A new face, these days there weren't very many repeat customers anymore, yet they all seemed the same. Their heads were bowed low, sometimes covered, pale, and unwell most the time. But what did Donny care. He had a job to do and as long as he did it, he'd get paid and stay off of someone's hit list. The effects of the drugs he peddled weren't his problem. Half the time, he didn't even know what he was selling, in this business, it was best to not ask questions.
"So, do you have more of the last stuff?" the buyer inquired with a quaky voice. He was young compared to most of the buyers for Donny's zone.
"Nah man. Got this new stuff just came in this week. From some island in South America, so I hear."
"Wh-what's it do?" the buyer asked. Donny was getting impatient, he didn't like being out for this long. The alley in the Glades normally didn't get much police attention, there was something far worse out there. Even with two armed associates at his back, Donny felt like a worm on a hook.
"Only one way to find out man, so do you want it or not?" he asked hotly. In his hand, he held out the metal capsule emblazoned with a black skull and crossbones. The kid's eyes darted from the capsule to Donnie's shrewd face.
"Yeah man, here." The kid held out the folded bills with a shaking hand. With his other hand, Donny reached out for the exchange. A sudden whoosh soared through the darkness. The impact hurt but Donnie's pain was dulled by the pang of surprise that an arrow was actually sticking in his chest. A second later, Donny seized and shuttered as he felt the thousand pricks of electricity course through his body. Eyes wide with terror, the kid fell backward, stumbling to the damp ground of the alley. Another whoosh soared over the kid's head as another arrow stuck in the wall between the two armed gunmen. Both leveled their arms, frantically searching around them. An electronic beep echoed in the alley followed by concussive flash. The blast threw the two off their feet, dazed and lost as they crawled on the ground. The kid's focus was stolen by the clanging of metal on the fire escapes above but already the shadowy figure had leapt to the ground. As one gunner attempted to stand on his feet, the figure lashed out with his leg, sweeping his footing out from under him. To finish the gunner on the left already laid out on his back, the figure crouched low, socking him straight in the face. The two gunners lay still and the haze of shock suddenly lift from his mind. It was the Hood, Starling City's vigilante. All the kid could see was a shadow in the dim lighting of the alley. The shadow moved, drawing another arrow with his bow. "Oh, oh God please no! Don't kill me!" the kid shrieked. A moment passed as the figure stood perfectly still and all the kid could do was wait for the pierce of an arrow.
"Go," a deep, guttural voice said. The shadow lowered his bow and eased the arrow forward. "And don't let me catch you again." The kid fought for breath as he stumbled backwards before turning away. He ran as fast as he could.
The Arrow never had the intention to shoot the kid. It wasn't his way anymore. It was enough just to scare him and he'd never try to buy Venom ever again. As he watched the kid run, a scream shrieked in the darkness of the alley. The kid was suddenly pulled from the ground straight into the air, dangling by his feet. The Arrow keyed the comlink system worn under his dark green hood. "Felicity I need a heat signature reading," he muttered with his voice still muddle by the scrambler. Nothing but static came through the link, something was very wrong. "Felicity!" he growled. Out in front, deep in the shadows of the alley, a figure dropped low, shrouded in darkness. Slowly it stood up, taller and broader than even the Arrow. He leveled his bow and drew back the arrow, letting it go with a snap. The arrow whistled down the alley and with minimal effort, the figure dodged the dart by merely turning his shoulders. Now given the time to observe the figure, the Arrow paused. The figure was like a column of black capped with two long ears on the top of his head. It didn't take long for Arrow to recognize the profile of Gotham City's own notorious vigilante. "You," he said. "What are you doing here in Starling?" The figure stood unhumanly still, like an entity.
"I've been watching, for some time now," he said with a deep gravely voice full with presence. "You should consider yourself lucky I was too busy to do this sooner. Just months ago, I'd have come to stop you." The Arrow slowly lowered his bow and stood up straight, staring the shadowy figure down suspiciously.
"Why are you here now?" he inquired. With a brisk motion, the dark figure's weighted black cape opened and he held out an arrow. Even from a distance, the Arrow spotted the two green, one yellow fletching scheme, it was his. At the head of the shaft was a three pronged taser stud of his own design.
"I pulled this off a thug last night. Trick arrows, seems your trying something new," he said.
"You're checking to see that I don't kill again?" the Arrow inquired. The figure lowered his hand back into the folds of his cape.
"That island changed you, Oliver Queen," he said with a slightly softened tone. The Arrow's eyes widened with shock. Flashes of memories surged before his mind. The Queen's Gambit sinking into the depths of the Yellow Sea on that torrentous night, a hooded figure shooting him with a bow and arrow and of course the faces, all of them; Yoa Fei, Fyers, Shadow, Sara and Slade. He balled his gloved fist to fight the urge to draw another arrow. This wasn't possible.
"I'm not-," he protested with a hint of desperation.
"Dissapear for five years on Lian Yu, a Chinese prison island and only a night after you return to Starling City 'the Hood' makes his first appearance," the shadow explained. To the Arrow, it sounded almost smug, nonetheless, there was no hiding it. With a sigh of annoyance, he pressed the control to his voice scrambler. With his free hand, he pulled back the green hood from his head. Oliver fixed the shadow with his sharp blue stare through the smear of green paint surrounding his eyes.
"I still hate that name," Oliver said with a lighter, juvenile tone. How did you know?" From a distance, Oliver couldn't spot the smirk underneath the cowl.
"Its not that hard to figure out," he said in his own disguised voice. "Do your homework, you'll probably recognize a similar story someplace else." Oliver slightly tilt his head. Off the top of his mind, he couldn't make any connections, still dazed with the shock of being discovered. He took another deep breath.
"I'm not going to kill anymore," Oliver said firmly. "I don't want to be that person anymore." Oliver made that promise a while ago, he owed it to Tommy. His friend opened his eyes to what Oliver never wanted to become, what he thought he'd have to be to save his city. But there was another way, he saw that now. For a moment, the two stood silently apart and Oliver didn't know quite what to think. "If you don't believe me, then come and stop me now."
"I know what its like, to take on an entire city's criminals and corrupt. I know how easy it is to lose sight of right and wrong." The shadow said. "I believe you," he added in almost a whisper. "And this city, needs you." Oliver felt relief flow over him as he stood a little taller. "But the next arrow you stick in someone, I'm shutting you down," he said with a dark, gruff tone. Oliver nodded as he watched the figure, he expected nothing less.
"Any more friendly advice?" he asked with a smirk of his own.
"Three things, make an ally with the police," he said stiffly. "Don't call Felicity Smoak by her name over your com." Again Oliver grit his teeth and breathed to control his temper. To say that 'this guy was good at what he did' was an understatement. "And lose the paint, get yourself a mask to go under that hood." Oliver smirked again, another suggestion that was starting to ware thin.
"Don't come back to my city," Oliver said stiffly. With a flourish, the shadow's cape opened again and he raised his arm over his head. With a sudden flash, a cable fired from a gun in his grip. The figure shot from the ground straight to the rooftops overhead. Oliver watched for a moment longer as the figure ducked from view. Oliver sighed again as he placed his hood over his head then knelt to inspect the unconscious drug dealers. As occupied as his mind was, Oliver's senses were still peaked as he felt the weight of watching eyes. He looked up again to the rooftop. There standing on the ledge, was the figure again standing pitch black in the moonlight. With a flourish of his cape, he turned away and disappeared into the night. In his earpiece, Oliver heard a burst of static gradually clearing.
"Oliver, Oliver do you read me?" Felicity called. Oliver was relieved to hear her familiar voice again
"I'm here," he replied.
"Oh my God," she exclaimed. "I was this close to sending Diggle."
"I'm fine, Fel-," he paused as his gaze cautiously scanned over the unconscious thugs. "I'm fine."
"What happened? Our coms were jammed by some remote signal. I'm back tracing it now."
"Don't bother," Oliver said. "You won't get very far." That wasn't true, she could hack just about any computer system on earth, but for whatever reason, Oliver wanted to keep her and his partner John Diggle out this one. This was far from over, Oliver knew he would cross paths with his visitor again. But that was for another day. "Let's call it a night."