Hey, I know it's been like forever since I last updated. It took a while to brainstorm for ideas, but I finally came up with something. For the next few chapters, it would be super GREAT if you guys could really give suggestion and opinions.
I'd like to thank all my readers; especially skatingandcruzing, Fanficrazy, mscorvette, Keep Moving Onwards, Lin36bffbecca, Tortor, Ravenhearst, and senorita artemis for reviewing.
Italics: flashbacks, inner thoughts, and references to Red Arrow (Speedy)
Warning: Characters are most likely OOC, and flashbacks may be incomprehensible.
Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. (No matter how much I'd like to be the owner)
"I don't get it," Artemis grumbled, "Why can't we go and actually do something?"
"Because," Speedy seemed grouchy too, "we were ordered not to."
Artemis's fingers itched to do something. To actually pull an arrow back and watch it hit.
Speedy must have noticed her frustration because he reminded her, "Orders are orders."
"I know!" she snapped. The worst part of the mission (besides the lack of action) was being paired with Speedy. Out of the seven people she could've been stuck with, it had to be Speedy.
"It is obvious that we cannot be amassed in large numbers," Kaldur stated.
"So what are we going to do?" Red Arrow folded his arms.
"We are going to split into pairs and spread out. Perhaps we can catch the enemy this way," Kaldur answered.
"Sweet! I call Megalicious!" Kid Flash declared.
"Well, someone's got to keep Wally out of trouble," M'gann said with a tight smile. To Artemis, it was obvious that she wanted to spend time with Superboy.
"Zatanna and I can take the west side of the perimeter," Robin cut in.
Then he blushed. "Sorry," he mumbled to Zatanna.
"No," Zatanna was smiling widely, "I don't mind at all."
"Guess that leaves me with Kaldur," Superboy muttered.
Artemis felt offended. What about her? She didn't want to be left with Kaldur or Red Arrow.
"Um, hello? Forgetting someone here?" Artemis pointed to herself.
Kaldur sent here a cold stare, "You are to go with Red Arrow…Unless…you have something of higher importance to do….."
Silence overfell the group
"Let's go…" Red Arrow had eventually called over his shoulder as he began to walk away.
A sudden flash of movement caught her eyes. Dark violet in the night, amongst the bricks.
"I see someone," Artemis whispered to Red Arrow.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" he asked crossly, as he began to prepare his shot.
Artemis's eyes narrowed, "I remember this girl from somewhere."
"What makes you even think it's a girl?" Red Arrow demands. He lowers his bow to look over at her.
An abrupt crash brought both of their attention to down below.
The sound of Zatanna chanting and Robin's "battle laugh" filled the air.
"C'mon. Let's join the fight!" Artemis eagerly leaned forward to hop from the roof.
"No," Red Arrow pulled her arm back. "It's always best to be at a distance. Besides, this could be a distraction."
Robin's explosive batarangs went off. Artemis was concerned that she no longer heard Zatanna.
"Are you kidding me? They need help down there!" Artemis shouted angrily, pulling her arm out of his grasp.
"Fine," his eyes narrowed. "You stay here." With that, he jumped over the edge.
Artemis peered over the rooftop.
Zatanna was knocked out cold on the ground. Robin was standing protectively over her body, throwing batarangs and attempting to shock the girl with his hand- held taser.
The girl was agile and managed to dodge every attack easily (it was scary to see that Robin couldn't get an attack in).
Red Arrow was trying everything to distract and disarm the girl. While the boys fought, Artemis took a closer look at the girl. She wore a dark violet cloak with a hood, and Artemis found it impossible to see her face. The girl moved too fast for her to take proper aim. At last, she slowed down a little.
Take the shot, Artemis! You can put a stop to this crazy "Mole" business by taking her out!
Artemis drew her bow back, taking her shot and letting the arrow fly fast and hard towards its target.
All of a sudden, Red Arrow managed to grab the cloaked girl.
Everything seemed like it was in slow motion.
3
2
1
The arrow made its mark…..in Red Arrow's right arm.
Wally, Connor, and M'gann had returned after fifteen minutes.
"Why did you call us?" Connor demanded, crossing his arms.
Batman said nothing to him, instead turning to address the rest of the group.
"This," he stated, pointing to the picture that appeared, "is an ancient artifact that is inscribed to have the highest value to the lowest person, and the lowest value to the highest person. It washed up on the very shores of Happy Harbor. Scholars believe that this is the legendary Fata Mundi dagger, which is rumored to be the key to the world."
"Wait," Wally interrupted, "key to ending the world, or key to saving the world?"
Batman seemed amused, "Both, perhaps."
"What does this have to do with us?" Artemis scowled.
"Several attempts were already made to acquire this artifact for the Shadows. They were all failed, but no doubt the League of Shadows is going to send their best in now. The police won't be able to handle highly trained assassins and thieves."
"So you want us to handle it?" Red Arrow seemed incredulous.
"Precisely. In about a week, we'll be able to find a more…..secure location for the dagger."
"This'll be easy." Connor scoffed, "We only have to protect it during the night for a week."
Batman's eyes narrowed, "Be on your guard."
Red Arrow reeled back, his arm burning in agony as an arrow embedded itself into his skin. The green fletching slapped him in the face. Artemis had shot him…..
The hooded girl took this chance to flee. Robin dashed off in pursuit. It killed Roy to have to let her go. He couldn't very well go after her.
"Omigod!" Artemis jumped down from the roof.
"I'm so sorry!" she tried to pull the arrow out, but he wouldn't let her.
I'm so dead…. Artemis thought.
"It's fine," Red Arrow said gruffly, pulling out the arrow swiftly. Crimson blood covered the point and spilled from his wound.
"No, it's not." Artemis seemed uncomfortable.
"Why?" His line of vision began to blur and the world around him started spinning.
"What happened?" Zatanna got up, rubbing her head.
Artemis stayed right next to Red Arrow, "I accidentally shot Red Arrow with one of my knockout arrows."
"The one with the knockout gas?" Zatanna started swaying; obviously she wasn't doing too well.
Artemis rushed to help her stand, "No…. I shot him with an arrow that injects a chemical through the target's bloodstream, rendering them unconscious."
Zatanna winced, "THAT might explain why he's on the ground."
"Hey. Wait. Where's Robin?" Zatanna looked around concerned.
"He went after the intruder, I'm sure he'll be- "Artemis started.
She was interrupted by a whoosh in the air. M'gann was eagerly flying towards them.
"Hey, I'm here to…." She began. Then she saw Red Arrow's body and screamed.
Zatanna and Artemis could only watch as within the timeframe of a minute, Kid Flash came running in and Superboy angrily jumping in.
"What's wrong M'gann?" Superboy asked concerned. His brows furrowed and he looked around for whatever made her scream.
"Woah! Why is there a pool of blood around Speedy-er Red Arrow?" Wally asked, as he zipped back and forth between Red Arrow's body and the girls.
Get traught. That's the only option you have, Artemis.
"M'gann," Artemis said instead, "get the bio-ship."
She nodded, and in no time the red ship loomed into view.
"Superboy!" came a sudden shout.
It was Kaldur. Evidently, Superboy had left in a rush upon hearing M'gann's scream, and Kaldur had followed.
Everyone turned to look at him.
Kaldur stared at all of them, "What are you doing? You are to be at your posts!"
"Red Arrow's hurt really bad." M'gann explained as she telepathically hoisted the said person up.
Kaldur's eyes narrowed and eventually landed on Artemis's arrow on the ground.
"You did this, didn't you?" he asked quietly.
"Kaldur, I swear…" Artemis attempted to explain herself.
"Man! She got away!" Robin angrily stalked back.
Upon seeing the whole group, he asked, "What happened here?"
"Artemis shot Red Arrow." Kaldur explained. His voice was cold, and Artemis was pretty sure that she knew what he was thinking.
"Well, yeah, I saw that…but" Artemis was pretty sure he was smirking a little bit, "When did you all get here?"
Obviously he thinks that Speedy will be just fine Artemis thought.
"We will talk later," Kaldur said at last. "Right now, we must get Red Arrow and Zatanna to the medical bay in the Cave."
M'gann morphed a kind of stretcher-ish thing in the bio-ship and laid Red Arrow down gently. Artemis helped Zatanna get to her seat.
"Artemis, we will need to speak of this later." Kaldur was no longer looking her in the eyes.
"Yeah, we'll see you all later," Robin stated, waving as the hatch began to close.
"Ugh!" Artemis groaned as she sank into her own chair.
She watched the twinkling lights of Happy Harbor go by. Then the treetops. And finally, the décor of the hangar.
Home sweet home.
I actually wanted to cut this chapter off after Artemis shot Red Arrow for a cliffhanger, but then I decided that I seriously owed you guys some story.
Senorita Artemis gave me the idea to have Artemis accidentally shoot someone, and I decided that it just HAD to be Roy. But we all know that Artemis has a better aim than that, so why DID the arrow hit Roy instead? Feel free to give your speculations!
I made up the "Fata Mundi" dagger (hence why it is a super lame idea); another thing you readers could answer is whether you think I should make this mission a lot longer and more important or not. The hooded girl is an OC of mine.
Please give your comments, opinions, and suggestions!