The Rider of Young Justice Season 1: Beginnings

Light the Shadows

Gotham: May 29th, 2009. 01:27am:

P.O.V: Ghost Rider

".......please, don't kill me. I have a family!" The woman screams as she tries to crawl away. He leg is bent and her face has a handprint burn. "The man you killed had a family too. The double standard with you criminals sickens me." I growl in anger as I wrap my chain around her throat and send hellfire down it. The woman screams as the fire burns through her throat. I pull the chain and her head rolls off while her body burns to ash. I grab her by the hair and look into her horror filled eyes. I send hellfire down her hair and face, leaving nothing but a charred skull. Dropping said skull, I walk back to the car and hop in. Driving away from the woman, I listen for any wrong being down. The entire city is being heard. The city is quiet tonight.......it's never quiet, something is always going on.

I sense a presence nearby, a girl, young and angry. Strange. I pulled into an abandoned alley and got out of the car. The presence had a deep hatred for something.....no, someone. I walk down the alley with one of my chains loose, dragging along the ground, leaving an ashen trail. I hear shuffling and look up. Whoever she is, she is elusive. I detect something familiar about this individual. I hear a whistle and without looking catch an arrow aimed for my head. I turn and see the trail of the arrow and see the girl from months ago. She stares wide eyed at my catch. I burned the arrow before swinging my chain, hoping to catch her.

She jumps and fires an arrow at the opposing building. My chain misses her and cuts through the firescape that she was perched in. She fires another arrow but I intercept it with my chain. I release my other chain at the new firescape and wrap it around one of its holdings. She stares wide eyed at the chain, as I pull it. The firescape gives way as it falls to the ground. I see flhet firing another arrow to the roof. Creating a grapple point to pull herself up. She's really starting to get on my nerves. I walk to the building side and stare up. She stares back at me. I grit my teeth and throw both chains up to the roof. The force of my throw lodges them in. I pull myself up and start climbing. She panics and moves back.

I jump up and pull the chains out before gripping the side of the ledge. I pull myself up and see across the roof. I pull my chains back in as they wrap around my arms. "You're skilled.....but stupid." I growl at her and she just narrows her eyes. "No need to be rude. You have been causing problems for some people in this city and I'm here to correct it." She says as I just stare aimlessly. "You're an assassin? He.....he he.....ha ha ha ha he he.!" I just started laughing. The laugh is scaring the shit out of the girl. "You think that some arrows will stop me......you're not very bright, are you?" I say as I get control of myself. She growls in anger and fires an arrow towards me. I move out of the way and walk slowly towards her. She fires two shots in quick succession but I dodge again. She fires four shots followed by two more. I dodge the first four and catch the next two. I didn't exact the little explosion to come from the arrows but I pay them no mind. "Maybe we got off on the wrong foot. I'm Artemis." She says as she loads four arrows on her bow. I growl in frustration at her arrogance. "I don't care." She fires but I had enough, I swing both my chains out, hellfire incasing them. The girl, Artemis, dodges. Her reflexes are impressive, but mine are honed after millennia of fighting. I swing one chain to her legs and one to her torso. She gets caught and I slam her to the ground. She groans under the tightness of the chains as I march over and stare at her. Reading her soul in the process. A daughter of two criminals. Trained from a young age from her father. Suffered abuse from father, especially after her mother took the fall for him and came paralyzed. She has a sister, who hated their father and walked out when her mother went to prison. I see now that she is a girl that has been through a lot of shit. Has suffered heartbreak and pain from someone who was supposed to protect her.