Part Two of a Three Chapter Set Posted On February 18th, 2020.
Chapter Twenty:
Three Amazons circled around Oliver from all angles. Donna, Aresia, and Diana, intense glares in their eyes, charged him. Oliver turned around and blocked their attacks. He jumped in and turned Aresia and Donna's attacks against them and sent them crashing down to the ground with a loud thud.
The attack could have gone a little bit better.
"Come at me with everything you got," Oliver said.
Diana left herself open for a brief attack. To the skilled warrior's credit, she had recovered very quickly. Oliver always made sure to get the blood pumping in her body and most importantly challenge her. The Amazon Princess swung her blade and Oliver blocked it.
A small amount of pride swelled up within Diana at Oliver's improvement from those early days. Unfortunately for her, said improvement had been at her expense.
Just another reason to ramp up her abilities.
Oliver spun Diana around and used Diana's own blade to block Aresia's attack. So he could use his own to block Donna's and send the two Amazons hurtling down to the ground. They both popped up and back down to the ground, the wind knocked out of their bodies.
A cry echoed and Aresia jumped back into the attack, to try one more time.
Aresia had something to prove. Maybe, if she could outlast both Donna and Diana, she might be able to get something done. Unfortunately, those hopes had been dashed in a matter of seconds. Oliver took Aresia down to the ground and disarmed her one more time.
Donna and Diana locked eyes. Now one member of their team had been taken out, they needed to move back in for the battle. Donna swooped in from the left and Diana came down from the right. Both of them edged their blades closer to Oliver.
Again, two fluid motions and the two Amazons had been put down to the ground. Oliver smiled and helped them both up to their feet.
"Well, good one today," Oliver said. "You nearly had me, and you did get in a pretty good shot, Donna."
Oliver showed them the cut on his arm which did not slow him down. And would heal in a matter of seconds, with minimal scarring. Donna could not be anything but a bit pleased she got close enough to Oliver to compromise him a little. Although not enough.
"Guess, we're going to have to try this one again next time," Donna said.
"We will," Diana said. "Maybe Oliver would be better off fighting our mother and Artemis and Phillipus in these exercises."
"No, it's an exercise to increase our own abilities as much of his own,' Aresia said. "Isn't it?"
"Yes," Oliver said. "And I've got to get everything ready."
From one Artemis to another, Oliver thought about Artemis Crock. The girl who had helped him out with the Count and would be tested. Oliver would take her under his wing if she succeeded. If she failed, well he hoped she would not.
"Do you think she's ready?' Diana asked.
Getting everything set up for Saturday night was very important. Artemis's most important test. Would she succeed or not? Well, Oliver would find out, but personally, he was pulling for her.
"Don't leave just yet," Aresia said. "Now that the four of us are here, it would be a shame to squander such an opportunity."
Oliver smiled and motioned for the three Amazons to follow him. Everything had been mostly prepared for Artemis's trials anyway, and it would be good to go.
Chloe Sullivan burned through her third cup of coffee this morning. She had made a solemn vow to swear off alcohol, although today, that vow had been very much tested. The thick folder of information in front of her had been mostly fluff and bullshit.
Usual stuff which would end up on the front page of most clickbait Internet websites. Not really Chloe's concern.
One particular chain of documents in front of her set Chloe into crisis mode. Moira Queen, upon Chloe's reporting, had been a bit dodgy with some of her answers, regarding Veritas. She claimed Robert had been the one involved in it, not her, and well, Chloe was not sure how much she bought that line Moira threw her.
Inadvertently, Chloe stumbled upon a shocking Queen family secret. Something which given the rumors was not surprising, but had rocked her a little bit. She thought about it. Going public with this would put her into the realm of trash tabloid journalism and it was not something which Chloe wanted to do to sully her reputation.
Especially, when the proof involved was from a couple of questionable sources. Chloe knew that would not stop some reporters, but she valued their reputation. Ethics in journalism had been a dying art.
And unfortunately, most mainstream publications had been backed up by one of the big two American political parties and ended up being propaganda machines more than actual abritators of balanced information. Independent journalists had been a dying art and been snuffed out.
Regardless, Chloe struggled to consider what she could do with this information.
"Well, damn it, Sullivan you really are in a situation, aren't you?" she muttered.
If true, Chloe suspected some other people might find out sooner or later, no matter how deep Moira buried the information six feet under. It was bound to come out, especially if the woman in question was still near enough to the city.
People would use this information to trash the reputation of a dead man and likely dig further and spin hard to ruin the entire Queen family. People dug up old scandals all of the time, loving a good bit of running someone's name through the mud, and the fact they were six feet under ground did not make them the sacred cows they used to. People rode the horses of old scandals until they were dust and ground them into the ground.
"Okay, proof, need it before I go to him with this one," Chloe said. "I mean, if he has a half-sister, that's going to turn his life upside down."
Oliver had to know at the very least, although Chloe could not shove the fact his father had a secret love child underneath his nose without the most crystal clear evidence. Talking to the mother might be out of the question, as she would be either accusing an innocent woman of being a part of adultery or digging up some fresh wounds.
Most reporters would do so, but while Chloe would rake the feet of government officials to the coals, she could not bring herself to do the same to innocent people.
To be honest, Artemis had been a little bit nervous. The Hood talked to her, and told her to come to this address if she was serious about everything. And Artemis after seeing another one of her classmates on the news, dead from an overdose, made her decision.
"Okay, all in," Artemis said. "Let's do this."
Vertigo had been just one mountain to overcome. There had been several more and while the Count was personal, there were other dealers and just awful people who would take advantage of the most dire of situations.
Artemis stepped inside, armed with her bow. She never felt safe without leaving the house with it. She craned her neck, from one side to the other and could sense something was up.
And Artemis hated when her senses were right. Someone circled her and Artemis had a feeling they were not friendly people.
A trio of dark clad figures appeared around her. Artemis spun around and caught one of them with a glancing shot with the arrow. Another one threw a dagger at Artemis and Artemis jumped out of the way. She fired another arrow at the attacker who disappeared in smoke.
Artemis dodged a blade which narrowly came inches away from cutting her.
"Okay, I get the hint," Artemis said. "At least I think I do!"
Did the Hood disapprove of what she was doing and this was his way of telling her? He could tend to be a bit more direct? Artemis peered over her shoulder and avoided the three attackers coming at her from all angles. Artemis dodged the attack and slammed one of them into the ground.
The other's chain wrapped around Artemis's ankle. She came inches away from getting skewered by a blade. She blocked said blade and snapped out of the chain. The chain wrapped around the ankle of the attacker and sent the enemy crashing down onto the ground.
Two rapid fire arrow attacks and the third attacker dropped down. Artemis took in a deep breath and looked to the left and to the right. It hit her. Only two of them were down.
"Shit," Artemis muttered.
She spun around and attacked the third one with a well timed arrow shot. It exploded and wrapped the man up in thick cords and dropped him down, wrapped completely up without anywhere to go.
"Okay, come out and just tell me straight!" Artemis yelled. "If you want me to prove myself, then do it."
Artemis could tell something was coming. Three fighters down and she could hear something from the footsteps. Artemis jumped back and a shuriken smashed down onto the ground. Artemis avoided the explosion of metal and fired in the direction of the attacker.
A single attacker, dressed in green, with her face covered in a mask which resembled the Cheshire cat caused Artemis to pause and fire one more time. The attacker blocked the arrow and dropped down.
"Isn't it past your bedtime, little one? What would your mother think of you gallivanting out here?"
Artemis ignored the slight. She was seventeen, and while she was still under her mother's roof, she was old enough to do as she pleased.
"Face me," Artemis said.
"As you wish, kid."
Oh, that stunned Artemis and now she wanted to stomp this bitch, whoever she was.
Cheshire, as Artemis was calling the mysterious woman in her head, grabbed Artemis around the arm and wrenched it back. Artemis broke out of the attack and took the blade from the woman. She jumped up and sent the woman crashing down against the wall.
Two more arrows, and they had been ducked. Until the wall exploded from Artemis hitting the right point. Cheshire followed through with the good old tuck and roll and landed on her feet. The two women entered hand to hand combat and were evenly matched, but Artemis, wanting to prove something, fought a little bit harder.
The two entered a hand to hand combat. Artemis blocked a dagger, and just something about the glint made her think it had been coated with some kind of toxin. She disarmed the woman to prevent it and jumped over.
Artemis slammed her foot against Cheshire's head and flipped her down to the ground. Showing one of the few things she remembered from her father, deadbeat he was, he at least taught her one thing, Artemis pressed down on the side of Cheshire's neck and rendered her completely unconscious.
"Enough."
The strong voice stopped Artemis short of removing the mask from the unconscious woman and she faced the Hood.
"What was that all about?"
"You passed."
Artemis could not help herself from asking the obvious question.
"So, I passed?" she murmured.
"Yes," he said.
"What would happen if I failed?"
"Then, your mother and sister would be both saddened."
Oh, he was rather blunt and she appreciated that honestly. Artemis Crock had been one hundred percent all in to what she was doing. He surveyed her and although without a face to put underneath the Hood, Artemis could not help and feel a bit intimidated.
Artemis stepped over the fallen body of Cheshire and walked over towards him.
"I am completely serious about helping you," Artemis said.
"And if you're serious, I'll train you to be better than you ever have been. But, I warn you, a lot of what we do isn't pleasant. We deal with some bad people and they…."
"I don't care, just teach me, please, anything, to be with you," Artemis said. "I mean as your protege, because that's what I'm interested in."
"I'm sure, Ms. Crock, and with all of our cards on the table, it's only fair for me to show you my face."
The Hood dropped his mask and Artemis backed off in shock. Her hero, the Hood, had been Oliver Queen, the same person she slandered the other day. Guess Artemis should not have judged a book by its cover.
"Damn, you're...well about how red is my face right now?" Artemis asked.
"If you didn't make the connection, I'm doing something right."
"Yes," Artemis said. "And you trust me?"
"If I trust someone enough to sleep with them, I trust them with my secret."
Artemis's brain shut down a second. Oliver motioned for her and now he was smiling. Oh, that smile must have been responsible. She always thought Oliver was an attractive idiot, but now she knew who he was and what he was doing, she wanted to jump in so badly.
"Come here," Oliver said. "If you want to apologize, there's more direct ways of doing so."
Artemis threw her arms around Oliver's neck and kissed him very aggressively. This was like a dream come true for her and Artemis found herself weak at the knees, being taken into the strong arms of this handsome savior. There had been more to him and Artemis looked forward to unraveling the mystery behind Oliver Queen completely.
Among other things as Artemis hungrily undressed him with her eyes just as much as he stripped her down with his hands.
The Shameless Smut Commences In the Next Chapter.