Welcome to Earth-0 (Ver. 1.0)

Chapter Ten: Secrets Revealled

Taking in this new information, Tigris slowly walks over to the couch--the rifles still trained on her--and sits down. She buries her head in her hands. When she looks back up, she locks eyes with Nightwing--giving him a broken and angry look.

"That's why you handcuffed me,” she says to the bat's face. “You thought I was going to kill you...kill you all...”

“I had to take certain...precautions,” Nightwing replies regretfully. “I came across your alternate once. I was young and foolish...and I...I barely escaped with my life.”

Artemis looks around the room, and takes in all the looks she is being given.

The Titans avoid her gaze and Flash just stares at the ground.

Mr. Graves stares at her; looking over her as he would a hostile enemy. Examining her for weaknesses and signs of hostility. He finds none, but doesn't break off his glare. His aide has the same expression as him.

The heavily armed guards keep their rifles trained on her--occassionally adjusting their grip, eyes never venturing far from their sites. One of them, obviously a rookie, has a slight twitch running up and down his one leg.

Artemis's father taught her all there is to know about reading a person's appearance. She noticed the rookie's trembling when she entered into the room. It only got worse after Mr. Graves explained who her alternate was, and it hasn't stopped.

The look of pure terror and fear in the young soldier's eyes pierces the former archer's heart like dagger. The only time she has ever seen someone that scared was when she accompanied her father on a job when she was really young. After seeing what her father did to said man, Artemis swore that she would never be like him.

She turns back to Nightwing and promptly asks, “W-what would happen to me if I stepped outside of the Tower?”

Nightwing sighs. He opens his mouth to answer, but the businessman beats him to it.

“You'll be shot on sight,” Mr. Graves declares bluntly. “The NYPD is no stranger to avenging their fallen brethren. Same goes for the FBI, the ATF, any covert member of the intelligence community--myself included--, and any uniformed officer in a three state radius. This includes my personal escort of four Apache gunships. You'll be easily recognizable. Even without the mask.”

As if to prove his point, two of the aforementioned gunships buzz past the large window behind the Titans that overlooks the city.

Shocked, Tigris takes off her mask.
Artemis stares at orange piece of plastic in her hands; contemplating how such a thing could inspire so much fear in the people she swore to protect. She squeezes her eyes shut tightly, but hot tears still manage to seep through and run down her cheeks. There's not as many as before...but there are a few.

Out of all the people in the room, Flash is the only one to offer her a sense of comfort as he sits down next to Tigris. He places a hand on her shoulder.

“Artemis,” the speedster starts calmly, but is cut off by the archer.

“All my life, I have done nothing but try to rid myself of the taint that my family's past carries,” Artemis states grievingly. “It's actually kind of funny really. My sister was all about running away. And now,...here I am...in another dimension...the farthest away anyone could possibly get from my psycho of a father. Only to find out that I'm the villian here...that Sportsmaster isn't the threatening one...that I am the one feared by everyone....”

She wipes some tears from her eyes as she looks into Flash's eyes.

“Artemis,” Flash starts again. “You are not her. You are not a villian--"