Together We Stand, United We Fall
Chapter Eleven: Terrors
Author's note: Again, here we have Ashley Lance snooping to investigate the note! Another thank you to those who even take the time to read my story! Thank you!
Enjoy.
IceAurora: Hunter is supposed to be annoying because he's hiding a lot of secrets. I'm actually paring Artemis with Kaldur because (this is so Mary and Gary Sue of me) Hunter is supposed to take an "interest" in Phe. As for the cell eating weakness, if you've noticed, Phe doesn't automatically go for the telepathy/telekinetic usage immediately during a battle. Her first option is always hand to hand combat. And there's not much Phe can do except watch her body's vitals. It wouldn't be a weakness if it was curable.
ShadowXMoonlight: Wow, thanks so much babe. This means the world to me!
PrettyKitty Luvs U: You never cease to put a smile on my face!
Star City
September 14
23: 48 PDT
Artemis fiddled with her bow beside me, silently watching the busy street below us become abandoned. Canary stood behind us, talking into her comm. link with Green Arrow, I presume.
"League needs me." Canary explained. "Go," I ushered her, "we'll be fine." I promised.
My mentor showed her obvious concern of leaving us alone- not because it was my first time (I had fought my own battles let alone patrolled the city alone), but because it would be Artemis' first night alone with me.
"Just call GA or I if anything goes wrong, okay?" Canary raised an eyebrow. "Of course." I answered. Artemis remained silent, watching my mentor jump down the fire escape and into the zeta-beam hidden as a out-of-order pay phone booth.
"Finally," I exhaled, "I thought she'd never leave."
Artemis places her hands on her hips, watching me as I cross the building's roof. "And where are you going?" Artemis asks. "To take care of some business," I answer. "And you are more than welcome to tag along." I add.
"Why are we in Star Academy's camera room?" Artemis questioned, glancing around the large room. Three of the four walls were covered in camera screens; the fourth wall had the computer than saved all the footage.
"Because," I drawled out the word, "my business starts here."
I scroll through the endless footage for about thirty minutes before I find what I'm looking for: Courtyard Sept. 7.
I click on the video, zooming in on the corner of the courtyard where I, Ellie, and the note-giver was. I paused the video, inserting the USB drive into the USB port. "What are you doing?" Artemis asked, standing behind me, staring at the screen.
QUEEN INDUSTRIES SOFTWARE STATUS: Starting.
"I can't exactly tell you," I answer. Artemis and I are silent, watching the status change from 'Starting' to increasing percentages. I glare at the screen, trying to determine if the boy attends any of the same classes as me.
"What was that?" Artemis whispered. I turned around in the computer chair, raising an eyebrow. "No one. The janitor leaves at ten. It's probably just the pipes. We are in a basement, after all." I reply.
"No, it wasn't a pipe. It was heavy footsteps." Artemis retorted. "Go check it out. What ever it is, I'm sure it's not expecting Green Arrow's protegé," I turn around, typing in the needed codes for the software to work correctly. Artemis slowly exits the room.
Queen Industries have been working on a face recognition software for security cameras. Ollie already has dozens of clients lined up, ranging from small businesses to the government. This software could help find dozens of loose criminals just by recording.
The version I'm using is a prototype which will only show me the person within a database. The software pops up; I grin, watching the software play the video, recognizing all the faces, and printing them out.
Artemis yelped as she skidded into the room. I stood from my chair, helping her up.
"What happened?" I asked. "You were wrong, that's what." Artemis quipped back. I glanced out the door and into the poorly lit corridor. "There's someone out there and they really want to be in here." Artemis says.
I ran out, flickering on one of my orbs. Artemis aimed her arrow at the direction of the only entrance. We jumped as the remaining lights were blown; my orbs lit the hallways. I glanced around, looking up. I generate a force field to allow no entry into the surveillance room.
I concentrated on the force field and slowly try to sense the intruder.
"Someone's definitely here," I outstretched both hands, another orb flickering on.
"Well, can't you just, I don't know, put them to sleep or something?" Artemis retorts.
"Okay, first of all," I begin, "that's very degrading as a telepathic. At my prime, I'm able to control minds, read thoughts, erase years of memories with a blink of an eye," I rant.
"Are you at your prime? I don't think so! Do something!" Artemis snaps back.
"How about you shot an arrow or something!" I retort. I moved my left hand, illuminating more the ceiling. "There!" Artemis shouted, shooting an arrow. A low grunt was emitted; I shot two orbs. It connected with one of the vertical lights that hung down from the high ceiling.
I ignited another set of orbs but the intruder threw smoke pelts down. Artemis and I coughed madly as the intruder exited.
"We've been made." I murmured, walking through the force field. Artemis placed her hand on the force field, gasping as it materialized through. "Come on," I ushered her in. I began to erase any evidence of our entry.
I grabbed the printed papers from the Queen Software face identification. I snatched the USB drive, placing it in one of the empty containers of my golden utility belt. I roll up the papers, sliding it into my sleeve.
I grab her arm, pulling her out of the room. I use my orb to shed some light, noticing the piece of cloth on the floor. I snatch it, shoving it into my boot.
I jump down from the fire escape, landing in a crouch. The mugger (and possible rapist) jumps back, aiming a gun at me. Artemis lands behind him, aiming a arrow at his hand.
"I don't want no trouble," he admits, the gun shaking in his hand. The woman ducks under his arm, running towards Artemis.
"Then drop the gun." I instruct. "Nah, you see, I paid that bitch. She best give me what I paid for." The man cocks the gun at me. "'Sides, y'all ain't the real thing."
I stand, tilting my head to the right. I take a step forward, watching as the bullet stop mid-air. The gun began dissembling in his hand, the parts floating in the air. I stand in front of him, lifting my hands to block his sloppy punches. In one swift movement, I punch his nose.
The dark red blood flows fast down his nose, immediately dropping down to his black shirt. He yelps as his feet are lifted off the ground. To him, an unknown force. To me, my telekinesis.
"Not the real thing, huh?" Artemis chuckles. "What do you mean, not the real thing?" I ask.
Artemis stood beside me, now, hand on hip raising an eyebrow.
"Some kids probably, they been dressing up like a few Leaguers and their sidekicks," the man explains. "We're not sidekicks," I hiss.
"Yeah, whatever," the man retorts.
Artemis aims her arrow at his groin. He panics, "Okay, so you're not sidekicks."
I release my telekinetic grasp on him, watching him drop to the ground.
I crouch down, briefly reading his mind while he attempts to stop the blood flow with his shirt.
"Ryan Adams. Apartment 2D. 86 Smith Street, the Everglades." I whisper. He stops moving, merely looking into my mask. "I wouldn't mind paying you a visit and teaching you a lesson on how to respect women. And my friend here," I gesture towards Artemis, who continues to aim at his groin, "knows about one hundred different ways to torture you."
I stand up, levitating Artemis, "I assure you, we are very much the real thing," Artemis says, grinning.
We land on the rooftop, watching as he scurry out of the alley way, running down the street. The gun parts float beside me, still.
"That was incredible," Artemis says, still pumped on adrenaline . "What will Canary say?" She asks. I scoff, "Are you kidding? If Canary was here, she'd blow his ear drums out. We went so easy on him." I assure her.
I sit on the ledge, glancing down that the "bad" part of Star City: the Everglades.
"What was that tonight, Phe?" Artemis' tone was grave. I glanced at her, shrugging.
"There was a lot of stuff tonight, Arty," I brush her off. "Tonight. Star Academy. You had an agenda." Artemis continued.
"Exactly. Had. Past tense. Just drop it, okay." I snapped.
Artemis is silent before she spoke, "You're really the only one on the Team that accepted me with open arms. You knew nothing about me and yet you lied to your teammates who trust you more than they could ever trust me. I just wanted to return the favor I guess." Artemis shrugged.
"Artemis, I did that out of the kindness of my heart," I explained, "I don't expect you to do me a solid in return."
Artemis toys with the tip of an arrow, "You're lucky, you know."
I remain silent, merely raising an eyebrow. "I mean, look at your family. I mean, I know you're adopted but, you know what I mean. And your friends? Whatever kind of trouble you're in, I'm sure they'll be more than willing to help." Artemis concludes.
"I'm not in trouble." I murmur, bringing my knees to my chin. "A friend of mine is. I think someone's trying to warn her about someone new in her life." I explained. Well, it's not a complete lie- some details were just off.
"Is she in any danger?"
"I don't think so, not yet at least," I murmur. "And for the record, having a family of supers is not all it's cracked out to be." I add.
"Are you kidding me?" Artemis scoffed. "It must be the dream!"
"Well, it's not. Everyone always assumes things are just wonderful and they're not. I have this certain pressure to uphold as Canary's protegé. Both Canary's are legends, you know? I'm the first protegé for the mantel so I don't really have a guideline to follow. And there's a certain pressure in a family of heroes to be a hero, too. Being," I paused, searching for the right words, "normal was never an option. I trained with Wildcat who's trained people like Batman. I knew how to spar with a person twice my age better than I knew how to color inside the lines. My childhood was stolen, not on purpose. But my accident, and I think it just makes the reality even more painful..." I trail off, clenching my eyes shut behind my mask.
"Phe, what reality?" Artemis placed a hand on my back.
"I could've saved her," I whispered, holding in a cry. My chest vibrated as I released a rigid sigh. "Sorry, I just- sorry." I whisper, apologize.
"Don't." Artemis smiles. "That's what family is for."
The sun's early morning rays peaked through my poorly closed curtains. I removed the pile of rolled up paper from my sleeve, settling them on my bed. I removed my uniform, tossing it into my walk-in closet. I hold the piece of cloth, the only thing the intruder left.
I opted for a loose shirt and shorts, sliding into my queen sized bed reading over the paper.
The first few were a few faces still caught in the frame.
Eleanor Wilson. Next.
Ashley Azria Lance. To this day, I have yet to figure out the origins of my middle name or what my mother was thinking when she named me. Next.
I froze, recognizing the shaggy hair, the smirk, and tanned skin in the school picture in the top left corner.
Ian Moone.
Grade: 12.
Age: 17.
Father: Ian Moone, Sr.
Mother: Unlisted/Deceased.
I scoffed; seriously, Ian Moone, Sr.? I glanced at his classes, noticing that he, indeed, did not have lunch during my period. I shuffled the paper, moving on to the next person detected.
Hunter Casablanca.
Grade: 10.
Age: 15.
Father: Unlisted/Deceased.
Mother: Helena Waynes.
I stared at the picture in utter shock. The notorious smirk burned into my brain- I could not forget that bloody smirk even if I tried. I think I would've noticed Hunter attended the Academy unless he was keeping a low profile, purposely keeping away from me.
Well, the only question now was why would he keep a low profile? He loves to irritate me in the Cave, why not do it during civilian time as well? Another question, actually, why the hell is Hunter attending Star Academy if his city is Chicago.
Maybe the love act is just that: an act, my conscience says. I hold the piece of cloth up, placing it next to Hunter's picture. It was black, to general to determine if it came from one of Hunter's suits.
I don't think he know's I'm on to hip. I better keep him on his toes.
I shoved the papers and cloth under my mattress, laying back down my bed.
I stared at my ceiling as my plan unfolded.
Author's note: So we have Artemis and Phoenix breaking into Ashley Lance (AKA Phe's) school for footage using stolen tech from Queen Industries.
And I know Helena's last name is Wayne not Waynes, but it's there for a reason, trust me.
You got a sneak peak into Ashley's origin story. When you hear it, you're gonna be like, wow, what a Mary Sue but trust me, a lot of things will be explained during the story I write during the gap, season two, and the trilogy I'm outlining.
What do you think Phe's plan is going to be? And do you think Hunter is rouge?
