A/N: Hello beautiful people.
You guys are awesome. Has anyone told you that? All of you guys are the best readers an author could ever have. This chapter might be considered high T because of torture and stuff. I've never written anything like this chapter, so I would love your opinions on your thoughts of it, this chapter more than any other. I don't have any rants today. Carry On.
Disclaimer: I do this for fun, not profit. Young Justice is not mine.
The Confrontation
"What do you want with us?" Dick demands. Sportsmaster looks away from Wally. Underneath his mask, Wally could imagine the malicious smile on his face. To think that Artemis came from this man was unthinkable. Sportsmaster walked over to Dick.
"Quiet." He demands, knocking the chair that Dick was tied to over. Dick fell to the floor, landing with a thud on his face, still attached to the chair. Wally struggled against his restraints.
"Hey Sporty, pick on someone your own size!" Wally shouts at him.
"Now where would the fun be in that?" Sportsmaster asks as he grabs Megan's red hair and pulls hard. Megan screams out in pain. Conner glares at the man and growls in frustration.
"Leave her alone." Conner demands. Sportsmaster turns to him.
"What are you going to do about it? You can't even stop me from doing this to you." Before anyone realized what was going on, Sportsmaster had pulled out a knife and stabbed it into Conner's shoulder. He shouted out in pain as Zatanna and Megan screamed. Sportsmaster removes his knife.
"Pathetic." He says, shaking his head as he wipes his knife on a rag in his pants. "Who's next?" Wally was once again aghast that this man had raised Artemis. Artemis who was definitely rough around the edges, but was a good person. This man before him was pure evil.
"How about you?" Sportsmaster says zeroing in on Zatanna who seemed to shrink in her chair. He took a step towards her.
"Stop, please. I have money, please. My name is..." Dick shouts out in protest, but Sportsmaster kicks him in the gut before he could finish. Wally glared at the man in anger, wishing he could burn a whole through him. Jason was the closest to him and he could see the boy doing the same.
"I know who you are Grayson, I know who all of you are." Sportsmaster says. "This, is Kaldur Ahm." Sportsmaster approaches Kaldur. "Kaldur hails from the island of Atlantis. He was an orphan and his best friends were Garth and Tula. Sorry about that by the way, unfortunate thing when people stab you in the back. Especially when these people were your family or practical family."
Kaldur glares at the man, but remains silent. He moves over to Raquel. "Raquel Ervin of Dakota City. The girl from the streets who rose above it all with her friend Virgil. Raquel with an unfortunate history in the friends department. You just can't seem to get it right can you? First Noble, now Artemis."
"What do you mean by that?" Raquel asks.
"No talking." Sportsmaster yells, punching Raquel in the stomach. She bends over, coughing. Kaldur's glare intensifies. "Next we have Conner Kent, the boy with the distant father. The boy who thought he had found a family, but had only found a distant father. Families, they really aren't all they cracked up to be are they?"
Conner doesn't say anything. Wally cringes when he sees the blood beginning to soak the sleeve of his shirt.
"Megan Morse, a pretty girl with the "ideal" life. You ran away thought to come with your uncle to the ship though. Why? What is it with kids these days, always running, never dealing with their problems head on. You guys are quite the sneaky generation. Artemis is a prime example."
Wally bites his tongue before he could say something, knowing that now was not a good time to run his mouth. He watches as Sportsmaster moves Dick's chair into an upright position.
"Dick Grayson, adopted son of the billionaire Bruce Wayne. Best friend of Barbara Gordon and adopted brother of Jason Todd. Do these people know who your real parents were?" Wally looked at the man in shock. Only Wally, Bruce, and Barbara knew the truth. How did this man know? Dick glares at the man, but remains silent. "Funny how secrets seem to run among you guys." He moves over to Zatanna.
"The beautiful Zatanna Zatara, the one and only daughter of the world renowned Giovanni Zatara." Sportsmaster begins, he pulls out a knife and hits her with the butt of it. Dick winces as Zatanna cringes in pain. "Beauty is often deceiving. I should know, I have two daughters and a wife who all betrayed me."
"Jason Todd, the newest of the group, the trash from North Gotham. How's your mom these days? I remember her from when I lived there, before my family betrayed me." Jason stares at the ground, in anger.
"Don't you dare talk about her." He seethes. Sportsmaster laughs and then punches the boy in the face. He was saditistic, seeming to enjoy all of their pain.
"See you have the North Gotham spirit in you. Sorry about your loss, your mother was...fascinating." Sportsmaster taunts. Jason fights angrily against his restraints.
"And finally we come to Wally West, the golden boy. So Wally, did you ever figure it out?" Sportsmaster asks.
"I did, right before you kidnapped us." Wally spits in his face. Dick stares at him in confusion, they all do.
"Smart boy. I wouldn't be surprised though if my daughter is on a plane right as we speak. She and her sister are like that, every Crock girl for herself." Realization dawns on everyone's faces as their glares intensify.
"Artemis isn't like that." Wally says. Sportsmaster laughs.
"Oh really? And how long have you known her? Three months. I raised her. I know what she is like. If it's fight or flight, she will always pick flight. Now, let's continue with this meet and greet."
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Artemis angrily shot another arrow at the target, her thirtieth bulls-eye in a row. She notched another arrow and got ready to shoot, not even flinching when Roy entered. She released the arrow. Make that thirty-one.
"Artemis, Gotham prison called back. Your mom is alive. They've moved her to a more secure location." Roy tells her gently. A small part of her felt free, but she was still weighed down by the weight of her friends' kidnapping.
"Great, but my-our-friends are still in mortal danger, and we can't do anything." Artemis quickly lets another arrow fly. Thirty-two bulls-eyes.
"They'll...they'll be found." Roy states. "I just got back from the police station with Bruce and Barry. They have almost their full force out looking for him."
"They won't find him." Artemis tells him, letting another arrow fly. Thirty-three bulls-eyes.
"They will."
"No they won't. He wants something of me. They won't be found until he wants me to find them. It's all part of his sick games that he plays. But I'm done." Artemis watches as she gets another bulls-eye. Thirty-five. "I'm going to find him and I am going to kill him." Thirty-six.
"Artemis..."Roy starts uneasily.
"Don't. This needs to stop now. I am tired of always looking over my shoulder and living in fear. I just want to be Artemis! I want to be Artemis who can live a normal life with a normal family and a normal boyfriend." Thirty-seven.
"Killing him won't do anything."
"You don't think I can do it." Thirty-eight.
"Artemis..."
"He was training me. Did you know that? He taught me how to kill. He was going to make me kill someone the night he got caught. I refused which is why he got so angry and the police were called in." Artemis says. Thirty-nine.
"Killing him won't do anything. He's your dad Artemis."
"He reign of terror needs to stop. Sending him to prison doesn't do anything. We are in this mess because he escaped. I shouldn't have even come to this ship, I should have just killed him." Artemis says, knowing she was mostly just mumbling at this point. Forty. "I led him right to them. How could I have been so stupid? He's going to hurt them. He's going to break them. This is all my fault. And I can't don anything about it! But I can kill him, I can put a stop to all of this and just kill him." Forty-one.
"Oliver has told everyone to stop you if you try to leave this ship." Roy tells her. She laughs.
"I don't care Roy. He is going to pay." Artemis says, lowering her bow. She grabs a bunch of arrows and puts them in a quiver she had grabbed from the back of the room. She put it on her back and begun to walk towards the door. Roy steps in her way.
"Don't you dare walk out that door Artemis Crock." Roy says. Artemis glares at him and before he could comprehend, Artemis was kicking him in the face. He fell to the ground.
"I'm sorry Roy. Tell Oliver and Dinah that I am sorry, but I need to stop him. I need to do this." Artemis says, before she kicks Roy one last time in the head and he blacks out.
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Wally spit out blood onto the floor. His mouth was bloody and he was a little worse for wear but it seemed to have stopped him from his beating of Raquel. The girl was still breathing shakily. Kaldur had been knocked out about an hour ago and had yet to stir.
"That all you got Sporty? Come on, I can do this all day." Wally taunts, tasting blood in his mouth. He spits again onto the ground. Sportsmaster only laughs.
"So you're the boy my daughter picked to date. Wow, I thought I taught her better. She could have so much better then a buffoon like you." Sportsmaster says shaking his head. Wally glares at him.
"I don't really think you get a say in the matter, especially since Oliver already gave me the whole protective father speech." Wally says, watching as the man grows angry. He punches Wally in the stomach again before walking away. He walks out of the room, closing a door behind him.
Wally was pretty sure that they had been missing for almost twenty-four hours. He knew that they were probably all looking for them, he just hoped that Artemis wasn't. He didn't want his girlfriend anywhere near this man. He was honestly scared for what he would do to her if he got his hands on her.
He surveyed his friends. Dick had a black eye forming and was wheezing whenever he breathed, most likely he had a broken rib or two. Zatanna had bruises up and down her arms and her cheek. Megan was the least beat up, a few scratches and bruises. Conner on the other hand had several knife wounds and bruises, always trying to take the heat off of Megan. Raquel had one long cut on her forearm and her nose was most likely broken and bleeding a lot. Kaldur was knocked out after a blow to the head and three long jagged cuts. Jason had a cut on his cheek and several bruises. Wally knew he looked similar to Jason. The two of them receiving much of the same treatment.
"Where did he go?" Megan asked tentatively.
"I don't know. I just hope he doesn't come back anytime soon." Jason says. He looks over at Dick, concern on his face. "You alright bro?"
"I'm fine, just not really feeling the aster right now." Dick says. Zatanna tries to laugh but it quickly morphs into tears. Dick speaks quietly to her, trying to move his chair closer to her.
"Con, you okay?" Raquel asks.
"I'm fine." He simply replies, seething with anger.
"I can't believe that man raised Artemis. She's nothing like him." Jason states.
"He must be her big secret." Megan says quietly.
"Not much of a secret anymore." Raquel replies.
"No, it isn't." Conner responds, through gritted teeth. Megan struggles to try and reach over and touch him, but she can't. She sighs sadly.
"Do you think they are looking for us?" Jason asks.
"Course they are Jay." Dick assures him. "Knowing Bruce he probably has the whole police force on it."
They all lapse into silence for a while. Wally tries not to focus on the pain he felt, instead thinking about ways to get revenge on Sportsmaster. For doing this to him and his friends and for what he did to Artemis. Wally would give him five scars for everyone that Artemis got because of him. Roy said that he hadn't been abusive, but something obviously must have happened for her to get those scars.
Sportsmaster enters about an hour later, carrying a single water bottle. He walks over to each of them, pouring water onto their faces, whether they were ready to catch it or not. The water woke Kaldur up who went right back to glaring at Sportsmaster after he made sure that everyone was still there.
"Why are you doing this?" Kaldur asks, his voice shaking with anger. For the first time, Wally witnessed him angry instead of his usual calm.
"I'm trying to send a message to my baby girl. She can't mess with me and get away with it. I guess you guys just got caught in the crossfire." Sportsmaster taunts. An arrow suddenly cuts through the room from the door, ripping the right sleeve of his shirt. Nine set of eyes turn to the doorway, to see Artemis standing there.
"Message received, now let them go. Now." Artemis demands, focusing the bow on her father. She steps further into the room.
"I see you still like the bow, even though I was the one to teach you how to shoot it." Sportsmaster says, pulling out a javelin. "Nice to see you my baby girl. now, how did you find us anyway?"
"Don't call me that, I'm not your girl. And I simply went to where I would have gone if I were you. You taught me all of your tricks remember?" Artemis says, an arrow trained on his chest. Wally could see her hands shaking though.
"Artemis, what the hell are you doing here?" Wally demands angrily. She was supposed to be safe. Sportsmaster punches him in the face.
"Hey! You touch any of them and I shoot." Artemis yells angrily, fire in her eyes.
"Oh really? You couldn't kill then and I doubt you can now."
"Want to bet?"
"You won't. Not with all of your little friends here." Sportsmaster says. He trains his javelin on Dick. "I could kill this boy and I wouldn't think twice about it. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve. Lower your bow." Artemis hesitates. "You know I will do it."
Artemis lowers her bow. "Good girl." Sportsmaster sends the javelin through his shoulder. Dick screams in pain.
"Stop this!" Artemis shouts, rushing her father. He pushes her aside. She lands against a dark wall in the dimly lit basement with a thud but she quickly bounces him. Sportsmaster trains his weapon on Wally.
"How about him? I know you have especially strong feelings for this boy, despite how many times I told you that nobody will ever love you. Maybe he is the exception. You know what happens to exceptions though, don't you?" Sportsmaster goes to lower the javelin through Wally. He stared at the tip, truly afraid for the first time.
"Stop this, please. I'll do anything." Artemis begs. Sportsmaster stabs the javelin through his arm. Wally yells out as burning pain courses through him, but at least he wasn't dead.
"Anything?" Sportsmaster says with obvious delight.
"Anything, just let them go and don't ever harm them or anyone else from the ship ever again." Artemis tells him.
"You know what this means don't you?" Sportsmaster asks.
"I do." Artemis responds.
"Don't do this Artemis." Jason shouts in protest. The two Crocks ignore him.
"And you're willing to sacrifice yourself for them. Wow, I guess you and Jade and I are less alike then I thought." Sportsmaster says.
"I am nothing like you and Jade." Artemis says defiantly. Inside she only felt defeated though. She knew she was in no condition to take him head on in a fight without her bow. She hadn't done any sort of training in years and she would need those years to take him on. If she was going to save her friends, she was going to have to sacrifice herself. Oliver was not going to be happy, but she needed to do this.
"Maybe not now, but you will be." Sportsmaster tells her. "Come along baby girl. It's time we leave."
Artemis just nods. Sportsmaster picks up the bow and snaps it in half. "No more need for that pesky thing. I should have never taught you that thing in the first place."
"Artemis!" Wally shouts.
"You need to let them go." Artemis tells him.
"I'll send the police a tip. You and I have a plane to catch. Looks like I am getting my perfect assassin yet." Sportsmaster says with a hint of glee in his voice.
"Artemis, stop!" Zatanna cries out. Her father steps through the door, she looks back in on her friends.
"I'm so sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I...I..." Artemis closes her mouth and walks out of the door, leaving them behind.
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Wally heard the sirens first. Zatanna and Raquel had fallen asleep an hour earlier. He and Dick exchanged sad looks as they heard the steps approaching the door. The police broke in, quickly followed by Oliver, Bruce, John, Arthur, Augustus, Clark, Barry, Roy, and Dinah. Barry ran over to his nephew, removing the javelin still stuck in his arm and untying him from the chair. The other parents/guardians did the same.
Zatanna was crying softly into her father's shoulder. Jason and Bruce were both attending to Dick. Augustus carried in his arms a limp Raquel. Arthur supported Kaldur and Clark did the same to Conner, looking concerned about his son for one of the first times ever. John had an arm wrapped around his niece. As Wally was released from his restraints his eyes were drawn to the concerned looking Oliver as he searched around the dank basement.
"Where's Artemis?" Oliver asks. Roy and Dinah looked equally concerned.
"She...she..." Megan tries to get out, before she begins to cry, turning towards her uncle to cry on his shoulder.
"She traded herself for us." Jason says quietly. Wally stares at the ground. He failed as a boyfriend. He hadn't been able to stop her. Now who knew what was to become of her.
"No." Dinah gasps, tears forming in her eyes. "No, no, no, no." Roy punches a wall. Wally noticed then a bruise forming on his face.
"This...this can't be true." Oliver says his face screwed up in confusion. A police officer comes to the door.
"We've combed the building. Neither the girl nor Sportsmaster were to be found. We're heading back to the station to start a nationwide manhunt for the two of them. We'll find them." The police officer says. The officer walks away. Wally watches as a grown man begins to cry and collapses to the floor, his fiance beside him. The other guardians all looked at him with sadness. Wally watched until he couldn't anymore. He stared at his hands instead, his useless hands that hadn't done anything.
Artemis was gone.
A/N: So again, I really want to know what you guys thought of this. Was it good? Or not. Was the torture okay? Was Sportsmaster in character? Was Artemis? I really want your guys opinions. Thank you. Chapter twenty-five will hopefully be out soon. I'm pretty sure that this story will be over this week. I have a school vacation, so plenty of time to write and finish this up. I'm actually really sad to see it ending. Until next the chapter.