Disclaimer-Sadly, I don't any of the rights to the DC universe, just to my thoughts.
So, since the poll seems to be unanimous, here we go!
Warnings-Contains blood, slight torture, and mild language. I think the teen warning should cover the story.
8:00 P.M.
The video was very similar to the last ones. As the man stepped on screen, everyone watched anxiously. Artemis would not be woken by his means of slapping. Unexpectedly, he removed the gag from her mouth, allowing everyone so see the steady, larger stream of blood coming from it. He quickly replaced it with a new one, which soon started to turn scarlet.
Cheshire traded places with the man. She tried a slightly gentler way of waking up the archer, slapping her with less force like you would do to someone who fell asleep. Surprisingly enough, it worked. Artemis's eyes opened slowly, morphing to angry glares at the assassin and someone off to the side, presumably the man.
Everyone released a breath they hadn't realized they'd been holding. Soon after, they tensed, realizing something. Where this arrow hit could tell how long Artemis would last or if she'd be gone within the minute.
Cheshire stepped back again to wave at the camera. The arrow spun in her fingers and it almost looked like she was making a decision of where to put the arrow. Finally, she seemed to settle. If possible, it seemed like the seven teens tensed even more. The arrow struck through the exposed skin in front of Artemis's stomach. A sharp intake of air from the teenagers echoed in the otherwise deserted room.
Artemis paled even more. They saw the conscious effort she made to keep her eyes open, even just barely. They could only hope, again, that the damage was minor. The gag, which had still had some white parts before, had completely turned scarlet within two seconds after the arrow had been stabbed through her stomach. Blood oozed from the corners of her mouth behind the gag as her body tried to cough it up.
Somehow, she was managing consciousness throughout this. It took a lot of effort; that they could see. It was because she knew it was unlikely for her to wake up again if she fell unconscious again. They didn't try to knock her out again, only paned down to reveal the message.
Surprise.
'Surprise?' The word echoed around the link. They looked up to see at least twenty guards, with guns, as well as fifteen genomorphs.
'Genomorphs? What are genomorphs doing in a Shadows operation?' Red Arrow and Zatanna were rather confused at Robin's words. At their looks, he simply gave a one-word answer. 'Cadmus.' Still, it didn't help much. Nonetheless, Kid Flash, Aqualad, Superboy, and Robin felt a sense of Déjà vu as the G-Gnomes used telepathy to send them all into blackness. Miss Martian was unprepared to stop them.
The genomorphs parted to let a blonde man in a hockey mask through to see the fallen heroes. Sportsmaster smiled behind the mask. "Take them and the archer to the dungeons. Keep the archer separate from the others. The Light will decide what we do from there."
8:32 P.M.
Red Arrow was the first to wake up. Doing so, he noticed a few things had changed, most noticeably the absence of his bow and arrows. He sat up, rubbing his head and stifling a groan. Upon examination of his surroundings, he found that he and the others were in one large, medieval-looking cell. Fire lapped up from torches spaced evenly throughout the space. He knew this was to keep M'gann and Kaldur weak. The cell was three walls bars and one stone. All emitted a slight green glow. Kyptonite, for Superboy. Kid Flash had nothing done to him, like Robin and himself, save for the missing bow and arrows and the Boy Wonder's utility belt. Looking over to Zatanna, he could tell that she'd been drugged; keeping her unconscious prevented her from using magic.
Upon closer inspection, he saw a figure in the cell across from his shared. The cell itself had been 'treated' the same way as their own. However, once he'd identified the figure, it was clear that it was not to keep her in, but them out. Artemis looked horrible, far worse than on camera. Even in the firelight, he could see how pale she was. The blood on her uniform could have camouflaged her. The arrows remained, which was almost a relief. If they'd been removed, she'd surely have bled out. However, she was no longer bound or gagged, revealing the blood near and on her mouth. Oh, and she was looking at him, of that, he was sure.
He shook his head but before he could say anything, her rough, weak, and rather quiet voice spoke up first with just a single word. "Why?" Even that took effort and she coughed up blood, adding another splatter to a floor that he could now see had blood nearly covering it, the different splatters in varying states of drying.
He moved towards the bars of the cell, millimeters away when she spoke up again. "Don't touch them." Cough. "There's an electric current running through them." The guy that had brought her in had hit one of the bars before he'd had the bright idea to turn them off. She'd had a few thousand volts transferred to her body from his. How she'd manage to stay awake through that surprised even her.
He dropped his hand, sighing. "Why?" He decided to answer her earlier question. "Because they would never have been the same. Because I'm sure GA is pulling his hair out at the moment. Because my friends would lose and I'd lose them. Because they care about you more than I ever knew." He said, sounding almost defeated. He sighed again before looking at the others then back to her. "You do realize what a toll this has taken on them, right? It's absolutely horrible to see those videos."
Artemis gave the smallest hint of a nod. "I know. I feel horrible about it." She coughed. "And I do plan on telling them when they wake up." She coughed more, crimson covering the floor. He didn't have to ask to know that she meant telling them about her not really being Green Arrow's niece. He nodded.
"How are they?" She asked glancing at the others.
"Kid Flash, Robin, and I are fine. The fire isn't strong enough to hurt Miss Martian and Aqualad, same with the Kryptonite and Superboy. Zatanna's been drugged but she'll be fine." He paused. "How long do you think you can last?"
"At least a few hours, as long as I don't move much." Her voice was little more than a whisper as she spoke before coughing again. Red Arrow almost winced as he watched her, resisting the urge to turn away. "Can you wake Robin up? They didn't take his computer. We might be able to figure out a way to get you guys out of here."