Chapter 17: War All The Time
The greatest battles in history have names. Waterloo, The Battle of Huai-Hai, and the Battle of the Bulge are just a few that come to mind.
But the battles of superheroes have names too, not just those of governmentally-assembled armories. And in all those battles, all of those struggles fought between the forces of good and those who would seek to do the world harm, none was as bloody, and as violent, as the battle of the Glades between the Black Spider Clan and the League of Assassins. This was the battle that destroyed the Undertaking, allowed a fully-formed Prometheus to prosper and wait in silence for his true vengeance to arrive, and was the final step for the League from mysterious arbiters of justice to truly heroic warriors.
For those who study such things, this was the battle that gave the world the first bits of the Green Arrow and the Black Canary, even before their names were public. Considering what it cost them, what the Battle of the Glades took, it's truly a miracle they came back and did anything like it ever again.
Five Years Ago, in Nanda Parbat….
Laurel Lance was exhausted. Bone-deep, utter exhaustion. It had been a long day of sparring, after all. With the Black Spider Clan's next ploy still something of an open question, Ra's Al Ghul had directed every combat-trained member of his League to spar, in order to ensure that were they raided the line could be held.
As for the rest of the League, the intelligence divisions were utilizing their whisper networks, as well as combing over ancient tomes, to try and see what could be learned about the ancient order who had declared war on them. The healers of the League were having private planes loaded with top-of-the-line medical equipment flown in. In every way that it could be, what the League was facing is an all-hands-on-deck situation.
So, with that in mind, to say Laurel Lance was tired both physically and mentally seems like a particularly egregious understatement. After all, she had spent all of the morning sparring with wave after wave of trainees, throwing kicks and forearms in addition to delivering knockout blows with her trusty clubs. Those unlucky who managed to get past and under those blows found themselves knocked into the clay walls of the training area courtesy of Al-Kanari's scream, or "canary cry" as she was thinking of it. All of this because a ninja group that no one could get any serious information on was preparing an attack no one knew about; on a target no one could discover. This was intensely frustrating, and everyone at the level Al-Kanari was knew it.
So, because it had long been understood that a frustrated and tired warrior was a distracted one, Ra's allowed his elite guard breaks to consume food, and rest. But before she did that, Al-Kanari went to the hall next to her and retrieved her boyfriend Al-Sahim from the archery room where he had busied himself on both mastering the art and going over new arrowheads given to him by the armorers. Explosive tips, ones loaded with the League's proprietary truth serum, and even rumors of arrows that could plunge an entire building into darkness simply by firing it at a fuse box were circulating, and if anyone could have them, it would be Al-Sahim.
"Al-Sahim? Are you quite finished? Breakfast is waiting for us. I am sure it's shakshuka, and I know how much you love that. Also, the League's chefs want to discuss some of the things you brought from our trip to Myanmar" Al-Kanari says, putting unused arrows into a nearby bucket to be returned to his room.
"Laurel? You know what your name is, right? Your name is Dinah Laurel Lance, like my name is Oliver Queen. Ra's has given us permission to remind ourselves of who we are, who we have always been" he begged, not wanting the woman he loved more than life itself to have lost herself to the madness that he had seen so many members of the League become victims to.
"Ollie? This is real? We can be ourselves?" she giggled, and upon seeing an affirming nod, jumped into her boyfriend's arms. Their life was weirder than she had imagined it. They had become assassins, with more kills under their belt than they would EVER talk about except to themselves, but their core identities remained the same. They were still Ollie and Laurel, and no matter what they did, that would never change.
Meanwhile, at the Black Spider Clan Headquarters in Osaka…
The person who was behind the mask of Cheshire never talked, never spoke. All of her time was spent training, or reading. And her teachers had grown used to that fact, and didn't engage her in conversation. The few male ninja who did try to ask her out, or otherwise make any serious attempt to experience her charms, soon learned that the attempt came with a very painful price. Contusions, broken bones, and concussions: Those were the things that came with trying to flirt with Cheshire.
So over time, all of the talk that had to happen was about their new missions. No one knew her past, or the woman she had been before her life fell apart. And that was, as she imagined, perhaps a good thing. If no one knew, no one could feel pity for what had happened.
And in those cold nights when she couldn't help but cry over what happened, what she had lost, those tears weren't just about sadness. They were angry tears too.
In those moments, Mei Gulong remembered. She remembered her sister Shado coming home from that damnable island Lian Yu, and waxing poetic about the man and woman who saved her. She remembered hearing that her father was dead, and that those who had saved her sister couldn't, or didn't, save him.
And then she remembered the drinking, the constant drinking, her sister fell into right after. She got angry, angrier than she had ever been, and it didn't stop. Honestly, if that's all it had been, Mei would have probably gotten her sister help, brought her back to the woman she had been. It would have never been the same. There would have always been a hole, a thing they knew was missing, but they would have grown to live with it.
But the drinking wasn't all that there was. She started to sleep around, to get into fights, to not be the daughter their father had given up his life to protect. And one night, Shado didn't come home. The police in Hong Kong told her what had happened, how Shado had been found in an alleyway unconscious with a needle in her arm.
And so, in that moment as she buried the only family she had left, Mei Gulong swore vengeance. But not on the man who captured her, because she knew he was dead. In one of her rare moments of lucidity, that was something Shado had reveled in.
Instead, she swore her revenge against those who had "rescued" her sister only to leave her to her own trauma and pain. The day would come when they would feel her wrath, and when they did, she'd do something she hadn't been able to do for years now.
She'd laugh.
Meanwhile, in Starling City…
At the Richard Diaz and Sandra Wu-San School of Fighting Arts, there were no students. Honestly, though, that's not altogether true. The truer statement would be that there were no PAYING students in the school at the moment.
You see, to become a member of this school, you could just walk off the street and join. But you'd get the bare-bones curriculum, enough to defend yourself against a mugger or a purse-snatcher. To get the full depth and breadth of what they could offer, though, you had to be sought out. Or, in the case of the three people standing in the middle of the practice mats, have a desire for justice that is so powerful it's almost palpable.
So here they all stood, 5 people fully intending on waging war against a force that they HOPED they were ready for. The people standing in the middle of the mats were, in no particular order, a rookie vigilante who had up to now mastered stopping muggings and petty crimes, a young but determined archer, and a great vigilante who was decades out of practice. If you were looking at this dispassionately, the odds would be rather grim.
But what passion tells you, sometimes, is the truth. Because those three people were the daughter of a murdered police officer, the sister in all but blood of that daughter, and the wife of a murdered police officer. They were GOING to wage unholy war on whoever it was that committed this grievous insult, and there would be nothing that could stop them.
And honestly, Richard Diaz and Sandra Wu-San understood it. They had met Detective Quentin Lance a few times, usually when he dropped Sara or Thea off for training. He was a kind man, if a little gruff, and it was very easy to tell just how much he loved his daughter. And for taking someone like this from his family, someone whose only crime was chasing justice to the ends of the earth, they would pay him a proper memorial. That wouldn't, COULDN'T, just be celebrating his life. To properly honor the man he had been, they all could do only one thing. They could, right here and right now, swear to bring his killer to justice.
But before they did, the door to the school opened widely and in walked the 6th member of this confederation. Ryu Hayabusa had returned, and he brought news with him.
"I have informed our friends in Nanda Parbat of what has been done here, the sin that has been committed" Ryu said, his clear calm voice and regal posture reminding everyone that he is the prince of a truly great dynastic lineage.
"Here's one thing I don't understand. Anyone in this city who showed the kind of skill that the person who killed Detective Lance has with a bow would have to know what would happen if they did that, right? Like archery of that level isn't just something you learn from watching Hunger Games movies" stated Thea, idly twirling her Heavensong bow in her hand as she knows exactly how much work it took to get her to a place where she was skilled in the art herself.
"That is not our primary concern at the moment. The League of Assassins is coming to Starling City in one month's time, to ensure that justice is properly meted out for whoever it was that committed this injustice. And when they arrive, they have asked for my help in the investigation" said Ryu, opening up a velvet-lined bag filled with swords, shuriken, and two quivers of 36 arrows apiece.
"The League of Assassins?" said Dinah Drake-Lance, finally beginning to realize what she's gotten thrown into.
"Ms. Drake, I have traveled the world defending my lineage from enemies since I was old enough to know what my lineage WAS. I have known no greater ally in that quest than the League of Assassins. They may sound like a association of murderers, but they are not. Honestly, they are holy monks sworn to keep the balance between good and evil" stated Ryu, drawing a nod from both Richard Diaz and Sandra Wu-San as that is how they have always understood it as well.
"But that is not all. They have also sought to bestow upon you, Thea Queen and Sara Lance, a gift. When the League arrives, they will bring their best to investigate and bring to justice. There are 4 highly-skilled investigators, men and women trained in stealth, tactics, and intimidation. I have been given permission to tell you their names. Nyssa Raatko, Slade Wilson, and….. Oliver Jonas Queen and Dinah Laurel Lance."