The Green Arrow finally makes a formidable return, as Oliver dons the hood for the first time in nearly 7 years.
The text from Quentin came early in the afternoon the next day – "11 PM tonight." The succinct message confirmed the time that the transport was scheduled for, and the following message was a picture of the transport route. Oliver studied it for several minutes. The path they were taking was fairly safe. The route only temporarily brushed the outskirts of The Glades, and the areas which they were passing through appeared to not be the opportune places for a vehicle ambush. With Quentin in a bulletproof truck too, all the pieces of the puzzle seemed to indicate that it was going to be smooth sailing.
Oliver glanced at this watch. 21:32. Technically, there was still an hour and a half before the transport was set to happen, but Oliver had a feeling that things weren't going to go according to the plan. Knowing Smith, he likely gave Quentin an incorrect time as a precaution, with the actual transport going to take place either earlier or later than expected and Oliver had a gut feeling it would happen earlier.
He hadn't pondered on Barry's words previously, but he was doing so now. A storm is going to manifest from this. Soon, the whole world will be talking about the return of the Green Arrow, or maybe rather, the appearance of a new one. The fact that Matthew Smith was the current SCPD Captain didn't exactly make matters easier for Oliver either. With the absence of vigilantes in Star City, his hard stance on vigilantism hadn't been a problem, but it was going to be now.
Having just gingerly changed into casual attire, Quentin Lance was startled by the burst through the door to his ward. He whipped around, momentarily fearing a hitman, but was still equally surprised to see the two cops hastily making their way toward him.
"Mr Mayor, it's time," said the one officer. Quentin glanced at his watch. It was only 21:55.
"No, you must be mistaken. Captain Smith told me we were moving at 23:00."
"Change of plans, Mr Mayor. Let's go." Quentin couldn't disguise his groan as he grabbed his phone and followed the officers out. He should have known Smith was going to pull something like this. Sometimes, that man was a bit too thorough for his own good. The tracker was in the zipped pocket of his leather jacket, so Oliver was going to pick up that he was on the move. Still though, he sent him a quick message to let him know the transport was moving early, and he hoped to God that it was going to be smooth sailing.
'Transport's moving early. Leaving now.'
Oliver's phone buzzed and he glanced at the message. Turns out he was right. He opened the tracking software, and immediately the blue dot indicating Quentin's location was beginning to move. On another monitor, he opened up the live CCTV feed of the rear exit of Starling General, and he didn't have to wait long to spot the convoy exiting the underground parking. The bulletproof van in the center, with an unmarked car each in front and behind it as escorts. There was little chatter on the team's radio channel for now, but Oliver turned up the volume anyway. He wanted to hear every and any thing that they said.
The first time the convoy took a wrong turn, Oliver didn't think too much of it as his CCTV feed showed that an accident had occurred on that road. He was still surprised that they had deviated from the route, but the camera feed made Oliver think that they were avoiding the traffic stemming from the accident. When the convoy didn't attempt to get back to the original route even when the opportunities were there, Oliver began to think that either Smith had given Quentin a false route or something was up. They were taking another way, and Oliver did not like it at all. They started moving through The Glades and Oliver was becoming uneasy. He didn't take his gaze off the CCTV camera footage once.
After a minute, Oliver relaxed his shoulders before leaning back against the chair and taking a deep breath. He was too worried about this. If someone was really trying to kill Quentin, attempting to do so while he was surrounded by a SWAT team would be the most impractical. When the radio chatter started up, Oliver looked back at the screen to see a large truck turning at the intersection in front of the convoy. The truck had not slowed down, and attempting the turn at speed caused it to flip over and block the path of the convoy.
Oliver listened intently as the SWAT team debated over the channel on what to do. It was just as they came to a conclusion that Oliver saw a flaming projectile speed towards the vehicle in front, destroying it. Someone had fired an RPG at them. Immediately, the van hit reverse, narrowly avoiding the second RPG projectile fired at it. The vehicle in the rear escort followed suit but just then did a van pull up behind them. Out stepped eight masked men, each with body armour and an assault rifle, who began emptying their mags on the vehicles.
"Shit!"
Oliver jumped out of his chair and immediately ran towards the briefcase which contained his new suit. They were only 5 blocks away from him, so he could make it there in time to save Quentin's life. In truth, Oliver had been trying to delay having to go back out there again. He knew doing this was going to reawaken a beastly part of himself which had been asleep, and as he placed the hood over his head for the first time in seven years, the visceral surge of adrenaline made him feel as war-ready as ever.
"What the hell was th-"
The shockwave of the first blast had physically caused the entire van to shake, and Quentin's exclamation was cut short when the van suddenly hit reverse, causing him and his four SWAT companions to slide across their benches. Quickly, their radios started chattering, as the other SWAT members relayed information and instructions to them. Quentin could barely make out what they were saying. He could only manage to mutter two short phrases once the chatter stopped.
"What's going on? What's happening?"
"We're being ambushed," replied one of them as he and another made their way towards the door.
"Wait, where are you going?" replied Quentin.
"They need us out there. Briggs and Shaw will stay here with you," he replied, referring to the other two men in the vehicle. As soon as they were out, the door was locked once again and Quentin sat agitated as he listened to the exchange of gunfire.
"Why can't we drive out of here?" he inquired.
"The truck is blocking our path and the engine got blown out by the RPG," replied Briggs.
"Can this thing take a direct hit from that?"
"If it was a direct hit, you'd be dead already, sir," replied Shaw. Luckily, the RPG shooter had been taken out, but that didn't exactly calm Quentin's nerves. The only thing that calmed him was the fact that he knew Oliver was watching, and that he was on his way. He couldn't resist a smirk from forming on his face as he thought of that prospect. Boy, were these gunmen going to be in for a show tonight.
When he had heard the explosion and felt the very road which he was driving on shake, Detective Mack Morgan immediately whipped his car around and sped full throttle in the direction of where the blast had sounded like it had happened. He had worked late hours today, trying to get a breakthrough on at least one of the multiple cases that were sat on his desk. Now, a routine stop for diapers and baby powder was suddenly about to become a whole lot more interesting.
He had no idea exactly where to go, only having approximated the location of the blast, but he raced forward anyway. He responded to the SWAT team's call for backup on his radio, being the only response within their vicinity. For whatever reason, there were few cops in this area at this time. He figured he was getting close when he saw several civilians hastily running away while gunfire became audible over the sound of his roaring engine. He raced past an intersection, only to catch a glance of the burning vehicles and men firing automatic rifles to his left. Braking hard, the groceries on his passenger seat slid forward before Morgan placed the car in reverse.
He spotted eight armed men, clearly the attackers, and the three men they were firing at taking cover behind another vehicle. The attackers were heavily armed, masked and had body armour too. He only had a 9mm and a shotgun in his trunk. He couldn't attempt to run them over. They'd spot him and he'd be shot in the process. He also couldn't let them murder the remaining SWAT officers and whoever they were transporting. Regrettably, he grabbed two mags from his cubby and leapt out the car. He quickly retrieved his shotgun from the trunk and several slugs before quickly taking cover behind his car.
The attackers still hadn't noted his presence, so he tried his best to relax and take aim with his pistol. His first few shots counted, as the body of one man dropped after he fired at his neck. When the other attackers turned around, he quickly ducked behind his car before the return gunfire came, riddling his car with bullets. He hoped that whoever was in that van was someone important enough to have been worth his car. A momentary break in the shots, and he leapt back up and fired several shots at the two men who were reloading their magazines. One of his shots hit the arm of the man on the left, causing him to drop his weapon before the other one continued with the fire.
They were getting closer, so he speedily loaded several slugs in his shotgun before awaiting an opportunity to return fire. The gunmen stopped firing for a second, and just as he sprung up to take shots, a bullet burrowed itself into his left shoulder. He immediately dropped from the impact. Under his car, he saw the now four pairs of legs running in his direction, while the other three were fixating themselves with the van.
Just when Mack Morgan thought all hope was lost, a faint electric squeal caused him to glance to his left, and through his blurry vision, he made out the hooded figure speeding towards him on a motorbike.
Oliver couldn't make out the face of the injured police officer, but that didn't matter. As he neared closer, he reached to his thigh holster and pulled out his folded bow. He jolted his hand forward, causing the bow to unravel. He narrowed his vision, and very vaguely saw the shadows heading towards the injured officer. He wasn't going to let them finish the job. As he neared the officer, he spun the bike towards his left, and caught a glimpse of the four armed men.
He was as focused as ever as he drew an explosive arrow and aimed it at the center of the four men. It all occurred in slow motion to Oliver, as he watched the arrow fly in the air before combusting and send the four men flying back. He quickly brought his hands back to the handle and spun the bike back around, manoeuvring around the officer's vehicle and towards the van. He zipped past the four bodies, catching the attention of the three other armed men who were preoccupied with the van. Oliver reached for an explosive arrow, but in a split second spotted the C4 charges placed on the van. He reached for a flashbang arrow instead and fired it, disorientating the attackers.
He braked hard and hopped off his bike, quickly drawing two normal arrows and firing each at the unarmoured throats of two attackers. He would have preferred not to kill, but right now he didn't have a choice. The remaining attacker managed to draw his pistol and fire at Oliver just as Oliver fired his third arrow. Oliver was knocked back and dropped to a knee as he felt a powerful thud reverberate through the entire right side of his abdomen. He glanced down at the bullet, seeing it compressed and stuck against his suit. Zero penetration, as Cisco had promised. Still hurt like a bitch though, as Cisco had promised.
The arrow had pierced right through the man's arm and stuck itself right to the side of the van. The sound of the attacker's screams were cut short when Oliver hastily ran towards him and knocked him out with a powerful swing of his bow. Was that all of them? As the thought of more attackers occurred in Oliver's mind, the roaring engine of a car became audible as Oliver whipped around just in time to leap out of the way of the vehicle trying to run him over.
The vehicle quickly halted, and out stepped four more assailants. They too were armed, but Oliver rushed them immediately, not giving them a chance to use their firearms. He grabbed the head of the first one getting out of the car and smashed it into the door, before kneeing the second one in the head. The two on the other side of the vehicle got out and raised their weapons towards Oliver, but he reacted swiftly and fired an arrow to knock the pistol out of one's hand. Another powerful thud hit Oliver in the chest, and he dropped down before rising and throwing a flechette at the man's hand to prevent him from firing any more shots.
Oliver fought through the pain, and leapt over the vehicle. He kicked the one man down as he slid across the vehicle, and upon landing immediately ducked under the other's punch and whacked him across the face with his bow. The other man quickly rose to his feet, and Oliver dipped to avoid a kick from him. The other attacker recovered too, and a fistfight ensued. Oliver moved backwards, ducking and blocking many of the men's strikes while returning with his own whenever he could. These men were skilled, very well-trained, but Oliver's experience allowed him to gain an upper hand. He was also blessed with a Promethium bow, with the alien-metal reinforcement meaning it dealt much more damage on impact than any of his previous bows.
The man to Oliver's right threw a wild punch, but Oliver ducked under and swung his bow directly into his gut before whipping around and whipping his bow directly into the head of the other man, separating him from his consciousness. With only one man left, Oliver drew an arrow and sent it through the man's left shoulder. The man dropped to the floor, his scream of pain being cut short with a punch that shook his temple. He felt the lapel of his jacket being grabbed and he was pulled up to face the man kneeling over him.
"Who do you work for?" screamed Oliver. The man didn't reply, prompting Oliver to grab the arrow in his shoulder and twist it. "Tell me!" The man still remained silent, refusing to give up anything despite his agony. Once Oliver knew he wouldn't talk, he threw a final punch which knocked the man out. He quickly searched the man's pockets and his luck struck out as he managed to find a phone. The screen was cracked, and it didn't boot up when Oliver pressed any buttons, but it could still be useful, so he placed it in his pocket. Just as Oliver thought he could take a breath, there was more movement to his left, causing him to jump to his feet.
He reached back for an arrow, but when he saw Detective Mack Morgan aiming his pistol at him, he slowly brought his hand back down to his side. Morgan's left arm hung limp as he and Oliver stared each other down, both men unsure of what move to make next. After a staredown of several seconds which felt like minutes, the young detective eventually decided to lower his pistol, and Oliver breathed a sigh of relief. Police sirens began to ring out in the nearby area, prompting Oliver to move back to his bike. As Oliver started his bike, he looked back at Morgan once more, who thanked him with a small nod before Oliver sped back to the lair.