Chapter IV: Confrontation.

Sebastian Blood walked up the stairs to the top floor, a black briefcase in hand. It was late at night and there was no one else in the building except for him and the man he was about to meet in his private office. And Sebastian knew that what he had to say would get his partner's attention. After all ,it wasn't every day that Sebastian asked him to come to his office in the dead of night.

So once he made it to the top floor he headed straight to his private office and moved quickly. It was best not to keep Slade Wilson waiting.

He turned and went through a hallway and took in the pictures hanging on the walls in their frames. Most were of him excepting awards for making the city a safer place but there were also some of him going to help sick or wounded children in hospitals. If he was a younger version of himself he would have laughed at the irony, but he wasn't the naive man he once was. He knew he had become a cruel man but also knew he was doing this for the right cause. To help make this city a better place. So no matter what, whatever cost or sacrifices it took he would do it if only for a glimpse of a better tomorrow.

He was no longer the man who once thought he could achieve his dream through peace, his eyes were opened to the truth even before he met Slade. Any action he did, no matter how malicious was understandable once everyone saw his dream come to life.

After all, to extinguish darkness, you must become the darkness .

He had entered his office and Slade was currently standing up, looking at the shelves of books while his back was turned toward Sebastian. Sebastian slowly closed the door behind him as he turned the lock making a small clicking sound the echoed through the nearly empty room.

Neither spoke, the silence only making the atmosphere of the room more dreadful. Sebastian simply stared at Slade's back and never uttered a single syllable. He never understood why Slade always did this whenever they met. He doubted it was for dramatic effect. But he never asked. it would be a pointless question.

"... Why did you call me?" Slade said, breaking the silence, though his back was still facing Sebastian. "Do you want another sword to your throat?"

Sebastian had to stop himself from grabbing his throat with his hand, remembering the feeling of Slade's blade inches away from ending his life. He couldn't display weakness in front of his boss.

His frown had become grimmer, he placed his briefcase on the large desk a few feet away from him. He opened the briefcase and took out a small folder. "There has been a... incident with one of our operations," Sebastian said, as his eye's continued watching Slade's every-move. To anyone else, Slade looked unreadable but to Sebastian, he could tell that Slade's irritation was slowly rising on the inside. Slade Wilson hated the unexpected .

"... What kind of incident." Slade asked finally turning around to face Sebastian as he walked towards him. Sebastian answered his question by simply handing Slade the folder which he grabbed from Sebastian. "My followers were heading to a warehouse to meet a gang in order to acquire more... Test subjects for the Mirakuru transplant." Sebastian said as Slade opened the folder. "However when they arrived at the location all the gang members were dead." Inside the folder, there were multiple photos of corpses, some without heads, others with narrow stab wounds in their chest. However, there was one common factor among all the corpses.

They were all covered in slash wounds, and Slade could see the wounds were from an expert swordsman.

"This wasn't the Arrow," Slade said, his voice was cold and left no room for questions.

"I figured as much," Sebastian said before his expression grew in curiosity. "Though that does raise the question as to who this person is."

"It appears there is a new player in this game of ours," Slade said as he threw the folder onto the desk. "One that doesn't seem to belong to any side."

"How can you tell?" Sebastian asked, his eyes gaining a questioning look. "For all we know this could be some outside factor trying to stop us like A.R.G.U.S."

"If this was A.R.G.U.S, I would recognize their work, and I seriously doubt that anyone else has even a fraction of an idea as to what's happening in this city. Even the Arrow doesn't know about us yet." Slade's explained, each word he said was packed with confidence, and his expression told Sebastian that Slade was positive what he was saying was right. That his answer was the only one. "Whoever this man is, he has no allegiance to anyone. That makes him a threat." Slade's voice filled with anger as he walked towards Sebastian. "Make sure you find this man. And when you do make sure his corpse doesn't even look human." Slade's voice was barely above a whisper but it held enough venom in it to kill ten different men.

"Understood," Sebastian answered, nodding his head to his partner.

"I have enough vigilante's to kill." Slade walked towards the door and opened it, his voice deadly serious. "If this fool thinks he can stop us, if he even knows about us, then I want to make sure we crush every fiber of his being." And with that, Slade left the office as he closed the door behind him, leaving Sebastian standing alone in his office.

Sebastian let out a long sigh as he grabbed his folder and then examined the images again. Whoever did this was a threat, like Slade had said, but Sebastian was positive that this new player, as Slade had put it, would be nothing but a small thorn in their side.

Sebastian knew that wherever this person was he best enjoy every breath of air he inhales... For soon he would be just another stepping stone in rebuilding this city.

A Samurai's Journey

There was only one other sound amidst the water falling from the sprinklers above. The sound of two men fighting a vicious battle.

Jack rushed towards the man in the red hood and the man did the same. Jack's sword was held at his side with one hand as he ran towards his opponent. And the moment he was inches away from the man, he struck.

In an instant, Jack brought his sword above his head, before immediately slicing down at the man's head. However, the man did not even blink and dodged to the right as the sword hit nothing but the air. The man then threw a punch aimed at Jack's chest, but Jack twisted to the left and the punch missed him, the fist almost grazing Jack's chest as he turned.

Seeing that the boy had yet to pull back his arm, Jack saw an opening and quickly delivered a cross to the man's cheek. The man's eyes saw the punch coming and Jack had expected him to try and dodge but instead, he simply watched the punch come at him. The fist made contact with the man's cheek as the was a loud *SMASH* that echoed through the now raining parking lot.

When Jack saw what his punch did he was shocked. Jack was confused as to why the man did not dodge since Jack knew he had the speed to do so, but now he understood why as his eye's widened slightly.

The man's head did not even move an inch. Jack had put enough power into it that would knock out some of the bounty hunters back in his world, yet this red hooded man did not seem to feel anything. He simply stood there, with Jack's fist still on his face as the water kept hitting his hood from above. And Jack realized that this warrior was more powerful than he had thought

The man grabbed Jack's wrist with his hand quicker than Jack had expected. The man in the red hood was now squeezing Jack's fist and Jack felt an intense pain in his wrist as he clenched his teeth from the pain. The man then pulled on Jack's arm which sent Jack moving towards him as he threw another punch, this time at Jack's face. Jack, his focus brought back to the battle, brought his sword up to his face and used the broadside of it to block the man's fist as it made contact with his sword.

There was a loud *PING* when the man's punch hit the sword as jack was sent skidding backward from the powerful force. Jack kicked up trails of water as he skidded before coming to a halt when he hit a pillar, grunting in pain as he did. Several cracks now formed on the pillar from the impact as Jack shook his head to rid himself of the dizziness that ran through him.

The moment Jack stopped feeling dizzy, his eyes widened as he saw the red-hooded man charged at him with one arm raised above his head. Jack acted quickly and leaped to the side just as the man threw his punch. Jack went into a roll when he hit the floor to gain some distance from the man just as the red hooded warrior's fist hit the pillar. The moment it did a large chunk of the pillar went flying backward through the air before hitting the ground. The pillar was unable to keep itself upright and it quickly fell to the ground, making a huge splash as it did so.

Jack stopped rolling and got up and examined his opponent with fierce narrowed eyes, his hand clenching his sword tightly. This man was incredibly strong, stronger than Jack had first anticipated. Jack could also see that the warrior was also something else, something Jack had never encountered before. Just by looking into the man's eye's he could feel a deep fiery hatred that was pulsating through every fiber of the man's being.

Though there was something... Strange about the man. Not just his anger, but there was something else that seemed odd to Jack. It was the way the boy never spoke, not even grunting, as they fought. And Jack sometimes noticed the warriors eyes twitch, his arm trembling uncontrollably, and him snarling like an animal.

It was like the boy in front of him wasn't a person. Just an angry beast

Jack did get any more time to dwell on his thought as the man came rushing towards him. He instantly got into his stance right as the boy tried to punch Jack in his chest but he simply ducked to the right. The boy immediately followed up with an uppercut to Jack's chin but Jack leaned his head back as far as he could and the red hooded warrior missed again. He tried one last time to hit Jack as he spun around and struck him in the face with an elbow. Just as the blow was inches away from Jack's face, he backflipped out of the way.

"I must end this. Now." Jack thought, his hands hitting the wet ground as he pushed off it and flipped again. It was time to go all out.

Jack landed a few feet away from the boy and the moment his feet touched the ground he raised his sword to his side. This time, Jack was not holding anything back. He was running as fast as he could and intending to slash at his opponent with all his strength. He swung his swords at his opponents chest, slicing through the air so fast that the warrior could not possibly block it in time.

And then something that completely shocked Jack's very spirit happened.

His sword made contact with the man, but it did not even scratch him.

Jack just stared at his sword as it laid on top of the red hooded man's chest, who was starting at the sword, wondering what Jack was doing. Jack's sword, the one that had saved his life countless times, the one that had cut through almost every futuristic metal in his world, the one that could vanquish any evil... Didn't even leave a scratch

Saying he was stunned would be an understatement.

"Ho-how is this possible?!" Jack thought. He never got another second to wonder as the red hooded warrior struck him dead center in his face with his fist.

Jack coughed up blood as he was sent careening through the air. He didn't stay in the air for long, though. He crashed onto the floor as he went skidding across the wet surface.

"Something is very wrong here." Jack stopped sliding, but he had to move quickly for the warrior was already above him with a raised fist.

Jack rolled to the left to dodge just as the boy brought down his fist. The sheer force of his punch created a small crater when it hit the floor as Jack kept rolling away from the warrior.

Deciding he was far enough away from the hooded warrior, jack stopped rolling. He then quickly got up as the warrior charged after him. Instead of choosing to fight him, Jack ran towards a nearby car before placing a hand on the hood and jumping over it. Jack's body disappeared from sight as he ducked behind the small automobile.

The furious man did the same, but when he jumped over the car instead of finding Jack... He found nothing. No samurai, no sword, nothing.

The warrior glared at the ground, if possible his features seemed even angrier. He looked like he was about to explode with pure fury as he stomped the ground hard with his foot before snarling like a beast.

Unbeknownst to him, Jack had rolled underneath the car. The reason why he was hiding was because he needed some time to think. He slowly moved his sword so that it was directly over his face and stared at it. Even under the car, he could see his face reflected on the words polished surface. He still could not believe what had just happened. His sword had never failed him. Ever. Yet somehow it did not leave even a scratch on his opponent.

"How could this be?" Jack thought. "My sword can cut through metal, has defeated so many of Aku's demons, so why can't it injure this warrior?" Jack knew his sword could help him beat this boy. It had helped him through so many trials, so many enemies. It had defeated far darker creatures then this warrior, so what was wrong with it? It should be able to vanquish his evil opponent, that was it's purpose.

Then it hit him.

Jack's eyes slowly widened. "If the sword can not cut this warrior." He thought, remembering the boy's eye's full of hatred. "Then he must not be truly evil."

At that moment the car Jack was hiding under flipped over as he heard an enraged scream. He turned his head and saw the boy, who looked even more mad, was about to throw another punch. Jack quickly got up and jumped backward into the air as the punch missed him and hit the concrete. Once again leaving another crater.

Jack flipped multiple times in the air before landing with a loud *SPLASH* as water was kicked up into the air.

Getting into his stance, Jack once again stared at the warrior in front of him. He looked straight into the man's eye's, seeing all the hatred and rage coursing through them. But Jack also saw something else as he looked through the storm of fury.

He saw the man was in... Pain. It was only for a second, but his eyes didn't look enraged and hateful at all. The warrior had sorrow swirling through his eye's and had pure misery spreading throughout his body. It was only for a second but Jack saw it all. He saw the warrior, not as an angry beast, but as a soul in need.

And it was Jack's duty to help anyone in need. Even if it meant him drawing his last breath, he would always be there to save everyone.

And Jack was going to save this warrior.

Jack slowly raised his sword and the in the red hood quickly went on guard. But instead of taking his usual stance, Jack slowly sheathed his sword back into its sheath. Jack could see the warrior was perplexed underneath his hood, though he was still full of fury, likely trying to figure out what Jack was planning.

Jack then placed his sword onto the ground. He moved both of his arms to his sides just before he closed his eyes.

Jack took a deep breath, before bringing both his palms together in front of him and simply stood there. Not moving an inch as more water fell from above and hit him.

The furious warrior glared at Jack, waiting to see what the samurai was going to do. He waited as the moments went by and the samurai still had his eyes closed.

The warrior felt even more rage rise inside him, feeling the samurai was not taking him seriously as he had waited long enough, the warrior charged at Jack and with each step the sounds of water splashing echoed through the empty car lot. He shouted as he ran and Jack still would not open his eyes.

When the red-hooded man was mere inches away from Jack, he lashed out with a punch aimed for Jack's face. The air snapping from the force as it looked like it would hit the time-displaced warrior.

And that was when Jack acted.

He twisted his body ever so slightly to the right at the last second as the punch missed him by a hairs width. Jack had moved so fast, to the warrior it seemed Jack had disappeared. In a second before the boy could act, Jack grabbed his arm with his hand, pivoted on his right foot, and threw him over his shoulder. The momentum from the boys own attack made it so when Jack threw him, he was sent flying through the air!

Jack saw the warrior's eyes widen right before he crashed into the side door of another car, leaving a large dent it the metal. Not giving the warrior a chance to recover, Jack ran towards him and jumped high into the air. The warrior in the red hood looked up just in time to see Jack slamming his feet into his face with all his weight behind him. This time, Jack was using much more strength than before. The warrior spat blood, just as Jack pushed himself off of the man and landed a few feet away. Right as he landed, he ran again towards the still downed warrior and struck him across the face with his fist. Jack then punched the warrior's face again with a hook, this time even harder than his last punch as his head whipped to the side and more blood came from his mouth.

Jack then landed blow after blow all across the livid warrior, not letting up in the slightest. The warrior had blood leaking down his clothes as more and more of Jack's punches hit him, and even though it seemed like he was winning Jack still felt a hint of worry growing inside him.

This was because the warrior's face became more and more angry with each blow.

Just as Jack was about to punch the warrior in his stomach, his hand caught Jack's fist. Jack didn't have time to react as the warrior pulled his hand forward. Jack was forcibly drawn towards the bloody boy as the warrior landed a vicious punch in Jack's solar plexus then sent the samurai sliding on the floor once more. Jack came to a stop when he crashed into a nearby pillar as he let out a grunt of pain and blood came out of his mouth.

Jack quickly recovered, but did not have time to rest as the door to the car the man was just on came flying towards him! Jack leaned back as far as he could, his body practically touching the floor as the car door just missed him. The door then crashed into another nearby parked car, completely wrecking its sides as the alarms went off.

However, the boy had was already on top of Jack! He looked down at Jack, an incredibly strong fist pulled back before throwing it towards the samurai. Jack shot his arms towards the floor behind him, the moment his hands hit the concrete his pushed off it. Jack was sent sliding in between the warriors legs just as his fist crashed down on the concrete he once was, once again another creator left from the warrior's power.

Jack stopped sliding before jumping, spinning in the air as he landed and got back into his stance and stared at the warrior. Jack saw that the man had blood now dripping down his hoodie, making it an even darker shade of red, as the rest slid down into the puddles of water below him. Mixing with the water and turning it red. Jack also noticed that the warrior was more enraged than he ever had been, practically foaming at the mouth as he glared with as much hatred as any human being could muster.

But Jack also saw his blows had left some damage. The man was breathing heavily, his body shaking not from anger but from exhaustion. Jack as not sure if it was from his hits or whatever was ailing the warrior was taking its toll on his body. Perhaps it was both, but Jack could tell the warrior was weakened. And he knew a little bit more and he would be able to help the warrior.

So with that thought in mind, Jack raised his hand and smirked at the man before giving him a "come here" motion with his hands.

The warrior saw this and shouted furiously before charging at Jack. Jack stood completely still, muscles tensing, eyes narrowing as the boy ran through the water falling from the roof. Jack knew this would be the end of their fight.

The warrior charged at Jack like a mad bull, pulling his arm back before throwing it towards the samurai when he was only a foot away. The punch was coming at high speeds at Jack, yet he did nothing, not even blink as the punch came even closer to his face. And just as the punch was about to connect, Jack struck.

He ducked underneath his punch, and in the next second delivered a fierce uppercut at swift speeds that hit the warrior right in his jaw. The force of the punch was so strong it sent the warriors neck snapping upwards as he coughed more blood. However ,the warrior was not done as he snarled right before launching another punch at Jack. Jack simply side stepped to the left to dodge, but the warrior threw another punch at Jack's stomach, and once again Jack stepped back and easily dodged the punch.

The warrior was beyond enraged as he sent another punch at Jack's face, but the samurai simply ducked underneath it and ran towards him. Before the man could pull his arm back Jack punched his armpit with the back of his fist. the warrior face contorted in pain but Jack was far from done. He lashed out with two more punches, both hit the warriors stomach and kidney before spinning and smashing a devastating kick to the side of the warrior's head. The man in the red hood looked furious but Jack could tell he was at the end of his line.

He threw a punch that hit the warrior right in his nose as blood spilled out of his nostrils. the warrior attempted one last attack and threw a vicious punch with all his strength left in it, but Jack caught the fist in his hand. His hand felt an intense amount of pain, but he ignored it as he hit the warrior's cheek with a sharp right hook. The man's head snapped to the side, his body racked with pain as he tried to stay standing. And then, Jack crouched low to the ground before quickly rising and hitting the warrior with a fierce uppercut to the chin that sent him flying into the air!

The man spiraled in the air before crashing down hard into the watery concrete below him. He stayed there, face up and did not move a muscle, and Jack knew that this fight was over.

He let loose a long sigh, wiping away the blood from his mouth. He shook his long, messy hair to try and get rid of all the water in it but since the sprinklers were still on it did little to help him. It was at times like this he missed his pony tail.

He slowly walked towards the defeated warrior, flinching slightly from pain. Though the warrior had only managed to strike a few blows on him, They still hurt Jack. He would probably have bruises tomorrow but he should be fine. The warrior was strong, but jack had dealt with worse opponents.

He stood over the warrior, staring down at his blood soaked face as the water from above slowly cleaned it off him. Now that he was no longer coursing with hatred, Jack could see that this man was very young. A young boy, in fact. Jack scolded himself mentally for attacking a child, but he knew that it was for the best, he didn't know of any other ways to help this young boy.

Though, he wondered what exactly happened to this warrior?

Jack bent down and picked up the warrior, placing him over his shoulder. He looked around and saw how damaged the lot was now. pillars were destroyed, cars were ruined, and there were craters everywhere.

Jack also saw the old man and the young girl the warrior attacked before he got here. The girl was mostly fine, she just had a large bruise on the side of her face. The old man, however, had blood leaking in large quantities from his body as his back leaned against the pillar. Jack was not sure if he would live or not. He needed to do something, but he did not want to risk causing the man more pain.

Jack would have helped them, but he heard footsteps coming. Not wanting to take any chances, Jack ran with the warrior over his shoulder's into the shadows of a pillar near a wall. He peaked his head over the side and saw two people in the same uniforms standing over the two injured bodies. Jack listened intensely to the two people, and could hear them talking about getting an ambulance to their location.

Jack knew what an ambulance was, and he slowly recognized what the people were. Police officers. Other guardians of the city. He was relived to know that the two injured people would get the help they needed.

Knowing that the two people were in good hands, Jack moved as quietly as he could away from the two officer and left went towards a nearby exit. He opened the door and went down the stairs, and exited the building.

A Samurai's Journey

Oliver walked out from his secret base , he still hated the name Arrow Cave and refused to call it that, and walked into the bar above. The smell of alcohol,and also a bit of vomit, hit his nostrils the moment he stepped into Verdant. He ignored this and walked towards the stairs before sitting down on them and getting lost in his thoughts.

His mind still was focused on one person, Laurel. And how she almost convinced him that Sebastian Blood, the kind, caring person who Oliver had just started to become friends with, was a criminal mastermind who wanted to hurt his city. He still had trouble figuring out why he believed her. She had little evidence to support her theory, yet still, he trusted her judgment completely.

To be fair Laurel did find the man in the skull mask, officer Daily, apparently he was the one who had been trying to reconstruct the Mirakuru formula. Even though he was dead, Oliver had doubts that he was the only one trying to recreate that horrible formula. The only thing he really learned tonight was that when it came to Laurel, she was his blind spot. He berated himself for doubting his friend, maybe he was letting his feelings cloud his judgment like Diggle said.

He sighed, this night was one of the more upsetting nights he had since he came back to his city. He wanted to take the win, enjoy the fact that he stopped Daily, but he couldn't. He had doubts that this was over, his years of experience told him that something worse was about to strike from the shadows.

He hoped was just being paranoid.

And as he sat on the stairs he heard the sound of the entrance doors opening. He looked up and saw his sister Thea, and saw her features growing in distress with each step she took towards Oliver.

"Thea what's wrong?" Oliver asked, concern evident in his voice.

Thea was quickly becoming more and more frantic, she tried to talk to her brother, but the words wouldn't come out of her mouth and she constantly stuttered.

"Roy he-he, oh my god Ollie Roy put some guy in the hospital.," Thea said, her hands pulling on her long hair, finally able to tell Oliver as she saw Ollie's eyes widen.

"What!?" Oliver nearly shouted.

"Yeah he, Christ Ollie, he beat the crap out of some guy, and Sin somehow!"

"Are you sure?" Oliver said as he walked towards his sister.

"Yes, I'm one hundred percent fucking positive!" She shouted as Oliver took a step back, he rarely ever saw his sister so distraught. "She said Roy beat up some jackass, and her accidentally, though she refuses to tell me how! She then said she woke up in the hospital and the police were asking her questions on what happened! She told the police that it was just some group of thugs so they wouldn't be looking for Roy. But you know what the best part is? The doctors aren't sure if the guy he beat up is going to live!"

"Oh god," Oliver said quietly. He knew Roy was injected with the Mirakuru, but he never thought Roy would tun this violent. He seemed fine to him whenever they spoke, not at all like a hulking beast people who were exposed to the drug became. But If what Thea said was true... He may have another Slade on his hand, and whatever blood Roy's spills would be his fault.

And he also might have to... Deal with Roy the same way he dealt with Slade.

"Oh god Ollie, Roy's is in so much shit right now." Hearing his sisters voice full of sorrow and anxiety snapped Oliver out of his thoughts. He needed to focus on his sister because she needed someone to help her now. "I don't know what the hell's happening to him right now. Ollie, the guy in the hospital barley looked human. I can't even begin to think that Roy could do that to another person. He's been acting different lately, but I never thought he do something like this! I don't know whether to be pissed or worried, and I feel like my head is about to explode from-!

"Speedy, you need to calm down," Olive said, putting a hand on her shoulder, and stared at her with eyes full of compassion. "I know right now it seem's like Roy's done some horrible things, but you have to believe in him. I know Roy Harper, he's a good man and has a kind heart, if he didn't then I sure as hell wouldn't let you date him."

Oliver cracked a grin, but Thea still looked distressed as she stares at the floor, her features building up with uncertainty. Oliver's grin disappears as it is replaced with a frown.

"Thea, trust Roy. He would never do something like this on purpose, there has to be another explanation." He said, knowing full well what the answer was. He hated himself for withholding information his sister deserved to know, but he couldn't tell her. "I know right now things look bad, but once we find Roy I'm sure we'll be able to fix this."

"...How are we supposed to fix this, I have no idea where he is and neither does Sin." Thea said, still not looking at the floor and not at her brother.

"I think I can help," Oliver said, smiling at his sister.

"How? You're not the Arrow Ollie." Thea said.

"Maybe not, but I am a millionaire with a myriad of resources and a bodyguard who knows a thing or two about tracking down someone." He said, putting as much confidence into his voice as possible. "I promise I'll try my best to help you find Roy, and we'll figure out some way to fix this mess."

"You really mean that Ollie?" Thea asked, finally looking up at her brother and staring into his eyes.

"Of course Thea," Oliver said. Thea immediately wrapped her arms around her brother and gave him a big hug.

"Thank you, Ollie, I really need someone like you right now. Someone who I can rely on." Oliver felt Thea's grip tighten. "If I didn't have you, I might just snap," Thea said with a weak chuckle, as Oliver continued to embrace her. A part of him really despised himself, lying to his sister and giving her hope that might not even be real. He wasn't sure if when they found Roy, he would still be the same kid he was before. He wasn't even sure how he was gonna deal with him, and yet here he was telling his sister everything would be fine. Oliver hoped with every fiber of his being that Roy Harper was strong enough to resist the evils of the drug.

And if he didn't Oliver hoped he could find another option of stopping Roy, an option that didn't involve Roy being dead and Thea being heartbroken.

"You should go talk to Sin. Make sure she's told you everything she remembers before Roy knocked her out, even the littlest of things could help us." Oliver said, before breaking the hug as his sister looked up at his face. "I'll do everything I can to find Roy from here."

"Thank you, Ollie, for everything," Thea said, before turning around and running towards the door, towards Sin, Oliver assumed. Oliver kept smiling until his sister left the building. A deep frown crossed his face as he ran back downstairs, running down the steps to the main floor.

"Oliver, what wrong?" John asked, noticing that Oliver somehow looked even more stressed than before he went upstairs.

"We have to find Roy," Oliver said, going towards Felicity and her computer.

"Why? What happened?" Felicity asked.

"Roy put a man in the hospital, and he hurt Sin as well. I think he's starting to succumb to the Mirakuru."

"Oh god," Felicity said, eyes widening.

"I thought Roy didn't get enough of that stuff inside him, that's why he hasn't been destroying cars left and right," John said as he walked towards Oliver.

"So far he's been able to suppress it, but now it seems he's starting to lose himself and become just an angry hulk," Oliver said. "And now we have to find him immediately. He could harm a lot of people in his state right now."

"And, what exactly are we gonna do when we find him?" Felicity asked, looking at Oliver with a raised brow. "I mean we're gonna help him right? And not the help that involves shooting him up with arrows, right?

Oliver simply looked at the computer screen in front of him, not facing Felicity as she felt anxiety building inside her with each passing second. Roy was a good kid. she never really spoke to him, but she knew how much Oliver cared about him.

"Let's just find him, I don't know what I'm gonna do, Felicity," Oliver answered honestly. "If he seems like he can still be helped will help him, if not... Then I really hope we can come up with a good plan."

Felicity did not like the way Oliver phrased that. But still, she went to work on her computer, hacking into as many cameras she could, searching for Roy Harper. And that was really all she could do right now since neither she or Diggle had any real plan. Right now she could only hope that she could find Roy in time and that he wouldn't hurt anyone. Ans she also hoped they didn't have to hurt him.

'Cause that would really suck.

A Samurai's Journey.

Roy's eyes slowly opened as he awoken. The first thing he noticed as his eyes adjusted was that he was in some kind of abandoned factory. There were corded metal pipes above him, that looked like they might fall apart at any second. He also saw that he was laying next to some complex machinery which was also just as decayed as the pipes. And the walls and ceiling around him had cracks everywhere and he saw chunks of the wall fall and hit the ground.

The second thing he noticed was that his body was roaring with pain.

The moment he sat up, red hot pain coursed through his body. He groaned as he held his sides, but that did little to relive his pain. The worst part was the seemingly endless throbbing in his head. He could not even remember how he got here, or why he was so injured. Roy had been in many fights, but he never been beaten so badly he didn't even remember it the next day.

He placed a hand on his temple and one hand on the ground. Feeling something soft, instead of the cold hard concrete he expected, he looked down and saw he had been resting on a blanket. He also saw that his arm was wrapped in bandages, as well as his chest and head. He slowly stood up, moving past the pain, and saw that his hoodie and shirt were neatly folded right next to where he slept.

"Where the hell am I?" Roy asked himself,

"I see you are awake."

Roy's eyes widened, as he whipped around to face the voice he just heard. Momentarily forgetting about his injuries, he clenched his teeth from the pain as he looked at the man in front of him. He was tall and had long hair, and he had a sword strapped to his side. Roy didn't know why, but for some reason, this man put him on the edge.

"How are your wounds?" The man asked politely. Though his face only showed kindness, Roy still felt uneasy.

"Where am I?" Roy said, his voice harsh and gruff. He pushed aside his pain, not wanting to look weak in front of this man.

"You're somewhere safe." The man said. "I took you here to recover, I believe this was a factory of sorts."

"How did I get so injured?" Roy asked, and he saw the man raise a confused brow at him.

"You do not remember?" The man asked, and Roy instantly became curious. What the hell happened to him?

"No, I don't. Why? What exactly did I do?" He asked.

"You were enraged, child, you had attacked two people before I arrived to stopped you." The man said, and Roy's eyes winded in shock.

"What!?" He shouted. "No, there's no way I-!?"

And before he could finish, his memories came flooding back to him, and he saw them play out inside his head in vivid clarity . He remembered asking Sin for help on figuring out what his new powers could do. He remembered them forming a plan to go after some piece of shit prostitute slasher to see how much he could control his abilities. And then he remembered savagely beating the crap out of the criminal, feeling pure anger course through him as it only grew. And then he saw Sin, begging him to stop, but he didn't even listen to her, just letting himself give in to the anger as he back handed her. And just like that, his vision became darkness, and he couldn't remember anything else.

"Oh god... What did I do?" Roy leaned against one of the machines and slowly fell to the ground, staring at the ground with eyes bundling with grief and fear every second. "Sin, the girl with black hair, do you know if she's- do you know if-." He couldn't even finish his sentence, afraid of what the answer might be.

"The girl was not badly hurt." The man said, knowing what Roy wanted to ask. "She was injured, but you did nothing that might threaten her life. The man on the other hand..." He trailed off, eye glancing to the floor in guilt before staring back at Roy. "I'm sorry, but he was heavily injured, I'm not sure if he will live. I wanted to help, but there was nothing I could do. I am sorry."

Roy continued staring at the floor, face growing more and more sorrowful. He was glad Sin would be okay, but he still had to deal with the man he may have just killed. He couldn't believe how angry he got, how quickly he lost control. Not only did he hurt Sin, he could have hurt so many other people due to his lack of control. He shouldn't have done this stupid test, all it told him was that he couldn't control his powers at all; and that he was pathetic guy who couldn't even stop himself from hurting his own friend.

Wait.

"How exactly did you bring me here?" Roy asked the man. "I was furious, how did you calm me down?"

"I defeated you in combat, which is why you are so wounded." The man said, not noticing the look of absolute shock on Roy's face before he bowed at him. "I apologize for that, I could not think of a better solution a the time."

Roy meanwhile, stared at the man with an open jaw. Roy knew that he could easily punch through solid concrete, literally rips doors off of people's cars, and could easily beat up about ten different men. So to hear he was beaten by some random guy was both shocking and amazing to him.

"You...You beat me in a fight?" Roy asked.

"Yes." the man said as if it wasn't a big deal. "Again, my apologies."

"...Who are you?" Roy asked.

"They call me Jack," The man now named Jack said. "Samurai Jack."

There is a slight pause before Roy speaks again as he takes in this new information. "Um, okay, nice to meet you, Jack. My name's Roy." Roy said as he stuck out his hand, which Jack took and shook it. Roy noticed that he could actually feel Jack's tight grip, which just confirmed to Roy that Jack was strong. "You must be really strong."

"I am, though you are rather powerful yourself child," Jack said as he smiled at Roy, Roy broke off the handshake as he went back to staring at the floor

"I wish I wasn't," Roy muttered, a frown crossed his face as Jack stared at him.

"I could tell that your power is something... Unnatural." Jack said, and Roy looked up at Jack, his features shocked, telling Jack he was right in his assumption. "What exactly happened to you child."

"Don't call me child," Roy said, he really hated it when adults called him stuff like "child" or "kid". He let out a long sigh. "And it's a long story, I doubt you believe me."

Jack sat down next to Roy. "Believe me, I have seen many things in my life, Roy. I have learned that there are some things that defy what you think is possible in life."

Roy paused to consider what he should say. At first, he thought against telling the stranger the truth, after all, he knew nothing about him. And if he told him, he wasn't sure if he would tell anyone else about his abilities.

But then he saw Jack's face. Roy had spent most of his life learning how to read peoples expressions so that he wouldn't ever be tricked or hurt by others, and there wasn't any trace of depict or manipulation on it. Instead, there was only care etched in his expression and a yearning to try and help him. If he did tell this man, maybe he could actually help him somehow. After all, he was able to defeat him.

"It happened to me a couple weeks ago," Roy began. "I was kidnapped by some people, I don't know who they were or why they did it, but I do know they injected me with something. Something that made me stronger, and also makes me become so angry." Jack listened to every word Roy was saying intensely, his eyes focused solely on Roy. "I've tried to suppress it, but all that does is make me even angrier. I thought I could control it, use it to beat up criminals, like that guy you saw, but I couldn't control myself. If you hadn't beaten me, I probably would have kept on rampaging and hurt anyone near me."

Roy looked at the ceiling as he let out another sigh. "I was an idiot, I thought I could be a hero, but all I did was prove I'm dangerous."

"In my eyes, you have something that every hero needs," Jack said. "Courage. You were willing to try and overcome an obstacle, without a hint of hesitation. Even though you know the risk, you still wanted to do something to help others."

"It doesn't really matter, though, I failed. I ended up doing more damage than good. The drug's too strong, I can't fight it." Roy said, a defeated look crossing his face. He slowly got up, wincing as he did so, and walked towards his clothes. "Thank you, really, I mean it, but I think it's best that I leave."

"And where do you plan on going?" Jack asked.

"Somewhere far away from here," Roy said, slowly putting his shirt over his head. "You saw what I did, the way I am now, their's barley any good left in me. Just anger." Truth be told he was still angry, and talking to the man who beat him in a fight was only making him angrier. He knew it was stupid, that he was just leaving with no real plan in mind, but if he turned into a rampaging beast just because he gets a little mad, he couldn't risk himself hurting others. He couldn't risk hurting Thea. "Their's barley any part of me that isn't always mad, and I'm getting worse."

"You can not just run away Roy," Jack said.

"Yeah well I don't have a lot of options!" Roy shouted, and he didn't know when, but he clenched his fist as it shook violently from barley contained rage. He closed his eyes and tried to calm down, but he could not. "I can't control my anger if I stay I'm only gonna hurt the people I care about. "

"You are a good person Roy, I've seen the light inside of you. And you can use the light to vanquish the evil that plagues you." Jack said firmly.

"I can't! I don't know how to!" Roy shouted, zipping up his hoodie as he turned away and started to walk away from Jack.

"Then let me help you," Jack said, and Roy stopped walking. "I can help you conquer your darkness."

Roy turned around to face Jack and saw the determined expression on his face. "How?" He asked.

"I know what it is like to fight a powerful darkness," Jack said. "I know what it is like to seemingly be unable to ever win against a malicious power, and to let my anger consume me due to my failures. I know what it is like to turn into the very evil you're fighting."

Roy said nothing, listening to every word Jack said. From the sound of Jack's voice, it sounded like he was talking from experience. "I can train you to overcome your darkness. If you will let me, Roy. "

Roy wanted to believe him. Jack was being sincere and wanted to help him in any way he could. Roy wished he had the same amount of fate in himself as Jack did in him. Roy wished it was that easy, that by accepting help from this stranger, he would get better. But he doubted anyone could help him, since no one, even himself, knew exactly what happened to him. And right now, he needed to make sure he would be far away from any people. The anger inside him was coursing through his body, growing stronger each second, and it was turning him into a monster.

"I'm sorry, but unless you kill me, I can't take any chances," Roy said, and Jack said nothing for a moment. He closed his eyes and seemed to be deep in thought.

"If you wish to leave, I will not stop you, but know this Roy." Jack said as he opened his eyes. "never forget that the people who care about you, even those who are no longer in this world, shall give you strength in your darkest of moments."

Roy didn't fully understand his words, but he still nodded. He limped towards a set of nearby doors

"And one more thing," Jack said as Roy had reached the doors. "You should still be open to accepting help from others, they may even be able to help you better than I can."

"...I doubt they can." Roy said, as he pulled his hood over his head and left. Leaving Jack alone in the factory

Chapter IV: End

I'm back!

First of all, let me just say, I know it's been a while since I updated and I like to say I'm sorry about that. Life, it's both wonderful and miserable at the same time. But thank you all my loyal fans who are still reading!

Some of you may have questions as to why I did certain things in this chapter, but I assure you I have a plan. Or maybe I don't and am just winging it. Also, have you heard? Samurai Jack is coming back to Toonami! That's right, Jack is back and Genndy Tartakovsky returns as an executive producer. The new season will air sometime in 2016, and I'm so excited for it! And also, extremely worried. I really hope it's just as epic as before, and that Cartoon Network does not fuck this up.

If any of you guys have a suggestion or idea, don't be afraid to ask in the reviews. And also tell me what you liked or didn't like about this chapter so that I can make the next one even better. Happy New Year everybody! This is The Black Mage of Phantasm signing off. Peace!