Chapter Fifty: Roman Empire Part One.


Roman Sionis, better known as Black Mask, walked to the edge of a podium. Several gentlemen and a few women crowded around. Amongst the crowd, were a couple of members of the Court of Owls faction, which had taken up residence in Starling City. The fact they were standing up in front of him, asking him for a favor, it really was pleasing to him.

Soon, he would get the respect he craved. The respect he lost when the Clown made a fool out of him in Gotham City. Black Mask would have some respect again. And the fact the legendary Court of Owls, the men who ran Gotham, came running to him, made him smile.

They groveled to him, at least in the mind of Roman Sionis.

"Gentlemen, welcome," Black Mask said. "Some of you have been in quite a situation given the Hood, and another….party who has designs on taking this city for his own."

"You know perfectly well Slade Wilson is a threat to your organization as well, Sionis," the Court of Owls representative said.

Black Mask's eyes narrowed underneath the mask when looking at the man. The foolish, rich, pompous silver spoon idiot, who didn't dare work a day in his life, it was the type of person which made Black Mask very sick to his stomach. This man reminded him of that useless fool Wayne in many ways. He walked down the steps, approaching the man. The man took half of a step back, hitching in a very obvious breath when looking at him.

"The Court of Owls made a stupid decision making an arrangement with an obvious sociopath," Black Mask said. "Now, you're going to have to reap the consequences. Your organization may have been strong in Gotham City but….as we know, the entire landscape has changed. The world has changed."

The members of Black Mask's gang all became restless, and some of them pumped their fists into the air. Others looked at their leader, waiting for direction. Black Mask had them in the palm of his hand. Their fate rested on what he would do.

"The last time I was active in Starling City, I was stopped by its resident protector," Black Mask said. "The Hood, the Arrow, the vigilante, whatever they want to call her these days. Not to mention there are other names who are a problem."

Black Mask leaned back and made sure they all had his undivided attention.

"Batgirl!"

The mention of anyone with the word "Bat" in their name, put these thugs on edge. Everyone learned to fear that particular team of vigilantes. Batman, Robin, Batgirl, Nightwing, all of them inspired hatred from anyone who had been in Gotham City. They started to boo and hiss rather loudly, some of them clenching their fists and stomping the ground in the process. They were not too happy and Black Mask had not finished properly riling them up, at least not yet.

"Black Canary!"

The boos heightened the moment he brought this particular name up. They hated the Black Canary, some of them had fought the original Black Canary years ago. They had been at this game a long time, and they were survivors. They joined up with Black Mask because he had the best chance to give them a future.

"Huntress!"

This name did not receive as loud of a boo like the other two names, but regardless there were three names. Black Mask had a score to settle with Huntress. She nearly killed him before the Hood intervened. The bitch would suffer, slowly. He had ways to make do-gooders like her scream when he slowly took them apart, piece by piece, ripping them apart. Oh, sometimes breaking a person by tearing them apart was a better feeling than sex.

Black Mask turned his attention towards the members of the crowd, his organization, along with the Court of the Owls, and the smaller gangs of Starling City who had sought sanctuary.

"It's time for us to take control, it's time to take control of this city!" Black Mask yelled.

Once he took control of Starling City, he would return to Gotham and take back the city. He had been humiliated by the Clown, and he never quite lived it down. He was going to prove that smiling jackass was nothing, other than a flash in the pan.

"You six, with me!"

Black Mask signaled out six of his best men and they moved away from the crowd, following Black Mask from his position. They made their way towards the fence where a crate was waiting for them.

"What's the plan, Black Mask?"

"There's going to be a truck going by here in a couple of moments," Black Mask informed his men. "It has ARGUS detail, but I'm sure you boys are going to be up to taking it out."

Black Mask tapped on the crate and drew the attention of all of his men to it. All of the men looked towards the crate, excitement dancing through his eyes.

"Let's look at the new toys our good friend, Mr. Cobblepot has gotten for us," Black Mask said. "You're going to want to feast your eyes on these babies!"

The men popped open the crates just in time to get some killer rocket launchers. The men all responded with smiles, Christmas had most certainly come early and brought all of the other holidays along for the ride. Their giddiness could not be matched by any means.

"Just don't shoot your eye out," Black Mask said. "And get ready."

Black Mask took the biggest, largest, most bad-ass rocket launcher of them all and put it over his shoulder. He waited, the security truck was going to come down the street. He was ready to blow that motherfucker away.

The two ARGUS trucks came down, followed by a truck in the center. The moment Black Mask aimed, he hit the target, blowing up the street! Rubble flew in every direction and forced a sudden stop from the truck.

His men pulled the triggers on the rocket launcher and fired. The rockets connected with the trucks and flipped them over, allowing the members of the crew to make their way into the street!

"Let's move!" Black Mask yelled. "At least, it's ours and no one came take it from us!"

The members of ARGUS security detail moved out of one of the damaged trucks. Black Mask's Number One contributed to the situation by throwing a grenade on the ground. The grenade burst open and released a choking cloud of knockout gas, dropping the ARGUS personnel to the ground.

Black Mask picked up a set of keys from one of the downed government agents and walked over towards the front entrance. Black Mask slipped the key inside and turned it with a very obvious click. His eyes widened when they opened the back of the truck.

"There we go boys, Merlyn's old Earthquake device," Black Mask said. "It's moving out East to be dismantled."

Black Mask breathed in heavily. He always had been excited by Christmas. Not because of the time of family, or joy, or happiness, or all of the bullshit, rather he enjoyed Christmas because of all of the expensive shit he received. The criminal looked very giddy.

"They still haven't destroyed this thing?" one of the goons asked.

"There were two," Black Mask's number one said. "One had been dismantled, but this one was being moved around by ARGUS."

No one needed to ask why ARGUS would keep ahold of a machine which could cause untold destruction. It would be a good weapon to use to force rogue nations to their knees.

"Let's bring it out boys," Black Mask said. "We've got a timetable to keep."


Nyssa and Sara returned after allowing Isabel loose, after making sure she was on the same page as them. And she would be on the same page as them, for many reasons.

"She really didn't know where Slade is, given he's moving around," Sara said. "And we've checked the three places where she said Slade might be, and there's no sign he's even around."

Slade did not tell Isabel everything. Which was actually very intelligent on his part, Sara would have to give the devil his due.

"It's a problem," Nyssa said. "It took us a very long time to break her loyalty for Slade. She's been trained well, like a dog, and Slade is holding her leash."

"And why do I think her leash is explosive?" Sara asked.

Nyssa leaned in and put a hand on her beloved's shoulder. "I checked, and there seems to be a no…kill switch in her. And I know most of the methods to slip a kill switch in someone."

"Have you ever?" Sara asked.

"Not for anyone I cared about," Nyssa said. Sara tensed up and Nyssa had to put a reassuring hand on the other woman's shoulder. "Relax, I didn't ever. But, as a member of the League, you need to know how to find these things, and disable them."

Nyssa had to perform a fair amount of emergency dentistry in her time, with the cyanide capsule in the tooth, it was a favorite from many assassins who were caught and humiliated.

"She's clean though," Sara said.

"Yes," Nyssa said. "And if the conditioning goes right, then the moment Slade summons her to a meeting, we'll know, and we'll follow her."

"Well, I just did what my teacher taught me," Sara said.

Nyssa smiled, she knew what Sara was trying to do, and she tried not to let it get to her, at least not right now. The two women made their way towards the final alleyway, making their way back to base. Given how Laurel, Barbara, Felicity, and Cass all waited up for them, they didn't want to be late.

"So, your sister…"

"She's still not able to talk, but other than that, she's fine," Sara said. "I don't know what happened to her."

Nyssa wasn't going to even suggest the first thing which came into her mind. She vowed never to subject anything to the Lazarus Pit ever again. The consequences of it turned her stomach, the one time she went against her father's edict, and threw someone in the pit.

Granted, it all worked out in the end, but Nyssa saw the pain and suffering which the person who popped out of the pit suffered. It was very awful.

"There's someone coming."

Nyssa noticed it a second later. She reached towards her side, preparing to withdraw a dagger and point it at her adversary. Sara stood side by side with Nyssa. Both skilled warriors came shoulder to shoulder with each other.

"Come out, unless you want your head taken off," Nyssa said.

"I'm not here to fight."

"Then, you better come out," Sara said. "Because, we don't want to hurt you, but she will if you give her a chance to do so."

The figure stepped out of the shadows, and Sara came face to face with the familiar form of Helena Bertinelli, better known as the Huntress, who stood across from Sara. Both sides did not move and neither broke the silence.

Sara joined forces with Huntress on the Suicide Squad, although it was under the guise of the White Canary.

"We have a problem," Huntress said. "I had to come back to Starling City because he's back in Starling City."

Sara's bad feeling, well it increased the second later when a crackling sound echoed in the edge of her ear. She pressed it in, frowning in response.

"So, are we back on?" Felicity asked. "Because, we have a problem, and by a problem, I mean we really have a problem. And you should look at this video."

It became less of a mystery who the he Helena referred to was, when the masked face of the one and only Black Mask stood there, surrounded by a group of Starling City's disenchanted. He was in the process of giving a speech.

"Many of you, have thrown your support behind either Sebastian Blood or Moira Queen!" Black Mask barked. "But, they're nothing, but frauds, vandals….they have their own agenda for this city. And I….well, I have an agenda as well, and it's to take back Starling City from those who hide behind a mask of deception!"

Sara could barely even hold back her indignation at the very obvious irony dripping from this speech from Black Mask.

"And there are many people in Starling City who hide behind masks or hoods, and some of you feel snug in a blanket of lies!" Black Mask shouted. "You have all been cheated, you have all been deceived, by the games the people in Starling City are playing!"

Black Mask leaned back for a moment.

"I will lead a revolution in Starling City, and all who are willing to join me, are welcomed to join me!" Black Mask yelled. "I won't give you empty promises, or tell you what you can do to make this city great again. Rather, I will show what needs to be done!"

The people crowded around Black Mask on the grainy video cheered. He riled them up into a frenzy like some kind of cult leader.

"Tonight, I'm going to begin the revolution!" Black Mask yelled. "And this is a warning to any vigilantes out there because I know you're watching. If you try anything in my Starling City, I'm going to unleash hell on Earth."

Sara switched over to another call. It was Lyla and already by the deep breath she heard, she knew it was bad.

"He has the Earthquake device," Lyla said.

"I thought that was dismantled," Sara said.

"It was….but Waller was taking the parts to be destroyed," Lyla said.

Sara almost could have fumed; Waller should have left things alone, now she had another mess to clean up. Then again, it was not the first time Sara had been at odds with Waller over something like this.


"My opponent has pulled her life back together, but it's always about ready to fall apart at the slightest nudge!" Sebastian Blood yelled. "There are many things in her past, which could come to light, and could embarrass Starling City. I'm not saying redemption is not possible, it's very possible, but we need to face the facts. Do you really want to give the control of this city to someone who once intended to destroy it?"

Moira heard these words often enough where she had become mentally numb to them at this point. She waited for the turn to rebut them.

"Now, I can't change the past," Moira said. "And it's obvious my opponent is fixated on what I've done in the past, and perhaps he's distracted by what can be done to help protect our city in the future. He's blinded himself."

"No, I've not been blinded, I've seen the light," Blood said. "There's a madman known as Roman Sionis, who has taken a disassembled Earthquake Machine. Do you think he took it for good reasons? No, he hasn't…..and that Earthquake Machine wouldn't have been in Starling City, had it not been for Malcolm Merlyn and the woman right beside me, running for Mayor."

"And once again, he speaks about things that have happened in the past," Moira said. "I can't apologize enough for the suffering I've caused, but all I can do is make Starling City a better place in the present. And what kind of leader tries to incite the public into chaos? The kind of leader who wants to see Starling City fall, so it can be rebuilt in his own image."

Sebastian's mouth opened. He never expected the woman to be so blunt with her words, although perhaps he should have bene. Blood held onto the side of the pedestal and drew in a very deep breath.

"Sebastian Blood has family members which belong to an ancient order known as the Court of the Owls," Moira said. "And the Court of Owls have committed far greater crimes than I have been accused by…and I'm concerned about where Sebastian Blood's financial sources have come from."

"Well-wishers, and people who want to see the city become a better place," Blood said. "I can assure you…"

The rumbling sound of the truck cut off Blood's words before they could go much further. A military vehicle crashed through the gates. Some of Starling City's finest moved in, but they had to scatter because of the heavy weaponry these men with masks packed.

The dust settled, and the man himself, dressed in a stylish white suit, approached the front of the stage. Black Mask looked around towards the men who crowded around on the stage.

"Well, if this isn't a perfect opportunity to a spark a revolution, I don't know what is," Black Mask said. "We have several prominent hostages…..and also the two candidates for Mayor of Starling City. It's almost too good to be true."

A hapless officer tried to move in. Black Mask turned around and shot him at point blank rage. The other officers laid on the ground, some of them wounded, and others knocked for a loop. Black Mask's sick twisted smile wrapped around, the very second when he looked at his handiwork. He observed the glory which came from what he did.

"It's just too excellent," Black Mask said. "I have all of Starling City in the palm of my hands. I can crush them like an insect if I so wish."

Black Mask demonstrated what he would have liked to do to Starling City by opening his hand and closing it. Every single person involved grew very tense. Black Mask's twisted smile underneath his mask grew even more so.

Artemis, Thea, and Cass sat rather close in the crowd. Cass grabbed both of the hands of the two girls, warningly. It was time to get them out of there, and out of harm's way.

"Show them what happens if any of Starling's beloved vigilantes get involved," Black Mask said.

They wheeled the device out of the back of the truck. Moira looked at the Earthquake device, which had been reassembled. She thought, perhaps foolishly, it had been disassembled. Moira looked at the Device; the ghost of her past came back to haunt her as the election passed.

Meanwhile, Cass attempted to get the two other girls out of there, but like she said, it was very much easier said than done. Her breathing grew fairly ragged with her attempts to escape the situation.


Slade Wilson leaned back in a chair and observed the proceedings. Roman Sionis always had a flair for the dramatics, and a part of Slade appreciated what he did. Another, more prominent part of Slade, also appreciated the fact he was helping Slade, unwillingly.

The images of the television camera, shaky, raw, showed Sebastian Blood talking to Sionis, and trying to bargain with them. Slade wished he had popcorn because it would be rather amusing.

"Foolish child, he doesn't know you can't bargain with a sociopath like Roman Sionis," Slade said.

Blood had been forced down into the dirt beneath the feet of the members of the False Face Society. Roman Sionis stood higher and taller than ever before. He was finally gaining some momentum, and given how Slade heard he got humiliated in Gotham City by the Joker; Slade knew how Sionis relished that moment of control.

'Have your moment, kid,' Slade thought to himself. 'It will soon be over.'

Slade watched the images on the television screen, watching a bleeding and shaking Blood forced down onto the ground. Roman Sionis stood up straighter and observed the people in the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I bring to you, a bright and glorious future for Starling City!" Sionis yelled at the top of his lungs. "Behold, the people who would sooner lie to your face, then be held accountable for their actions. This man on the ground right here, the city is going to become ashes."

Slade thought Sionis's perspective was very interesting. And it almost made Slade assume there were members of the Court who fed him some information. Not, Slade wanted to be one to make assumptions, because as the old saying went, you knew what happened to those who assumed.

Still, Slade watched and waited for more images to flash on upon the screen.

"And once again, I'm going to warn any vigilantes who are going to turn up, do not even bother to stop me!" Sionis yelled. "I have the machine which at one time, Malcolm Merlyn intended to use to bring this city to its knees! He intended to use it to shake this city to the very foundations!"

Slade allowed Sionis to have his moment. He would serve as a very convenient distraction, up until the moment where Slade could take control.

'There's still one matter of revenge I have to settle personally,' Slade thought. 'It's five years overdue as well.'

The schemer rose to his feet and prepared to head out. His unwitting pawn served as a handy distraction for the next stage of his plan.


Lyla, joined Nyssa, Sara, and Helena. They all prepared to join forces and hunt down Black Mask.

"Actually, if you're going to try and track down Black Mask, he's made it a lot easier for you," Felicity said. "Sionis has crashed the debate between Moira and Blood….and he's held everyone hostage. And he's found a way to assemble the Earthquake machine."

"He works fast," Helena said. "Or…."

Helena didn't want to accuse them of anything, with an ARGUS agent standing right beside them. Said ARGUS agent turned a fraction of an inch towards Helena and put a hand on her shoulder.

"There might be a leak inside ARGUS," Lyla said.

"The problem would be if Waller didn't move it, "Sara said. "Speaking of which, did you talk to her about that?"

"She said she had some intelligence the facility is being threatened," Lyla said. "Which if Sionis has a mole inside of the organization, it's obvious where the intelligence came from?"

"So, we're going to have to disable the machine," Nyssa said. "Which should have been destroyed months ago."

Lyla would have to agree, but now was not the time to agonize over lost opportunity.

"Yes, we are," Sara said. "Felicity?"

"Hey, I've done it once, I can do it again if you can get in close enough to establish the link without the trigger happy idiot setting off the machine," Felicity said. "Which he kind of promised to do the moment he saw anyone with a Hood."

"We're going to have to go in," Sara said. "If he has a remote, we're going to have to get it away from him."

Sara turned her attention to one member of the group in particular. The Huntress was a wild card.

"I'm going to need your help," Sara said. "And I want you to promise me you're not going to go off the rails and try and kill Sionis out of revenge."

Helena thought a year ago, she wouldn't take orders from anyone. She had been in a pretty bad place. Now, times have changed.

"I won't deny I still want to kill Sionis," Helena said. "But my vengeance isn't important now. We have to stop him before it's too late."

"So, what's the plan?"

Sara had been putting it together in her mind. It was a risk, thankfully Cass was on the inside, although hopefully, she managed to get Artemis and Thea out of harm's way. They were nowhere near ready to fight a wild card like Sionis.

'Well here goes nothing.'


To Be Continued on May 23rd, 2017.


For Chapter 50, Black Mask comes back around to town to cause trouble and he's after both of the Candidates and also Starling City.

A shady government agency doing shady government agency things. Perish the thought. Sara's not happy and rightfully so. And Huntress is back.

Slade remains about twelve steps ahead of our heroes.

Until Tuesday.