Dark Angels
Disclaimer: The universe of Arrow belongs to Berlanti Productions, Star Wars belongs to Lucasfilm, the Prophecy of Rao and the Four Orders are entirely my own.
Crossover between Arrow, pieces of the Prophecy of Rao, Star Wars Alternate universe and the Four Orders...
AU/Arrow/SML/SW-AU: Detective Lance investigates a series of unusual murders while the Hood crosses path with the town's newest mysteries that have an agenda of their own. And all have the same epicentre – pieces of junk or so it seems...
Chapter 3
The Winter Palace was sealed off in record time or so hoped Detective Lance. This unexpected attack had put everyone on their toes. But the room the ball was held was rather far from the entrance and most exits so there was a good chance the vigilante was still in the building. Police cars arrived at the scene and provided the necessary support.
Detective Lance and Captain Sagle headed to the security booth to examine the footage of the event. Sadly there was not much to see in the perpetual darkness of it. The figure in brown robes seemed to have sprung out of the ground and vanished in the same fashion. Lance figured it must have moved really quickly mingling with the others making it impossible to determine who it could be.
Now, it was problematic interviewing everyone. All the guests had to take everything out of their pockets. For if the crook was still among them, he could not hide the just stolen diamonds. Sadly this did not yield in positive results nor did any good for the mood of the guests but it was a necessary evil.
The search continued though. The waiters and the catering personnel were searched and still nothing. This was becoming frustrating for Detective Lance. Under his very nose, a crime was committed though for a change it wasn't the Hood. Of course, he was not certain it was the Crystal Arrow either but since it was the only other vigilante in the city with such audacity he made the logical conclusion.
"Detective Lance,"
Lance looked for the source of the voice and saw Merlyn Senior striding towards him.
"Mr. Merlyn,"
"How long is this charade going to last?"
"Charade!" Lance exclaimed. "As long as we catch whoever did this, as long as it takes."
"Right like your success in apprehending the Hood? Oh, boy, we are in for the night." Malcolm Merlyn observed sarcastically.
"If you don't mind, I have considerable work to do." Lance said and left Merlyn and his contemplations of Starling City's police department's effectiveness.
He had always found that man of particular distaste. His arrogant swagger could beat that of anyone including Queen. Speaking of Queen, he went to see him as he had been closer to the crook than anyone tonight.
"Mr. Queen," He called and gestured him to follow. They entered into another room and Lance offered him to sit down. "Tonight, you are the most important person."
"I am?" Oliver looked at him disbelievingly.
"Yes," Lance confirmed nodding. "The vigilante was closer to you than anyone else. What did you see?"
"Not much, I'm afraid." Oliver replied. "He was wearing brown robes. The hands were in leather gloves..."
"Big hands, small hands,"
"Actually," Oliver said frowning to remember. "Small hands,"
"Any other attributes? Rings, jewellery?"
"Yes," Oliver nodded. "There was a strange red glint. It was coming from his left side, probably attached to its hand under the wrist level."
Red glint, the word resonated in Lance's mind. Could it be? He had seen the same red glint once before. Actually, it was the first time he had encountered the hefty work of the newest vigilante. That's how it was dubbed the Crystal Arrow. So it was him after all.
"Detective, are you alright?"
Oliver's voice brought him back to station reality. He had zoomed out again.
"Yes," Lance replied. "Do you recall anything else?"
"The bow, it was made of crystal or it could have been adorned with them." Oliver said. He kept frowning to remember. It was not easy as everything had happened in perpetual darkness. "There was something else. There were crystals, emerald green. Um, that's all I remember."
"Thank you," Lance said. "If you can remember anything else..."
"I will let you know."
"Thank you, Mr. Queen."
"I'm glad to be of assistance."
Oliver left the room leaving Lance rather perplexed. Emerald green crystals – it got him thinking. He had seen something like that before but couldn't quite put his finger on it. He left the room and headed out. Captain Sagle appeared in his sight and suddenly an epiphany struck him. But...his breath stopped. Nah, it can't be. But his eyes were staring at the diamonds adorning her dress. They were emerald green. Nah, it must be a coincidence. But then again he did not believe in such.
But then again his epiphany was also preposterous. How can it be his captain? She was standing right beside him. It couldn't be her. But still the emerald green diamonds were making this hard for him. Queen was standing right in front of the Crystal Arrow. True, Queen was not exactly trustworthy but still it was hard to miss such a detail so clearly standing out.
Lance was uncertain onto how to proceed. If his crazy theory was right and his captain was the guilty party then they were in a lot of trouble. How would this reflect onto the police force? They would become the laughing stock of the country. The Crystal Arrow the head of the Police Department, no, there had to be another explanation.
Still he needed to be sure. But how do it without arousing suspicion. Of course, his brain was still processing it. If she was the guilty party then how did she do it? She was standing right beside him. How can she move this quickly? It was simply not possible. He had to review the tapes again. Maybe there would be some clue to support or disprove his current thoughts.
On the way to the security booth, his mind continued to spring theories. It can't be her but then a small voice inside his head said – she was an expert sharpshooter. Her academy scores were off the charts. So yes, she could easily be this archer. She was also expert in tactics. For her it will not be difficult to plan this coup. And she was fervent defender tonight of the vigilante's actions. He could not simply dismiss all this suspicious evidence.
He reached the booth and ordered the tapes for reviewing. He followed her movements throughout the evening. But not even once had she moved anywhere near the donations banks. She had done nothing suspicious at all. Maybe he was imagining things and then something caught his eye. It was something she held in her hands. It appeared to have buttons on it like a device.
Lance frowned as she handed it to a boy in the crowd. Lance followed that boy's movements and found it was standing in the end right in front of the casing, well slightly on the right of it but still. It was too much of a coincidence. He wondered where this boy was now. He called in and a police officer presented himself. He told him to find this boy at once.
Ironically, the children were not searched. It was logical because no one could conceive of such a possibility until now. Lance hoped he was wrong. He craved to be wrong for whether he wanted to admit it or not he was damn attracted to her. Maybe he had even fallen for her. He knew not how it has happened but it has and now this. The boy was soon brought before him. He dreaded actually the content of the child's pockets.
And there it was – the device. Lance closed his eyes. No, it wasn't true. There had to be an explanation. And there they were too – the diamonds. But the nagging question remained if she was the guilty party – how did she then do it. He dismissed the officer and the boy and took a look at the device.
He pressed the button and for his horror a figure in brown robes occupied the space before him. It was exactly as Queen had described it. It was a hologram but so perfect it was almost indistinguishable from a real person. But the emerald green diamonds corresponded to perfection to Kathryn's dress. They were at exactly the same place. Someone may argue it is coincidence but it was too much to simply ignore.
What was it she said? We cannot allow our feelings to stand in the way of justice. Oh, he wished he could. But now he was heartbroken. She played him and everyone else. But he couldn't just walk to her and arrest her. He needed more evidence. He gave the district judge a call.
The reaction the district judge had was just as he dreaded. "WHAT?" But he called back shortly after and he had his warrant in hand. Lance left the palace and headed for the captain's apartment. He hoped it was only circumstantial evidence.
Arriving there, he ventured inside and his jaw was nailed to the floor. There was no mistake. He was not wrong. It was her. There were the brown robes and a compound bow with crystals adorning it. Lance closed his eyes. How was this possible?
But the evidence was irrefutable. She was the Crystal Arrow. And speaking of which he looked for the arrows and soon found them in a metal box. The red glint was present. The arrows were made of it, a red crystal. It seemed to pulsate. It was an odd sensation when he touched it.
Heartbroken, he returned to the Winter Palace and announced that the search is complete. The diamonds have been recovered but sadly the culprit has escaped. Everyone relaxed. He now could focus on arresting her. But Captain Sagle was nowhere to be found. They searched the building upside down.
"Detective,"
Lance turned around. It was officer Kali.
"Officer?"
Officer Kali looked grim. "We found her, sir."
Lance frowned at once. The grim expression, the slow movement, what was wrong?
"Take me to her!"
Officer Kali took the lead. Reaching the side streets, Lance saw several officers leaning over something onto the pavement. He pushed them aside and stopped dead in his tracks. It was the captain splattered onto the street. She was wearing the brown robes and underneath was her green dress with the sparkling emerald diamonds. The compound bow on the side and as Lance noticed a tiny burn mark on the chest. In her other hand he saw what looked like a grappling hook.
"It appears she tried to swing over the building but the hook did not hold and she fell." The coroner explained while they were in the morgue.
"I don't buy it. And the burnt mark fits in this how?" Lance asked.
"I noticed that later, Detective. But the hook did not hold that much is true. You are right though there is a burnt mark. It is the ammo of the Crystal Arrow."
"You're getting me confused, Doctor." Lance said. "She is the Crystal Arrow."
"Well, if she is then who shot her?" Dr. Ranford asked.
The doctor raised a valid point. And despite the fact that he found irrefutable evidence linking her to the Crystal Arrow she was still shot in the fashion the Crystal Arrow shoots. Could she have been framed? But if she was then who the hell was the Arrow? Or a crazier theory popped into his head. What if there were more than one Crystal Arrows? Perhaps this was the reason he could not make sense of the cases.
"Was she shot before or after she tried to swing?"
"Sadly, I cannot tell but I'll keep trying to determine that."
"I know this is kind of strange question, Doctor but um do you think she is capable of using that bow?"
"Oh, yes, definitely," Dr. Ranford answered. "Look here, her muscles! Well, you get such thing from highly trained sharpshooters. I have seen it before. So yes, she is fully capable of it and with great ease."
"How did we not see this Doctor?"
"I wish I had an answer for you, Detective. I really do."
Lance was devastated. But it made him wonder too. If she was the Crystal Arrow then why did she make such a rookie mistake? She could have easily secured the boy without arousing anyone's suspicion. She was the captain. True no one is all knowing or all seeing but still something was not adding up here.
And why would she leave all this evidence lying around in the open? It made no sense to him at all but more to the point who shot her and why. The diamonds were recovered so there was nothing to gain unless something else was going on, something he was not seeing.
Why is it that every case was so difficult or complicated? She said nothing is that simple in life. And she was damn right.
Sadly the truth about her got out and it was a press nightmare. The headlines in the newspapers read: Captain Crystal leading the police by the nose; and: A murderer in the midst of the police force, and many other like that. Of course, the only spin of truth was the fact that she was taken down by the police and in her attempt to escape she fell to her death.
Of course, there was still one tiny bit of an unsolved problem. No one could still explain how she lifted the diamonds for the tapes Lance watched confirmed she did not leave his side at the time of the crime. This little piece of evidence was mind boggling.
And the stunning news hit the world. Captain Sagle's body was stolen from the morgue in a very public way by a figure in brown robes, dark brown gloves and a quiver with protruding red glinting crystal arrows.
And Lance was back at square one. What the hell was going on? What could possibly Sagle's body disclose for the identity of the vigilante that it was worth taking it? If there was something they would have learnt it by now. But regardless they were back at square one. Obviously the vigilante was not dead only playing possum until the heat was down. But then why make such a public display? Something here was definitely not adding up.
Lance was convinced now more than ever that there was a different game at foot. There was something they were missing of the intentions of the vigilante. It was clear he had an agenda of his own that for now was completely elusive and unknown.
A few nights after that accident, the newspapers were occupied with the Hood's activities as he was on the move again. Lance figured Christmas was over and it was time to resume his deadly crusade. But Lance's thoughts were not on the job anymore. For some reason he could not return to work. Well, he knew the reason of course and the new captain gave him enough space to recover from his loss.
Somewhere outside the city in an abandoned factory, the figure in brown robes and hood was standing above the body of Kathryn Sagle. It lay peacefully on a bed. Suddenly, a sigh broke the silence and her body displayed the normal breathing rhythm.
"Sweetheart," The figure in the robes said and Kathryn opened her eyes.
"Oh, hey you," Kathryn said and sat up. "How long was I out?"
"Two weeks," The figure in robes replied. "You made quite the headlines for awhile. Captain Crystal leads the police by their noses...ha, ha. A murderer in the midst of the respected police force, State investigation to be pursued to clear the ranks, it was very entertaining."
"I would think so." Kathryn smiled darkly.
"But did you get it?"
"Yes, I did." Kathryn said.
"And it is where?"
"Oh, well, that's the part you're not going to like."
"In HIM really?" The figure in robes exclaimed.
"Well not in him, but with him, yes,"
"What do you find in that shrub, padawan?"
"He's cute, Master."
"I told you this would end badly."
"Well, it had to end somehow and it did." Kathryn said and stood up. "Kathryn Sagle fulfilled her usefulness."
"Yes, Padawan Solo, she did indeed. And she deserves a proper burial."
"I have already attended to that."
"When?"
"She died on training exercise. I took her identity but did take care of her properly."
"Good then we have considerable work to do."
"Yes, Master Jade,"
Padowan Solo put her own brown robe on. Her task as Police captain was done for now. Of course, she had to take what she left without Lance ever finding out. Speaking of Lance, she sighed deeply. She had indeed developed feelings for him but it would be way too complicated to explain him what was really going on.
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Lordheaven
