The Arrow, or rather the Green Arrow as he was now calling himself, was currently on the hunt for some mysterious new group causing havoc all over town. Well, every other villain they've faced has been mysterious one way or another. But this one seemed to be especially tight lipped, and none of the other snitches in town had a clue where they came from or why they were here.
Felicity Smoak leaned back in her chair as she sipped pink lemonade from a Big Belly Burger Styrofoam cup. All was quiet for right now, but she knew any second Oliver would be calling in through the comms asking for her to hack something or another. Until then, she simply stared at the salmon ladder and let herself get lost in her memories of watching Oliver climb up and down...
"Felicity...Felicity...Felicity!" Oliver shouted.
The shouting of her name over the loudspeaker caused Felicity to nearly fall out of her chair. She sat up in attention and rolled back over to her workstation.
"Yep...yeah….Read you loud and clear."
"What were you doing, why didn't you answer me earlier?"
"Uh..." Felicity spun in her chair to give one last look of longing to the salmon ladder. "A little day dreaming about your body- I mean daydreaming never hurt your body….Never. Hurt. Anybody."
"I need you to hack the traffic cameras and help me keep track of a freight truck that's leaving Pier 52."
"Aye-aye Captain." Felicity denotes with a poor pirate accent and starts typing away as fast she can.
Oliver Queen let out a huge sigh of annoyance as he turned on his motorcycle. He wanted to hurry and get a move on should Felicity have trouble keeping track of their only lead on the new players in town.
"She always ends up putting her foot in her mouth whenever she talks to you," Laurel Lance observed as she mounted behind Oliver on his motorcycle.
"It seems that way," Oliver stated.
"You know she's only like that because she has a crush on you, right?"
"And?"
"And...do I have anything to worry about?" Laurel asked.
"Honey, put on your helmet so we can go catch up with the bad guys in the truck carrying a top secret weapon."
Laurel looked at him with a raised eyebrow, and crossed her arms.
"Answer the question, Ollie."
"No, of course not!"
"Uh-huh," Laurel teased, smiling as she finally put on her helmet.
She affectionately gave his helmet a light tap using her own as he revved the engine. The motorcycle roared as they sped off after the truck. The engine made it harder to hear, but Oliver could still make out the directions Felicity was feeding him over the comms. He made an effort to remain a couple of blocks back to keep from tipping off the driver, hoping the traffic cameras he helped to install as mayor were worth the strain on the city's budget.
Not too surprisingly, the truck entered the still decimated Glades. While Oliver and his predecessors made promises to restore the Glades, the fact of the matter was the damage done to the neighborhood simply made it too expensive to revitalize the area; especially with all the other attacks on the city that had occurred over the last 4 years. As a result, there were plenty of abandoned buildings to hide all sorts of illegal activities. In a way, Malcolm Merlyn ended up completing his Undertaking after all.
There were no traffic cameras for this area, and Oliver had to speed up and follow the truck the old fashioned way at risk of being seen, or in the case of a motorcycle, heard.
After a few turns the truck pulled into a street that was blocked off by a pile of debris. Oliver passed up the turn and parked the motorcycle in a nearby alleyway. The vigilante couple dismounted, and stealthed their way back to the street. The truck was still there, engine running but unmoving.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Laurel wondered aloud.
Oliver nodded his head in agreement. He knew a trap when he saw one.
"Speedy, what's your ETA?" Oliver spoke into the comms.
"I'm less than 5 minutes away," Roy Harper responded.
"Be ready to come in hot."
"Got it!"
"Ollie, what are you planning?" Laurel asked.
"To spring the trap of course," Oliver smiled.
Without another word, the Green Arrow broke out of hiding and marched his way up to the truck. Black Canary followed closely behind, her eyes darting all over the place in an attempt to anticipate where the attack will come from.
The passenger door of the freight truck opened up, and the loud thump of combat boots echoed into the night as a man clad in a long black leather coat descended the steps. Small glints of metal covered his whole torso.
Upon closer inspection, the two vigilantes saw that the pieces of metal were boomerangs.
"Well, if it isn't the crime fighting couple Green Arrow and Black Canary," Digger Harkness boomed. "He was right about you. He said you would arrogantly walk into a trap."
"That's because we're not afraid of a punk like you," Black Canary scoffed with a voice distorter.
"Hand over the weapon," Green Arrow demanded in a likewise fashion.
"Oh you mean what's in the truck?" Captain Boomerang sneered as he waltzed up to the cargo door. "Sure thing."
He pulled up the cargo door, and took a step back. As did Oliver and Laurel.
"Oh no," Oliver breathed.
The truck was empty save for one person laying on the floor bound and unconscious. Thea Queen.
Oliver drew his bow with lightning speed and aimed at Harkness.
"Let her go, now!" He ordered.
"And he was right about how mad you would be, too!" Harkness teased. "God, he really knows what makes you tick! Who is she to you? Some side chick you like to tap when your metahuman girlfriend gets too loud for you?"
"You heard what he said!" Laurel shouted. "Let her go!"
"Relax! I said I was going to hand over the weapon, remember? Well, go ahead. Take it."
Harkness gestured with his arm towards Thea.
"What are you talking about?" Oliver asked.
"She's the weapon that you came racing on your motorbike to destroy."
"What did you do to her?"
"I didn't do anything," Harkness mocked. "But my mate Prometheus on the other hand...well...he gave your girl here a shot of some Japanese miracle drug or something."
"Mirakuru," Laurel gasped.
"That's it! She's a smart one, Greenie. I can see why you keep her as your main chick."
"Black Canary, go get Thea. I'll keep him covered," Oliver said.
"Right," Laurel acknowledged as she started a slow approach.
There was a boom of laughter from Harkness.
"No need for all that. We were just leaving," Harkness informed.
With a wave of his hand a van pulled up alongside the truck. Harkness jumped into the van and gave the two vigilantes a wave as he slid the door closed. Oliver kept his bow trained on the van as it drove past them out of the decrepit street.
"Speedy, I need you to follow a white van heading west on Jefferson," Oliver relayed over the comms.
"Do they still have the weapon?" Roy inquired.
Oliver stared at his sister as he and Laurel approached the truck. She was drenched in sweat and was breathing rapidly.
"It's unclear right now. Keep your distance and report back wherever they end up."
"Okay."
Oliver dropped his bow and vaulted into the truck container and put two fingers on her neck to check her pulse.
"How is she doing?" Laurel called out as she climbed up the step-ladder.
"She's on fire!" Oliver stammered.
It was taking everything in him not to cradle his sister in a paralyzing panic. The thought of never seeing her again… he didn't even want to think about it. Right now he needed to stay focused and get her to a hospital. He knelt down to pick up his sister.
Suddenly, Thea's eyes opened up as Oliver began to lift her, and she let out a scream so intense her vocal cords were almost certainly torn apart. He dropped her out of surprise, and immediately tried to coax her to calm down.
"Thea, it's going to be okay. We're taking you to-"
The ropes binding Thea tore under her now superhuman strength. She grabbed her brother by the throat and lifted him up with one arm. Laurel gasped as she ran up to try and pry the thin girl's fingers off of Oliver's windpipe, but the grip only seemed to get tighter.
"Thea, it's okay!" Laurel entreated as she removed her mask. "It's me, Laurel. And that's your brother, Oliver! We're here to help you!"
Thea sat up, still holding Oliver with a blank look on her face.
She doesn't recognize us. The mirakuru is already messing with her mind just like it did with Slade…
Laurel struck Thea in the arm to break her grip, but it felt like punching a wall. Laurel yelped and held her hand in pain. She once again tried to appeal to what was left of the little girl she watched grow up.
"Stop it! You're going to kill him!"
The young woman turned living weapon watched unsympathetically as Oliver's face began to turn blue from the lack of oxygen. Laurel had only one option left. She pressed on Oliver's earbuds to activate the noise dampener. She felt the slight shake of Oliver's head as he caught on to what she was going to do.
"Sorry, Thea," Laurel lamented.
She took in a breath, and let out a loud shriek that was known throughout Star City as the Canary Cry.
The weapon dropped Green Arrow and used both her hands to cover her ears. Black Canary dragged Green Arrow as she felt the last of her breath go through her enhanced vocal cords.
Green Arrow stumbled to the ground and Black Canary closed the cargo container, latching it to make sure the weapon could not open it from the inside.
"We...need to take...her to...the...hospital," Oliver coughed.
He placed his hand on the side of the truck and managed to take two steps towards the driver seat before collapsing in a coughing fit. Oliver winced in pain and leaned his head against the container wall.
"Ollie, you need to take it easy" Laurel suggested. "She may have just crushed your windpipe. I'll drive the truck-"
Crash!
A tiny fist burst through the container wall made of one inch thick steel as if it were tissue. Laurel pulled Oliver away from the container just as another fist burst through where his head had been resting. Laurel watched in awe as the two hands bent the steel to make a hole. Thea crawled out of the container, the razor sharp edges shredding her clothes but only superficially scratching her skin.
Laurel propped Oliver up as they continued to make their way to the truck cab; it was their only way to escape now given his condition.
"Get in!" Laurel ushered Oliver as she threw open the cab door open.
With a painful groan, Oliver slowly climbed, but not fast enough. Thea was quickly closing in on them, her basic instinct to attack anything that moves her only drive. Laurel shoved Oliver unceremoniously into the cab and then did another Canary Cry to deter the weapon from following.
Thea knelt down and covered her ears once again, but did not go flying back as most victims of the Cry did. And she did not remain down for very long either; her already shattered ear drums reducing the impact of Black Canary's sonic attack.
But it was just enough for Laurel to jump into the cab, silently thank her paranoid father teaching her to drive a stick "just in case," and shove the gear into reverse. She floored the gas pedal and the smell of burning rubber quickly filled the chamber. There was also a bump as Laurel ran over Oliver's motorcycle, and she prayed he didn't notice lest he shatter what's left of his windpipe yelling at her.
Once at the intersection, she put the truck into first gear and took off towards the hospital.
"Hey, the truck just came back in view of the traffic cameras," Felicity announced over comms. "Black Canary, is that you driving? You don't have your mask on!"
"Thea is infected with the mirakuru!" Laurel explained. "I took my mask off to show her it was me and not an enemy but she still almost choked Oliver to death. I must've forgotten to put it back on."
"Oh, my God! Where is she now?"
"She's still loose in the Glades. Ollie and I barely made it out with our lives. I'm taking him to the hospital. Can you call our friend over there and have her meet us?"
"Of course! I'll also erase the footage of you driving a semi without a mask."
"Thanks."
Laurel glanced over to check on Oliver, who looked like he was struggling to catch every single breath.
Just hang in there… she thought.
"Welcome back to Channel 52 Nightly News. Reports continue to pour in about a yet to be identified young woman who has been wreaking havoc near the Glades. Witnesses report the young woman has flipped over vehicles, ransacked businesses, and damaged homes in ways similar to what was seen in the attack led by Slade Wilson over two years ago."
"There have been no casualties so far, however 4 people have been seriously injured with broken bones and other impact injuries, including Star City's newly elected mayor, Oliver Queen. SCPD is encouraging all citizens to remain indoors and to report any suspicious activity right away."
"Okay, that's enough news for you," Laurel insisted as she turned off the hospital room TV.
"I need to know what's going on," Oliver objected hoarsely.
"No...What you need to do is focus on recovering."
"Every moment I waste in here is another moment my sister is out there, being influenced by the mirakuru to do things she would never do."
"How many times do I have to tell you?" Laurel sighed. "Not every bad thing that happens in this city is your fault."
"Still throwing yourself pity parties, Oliver?" The question came from a woman's voice.
Laurel turned to face the woman. She instinctively grabbed a magazine from the nearby side-table and rolled it up tightly behind her back. It wasn't her usual tonfa, but it would have to do.
She saw a woman with short hair standing in the doorway. The woman unconsciously fiddled with a necklace which seemed to shine a somewhat unnatural amount.
"Mari?" Laurel asked in surprise.
"Hey Laurel."
The two women hugged in greeting now that it was confirmed their friend was indeed standing before them.
"So what happened to him? What new bad guy are you guys fighting?"
"His sister actually did this to him. She was taken hostage and injected with a Japanese serum called mirakuru, which makes you super strong but also messes with your mind."
"Oh God, I'm sorry," Mari expressed her sympathies.
"What are you doing here?" Oliver wondered.
"That my friend, is a long story..." Mari trailed off.