Artemis Chapter Twelve: Penultimate
Author's Note: Alright, from what you can gather from the chapter title, this is the second-to-last chapter in Artemis, not including the epilogue. If any of you are participating in my little contest(see previous chapter's author's notes), you better get hurrying. Also, this chappie is LONG and emotional. Prepare yourself. Now read. Then- REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Disclaimer: Come on man! It's the twelfth fricking chapter! You still want me to read the disclaimer?!?! Fine.(sigh) "I DO NOT OWN TEEN TITANS!!! NOW SIT DOWN! SHUT UP! AND REEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDD!!!!" I apologize. It's Halloween, and I had large supplies of sugar. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Artemis took the plastic bag from Robin's hands. The little lock of blonde hair stared back at her. "What is this?" she asked, fearing the answer. Cyborg laid a hand on her shoulder. "I already made a quick analysis," he said. "It's- it's Terra's hair." Artemis didn't need to ask who did it. Who else but Slade would kidnap her sister then parade it in front of her face? Artemis squeezed the bag tighter, in anger. The plastic bag popped, but she didn't care. I am going to kill him tonight. And they better not get in my way. Artemis heard a sizzling noise. She was melting the bag. She freed the hair from the bag before it melted to the floor in a bunch of foul-smelling slop. Artemis turned her attention away from the bag to Robin, who was holding the video. "Give me the tape."
Robin handed it off to her, almost fearful. While Terra's eyes had turned gold when she was angry, Artemis' eyes were a bit different. The irises turned completely silver, without a pupil. Small bit of black flurried around in her eyes around like lightning bolts. Her voice took an almost sinister tone, menacing and fear-inducing. "Where is the nearest VCR?" she asked.
"In the main room, by the computers."
"Good." She pushed past them all, and almost knocked Starfire into a wall. "We'd better follow her," said Raven. "I don't know what she'll do right now." They followed Artemis down the halls until they came to the double doors of the main room. Artemis pressed the button to open the door with such force, a tiny crack made its way through the casing. Wasting no time, she made her way to the giant television, and knelt down in front of the VCR. The others filed in and stood behind the couch. Artemis' hands were shaking as she put the tape in. She jabbed the little blue triangle on the VCR, and the video started playing. She fingered the little lock of blonde hair apprehensively. An image of an armored man skittered onto the TV screen. She sat up and stared at the TV. Slade started to speak.
"Hello, child," he said. "If you're watching this, that means that my delivery was successful. I have realized that you have probably not seen your sister in almost two years. Being the kind man that I am, I took it upon myself to schedule a little, reunion party." The camera slid away from his face to the image of an unconscious blonde haired girl trapped in a steel cage. She was strapped to a steel chair; her hair fanning across her face. Her outfit, a blue and white private school uniform, had been ripped and torn, as if the girl had put up a fight before being put in the cage.
Artemis' hand reached out subconsciously to the TV screen. Terra. The image stayed like that for a few seconds, before panning back to Slade's face. Meet me at the abandoned warehouse on 24 Lambert Avenue. Again, you are required to come alone, or," he chuckled, "Terra might be leaving the party a little too early. You have one hour. And don't be fooled. I will kill her if you fail to comply. As she has made clear, I owe her nothing." The screen faded to black as the tape ended. The Titans stood there, dumbstruck. Slade had done many evil things, but this one had crossed a definite line.
Artemis stood in front of the television, slowly filling up with silent fury. She clenched and unclenched a trembling fist. She tightened it more and more until her fingernails had entered her skin. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. With a yell, her fist pulled back and she punched straight through the television. The glass buckled inward, with cracks spider-webbing across its surface. She spread out her hand in the TV and shot out tiny flames. They ate through the wires, melted the glass, and filled the surrounding area with a deep black smoke. Artemis withdrew her badly bleeding hand, turned on her heel, and left wordlessly. Little pieces of broken glass left a trail behind her.
"She- she just broke the TV?!?" yelled Beast Boy. Raven whacked him upside the head. "Ow! What was that for?!"
"Terra, her sister need I remind you, just got kidnapped by Slade, and you're worried about the damn TV?" asked Raven.
"Good point." He glared at Raven regardless, rubbing his sore head. He paused. Wait, Slade just kidnapped Terra. And he wants Artemis to go alone? What's he planning? I should go talk to her.
"Friends, what are we to do?" asked Starfire.
"I- I don't know Star. We just have to wait," said Robin.
"I despise the waiting. Not when I can be of help."
"I know, Star. I feel the same way."
Artemis ran down the halls and slid into her room. One hour. The warehouse was at least a thirty minute drive without traffic, and he gave her one hour. Why do I care? Terra is the only thing that matters right now. She walked into her room. Her hand was killing her. She hadn't even been thinking; she was just so angry. They are going to kill me. Heaven knows how they worship that TV. She slowly spread out her palm. Bits of broken, blood-encrusted glass still clung to it. She bit her tongue and plucked out some of the bigger pieces out one by one and dropped them in a little pile on her desk. When that pain-staking task was done, she looked around for a bottle of water. She found one on the night table on the far corner of the room. Holding her bleeding hand in front of her, she carefully made her way over to it. Without thinking, she opened the bottle and tossed away the lid. She poured the whole bottle over her hand, and saw the color of the water change from a clear to rosy pink from the blood. Artemis concentrated on the water, and the damaged skin and her broken, jagged fingernails sizzled together as they were forcibly knit. After a few agonizing minutes of the steam pouring from her hands expunging unseen pieces of glass; her hands were clear and unmarked.
She pulled her hair out of its braid, and slipped an embroidered green headband over her head. She dressed herself in her black clothes and fastened on her belt. She slipped off her earrings and necklace, and tossed them carelessly on the floor. She took two long thin pieces of white cloth and wound one tightly around each forearm. She picked up her armbands from her bedside table. She winced as her armbands pinched her arms. Every day they hurt more and more.
Kahmet jumped off the bed and rubbed against her leg. "It's Slade," she told him. Kahmet hissed loudly, arching his back. "I know. I'm not too happy with him right now either. But he will pay." Kahmet inclined his head in a small nod. She knelt down next to him and stroked his fur. "Kahmet, you have been my companion since Egypt. But I am treading where you cannot follow. I hope to come back from this. I want to come back from this. But whatever happens, these people are friendly. Stay with them. Even if I don't come back." Kahmet looked down and mewed sadly, finally slinking away.
She walked to her desk and unlocked a large mahogany chest. It slid open silently on its well-oiled hinges. Nestled in the crushed blue velvet were two black sheaths. Her swords. She took them out one by one, hefting the familiar weight first on her palm, then when she strapped them onto her waist. She hit the back of the lid, letting the box slam shut. As she went to her door, she saw her gilded gold photo album lying on a shelf. She kissed three of her fingertips and pressed them onto the cover of the album, which held the picture of her parents. I'm fighting for you. With that, she left the room and headed for the garage.
Her motorcycle was where she parked it, for once. She unlocked it and grabbed the helmet lying next to it. When she was about to put it on her head, then she heard it, the one word she didn't want to hear: "Wait." She bit her lip and put the helmet down. "Beast Boy-" she began. She turned around to face him. He was standing behind her, with a pleading look in his eyes. "Please, just wait."
"I can't. I'm sorry."
"Yes, you can! We can go separately. You get there first, then we can surprise him, and-" he trailed off at Artemis' face. "What?"
"I can't. You saw the tape too. He will kill her if her gets that chance. I'm not giving him that chance. Not if I can help it."
"What about you? What if-" he stopped for a second. "What if you don't come back?"
Artemis' face fell even more. "I don't care about me right now. I care about Terra. I care about you, and the others. I don't want you to get hurt anymore that I want her to."
"We can take it! We can-"
"No! I can't!" Beast Boy was taken aback by her outburst. She quieted. "I j- I just- I can't Beast Boy. I can't lose anyone else. You guys are my friends. If anything happened, if somebody got injured, even in the slightest, I'd know it was my fault. It would kill me to know that. I need to go alone. I've been chasing him for almost two years. Twoyears of my life. I need to face him alone."
"Bu-"
"PleaseI can't argue with you anymore. Please. Let me go." Her voice was just above a whisper, and when Beast Boy looked hard enough, he could see the tears in her eyes, which now were fading to a dull moss green. He sighed. "Fine. But, j-just be careful alright?"
Artemis hugged him tightly. "I'll come back. I promise," she whispered. She let go, with a single tear rolling down her cheek. She turned on her motorcycle, and drove off. Alone. Just like she wanted. Beast Boy turned around to go see the others. She got what she wanted. But was it really the best choice? He trudged up the stairs leading to the elevator. It was out of his hands now. It was all up to her...
The warehouse loomed in the distance. Artemis gunned the engine, and sped up even faster down the street. She ducked and swerved around, cutting curbs and running red lights. She didn't need a watch to know her hour was almost up. The warehouse was growing closer and closer. She slowed down and the bike skidded across the rough asphalt, jolting her as it slid across the uneven asphalt. She leapt off the bike, not even bothering to lock it. The warehouse itself was foreboding, with broken windows and sagging walls. Rats scurried around and fought over scraps of food. Yet, Artemis could see the tiniest slivers of modern technology hidden in the walls. The distant hum of computers and metal gears was carried on the wind, but the sounds were still masked by the city noise. Some forgotten 'No Trespassing' and 'Caution: Building Unsound' signs littered the ground. It was amazing that Slade could build a headquarters so near the center of the city, and not be discovered.
Two of Slade's robot soldiers were stationed at what was left of the front door, waiting for her. They stopped her as she was about to go in. Immediately, Artemis prepared for combat. They did nothing but shake a robotic finger at her and pull out a picture of Terra. She relaxed, and tried to push past them again. One stuck out an arm to keep her from going through the door. They took her swords off her waist, and assembled themselves, one on either side of her. Prodding her in the back with her sword; they marched her down a dark hallway. "Do I get a paper bag to put over my head too?" she asked mockingly. They didn't answer. Sarcasm was lost on them.
From the inside, Artemis could see that the decrepit exterior was just a clever façade. Thick steel and concrete walls lined the inside of the warehouse and millions of dollars in likely stolen weapons and tracking equipment filled the room. However, some of the concrete on the walls were half-poured, and steel support rods were stacked in the far corner of the room. Either Slade rushed to build headquarters(unlikely), or he was making the building unstable on purpose. Many other robots were there, doing various tasks. They stopped as she passed them. A few of the robots seemingly glared at her. One almost seemed to smirk at her. Artemis did nothing but quietly snap her fingers, and the offending robots found themselves buried in three inches of bubbling tar.
Finally, they came to a heavy, one foot thick steel door. One of the robots punched in a code onto a keypad on the door. It slid open with a sharp hiss. The room ahead was cavernous. Her footsteps echoed across the expanse, and she heard the dim metallic footfall of the drones disappearing into the shadows. A steel chair was cemented into the ground. This room seemed to be constructed the best out of the rooms that she had seen, with the exception of the floor. The floor was a thin layer of cement with likely crushed rock and dirt underneath. It seems that in Slade's haste to build a headquarters, he forgot that an earth-based floor would give me an advantage. Or is this another thread in his twisted web of a plan?
The only light in the entire room was one over the chair. It shone over the center of it, directly onto the prone figure of a petite girl. Artemis ran, forgetting where she was. If she could just get to her.. No. A pale cyan force field deployed around the chair, bathing it in a bluish-purplish light. Artemis was entirely blocked off, just a few inches from her goal.
Slade's voice rang out in the shadows. "Silly girl. Don't you know better by now? You let the kidnapper gloat as he names his demands first."
Artemis' head whipped around in all directions, trying to see him, only to find the darkness. "Show yourself, coward!" she cried. "Come out so I can kill you!"
She heard Slade whisper directly behind her. "Now, how is that incentive to show myself, hmm?" Artemis spun around, and saw him; the proverbial thorn in her side for almost two years. The murderer. The betrayer. The liar. With a yell, she raised a pillar of rock next to him, and tried to ram him. He moved back soundlessly. "What way is that to greet someone, Artemis? It seems that you've forgotten your manners."
"Murderer! You! Evil! Lying! Traitorous! Son! of! a!-" Artemis punctuated every word with a rock aimed at his head. He dodged them all and grabbed one of her hands. She felt her pinkie finger snap, and her eyes watered in pain.
"Do you want to hear what I have to say, or would you rather me break your hand first?"
Artemis wormed her hand out of his grasp. "Never touch me again. What the hell do you want? Why did you take her? She doesn't remember! Let her go, now!"
"Why should I do that? There's nothing for me to gain from it. Unless..."
"Unless, what?" Artemis asked angrily.
"Well, let's say we had a little wager. If I face you in combat, and you win, I'll let you both go, and you'll never hear from me again."
"And what if you win? Would you still let her go?"
Slade smirked. "Of course. But, you'll have to stay behind as my apprentice. I need someone to control my affairs when I'm gone. And you'd be perfect for it." He said the word 'perfect' slowly, so the word imprinted itself on her brain. "You killed Atalanta, Robin was a failure, and Terra is your sister. I'm sure you would be infinitely more capable, though.
Artemis ground her teeth and tried not to make the room explode in anger. "Is that what this is about?! You want me to be your damn apprentice?! Is that why you killed them? Is that why you took Atalanta? To get to me?"
No. I was doing a job. "If that makes you feel any different about it, believe it. But who cares about the past? You're alive, and so is your sister. But, I need an answer to my question."
Artemis glared at him, and her hands lit up in twin black fireballs. "What if I just kill you now, take Terra and leave?"
Slade laughed. "Well, Artemis, if that is your intended course; I'm forced to inform you that you are terribly outnumbered." As if on cue, at least a hundred drones, on either side of them, stepped out of the shadows. "As you can see, I am well- protected. Not that you could have killed me anyway."
"You don't know what I am capable of." Artemis raised her hands. A great cloud of small bits of crushed rock and sand flew out of the ground and gathered around her. She swept up her ams and pushed out. The sand mirrored her movements and flew out among the drones. The sand collided with their metal like a swarm of many bees. For a few ear-wrenching minutes, the sounds of scraping metal echoed across the room. When Artemis moved down her arms, the drones were disintegrated. All that was left were fragmented droid skeletons and Artemis' swords still clutched in the motionless hands of a drone.
"We are alone, Slade. It's just you and me. And one way or another, I am leaving here with Terra, and you'll be dead!" She spat out the last word like a poison. "If you want to fight me, fine!" She ripped her swords from the dismantled drone's hand and faced Slade. "Let's get this damn thing over with."
They stood in the center of the room. Artemis struck first, whipping her swords around in a fevered frenzy. Small currents of air danced off the blades of the swords like snakes. Artemis drew them out further, and the currents became sharper and more powerful. They wound around in the air, trying to knock Slade off balance. But a scratch on the armor, or a small misstep would not do anything in the long run. Artemis knew that, and she planned for it. She drew more rock from the ground, and set it against him. He merely sidestepped each boulder, each cyclone, every gout of flame she threw at him.
That wasn't to say that Slade was merely dodging her attacks. With every attack on her part, Slade retaliated two-fold. She could block his attacks, but she was draining her energy drastically. Her arms and legs were deeply cut and bruised, and she had a long scrape from the corner of her eye to the bottom of her jaw. "Well, I obviously wasn't a very good teacher Artemis, if I could beat you this easily. So, do you not care about any of this? Do you even want Terra back?"
Artemis glared at him. "I'll tell you what I want," she said, "I want my life back! I want the life that you took away from me!"
"How does it feel to want, child?"
Artemis threw a fireball at his head. "It's almost as good as wanting you dead."
Slade kicked Artemis and her swords clattered to the floor. Slade bent down and picked her up by the throat. "It seems that you're losing, Artemis. Now if you don't become my apprentice, you will die." Artemis said nothing, but stared defiantly at him. He squeezed her throat tighter. "Did you hear me, Artemis? I said die."
Artemis smiled a little in spite of her situation. "Well, I never did mind about the little things," she choked out. Slade was holding her throat tighter now, and she was losing air.
"This is such a kind offer. I mean, what do you have to lose? Even if you save Terra, she probably would not take kindly to you abandoning her."
"I d-did not a-abandon her." Artemis' breaths were becoming slowly shallower. She had to get free, but she couldn't concentrate enough to use her powers. "She's m-my sister. I would n-never abandon her."
"You might as well have. After all, she killed Teraan. At least that's what you'd believe." At that, Slade loosened his grip on her, and she fell onto the floor. She took a few deep breaths to get life back into her lungs. She massaged her throat, which was now circled with deep purple bruises. "What the hell are you talking about?" she asked.
Slade laughed coldly, slowly pacing around her. "I forgot you didn't know. Well, you see, Terra wasn't responsible for Teraan's death. I was. Funny how these things turn out, isn't it?"
"What?!" Artemis was shell-shocked. She just sat there listening to him. No, he's lying to me! Please, please be lying..
"It was quite simple really. The day before you, Teraan, and Terra went off into the cave; I had a little chat with Atalanta. I told her that that cave was being destroyed the next day, so I gave her explosives and told her where to set them up in the cave. Of course, she listened to me. I was a teacher, after all. I had each explosive fitted with a small security camera. When you had come into range, I set them off one by one. No one was supposed to have survived, but I went with the flow, so to speak. When Atalanta realized what she had done, she was ready to kill me. I told her how she would be exiled from the rest of you; she would be forced to live alone with no one to guide her. After that, well," he chuckled, "you could say she had a change of heart. But you know all about that, don't you? Isn't that what your armbands are hiding? Your failure at keeping your friends alive?"
As he finished, her disbelief was replaced with a fiery rage. Slade noticed that Artemis was breathing easier now, and that she had picked up her swords and stuck them onto her belt. He noticed that she was standing at her tallest, despite her painful injuries. He noticed that her green eyes had changed color to a dark chrome-like silver. But unfortunately for him, he didn't think it meant anything.
"It was you!?" she screamed. "You did it all! You killed him! You were the one that took him away from me! It was all your fault!" Her rage was struggling to be withheld now, but it needed release. It burned inside her, wanting to destroy everything. Her now silver eyes were striated with bands of black. Instead of the warmth they usually radiated, they appeared demonic and merciless. Fire pushed to the ends of her fingertips. And Slade seemed to find it amusing.
"Well, don't pin everything on me. You were just as responsible as I was. I didn't kill Atalanta. You did. I didn't alienate Terra. You did. I didn't ask for Teraan to save you. Maybe if he hadn't felt so strongly about you, he would have lived."
Artemis tightened her fists and the earth around them shook. "Stop talking!"
"No, I'll think I'll continue. I think that maybe this was a bad idea on my part. Maybe Terra isn't as important to you as I thought. Maybe the Titans aren't held so highly by you. Perhaps I should just get rid of them?" He pulled out a small three-button remote from a compartment in his armor. "Do you know what this is?" he asked, twirling it around his fingers like a baton "This is a remote. A remote that controls this." He pressed a button on the remote, and a large square-like device slid up slowly out of the floor. It appeared simple in construction, but inside, hundreds of millions of tiny gears and other moving parts built themselves up into a nefarious device only one such as Slade would have the gall to use. "This is a bomb, Artemis. A bomb capable of destroying both this building and everything around it in a five-mile radius. You would be dead, Terra would be dead, and so would the Titans, who at the moment are five feet outside of this building. Not to mention all the people that live within oh, about, 26,400 feet of here."
"You'd be dead too, Slade," said Artemis.
"I've been dead before," he said. "So, Artemis, let's look at this carefully. If I just press this button, the bomb will detonate in a matter of, give or take, seven minutes. It cannot be destroyed. I have constructed it so that it cannot be detected on any scan your friend Cyborg might be able to conjure up. And even more importantly, it will deactivate the forcefield currently around your sister, so she would be exposed too. It all depends on me, and whether or not I push this button. You've lost your say, Artemis, long ago, when we started this battle. And unless you do what I say, you, your friends, and your sister, are history."
It was then that Artemis made a choice. Even if it was the last thing she ever did, she was making a stand against Slade. "No," she said simply. "You've lost your say. And you will lose you life." Her anger broke loose, and surged through her body. She raised her hand and drew upon her fire. She built up an image in her mind: the largest fireball she could muster, and let her body do the job. She felt the fire race along the inside of her arms, and build up right up to the tips of her fingers. And then it stopped. The energy was still there, but it was building up greater and greater inside her body, instead of releasing fire as it should have. Both of her arms rose out in front of her body on their own volition, fingertips pointing outward. What's going on?! What's happening!? I can't-
The dam of chaotic energy burst, but not how she expected. Lightning shot out of the ends of her fingertips, ebony black and terrifying. She felt a new wave of pain as it burst out of her fingers, ripping apart her fingertips, and set out against her target: Slade. The lightning threw him back twenty feet, and tendrils wormed through cracks in his armor, overloading the shock absorbers he had placed inside it. He was slammed against the wall, and stayed there; his body temporarily stunned by the force of the blast. After Slade was down, the lightning branched out against the walls, showering down rubble and dust.
Artemis stared at her hands, shocked. Raw red star-shaped scars adorned all her fingertips. They were extremely sensitive, and itched like a thousand spider bites. Her blood burned, and her veins felt seared by the lightning. It was such a jolt, so painful, simultaneously frightful and invigorating. She breathed heavily, as the rush from the lightning wore off. It only lasted for a moment though, before her adrenaline masked her pain. I've never done that before. Is that what Atalanta felt each time she did this? Will these scars stay? But most important in her mind was the one thought: Did I kill him?
Her eyes scoured the landscape for him. He was pushed against the far corner of the wall, moving slowly.
So, he survived. But how long will that last?
Artemis raised her hands and separated the part of the floor that Slade was on from the rest of the floor. She whipped it around in the air, before sending it hurtling down in front of her. The rock shard embedded itself into the ground, and Slade slid off of it. Artemis stomped one of her feet, and the rock shard leveled with the rest of the ground, and the other end of the rock pointed up. The resulting shock wave sent Slade momentarily into the air. Slade was beginning to move freely again, now that the shock had worn off, but not fast enough to avoid a small rock that Artemis sent careening into his jaw. The rock lifted his head up and sent him into the ground, flat on his back.
"I hope that hurt," said Artemis. "I hope that I can even begin to hurt you like you hurt me." She raised one of her swords. Black flames danced along the blade. She raised it over her head, and slashed it downwards. It danced through the air, and sliced into Slade's armor. The fire melted the armor in a thin line, and ripped his skin. The flames cauterized the wound as they cut him, making in instant scar. Slade rolled back and clutched his chest instinctively. He stood up to see Artemis, who was preparing for another strike. "Artemis-"
"What?!" Another slash. This one missed, but still ripped out a chunk of his armor, and singed his skin. "What else do you need to say?! Do you have any other revelations you need to run- by- me? Each of the last three words were punctuated by a another blow of her swords. Each strike sent Slade back a step, and hit their mark perfectly. "Good! Now you have five. One for my mother, one for Terra, one for Teraan, one for Atalanta, and one for everyone else you've slaughtered! So who's the scarred one now?!" The fire on her swords blazed in accordance with her anger, and bathed the area around her in a fierce black glow.
Slade took a moment to evaluate his opponent. Artemis seemed to be operating on pure rage. The look on her eyes reminded him of what he saw in the mirror everyday. Cold, ruthless, merciless. And she said she wouldn't make a good apprentice. Slade slipped a hand into his belt and pulled out a smoke grenade. He popped out the pin and tossed it at Artemis' feet.
The grenade seemed to deflate, and let loose a thick cloud of smoke at her feet. The smoke burned her eyes and the back of her throat. Her eyes were tearing involuntarily, to get rid of the smoke. Within a few seconds, she regained her focus and sent out an air wave to wipe out the smoke. "That won't stop me Slade. You should know me better."
She closed in on him slowly. "You're right, Artemis," said Slade, "I should have known. You're as ruthless and callous as I am. You can even say, that, with practice, you could be just like me."
Artemis lashed out at that. She slashed her swords at his face, and sent a barrage of rocks towards him. He dodged them all, except a veritable small boulder that collided with his chest. After she had crashed him into the ground, she raised and lowered the rock with her hand a few times before lifting it off his chest. The lower right section of the jaw portion of his mask cracked off and fell to the floor. "Now you listen to me! I am nothing like you Slade. Not now, not ever. You've lost. Give me my sister back, and leave us alone!"
Slade laughed and pushed himself off the ground. "It seems that you need to know me better, child." He pulled out a remote identical to the one he showed Artemis earlier. "Always have backup. One of my personal mottoes. You've lost, Artemis." You have forced my hand. Pity. Slade pushed the button on the remote, and a match was struck from the inside, setting off a slow fuse that led to dozens of large plastic explosives and TNT nestled around stacks of C4 explosives. The steel casing covering the bomb prepared to spring open, ready to release its deadly payload. A timer flashed on a screen built into the bomb. It was set at thirteen minutes, but was dropping rapidly.
"No! All those people, Slade! This is our fight, not theirs! Leave them alone!"
Slade pretended to think for a moment. "You make a good case. Artemis, I'm going to give you a one time offer here. If you ask me nicely for the remote, I'll give it to you, you will deactivate the bomb, and we all live happily ever after. That is, of course, if you let me go. Or, you could gamble bit and try to come after me when I'm making my grand exit. But the bomb still goes off, and you could either succeed in your mad quest for vengeance and kill me, or die yourself and lose everything. What is it going to be?"
Artemis hesitated. Slade was right in front of her, and wounded besides. But if she went after him, Terra and everyone else she held dear would die. Can I really risk it all? What would I gain from this if everyone one else died? Another, more angry side of her mind was rebelling at this thought. "What!? And lose all we've fought and killed for?!? Go after him! Kill! Maim! Tear him limb from limb! The others are meaningless! Revenge!" Her thoughts wrestled with this for a few moments, before the side of just and logic presented an argument that the angry side of her couldn't ignore. What would mother do?
"Time is ticking, Artemis. Eleven-and-a-half minutes to go."
"Give me the remote," she said quietly. Slade smirked beneath his broken mask. "What was that child? I didn't catch it."
Artemis' eyes turned silvery again. She extended a hand. "Give me the remote to disable the bomb! I'm letting you go! I care about my friends, unlike you! Now give me the damn remote before I change my mind!" Slade reached out the hand with the remote. When Artemis reached for it, he back-fisted her with the other hand, sending her to the floor. He broke the remote in half in his hand, and bent in close to her ear. "You didn't say please."
He stepped back into the shadows, and pressed a button on his arm plating. Inside the ceiling, miniature bombs were detonated, sending down an immovable barrier of debris between him and Artemis. "I'll always be around, child," he said behind the rubble, "I'd tell you to get used to it, but you're about to die anyway."
Artemis slowly got off the ground and glared at the wall of rubble that separated them. "You bastard."
Artemis looked around frantically. There. The bomb was still ticking, despite the fact that the remote was broken. The timer had dropped to ten minutes, and was falling, if not a little bit faster, as if to spite her. I guess the remote never really disarmed the bomb off at all. She hit it with everything she had, forgoing the intricacies of the machinery and just pounding into the bomb's outer shell with rocks, hoping to break a wire, or anything else that would help her. Nothing happened. She quickly thought of a new plan. If she could break Terra out, they could run out of the building, warn the Titans, and drive off on her bike, out of the five mile range.
She rushed over to Terra's force-fielded prison. It was sealed shut, and there didn't seem to be any controls. "No! No! No!" She smashed her hand onto the force field, before sinking into a defeated pose. "Why this?! Why now?!" She slammed her hand into the floor. Small black sparks lit up around her fingertips. It gave her an idea. Maybe I can overload the force field with lightning. But it caused me so much pain last time I tried- No. This is worth the pain.
Artemis stood up and raised her hand. She felt the oddly unfamiliar feel of the lightening build up in her body, before stopping, just like it did before. Instead of letting it go right away, she lowered her hand to the forcefield. It shimmered and bent slightly, in the shape of her fingertips. She closed her eyes tightly, and let loose.
The lightning rebounded across the forcefield in wide arcs, sizzling and fighting the force field to the point of overload. It finally gave in, and shimmered into nonexistence. Artemis dropped her arms and sighed with relief. Gotta hurry. She rushed to the chair where an inanimate Terra was being imprisoned. She knelt down and slipped her fingers beneath the chain keeping her strapped to the chair. Artemis melted the chain, and it fell to the floor with a clatter. Terra slipped out of the chair and landed on the floor. Artemis sat on the ground with her. She did a quick preliminary check of her vitals. Terra had a light pulse, and her eyes were moving rapidly beneath her eyelids. Her blonde hair was slick with sweat; her skin was the color of cool alabaster with an almost blue undertones; and her fingers were twitching. Artemis placed a hand on her heart. It was hammering madly. "How did he do this to you?"
Artemis wrapped one of Terra's arms around her shoulders, and stood up. It was then that all the stress, injuries, fatigue, and pain settled in on her. Her ankle snapped and she collapsed. As she fell, she bit her tongue. She felt a coppery tasting liquid slither down her throat. Come on! Move. Move! I can't. After all I've done, it amounts to nothing. We're going to die. She looked down at Terra. She still hadn't moved. "C'mon Terra, wake up." Artemis grabbed Terra's shoulder and shook it. Her head nodded to the side, and her hair fell onto her face. Her face stayed as blank and unmoving as it was before. "No, Terra. Please. Please, please wake up." Please." A loud sound of metal crunching was heard, and then a deafening boom as the door sealing off Artemis from the rest of the building, was overtaken by a black energy and ripped off the wall.
As soon as the Titans had entered the building, they were waylaid by literally hundreds of drones. They had quickly been split off into pairs. Raven had been fighting alongside Starfire, but the two had been separated. After she had seen the door, she sensed Artemis, and the faint flicker of someone familiar, yet foreign. Both of them were in extreme pain. She sent energy into the door, and felt around for any weak spots. When she found one, she pushed into it and widened it, and then she heard a crack. The door combated the dark energy for a few moments before exploding in a shower of metallic fragments. Raven shielded her eyes until the fragments had settled, and walked in. "Artemis?" she called. Nothing. "Oh, Azar," she whispered. The room was a veritable war-zone. The walls had long gouges torn into them, and the floor was filled with potholes. A small chair was the only thing left standing, aside from a strange looking large cube. Curled up by the chair were two small figures, one of whom was not moving. Raven started running as fast as possible towards the chair. Artemis was crouched next to a very familiar looking blonde girl. The girl wasn't waking up, despite the fact that Artemis was shaking her.
Raven knelt down next to her. "Artemis? What happened? Where is Slade?"
"He got away. Look Raven there's-"
Raven placed her hand on Artemis' shoulder. Immediately, her hand became red and sticky with blood. For the first time, Raven actually saw how injured Artemis truly was. She had lacerations up and down the portions of her arms not covered by her armbands. Any area not cut was covered with dark bruises. Her face was scratched and a large cut extended from her right eye to the bottom of her jaw-line. One of her fingers had been snapped, and was hanging at an odd angle. Her hair was hanging in sweat-slicked spikes, that were matted with dried blood. Her ankle was twisted. Her breathing seemed forced and ragged. Long red flower-shaped scars covered all ten fingertips. Terra was injured as well. It looked like she was having trouble breathing, and a cotton pad was taped to a vein, suggesting the fact that she was drugged. "You both need medical attention. Serious medical attention."
"No. There's something else we need to do right now. That thing over there," Artemis gestured to the cube,"that thing is a bomb. It's going to go off in about seven minutes, and is capable of destroying anything within a five mile radius. There's nothing we can do to stop it. The best bet is to run, get everyone else out of here, and try to break the five mile line. I think. I just don't know."
"Here, I'll take a look at you, and I'll see what I can do about your pain. Then we can figure something out." Raven concentrated and recited a complicated incantation. The pain that Artemis felt lessened and vanished entirely. Terra's breathing also calmed down and she seemed to be regaining more of a color to her skin. Artemis stood up and started to walk around on her ankle. Despite the fact that her foot was twisted a little more than it should; she didn't feel anything. "Careful! Your mind thinks that you're uninjured, but your body doesn't. This effect is only temporary," said Raven, "I need more time to heal you both. Time we don't have. What are we going to do about the bomb?"
Artemis thought about it. "It depends on a few things. Do you have any means to contact the other Titans?"
Raven grabbed the communicator off her belt and flipped it up. All she got was static. She hit it against her hand a few times, but the communicator stayed the same. She flipped it over and examined the casing. A large laser burn was etched into the casing. Raven popped off the back panel. The burn followed into the communicator's battery, rendering it useless. Raven tossed the communicator on the ground. "The next time Cyborg says something is indestructible, don't believe him," Raven muttered. "Alright," said Raven, "Plan B." She thought about it for a second. "What's Plan B?"
Artemis picked up Terra and put her arm around her shoulder. Raven ran over and took Terra from Artemis. "How is that going easy on your ankle?" she asked. She closed her eyes and stretched out her mind. She scanned the building for the familiar mental signatures of her friends. It was empty. It seemed like all the drones were destroyed, but she still didn't sense her friends. Wait.. "I don't believe this!" Artemis looked at her confusedly. "What is it?" she asked.
"They're outside! What are they doing there?" Raven thought of her malfunctioning communicator. "Of course. They can't contact me, so they went outside to look for me. What are we going to do now?"
"Can you teleport?"
"Yes, but what do you expect to do with that? I can't teleport the bomb; I have to be with the object I'm teleporting."
"How many objects can you teleport at one time?"
Raven thought back. "I don't know. I've never tried it with more then two people. Wait, what are you getting at?"
"I'm saying, take Terra with you, teleport outside, and make a shield around the building. If we cut the building off from the outside world, the rest of the city won't be affected."
"But, what will you do?"
"I'll stay in here and construct a shield around the bomb. Between the both of us, I don't think the bomb will go off the way Slade intended it to."
"I could try to teleport you and Terra out of here. Then I could stay and build a shield around the bomb. That way, you could get to a hospital faster."
Artemis shook her head. "No, because what will they say? They're going to ask where you are, or worse, think that I did something to you." Because of what Terra did, do you think they would be to inclined to believe me if I told then about the bomb? Especially since Cyborg wouldn't be able to detect it. You know my way is the only solution. Just take Terra and go."
Raven once for the first time, in a long time, shocked. "You would trust me to keep Terra alive?" she asked. "Why would you do that?"
"When you were in my mind, Raven, you could have done something to kill me. You could have killed my guardian. But you didn't. If I can trust you with my life, I can trust you with Terra's. Please go now. Hurry."
Raven bit her lip. She wasn't big on displays of emotion, but she felt the occasion deserved at least a small reassuring pat on the back. "I'll keep her safe. I promise." Raven prepared to teleport. She concentrated on the mental signatures of the rest of the Titans, predicting to project her and Terra right next to them. She began the incantation. "Azarath Me-"
"Wait." The black tendrils of energy that had begun to wrap themselves around Raven and Terra fell apart. "What is it, Artemis?" Raven asked.
"When Terra wakes up," If she wakes up. "If she remembers who she is," Or was. "Just tell her that what happened- it wasn't her fault. And if I don't get to tell her myself, tell her I'm sorry for what I did."
Raven nodded. "I'll tell her, Artemis. Don't worry." Artemis stepped back and nodded her head, signaling to Raven that she could leave. Raven began to speak the incantation again. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos." Black energy encased the two girls, and when the energy disappeared, they were gone. "Goodbye, Terra," whispered Artemis.
Raven landed hard on her feet, stressing the aches and pains of the teleportation, and the harsh battle that had taken place before Raven could get to Artemis. Terra was lying limply on the ground. The spell that Raven had cast on her seemed to be wearing off. She started coughing, but remained unconscious. Her coughs subsided, and her mind was beginning to slip into a coma-like state, as her body fought to overcome a deadly drug that Slade had injected into her system.
Raven immediately looked down. Terra was practically seizing, and then stopped moving entirely. Raven's head whipped around in all directions, trying to find her friends. They were about some twenty feet away from her. Robin and Cyborg seemed to be in a debate. Probably trying to figure out a search pattern. "Hey!" she shouted. "Over here!"
They rushed over to her in an instant. Starfire was in a crouched position, ready to give a bone-crushing hug, when she saw Terra. "What has happened to Terra?!" she cried. Raven shook her head. "I don't know. But she needs help."
Cyborg scanned her. "You bet she needs help. She's been poisoned, and pretty badly. I've never seen any thing like it, but whatever it is, but it's set off a bomb in her system."
Bomb! "Look, take care of her right now. I need to do something."
"What do you need to do? Dude, we have to take her to the hospital!" Beast Boy looked around, concerned. "Hey, Rae, where's Artemis?"
Raven was too absorbed in her thoughts to remind him that 'Rae' wasn't her name. "I'll explain when this is all over," she said. Raven walked right up to the building and cried "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"
An enormous shield, big enough to cover every opening crack or crevice in the building, was raised, sealing it off like an airtight jar. The image of the building disappeared under the big black bubble. "Hey! What are you doing? Artemis is still in there!" yelled Beast Boy. "Yeah, Raven, what are you doing?" asked Robin. Starfire appeared curious also, and Cyborg looked at her dubiously while he was calling an ambulance.
"Look, just trust me. Artemis and I already agreed to this. It's the only way. I'll explain more when this is all over."
"But Ra-"
"That doesn't sound like trusting me! Now, hurry, get over here. Bring Terra." The other Titans followed hesitantly. "I hope there's a reason for all this," said Robin. "We still need to get in there and try to find any clues regarding Slade."
"Don't worry. There's a method to this madness." Although I doubt finding anything in that building when this is over is possible. Raven closed her eyes and drew up another shield around her and the Titans. C'mon, Artemis. Pull through...
Artemis stood about five feet from the bomb. The countdown read two-and-a-half minutes. Artemis was waiting for the countdown to drop to a minute, as to conserve her energy. The next minute and a half was utter torture. Every second stretched itself out for an eternity. A still and deadly quiet filled the room, but Artemis was so absorbed by the clock that she wouldn't have noticed a thousand pins dropping. A small part of her mind registered the black glow that obscured the windows like an ethereal fog. Raven's ready. Tick. Tock. It was time. Artemis dipped back into her power, though not as easily as before. Exhaustion had slowed her down by a few seconds. A whitish cloud leapt from her hands and swirled up from the ground. It formed a sinuous field, easily eating up the empty space around the bomb and swirled once more, solidifying and tightening, forming an unreachable barrier.
The clock on the bomb was falling now. It was down to thirty seconds, twenty nine, twenty eight, Artemis watched every second with bated breath. Just waiting.. Ten..Nine..Eight.. I'm so close now. I need to hold on. Four..Three.. Two..
One.
The fuse in the bomb, and the stacks of explosives met. A single spark was kindled, and spread to all the explosives. A rocketing boom was heard, as the bombs exploded with deafening force, louder than ten elephants being dropped from one thousand feet into a glass-filled room. Both of Artemis' eardrums burst, but she was to occupied with the bomb to notice. Pure, white flames spread out in all directions, but were stopped in their tracks by the air field. They rebounded and tried again with greater force. The steel plates holding the bomb together were disintegrated, spraying shrapnel in small knife-like shards. All of which were suspended, the tendrils of air wrapping around hem and holding them in place. Artemis was trying harder and harder to hold on.
At the same time, her injuries from Slade were returning steadily, as Raven's charm had extended itself. She began to notice her broken ankle, and her bleeding hands. The aches and pulled muscles; the countless bruises and lacerations. Her arms started to deaden, and the shield slipped. Small bits of fire shot out, and paved the way for countless more. She shut her eyes tight, and tried to focus. Tears and blood streamed down the sides of her face, combining the tastes of salt and copper in her mouth. Artemis fought to regain control, but the logical part of her mind already accepted the fact that in this condition, her body couldn't last much longer. Her body started to divert the shield to cover herself, against her will. She saw tiny bits of black eat away at the corners of her eyes. The fire and destruction meant for five miles of skyscrapers and apartment buildings was going to release itself in one tiny space. With her still inside it. Before Artemis blacked out, before the force of the bomb released itself entirely, testing its energy against her will to live; she could have sworn she heard her mother, telling her to hang on. But then, the burning white light of the explosion shattered all her senses at once, and everything went black.
Raven stood outside, waiting. If the bomb was to release itself, it would be soon. And then she heard it. The deafening boom signaling the bomb's release. The others behind her gasped in shock. They suddenly realized Raven's need to seal off the building. There was a calm silence, before shock wave after shock wave slammed itself against Raven's shield. She was driven to her knees, trying to keep the shield steady. The shock wave hit again and again, each time loosing less momentum. Finally, though, it stopped. It was over. Raven stood up shakily. She heard the others cry out, but their voices were deafened by a loud ringing in her ears. Many curious people flocked the site, not knowing how close they came to being wiped out completely. Fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances formed a parade down the street, bathing it in a flurry of different colored lights. Finally, she lowered the shield.
It was like looking into a war-zone. There was nothing. Absolutely nothing. Ambient heat rolled off the place in waves, and everyone could smell the stench of death. Mere words cannot describe the destruction of that building, if it could be called that anymore. She stood there, mouth open. Someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around to find Beast Boy standing there. His mouth was moving, and without sound, she could barely make out the words: "Where's Artemis?"
She stared out into the wreckage one last time, searching for an answer. She settled on one.
"I don't know."
END
Author's note: So ends another exciting chapter of Artemis, and the second to last 'real' chapter, excluding the epilogue and deleted scenes. Speaking of which, KuteIrishGrl, could you get your story for the contest soon? I need it. So, you all know what I'm about to say, but I'll say it anyway: REVIEW!!!! I live off these reviews, people!!! Plus, I just love to hear from you.
Stay with me for a little longer; this story is just about done.
Artemis out.
P.S. Alright, Amanda, you win. This story finally earned its "PG-13" rating.