"I'm ready to die now."

Savage smiles. "Oh, as much as I would enjoy it, it's not my job to kill you."

The scene suddenly changes, and I'm in a dungeon.

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire..." I mutter to myself. It's good to know that every horrible thing that I've just been forced to witness didn't actually happen, but my current situation hasn't improved by much. I hope that at least Artemis is alive now.

I hear the door to my cell open, and in walks Sportsmaster.

"Shit," I mutter under my breath, and then I put on a fake smile.

"Well if it isn't the Blonde Bastard himself! How's the family!"

He looks deadly serious, and that confuses me. Sportsmaster is usually calm, arrogant, and dismissive of my teammates and me, or he's in the middle of a fit of rage. This fits neither description, and that might be a major problem. I have no idea how to handle a serious Lawrence Crock.

"You know damn well how my family is, Kid Flash. You were the one who tore it apart, and now it's my turn to return the favor. I'm going to tear your precious Team apart by torturing you until you beg me for mercy. I'm going to make them watch as I snap your spine, and then I'll laugh as I cut through you with a knife - giving you a wound almost deep enough to kill you. Doesn't that sound fun?"

I now know how to handle a serious Lawrence Crock. Or, at the very least, I know that a serious Lawrence Crock cannot be handled or even slowed down.

"Woah, Blondie. Calm down. What did I even do?"

He growls, a low, guttural sounds that gives me goosebumps. "You know exactly what you did."

"Actually, I have no clue."

"Try thinking harder."

I pretend to think for a second. "Nope, still nothing."

Cheshire strolls into the room, glaring at me with a hatred I've never seen before from her - or anyone.

"Mind if I help him remember, Father?"

"Down, Jade. I'll handle this."

"You haven't so far. It's my turn now."

She unsheathes her sword and cuts through my side, a deep cut that leaves me gasping for air and trying to hold back tears.

"Call his Team. They should get to see this."

Sportsmaster quickly hacks the Cave's security and starts a video call to the Team. I watch Dick answer and I see his eyes narrow.

"Sportsmaster. What do you and Cheshire want this time?"

"Only to show you an image of your friend." Sportsmaster turns the camera towards me, and I see Dick's eyes widen. The entire Team stands behind him now, and some of them gasp in shock. Others glare, which I don't understand.

Dick seems to finally process what he's seeing in the video camera, and he growls. "You can keep him. We don't want him anymore. Not after what he did." The Team stands behind him, every one of them nodding and scowling at me simultaneously.

I gasp. "Dick, what did I do?"

He glares at me some more, and then addresses Sportsmaster one more time. "Have fun killing him, and take as much time as you like. Nobody will arrive to stop you. I can promise you that."

Lawrence nods and ends the call.

Cheshire quickly stabs me in my other side with her sword, this time cutting even deeper, and I scream. Blood pours onto my now-shredded uniform, and I feel myself losing strength.

"What... did... I... do?" I can barely get the words out by now - the blood loss is beginning to affect my brain.

Sportsmaster growls. "Jade, go get her." She nods and leaves.

My eyes widen in fear. "Who exactly is 'her?'"

And then Jade enters the room again with a body in her arms, and everything clicks into place.

Artemis looks dead. Her Tigress uniform is in shreds, and she has blood all over her. I reach out to her, but Jade hands Artemis to her father and makes a quick cut on my palm, causing me to clench my fist and howl.

I open my hand to look at my new wound, deciding that it isn't any worse than the others I have suffered so far.

"Who... did that... to her?" I ask.

Sportsmaster slowly hands Artemis' broken body back to Jade, and he suddenly howls in anger and rushes at me. He punches me in the face, once... twice... a third time... and then a fourth, causing me to howl in pain for the second time in as many minutes.

He stomps on my newly wounded hand, then kicks me twice on each side of me, deliberately aiming for my sword wounds.

"You did it, you soulless bastard. You turned my daughter into this broken mess! It's all your fault."

I scream. I know that I don't have muchh air left to breathe,but I no longer care. I scream anyway, because if I did this to the love of my life, I deserve death and so much worse. I deserve to rot in hell for the rest of eternity, and it makes me feel a little better to know that I'll get what I deserve.

"Why... why would I do this?"

"Shouldn't you be the one to tell us that?" Jade is the one answering me now, and she looks even angrier than her father.

Sportsmaster suddenly decides to call the Cave again, and I have no idea why.

Dick answers with a growl. "Is it done?"

"Not yet, but I thought that we would give you the choice of how we should finish him."

Dick laughs, a harsh, cruel sound that is far from his usual cackle.

"Isn't it obvious? Finish him the same way he finished Artemis. Stab him in the back."

Cheshire laughs. "With pleasure."

She walks over to my prone body and flips me over onto my back.

I see her raise her scythe far above her head, waiting to end my life with it...

"Jade!" I hear Sportsmaster scream. "As much as I want to be the one to end his life for what he's done, it isn't our job. He will pay, don't worry. He just has more pain to live through first.

Their laughter is the last thing I hear before everything goes black.

My nightmare is far from over.

Well, that was brutal.

Reviews are fun. I hope you guys are fun.

- JT