Chapter Nine – Lights Out
"What the heck are you wearing?" Slade asked, looking at Diggle's new duds with an eyebrow lifted. Diggle was back in Starling City now, and he had come to A.R.G.U.S. to pick up Slade.
"What, you think you're the only one who gets to wear a costume?" Diggle asked as the guards unlocked Slade's cell. Diggle was wearing the skin tight suit that Cisco had made for him. The pants were a dull gray, the shirt dark brown with a vertical stripe of lighter gray down the front. On his hands, he wore black fingerless gloves. All together, it made perfect urban camouflage. Cisco said it had things built into it too, similar to Barry's suit.
Little of that mattered to Diggle. What mattered to him was that everyone had seen the terrorists on television, threatening the city with their nuclear device. They said that they would use it to level the city.
Now that the public knew about the bomb they were going nuts. And it didn't help that the power was out. And the sun was going down.
What did help was that just before things had gone dark, Felicity had been able to trace the hack on the television station back to where the terrorists had broadcasted. Starling City National Airport. Diggle and Slade were heading there now.
"I guess this means we won't be hitting the Big Belly Burger then," Slade said as they stepped up the last steps and onto the roof of the building.
A large black helicopter was waiting for them there, a troop transport. It was the only way to go. Once the city had gone dark, everyone had flooded out into the streets, either in their cars or on foot, causing major traffic jams. Without street lights, the only light in the city was from car headlights and handheld flashlights. There was widespread looting. With the police tied up trying to restore order to the city, it was up to Diggle and Slade to get to the airport with a task force via helicopter.
"Shame they don't have a helipad," Slade mused.
Diggle's mind had been elsewhere, and it took him a moment to think of what Slade was talking about.
"Seriously, Slade?" Diggle said. It was Diggle's turn to raise an eyebrow.
"What?" Slade shrugged. "Prison food sucks."
Diggle shook his head as they made their way to the helicopter.
"It's up to us, men," Diggle stated loudly to the group of men that had been waiting for them. They stood in a neat row, and were all wearing body armor and helmets. They held rifles in their hands.
As the chopper powered up, Diggle had to talk over the chopping sound of the helicopter blades cutting the air. "The Police and National Guard are indisposed. We need to stop the terrorists from using the bomb. If we succeed, we'll be able to restore power to Starling and bring these killers to justice. The fate of this city is in our hands. If we fail this city, thousands will die." This last sentence was met with grim faces and stoic nods by the men. Many of them probably lived in Starling, had families here. They understood the stakes.
"Let's move out!" Diggle shouted.
Together, Diggle and his crew boarded the helicopter. Moments later they took off into the night air, flying over the darkened city.
During the flight, there were many questions on Diggle's mind, nagging him. These terrorists are insane, Diggle thought. Why do they want to blow up Starling so bad, and how did they even know how to make a bomb? Jonah Kenneth had been an insurance salesman, not a nuclear physicist. They must have had help, Diggle thought. The terrorists have gotten away twice already, first at the warehouse and again at the office building. But how? It didn't make any sense.
Diggle slid his goggles down and set his lips into a grim line. This time, there would be no escape for the man that had killed Diggle's best friend.
