When Artemis felt the thick fog lift from her mind, she felt like hurling. Her wrists were chaffing, reopening the bloody cuts on them. Her muscles were on fire as if someone was burning them, but her skin was cold to the touch, like she was in a meat locker. The next stabs of pain came from her shoulders. From the agony screaming across them, she figured they must have almost been ripped off. Feeling more sick than when she woke up, she looked down and retched, watching the bile mix with the blood at her feet. Then she saw him and everything cam rushing back.

A few days earlier...

The night was warm and clear, the moon shone so brightly it almost turned night into day. Artemis leapt from building to building, gaining more and more momentum as she went. She fired arrows as she went, pinning muggers, thieves and would be killers to walls and street lamps. It had been a pretty good night. At least up till now it had. As she grappled into a less than ideal area of town, she spotted a familiar red-haired and bad-tempered archer. She slowed down and watched him take out the thugs all around him. It looked like he had infiltrated (now isn't that ironic) a ring being used by Count Vertigo. Artemis' eyes widened in horror as she looked above Red Arrows head to see a sniper, cleverly hidden, take careful aim and Red Arrow's crimson head. Without a second thought, Artemis shot an exploding arrow at the feet of the sniper, collapsing the perch he was on sending him tumbling into the brawl below. Artemis flipped down from her vantage point, landing back to back with Red Arrow.

"Still haven't learned to radio ahead huh rookie?" Red Arrow smirked, sending a mook flying head first into a nearby wall.

"Artemis to Arrow. Watch out." Artemis recited dryly but with a matching smirk playing on her lips. Ever since the mission at Haley's circus and Artemis' admission to her family ties, the duo had reconciled and became as close as a brother and sister... Which in fact they were about to become. After her mother passed away from a heart attack, Ollie, Roy and Dinah had insisted they bring her into their family officially. Now they waded through the mooks easily taking out the swarms of them.

"Twenty bucks says I can take out more bad guys then you, Red!"

"I'll raise you fifty and the loser has to go around the cave acting like a servant for the winner!" And so the body count began. Both Archers were so against losing that they pushed even harder than normal. But if they hadn't been focusing solely on beating the other, they may have noticed the sniper slink of into the night.

Green Arrow was mad. Not only did he and Dinah have a fight, resulting in them 'taking a break.' (I mean who was he? ROSS?!) But a long with that, the Joker had decided to run rampant in his city. The psycho had already killed four people, all of whom were teenage girls with long blonde hair...

"Shit." GA cursed aloud at this realization.

"What's wrong, Robin Hood? You need the big bad Bat to stop me? Can't even take care of your own city, Archery Boy? AHAHAHAHAHA!" the Joker jeered throwing a knife with surprising accuracy toward the archer's face. In truth of fact, Green Arrow was going to call Batman, assuming the detective didn't already know Gotham's most dangerous lunatic was here. But Joker's taunts had stuck a nerve. If ever a villan from Star, Central, Metropolis ran into Gotham, it became 'the Bats' problem. Other heroes weren't even allowed to pursue their own villain! Green Arrow didn't need anyones help watching over his own city, (well maybe a bit from Artemis, Red Arrow and Black Canary...) He shot a net arrow toward the clown, but it was slashed by a well placed knife. Next was a foam arrow that was expertly dodged. It was time for that bit of help from the proteges!

"Green Arrow to Artemis and Red Arrow if your here! I could use a little help over here!" The teens exchanged a glance. They were just finishing counting the goons they had beaten up. It was a tie.

"What's up GA?" Artemis responded.

"I need some assistance in catching a certain homicidal clown!"

"You mean the Joker?" Red shot her a look.

"Do you know of any other homicidal clowns?" he sassed.

"I meant what's the Joker doing in Star city? It's bad enough seeing him in the Gotham papers."

"Don't know, don't care! Ask him when we catch him!" Green Arrow sounded a bit hassle.

"Tie breaker?"

"Your on! Where are?" Red Arrow asked sending a beacon to the police.

"On the corner of eleventh and Main heading West. And if you wouldn't mind hurrying up, this guy is pulling knifes out of the strangest places!" Artemis and Red Arrow took off sprinting. They flew across the rooftops in a way that would have made Robin proud as the rushed to their mentors aid.

"I'll meet up with Arrow and you head him off at Fourth!" Without giving her enough time to respond, he veered suddenly to the left. She stuck out her tounge but did as he said and with a new burst of speed rocketed toward fourth and Main.

Meanwhile Red Arrow had misjudged his timing slightly and hurtled into Green Arrow sending them flying into the ground uncomfortably fast. They leapt up faster than Kid Flash, but the Joker had already disappeared from sight. the emerald archer looked around and let out an angry stream of cuss words. Now Batman would defiantly be the one to bring Joker down.

"Relax Ollie," Red Arrow said brushing himself off and picking up his fallen bow. "I sent Atry ahead to cut him off at fourth. We'll get him! Hey wait up!" But Green Arrow was already off and running. Joker was killing girls with long blonde hair and Artemis had the longest and blondest hair he knew, not to mention she had kicked him in the face the last time they met. This simply screamed BAD, DANGER, and IMMENSE PERIL.

"Green Arrow to Artemis come in... Come in Artemis! ARTEMIS!" He rounded the corner and sprinted down fourth, peering into alley ways and up on rooftops as he went. Finally he came to a stop on the second to last alley. When Roy finally caught up he saw what he ws praying not to find: Ollie, kneeling by a pool of fresh blood and clutching a broken bow that lay next to an empty quiver.

So was it good? Should I keep going? R&R! Thanks for reading!