Disclaimer: Don't own...if only, if only, the woodpecker sighs...
Author's Note: Soooooo I got a TON of great feedback for the last chapter! Thanks to sunnydayz56 (your questions will be answered here!), LadyMysteri (it's official: I'm in love with your ability to review without fail and make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!), 1103469 (OF COURSE she's up to something! Artemis wouldn't be Artemis without a devilish plan up her sleve! And thank you for the grammatic help...do you beta, by any chance?), Somebody (Psh, I don't know what a Ukrainian prison is like...where would you get that idea *eyes dart nervously * WHO TOLD YOU? And please do not kill, please do not kill, for then you wil never know how the story ends! And yeah, Red was kinda Artemis in this chapter...I just thought that would be fun and ironic =)), Redhawk15 (Haha, yeah, RIP Heath, love him forever. And I love Red. He's my BOOOOOOY!), Keepmoveingforward2 (Haha, I thought it would be a symbol of her newfound personality), J-Bird (Awwwwww! Honey-bunny, you just made my day! Being an aspiring writer meself, knowing that someone would buy a book by me is the best compliment ever! And don't worry, Artemis is just as fallible as any of them...), Wilhelmina Silver (I have to agree with you on the whole Miss M debacle, because she kind-of irritates me...it doesn't show, does it? Haha, yes, I completely agree, but I needed her to stay in character, so I made her next to useless) Lostie4815162342 (don't die! *CPR* HERE IS THE CHAPTER! TAKE IT AND LIIIIIVE!), Allie (Why didn't you have power? And yayayayay! I'm glad by story could brighten your day!), GrayAreas (OMG, now whenever I write Artemis being sneaky AKA always, I will hum the James Bond theme!), .already (welcome! I am glad you made time in your life to read me! And yes, very mysterious...for mystery is FUN! And infuriating...infuriatingly fun!), and TheSupremeRulerofAwesomeness (WHAT IS UP WITH MY READERS DYING ON ME! *CPR* GOSH! No more excitement for you! Haha, not really, but if it truly is a medical condition...I'd skip this chapter...)
Artemis felt sick to her stomach, but even so, she oozed confidence as she watched the Injustice League members – her new teammates – address the nation from above on a ceiling beam. She would never feel quite comfortable here, in the lion's den, but being up high helped. Marginally.
"But let's not forget the little lady who made this all possible. She's a little camera shy." Artemis's heart leapt into her throat as the Joker turned the camera up towards her, but she smirked down at him and took a small step off of the beam, plummeting to the ground. For a moment it seemed that she would splat on the concrete floor, but at the last second Artemis contorted, landing catlike on the ground "Now, for your viewing pleasure, we present: our new girl, the whiz who made your terror a possibility. Now, this is for all the folks back home...Smile pretty."
Artemis obliged, twisting her black-painted lips into an arrogant smile. "Call me Tigress." Then, acting on sudden inspiration, she slipped a knife out of her gloves and hurled it at the camera, shattering the glass into a delicate spiderweb of cracks. And pretty much effectively ending her few seconds in the spotlight.
"You broke my camera!" The Joker whined, pouting, then giggled to himself.
"I said I didn't like publicity." Artemis answered coldly. "I'd prefer not to wear a giant target on my chest. So next time, keep the camera off of me."
"Shyness or no, she sent the right message." Count Vertigo said, almost sounding proud, almost parental. Typical. Were the only male father-figures in her life crazy-assed killers? Pardoning one, of course. "And the League is sure to intervene. We must prepare ourselves for their arrival." Vertigo turned to Artemis. "Which means, Tigress, you must protect the machine."
"Mm," she murmured in lazy assent. "Got it." Artemis lifted up a little black box that had been belted on her waist. "This is the only way to bypass the plant's security – which I've installed. Meaning it's pretty much impenetrable. Good enough?"
"Perfect." The Count turned to the others, barking out orders to create a perimeter, to be prepared for any coming onslaught.
Artemis took a nap.
Artemis awoke to the Joker's high, keening laugh. She jerked upwards, nearly hitting her head on another one of her mechanical plants enormous limbs – one of which she'd been sleeping on for who knows how long. She poked her head out from behind the shelter of the plant's leaves, most of which looked like they'd seen better days. The machine was dying. "Kobra Venom's got nothing on good old Joker Venom." The Joker said evilly, watching one of his many screens as two firefighters were killed by a cloud of the toxin. Artemis recoiled slightly; she'd helped that happen.
"Both work well in concert." Count Vertigo said, smiling.
"Yes," Ivy agreed. "But we're putting considerable strain on my baby." She knelt and stroked the plant, sending bouts of healing energy through the enormous stem, but it wasn't doing much. Artemis jumped out from her hiding spot, landing in front of Ultra Humanite and snatched a remote control from his hands.
"Mine." she snarled at him, baring her teeth, then sent a pulse through the box and, in effect, helping to rejuvenate the machine. The ape growled at her, but it was clear who the top dog was in this situation. Artemis had built it, ergo, the plant was her toy.
"We will keep her healthy and safe Ivy. Tigress." Wotan growled in his deep voice after muttering a spell. "But she requires more power. Skull!" The creepy man with a head that looked like a voodoo talisman fired up his...well, head...and sent the yellow energy into three separate outlets. Between Ivy, Artemis, and Skull, the plant turned back to its healthy green color, sprouting more leaves than before.
Suddenly, a shrieking wail cut through the air. The perimeter had been breached.
"Intruder alert!" Count Vertigo snarled.
"Why are you so surprised?" Artemis drawled. "You knew the League wasn't going to take our little attack lying down. Just send Black Atom out there."
"No." Vertigo said quickly. Artemis suppressed a grin. That's what she'd hoped he would say. Though endowed with Herculean strength, Black Atom, unfortunately, was as dumb as a rock. Couple that with his recklessness and downright stupidity, he would be the last person that Count Vertigo would sent to neutralize a threat. Especially if he wanted to keep prisoners for interrogation. Which he did, as was his ruthless style. "I will go. Tigress, protect the plant. Atom, with me." He added as an afterthought, then took off. Artemis felt a pang. Call it what you will, intuition, a lingering remnant of the psychic link that she'd shared with the team, whatever, but Artemis had a feeling that the Justice League wasn't the ones crashing their party. And if she was right – and she knew she was – then Batman was even more of a psychotic sadist than her father.
"Ivy, take a step back." Artemis warned her. "She's going to get hot for a second." The plant woman obliged and Artemis laid her hands on the plant, sending an enormous amount of power coursing through the machine, arming it.
"What did you do?"
"Defense mechanism." Artemis explained briskly. "If the plant thinks she's being attacked, she tells me through an electric signal and I fire her up."
"How do you know it works?" Ivy demanded, protective of her baby.
"Touch her." Artemis suggested, gesturing to the plant. "Go on." Ivy sniffed and lighting laid a finger on the plant, then recoiled, snarling.
"She thinks I'm a threat?" The parental concern in Ivy's voice was almost comical.
"No, that was just me." Artemis said, smiling beatifically. " And that was just at power level one. Hint: it goes up to fifty. Satisfied?"
The Joker giggled, using his hands like a puppeteer would to control his puppets, looking down at the several screens with unrestrained glee in his eyes. "I know I am. Then again, I am enamored by you, Lady Tigress. You work is just so...twisted" Oh, great, he was playing at being chivalrous again. Artemis shouldn't have taught him that trick. Then his attention was turned back to the scenes he was controlling. "Poor heroes, nothing they do is quite enough...Ain't in grand?"
"And impressive," Poison Ivy said, lovingly tending to her plant now that it would let her near again. "How you simultaneously juggle multiple scenarios."
"I've had practice." The Joker's voice took on a dark edge. "Juggling my multiple personalities."
"Don't even get me started." Artemis muttered to herself, then froze as she saw a vision of the Bio-Ship crashing...the young heroes fighting Black Atom and Vertigo on the sand. Aqualad sending Robin and Miss M to find the plant and destroy it. What the hell? She wasn't connected to them anymore, why was she still hearing everything through the link? Artemis didn't have time to think about it, because she saw someone who made her draw a quick, startled breath. Red. He was here. In an instant, Artemis made a snap decision.
"Where do you think you're going?" Ivy demanded, seeing Artemis nimbly climb the wall and start to slip out of the window.
"I'm not going to let the Count and that idiot have all the fun. Come on out if you want to play, Ivy." Artemis didn't wait for a response, but leapt into the sticky Louisiana air, grabbing at a tree branch to retard her fall. She didn't reply on her grappling gun so much anymore. For some reason, being filled with electricity kept her away from man-made devices when she was risking her neck. It didn't make sense, but there you have it. Racing silently through the treetops, Artemis listened intently for any movement below. There! She settled herself in a tree, lounging easily, as Red came crashing along under her. She sighed. Subtlety was not in that boy's nature.
"I wouldn't go through there," Artemis said in a loftily, superior voice that she knew was sure to piss him off.
"Artemis." Oh God. She hadn't anticipated Red being there. The others, maybe, but not him. This might be too hard for her. "Artemis," Red said, sounding worried, concerned and ecstatic all at the same time. "Come down from there." Artemis steeled herself. She was doing this for him, so that he would be safe, from her, from the Injustice League. She had to hurt him to help him.
"And if I don't want to?" Artemis asked, taking off one of her gloves slowly so she didn't have to look at him and carving deep scratches into the tree. "I usually don't let people I don't know tell me what to do. I usually don't let people I know tell me what to do." She paused, letting that sink in and bracing herself. "So tell me, archer boy, why should I let you?" Artemis looked down at him, knowing that her eyes were cold and indifferent, hating that he was letting his show. He had to be stronger than that!
"You know who I am." Red murmured, sounding wounded, but defiant. That's my boy, she thought, sad and proud. The fact that he still believed in her made what she had to do so, so much worse.
"Nope." Artemis sing-songed, popping the "p," which she knew he hated. "Sorry." To combat her words, she leered at him, her smile condescending and mocking. "But even so, fair warning: don't go that way." For once, she wanted him to listen to her.
"And why the hell not?" Yeah, she didn't think so.
"Because I'll have to stop you, of course." The threat was thinly veiled, if at all, and Artemis carefully inspected her fingernails, confident in her every movement.
Red growled. "You're a little too confident." Her next move was born of weakness. She had to get closer to him. Swinging herself easily out of the tree, Artemis landed in front of him and stuck her face close to his.
"Oh yes, very confident." Artemis said silkily. Suddenly, her connection to the others – well, KF at least – went dead, and the others' minds became slow and lethargic. Count Vertigo had gotten to them. And Kid Flash had been knocked out. Crap! She had to do something about that. But regardless of her ex-teammates' situation, she had to deal with the one at hand. Artemis forced herself to laugh. "But it won't come to that. Count Vertigo has your friends. And you hero types will always put rescuing your comrades before catching a baddie. Why do you think there are so many of us left?" Artemis could tell that she was getting to him. His eyes studied hers, which she'd fortified behind layers and layers of cruelty and steel, then flicked nervously between her and the trees from which he'd came. He was debating whether to say here and try and save her, or go to his friends. Artemis laughed coldly again and made the decision for him. "Now, go, play the hero. I'll see you around, Red." Not wasting any time, Artemis vanished into the trees, only realizing her mistake when she was already a ways away. She'd called him Red. He might know. But she'd couldn't dwell on that now. The connections to the others were fizzling out one by one – meaning that Count Vertigo had taken them out. Artemis sent a furious mental curse at Batman. The idiot! They weren't ready to take on the Injustice League! Not with a full on frontal assault! They were out-experienced and out-skilled. God, the only way Artemis had gotten in was by proving herself to be just as loathsome as the rest of them, but the others, no they couldn't pull that off. They didn't have a chance! Racing through the underbrush, Artemis stopped by a tree where she'd stashed a quiver and some arrows – arrows with vibrant red fletchings – and pulled it over her shoulder, arming herself with her collapsible bow, which she'd hidden inside her long gloves. They were there for a reason. Climbing the tallest tree she could find that still would offer her moderate protection from sight, she readied an arrow, the paused, hearing voices below her. In her head.
Robin and Miss Martian.
"Well hello." Artemis nearly smacked her palm to her forehead. When she had told Ivy to come out and play, she had been being facetious, God dammit! She heard Robin and Miss M's cries of shock and anger as they tried to free themselves from Ivy's grasp, via her plants, naturally. "And goodbye." No, no, no, no! Artemis took careful aim, then released, her arrow making its mark perfectly in the hairy hide of Ultra Humanite. The ape growled and misfired, shearing the vines that bound Robin and Miss M. Thank God.
Artemis followed the fight unfolding below her, afraid to act, afraid not to. Then, as if drawn to her, Robin landed in the tree she'd perched in, just on the other side of the trunk. Slipping easily into character, Artemis approached him, balancing easily on the precariously thin branch, not worried about falling. It seemed that was the only thing she wasn't worried about.
"Vengeful little bitch, isn't she?" Artemis said conversationally, trying not to cry out when Robin almost sent himself plummeting to the ground when he jumped from shock.
"Artemis." Robin whispered. Artemis leaned toward him, studying him intently. Boy Wonder didn't look so hot...not only had he sustained some nasty scratches from Ivy, but there was a tired, defeated air about the kid that made Artemis want to drop the whole ruse and get him the hell out of there.
Not an option.
"You people keep calling me that." Artemis said flippantly, sneering at him. "The name's Tigress, as I'm sure you heard on my little television debut. That Joker is one hell of a director. Don't you agree, Bird Boy?"
"Artemis, stop this. This isn't you." Robin insisted. Damn, why did everyone have so much faith in her?
"Mm, and you claim to know exactly who I am, don't you. Have to say, it's getting a bit wearing. I like who I am now." No one would be able to tell that she was lying. Hopefully.
"No, no you don't." Robin insisted. "And you're coming home with me. You don't have a choice."
"You sound like my father." The words slipped out, but Robin's eyes widened marginally and Artemis knew that...that he knew. He knew! "I hate my father." She was going to hurt him. She couldn't hurt him. And she could feel the others waking up through the link. They were imprisoned somewhere...in the air? She had to get them out, she had to deal with Robin. Head spinning, wracked with indecision and fighting every instinct in her body, Artemis barreled forward, almost snapping the branch and leapt over Robin's head, landing with a nearly soundless splash below.
"Oh, Ivy," she said, whistling to get the woman's attention. "Look what I found. A little bird, all alone in a tree." She turned her face up towards Robin, cringing at the hurt mingled with disbelief in his eyes.
"You have a wicked sense of humor, Tigress, I like that." Ivy said, with a ringing laugh. Artemis gave her a smile and a salute, then rushed off to help the others. Robin could handle Ivy; he had to be able to handle her, or she was screwed.
By the time she caught up to Wotan and Black Atom, who was carrying the sorcerer's cage of magical energy, the hostages were awake and they were nearing the dome. She'd been right; Vertigo did was to interrogate his prisoners. Artemis saw an opening and took it, nailing Wotan in the stomach with an arrow, momentarily obstructing his concentration. The cage vanished and the teens inside it tumbled into the muddy water below. Artemis waited until she saw Poison Ivy and Ultra Humanite's attention – meaning it had been diverted from Robin and Miss M – then skulked through the shadows, ducking behind trees and rocks to remain unseen, until she'd made it back to the edge of the bayou, materializing right behind the Boy Wonder and Martian.
"Where do you two think you're going?" Artemis asked coolly, leaning easily against a wide tree.
"Artemis?" Miss M said, her rust-red eyes wide and pleading, like she couldn't quite believe what she was seeing. Join the club, Artemis through. She still jumped whenever she saw her new and not-so-improved reflection in a mirror.
"No. Tigress." Artemis snapped. "Stop calling me that."
"Artemis," Miss M said, ignoring her. "We want to bring you home. Please come home with us."
"Well," Artemis said, her voice low and feral. "You certainly asked nicer that Boy Wonder over here did, but no. I think I like it right here." Artemis coated her voice with frost. "Now, stay the hell away from my tech."
"I thought the crazy plant would be Poison Ivy's work." Artemis glared at Robin, who returned the look in kind, and even though that's what she'd ultimately wanted, for them to hate her, Artemis felt a twinge of sadness in her gut.
"Please. Like she has the brains to come up with that kind of tech. A botanist from hell, she is, a genius, she is not. Boy Wonder," Artemis said, slipping back into character after her momentary lapse and spreading her arms wide. "I just hacked the whole world." Take that! Artemis saw the wary look in Robin's eyes and acted on it, ignoring the voices in her head and trying not to draw attention to the fact that she could hear them. She flew at the young hero, long, deadly claws shooting out of her gloves. Robin jumped back, but Artemis kept advancing. She needed him to think that she actually wanted to hurt him. She needed to...Robin shouted in pain as Artemis landed a solid stab in his arms, the ripped the claws out, in surprise and shock, leaving four horrible wounds there. She paused in horror. That had been an accident!
Then, she was in the air, caught and bound tight by invisible bonds. Artemis saw Miss Martian's eyes glowing green and knew that she'd finally taken action.
"Do it." Artemis said, her voice hard and mocking. "Do it," she sneered. "because you'd better believe that I'd do the same to you." Artemis kept talking, not struggling, just trying to focus, send a message to the plant. Shut down the security system. If she was incapacitated now, her body would act on auto-pilot and Robin and Miss Martian would be killed if they tried to destroy the machine. "Better take me out now, Martian," Artemis continued, "or I could set fire to this whole place. It wouldn't take much, just a spark... and I know that your species and fire don't mix well. Isn't that how the Reds rendered you just about useless? And isn't that why you had to be rescued?" That had been low, but Artemis had managed to shut the plant down, now she needed them to knock her out. With an inhuman scream, Miss M's eyes glowed again and Artemis felt a horrible pressure in her head, unlike anything she'd ever known. She lasted only a few seconds before the whole world shattered into a thousand pieces and was dark.
Artemis came to feeling like someone had bashed her head in with a hammer. Note to self: no more pissing off Miss Martian. Stumbling and struggling to get up, Artemis leaning heavily on a tree until she could stand. It took a moment, but her strength returned in full force and she remembered what she had to do. It took too long to fight her way to the riverbank, far too long. By the time she got there, the Injustice League was battling full out with the teenage heroes and they were winning. Artemis's attention was drawn to Robin – fighting the Joker? Not good. Waving his arms, a knife in each hand, the Joker, looked like he was having a grand old time.
"Here birdie, birdie." He sang. Artemis hissed, drawing back her bowstring slowly, making sure she was aiming correctly before letting the arrow fly. The Joker stumbled, looking at the arrow lodged in his arm like he'd never seen one before. Well, maybe he hadn't seen one coming out of his shoulder before, in retrospect. Artemis made ready to shoot again, but was distracted by a...batarang. Crap. Batman and the Justice League descended on the bayou, looking royally pissed off. Artemis hid quickly, combating a fainting spell that had chosen possible the worst time in the entire world to attack her. She had to stay conscious or else she be seen and arrested. She couldn't help them from prison.
"There won't be another day! Not for any of us!" The Joker screamed, outraged that his teammates were giving up so easily and plants rose from the muddy bayou water, releasing a toxin into the air. Joker Venom. Artemis held her breath and drew her bow, hoping it wouldn't be for the last time, then loosed an arrow, hitting the Joker in the calf and bringing him down. Damn. She'd been aiming for his heart. Miss M's little mind...whatever it was she'd done, had seriously screwed Artemis up.
"Fear not!" Doctor Fate? But...wasn't he supposed to be trapped inside his helmet? Who had been stupid enough to put it on? Then Artemis saw a flash of dark skin and pale eyes though holes in the helmet and her heart dropped. Kaldur'ahm. Yeah, he'd be that stupid. And noble. Nobly stupid. "Fate has intervened!" The gas was quickly sucked out of the air and Artemis breathed in gratefully, before turning tail and fleeing though the marshy woods. She wasn't stupid, she saw Batman send out a team looking for her.
As she ran, all Artemis could think of was how much the others knew how sorry she was. She hid among the branches and in the mud, waiting impatiently until the heroes had moved on before circling back to the dome, where they'd never guess that she'd go. After all, who would hide within ten feet of her pursuers? Oh yeah... Artemis would. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as Artemis saw her teammates – ex-teammates – all looking fixedly away from each-other, noticing with a silent breath of relief that Aqualad was among them. None of them looked at one another, instead staring fixedly at the villains being carted off by the Green Lanterns and Zatara. Meaning that they were either talking mentally or up to something, or both. Unfortunately, probably both. Dammit, why couldn't they just let her go. Why couldn't they just give up?
OOOOOOH! For all of who who guessed what she was up to...well aren't YOU smart! But what is she going to do now, hmmmmm? Review and tell me your speculations!
~Fae
PS I am now elibible to Beta-read, so anyone who wants me to edit their stuff, send it to me! I will read, review, edit...AND give you my comments (unless, of course, they are not wanted, in which case I will shut my Internet mouth and only correct grammatical stuff)!