Tsaheylu Kawkrr Terkup - The Bond Never Dies
Chapter One: The Fault in My Insecurity
"Let me be clear", Aqualad began. "We failed." His eyes narrowed at his fellow teammates. "Though the Injustice League is in custody, their allies still scheme. And we have learned nothing of their plans."
"Gee, I wonder why", Red Arrow spat.
"Hey! Who found out Sportsmaster was working for Brain, Klarion, and Ivo?"
"Yeah, great intel. Except Ivo's been in Belle Reve the whole time. And the guards just checked. It's the real Ivo, not a robot!"
"Y'know I'm getting pretty tired of you dumping on her", Wally protested. Red then help up a tracer. "Her tracer, so? Cheshire ditched it."
"No", he corrected, his eyes stern in Artemis's direction. "Artemis ditched that..." He pointed to a tracer Aqualad held in his hands. "…to send us on a wild goose chase. She put this one", he held up another tracer to show the pair, "on Cheshire."
Wally's eyes widened and he turned to her. "Artemis?"
The blonde archer took in a breath, ready to defend herself.
"Are you that freaked out about Arrow joining the Team you had to prove yourself by bringing down the bad guys solo? Please tell me I'm wrong."
Artemis braced herself, to put up an argument against that of the other archer. But when she opened her lips to speak, nothing came out. It was the truth and there was no denying it.
Wally narrowed his eyes, the trust he had for her automatically severed in his gaze. "Well, nice going. What you proved is that you're insecure and selfish." He threw the sai at Artemis's feet. "Keep the sai." He walked to Red Arrow and took the real tracer. "This is the right souvenir for the mission." The speedster walked away towards the guest rooms, leaving Artemis and the others.
"Shh. We wouldn't want to upset your mother", a dark voice said. Artemis looked up at the darkened figure, immediately recognizing the voice. Sportsmaster.
"What are you doing here?" she asked venomously.
"Just curious to hear how your little team took their defeat. Blamed you, didn't they?" Artemis looked away. "Will they keep you around now that Red Arrow's joined up? And what if they learn the truth about the family ties you've worked so hard to hide? Would they ever trust you again?"
The blonde archer gave the villain a hardened look. "Thanks for the pep-talk, dad. We should have these family reunions more often."
"You tried, baby girl. You can fight Jade, you can fight me, but you can't fight who you are. Time to switch sides, Artemis. You'll never be one of them. You belong with us." With that, Sportsmaster exited the apartment through the open window, gone and out of the archer's life once again.
Artemis stepped backwards until her back hit the wall and slid down onto the floor and curled into a ball. Hot tears ran down her face as she tried to muffle her sobs by burying her face in her knees. Nothing had ever gone right in her life and it seems that nothing ever will. She had tried to become a part of a team, a new family that would accept her regardless of her past. But that had obviously gone down the drain. Now they didn't trust her. They saw her as the enemy, their scapegoat for failure. Artemis wasn't sure if she should continue being with them, or go back to being solo. Right now, going solo seemed the best option. Going solo meant not having to deal with other people's opinions. Going solo meant having no family.
After a good fifteen minutes of quiet release, Artemis picked herself up from the ground and stripped off the green costume. Changing into a loose white shirt and boy shorts, she sat at her computer and began recording.
"This is Artemis Crock in Gotham City. Today is December 6th 2010, 4 AM in the morning. And I am so not feeling the aster…"
One Week Later…
December 13th, 2010, 11:25 AM
The Team had been called in by Batman. For what reason, they didn't know. When the young heroes arrived at Mount Justice, they were greeted by Batman, Green Arrow, and Black Canary.
"Are we having another training session?" Wally piped at Canary.
"No, that is not why we have called you in", Batman interjected.
"So why were we called in?" Roy asked, adjusting his shades.
"Have any of you been in contact with Artemis lately?" Green Arrow spoke this time. The heroes looked at each other before Robin answered first.
"Nope, I haven't spoken to her the entire week." Nor have I seen her at school the entire week either, he thought to himself.
The others shook their heads.
The three Leaguers looked at each other before turning to the youngsters. "That'll be it. Canary, they're yours."
"Very good. Consider this a pop quiz on hand-to-hand combat", she said cracking her knuckles. Connor and Wally piped up at Canary's offer. "So show me what'cha got."
"Damn it Bruce! This isn't good enough!" Green Arrow hissed as he looked over the pictures. Shattered glass, broken furniture, various bloodstains—the entire apartment had looked like a battlefield. And it was Artemis's apartment.
Bruce Wayne, who went by the moniker Batman, placed a hand on Arrow's shoulder. "We'll find her Oliver. We have to."
The Star City billionaire buried his head in his hands and let out a shaky breath. Artemis and her mother were missing and all that was left was their mangled apartment building and so many bloodstains…Oliver wanted to puke remembering the stench of the metallic crimson. There had been so much blood…And Artemis…
"Oh god", he choked. If anything were to happen to that poor girl, the archer didn't know if he could ever forgive himself. He let her become his protégé and therefore expose her to the underworld of crime and its unyielding madmen and villains. There was no telling who could've abducted her or her mother. And with all that mess they left behind, he knew their time was running short. With all that blood, he didn't even know if Artemis was still breathing. He could only hope they found the two women in time. And alive.
Mount Justice
December 13th, 2010, 12:45 PM
"Don't you guys find it odd what GA asked us earlier?" Robin inquired. They had just finished their surprise training session with Canary and were now resting in the kitchen, overtaking the kitchen's island.
"I kind of did", M'gann started. "I felt concern and fear coming from Green Arrow, especially when we said we haven't seen or contacted Artemis lately. I also felt some from Batman and Canary too."
"Maybe she went on vacation and didn't tell anyone", Connor inquired.
"That could be it. I mean, every hero needs a break once in a while", said Zatanna.
"Well whatever it is, I don't think we should get involved. I mean, we don't need to be 'invading' Artemis in her private life", Wally suggested with a bit of venom in his voice.
Zatanna narrowed her eyes at Wally. "Look, I don't know what happened on your last mission, but you could speak about our teammate a little bit more nicely."
"Umm…guys…"
"Then I suggest you not to stick your nose into our problems", he spat at Zatanna.
"Hey! You didn't need to talk to Zee like that!" Robin placed his hand on Zatanna's as he argued her behalf.
"I'm just looking out for my friend, Arrow. Maybe it's because Artemis is a female and an archer and GA's protégé which is why you're blaming everything on her."
"What the—why the hell would I care if she's a female?"
"Maybe because the only friends you have are predominately male!"
"Hey!" Connor yelled.
"Stay out of this!" Arrow and Zatanna yelled back.
"EVERYONE! This bickering is unnecessary", Kaldur stated sternly. "Please, calm yourselves. M'gann, you were saying?"
The Martian swallowed before continuing. "Umm…I kind of snuck into Green Arrow's mind during the conversation. And when we mentioned we didn't see or hear from Artemis, one particular image popped into mind. It looked like an apartment building and there was broken glass and some damaged furniture. There was also a lot of blood. I tried to see more, but I pulled myself out when Black Canary announced the training exercise. I know it may be invading Artemis's privacy, like Wally said, but I have a feeling Artemis's 'disappearance' is more than just a getaway vacation. I think there's something darker involved." By now she was fidgeting, worry wracking her every nerve. She knew something had gone wrong on the mission and that in some way trust was somehow broken, but Artemis was still their teammate and her Earth sister. If anything were to happen to her…
"Look", Kaldur exhaled. "The last mission was a failure and it had been Artemis's fault, but she is still our teammate and our friend. So what I suggest is Robin pull up her address. We'll take the bioship and give her a visit."
"Yes! Hacking time!" Robin exclaimed.
"Oh c'mon! It's the last day of Fall break!" Wally whined, earning a smack from Zatanna. Roy simply huffed, clearly not liking the situation. A trip to the breaker of trust was all they needed. The day was starting off just grand.
Unknown Location
December 13th, 2010, 1:10 PM
Artemis cracked her eyes open, immediately shutting them closed her eyes adjusted to the pitch black. Suddenly something made contact with her face and a smacking sound echoed throughout the dark room. She could feel a stinging burn on her right cheek, but didn't make a sound. She had experienced harsher from her father.
"Wakey, wakey arrow princess. We can't have you sleeping for too long, or else we won't be able to hear you scream", the voice said, followed by a twisted laugh. Then she felt a hand harshly grab her chin and suddenly hot air filled her ears. "Your voice sounds so sweet when you scream in agony. It's music to my ears." She felt a tongue lick her ear and tried desperately to move away from her captor. But he held her down hard. Then several punches were laid to her solar plexus, knocking the air out of her. Her eyes saw white, but her captor made sure she stayed conscious for the torture. It's been the same routine for the past several days.
Artemis had no idea what day it was. The room was always dark. The only time she saw a spit of light was when he dragged in her mother's body. She was still conscious, but very weak.
"A…Artemis…" she remembered her mother calling for her before their captor began kicking and beating the ex-con into unconsciousness. There was blood spilt; the archer smelled the blood. Afterward, as he claimed, it was her turn to feel pain.
Another blow was delivered to her jaw and Artemis could feel something metallic fill her mouth. The faint sound of something dropping echoed throughout the room. Her tongue felt the rows of teeth and found a hole.
"Oops, I guess you're going to have to take a trip to the dentist, don't you agree honey buns?" From an unknown corner, the archer heard the sound of skipping footsteps. A giggle followed afterwards and suddenly hands enclosed her neck. The hand pulled hard, nearly choking the blonde.
"Oh definitely Mr. J. Can't have ya ruin that smile o' yer's now sweetie pie. We need ya ta smile nice 'n' wide."
Something clamped onto her front teeth and pulled hard. Artemis screamed.
A/N: This is my first Young Justice fanfiction, so I shall accept all constructive criticisms. But please don't be too harsh. I've had this idea on my mind for weeks now and just had to get it out. Will contain heavy themes of James Cameron's Avatar and Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Black Flag (you'll see the integration in later chapters). Rated M for torture, rape, dark themes and imagery, language, and explicit imagery.
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN Young Justice, James Cameron's Avatar, or Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed in any way, shape, or form (though I wish I did T.T...don't we all do?)
Enjoy! First five reviewers get to see my cover for the story! :) +cookies :P