Green Arrow - 2.4 - Hero Rising, Part Four: Phantoms

This past year has been rather eventful, ever since I took Red Dart down.

 

For one thing, I try to visit Thea in prison, when I can. Even if she wants nothing to do with me. Even after everything she's done. Killing my father, almost killing me and Tommy. I can't forgive her for that. But I still make that effort to visit, nonetheless. At the end of the day, she's still my sister. Half-sister, if we're being technical. But we're still related by blood. I must believe that things will change. She's had a rough childhood, being abandoned by my mother and Tommy's dad. She's grown jaded, distrustful of others thanks to how she grew up. Yet another person failed by the current system. Just one more reason why the system is broken. The rich get richer, while those not as fortunate, get fucked over. I finally found out that Edward Fyers was the one that hired her to kill me. Fyers was the head of the snake, as it were. He distributed Tar throughout Star City, especially in the Glades. However, I kept getting in the way... Like I always do! Suffice to say, he's in prison now. I thought, that would be enough to rid the city of Tar. Unfortunately, I was wrong. It was only a matter of time before someone new came onto the scene. Someone by the name of Steelclaw. I haven't had the pleasure of talking with this Steelclaw yet, as they have proven to be rather elusive. A ghost, mostly dealing in proxies.

 

Then there's the pretty bird... We're together now. It was inevitable, with us constantly running into each other. Near death experiences, bringing us together. Almost like it was fate or something. Not that I really believe in such bogus mind you. Remember when I said that me and the florist wouldn't happen? Turns out, I was wrong on that front, too. She and pretty bird are one in the same. Dinah Laurel Lance . I'm an idiot for not realizing it sooner, considering she knew who I was right away. Her father happens to be SCPD officer Quentin Lance, who isn't my biggest fan, as both Oliver Queen and Green Arrow. What are the odds, right?

 

As for the Oliver Queen of it all, well, Tommy's alive. He made a surprisingly quick recovery, after Dinah gave him the cure in time. He still isn't talking to me, though. He needs his time to process everything, which I get, but I kept this secret from him because it was for his own good. To keep him safe from my enemies. But I digress. Mom's well, for the most part. Still grieving like the rest of us, of course, but in a better place than before. After everything, she wants me to see a shrink. But I don't see the value in it. There are just some things, that I'm not ready to talk about. She was surprised to hear about Thea, though. That she was the one to kill dad. She sounds somewhat regretful about abandoning Thea, but there's no way of knowing for certain. Thea's reveal caused quite the scandal for dear ol mom. A secret lovechild, born of an affair to her husband's best friend. Something straight out of a soap opera. The tabloids are eating that shit up. Now when people hear the name Moira Queen, they'll think of the affair first, instead of all the good she's done. Don't get me wrong. I'm not justifying her behavior in the slightest. She fucked up, big time. In more ways than one. And just thinking of it is visually and mentally scarring. It's taken me a while, to truly move past what happened. To find a way to forgive her, for cheating on dad. But one should be thought of as more than their biggest mistake. I've made more than my fair share of mistakes, and mom never loved me any less.

 

My mother told me that Queen Industries new CFO was waiting to meet me in the conference room. It was decided after my father's passing, that Walter Steele, and my mother would be co CEOs of Queen Industries. Since Walter was the previous CFO, we had a vacancy that hadn't been filled, until now. Entering the conference room, I heard a familiar voice.

 

"It's nice to finally meet you, Oliver Queen. The names Cyrus. Cyrus Broderick." The man announced, introducing himself as he turned around. He has a lean build to him, but not in an unhealthy way. In fact, it helps him fill out that black suit of his. Him having short black hair, makes it easy to see his sinister smile. It took a couple of seconds before everything clicked together.

 

Cyrus?? That's not his name. That face, and voice. I'd recognize that accent anywhere.. A blend between French, and Korean.. He's older now, but that's him. Simon Lacroix .. But there's no way it could be Simon... He's dead. Years ago, on Lian Yu. I watched him die! How is this possible?

 

"What's the matter Oliver?" It looks like you've seen a ghost." He asked rhetorically, as he approached me from the other side of the conference room table.

 

"Huh? Oh, sorry. You just remind me of someone I used to know. It's nice to meet you, Cyrus " I replied, trying to recover. Must play along with his charade, as I don't want to cause a scene here. I reached out my hand to shake his. He returns the greeting, giving a firm handshake. Though, it's a little too firm for my liking.

 

"Is that so? Not that I should be too surprised, I do have one of those faces.. At least, so I've been told. I'm glad we have the time now, to talk . After all, you're a hard man to reach."

 

"A problem that comes with the territory, am I right?" I replied, giving a hearty laugh.

 

"Of course! I understand that you're a busy man, Oliver. Keeping up the billionaire playboy façade, must take up a lot of time." He grins, continuing to see what buttons he can push. I see that hasn't changed. What is he doing here, in Star City? What's his endgame? And how did he survive Lian Yu? All questions that I'll find answers to, in time.

 

--------------------------------------------------

 

His voice continues to haunt me, as I chase the Raines brothers. Albrecht, and Winnick Raines. Small-time art thieves that I've run into multiple times this past year. This time, however, they're calling themselves Rainbow Archer, and Dodger, respectively. It's hard for me to take either of them seriously, with Albrecht dressed in his very vibrantly colorful costume. But I guess I'm partially to blame for that. I mean, why else would he have chosen the same gimmick as me, if he wasn't inspired by yours truly? You can't make this shit up! His brother, on the other hand, is at least practical with his costume ! Aside from his long trenchcoat. That seems like a tripping hazard just waiting to happen.

 

"My, my, so fleet footed." Dodger comments as I match the brothers' pace, chasing them through the art gallery.

 

"Ya know Albrecht, I'm flattered that you copied my gimmick and all, but do you really think this'll go any different?" I fire off a bola arrow, but it just narrowly misses the thief.

 

"It's Rainbow Archer now!!!" He yells, shooting an arrow off at me as I chase after him. A red arrow this time. And to no one's surprise, it's a fire arrow. I barely managed to dive out of-the-way in time. The arrow ends up hitting a stone sculpture that's on display.

 

"Of course! How could I ever forget?" I laugh, regaining my footing. After recovering, I gave chase once more. "Wait... Aren't you missing a color in that quiver of yours? No rainbow is complete without green! How can you be a Rainbow Archer, and not have all the colors?"

 

"That's the point, cretin!" Rainbow Archer spits, once again firing an arrow. This time, a violet arrow. I duck, and weave, so the arrow embeds itself into the wall behind me, the acid destroying the portrait that was once there.

 

"Cretin? What is this, the medieval times? Your insults could use some work. Adding it onto the list, along with property damage!! I guess it's a good thing those rich fat cats can afford it."

 

"You're one to talk, Robin Hood! There wouldn't need to be property damage if you just stayed still!" Albrecht growls, firing another arrow. Thankfully, it's just a normal arrow this time. Not that it really matters, as his aim is truly atrocious. Rushing his shot doesn't help.

 

"He's trying to get in your head mate... Don't listen to the bloke." Dodger says with a sigh, before throwing something at me. What's that, a mace? Well, that's new... It hits me square in the chest, sending me across the room. Seconds later, I crash through one of the display tables. Shit, that's going to leave a mark!

 

"Sorry, I can't help it. He's so annoying!" Rainbow Archer replies, now attempting to stay level-headed.

 

"Look at that, you managed to get a hit off this time! I'm impressed!" I laugh, in between coughs, as I try to catch my breath. The mace returns to Dodgers hand, and he starts winding it up again, ready to throw it once more. Drawing and nocking an arrow from my quiver and firing it immediately. The arrow soars through the air, before hitting the hammer straight out of Dodger's hand. The arrow, pinning the hammer to the ground through the looped lanyard he was using to spin it earlier.

 

"Winnick, you always were the smarter brother. But even then, you're still dumb enough to keep trying the same tricks. When will you learn? Just give up, before you embarrass yourselves further." I warn, aiming another arrow at him.

 

He's about to say something when suddenly, my comms unit starts ringing.

 

"Hello?" I answer.

 

"Oliver, we need to talk." Dinah replies, sounding rather serious.

 

"Hey pretty bird, what's up?" Albrecht takes this opportunity to try and fire multiple arrows off at me. I dive for cover behind a wall that's to the right of me. Getting up, Dodger's right there, mace at the ready.

 

"Are you busy?"

 

Dodger overhand swings his mace me.

 

"Hmm? No, not really. Remember the Raines brothers?" I say casually, as I block Dodgers mace with my bow. Unfortunately, the force of the strike is enough to break my bow in half.

 

"He just broke my bow. What an ass." I mutter under my breath, as I grab a normal arrow from my quiver, stabbing his right leg with it. As it turns out, he's a screamer.

 

"Bloody hell! That hurt!"

 

"As it should! I'd be worried if it didn't. You should be happy it wasn't anywhere more vital." Albrecht goes to help his brother, wanting to pull out the arrow. But Winnick quickly glares at his brother and shakes his head.

 

"Don't you dare. That'll make it worse."

 

I respond by throwing an entrapment arrow, pinning Winnick to the ground, and a net arrow afterwards.

 

"They were art thieves, right? They didn't put up much of a fight if I recall correctly." She replies with a laugh, as she remembers the time we kicked their ass.

 

"Yep, that's them. Well, it turns out they escaped prison, and thought they'd push their luck again. Albrecht's calling himself Rainbow Archer now. Even got himself a flashy new costume."

 

"Seriously?"

 

"He's ignoring us! Treating us like we're a joke." Albrecht sneers, rather frustrated, before running towards me, bow raised.

 

"It looks like -- "

 

"You can tell me about that later. Something's happened at Cyberwear.." She says, interrupting me.

 

"That doesn't sound ominous at all." I reply.

 

It's surprisingly easy to multitask, considering hand-to-hand is not Albrecht's expertise. He swings his bow at me, but I'm able to catch it with my left hand, as I smack him in the face with the other elbow.

 

"I need you to be serious here, Oliver." She sighed. Sometimes, I'm surprised at how much of my shit she puts up with. Actually, make that always surprised. Another thing, she would've had Albrecht on his ass by now. Again, not that that's something I'd admit to her face. Got to have some dignity after all.

 

"Okay, okay. What happened?" Albrecht is staggered for a moment, loosening his grip on his bow fully, before coming for my face with another punch. It doesn't take long to block his punch with my right arm, while sweeping his legs out from under him with his own bow using my left hand.

 

Quickly, while he's down, I use a sleeping gas arrow, and a net arrow for good measure. In a matter of seconds, he's out like a light.

 

"Brick sent his crew to Cyberwear, to steal the Hypnos tech. I witnessed a kid, beat the shit out of one of the guards like it was no problem at all. The guard's dead, and the thieves got away. But that's not the worst part."

 

"How is that not the worst part?" I ask.

 

"The kid swears that it was Brick he killed, even though it wasn't. "

 

"I mean, we've encountered metas that can--"

 

"It wasn't shapeshifting. If it was, I would've seen him as Brick too. It felt-- different." Once again, she interrupted me.

 

"Like affected by Tar different?"

 

"Hallucinations are a common side effect... That and there's not much else that would explain him seeing Brick. He was devastated when he stopped hallucinating and realized what he actually did."

 

"Damnit.. Okay, bring him by the cave. I'll come by as soon as I can. Figure out what to do next. Until then, I love you, pretty bird."

 

"Love you too Ollie."

 

With that I end the transmission.

 

---------------------------------------------------

 

Back at Cyberwear, minutes prior.

 

The boy's face was downcast, his eyes continuing to look at the dead body in horror, his gloves covered in blood.

 

"There you are! So, the boyscout has a killer instinct after all... We have more in common than I thought, Red." A girl dressed in green mentions, as she comes from around the corner. Cheshire . I've heard of her. Mostly rumors, of her being one of the deadliest assassins in the world. She's an expert in poisons. Suffice to say, nothing good comes from her.

 

"What? No, I didn't mean to. This isn't what it looks like... It was supposed to be Brick." The boy replies, quickly turning his head to look over at Cheshire. The rest of his body, frozen in place. Still clearly processing everything.

 

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but that's not him. " Cheshire notes, before continuing. "C'mon Red, we gotta go. Rasmus has what we came for."

 

"Sorry, but there's no way that's happening." I warn.

 

"You think you can stop me? Oh, this'll be fun." Cheshire says, drawing her sais.

 

"I've been itching for a fight today. Looks like it's my lucky day." I grin, cracking my knuckles.

 

She opens the fight by throwing one of her sais at me. I'm able to catch it mid-air with my left hand. I hold it in a reverse grip, so the blade is pointed towards the ground.

 

"Impressive. I'll admit, that's a first. No one's caught one of my sais before." She acknowledged, as she lunges towards me, trying to stab me with her other sai.

 

"Clearly. Your reputation wouldn't look good if they had, Cheshire. That, and none of them were me." I parry the strike by raising the sai upwards.

 

The moment I underestimate her, that's the moment this fight is over. I must always keep my guard up. One of Ted's many lessons.

 

"I enjoy a challenge!" She remarks, as she goes for the leg sweep, but I'm able to catch her leg.

 

The fight goes on, with Cheshire mostly using her legs to attack. There's this mutual respect between us, with neither of us holding back. We're each able to land hits on the other. In the end, I'd still give myself the edge in this fight.

 

I manage to disarm her and throw the sai I have off to the side. I work better with my fists than I do sais.

 

I form an x with my arms over my face, only to break it seconds later to Canary Cry. Cheshire crashes against the closed door at the far end of the hallway. It takes a few seconds for her to recover.

 

It wasn't long before I heard an incoming police siren. This causes me to turn around for a second.

 

"Looks like that's my cue.. Like the Cheshire Cat, I'll just disappear. Cya around, Red."

 

By the time I look back, she's gone.

 

Rookie mistake on my end, taking my eyes off her. If Oliver knew, I'd never hear the end of it. Guess that'll have to wait for another day... For now, I'll contact Oliver over comms.

 

"Oliver, we need to talk."

Done