When Tyah was a baby, she was found by Queen Bee in the deserts of Bialya. She was about to order the child killed when Tyah spontaneously combusted and was completely unharmed when the fire went out.
Queen Bee adopted the girl within minutes.
When The Light discovered the girl, their reactions were…mixed, to say the least.
Lex Luthor's heart melted when he saw her for the first time – he'd always been a softie at heart.
Ra's Al Ghul was utterly unimpressed until she burned his cloak and hair, and he had to put up with the Lex Luthor comparisons for the remainder of the month. He maintains that his hair hasn't been the same since, but it certainly endeared her to the rest of The Light.
The rest of The Light kept their opinions to themselves. Which was perhaps wise, considering that Tyah was a remarkably precocious child who shot fire from her fingertips, and had quite good aim, as Ra's can attest.
When she is three, she makes a friend – Sportsmaster's younger daughter, Artemis. The two become best friends in a way only possible when one is very young.
The next year, both she and Artemis begin training in archery, swordplay, firearms, and hand-to-hand. True to her name, Artemis takes to archery like a fish to water, while Tyah prefers hand-to-hand, though firearms are a close second. Neither feel more natural, however, than simply incinerating her opponents. (Her aim has improved – though it didn't need much help, just a bit of practice.)
Tyah's favorite color is red. Artemis's is green. Tyah is a meta, Artemis isn't. They're very different, but have their similarities. Neither can stand being spoken down to. Or being told they can't because they're girls. Or meaningless statements, compliments, joking flirtations, and Icicle Jr.
For Artemis's birthday one year, Tyah gives her a green compound bow and a quiver of arrows.
When Huntress goes to jail, Artemis has to move in with her father, Sportsmaster. The two girls don't see each other for a few years afterwards and when they do, they barely recognize each other.
When Tyah is fifteen, a number of things happen. Most importantly, the Junior Justice League forms.
But she doesn't meet them until they arrive in Bialya. Psimon had them all memory-wiped and scattered across the desert. She's really only there to ensure that everything goes smoothly. Then, of course, they show up and rescue Superboy. She isn't supposed to engage in combat yet, they aren't supposed to know about her powers. She does a pretty good job of controlling herself until she sees Artemis with the Junior Justice League that…well, her self-control goes out the window.
She trusted Artemis. She liked Artemis. They were friends. They shared everything. And here she is, fighting on the side of the Justice League, the traitor, and using the bow Tyah gave her to do it…
"Traitor," she growls, and leaps into action.
The team is depressingly easy to overpower. (though the Martian or the Atlantean isn't present, how odd) Soon, it's only Robin and Artemis left.
They're a good team, but Artemis is obviously holding back, trying not to hurt Tyah (the traitor doesn't even have the guts to actually hurt her, the weakling). Tyah isn't holding back, obviously.
She really needs to get better at lying to herself.
Then Robin goes down from the smoke inhalation, and it's only the two girls left, circling each other in the dying flames.
"So, Artemis. Long time no see. Is it still Artemis? I know how the heroes love their code names – Archery Girl, perhaps, or Arrowette? It would make more sense than Speedy, at least."
"It's still Artemis. And most names make more sense than Speedy."
"Now, I simply must ask, Arty – was there a reason for the betrayal? Was it simply loyalty to your mother? Or did the League blackmail you into it? Oh, no – I see what it is. Your little thing for Kid Flash clouded your judgement."
"We don't have a thing, Tyah."
"Ah, your denial is refreshing. But you simply must tell me – I'm ever so curious. Was it simply that I wasn't good enough? Wasn't a good enough friend? Did our childhood mean so little to you that you would throw it away like a broken arrow!?"
"I became a hero to help people!"
"Well, you're doing a wonderful job so far!"
"I- I didn't mean to hurt you, Tyah."
"Well, I do," she said, pushing a fistful of flames towards the archer, who flipped back from them. Artemis drew an arrow, but it burned up as soon as it left the quiver.
"I hope you're proud of yourself, traitor."
"I am."
"And they say I'm heartless. Good-bye and good riddance, traitor. Don't come crawling back after they reject you."
"I won't need to."
"Are you so sure of that, Arty?" Tyah said as she vanished into the smoke. The burning in her eyes was just the smoke. Just the smoke. Not tears. Obviously.
…She definitely needs to get better at lying to herself.
The Light's planning to take over the League via mind-control, she knows that. But they're underestimating the kids, which is all kinds of stupid.
So she fixes their plan.
It doesn't take much work to find the easiest-to-manipulate member of their team.
Well, she wouldn't say that Artemis is easy to manipulate, per se, but yeah, Artemis is remarkably easy to manipulate.
Except that she has no leverage. The team knows about her heritage, so she can't offer to hide that. And Tyah has nothing to offer her that Artemis would accept. At least, not anymore.
But Zatanna Zatara's father is currently trapped in the Helmet of Fate; Klarion has ranted about Nabu enough for that little tidbit to be common knowledge.
Freeing the father would be simple enough. Might even make life easier for her.
Finding Zatanna alone, on the other hand – that will be considerably less simple.
She has to time it right, too, so that there's no tip-off that anything's different.
But the day Red Arrow is inducted into the League is perfect. Zatanna leaves the rest of the group for a moment, and Tyah slips in.
"Hello, Zatanna," she says. The other girl whips around in surprise and stops short when she sees Tyah. She knows what the other girl is seeing: reddish-brown hair, deeply tan skin, red eyes, and a red-and-brown uniform: dark brown gloves that go up past her elbows and fasten around her biceps, leather boots that end just below her knees, red-brown leggings and shirt with a red plate on her stomach and chest.
In short, not the most trustworthy-looking person.
"Who are you and how do you know my name?" she demands.
"I'm Tyah, and I have a way to help you get your father back."
"You can! How?"
"A good magician never reveals her secrets."
"Fair enough. What's the catch?"
"What makes you think there's a catch?"
"There's always a catch."
"True. But this catch is a small thing – you'll barely notice it." She reaches around to the back of Zatanna's neck and plants the chip. The girl stiffens and then relaxes.
Perfect. She was worried it might not take. Which was utterly ridiculous, but this was the main weak point. Well, first. The other was making sure nobody realized that The Light was in control. But that – that was not her problem.
It still doesn't work. Well, mostly. The main plan, to use the League to take over the world, falls through. The other one works perfectly – Earth is thrust into the galactic spotlight.
All in all? Not a bad day.
"So, the magnificent Kaldur'ahm. We meet at last."
"You must be Tyah. I have heard much about you."
"I do hope it is complimentary – it would be such a shame if someone was spreading blatant lies and base slander. I might have to…correct them."
"They say you are ruthless, manipulative, and bloodthirsty," Kaldur said carefully. If half the rumors about this girl are true, then he really didn't want to offend her.
"Nothing but the truth, then. Excellent. And I am so glad that you have finally seen the light. You are, after all, such a wonderful asset."
"Thank you, Tyah."
"You're quite welcome. I must go and deal with the Junior Justice League now – would you care to join me?"
"I would be honored, but, unfortunately, I have business of my own to attend to. Perhaps some other time?"
"Some other time, then."
Tigress. Doesn't that just bring back memories. Not to mention the costume. Just like they had planned it, back when they were little. They were going to be the best of the best, an unstoppable team.
The only thing different was the person underneath and that incredibly gaudy necklace. Well, that wasn't suspicious. Not suspicious at all.
And the first time she saw Tigress spar, she knew.
Artemis isn't done betraying people, is she.
She doesn't tell anyone about Artemis. And the more she thinks about, the more she comes to the inevitable conclusion.
Kaldur'ahm is a mole for the League. Artemis is his back-up. Who else was in it, though?
Nightwing, certainly. Probably Kid Flash. Zatanna, obviously. The glamour-necklace was her doing. Cheshire? Probably not, the cat was on her own team, and it didn't seem likely that anyone would contact her.
When Kaldur was brain-blasted by the Martian girl, Tyah could tell how badly planned this had been. It hadn't been faked – the Martian had honestly thought that Kaldur was a traitor and landed him in a coma. Idiots.
And of course they couldn't let Psimion find out that Kaldur was a mole. No surprise there.
It was a surprise when Tigress asked her for help.
She was the most logical choice, but honestly? Tigress knew her. She knew Tigress. But Tigress didn't know that Tyah knew she was Artemis, and that was important.
So she accepted.
It wasn't just the martian at the ambush – it was all of team 'Gan: M'gann and La'gaan.
…Okay, that wasn't funny.
They go down remarkably fast: both Atlanteans and Martians hate fire, something that she has a lot of.
Tigress snatches up the girl, and they return to the sub.
And then Cheshire and Sportsmaster attack. Definitely didn't know, then. Whoever planned this was an idiot.
She tells Ra's about Artemis.
She's revealed to be a traitor, and by default, Kaldur is, too.
They're tortured for information. By tortured, she means that they were tortured just for fun, and then Psimon ripped the information from their minds. Then they were executed by Deathstroke, and she burns their corpses. No faking these deaths.
She writes a note to Nigthwing:
Your moles are dead. Your plan was utterly stupid.
–T.
She doesn't feel any remorse. Or grief. She doesn't feel anything but triumph.
Her lying skills need work.
After the moles are dead, the Summit goes perfectly. The Light betrays the Reach, Tyah and Deathstroke massacre them, leaving nothing but ashes, and then they turn their eyes to the sky.
The League is next.
The Watchtower burns wonderfully. Of course, not even her flames can burn in the vacuum of space, so they repurpose it. It makes a wonderful throne room.
The few remaining heroes are chased down and killed. Mostly by Deathstroke, but she takes her fair share.
The Light takes over the world. It's really quite beautiful. The only sticky spots are the rebels: the remainders of the Justice League. Nightwing, Robin, Impulse, Cheshire, Static, Arsenal, Red Arrow.
When Cheshire is finally caught, she's tied up and dragged in front of their thrones.
"You see, Chesh, there's a phrase for this situation. This is called, I win and you lose," Tyah mocks from her throne. It's red with gold flames and suits her very well.
The woman silently glares, even as Deathstroke cuts off her head.
This time, she feels nothing.
(Deep inside her hardened, blackened heart, a much younger Tyah is crying for her best friend.)
I just can't stop creating OCs, can I?
And yeah, The Light wins. Oops.