Author's Note: Chapter fifteen here (: I don't know why but that just seems like a milestone haha. Maybe I'm just happy I've stuck with a story for this long… but whatever (: Either way, you guys get another update out of it! This one is a bit longer than most of my chapters and also a quick warning… it gets pretty graphic with the violence so beware. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.
Chapter Fifteen: The Trials
Remy could see the top of the mountain rapidly approaching, but she could not bring herself to find any joy in this fact.
Her legs felt heavy and her very core was frozen solid. Her throat was bone dry and her lips were on fire from the raging winds of the mountain. Her stomach had felt so painfully empty on the way up the mountain that her hunger was now a dull thud in the pit of her stomach. One look at Artemis, confirmed that the archer was equally as miserable, however that did nothing to alleviate her own pain.
"Just twenty more—" Artemis' body was racked with coughing as she doubled over.
Remy moved over to the archer and righted her once more. "Don't quit on me now."
Together the two of them moved slowly towards the small wooden village on the top of the mountain. Flickering lights could be seen from the windows and the smell of raw meat cooking over an open fire spurred Remy on.
She approached the first building, pulling her flower out of clothing. Her body shaking from the effort, she raised a hand to knock on the solid wooden door. Beside her, Artemis held herself up with the help of the wall.
The door slowly creaked open to reveal a relatively small Asian man. He wore an elaborate costume consisting of an ancient chines pattern.
He raised one thin eyebrow. "Yes?"
"Sensei," Artemis said, bowing as best as she could. She presented him with her blue flower and waited as Remy did the same. The girls stood awkwardly in front of him and waited for him to say something, to take initiative in the conversation.
Remy shivered, wincing as that very movement taxed her exhausted body. "M-may we come in?"
He raised the other eye brow, but nevertheless stepped aside.
"All you had to do was ask." The two girls shuffled into the house, thankful for the shelter from the raging snowstorm.
"It is good to see you again, Artemis," the 'Sensei' said. He gestured towards a wooden table where two steaming mugs of tea and a plate full of food sat. "Sit, please."
Remy and Artemis were happy to oblige and immediately dove for their food. Remy moaned in pleasure as she felt the warm liquid of the chai tea slide down her throat, warming her to the core.
"Thank you, uh—"
"I am Sensei," he answered, gruffly. "Address me as such, Remy Vanderbilt."
"So—" Remy paused as she released a series of coughs, "—you know who I am?"
"Don't let it go to your head," Artemis muttered, stuffing a bread roll down her throat.
Remy shot her a look and turned her attention back to Sensei. He studied her for a moment before seeming to decide something. "You both are clearly not yourselves. I had planned on discussing the details of your membership trials tonight, but I can see it will do no good. The explanation that Raz will give you must be sufficient."
"Well we—" Artemis interjected.
Sensei cut her off. "You two may finish your meal and head to your room assignments. Artemis, your usual quarters still remain intact."
Remy raised her eyebrows at this. Artemis had definitely been here before. Maybe many times before that. As far as Remy was concerned, that was to Artemis' advantage—definitely not her own.
In a place where Remy had absolutely no allies, that was not a welcome thought.
"Show Remy to Cheshire's quarters," the Sensei said, "at your convenience. We will begin tomorrow at dawn. Until then."
The resounding door slam grated on Remy's sensitive ears as the Sensei left.
"Aren't these his quarters?" Remy asked Artemis. The blonde archer merely nodded, greedily gulping down more of her tea.
Remy had to admit he was more pleasant than what she had been expecting. She'd heard rumors about the man called Sensei. Generally, he was known as brutal, relentless and even somewhat cruel. It was the League of Shadows after all. Had Remy been born a Shadow and trained with them her whole life—as Artemis might have done—she probably would've been well acquainted with the Sensei.
"Don't hurt yourself thinking too hard," Artemis interrupted, glancing at Remy's face.
Remy shot her a look and went back to her plate of food. "When he said Cheshire he meant the—"
"Yeah, the Cheshire," Artemis said grimly, her expression strained. "You're being assigned to her."
"Assigned?" Remy raised her eyebrows.
"Yeah," Artemis said, "she'll watch out for you while you're here. Teach you stuff. Kind of like a mentor, except she'd sooner kill you than help you."
"You have a mentor?" Remy asked idly.
"Sort of," Artemis said irritably. "Sportsmaster, I guess. It's complicated."
"Complicated," Remy said slowly. "Right."
Artemis shot her a look, scoffing. "Look just—don't trust Cheshire. Sleep with one eye open, if you catch my drift."
Remy snorted. "Seriously?"
"Does it look like I'm joking?" she said flatly.
"Not at all," Remy snorted, "but from what I've heard of the team's previous missions, you've got a personal vendetta because she got—" Remy stopped suddenly, her eye lighting up. "You let her go!"
Artemis said nothing, stabbing at the food on her plate with a little too much vigor.
Remy clapped her hands together. "Oh that's really rich. You let her go, because you had to. Fellow member and all that jazz? That's really, really great."
Artemis allowed her fork to clang onto the plate as she stood up from her chair, swaying slightly as she did. "Let's just go. We're going to need some rest. I'll show you to Cheshire's place."
Cheshire was waiting for them, seated in a lotus position on the floor, her back to them. "Roulette, Artemis, welcome."
"I'm out," Artemis announced, physically shoving Remy further into Cheshire's apartment. "Remember what I said."
Artemis slammed the door on her way out, eliciting a chuckle from the seated woman. Slowly, Cheshire stood and turned to face Remy, a smirk on the Asian woman's face.
"I've been waiting a long time to meet you." Cheshire's voice was sleek and silky, almost too smooth, Remy thought.
Remy stood, her back to the door and her arms folded. "Roulette," she said, sticking out her hand. "You've heard of me?"
Cheshire chuckled shaking her hand. "You and Artemis have been a matter of discussion among the Shadows recently." The older woman walked closer to Remy—too close for Remy's taste—and took a strand of hair in between her fingers. "So young and already making great strides. It's impressive really." Her lips turned upward. "Reminds me of myself."
Remy stepped aside, out of the woman's grasp and smirked slightly. "It can't have been too long since you were my age."
Cheshire threw her head back and laughed. "Good answer." She continued to advance upon Remy. Suspiciously, Remy backed away. "What s Artemis been whispering into your ear about me?"
"Nothing," Remy shrugged, "much except that she knows you."
"Good." Cheshire narrowed her eyes, but stopped walking. "I can teach you a lot while you're here. Artemis was raised to be a Shadow; you're just a street fighter who was fortunate enough to have parents that paid for karate."
"It works well enough for me," Remy snapped.
Cheshire inclined her head and the two stood a short distance away from the other, measuring each other. "But do you know Krav Maga? Jujitsu? I can teach it all to you, and more."
Remy scoffed. "And you'll do this out of the goodness of your heart I suppose?"
"You're very astute." Cheshire grinned, her brown eyes shiningly menacingly. "That's wonderful. My last pupil was dumb as stone; I was forced to kill him." She clasped her hands. "But you, I think you will be the one to help solve this problem I have with Sportsmaster and his petulant little girl."
Remy raised her eyebrows. "Sportsmaster has a daughter?"
Cheshire smiled, predatorily. "I believe you're well acquainted with her. She goes by the name of Artemis."
"The trials are designed to test your physical and mental endurance," Cheshire explained, as they headed for the training grounds. "They are designed to reduce your to your basest human emotions, to teach you to funnel all the undesirables such as fear out of your body. Teach you to channel rage, anger, hate and ruthlessness into something you can use. Some of them, will simply test your pain tolerance. Do not make the mistake of underestimating the tests."
Remy nodded, silently taking all this in. Five years ago, she would've never believed that she would be in this place. It was almost mindboggling to her.
Cheshire smirked. "They'll pit you against each other. You and Artemis. Trust me when I say that you are the one who has to come out on top. You don't have Daddy Sportsmaster to bail you out if you fail. She does."
"Got it," Remy sighed, stifling a yawn. She hadn't been able to get more than a couple of hours of sleep, thanks to Artemis' little cryptic warning and Cheshire's incessant need to watch over her.
It was disturbing to say the least, when she simply sat in a chair across from your bed and watched as you tried to sleep, that same smug grin on her face.
"Speak of the devil," Cheshire muttered, lifting her head as Sportsmaster and Artemis met them along the winding path towards the training grounds.
"Jade," he greeted in a deep, baritone of a voice.
"Good morning, Lawrence," she replied scathingly. "Artemis."
The four of them fell into step together, remaining silent for a few contemplative seconds. Remy walked next to Artemis, avoiding the blonde archer's gaze.
"I see your pupil is still alive," Lawrence chuckled darkly. "That in and of itself is an astounding fact. Allow me to congratulate you, Roulette."
The tall, blonde man stuck his hand out, reaching over his daughter and gave her a mocking smile. Remy glanced at him and declined the handshake with a petulant smile.
Cheshire chuckled as they pulled up to the main dojo. Several other members were beginning to file into the room. "Unlike your pupil, Lawrence, mine is going to pass the trials and actually become a member of the Shadows."
The four stopped just outside the door. Jade and Lawrence were now standing almost nose to nose, as Remy and Artemis stood awkwardly to the side. Remy had yet to make eye contact with Artemis.
"You're forgetting who sponsored your pupil for membership," Lawrence ground out. "I can rescind that offer at any time."
"You wouldn't dare," Jade smirked. "I think you're just afraid that she'll outdo you're little mini-me."
"That's ridiculous," Lawrence scoffed. "Artemis is twice the warrior than most of the members of the Shadows, including this rookie."
Remy rolled her eyes. This is insulting and ridiculous, she thought. They were carrying on as if neither she nor Artemis were standing there. The both of them clearly had some unresolved issues with each other.
"It's generally known that breeding does not always win out in the end," Jade said, fixing Artemis with a languid glance. Artemis scowled at the older woman and narrowed her eyes as Jade slung and arm around Remy's shoulders. She stiffened but made no move to remove her arm. "Raz will be getting impatient."
"After you of course." Sportsmaster held out a hand, somehow making this normally gentlemanly gesture a joke.
With a scathing glance in the direction of Artemis and Sportsmaster, Remy immediately understood where Artemis got her attitude and rudeness from. Her father of course.
Remy almost snorted as the thought crossed her mind. Artemis had an excuse to act that way. What was hers?
Raz-al Ghoul was a tall, but generally unimposing man. Remy and Cheshire sat directly in front of the man, next to Artemis and her father. His face bore the scars and marks of a man who had seen many battles, maybe recently, maybe in his youth. Remy couldn't be sure.
She only knew that he was the most important person in the Shadows. The boss, the CEO, the head honcho, the big cheese, maybe even king if you were feeling dramatic.
"Welcome, initiates." Raz smiled down at them predatorily, his voice coming out like a hiss. Shivers ran down Remy's spine at the sound of it. "We gather today to begin the Trials required for membership into this organization which has stood for more than a thousand moon cycles."
Out of the corner of her eye, Remy could see other members of the Shadows staring intently at their leader. Many held candles in their hands, casting flickering light all around them.
"Artemis, please," Raz glanced over at Artemis and held out his hand. Artemis stood after a nudge from Sportsmaster and walked over to her place beside Raz. He addressed the congregation once more. "Most of you should know Artemis very well by now. She has the skill and talent with a bow years beyond her age. She will be a fierce competitor no doubt, but will she have the wherewithal to complete the tests before her? We shall see."
"Roulette." Raz turned his gaze to Remy and gestured for her to join them. Once more, he turned to address the congregation. "It is human nature to fear the unknown." He paused and Remy lifted her head slightly higher. "She is the unknown." He jerked a thumb in her direction. "Whether or not we should fear her, remains to be seen, however."
"Sportsmaster has offered up the both of them for membership," Raz explained. "And so today we begin the trials. If both of these warriors survive then they will be welcomed with open arms. Should they fail…"
Laughter filled the room as Raz smiled at the other members.
"…well we are all aware of the consequences of failure," he finished. He put one arm on Artemis' shoulder and the other on Remy's. "Report to Sensei to begin your first test. Observation is strictly forbidden for the first test. I warn all of you, do not interfere with the test or you will deal with me. Personally."
That shut the room up very quickly.
"Go," he told them. "We will disperse after you have been admitted into the testing room."
Remy and Artemis shared a loaded look and stepped away from Raz. They walked side by side out of the room, feeling the eyes of the Shadows on them.
Once they stepped outside into the cold morning air, with the door shut behind them, Remy felt as if she could breathe again. The dramatic feeling in the air immediately disappeared.
"They're a bit over dramatic," Remy observed.
Artemis glanced at her and said nothing. She opted for walking away instead. Remy sighed, rolling her eyes and followed after the blonde archer.
Remy sighed, rubbing her temples. She was in complete darkness in a room that was no bigger than a prison cell. If that wasn't bad enough, they had locked Artemis in here with her. She guessed that they'd been in there for about ten minutes, but Remy was generally not a very patient person.
What the hell is the point of this? Remy thought, sliding down to sit on her laurels. I could've stayed home and locked myself in a closet to 'administer' this test myself.
"What is the goddamn point of this?" Artemis muttered, echoing Remy's thoughts.
"Test us out for claustrophobia?" Remy snorted bleakly. "This is probably the easiest test I've ever taken. We're not even doing anything."
"Agreed."
Suddenly, a small, eye level slit opened up and Remy could see Artemis for a moment. Sensei appeared at the eye slit and shoved a wooden box in, allowing it to clang onto the floor. Artemis rushed forward to pick it up.
"I am turning on the lights now," he warned. "Your instructions are in the box."
That being said, Sensei slammed the slit, bathing them in darkness once more before a click was heard and a single overhead light was turned on. Remy noticed that the room was empty save for a single telephone hanging against the wall.
Remy and Artemis congregated in the middle of the empty room. Artemis got the box open after some finagling and pulled out a pair of pliers and a piece of paper.
Artemis read over the sheet of paper, a sick look coming over her face.
"What does it say?" Remy demanded, reaching for the paper.
The archer cleared her throat and began to read. "'Survival is everything to a Shadow. You must be able to adapt to any situation and fight tooth and nail for your life.'—the tooth and nail is in bold—'Enclosed in this box is a pair of pliers. The phone in the corner of your room is rigged to explode in five minutes. Dial the number 2689 to be released. Pain must be endured in some fashion to safely escape this room."
Remy felt a queasiness rush into her stomach and she now understood Artemis' hesitation to read the paper aloud. She swallowed.
"Go on," Remy said.
Artemis continued. "'Divide the task to fight tooth and nail '—that's in bold again—'for your lives among each other. Choose one pain or the other. Quickly.'"
Remy's throat felt dry as she stared at the pair of pliers. "This is disgusting. They can't mean—"
"Tooth and nail." Artemis' voice was grim. "I think they do. It was in bold."
The two girls were silent as they both stared at that menacing little instrument sitting between them. Remy suddenly wished she was somewhere else. Anywhere that wasn't here.
"Tooth or nail?" Remy asked bleakly, preparing her mind for the pain that was about to be endured.
Artemis thought about this for a moment and swallowed. "Teeth please."
"Pussy," Remy muttered, knowing it would be less painful. She had been sincerely hoping to have her teeth yanked from her mouth as opposed to the fingernail being ripped from her hands. That in and of itself spoke of how sick this "trial" was.
"You're up first then," Remy said, grabbing the pliers.
Artemis stopped her with a hand. "Hold on why do I have to go first?"
"If you pull out all my fingernails, I can't very well pull out some of your teeth now can I?" Remy sneered.
"F-fine," Artemis muttered, laying back. "Just do it quickly. We don't have much time."
Remy breathed out and gripped the pliers in her now sweaty hands. She focused on breathing in calmly and breathing out slowly as she leaned over Artemis. Killing was one thing, but torture? Remy felt very uncomfortable with this so-called 'test.'
The blonde archer opened her mouth and gripped the fabric of her shirt tightly in her hands, preparing herself for the pain.
"How many?" Remy asked.
"How should I know?" Artemis demanded. "Just do four of them."
Remy took another deep breath and put the pliers to one of Artemis molars, her hand shaking. Artemis looked up with wide eyes, gripping her shirt tighter.
Remy closed her eyes and started to put pressure on the tooth.
"Don't shut them!" Artemis practically shouted. "Watch what you're doing!"
"Right, sorry," Remy blew out a sigh. And pulled.
The resounding scream was horrifying as the tooth clanged to the floor. "This will be less painful if you do it more quickly," Artemis breathed out, her voice coming out slightly whiny. "Just do them all quickly!"
"Fine." Remy pulled another out.
She gripped another tooth and yanked.
And she pulled a fourth on out of the blonder archer's bleeding mouth.
Remy was shaky as she deposited the pliers next to Artemis' hand. The archer was writhing on the ground, holding her face and moaning.
"Come on. You can return the favor now." Remy nudged Artemis with her foot, feeling nauseas.
"Dammit that really hurt," Artemis moaned, sitting up.
"Not as bad as this is going to hurt," Remy said blackly.
"Good point," Artemis breathed out, ripping the bottom of her shirt up. She stuffed it into her bleeding mouth to stop the heavy flow of red liquid running onto the gray cement floor.
"Do it quickly," Remy said, sliding back against the wall, and holding out her right hand to the archer. "We can't have much time left."
Artemis gripped the pliers in her hand and dug the tips underneath the nail of Remy's index finger. As soon as Artemis began to pull, Remy could not help the guttural scream that was wrenched from her lips. It seemed to take an eternity before the nails was completely removed, a steady flow of blood now coming out.
Never, in her entire life, had she felt this much pain. Remy started to sweat from the pain as Artemis started on her middle fingernail.
Her ring finger was next. It slid out slowly and more painfully than the others.
She thought she heard Artemis apologize as she ripped the last finger nail out.
As Remy cradled her injured hand to her chest she felt tears slide down her face. She couldn't help it; it was a base reaction to the pain. She wiped her eyes with her uninjured hand as Artemis dropped the pliers and scrambled to the phone, dialing quickly.
"Shit, shit, shit," Remy moaned as her fingers started to bleed more quickly. The door to the room opened as Artemis put the phone down.
Sensei was smiling at the both of them broadly as he beckoned them to come outside of the room. Artemis was quick to leave the room behind and Remy followed closely after.
"Congratulations," he said, shutting the door behind him. "You've passed the first test."
Author's Note: Oh hey guys, sorry for this really lame AN but I have a question. I'm taking my driver's test at the DMV tomorrow (finally after a year of having my permit) and I was wondering what kind of crap—like paperwork—I need to bring. And what the general protocol is. So if any of you would like to indulge and help me out here it would be greatly appreciated. Think of it this way: if I get my license tomorrow, I can go shopping like every single day… and eat real food (we only have disgusting space food at my house) and that will make me happy. Happiness= faster updates (: Thanks!