Chapter 15:
Karen took a deep breath. After the bliss of their encounter wore off, Karen needed to return back to Earth. There was a serious threat they had to deal with. And while the Kryptonian traveler was no longer obsessed with bringing Black Siren back in, they had to face facts.
"Zoom's still a problem."
Black Siren extracted her head from Oliver's shoulder and locked her eyes onto Karen. She somberly nodded. Yes, she couldn't agree more.
"Everyone, no matter how powerful, they have a weakness," Oliver said. "Zoom's very powerful, but he must have some kind of flaw we can exploit and bring him down."
One could hear the defeat in Karen's sigh when she exhaled. She and Black Siren might not agree on much, but they agreed Zoom was a problem. Black Siren made an honest attempt to kill him, along with the rest of her former teammates before she headed off to this Earth.
"Some of our best and brightest have tried to find a way to do so for a long time," Karen said. "Of course, there's just so much of his life that's clouded in mystery, I have no idea where to begin."
"Well, that's a problem," Diana agreed. "Oliver does have a point, about deception. And that's the real danger in him, where he keeps threatening you every step of the way with that."
Karen rocked back, deep in thought. Yes, deception, that was the key to figuring out and potentially unmasking Zoom. Of course, Zoom was on Earth Two and had his own plans.
"Still, do you know anything?" Power Girl asked.
"I told you everything that I know about Zoom and his plans," Black Siren shortly said. "I wish I knew more. I wish I could stop him. I wish he didn't keep surviving death. And I really wish you didn't make this trip to this world in a way, because that gives him a trail."
"Which might allow us to trap him," Oliver said.
Karen blinked for a second. A part of her was not surprised Oliver had ideas boiling about in his mind. She really did hope that Oliver knew what to do in a situation like this, because Zoom as not someone to be taken lightly. She had a few bumps and bruises when going up against him. Other members of Karen's team had not been so lucky to get off as easily.
"You have a plan?" Karen asked.
"I'm working on one," Oliver said. "Be patient."
This caused Karen's lips to flicker into a fraction of a smile. Patience, a word which she grew to loath. No man ascended to the heights that Oliver did without having patience though. So, perhaps, perhaps, there was something in there, some kind of plan, at least that's what Karen assumed. She would know soon enough.
The first visit to the temple of Lady Shiva had been so long ago. Oliver remembered it well despite it seemingly like a lifetime ago. Fresh off the Queen's Gambit, with Oliver broken and battered. Oh, yes, he remembered it, every single second of it unfortunately.
Several of the students sparred for each other. One of them, most prominent, was Cassandra. Oliver watched the movements of Shiva's young daughter. All of them measured, all of them precise. Scary how deadly a woman of this caliber could be when left on her own devices.
"She's done well despite the circumstances."
Oliver whipped back to notice Lady Shiva. Shiva motioned for Oliver to follow her. The deadliest woman alive would not call upon Oliver without any news.
"Dusan al Ghul has been captured," Lady Shiva said. "During your trip to Paradise, Talia, Nyssa, and a group of your most skilled assassins found him. He put up a fight, and he almost killed himself in the process."
"Is he talking?"
"Arrogant, he believes he has a stake to our position," Lady Shiva said. "I can assure you though, he's not worth the time of day. Even Ra's cast him away in disgust, like a piece of garbage."
Shiva stripped off her kimono and revealed a skin tight black outfit. Oliver took a blade from a rack and Shiva did so as well. The two circled each other.
"He's information got me one step closer to tracking down Cain," Lady Shiva said. "I must ask you to tend to my traitorous ex-lover personally."
The blade which went in had been expertly blocked by Oliver. The fire in Shiva's eyes chilled even the calmest man to the bone. Oliver swept her leg across. Shiva dodged the attack and came back up.
"I wouldn't deprive you of the opportunity, but if you allow it to get away…."
"Then you, or any of the others have the right to finish him yourself," Shiva said. "My traitorous former student, Ricardo Diaz, has joined up with him, as you know. Dogs, the both of them. They will suffer the consequences."
Shiva swiped in two more attacks and kept Oliver on his toes. She intended to make sure Oliver stayed very sharp in the battle and Oliver kept a few motions away from Shiva.
"They're being boxed in, but Diaz always appears to be one step away," Oliver said. "I'll get him. Just like Merlyn and Darhk."
"No doubts in my mind," Shiva said. "Stifle a man's resources, and everything falls with it."
Shiva almost disarmed Oliver. Oliver returned fire and took Shiva down with two fluid motions. Oliver stomped Shiva down to the ground. Despite the feel of her ribs cracking, a big smile crossed over Lady Shiva's face. To her, these sparring sessions were foreplay.
And also to her, it was essential to keep Oliver sharp for the upcoming battles. The League was always expanding.
"You're nothing like I imagined you to be."
"Well, I'm glad that I destroyed all of your expectations."
It took a while for Emiko to warm up to Oliver. Yet, there was something about him, that made Emiko think twice about where she was going in life.
"My father is not a perfect man and my mother still has a lot to answer for," Oliver said. "Even long after our parents die, we have to live with the consequences."
Yes, Emiko lived with the baggage being a bastard child of Robert Queen had to offer. Many of it had been self imposed. Oliver took Emiko into a gym which he used to train. It was an impressive facility, and Emiko realized there was more than a pretty face and a charming smile to her brother.
Not the fact that he was easy on the eyes hurt. Although it did make certain things harder.
"There's a part of me that hates you," Emiko said. "If you were a two-dimensional douchebag, life would be so much easier."
Oliver just chuckled and motioned for Emiko to rush towards him. She moved in ,with a punch. Oliver blocked it and deflected back the attack.
"You shouldn't hold back with me," Oliver said.
Oliver grabbed Emiko's arm and twisted it. Nothing which broke any bones, but it would wake up Emiko for real. She popped back up and cartwheeled out of Oliver's grip. She hit the landing, very hard and landed on the ground. Emiko finally went in and started to kick and punch Oliver for real.
"Whoever trained you, they're decent, but there's certain blinding signs in your defense that are easily exploitable," Oliver said.
"You weren't just on an island for five years, were you?" Emiko asked.
Oliver only responded by pinning his sister down onto the ground. The breath rocked out of Emiko was Oliver pressed on top of her.
"You've taken our fathers sins and been a better person," Emiko said a second later. "And now...I should do the same. He hurt me and my mother, I don't think she'll ever recover."
"Your mother is a strong woman," Oliver said. 'And you can do. It's not easy to make tough choices in life. But, I think we can finish amending for Robert Queen's sins."
"I don't think, I know," Emiko said.
Their lips came an inch apart. A beep brought them back to Earth. Emiko slipped out from underneath Oliver.
"Friend of mine needs my help,' Emiko said. "You don't mind if we cut this short."
"Well, we can always pick it up later," Oliver said.
Emiko turned around and walked off. Oliver watched her go. He could tell a lot about her body language.
"You know, I can't believe you had me do this, after the last time I hacked into one of your sister's phones," Barbara said. "The guy's name is Dante. He's pretty much off of the grid, no records after a certain year. But, his name has popped up a lot of the times, in passing. You just have to do the math. I can't tell you how deep Emiko is."
"Thanks, Oracle," Oliver said. "I know who he is. Or rather, Ruve does."
The missing piece of the puzzle, and another splinter from the League, although years ago. Oliver already brought HIVE back into the fold and now it was time to bring this other element back into the fold, starting with his sister. He could tell already Emiko had some misgivings with what she was doing.
With the seeds planted in her mind, Oliver could disrupt any plan to threaten his city and net some more valuable resources for the League.
Oliver dodged an attack from Thea. Another one from the side came from Artemis. Rose came from a third side. Oliver dodged all of them and turned their attacks against each other.
"Three on one would be a more even fight, they said?" Artemis asked. "Are you serious?"
"We just coordinate our attacks better."
Nora snickered as she half-flipped through another book. She knew they were going to give Oliver somewhat of a fight. Thea more so than others. She moved in and dodged Oliver's attacks. Rose and Artemis went to the back. Oliver crossed their arms and slammed them down onto the ground.
Thea withdrew a bow and fired. The first arrow had been caught and sent to disarm Artemis's bow. Oliver flipped behind Thea's back and took the bow out of her hand. Thea dodged the attack and came up short. Her kick had been caught in mid-air and Oliver flipped her down to the ground.
Rose almost wounded Oliver. Oliver blocked the attack and hurled her down onto the ground. Rose bounced up and sent a dagger attack at Oliver. Oliver bent back and avoided the blade from hacking into his arm.
Boom went Rose, and down went Artemis. Oliver stood over both of them and Thea moved in. Oliver took Thea down and pinned her down on the ground.
"And only the second sister I had underneath me today," Oliver said.
"Oh, did you and Emiko do it?" Thea asked.
"No, but I'm under her skin," Oliver said. "And in her mind more importantly."
"Always, the same story isn't it? Only your more skilled about it."
Barbara slipped into the room to join them. Oliver motioned for the other girls to clear the area.
"So, Dante's most certainly in talks with Diaz, although he's a small time pawn, and Cain's involved," Barbara said. "Their communication encryption keeps changing every half hour, and I've had to keep one step ahead. Your sister switched phones after she left the meeting. I don't think she's on to me, but I do think she's paranoid about someone listening in."
"Well, you're good enough not to leave a trail," Oliver said. "Good on her."
"You're actually happy that she's making it harder for me to get information?" Barbara asked.
"No, because, Jade's following her every move, and she'll fill in the blanks that you can't," Oliver said. "You've done a good job. Well above your pay."
"What pay?"
The two laughed about that cheeky comment. Yet, Oliver had plenty to think about coming up soon. With the girls improving their technique, Oliver had an idea what the next step was.
In the sitting area of the mansion, Mei sat waiting for Oliver. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him fiercely.
"Long journey?" Oliver asked.
"Yes," Mei said. "How's my sister? I understand she's helping Shiva with the new recruits."
"Still doing that, although Shado's helped me with a very important project recently," Oliver said. "And how is the bookkeeping?"
"Interesting, and unsettling," Mei replied. "Damien Darhk was a prolific collector. Can you believe he has his hands on several rare tomes which were lost after World War 2?"
Oliver smiled, Darhk would have access to them. He worked as a Nazi advisor during World War 2 and was close enough to the top leaders to pilfer some of their stash. It did not surprise Oliver how Darhk had access.
"We'll talk about it later, but I can see it's been a long journey," Oliver said. "Why don't I show you to your bed?"
"Lead the way," Mei said. "I hope your in it."
Oliver just smiled and lead the way. Oh, if Mei wanted him in her bed today, then Mei shall have him in her bed.
The Shameless Smut Commences In the Next Chapter