Head to the link on my various promises, and vote for either last week's chapter of this story, or any of my other stories, if you choose to, in the Chapter of the Week Voting for Year Two, Week Five. And now with the shameless shilling out of the way, on with the show.
Chapter Twenty-Five: Heart of Darkness.
Malcolm Merlyn peered from the top of a very tall building over the solemn city beneath him. A long time had passed, the culmination of many years. Years of hard work passed, and he had a couple of bumps, a couple of problems along the way. The plan very nearly fell apart at the seams at least a couple of times. The brilliant man was not about ready to call the plan a success until all of the pieces were in place.
'It's time to begin. Years of planning, I'm ready.'
No doubt entered the mind of the man. All of the pieces shifted into place on this night, closer than ever before. All he had to do was set the ball in motion. There had been a couple of surprises along the way. Overall, Malcolm Merlyn appreciated the success of this plan. The man balanced upon the ledge and peered into the city. Soon some of the harsher elements of the city would be wiped out.
Some decent people would also be a sacrifice in the process of this plan being moved forward. It was the unfortunate result of having to save this city. There were always consequences for any action. Malcolm lost so much to the darkness. Now he intended to step forward and embrace the light.
Malcolm descended down to the ground. Very few people were out on the streets on this night. He moved deeper into the city, and a couple of unsavory figures lingered. They didn't pay Merlyn any mind, they were up to their own devious tactics. Perhaps, they took in the black attire and realized Malcolm was not one to be trifled with. Perhaps there were other reasons why they did not attack.
'So many people have lost so much because of this city,' Malcolm thought.
Malcolm stopped at the spot where his wife bled out. Years ago, she suffered, bleeding out and no one cared enough about her. A cell phone call had never been reached until it was too late. The man who did so was still at large, never to have been captured. He might have been still out there on this very night, elsewhere. The criminal searched for another victim, looking for another attempt to crush the innocent life, just like he crushed an innocent life all of those years ago.
Everything was a loss, all of a part of the disease of this city. And Malcolm Merlyn vowed to do what he could to save this city.
'With any luck, the Undertaking will bury monsters like that,' Malcolm thought. 'Even if it does lack a personal touch of a monster dying by your own hand.'
Malcolm made his way towards the boarded off the entrance to a subway station. The sign "closed for renovations" did not deter Merlyn. The renovations never occurred thanks to a lack of funding. It was a problem in some parts of Starling City. The city fell into disrepair, and crimes escalated. It made it a necessity for some fractured young woman to dress up as an archer and fight crime.
'Tonight, that all changes,' Malcolm thought.
The best way to fix a problem would be to build anew. Malcolm slipped underneath the sign and descended a set of stairs. A crew of men worked around the clock. A device had been set up in place.
"I trust it's secure, and there will be no further delays," Malcolm said.
"Yes," one of the workers said. He wiped a bead of sweat from his brow.
Merlyn eyed the man very carefully and just responded with a nod.
"Good," Malcolm said. "I don't want to even begin to discuss with you how far we've gone. When I give the signal, you have five minutes to clear the area….not a second more."
"We know what to do, no problem," the worker said.
Malcolm didn't want to hear bland reassurance everything was going to go fine. He wanted crystal clear results. The man clad in black leaned forward to the worker. Their eyes locked together in an intense stare. The worker tried to be the bigger man and tried to back down Merlyn without blinking. The attempt went about as well as someone could expect, which was to say not well at all.
"You tell me there are no problems, so I better not see any problems," Malcolm said. "Have I made myself clear?"
All of these gentlemen answered with brisk nods. Merlyn accepted their actions and understood the fear brimming through the minds of the men. Fear made a man competent. Deep down, even Malcolm thought what might have happened if he failed. Years of work would have been down the drain.
'Few understand what I do,' Malcolm thought.
Merlyn took a second to breathe in and make sure everything was in order. They needed to understand.
"You are to guard the device with your lives until I give you the signal," Malcolm said. "Guard it to your very last breath. Guard it with your very last drop of blood."
The men didn't hesitate in giving their affirmation to Malcolm Merlyn. These men were pretty loyal to the cause and they would lay their lives down if it meant accomplishing their goals.
"What about the Hood?"
The other gentlemen turned towards the man who had given the outburst. Malcolm didn't betray any emotion. He just responded in a stoic voice.
"Leave the Hood to me, when she intervenes."
Malcolm turned around and walked off without another word. The men received their orders and there was no point in sticking around. He walked out and climbed up, exiting the subway. A gunshot in the distance only caused him pause, followed by screams, a cop car going off in the distance, and then a clap of thunder.
The man looked up and frowned. The clouds in the sky darkened tonight.
'A little rain never hurt anyone.'
The Dark Archer pulled his hood completely on and disappeared in the shadows. It was time for the return match, it was time to take the Hood down once and for all. There were too many things which could go wrong.
'It's time to make sure this stops. One way or another, it ends tonight.'
Queen Mansion had been the scene of a crime just less than two days ago. No one completely cleaned up the broken glass and there were a few blood stains on the ground. Moira tried not to betray the disgust she felt by standing five feet away from where her daughter's blood splattered the floor.
Thea was fine, she was safe and wouldn't be in the middle of this, thankfully. Moira thought Sara would make sure her daughter stayed safe, which was why she was doing this right now. The members of the press began to fly in and a few members of the Starling City police department also lingered, because this still was a crime scene from yesterday.
Moira held press conferences before over numerous things, but never to this particular degree. Every single time she held it, though, she prepared to give a bunch of corporate double speak, dazzle people, ensure Queen Industries moved to the next level. It was to cement a big idea to investors, or maybe to assure them that there were bigger plans in the works.
Those press conferences were business. This press conference seemed more real. Moira could feel a blade hanging over her head as if she walked up to the guillotine. And not because someone sentenced her, but because it was done so on the woman's own accord.
Moira blinked and set her jaw firmly. It was now do or die. Moira didn't have to do this. A year ago, Moira would not have cared. Oliver's death changed everything, and it slowly ate away at her conscience. A part of her did not think it would go this far.
'Courage, you can do anything.'
Every single member of the press waited for Moira to say something. One of the bolder members of the press stood up and looked towards Moira.
"Mrs. Queen, what do you have to say about the rumors the Hood kidnapped you at your office?" the member of the press thought.
"There has just been a misunderstanding," Moira said. "The Hood only visited me to inform me of the whereabouts of my daughter. I misinterpreted the Hood's actions."
"Why did your daughter get attacked?"
Moira tried to be polite, but they really were diverting this conversation away from its intended purpose. Moira held her breath and sighed.
"My daughter was simply in the wrong place, at the wrong time," Moira said. "I don't know the reasons, exactly, I didn't have a chance to speak with the man who destroyed my front windows. It's not my concern to do so, that's the concern of the Starling City Police Department, and I have the utmost confidence they are taking this investigation seriously."
Moira hoped there would be no more questions. She chanced another glance towards the window. The woman half expected an arrow to be put through her by the Dark Archer before the truth could be told. Thankfully, the assassin was currently out doing other things, and Moira slipped underneath its radar.
For now, but Moira needed to speak soon. The moment Merlyn knew, the Dark Archer would be coming for her. It was time to say what was possible before the damage was done.
"But, my daughter, and the Hood, those aren't what I called this press conference for today," Moira said. "Rather, I've called a press conference, because….well, there are a lot of decisions I've made over the past several years which have not been in good faith."
The members of the press conference started muttering to each other. None of them seemed surprised. Rumors always circulated from someone of Moira Queen's status. Said woman looked at them, a frown passing over. A ragged breath followed when staring at these people.
"These bad decisions have cost me dearly," Moira said. "And I know now, I can't live with the fact these decisions will end up costing other people their loved ones. After losing a son, I didn't want to be a part of that. Almost losing my daughter as well as what put me over the top, and I have to do this because it's not worth anyone suffering losses like I have."
"So, the ice queen has a conscious, who knew," one of the reporters muttered.
Moira didn't pay much mind to the comments of the reporters. All of them were deserved, and several of them were warranted. She pressed on without another thought.
"I've been part of a part of a group which has plans to overhaul this city," Moira said. "And we intend to take some drastic measures, to rid the city of some of its more crime ridden areas. My husband was a part of this plan…but he had a change of heart. This change of heart resulted in the Queen's Gambit being sabotaged, in an attempt to send a message to him, by…this group."
The woman pressed on once again.
"We've gone too far," Moira said. "But, we haven't gone as far as we intended to go, now yet at least. There's something out there, you all need to know about. In the next few days, we intend to level the Glades and all of the people inside. Most of the most dangerous criminals in Starling City reside there….at least so we think."
The members of the press all gasped and the Starling City Police Department moved in to detain the woman.
"The worst criminals in this city don't use guns or knives," Moira said. "The worst criminals in this city use their power and influence to alter the lives of people less fortunate than than…..and I was one of these people. I didn't think these people deserved any consideration to live. I am one of the worst criminals ever to step foot into Starling City. Not because of what I did do, but rather what I didn't do."
Moira knew she didn't have much time. The Starling City Police Department moved closer towards her.
"I have a list of people, which I will relinquish to the Starling City Police Department, for them to conduct their investigation. On the top of that list, is Malcolm Merlyn. He has a machine which will cause an Earthquake which will level the Glades. It will look like an accident. So please, leave, while you can, if you see this."
Hands had been placed on the table in surrender. Everyone allowed that to sink in. Moira wasn't going to fight this.
"I know, I may never see the light of day again, and for good reason. My actions have been both reprehensible and disgusting….disturbing, and twisted. Know this, though, I thought I was doing the right thing. But, the road to hell is always paved with good intentions."
Moira turned her attention to Starling City's finest as if beckoning them to do their job.
"Moira Queen, you have the right to remain silent. Anything you can say may be used against you in a court of law. You have a right to an attorney."
The truth caused Moira to be set free, even though her freedom now had been eliminated. Moira could have gotten out of the city and run at any time, but she chose not to.
There were times where a person had to do what was right, even if it was not easy.
A loud "whoop" echoed followed by a broken bottle flying down the streets and smashing. A group of young men, teenagers, who had dropped out of school moved over. They swung crowbars, chains, and anything they could get their hands on.
"We're going to burn this fucking city down before we let some rich bastard level it with his fancy Earthquake machine!" one of the teenagers yelled. "They think just cause they're rich, these assholes can handle us. Come on, man, let's do this….let's show them how they can't mess with us!"
The windows of several homes and businesses shattered by the rioters who acted like the best way to show their displeasure with the system they felt held them back were to destroy the city they called home. Fires shot up, and a car exploded, injuring a couple of rioters, along with a couple of hapless civilians in the process.
Cassandra Cain looked at the scene next to her, clad completely in black. No one noticed her in the shadows. The younger girl clenched a fist. These people were given the suggestion to get far away from this place as possible, and instead, they lost their mind.
Laurel, clad as the Black Canary, stood behind Cassandra. Her eyes followed the progress of the people down in the city.
"I think you're pretty close to the Earthquake device," Barbara said. "I've got it isolated...I just hope there isn't any trigger which causes it to go off."
"Wouldn't Merlyn have some men down there to guard it until it's ready?" Laurel asked.
Barbara shook her head. "Yeah, and given Malcolm Merlyn tends to kill innocent people along with the criminals, what's a few minions being buried alive?"
Laurel looked at the situation around her. The rioters marched down the street. Chaos continued to occur around them, at every corner. It just made her want to scream how stupid these people were being. What did they think burning down the city would accomplish? If anything, they only justified Merlyn's actions in some twisted way.
The leather-clad heroine drew in a breath and calmed down. It would not be a good idea to lose her cool.
"So, how do we deal with this?" Laurel asked.
Cass lifted up a hand and reached behind her. An arrow hooked to the crossbow and the skilled woman took aim. The arrow hit the side of a building and released a blinding cloud of tear gas which made the rioters slow down their progress.
The sounds of cop cars pulled up. The SWAT exited, followed by several members of the Starling City Police Department. More tear gas had been thrown into the ground.
"Fuck off, you puppets of the rich!" one of them yelled.
A bottle flew into the ground by one angry young man. The cops had to dodge it. The screams continued to go with the rioting in the street.
About the only thing which wasn't happening was an Earthquake machine going off. Laurel regretted the nature of potentially having to use force against the people who were being threatened.
'Where the hell is it?' Laurel thought.
"Felicity, are you getting the same reading I'm getting?" Barbara asked.
"Yeah, the Earthquake machine is right off to the left, at the Northwest Subway Tunnel," Felicity said.
Laurel and Cassandra both slipped around the rioting, taking a short cut down the alleyway. She had the sonic at the ready, in the event, there were any attacks. Laurel caught a glimpse of her father walking over close to the subway tunnel.
The girls slipped into the tunnel and made their way down to it. They saw a group of Merlyn's men waiting.
Laurel considered her options. The sonic could result in a cave in down here. Which might destroy the machine, but it could also crush them together. So, that would be avoided.
Cass grabbed Laurel's shoulder and nodded. The younger girl stepped in and moved into the shadows behind one of the strangler's far away from the ground. The dark-haired assassin grabbed the goon around the throat and gave a rather rough squeeze, dropping him to the ground.
"What the hell just….."
Laurel clipped one of the goons in the back of the head. The man fell down onto the ground and caused the water collected on the ground from the sewer to splash. Another one of the men swung the baton at Laurel. The leather-clad vigilante kicked him in the face.
Two more were down. Cassandra caught both men with a split kick. Both of them snapped off of the wall, the wind knocked out of them with no way to go.
A figure came into prominence down the tunnel. Both girls tensed up, ready for a fight, but relaxed when they saw Quentin Lance walking. The man frowned as if he had almost caught sight of them Both girls slipped into the shadows to give the Detective some room.
"So, it's really is here," Quentin said. "And right where you said it was as well…and you said the path would be clear for me as well."
"Do you have any reason to doubt me?" Oracle asked.
"No, you really didn't give me any reason to doubt you," Quentin said. "So, I just hook…the thing the Hood gave me into the side, and then what."
"Then, it establishes a connect, and I'll do the rest," Oracle said.
Quentin answered with a shrug. Who was he to argue with how things got done. He just established the connection and did what needed to be done. The man hooked up on the other side.
A man on the edge lingered and pointed a gun towards Detective Lance. He prepared to take a shot at the man.
Laurel picked up a chain one of the goons dropped and swung it up. She wrapped the chain around the ankles of the man and pulled the goon off of the ledge. The man landed down on the ground, and Laurel gripped the man in a headlock before smashing him face first into the pavement.
The sounds of rioting on the streets above showed this was going to get a lot worse from here.
Sara stood at the end, she was certain the Dark Archer would come out to play. Lyla didn't stay too far away, backing her up all of the way.
The Dark Archer stepped out of the shadows almost in a blink of an eye. Sara took half of a step back and frowned when looking towards the man who approached her.
"You see them ripping apart their own homes?" The Dark Archer asked.
"I only see you, and you're going down tonight," the Hood answered
"These people aren't worth saving. And they aren't worth dying for."
The Dark Archer took a step closer towards the Hood and both of the archers circled each other.
"Lose the hood, so I can see you properly when you die," The Dark Archer said.
The Hood didn't waver from the stance she held. The arrow pointed firmly towards the Dark Archer. "After you."
The Dark Archer didn't say a single word. A gunshot fired from above. The man narrowly avoided receiving a bullet to the shoulder, hitting the ground very hard to avoid the attack.
The Dark Archer whipped around and saw the woman from above trying to take another shot at him.
Lyla's shot was good, but the Dark Archer now caught her when the element of surprise had been taken out of the game. A barrage of arrows came from above. Two of them missed, while a third knocked the weapon from Lyla's hand.
The Dark Archer turned back towards the Hood. Both of them fired arrows at each other. Both of the arrows bounced off of each other.
Both stood across from each other. Both fired arrows one more time. For the second time, the arrows bounced off of each other.
The two archers stared each other and tried to quick fire each other. The third time, the arrows bounced off of each other.
"The League has taught you well."
The Hood fired at the Dark Archer one more time. Much like the previous two encounters, the Dark Archer fired back. This time, both of them disarmed each other simultaneously.
A thunderclap echoed and the rain happened around them, along with the sounds of the rioting not too far away from him. The Dark Archer charged the Hood and went for a punch.
The Hood caught the Dark Archer with a roundhouse kick. Another roundhouse kick had been avoided. The Dark Archer evaded several more rapid fire attacks by the vigilante. These attacks came rather close to taking down the Dark Archer. The Dark Archer made an attempt to reclaim his weapons.
This attempt to do so failed due to having his arms stomped hard. The pain racked through the arms of the Dark Archer.
"It wasn't supposed to happen like this!"
The Hood reclaimed the bow and arrow and fired an arrow. The arrow ripped the mask of the Dark Archer off, revealing the face of Malcolm Merlyn.
"Malcolm Merlyn, you've failed this city!"
Sara fired two arrows towards Malcolm. He blocked both of them and moved over to try and attack her with a concealed blade. Sara avoided the attack and returned fire with a couple more of her own.
"Without me, you wouldn't have had the strength to put on that Hood," Malcolm said. "You would have never had the motivation."
Sara disagreed by nailing Malcolm with a huge forearm to the chest. The impact resulted in ribs cracking. Malcolm scrambled away and slipped out the remote control device.
"Well, at least with my dying breath, I'll see justice done! I'm willing to sacrifice myself to say this city!"
A press of the button occurred, and nothing happened.
"It's impossible, someone has blocked…"
One arrow shot the remote control device out of the man's hand. Another arrow pierced through Malcolm Merlyn's hand and blood splattered everywhere. The arrow pinned Malcolm to the ground by his hand, and he was bleeding.
Malcolm looked up and saw the arrow pointed directly at his face. Sara deeply contemplated putting an arrow straight through his skull into his brain to end it right now.
"You can do it, but you've lost," Malcolm said, pain flashing over his face. "You see, you shut down only one machine, but there's a second machine. And it's on a timer, to go off at Midnight….."
Ten minutes from now. Sara shot an arrow into the side of Malcolm Merlyn's neck. He collapsed down to the ground, breath fading from his body.
'Ten minutes, no problem.'
"Archer to Oracle," Sara said. "I've got a bit of a challenge for you, both of you."
She shot another arrow to secure Malcolm, and locked eyes with Lyla, who nursed a bruised arm but was ready to rejoin her in battle.
'Ten minutes, damn, he doesn't make it easy."
To Be Continued on February 10th, 2017.
Well, things aren't going to be that easy. People are afraid, and when people are afraid, they don't act in the most constructive ways and end up looking worse by comparison.
Back on Friday.