John took them out of Conner mind and now they are in a mind that has flowers, red and black cards, and hats floating around
"Whos head are we in now" Wally asked
"You in mine baywatch" Artemis said while she appeared
"Oh great we get to see one of Artys memories" Wally said teasingly
"stop calling me Arty" Artemis snapped and glared at Wally
"Your no fun" Wally complained
"Stop calling me Arty and I might be more fun"
"Well what else are we supposed to call you for a nickname"
"I dont care just not that ok. Can we get this over with already"
"Yes, lets get going" Canary said
The memory started to play. The team was looking at a room that had 3 beds, a poster of Alice in Wonderland on the wall, a dresser, and some nightstands
"Hurry up or you will be doing this until you pass out" Someone yelled
"Not like we dont already do this all day long" A girl with long black hair said. she looked to be about 12
"Come on lets just go before we get yelled at even more" A little voice came
A little girl who looked to be about 6 with blond hair got out of one of the beds. Her hair went down to half of her back. She had dark grey eyes that looked like they would either pierce your soul or make you want to do anything she says
"Is that you Artemis" Kaldur asked
Everyone turned to Artemis only to see her trying to hold back tears. She simply nodded her head up and down not trusting her voice. Since she didnt say that she want to stop the memory they continued to watch it
"Yeah I guess, you wake up Polly while I go and by time for you" The older girl said
"Thanks Jade" Artemis said
Jade just gave her thumbs up before walking out of the room. Artemis went over to the other bed and started to shake the covers. There was a grunt and then a pillow being thrown at Artemis who dodged it and rolled her eyes
"Come on Polly you have to get up, or else he is going to be mad" Artemis said
"Im sore from yesterday, im not getting up"
"Oh come on, I had to do more than you and Im still up. Come on Polly get up...for me" Artemis said
"Fine, you know I hate it when you do that Arty"
A boy looking the exact same as Artemis but with lot shorter hair sat up. His eyes where a bit darker than hers but none the less they looked like the same person
"You happy now im up"
"Hurry up and get dressed so we dont get beat even more" Artemis said while dragging the boy out of the bed
The boy hurried up and got dressed. He and Artemis ran down the halls into a room that looked like a gym. When they got there Jade was punching a punching bag while a tall guy with blond hair was watching her. When he heard the door open he looked over and glared
"Your late"
"It was my fault father sorry"Polly said
"I dont care both of you will be staying longer"
"Yes father" Both of them said
"Wait thats your father. itsnt that sportsmaster" Wally asked
"Yeah" Artemis said in a whisper
"So your related to villains" Megan asked
"Yeah"
"Wait so then you are also related to Cheshire" Conner said
"Yeah Jade there is Cheshire"
"Harder Jade" Sportsmaster yelled
Jade grunted and started to punch the bag harder. Sportsmaster then turned to Artemis and Polly
"Apollo your up"
Apollo got up and walked over to Spotsmaster and got into a fighting stance. The two began to fight while Artemis was watching them or more like studying them. They kept fighting but everyone could tell Apollo was getting tired, Jade had stopped punching the bag after hitting it 500 times and was now watching the two fight. Apollo suddenly got punched so hard that he hit the wall behind him, Artemis wanted to go and see if he was ok but she knew that wasnt allowed
"Get up boy" Sportsmaster yelled
Apollo tried to get up but he couldnt. Sportsmaster walked over to him and picked him up by his hair. Apollo was trying to not show he was in pain but it was clear all over his face
"Worthless, you would have already been dead in battle" Sportsmaster spat at him
He then threw Apollo over to where Artemis and Jade were. Apollo rolled a bit but then stopped on his stomach, you could tell he was breathing hard
"Your up girl"
Artemis got up and walked over and did the same thing Apollo did. The only difference was the fact Sportsmaster pulled out two swords. They started to fight, Artemis had to constentlly dodge the swords and try to get a hit on him which rarely happened. Apollo after a while got up and watched the fight going on
"Everytime, why only her" Apollo asked
"I dont know Polly, I wish I did though" Jade said
The two were still fighting. Artemis lasted longer than her brother but she was getting tired. The more tired she got the more slashes of the sword hit her, but she powered through it until she couldnt. Artemis stopped fighting which resulted in her getting kick in the stomach and falling to the ground
"Get up now"
Artemis tried to but between the blood lose and the exhaustion she couldnt but sportsmaster wasnt having it. He started to walk over to her when Apollo spook up
"She to tired to get up plus she lost to much blood"
"Shut up boy, you just sit and watch"
"But she is hurt! she cant go on" Apollo yelled
Sportsmaster whipped around to face him, you could tell by Apollos face he was terrified. Artemis then stood up a bit wobbly but she stood up any ways. Sportsmaster smiled and walk back over to Artemis who looked like she was trying her hardest to stay awake
"For taking that break without permission you will be staying here longer, and since your brother had to speak up for you, you will be punished for that to"
"Wait no punish me not her" Apollo yelled
"Apollo stop, your going to make it worse" Jade said
"No, Im the one that spoke so I should get punished not her. me no..."
"Apollo....stop...its fine" Artemis said slowly while giving him a small smile
Apollo pierced his lips at that, he wanted to say more but he didnt. Jade just put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a sad smile since she knew there was nothing that could be done
"Artemis" Megan said quietly
"Yeah I know, it gets worse" Artemis said sadly
"How much worse can it get" Wally asked
"Much"
"Can I asked something" Canary asked
"Sure" Artemis said
"Who is this Apollo. We know Jade is Cheshire and Sportsmaster is your father but who is Apollo"
"Apollo is... he is my twin brother"
"That explains why you two look so much alike, wait why dont you ever talk about him" Wally asked
"You will see"
"You two go back to your room, me and Artemis are going to do some more training"
Apollo didnt want to leave his sister but he knew if he stayed then everything would be worse so he walked out with Jade. Sportsmaster turned back to Artemis and started to swing his sword, Artemis surprisingly dodge it. That didnt last long though Artemis started to take hits again
"I thinks that enough for now, now do your usual 700 punches"
Artemis grunted but some how stay standing and started to punch the punching bag. At punch number 338 Artemis fell foward and hit the ground, she didnt even try to get back up
"What do you think you are doing, you still have 362 more punches to do" Sportsmaster yelled
Artemis didnt get up though, she was in to much pain to get up and seeing black spots from the blood lose. Sportsmaster kicked her to try and get here to stand up but she still didnt get up. Since she wasnt getting up he picked her up by her hair and started to walk down the halls. He got to a door that had mutiple locks on it, he opened it and threw Artemis in and then locked all of the locks
"You will stay in there for a week. Im going out Jade clean the gym" Sportsmaster yelled
Artemis was just laying on the ground letting her blood from the open cuts pool around her not really caring
"Arty can you hear me" Apollo said through the door
Artemis didnt respond she was on the brink of passing out
"Arty I know you are just laying there but you need to get up and clean yourself up. Please Arty dont pass out yet" Apollo said
Artemis just grunted and got up. She slowly started to treat her wounds with the first aid kit the kept in there, once she was done with that she went to the corner close to the door and slid down to the ground with her knees to her chest
"Thank you Arty. How long are you in there for" Apollo asked
"A week"
"Hey thats a week without any training then" Apollo said
"Yeah, I guess"
"I can hear you frowning, you have to stay positive Arty"
"How...do you expect...me to do that" Artemis was about to pass out
"Just think happy thoughts. Like when we are 18 we can move away, far away, go and find that Wonderland place. We can be free and do we want, we can be happy. Wont have to worry about when dad will get home or if hes coming home, wont have to worry about what was going to happen at training or if we are going to get food. We will be free of it all" Apollo said smiling
Artemis was smiling to just thinking about that life. She then feel asleep think about those things. The memory then went into a montage of the next 6 years. each day was the same train until they couldnt and then one of them gets put into the room with no food or water while someone sits outside the door until the person falls asleep. The montage ended and the team could tell they were in a wearhouse. Apollo and Artemis were tied to chairs with rope and chain, duck tape over their months, far away from each other, they were 12 now. Jade left a long time ago and didnt know her sibling got kidnapped
"And to think you guys are Sportsmaster kids" The kidnapper said
Both Apollo and Artemis were struggling to get out
"I know its such a disappointment" Sportsmaster said and then dropped down from where he was
Apollo and Artemis quit struggling afraid of what their father would do. They didnt know if he was there to save them
"What do you want Slade" Sportsmaster said annoyed
"Oh nothing much just wanted to strike a deal with you. You get your children back if you can give me something" Slade said
"What kind of fucking deal is that, you might as well just keep the kids"
Artemis eyes widen a bit, she wasnt to suprised by his answer since he never really cared about them. Artemis was trying to get out of the bounds even more, she wasnt paying attention to what was going on around her. When she payed attention again Slade and her dad were fighting Green Arrow. By the time she got free Slade retreated and her dad and Green Arrow were fighting. Suddenly Sportsmaster went over to Apollo and cut his bounds and then stood him up putting his sword to his neck
"Take another step and he dies"
Apollo was terrified and Artemis was scared. They knew their dad never cared about them but they never thought that he would threaten to kill one of them. Green Arrow stood there and put his hands up
"Hey, no need to kill your kid ok" Green Arrow said
"Put your bow and arrow down and then kick behind you"
"Ok ok, putting it down now"
Green arrow put his bow down and kicked it behind him. He then took off the thing with the arrows and also kicked it behind him, a few feet away from Artemis. Sportsmaster smiled and then it went into slow motion. Sportsmaster moved his sword and put it to Apollos back and started to push, while he was doing that Green Arrow was screaming and Artemis was going to grab the bow and arrows. The memory speed up, Sportsmaster drove his sword through Apollos stomach, Apollo had tears running down his face as he felt the sword go in and out. Artemis srcreamed and then shot an arrow, it hit sportsmaster in the leg while he was running away. Artemis dropped the bow and ran to her brother, she pulled him into her lap while crying
"Hey dont....dont cry" Apollo said while he whipped her tears
"How ....c...can...I...not"
"Think...happy...thoughts.... like when...we are 18...we can go...and find...wonderland..." Apollo said while smiling
"I ca...cant..."
"Sure...you can...just...think..it"
Artemis tried to and smiled a little at the thought. Apollo smiled at that
"There...that smile...I love... I love you...Arty" Apollo said and then he took his last breath
Artemis pulled him closer and started to cry even more. Green Arrow came back after trying to find where sportsmaster went and looked at Artemis sadly. You could hear the sirens coming toward them but all Green Arrow could hear was the broken sobs of a 12 year old girl crying over her other half. Green Arrow got Artemis to let go of Apollo when the paramedics showed up, he hugged her tightly blocking her view of her brother.
"its going to be ok" Green Arrow whispered
Artemis just sobbed even more and Green Arrow hugged her tighter
The memory then ended. Megan was in tears. Artemis was about to be, but she was trying hard not to be. Megan flew up to her and gave her a hug, everyone else on the team joined in
"Im sorry Artemis" Megan said
"Im sorry my friend" Kaldur said
Thats when the dam broke for Artemis she started to cry and everyone hugged her tighter. When she was done crying they stopped hugging
"Im sorry that happened to you Artemis" Canary said
"Thanks, the only good thing that has come out of that is that I became the crime fighter I am today" Artemis said while smiling
Everyone else smiled and Bruce nodded to John. John took them to the last mind they had to go to