Chapter Seven – One More Secret

"My name is Oliver Queen. I was stranded for five years on a deserted island. I returned to save my city from the people who would destroy it. If you are listening to this, it means that I have failed," said Oliver's recorded voice in Diggle's ears. "No matter the circumstances, I want my friends and family to know that my death is not their fault. I chose how to live my life. I made enemies, and put myself in harm's way. I did it to protect the innocent people of Starling City.

I know that I leave behind a legacy of lies. Nothing hurt me more than having to lie to the people I loved. I am truly sorry, but there is one more secret that I kept from everyone. Even my closest friends. I am telling you now because I am gone. I can no longer protect the people of Starling. As you may know, I have sworn not to kill unless it is necessary. But before I took that oath, I did not hesitate to kill people that got in the way of my objective. During that time, the second year after I returned to Starling from the island, when I still controlled Queen Consolidated, I had the Applied Sciences Division build a weapon for me. Not a weapon that I ever intended to use, but a precaution in case I came up against something, or someone, that I couldn't fight as the Arrow. I hid the weapon on the island of Lian Yu."

"The island," Diggle muttered to himself under his breath.

Oliver's voice went on to describe in detail the location of the weapon, and give the pass codes required to open the vault that it was stored in.

"I hope that whoever is listening to this will use this weapon for good and to protect people as I have strived to do. Good Luck."

Though it was a fairly sunny day, in the forest the trees blocked most of the sunlight. This made Diggle's walk a shady one. Diggle was on an island in the South China Sea. Lian Yu. Oliver had spent several years here; even come back for several months after Malcolm Merlin had messed up the Glades.

Diggle slapped a mosquito that landed on his arm. He now stood before the entrance to a cave. Just where Oliver said it would be. Ducking as he stepped through the entrance, he clicked on his flashlight and surveyed the inside. The air inside the cave was moist and cool, its rough rock walls dark and irregular. The cavern he was in was small, its floor only about fifty square meters in area.

A sweep of his flashlight revealed a safe set into the far wall. It was nearly as tall as he was, and about a half meter wide. He walked over to it and typed on the keypad, entering the combination that Oliver had given him. Once he had entered all the numbers and pressed the enter key, the tumblers clicked inside the lock. He heard a soft whirring sound as the deadbolt retracted. The anticipation was killing Diggle, as he was dying to know what he had traveled all this way to find. He gave the door to the safe a tug and it swung open. Shining his flashlight into the dark interior, he saw what looked like a shoulder quiver hanging inside. Something was inside the quiver, and it definitely wasn't arrows. He could just see its sleek dark handle protruding from the top. Then Diggle realized he was looking at a gun in a holster. He reached inside and took the holster from the safe, then grasped the handle of the gun and pulled it out.

"Whoa, this thing is big," Diggle said, turning it over in his hands. "And heavy." It was two feet long, and had a barrel as wide as Diggle's hand. It was black and chrome with two veins of ruby red on either side. I wonder what it does...

Never mind that, I have it.

Now it was time to get off this stupid island. He shoved the gun back in its holster, slinging it over his shoulder by its strap. Soon he was outside the cave, striding back towards the shore where his boat was waiting.

Alright, now I can get out of here. I've got a city to save. This whole little escapade has already taken up valuable time. Starling's going to go dark in—

Click.

Diggle froze mid-step and jerked his head down to see he'd just stepped on the pressure plate of a land mine. His heart rate spiked. Crap. It was old, and had probably been there since World War II.

This is just great. If I move I'll be obliterated. I hate this Island...I should have known it would try to kill me...

Diggle knew he had little chance of escaping this. He could try to call someone and get help, but by the time help came, there was a good chance that he'd accidentally shift his weight and set it off. That was too much of a risk to take.

There's only one way. Diggle knew that if he leapt away, as far as he could, he might be able to escape the explosion with little more than some burns and a few chunks of shrapnel in his hide. If I'm lucky, maybe this land mine is so old, it won't go off. Here goes nothing.

Diggle coiled and leapt forward with all his might. As soon as his feet left the ground, an explosion of flames erupted from the ground and chunks of dirt and shrapnel spread through the air.

A few seconds later, there was nothing but smoke rising from where the mine had been.

I made it! I'm alive! Diggle thought. He'd jumped far enough to escape the blast.

In fact, Diggle was nearly five meters away, perched up in a tree! Diggle looked down at himself with wide eyes. He couldn't believe what he had just done. The jump he had just made wasn't just impossible, it was super human.

What's happened? How did I do that? Diggle wondered. Then he remembered the antidote that Barry had given him. That must be it. They never told me what was in it. When I get back, I'm gonna give those little freaks at Star Labs a piece of my mind!