Chapter Twelve: Marked.

Lois Lane was rushing as fast as her legs could carry her down to the parking garage. The capture of the Royal Flush Gang and the news story which followed slipped through her fingers. That being said, she could get this news story and it was a direct follow up to what happened. Lois pieced together what she heard and it was her job as a reporter to do her best to fill in the blanks.

The King of the Royal Flush Gang got out of prison, by the time honored fashion of throwing his money around. Unfortunately for him, he would have been a lot safer in prison. There was a mysterious arrow themed vigilante, taking off where the last one put out. The King was found in a critical state with three arrows inside him. Obviously, the vigilante was smart enough to cause the most amount of pain for her foes where it would be the least lethal.

It was a nasty way to go. Lois didn't say that it was undeserved. However, it was still a nasty way to go. It caused her to shudder.

Lois wondered who could be under the hood this time. She had her hunches, her theories, but it remained to be seen whether or not any of them could be true. Regardless of that fact, Lois placed her hand on the edge of the door and pushed at it. The door was giving way, and Lois frowned.

The reporter kept pounding on the button from the elevator. No dice, none at all. It caused Lois's frustration to increase.

It was stuck, just a little bit. Lois shook her head when she stepped back, "That's just great…these old buildings, I swear sometimes."

Lois gave the door a solid kick and it flung open. The reporter exited the building, into the parking garage.

She made her way to the car and she saw a shady individual moving around the area of her car.

"Hey!" Lois yelled.

Most people would have backed off, but Lois Lane certainly wasn't most people. The shady man turned around.

Suddenly, someone grabbed Lois around the waist and clapped a hand over her mouth. Lois fought out of his grip and elbowed him in the mouth. She reached into her purse and pulled a stun gun out, jabbing him in the ribs with it.

Given the pained grimace this individual gave, Lois wouldn't be surprised if she hit him a little lower, although she was not too sorry regarding that fact at all.

The man who was getting in her car stepped over, but Lois decided to introduce the toe of her boot into his balls. That was oddly effective against any male opponent. Unless he wore protection and thankfully this brain surgeon didn't.

Lois could hear someone else. Was it a third party? She saw another man fall to the ground, blood oozing out of the back of his neck.

The reporter frowned when she looked over her shoulder. This was getting weird. The lights flickered in the parking garage of the Daily Planet building before they suddenly went out with a whine.

Lois could hear something and she could feel something go into the back of her neck. It was a dart of some sort that connected. She felt the poison in the dart start to flow through her veins.

She tried desperately to keep her head up, but it was like a constant struggle. Lois shook her head.

She faded in and out, and she could feel a rough hand force her down to the ground. Even if it wasn't darkness, Lois doubted very much that she could keep her eyes open to focus too much. Her heart kept racing even quicker, with her heart racing in the back of her throat. Her hands sized up when she remained pinned on the ground.

"Don't take this personally, only business."

"Step away from her!"

There was another figure that came into the darkness and Lois could barely make out the sounds of battle. It was like she was at the end of a large tunnel, even though she couldn't be more than a couple dozen feet away.

Lois struggled to fight. Her arms felt like they were heavy and her nerve endings felt like they were on fire. The backup power flickered on and Lois could make out two figures fighting. Her eyes couldn't perceive any color, or really any distinct shapes.

Her body twitched on the parking garage floor and she blacked out suddenly. The last thing she heard was the loud sound of someone hitting the floor and the grunt which followed with that. After that, she honestly had no idea whether it was friend or foe that hit the floor.

Kara was busy at work, bent over one of the arrows. She hoped to isolate some DNA evidence that would put her to the crime. Granted, the blood all over it definitely belonged to Archibald Walker, alias the King. He was found battered, bloodied, but somehow, someway, he was still alive, if one might call him that.

The arrow was completely saturated in the King's blood. Kara was hoping to separate the blood on the arrow, for anything else. The problem was it was easier said than done.

"You know that the Green Arrow isn't going to make this easy for you," Barbara said.

She sat on the couch next to Kara, when she was busy at work with the arrow.

The two of them were making great use of the Penthouse Helena offered them. While they hadn't completely moved out of the apartment, they thought that they would before too soon. And Kara thought that if she was in that apartment for too much longer, her landlord would be launched into space.

The state of the art crime lab which was inside the Penthouse was not a huge surprise at all. In fact, Kara would honestly be surprised if it wasn't.

"So, what do we know about the Green Arrow?" Barbara asked.

"Oliver Queen was trapped on an island that was a virtual hell for five years and he returned with only one goal, to save his city," Kara commented lightly. "He fought a bunch of people, made a bunch of enemies."

"Many of them jaded ex-girlfriends," Barbara added. Kara raised her eyebrow. "Okay, not many, but there was a few. Hell hath no fury, right?"

Kara snickered, Barbara had a point.

"Yeah, of course," Kara added, with a smirk when she looked over the arrow. There was something about it that taunted her, she couldn't put her finger on it though. "And then, he was killed on a plane by Bane."

"A very poetic end if I do say myself," Barbara said. "You know, male super heroes really have it rough, these days. Mostly douches, dead, or asexual."

"Well, those aren't really exclusive in some cases," Kara said. "They're able to save the day when it counts and that's when it matters."

Barbara nodded and she could see Kara pour over things suddenly. It was obvious that her mind was on the arrow from the Arrow because she had other frustrations.

"You thought that you could end it all with Claire, couldn't you?" Barbara asked her.

"Barbara, I don't really want to have this conversation, not now at least," Kara said. She continued to pour over the DNA evidence.

She did hit the nail right on the head in the most obvious manner. Kara thought that this would be the end with Claire and things could go back to normal. Well maybe not right away.

Then again, perhaps the gold Kryptonite was a once in a life time thing and could not be re-duplicated. Kara had to tip her hat to Luthor, grudgingly enough. He was able to accomplish a fair bit with what he did, even if his genius was mistake for wrong.

"Inconclusive," Kara said. "Damn it, the arrow is too contaminated."

Kara thought that it wasn't over yet, she would just have to do this the old fashioned way.

"Maybe it's his sister?" Barbara joked. "She was at the party…..and the King kind of roughed her up, and then a couple of days later, the King was found in a pretty bad state."

"Maybe, it's Thea, yes," Kara said. She was frowning. Kara decided to get onto the Planet database and search everything she could regarding the Green Arrow sightings. That theory was sound, but there was one damning piece of evidence against it. "Bit too tall to be Thea."

"Well, that was a hunch that goes down the drain," Barbara said. She slapped her hand to her palm in response.

Kara bit down on her lip so hard that it left in an impression on it. She thought that she needed one more piece of the puzzle to get this new Arrow. She was knocking off petty hoods. Kara would be willing to look the other way if it were super criminals who were putting the world in danger, but she couldn't justify killing people for petty crimes.

Her phone rang. Kara hesitated to answer it, because it was Claire, and she was sure that Claire was going to discourage her from being Supergirl because of the entire Royal Flush debacle.

Kara finally picked up the phone and answered it. "Hey, Claire, what do you need?"

"It's Lois, she's been found in the parking garage of the Daily Planet, barely breathing," Claire said.

Kara knew one of these days Lois would get in really bad trouble. Trouble she couldn't get herself out of. She didn't expect it to happen this soon. Kara gripped the phone with her hand so far that her knuckles turned white.

"Oh Rao," Kara cursed to herself. "Is she…."

"She's currently in Metropolis general hospital and in stable condition, but….." Claire said. "I warned her about this Intergang story and look where it got her."

"Sometimes, you can't be the heroine to protect everywhere, Clara," Kara said firmly. "What's her room number, I'll be over faster than a speeding bullet."

Without another word, Kara was off.

Lois Lane felt something buzzing in the back of her head. Fragmented pieces of her memory returned back to her. It felt like something took her brain apart and put it back together in a bad way.

Some goon started to break into her car. A second goon grabbed her from behind, and she got him in the balls with a stun gun. A third goon was attacked from behind and she was plugged in the back of the neck.

Everything after that was a blur and Lois could barely keep her head about herself, not to mention her wits. The dark haired reporter's eyes opened and they adjusted to the light.

Lois had a hangover before and they weren't fun. This most certainly wasn't fun. There was a slight buzzing in the back of her head when she tried to lift her head up, but she couldn't do it.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Chloe said with a smile on her face. "How do you feel?"

Lois wondered how to ask her question. Biting sarcasm sounded like a good idea.

"I feel like Lobo did a tap dance on my head," Lois groaned.

"That bad?" Claire asked.

"That bad," Lois confirmed, and she got to her feet. "You'd think that I'd learn by now."

"Well you wouldn't be you if you didn't learn by now," Chloe answered with a smile. Claire was not saying anything.

"Hey, Lois," Kara said and she made her way into the room. "Did Intergang try and knock you off?"

"Intergang….oh that would make perfect sense," Lois said, shaking her head. "That would explain why some goons are trying to break into my car. Maybe they thought I had evidence regarding Mannheim in there."

"Did you?" Claire asked.

"Is this the 1950s Smallville?" Lois asked. "Anyone who keeps evidence in their car where any goon could have it, really isn't a good reporter."

Claire nodded. She looked to be about to lecture Lois about something or other, but Kara side stepped her.

"Do you remember anything about the person who poisoned you?" Kara asked her.

"She got me from behind," Lois admitted. "It was a dart in the back of the neck….there was a second person as well, who fought her. Maybe they were fighting over the contract on my head; I didn't have time to ask. I was kind of going under pretty quickly. I barely could keep awake as is, you know.

"Yes, I know," Kara commented calmly when she looked into Lois's eyes.

"Miss Lane, glad to see that you're up and about," Maggie Sawyer said. "You know, when I heard about a reporter being attacked at the Daily Planet, it wasn't hard to put two and two together and find out its you."

"Guess I have a bit of a reputation," Lois said. "And I still feel like my head is being trampled on."

"The poison was flushed out of your system, you should be cleared in about forty eight hours," Chloe informed Lois. Lois looked at Chloe and she shrugged. "That's what the doctor said at least."

"Well, that makes perfect sense, at least I think that it makes perfect sense," Lois said. She groaned and it felt like her head was on fire something fierce.

Claire handed her a glass of water and Lois drank it. It made her feel a little bit better.

"We found the body of a man in the garage, his throat had been slit," Maggie explained to Lois.

"He was one of the guys who tried to break into my car and attack me," Lois explained. She shook her head and cleared it. "But there was a woman who attacked me, at least I'm pretty sure that it was a woman. She fought another person. I couldn't really….."

"Was one of the attackers wearing a green hood?" Maggie asked. Kara's ears perked up suddenly, but she didn't say anything.

"They might have been wearing a hood," Lois offered in a grudging voice. "I couldn't tell what color it was, I was kind of going delirious when it was happening, it was hard to keep my head up, you know that."

Maggie nodded in response. She picked up a bag containing a broken arrow.

"We believe the mysterious vigilante in the green hood may have been part of the attack," Maggie said. "The Green Arrow copycat?"

"Yeah, he's, she, whatever, they've been busy," Lois said. She wasn't complaining about this vigilante's involvement. "But whoever was underneath the hood, they've been holding taking down bad guys."

"Regardless of that fact, the head of the MCU is on the warpath," Maggie said. She sighed. "And she's a potential witness to your attack, and we might be able to finger who the attacker is."

"So, there have been no leads on who the Arrow is?" Kara asked. It wasn't common knowledge that the Green Arrow and Oliver Queen were one and the same after all. Many suspected it no doubt.

"No," Maggie said, with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry, my protégé can be a bit….inquisitive at times," Chloe said when she looked from Kara to Maggie.

"Just like my mentor," Kara fired back. Chloe sighed.

"Really sorry if she stepped on your toes any," Chloe replied.

Maggie shook her head and waved off this statement. She was more than used to reporters asking questions. That was something that went with the territory.

"No bother," Maggie admitted. She was used to dealing with the press and fielding their questions. She was no rookie off the street after all.

Kara wondered if they thought that the Arrow was behind Lois's attack. Obviously, she disagreed. It was far more likely the vigilante saved Lois from a horrible fate. Regardless, Kara still wanted to find answers and she would be having a serious talk with the Arrow before it was all said and done.

Bruno Mannheim was a nervous wreck for obvious reasons.

"That fucking Lane, she has more lives than an entire army of cats," Mannheim cursed. He slammed his hand down violently on the desk, nearly bruising it in the process. He shook his head, coughing madly. "I swear to god….bitch is going to go down, and soon."

Mannheim sent his goons to get any evidence that might be incriminating against him. Hell, if she dug up something that could put him in a better position against his business rivals, so much the better. And if she had something that would fuck up Edge, that would make Mannheim dance in the streets.

And he didn't have the rhythm to do that.

Mannheim was in need for a good stiff drink. A knock on the door brought himself out of his thoughts.

The doors swung open and a pair of gentlemen entered the room. That caused Mannheim to get incensed, and raise to his feet with a bluster in his voice, "Do you even bother to….."

"Mr. Edge would like to have another word with you, Mr. Mannheim," one of the suited gentlemen said. It was obvious he had a gun on him and he would use it to keep Mannheim in line if the need arose from it. "Would you come to us?"

Mannheim pretty much had no choice if Morgan Edge wanted to see him. If his men did the job properly, or rather his insurance policy did it properly, then perhaps he would be in a lot better spot.

"Can't you see that I'm busy?" Mannheim asked. One of the gentlemen grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him out of the chair. They resembled a pair of overstuffed gorillas wearing suits. "Fine, right, I'm going, fine!"

Mannheim was pulled to a standing position and he could feel the air knocked out of his lungs when the goons dragged him outside. The two goons made sure to make a production of dragging Mannheim out in front of his men.

That did wonders in pissing Mannheim off because he looked like some kind of punk.

From a building across the street, a figure in the shadows watched old Ugly being hauled into the back of a truck.

"Edge's men have just taken Mannheim for a little chat," the woman in the shadows stated in a calm voice.

The voice in her ear didn't seem too pleased by this fact, "If Mannheim talks to Edge, this could be a problem. You know what to do."

"Take him out before it causes a problem," the woman in the shadows commented.

She knew what was on the line. The reporter escaping with her life was not nearly as much of a problem, as the person who intervened to stop her from sealing the problem. The woman in the shadows moved with quick precision.

Kara was on the hunt for any criminal activity, or rather any criminal activity in Metropolis which would cause the Arrow to get interested. She frowned when she hovered over the sky.

"Lois is raising hell," Chloe commented in her ear. "Even more so than usual, but you know….what are you…..?"

"If I have any luck at all, I should be able to find the person that is doing this, and have a few questions," Kara said.

"You're just upset because the mystery woman in the hood got away from you."

Before she had a chance to answer that question, Kara could hear a couple of goons break into an ATM machine to get themselves some quick cash and get into a getaway car, driving rather erratically when they moved.

This would normally look like a job for Supergirl, but she was hanging back, in case the Arrow would jump in.

Sure enough, one of the tires was taken out by an errant arrow. The passenger threw open the door and got out of the car.

Kara swooped down immediately and stopped the car from spiraling out of control. The second she turned around, she saw the thief receiving a brutal arrow attack which doubled him over.

"Okay, finally!" Kara yelled. She could see the Arrow about ready to pull a get away. "Not this time, Arrowette!"

Kara used her heat vision to cause a support beam to land on the ground and block the Arrow's path. The archer only was stopped for a few seconds before leaping high into the ground and landing on the support beam.

She flipped down onto the ground and kept rushing forward.

Supergirl sped in front of her. Annoyance was in the Arrow's eyes and she loaded up her bow and fired two arrows at Supergirl.

She caught them easily like they were nothing. The super powered female hurled the arrows. One of them knocked the quiver off of her back and the other knocked the bow out of her hand.

The archer rushed forward and tried to engage Supergirl in hand to hand attacks. She backed Supergirl off.

An explosion went off and a remote control bow shot three arrows into Supergirl's back. It didn't harm her, but it shredded her cape.

She was finally fed up and grabbed the archer around the waist, flying her out in the middle of nowhere where she didn't have anything set up.

The Arrow was driven breathless by being rushed out of the city at a super powerful speed. She flipped over again and landed hard on the ground with a thud.

"Okay, no arrows, no weapons, and now we're out here in the middle of nowhere," Supergirl said.

"What do you want?" The Arrow asked. Her voice was modulated, obviously, because of some gadget in her hood.

"I want to know about the assassin that tried to kill Lois Lane," Kara said.

The Arrow didn't seem to be too happy about the situation she was in.

"That's personal and something that I need to deal with," the Arrow said.

"That wasn't the question I asked, I asked for a name," Kara said. "If you aren't going to cooperate with me, I'll kick your ass all the way to the Sherwood Forest and back."

"Robin Hood jokes, original," Arrow muttered underneath her breath in a sarcastic tone. She tried to attack Supergirl.

That went for her about as well as expected, which was not well at all. She landed in some mud in the field with a splat.

"So, are we going to keep doing this all night?"

There was a tense stared down between the new Green Arrow and Supergirl. Supergirl had the upper hand, mostly because she deprived the Arrow of her gadgets and took her out in the middle of nowhere. She still had a couple tricks up her sleeve that Supergirl had to watch out for.

To Be Continued on July 16th, 2015.