(Gotham City September 7 8:30)
(Artemis's POV)
Gotham. Hell on earth. The only city even Batman couldn't tame. The crime rates were through the roof. Pollution and gas- laughing gas, fear gas, etc. - stained its air and dirt was forever ingrained into every building and soul. It really was a disgusting place.
But its home Artemis thought despairingly as she jumped from rooftop to rooftop. She was returning from an afternoon at the cave. M'gann and Superboy had been ecstatic about the day Megan Morse and Conner Kent had at school. Megan had gotten into cheerleading- which was perfect for her- and even Conner had made some friends…kind of. It was a good start for him anyway.
Suddenly a flash of broke Artemis's train of thought. She skidded to a stop, hands twitching to her bow instinctively, as she balanced carefully on the balls of her feet. "Hello?" she called out, feeling very silly. I swear if that's Robin, I'm going to kick his little-
"You must come with us," a voice answered back. Out of the shadows a boy appeared. He was very thin and wiry, and moved seemingly with the wind as he easily balanced on the rooftop. His white hair stuck out of his hair like grass, and his bright blue eyes were latched onto the blonde girl like a tiger eyeing its prey. That's not Robin!
"Us?" Artemis asked, fighting to keep her cool. She hated herself for feeling even a little afraid of the younger boy, but there was something about his face that made her doubtless that this was new to him. He was a hunter.
As was the second boy who appeared. His expression mirrored the others; brown eyes vacant but determined, face blank but dark. His build was muscular but still thin, and his hair was cropped short. His gaze sent shivers down Artemis's spine.
"Us." The second boy wasn't the only one to speak. Artemis whirled around to find that the two boys were not alone. To her left was a thin girl; her small body like a willow. On her head was a crown of dark brown hair; braided and left to trail along her back. She seemed to be harmless, except for the deadly looking whip she held loosely in her hands.
Behind Artemis stood two more girls: One was tall and lean, with a bushel of blonde hair tied loosely together with chopsticks. Her eyes were a peculiar color of greenish bluish greyish, as if she hadn't been able to decide on one so she'd chosen all three colors. The colorful orbs were vacant, and stared at Artemis with force. Around her hand was a long vine.
Next to her was a shorter, stronger looking girl, with long dark hair was blue highlights. Sea green orbs held a familiar expression, the same as her companions, and on her hand was a mutated burn, covered with swirls of hissing water.
If these five weren't enough, there was still more. Two boys had appeared to Artemis's right, each with a twisted grin and a vacant expression. Both were very peculiar looking. The oldest of them all had dark skin, and honey brown eyes. He would've been completely normal except for his outfit; stark white with a long sword strapped to the belt. His posture, too, was one of importance and of a higher class. The second was of a lighter skin tone and considerably shorter. But his face held a multitude of scars across it in swirling patterns that couldn't have been there accidently.
By this time Artemis was freaking out. This is bad. Very, very bad! She couldn't fight them all of, especially since it seemed most had powers. What do I do? Ugh, if only the team was here- Of course! The team! The team would help her. All she had to do was distract them long enough to send the S.O.S signal.
"What do you want?" the blonde archer asked, her voice wavering ever so slightly as her hand subtly began to work itself towards her quiver, where she kept a transmitter. "Who are you?"
"Psimon says he wants you," the dark haired girl- the one who was controlling water- said to her. "So he will have you."
"Simon…Simon…Wait, you mean Psimon, the mind controlling jerk who took all our memories?" Done it! Artemis thought triumphantly through her panic as her finger found the button to the transmitter. But her face quickly fell as a loud beep echoes through the night, alerting the other children to her plan.
"Psimon says he wants you," the whip girl repeated in an eerie tone.
"So he will have you," the one with the scarred face finished.
"What the he- Oof!" There was a sudden weight on top of the archer, sending her spiraling downward, losing her footing to fall down the rooftop. Artemis let out a gasping scream as the ground was suddenly gone from under her. Thinking quickly, she twisted herself around to grab onto the gutter of the house. She was saved: for now.
Masked eyes rose to meet her attacker, eyes narrowing at the sight of yet another child. She had very shiny red hair, streaked with blackened locks, and swept carelessly to the side. Producing from her back were two very large reptilian wings. Strong hands were latched onto Artemis's wrists and were covered with light scaring. Not that the archer noticed. She was still absorbed in the wings.
"Oh yeah, completely normal; there is a girl with wings!" she muttered as she felt herself behind pulled up. And she guessed they weren't saving her from the kindness of their hearts.
"Psimon says he wants you, so-"
"So he will have me, yeah yeah, I've heard," Artemis muttered. Suddenly she was twisting in the winged girl's grasp to lash out with. With a swiftly aimed kick she sent the girl reeling backwards, saved at the last second from falling by her wings.
Artemis had little time to savor her triumph. The boy with the sword was running forward, the metallic lust of the blade glinting in the moonlight. But the archer was ready. She kicked out at the hilt, sending the blade rushing past her. Twisted gracefully, she reached for her quiver and sent two arrows out, one after the other. They both landed before the first boys, sending an explosion knocking them backwards.
But she'd forgotten about the girls. Artemis felt something touch her and she looked down to hind a vine around one ankle, and a whip around the other. With a jolt she was flying forwards and being dragged across the rooftop. Her bow went flying out of her hand and she watched desperately as it fell out of sight to the ground three levels below her. This is it! I'm screwed. The archer closed her eyes and waited. But the moment of pain and death didn't come.
Her grey orbs opened again, and there was Robin. He was flipping across the rooftop like it was his second home, easily balancing across the tiles. Batarangs- or did he call them birdarangs?- were flying everywhere, exploding in the air just enough to keep the group of kids away from him. Artemis felt two hands enclose around her again, and she yelped, sending her fist flying towards her attacker.
"Ugh, Artemis!" came a familiar voice, "I think you broke your nose. What kind of thank you is that? Here's your stupid bow!"
"Baywatch!"
"Yeah?"
"What're you doing here?"
"I got your signal."
"What about M'gann and Superboy and Aqualad?"
"What? Am I not enough?" Artemis said nothing as Kid Flash finished whipping the blood from his nose. Once he was done his eyes rose up away to meet her patient face. He sighed. "Fine. I think Aqualad's still on that secret mission. And M'gann and Superboy have finally discovered the joys of homework."
"…Seriously? Homework?"
"Yep."
"Damn it! So I only get you guys?"
What are we not enough? We've been doing this way longer then both Superboy and M'gann and you combined, so don't star-"
"Hey, love birds," Robin's voice called to them as the acrobat did a backflip over the buzz cut boy. "Little help?"
"Sorry," Artemis called over to him. Kid Flash just grinned and shot forward, swerving clumsily over the tiles. The blonde rolled her eyes and began to take aim. Carefully align target with arrow, bring back arm, and fire. The bright green arrow flew through the air and landed directly in the buzz cut boy's chest. Sparks flew as it electrocuted him, sending the large boy to his knees.
"Shark Bait!" The call halted everything. Artemis's dark grey orbs went straight to the source; it was the spikey haired boy who'd called out. And even more important: his eyes were more focused, and he wasn't attacking anymore. "What the…What happened? Where am I? What the hell's going on?"
"Psimon says he wants you, so he shall have you," the buzz cut boy- Shark Bait- answered back, rising and lumbering towards Artemis.
"Yeah, what the hell is going on?" Artemis agreed as she readied another arrow. "You all just came and attacked me, and now you act like you have no idea what's going on! Who are you anyway?"
"Because I don't! I don't even remember leaving Bialya! And my name's Sin."
"Bialya?" Kid Flash repeated with a dumbstruck voice as he knocked down the whip girl and the boy with the sword.
"Yeah, my team wanted to save this Jr. Justice League team…"
"Wait a second I think I know what's going on," Robin announced as he let three of his disks fly. "You said Psimon! Isn't he the telepath? I think your friends are being mind controlled."
"Well that would explain why I can't get through to them telepathically."
"You're a telepath? Why can't you just restore their minds then?"
"I'm not nearly that strong. I'd only have a chance of doing that if they were all asleep or something…"
"I think I can arrange that," Robin replied. "Hold your breath." Before anyone had a chance of questioning him, the air was thick with grey smoke. Loud coughing sounds could be heard, and then with seven loud thuds they all fell. As the smoke cleared up, only Robin, Artemis, Kid Flash, and Sin were left standing with blue lips and red faces. "Alright you can breathe now," Robin gasped. It took a few moments before they could all breath normally.
"What was that?"
"Knock out gas. You think you can get into their minds now?"
"I'll try, but I'm not promising anything." Although Sin was clearly trying to hide it, it was obvious how worried he was.
The boy closed his eyes and took a deep breath. A minute passed. Then one. Then ten. And then suddenly Shark Bait jolted upwards, eyes wide.
The three sidekicks readied themselves for an attack, but there was no need. The boy only rose from his position in a dazed and confused manor. "What the?" he questioned, but Robin, Artemis, and Kid Flash only shook their heads, gazes moving to the others patiently.
Soon enough everyone was awake with their memories restored. Sin was leaning against Shark Bait, breathing harshly but playing with a tired smile. He was very proud of himself.
"Where are we?" Oceana- they had all identified themselves upon awakening- asked, her eyes blinking furiously at what was half of her sworn enemies: the 'Jr. Justice League' as Sin has put it.
"Better question; what were you doing in Bialya?" Kid Flash replied.
"Better question: what the heck is going on?"
"Better question:-"
"Enough!" Robin interrupted, "I think we all have some explaining to do."
…..
At first I was going to make Ghost get hurt and then Ellie would break free of the mind control, but then I realized that it'd have to be a telepathic because I'd need them all to be free. But I'm going to have a lot of nice couple moments soon!
Question: If you weren't allowed to choose your own character whose your favorite and least favorite character?
Alright I want to apologize on not working on any of my stories. To tell you all the truth I completely lost interest, had writers block, and had no time.
I'm in High School, and it sucks, as I'm sure many of you know. But my grades were slipping and I'm not very good at homework and all that. So that was one of my reasons for taking a break from writing on FF.
Also I don't want to write a chapter which I made while half paying attention, and not caring. That's just not a good author is it? I hate when people do that, because they're just never good chapters.
But not one to leave things half done, so I'm going to continue writing and finishing the stories I started. I'll try to update as much as possible, but I'll only have time to write on the weekends so I'm telling everyone who's actually still bothered with my writing now that the updates will be few and far between.
That being said, is there anyone who actually cares? Anyone who'll actually read my updates and review. Because if so, please tell me now. I won't update if not that many people are bothered.
Ok, thank you all, and sorry for the absence
