A New Beginning

Mission Gone Wrong

Artemis' POV 

"Hello, Artemis," Sportsmaster growled at me. Jade stood behind him, smirking. "Long time no see. I thought that you quit the gig. Apparently not. You're still disobeying me."

"I sure am," I snapped back. 

"That's a bad decision. You sure that you don't wanna change sides, Baby Girl?"

"I'm, sure, Sportsmaster."

He slashed my face with his javelin. "It's Dad to you, Miss Priss. Don't disrespect me again."

I looked over at Jade. "So Jade can disrespect you, but I can't?"

"What do you mean by that?" Dad asked. 

"I mean, she isn't doing anything. She's literally just standing there! Is that really ok with you?"

Sportsmaster glared at my sister. She glared at me and threw her sai. It landed in my left leg, making it buckle. I instinctively wanted to yank it out, but I knew that it was better to leave it in. I straightened my leg as much as I could.

"Do ya wanna accuse me of doing nothing now?" Cheshire asked cruelly. 

I opened my mouth to answer when I felt a sharp pain in the area between my ribcage and my stomach. I heard a pained scream. It took me a solid twenty seconds to realize that I was the one doing the screaming. Sportsy smirked at me and yanked out his javelin. I could vaguely register myself starting to sink to the ground, clutching the wound, watching my so-called father and older sister disappeared into the shadows.

I faintly heard Wally yell my name, but it was faint, and it sounded far away. So, so far away. I watched as he knelt next to me and pulled me into his lap. Tears of pain started streaming down my face. I was gasping, trying to remember how to breathe while black dots started to cloud my vision. "Artemis! Arty, are you ok?"

I tried to snap back; what do you think, Sherlock? but no sound came out. 

"You will  NOT die on my watch, Arty-mis!" He said desperately.

"But I AM dying Baywatch. I know it; you know it." I said, somehow finding my ability to speak. 

Wally's eyes were starting to tear up. "I swear to God, Artemis Lian Crock, if you die on me, I will kill you myself on the way back." A tear ran down his cheek, quickly followed by more.

I managed to give him a weak smile. "It's not your fault, alright. Wally West, this is not in any way your fault. Remember that, k? Tell... tell my family, including Ollie and Dinah, that...that I love them. Oh, and one more thing..."

"What is it, Arty?" He asked, though I suspected that he already knew what I was about to say.

"I love you, Wally." My eyes drifted from his emerald green ones, and I stared up at the stars, watching my life flash before my eyes as they started to close, subjecting me to darkness.