Alright guys, I leave for college in a couple of days so I will try to write as best as I can. All I know is that the next few weeks are going to be pretty hectic.
Disclaimer (cover your ears) I DON'T OWN ARROW OR ANY OF THE CW CHARACTERS!
"Yes, I remember when he used to work for Diaz," said Agent Howard Brown. "As a matter of fact, he turned himself in to give information on him. But what's he got to do with the Dragon himself?"
"Diaz is still in the wind but there may be a way to find him," said Agent Sofia DeLeo
"How?" Howard asked there's an assignment set on capturing the Russian
"Glad you asked." DeLeo stuck her chin up daringly. "See, when Anatoly's escape from custody was investigated, there's been theories that he had some help, as in the Bratva. Rumor has it that any Pakhan can accept an exile back if said exile does a heavy string of chores for them."
"Sounds like any other desperate man looking for a line of work," Howard commented. "But how does ARGUS come into play?"
"Our computer team intercepted an encrypted phone call with Anatoly and a captain a few days before," DeLeo continued with her arms crossed. "In 48 hours one of our agents is gonna pose as one of the Bratva men, who will discuss the details of a drug shipment with them Once we know everything, the rest of the team on the assignment will drop in and arrest them. After that, we'll interrogate Anatoly on where Diaz is and put a freeze on the drug trade. In short, we kill two birds with one stone."
"Don't you think that's a long shot?" Howard asked. "I mean there is Laurel Lance-"
"Who is the mayor of Star City now," said DeLeo. "The FBI's pretty much taken over Star City since the Green Arrow got put behind bars. With everything that's happening, ARGUS needs to be under the radar more than ever. And FYI, we asked the Green Arrow on how a conversation with the Bratva works, so we'll have no problem getting him to talk."
"Where's it gonna go down?" Howard asked.
"They're expecting a white van with the license plate ARRW07CW, to pick him up at midnight," said DeLeo. "They'll be driving straight to the docks for their get together."
William turned off his phone, after listening to the recorded message for the umpteenth time. He figured it was the best way to pass the time on his train ride to Star City. Tonight was the night that DeLeo had described; when Anatoly Knyazev would make his move in an attempt to rub elbow with the infamous Bratva-something he would have to ask his father about sometime in the future.
For the rest of the train ride, the plan remained simple; in order to get to Anatoly, he would have to find that van before ARGUS did. But like most simple plans, there was a slight hitch:
He didn't know how he was going to stop it or how he would get Anatoly to talk.
It seemed that he was making this up as he went along, but it was better than having absolutely no idea what he was doing, even if that was half true in William's case.
Out in the dark of night, The Blue Shadow ran in the streets, hoping to find some trace of the van. It had been 20 minutes since he arrived and midnight was only 10 minutes away. Yet he still had no idea of how to catch that van. Normally he would come up with an inventive solution, but situations requiring estimations of what seemed doubtful involved math and science. It seemed like those two subjects wouldn't be enough for the young teen tonight, so he would have to rely on something called chance-when a situation holds no logical pattern. It's also the one thing that irritates a scientist more than anything else.
Call him cheesy, but it was times like this that the Blue Shadow had wished that there was an instruction manual for rookie superheroes, something that would help him figure out how to stop that van en route, and how to interrogate a bad guy.
Stopping in the middle of the road, the Blue Shadow ran his hand through his wild blue locks while finally observing the environment around him. Maybe he could jump onto the van from the roof? He shook his head, deciding it was way to risky. The last thing he needed was to go splat on his first night as a vigilante. Or any night at all. Maybe he could bribe a police officer, ask them to block the road?
Of course not. He thought to himself. What could you possibly have to make it worth their while?
Suddenly, he was blinded by white lights and quickly jumped out of the way. The man driving the yellow taxicab stopped to yell at the kid while he ran into the alley.
The Blue Shadow kept running and running until he reached the next block, trying to catch his breath like a runner would after an intense race. He quickly checked to see that all of his body parts were still attached, before collapsing against the wall, feeling the adrenaline slowly ebbing away.
"Holy shit." He murmured to himself. "That car almost ran me over." But it was as if those words cast a spell on him. The Blue Shadow stood up in a trance, while his mind replayed the terrifyingly unexpected experience.
"That car almost ran me over." He looked out into the empty streets of Star City, and then to his gloved hands, which he stuck into the ground.
He finally had an idea.
Anatoly Knyazev was a patient man, albeit his dry sense of humor. Which meant he was open-minded to most possibilities that spawned from his surroundings. Especially when the driver yelled "Боже Мой!" and the van came to an abrupt stop, sending Anatoly and their Bratva security guard flying into the back of the van.
"Идиот!" The giant of a security guard yelled at the driver, who was frozen in his seat with fear.
"Why did you stop?" Anatoly walked up to the front of the vehicle. "What is the problem?"
The driver had become very still and cold sweat was starting to bead on his pale face. "There is a ghost. Right there." He pointed his quivering finger at the empty road that was drenched in the yellow glow of the headlights.
Anatoly scoffed, clapping the Bratva man's shoulder. "I see nothing, my friend. Now continue driving, we have pressing matters to attend to."
"But there was a boy with blue hair!" The driver insisted. "He came onto the road and then he disappeared! I swear, there's a ghost out here!"
"This is no time for spooky stories." The guard shot the driver a rageful glare. "Drive!"
Outside, the Blue Shadow cracked his knuckles while keeping his feet glued to the ground. He didn't even need to concentrate on keeping his emotions in check to maintain his invisibility; he was already scared out of his mind on what he was about to do. The van's speed didn't ease his nerves, but the Blue Shadow crouched as if to start a race on the track.
"No one said this was gonna be easy."
When he stopped speaking, time slowed down around him as his body went on autopilot. His feet pounded the concrete below as he ran towards the van.
At the last second, he jumped as high and as far as he could, his invisibility receding as he felt the familiar chill spreading from his back to every part of his body and meeting a floor as he performed a somersault when he entered the van.
The next thing he knew, he was already invisible between the two men that were waving their weapons to air. The Blue Shadow briefly wondered how he could have activated his invisibility already. He guessed it was probably due to quick thinking or his powers had become a new bodily reaction, similar to sweating when under extreme heat or crying either on reflex or because of emotions.
"Who are you?" The security guard waved his gun around. "Show yourself!"
"What have I said?" The driver pointed his finger accusingly at the other Russian men. "Ghost!"
"Just drive us to the docks!" Anatoly shouted, waving his gun. "Come out, do you realize whom you are dealing with?"
While the men tried to find their stowaway, a semi-automatic rifle seemed to float on its own out of the small weapons shelf on the wall.
"What is-" The Russian guard was butt-stroked with the end of the gun while Anatoly tried to find a target to shoot at. Before the guard could try to fight back at something he could not see, he was kicked in the groin before pepper spray was shot into his eyes.
"SHOW YOURSELF!" Anatoly started firing his gun at every empty space. But the Blue Shadow was quick, so he became visible and suddenly, all the bullets stopped firing as the former Pakhan looked at the vigilante in disbelief.
"You are just a boy." Anatoly said to him just as the guard locked the young man in a chokehold.
"Yeah." The blue haired teenager wheezed. "But I'm the boy who's gonna beat your ass."
Suddenly, the boy literally fell through of the bigger man's arms onto the floor. Before any of the men could even register what had happened, the boy blew pepper spray into Anatoly's eyes and threw a knife hand onto Anatoly's throat and kneeing him in the groin. When Anatoly was down, he turned around just in time to block a punch from the other man and deliver a sidekick to his chest. Once the guard was thrown off, the Blue Shadow threw a powerful uppercut to the man's jaw.
Before he made his way to the driver, William pulled out his taser and stunned the guard with it. On his way, Anatoly made a reach to grab him, but his arms just simply passed through the young boy as he ran to the driver, who swore in Russian, grabbed the wheel and steered it off the road into an alley, where it made brutal contact with the brick wall.
Ow. He blinked a few times, wincing at the pain on his head. That was not a smart idea.
He was a little disoriented at first but it took a few moments for him to realize that he was stuck halfway through the car's engine. He phased himself out, gathering his thoughts while checking head to find a spot of blood on his finger.
"Damn it." He muttered while gazing at the driver, who was wedged between his seat and the airbag.
"Shit!" The Blue Shadow checked for a pulse (which there was one) and checked in the back to find both of the other men lying on the floor, apparently knocked out.
While the Blue Shadow found a pulse in the burly guard, he pulled out his phone and dialed 911.
"911, what's your emergency?" The operator on the other side of the phone immediately responded.
"I'm in the alley near the corner of 15th and Alberton." The Blue Shadow deepened his voice. "There's been a car accident and two men are injured."
"Can you please tell me your name?"
"That doesn't matter." The Blue Shadow replied snippily into the phone. "Just send an ambulance here, now."
Just as he hung up the phone, he spotted the somewhat crushed side door next to the driver wide open, and it became clear that the third man had already escaped.
Making his way toward the streets, it didn't take long for the Blue Shadow to find Anatoly with a phone in his hand and running into another alley.
"Oh no, you don't." The Blue Shadow growled, becoming invisible. He crept into the alley and snuck behind Diaz. He whispered, "Boo" into the man's ear and performed a sidekick to his ribs.
When Knyazev was knocked to the ground, the Blue Shadow held him up by his collar.
"Where's Diaz?"
The Russian's murky brown eyes stared into the teenager's light blue orbs, striking a sense of familiarity with him.
"Have I seen you before?" He asked, only to be dragged against the wall.
"Это у меня есть вопросы, а не у тебя." (I am the one with questions, not you. ) The Blue Shadow snarled at Anatoly in Russian. "Я буду спрашивать еще раз. Где Диаз?" (I will ask again. Where is Diaz?)
This mysterious blue-haired teenager certainly alarmed Anatoly. Though he was raised in the Bratva as a child, it had always been dishonorable for him to see one placed in a situation of kill or be killed. But yet, this child didn't seem to mind-he was too focused on his interrogation. Perhaps that was why Anatoly felt nostalgia from this encounter; he hadn't seen the boy, he'd seen a fire in him that also burned in an old friend he had recently forgiven-Oliver Queen.
That was why he needed to test him.
"What makes you think I will talk?" Anatoly asked bitterly. "You are merely a child."
"True." He whipped out his Taser. "But I know that in one of these, there are at least 50,000 volts of electricity. One kiss of this and you're immobile in less than two seconds. But that's only if you're not aiming for the brain."
The teenager's voice held no note of irony whatsoever. But even if he voiced the part, there was something about his character that just didn't suit his implications. Whether it was his age or the innocence that seemed to ooze off him, Anatoly was not certain. Nevertheless, he knew that the young man standing before him would not carry out his threat.
"You would not." Anatoly said resolutely. "You don't have the stomach."
The Blue Shadow raised an eyebrow. "Try me." He raised his Taser to Anatoly's temple. But he hesitated a few times, pulling back his arm. He was unsure of whether he wanted to actually go this far.
"What am I doing?" He thought aloud, unaware that Anatoly was still less than 3 feet away from him.
"You are new at this, no?" The Blue Shadow shot his head up.
"What?" He asked with confusion.
"I said, you are new at wearing the mask, no?" Anatoly asked with pity lacing his tone.
The Blue Shadow shook his head wildly, bringing the Taser closer to his head. "No distractions." He loosened his grip, but Anatoly didn't run. "But how can you tell?"
"It is that obvious, child." The older man replied calmly.
"I am not a child!" His whining was akin to a 4-year-old's temper tantrum.
Anatoly smiled a little at the boy's antics before he felt the weapon being pressed against his neck. "All right, all right, I'll talk."
The Blue Shadow paused, before lowering his weapon slowly, to indicate that he would be ready to act.
"You better not be pulling any bullshit on me." He warned.
"You will not get any, Prizrak." Anatoly brushed off some dust from his jacket. "But the truth is, I don't know where Diaz is or what he is planning. To sum it up, I want nothing to do with that man."
The Blue Shadow made a noise of agreement. "Understatement of the century."
"But," Anatoly raised a finger while he rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a pen and paper. "I do know someone who knows him better than I do." He wrote down an address on the paper.
"Any chance you can tell me who this person is?" The Blue Shadow asked rhetorically.
"Here is a hint." Anatoly looked at the vigilante. "She is DA now."
It didn't take him long to figure out what he meant. He and Felicity still got the news even in their ARGUS safehouse.
"You can't be serious." The Blue Shadow drawled.
Anatoly raised an eyebrow at his interrogator. "Does my face say otherwise?"
The blue haired teenager shrugged. "Fine. But do you know where I can find her?"
"Yes, but FBI has taken root in Star City, so it might not be smart to barge into her office." Anatoly finished writing down the address. "Best to go here. "
The Blue Shadow took the paper and traced his gloved fingers all over it. "The Vanderbilt Building?"
"She lives there," Anatoly said curtly. "Had her do a small job for me as a favor, gave her protection money in the end, as per our bargain."
The Blue Shadow tucked the paper in his pockets before looking at the Russian man. "Uh," He rubbed his fingers together. "I believe this is where I say, "Спасибо и до свидания." (Thank you and goodbye.)
But just as he turned around, Anatoly walked up to him and placed his hand on the young man's shoulder.
"May I offer you some advice?" He asked considerately, getting a nod from the Blue Shadow. "First, work on your Russian; your accent is good but your pronunciation is a mess." The Blue Shadow had to bite his tongue to hold back a groan. But he couldn't resist rolling his eyes. "Second, and I do mean what I am saying: Do yourself a favor and go back home. Quit this 'hero business' while you can."
"What makes you think I'm giving up now?" The Blue Shadow asked daringly.
"I don't expect you to." said Anatoly. "But please, consider it."
The vigilante nodded before disappearing from the human eye, leaving Anatoly by himself in the alley.
"I'll be seeing you later, Prizrak." He called to the teenager, who was already out of the alley by then. But suddenly, Anatoly had to duck behind a dumpster because red and blue lights had filled the air around him. Luckily they didn't notice him and continued on their way to the scene of the car crash.
And that is my cue to leave.
While remaining unseen, the Blue Shadow crept to the other alley, where the white van was being investigated and the two other men were being hauled into the ambulance. In the teenager's mind, they may have been part of a criminal organization, but they didn't deserve to die. It gave him a sense of great relief to know that the men he had attacked would be getting their injuries treated and that no one died. He wanted to be a crimefighter, not a killer. He was also immensely grateful at the moment that because of his invisibility, the cops couldn't see him.
But at that moment, The Blue Shadow had a horrible realization: He had forgotten to turn Anatoly over to the cops.
He ran back to the other alley and checked every square inch to find no sign of the Russian.
He dragged his hands down his face, groaning at what he had failed to do. He was both disappointed and embarrassed at himself.
All you had to do was knock him out. Even his conscious was pissed at him. William Clayton, you are a Grade A idiot.
But at least he was a compassionate idiot.
This is the first time in years I've written an action scene, so I hope it came out fine. And for those of you wondering, Prizrak means "ghost".