Hello! This is an AU that I got in my head and couldn't shake. It's just going to be a twoshot but I'm quite proud of it. I wrote it like a month ago but only just got around to re-editing it and fixing it up for posting today. I'm quite happy with this, so I hope you all will be too! PS I made up all of these crazy weird names and creatures and junk.

Expect the next half tomorrow!Here we go!

The chanting had become a roaring din and Artemis wished that she didn't know what that meant. The clinks of metal bounced off of stone walls and someone in the distance grunted from exertion. There were a few whispers a couple of cells down, but Artemis didn't bother trying to hear what was being discussed. She focused on her stretches, focused on finding where her current weak points were. It had been three days since her last match. She was due.

Her left arm was still sore from a decent punch, hopefully she could keep it out of the way. The crowd was getting louder and Artemis could hear the sounds of others getting restless. The spectators were angry about something; about someone. Which was never good. The angrier they got, the more gore they wanted. She ran a hand through her matted hair and went to sit on her cot. Her eyes wandered to the various symbols she'd drawn all over the walls with clay from the corner of her cell. Artemis kept her eyes steady as she studied each symbol.

An X and an S.

A bat.

An Atlantean A.

An arrow.

And a lightning bolt.

They were her reminders, her dreams, and her drive. Artemis dreamed that they were watching over her, guiding her through each day as she fought devils, monsters, and victims. Some of the guards called her crazy, the way she religiously painted her walls after every weekly search smudged them away. But in reality, they kept her sane. It was through those symbols that she remembered why she kept going, why she fought so hard.

The crowd was screaming now, catching her thoughts in their wake as the cages rattled from the force of their uproar. A siren signaled the end of the match and Artemis pitied whoever would be called up next. The crowd was out for blood, and they always got what they wanted.

The door to the hallway opened with a crash, but none of the prisoners were startled. No one slept on match days, and they all knew what came after the siren.

The guards had no qualms about the sounds they made as they came down the hall, hitting their Turlorian batons against the cages and letting the tech electrify the bars. Artemis could taste the suspense in the air as they continued on down the hall, searching for the next fighter. The words they spoke were foreign and disjointed to her ears, but they seemed amused with what appeared to be happening in the arena. Their hulking, green-tinted forms drenched in black sweat were ominous at first. But she learned quickly that there were far worse monsters to fear in the arena.

Artemis wasn't even surprised when they stopped in front of her bars. Their tall muscular forms looming in as though watching an animal, and she supposed that they thought she was. One of them rubbed some drool from his jowls and another gave a laugh. The guard who seemed to be in charge spoke something unfamiliar, and Artemis waited for the system to translate it

"You're up next, Pint. You have 4 trislexs before you're collected,"

The robotic voice translated the tongue into English as best it could, the result coming from the speakers in the lock system on the door. The only technology present in the prisoner's housing. Artemis nodded to the strange species and the one in charge nodded back, his short tusks tilting with his head.

They left and Artemis looked to the walls of her cell once more; wishing that they could loan her strength that she didn't have.

4 trislexs. It had taken her some many days to figure it out, but she thought that it roughly translated to half an hour. She had half an hour before she was escorted to the armory to pick out her weapons and armor.

It had become routine, and Artemis was numb to it. Every few days it was her turn in the arena. Where she either killed her opponent, or would die fighting. She tried to block out the kills, but each one was engrained into her head. Onto her conscious. It didn't matter whether they were ruthless criminals or terrified, capture wayfarers. Each one was a life that she took. And for each there was a notch in the bedpost of her cot. But it was her life. It was how she survived. And every day she survived was a day closer to getting home. She knew her friends were looking for her, she knew that without a doubt in her soul. But while her hope of freedom kept her alive, she wondered if the woman they would find wouldn't be the same woman they'd lost.

Artemis finished her stretches and checked her limbs over once more before heading to the corner of her cell where a patch of upturned dirt was collected. It had started as a way to escape, a desperate attempt certainly, but desperate she was. She did find, however, that below a layer of fine, dusty dirt, there was a collection of russet clay

It was this clay that she first used to mark her walls. Then she discovered its use on skin. Artemis had tried to bandage her wounds in the beginning. She would shred her bedding until it was all wrapped around her appendages. It had turned out to be a rookie mistake. Bandages weren't for healing. They were targets and weaknesses that an opponent could exploit. So instead she had learned to do the opposite. Artemis started covering all of her wounds with clay, designing them as tiger stripes stretching across her skin and hiding them from the view of her enemy. Tigress had returned, and with it her popularity had grown.

The spectators liked her, rooted for her even; which proved helpful when matches came close to a tie. The crowd would choose her, the small, skin covered human underdog. And she would live to see another day.

The door to the prisoner's hallway opened once more. Artemis's 4 trislexs were up. There were four guards this time, she didn't know if it were any of the same that had come before, but it didn't really matter. Their batons were active, sparks shooting in warning, and the door opened when Artemis held her arms out to prove that she would cooperate. They marched her out of the hallway the same way she came, and she made sure not to make eye contact with any of the fellow prisoners as she passed their cages. Artemis kept her strides long, making sure to keep up with the large guards as they led her down another passageway that she knew, finally releasing her arms when they entered the prep room.

Five more guards were waiting for her, one watching the two other doors in the room and the three others watching the weapons. One of them spoke in their strange language, but Artemis didn't need a translator to understand what she was supposed to do.

The room was bright with a blue light from orbs floating overhead, creating glares on all of the sharpened weapons lain out for her to choose from and all of the armor hanging on racks. Artemis chose what she normally did. She picked out her armor first, a light Gloran armor set, as she had heard it called. It was a deep amber color and reminded her of leather. If she had to guess, it probably was leather of some kind. But not from any animal she'd ever seen. But no matter what it was made of, it was tough and light, allowing her protection and movement. She strapped it on with practiced ease, tightening the vest, armbands, and shin guards until she was satisfied.

Artemis avoided looking at the guards as she approached the weapon table. She'd made that mistake before. They'd taken her gaze as a threat and Artemis had started the match with an electric burn on her hip. Instead, she kept her sharp eyes trained on the bow. She'd never chosen anything else. It was made of a strange material, possibly bone of some kind, but it worked the same way. The quiver sat snug between her shoulder blades and Artemis felt infinitely better.

She checked the tightness on the string with a few tugs, tested her reached for her arrows, and pulled once more on the straps of her armor. Satisfied, Artemis knew it wasn't worth waiting any longer. Either she went out to the arena on her own, or she would be dragged.

Artemis pulled her emotions in and buried them deep in her mind. All of her kindness, her compassion, her desire to help people. Everything that had once turned her from her family's life of crime and steered her towards justice. Everything that made her who she was. It all had to be buried for her to survive. Reacting on instincts and skill alone. She was Tigress to the crowd. Artemis had to wait until the battle was finished.

The blonde strode to the large double doors that she could hear the crowd behind. Steeling herself for battle, she nodded to the guards. Two of them worked together to unlock the large doors, and then pushed them outward. Dirt kicked up from their weight as they moved and the outdoor light spilled into the room. Artemis waited until the doors were fully open to step out, walking towards the middle of the arena with a confident stride. The sun of the planet was dim and the arena was filled with artificial spotlights from above the stands. The crowd went wild and Artemis scowled. Thousands upon thousands of people, if that's what they were. They were too far for her to ever tell what they looked like, but the colors and shapes she could decipher told her well enough that they were not all of the same species.

The area was more akin to a forest this week. The purple trees drew her eyes as potential cover, and the petaled yellow grass crunched underneath her boots as she walked to the metal stage where her opponent would meet her.

It hadn't taken her long to figure out that her section of the prison was only a small part. There were prisoners all around the arena that were drawn from for battle. She never knew them before she fought them, but battling someone certainly gave you an insight to who they were. Sometimes they were seasoned warriors, like her. Sometimes they were mindless beasts, presumably collected from the far reaches of space.

And sometimes they were victims. Travelers, people in the wrong place at the wrong time; like she had been. Casualties picked up by these ruthless people to play in their area for entertainment; people with no fighting experience, with no strength. Those were the battles Artemis hated the most. She reasoned that if it wasn't her who would kill them, the next opponent might not be so kind in the way they chose to kill. Artemis at least tried to be as quick and painless as possible. But with the many different alien species she was fighting, sometimes it was hard to tell where to hit for that to happen.

It was at this point that Artemis realized something was wrong. She had made it to the stage at the center of the arena. It was a metal circle about a foot from the ground where the two opponents started.

But her opponent hadn't shown.

The crowd had grown silent, but there weren't murmurs of confusion, so Artemis guessed that they knew what was going to happen.

Which made it all the more dangerous.

Artemis got into a defensive stance, nocking an arrow and leveling it at the ground, prepared to raise and shoot it whenever necessary. Her grey eyes scanned the area, but found nothing unusual.

Then the opponent's doors slammed open. Whoever she was to be fighting was being drug out by two guards. A newbie then. This had happened to her in her first battle. Artemis relaxed her stance and waited for her opponent to be brought to the center stage, eyeing them carefully as they got closer.

It was then that her heart dropped.

Everything she had buried suddenly flew to the forefront of her mind as she saw who it was that the guards were dragging toward her.

"No," Artemis voiced unintentionally, her mind speaking without consent, her disbelief keeping her terror at bay.

It was then that the person being drug over noticed her presence. A bright grin lit up his face, relief in his eyes.

"Babe! Look at that! I found you!"

"Wally?" Artemis whispered, her voice quivering.

Ohhh! Look who's here! But lets be real was anyone expecting anything else. Alright the second and final half will be posted tomorrow!

Please review and let me know what you think!

Love, Veg