Boy Wonder appears in the room.
Last to arrive is Miss Martian. She floats over next to Superboy as Wally tries to give her a flirtatious grin that she doesn't notice.
Batman begins to speak. "Now that everyone is present—"
"But we are missing Artemis Batman." Kaldur interrupts the imposing bat.
There is a slight moment of silence before Green Arrow explains.
"That is the reason for your gathering. She…has been kidnapped." The Green Arrow has a sad look on his face, "And not just by anybody. She has been kidnapped by the Shadows."
The youths standing in front of the established hero share a collective gasp.
Kid Flash is the first to speak, "But why would the Shadows want her?"
The Green Arrow hesitates for a moment before speaking again, "I know she will be mad at me for telling you this, but I think you all need to know. Artemis is not my niece."