A/N: Wooh, sorry it's been so long. I've been kinda focused on my HP project. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter.

Chapter Twenty

Jason Merrill was working late in the office, amending reports to reflect that emergency responders were simply too late to the scene of an attack by the mysterious armed militia that had held the city in a state of fear for two years. As an agent of H.I.V.E., Merrill's job as the head of the emergency response office was to make sure that the reality of the situation did not escape into the outside world, as that would bring it too close to the government declaring martial law in Star City and sending in the military to wipe out the Ghosts. A changed sentence here, an altered paragraph there, a slightly different word usage in this line or that, and the reports that went to the federal level revealed nothing that would bring the might of the U.S. government down on the city.

When he had first taken this job a year and a half ago when the wife of H.I.V.E.'s leader, Ruve Adams, had taken the mayor's post in response to the actions of the vigilante team led by Spartan and appointed him to it, Jason had been concerned that he would one day face an aggressive action by the vigilantes, since they were holdovers from the days when the Arrow had run roughshod over the city's criminal and corrupt, in part due to collaborators from inside the police department. But the S.C.P.D. was firmly under H.I.V.E.'s control now, having secured the loyalty of now-Commissioner Franklin Pike following the death of Quentin Lance, who had betrayed Darhk to the vigilantes. As a result, Spartan, Black Canary, the Atom, Red Arrow, Wild Dog, and Artemis were all classed as anarchists who were opposing the lawfully-elected government of Star City.

More importantly, despite ample opportunity and reason to, the vigilantes had not once visited any agents of H.I.V.E. who had taken leadership positions or members of the city council who had been converted to H.I.V.E. by Ruve, such as Councilman Kullens and Councilwoman Pollard. That had the entire membership of H.I.V.E. plants in city positions laughing in both relief and scorn, because it proved these vigilantes weren't capable of fighting H.I.V.E. Perhaps if the Arrow was still around, there might be cause for some concern, but the Arrow had died two years ago in a prison riot. The poor knock-offs of Red Arrow and later Artemis weren't even close to the same threat level H.I.V.E. had considered the Arrow to be.

Jason was sent sprawling across his desk as the bank of windows behind him exploded inward. He scrambled to cower on the other side of his desk as four figures ziplined into his office from across the street. He studied each of them as quickly as he could, his H.I.V.E. training kicking in as adrenalin rushed through his veins. One of the intruders was clearly Artemis, but the others weren't instantly recognizable. But slowly, his mind factored in what he was seeing with studies of those who had threatened Star City in the past and been dealt with by the Arrow and his team, studies H.I.V.E. had made sure all their agents read since the Arrow had been considered a major threat to their plans. One of the intruders, wearing a purple bodysuit and wielding a pair of crossbows, was Helena Bertinelli, aka the Huntress. The armored figure with the orange and black mask could only be Slade Wilson, aka Deathstroke, who had laid siege to then-Starling City three years ago with an army of soldiers who had been injected with the Mirakuru, a substance H.I.V.E. had commissioned the creation of.

But it was the final figure that confused Jason. The uniform was reminiscent of the early uniform of the Arrow, then known as the Hood, but completely made of black leather. Dark cloth formed a cowl over his head, leaving nothing but a slit where a pair of cold blue eyes could be seen burning with hatred. The figure was wielding a wicked-looking bow and a sword handle could be seen rising over his shoulder, in front of the quiver of arrows.

Artemis fired an arrow at the door, which was revealed to be a bolo arrow which wrapped itself around the door handles, effectively trapping Jason in the room with two supervillains, a likely former hero, and an unknown but whose mere presence radiated a cool malice that Jason had only seen in his master when something disrupted one of Darhk's plans.

"Jason Merrill," the black-clad figure spoke. "You have been judged and found wanting. Your association with H.I.V.E. is a black mark upon your soul. We are here to excise that mark." The Huntress and Artemis both smirked in anticipation, and that was all the motivation Jason needed to try and escape from the room. He rushed towards the doors, only for an arrow to pierce through his left knee, jutting out under the kneecap as he fell, a bolt from a crossbow having torn into his left calf. The four intruders moved around the desk and approached Jason's half-crawling form.

The black-clad figure stepped down on his outstretched hand purposely, crushing the fingers between his boot and the floor. Jason cried out in agony as the bones in his fingers broke in multiple places. He tried to raise his other hand to plead for mercy, only to find it missing as Deathstroke's sword slashed cleanly through his arm, severing his hand at the wrist. Blood spattered the four intruders and poured from the wound as Jason looked up at the black-clad figure in agonized terror. "Who-What are you?" he asked tremulously.

The black-clad figure didn't answer immediately, instead grabbing Jason by the collar and hauling him back to the desk. He slammed Jason down, and Jason felt Deathstroke straightening out his arms to either side. Two arrows embedded themselves in Jason's elbow joints, pinning him to the desk with another agonized scream coming from Jason. The black clad figure squelched the screams with one hand, leaning down to finally answer the question given to him. "Prometheus," he said slowly, deliberately, and then stood, drew his own sword, and slashed a quick, clean cut to open Jason's throat. He plucked the recording device from his belt and turned it off, tucking the device in the front pocket of the dying man's dress shirt. With that, he returned to the window with his allies. He and Artemis fired zip lines down from their position to the street, and the four used those lines to leave the building behind.

The first strike against H.I.V.E.'s hold in Star City was a success, and it was only the first target of the night. From here, the four would split into two groups with Prometheus and Deathstroke handling Councilman Kullens while the Huntress and Artemis punished Councilwoman Pollard for selling out her constituents to H.I.V.E. Once that was done, their declaration of war against H.I.V.E. and their allies in Star City would be known beyond a shadow of a doubt.

*DC*

The brutal slayings of Jason Merrill, Brian Kullens, and Emily Pollard were the headline news on every news channel carried in Star City, with the newspapers rushing a special edition to cover these apparently senseless slayings. The presence of arrows known to be Artemis' trademark had the press all asking the same question: had the vigilantes finally decided to stop pretending they were heroes and revealed themselves to be the anarchists they were always known to be by the city?

This question had John Diggle delivering furious punch after furious punch to a punching bag in his team's underground Bunker, ignoring the concerned looks he was getting from Felicity Smoak and Laurel Lance. All he could think of was that Oliver had been back less than a week and already he was destroying everything that they had been working towards for two years, a day when they could act as heroes in the light of day the way Barry did instead of fighting against H.I.V.E.'s plans in the darkness of the night, striking from the shadows during the day.

Rene Ramirez was itching to go out on a patrol and hopefully cross the four murderers who had just turned the entire city against them.

Ray was the only one seemingly doing anything productive. He had been working to get a copy of the police report and the audio recording left behind by the killers at the first crime scene and had finally managed to break through the firewall around the S.C.P.D.'s files and retrieved a copy of both before retreating back. "Okay, I got it," Ray called, drawing the team's attention. "We can find out what Oliver and his team were doing as Jason Merrill's, at the very least." Diggle pulled away and joined the rest of his team at the computer consoles, briefly grimacing that he hadn't thought to ask Felicity to try and do what Ray had pulled off. She probably would've gotten it faster, in his opinion. He didn't much care for either Ray or Laurel. Ray reminded him too much of the mask Oliver had put up to pretend he wasn't a psychotic killer, and Laurel was the woman that Oliver had always put over everything else.

The team listened to the attack, including what had to be Oliver declaring his identity as Prometheus, and then heard the unmistakable choking sound of someone who's throat had just been slit before the recording ended. The brutality that was on display even in the audio recording had stomachs churning. Ray quietly read out the written report of the crime scene and what had been found, allowing the team to figure out which screams from Merrill were attributed to which injuries that had been inflicted. That the wounds inflicted by a sword were probably done by Deathstroke didn't ease the concern Laurel and Ray, at least, had for Oliver's apparent descent back into the darkness that had consumed his life the last time he had been on Earth-1. What confused them all was the lack of injuries and evidence that suggested Oliver hadn't wielded any sort of weapons in the confrontation. The police hadn't yet released a report on the deaths of Kullens and Pollard.

"We need to get ahead of this, make sure people know we have nothing to do with this," Diggle finally said. "Only way I can see the way to do that is to try and stop Oliver and his team of psychopaths the next time they strike. But it's figuring out where they're gonna hit next that I'm unsure about."

"It's pretty obvious to me, John," Laurel said in response to that. "They're not going to leave the police in the hands of H.I.V.E. assets. They'll be going after Franklin Pike next." Laurel's expression was conflicted as she said this. Pike had been her father's superior for years, but he had chosen to work for H.I.V.E. willingly, and in doing so betrayed the memory of Quentin. But Laurel didn't want him outright murdered for his decision; she wanted him strung up by the law and sentenced to prison, where he deserved to be for siding with terrorists.

"Then tonight, and every night needed, we stand guard over Pike," Diggle said quietly.

While Ray and Laurel were concerned about what that confrontation could end up entailing, both Diggle and Rene were preparing to fight the psychopaths that were unleashing anarchy on their city with their actions and were certain that they would come out victorious. They had to, because they were the ones who were fighting for the city the right way. The very idea they could lose to Oliver's team never even occurred to them.

It was a belief that they would come to deeply regret.

*DC*

Earth-38

Lena Luthor wrapped herself in cool confidence as she entered the visitation room and faced a man she hadn't talked to in a number of years, their brief reunion at the Queen Mansion to speak to the new Oliver notwithstanding. "Hello, Lex," she said.

A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter.

Ah, writing Dark Oliver is often freeing.

Team Spartan have no idea what they're in for.

What is Lena up to?