We're back to the Arrow side of the story. Time to introduce John Diggle.

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Thanks to Timmy, Awesomeness is a gift, Unnamed, and Hadi276 for reviewing the previous chapter.

It was game night in Silverstone High. The home basketball team was facing off against Metropolis. The starting lineup of the home team's basketball team comprised of star center John Diggle, power forward Adam Foster, shooting guard Mark Mardon, small forward Ray Palmer, and point guard Andy Diggle, John's brother.

Oliver Queen was supposed to meet up with Laurel and Tommy to watch the game, but he was caught up on other business, such as keeping his ex-girlfriend Helena Bertinelli from starting a gang war between the Bertinelli crime family and the Chinese Triad.


Helena was currently targeting her father's right-hand man, Nick Salvati, who was overseeing a weapons trade. She was still wearing the suit that Oliver made for her during their brief time together. She also kept the crossbow pistol he made for her, as well as the codename he gave her, which is "Huntress". Oliver thought the codename thing was childish, but Helena talked him into giving her one if she's gonna be a vigilante like him. Oliver chose "Huntress" since she's been "hunting" the top men of her father's crime family. She liked it.

She hides at the fire escape on the side of a building and prepared to shoot Nick, until she heard a familiar disguised voice behind her.

"Drop the weapon."

She felt an arrow aimed at her head. She knew who it was.

"Nice of you to show up," said Huntress. "Don't you have a game to catch."

"The game can wait," said The Hood. "I understand why you broke up with me, but going back to ruining your father's criminal operations, why?"

"I guess old habits are hard to break," said Huntress.

"Don't make me ask a third time. Drop the weapon," demanded The Hood.

"You'll have to kill me if you want me to stop," said Huntress.

The Hood didn't know how to respond. He keeps his arrow pointed at Huntress, but he was frozen.

"I thought so," said Huntress with a smile.

Huntress smacks the bow aside and grabs The Hood, putting her arm around his neck, trying to choke him to unconsciousness. Green Arrow breaks free of the hold and grabbed Huntress by the arm. She pulls her arm back before hitting him in the stomach with her knee. Green Arrow takes out an arrow with a needle attached to the head, filled with sedative. He tried to stick into her, but she blocks his arrow and punches him in the face.

"With all the clanking we're making, I'm surprised the guys below haven't made us," said Huntress. "I guess it's time to get their attention."

Huntress kicks Green Arrow in the face, knocking him off the railing. He lands hard, capturing the attention of Salvati.

"The Hood? Here?" Salvati was clearly surprised.

Huntress jumps down from the fire escape.

"Not just him," said Huntress.

Salvati and his men raised their guns.

Huntress looks down at The Hood and offers him a hand. "For old times sake?"


Back at the court, Silverstone was having a rough start against Louisville. Metropolis started the game scoring the first 12 points. The first quarter ends with Metropolis taking a 30-16 lead. Silverstone's players are missing shots, committing turnovers, and failing to show team chemistry, mainly due to Andy Diggle.

At the bleachers, Tommy was occupied by Oliver's absence.

"Where do you think Ollie is?" Tommy asked Laurel.

"Probably trying to fix things with Helena, I don't know," replied Laurel. "Maybe he'll be here for the second half."

"I hope so," said Tommy.


The Hood and the Huntress have been fighting Salvati's men for nearly half an hour, mainly due to Salvati's advantage in numbers and firepower. The Hood fires five arrows rapidly and hits the guns of five armed men, disarming them. Huntress then kills the aforementioned men with five arrows.

"That wasn't necessary," said the Hood.

"Says you," retorted Huntress.

Nick Salvati gets into his van and started driving away along with a few of Bertinelli's men. His dealers retreated as well.

"They're getting away," said Huntress, firing arrows at the retreating van.

Only three men remain in the alley. The Hood knocks one out with a strong attack combo and kills another one by shooting an arrow through his throat. Huntress engages the last man standing. She punches him in the face three times, dodges his punch, and then shoots an arrow into his stomach at point blank range.

Huntress climbs up the fire escape of another building in an attempt to reach the rooftop. The Hood followed.

"Where are you going?" asked The Hood.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm going after Salvati!" yelled Huntress.


The first half ends with Metropolis leading by 24 points (60-36). When the home team went to the locker room, it was safe to say that Coach Ted Gaynor wasn't happy.

"C'mon, guys! This is not the team I assembled," said Ted. "A strong start sends a message and right now, we're doing the opposite."

"Thank Andrew for that," said Mark.

"Mark!" scolded Adam.

"No, he's a ball hog," said Mark. "When me and my brother played together, we played like a team. What about you? You just want to hog all the glory. What did that do for you? Two out of eleven, that's what."

"Don't start with me, Mardon," warned Andy.

"That's enough!" yelled John, standing up.

Everyone turns their attention to John.

"I'm sorry, Andy, but Mark's right. You may have the skill, but you lack the sense of teamwork," said John. "We all knew this isn't going to be easy. But just as coach said, a strong start to the season sends a message. In order to send that message, we have to function as a team. We need to do more than just play hard. We have to trust each other. Trust equals teamwork."

"Spoken like a true leader," complimented Ray.

The coach smiles, proud of John.

"What do you say?" Diggle asked everyone. "Are you all ready to get back out there and show them that we're not going to back down?"

Diggle lays his hand out. One by one, the rest of the players put their hand on top of Diggle's. Coach Gaynor joined in.

"Team on three," said Diggle. "One, two, three..."

"Team!" exclaimed the entire team.

...

After halftime is finished, both team return to the court. John Diggle looks at the bleachers and smiles and waves at his girlfriend, Lyla Michaels. She blows him a kiss in response. Andy also had a girlfriend in the stands. Her name is Carla Cooper. They exchanged smiles and waves.


Meanwhile, Huntress and The Hood were still chasing Salvati's van. They jumped from rooftop to rooftop. Huntress tries to shoot the tires, but she keeps on missing.

"Remember what I said about control?" reminded The Hood.

"It's not easy shooting from this distance," said Huntress.

"Just relax and aim," said The Hood.

As they continued jumping, Huntress tries to calm herself. She stops at the edge of a rooftop and aims at the van. She fires and successfully hits the front right tire, causing the van to go out of control and crash into an alley. The two vigilantes followed the direction.


Back at the game...

There was only one minute left in the third quarter. Silverstone has made a comeback, outscoring Metropolis by 17 points so far in the third. The score is currently 72-65 in favor of Metropolis.

Metropolis had the basketball. Andy Diggle manages to intercept a cross-court pass and races the other way. One defender was right in front of him, but he can see his brother on the other side. Instead of taking on the defender himself, he lobs the ball in the air. John catches the ball and dunks it through the basket, trimming the deficit to 5.

Metropolis manages to score a basket on the other end, bringing the lead back to 7 with only 20 seconds remaining in the quarter. Metropolis plays tight defense, forcing Silverstone to keep passing the ball. Just as the clock was about to expire, Ray manages to fake out his defender and shoots a stepback three-pointer. He drains it as the buzzer sounded. Metropolis' lead was cut down to just 4 (74-70).

As the players returned to their seats, Ray looks at his girlfriend, Anna Loring at the bleachers. She waves and smiles at him.


Back in the alleyway, Salvati and his men crawl out of the crashed van. Suddenly, every single one of Salvati's men are shot and killed with arrows, courtesy of Huntress.

Salvati takes out his gun, but Huntress shoots it out of his hand.

"No escape, Mr. Salvati," said Huntress.

The Hood steps in between Huntress and Salvati.

"It doesn't have to end like this," said The Hood. "He'll face the consequences of his crime in prison."

Huntress punches The Hood in the face and kicks him to the ground. She approaches Salvati and takes off her mask, revealing her

"You?" Salvati was shocked. "I knew someone on the inside was sabotaging us. I never imagined it was someone close to the boss."

"My father and I are not close," said Helena. "We never were."

Helena puts her left arm around Salvati's neck and her right on the top of his head.

"I never liked you, Nick. So, I won't feel an ounce of guilt for this," said Helena.

In an instant, Helena twists Salvati's head and snaps his neck, killing him. The Hood could only lie down on the ground and watch as Helena shows how far she has gone. He gets up and leaves without a word, not knowing what else to do.

Before he was ready to swing upwards, he turns around and tells Helena, "We're not done."

"I figured you'd say that," said Helena.


Oliver arrived at the court when there was only five minutes left in the game. He found Tommy and Laurel in the bleachers and sat with them.

"About time, man," said Tommy. "Where have you been?"

"Helena," answered Oliver, which is actually the truth. "I tried to talk to her, but she's made it clear that we're done."

"I'm sorry, man," said Tommy, patting Oliver in the back as an act of comfort.

...

Thirty seconds remain in the game. The score was tied at 88.

Metropolis tries to get a bucket, but John comes up with a big block on the Metropolis point guard's layup. John comes up with the ball and gives it to his brother. Andy pushes the ball up the court with less than 15 seconds remaining. Andy splits the defense and tries to sink an acrobatic layup around the defense in the paint, but misses. John tips the basketball out to Mark. Mark goes one-on-one against the opposing team's power forward with only 6 seconds remaining. Mark beats his man off the dribble, but two players were waiting for him in the paint. He manages to find a wide-open Adam Foster in the right wing. Adam shoots the three-pointer and sinks it with 0.9 remaining.

After Metropolis' timeout, they tried to execute a quick catch-and-shoot play, but the inbound pass was stolen by Andy Diggle, sealing the win. The home team celebrates and their schoolmates cheered in the bleachers. John runs up the bleachers and hugs Lyla. Andy did the same with Carly.

Silverstone High wins the season opener.

I hope this was okay. Leave a review and let me know.