Disclaimer: Based on characters and references from DC Universe and the CW, which I do not own. Enjoy.
Episode 5: Perversion
My name is William Queen
A man from the future who has come to the past with one goal
To save Star City
But my goal is put on hold when my younger self gets kidnapped by Diaz
Now, with the help of the old Team Arrow, we will mount a rescue so I can continue to fight crime as someone else
As something else
I am…I'm…I'm…I-I'm…
"William!"
William refocuses himself back into reality. He finds himself in the portable base, barely able to remember him and Felicity asking John, Curtis, and Rene for help after his younger self got kidnapped. The memories of the new, developing timeline still overwhelm him, especially of him in what looks like a van, separated from the other students. He can see people in cloaks, belittling him and his father. He can remember the anger his younger self is feeling, even though it is happening right now.
He looks to Felicity, who is kneeling next to him with a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?"
"Uh, yeah, yeah. I'm fine. I'm just…a little dazed."
"Well, it looks like to us that you're conflicting with younger you's timeline." They look to Curtis, who is sitting at the computer. "Which also means that you're getting worse."
"Yeah. Thanks for the vote of confidence, Curtis."
William and Felicity hear steps coming inside. They turn to see John wearing his ARGUS uniform, followed by Rene, who decided to slip into his hockey mask, blue sweatshirt and ballistic vest.
Felicity shoots up. "Well? Did you find anything?"
John shakes his head. "Nothing. The whole school's empty and there's no trace of where the students or faculty may have gone."
"Whoever Diaz is working with, their like ghosts."
Curtis spins the chair around to face everyone. "You can say that again. I've been trying to find any intel on the school and the Dean. They don't show up at all."
Felicity starts to pace back and forth. "Well, there's got to be something. We can probably-"
William tries to listen but starts to lose focus again. The memories are starting to flood in his mind. No! Focus on something else. Keep a tether to this reality. Focus on another memory. Focus. Focus…
As he and Roy walked the deserted street entering Star City, he didn't like what he was seeing. The few buildings he saw were old and abandoned, the white marbled columns holding up the old track above them looked like it was somewhat in disrepair. On one of the pillars was the spray-painted mask of Deathstroke, the symbol of Kane Wolfman, who was almost running the city at this point.
Roy summarized the city's predicament, "Star City has seen better days."
"I always wanted to come back here, but only when I got word from Dad or Felicity. Guess I came back a bit late."
"That makes one of us."
Suddenly, William heard the beeping of the hozen in his pocket. He took it out and pulled it apart, looking at the coordinates.
"The coordinates have changed. Something must have triggered it."
"Felicity. She must know we're here. Let's see where it leads us…where it leads us…it leads…leads."
"The hozen!"
Everyone turns to William, looking confused.
William looks up to them, to Felicity in particular. "Felicity, the day before sending me to Cambridge, you gave me the hozen as a parting gift. I later discovered it had a GPS built into it-"
"In case I needed you to find me in an emergency. Of course! How did I forget that?!" Felicity walks over next to Curtis. "Can I just-"
"Oh, yeah. Of course." Curtis moves from the chair to let Felicity sit down. She immediately gets to work.
"The GPS inside the hozen has a very specific signal, so I should be able to track it easily. I should be able to lock onto it…now! Got it."
Everyone looks at the screen, seeing two red dots. One of them is here, probably from future William's hozen, and another red dot going down the road that leads to the highways going into Bloodhaven and Gotham.
"That's a bit far out, but we can still catch up to them. Keep monitoring the signal." John moves quickly to the front of the van. "Everybody sit down and hold tight!" They then feel the van move quickly in the direction of Younger William and Diaz.
Somehow, as they move faster, future William can feel his dizziness fade slightly, the newer memories becoming less overwhelming. He knows what this means: they're getting the future back on track.
Oliver opens his eyes, no longer being greeted by a constant noise or flickering light bulbs. He expected this since Dr. Parker's interrogations are over. He should feel relief, glad that he doesn't have to go through with this anymore. But he doesn't. Instead, his mind is focused on the purpose that brought him here in the first place: finding Diaz's informant.
He looks at the photo of his wife and son that he kept on his chest the whole night. The instant he sees the face of William, the words that he told Oliver run through his mind, "Be the hero…be the dad I know you are."
Suddenly, he hears the door open. Oliver leans up a bit, oddly enough not seeing Dr. Parker. Instead, it's a guard with a bald head accompanied by two other people. The two others are wearing white, but not the standard guard uniforms.
"On your feet, 4587."
Oliver somewhat complies, sitting up on the side of his bed. He doesn't look at the guard. "Who are you?"
"Your new best friend. Now, on your feet."
Oliver fully complies this time, standing up. He walks over to the guard, ready to be escorted.
"Hold out your hand."
Oliver lifts his left hand to the level of his torso. The guard takes out a metal wristband from his pocket. "This will be on you at all times to ensure the safety of yourself and others around you."
The guard locks the wristband in place, a red dot flashing on it for a brief moment.
"Where's Dr. Parker?"
The guard gives a small, eager smile. "He said you're ready for phase 2, which means your mine now."
"Where are you taking me?"
The guard's smile becomes a bit more sinister. "Down the rabbit hole."
Seeing that Oliver is not going to get much information, he let the guard escort him out, the two others by their sides. As he walks out, Oliver hopes that things are going okay on William's end.
As the car they are in moves, William searches for something, anything that can get him free of the cuffs. He looks to the cloaked person next to him, seeing that he is wielding a knife, which could probably get him out. But there is a chance that he and the other one across from them will notice if William made any suspicious moves.
As William leaned back in his seat, he can feel a paper clip just touching his fingertips. Perfect. He picks up the paper clip and unbends the tip. He gets to work on unlocking the cuffs behind him slowly, trying not to draw any attention to himself.
It takes him a few minutes since he is just figuring out how this works, pausing when he believes he is being watched, feeling a bit in suspense like in the movies. Eventually, William unlocks the cuffs and slowly removes them. Luckily, the cloaked person next to him is on the phone reading a text, so William doesn't get spotted slightly moving the cuffs behind him and sitting up so nobody can notice he isn't cuffed anymore. Now he just needs to wait for the right time to escape.
"Hey!" The voice of the cloaked man across from him startles William. "What were you doing just now?"
Damn it. I guess I wasn't being subtle enough.
The cloaked man next to William looks away from his phone, trying to glimpse at William's hands. William turns a bit, not giving both of them a chance to see his hands. As he does, he notices a van which seemed to be trying to pass them but doesn't do so.
His attention then goes back to the cloaked men. "Nothing."
"Let us see your hands William."
He shakes his head. "No."
The man next to William tries to grab him. "He said show us your-"
Suddenly, a loud noise is heard from the top of the car. Very faint silhouettes of people can be seen, one of them reaching and aiming something that looked very much like…an arrow?
The arrow breaks through the glass sunroof, making the two hooded figures and William flinch back defensively. The two silhouettes jump through the sun roof, revealing themselves to be…Mr. Diggle and the Green Arrow side by side? Is it…Dad?
Three men. Hooded. One of them is driving the car, Another in front of me, and the third behind me and in front of John. The one in front of me will go for my younger self and use him as a shield. Incapacitate him first while Diggle goes for the other two.
William quickly goes for a palm strike to the neck. The hooded man grabs the wrist and tries to return one of his own. William grabs it, interlocking each other with wrist grabs.
Multitude of options. The spacing between here and the driver's seat is large enough for a ground submission but is impossible due to the buckled seatbelt. Use this opportunity to get in closer, then unbuckle and bring him down for a chokehold or pin.
In one fluid motion, William pulls himself closer towards his opponent while freeing his wrist and pinning both arms, one with his free hand and the other on the buckle side with his body, keeping it trapped between their torsos. He then goes for the buckle while the hooded man tries to break free, making it hard for William to press the buckle's button.
Meanwhile, after trading a few punches and blocks, John manages to exploit an opening with a hook to the other hooded man's face. The punch is hard enough that the man is knocked out cold. He then moves up to the driver's seat and takes out his gun, aiming it at the hooded driver.
"Stop the car!"
The driver smiles. "If you insist!"
The driver slams on the breaks, sending John flying out of the windshield and onto the road.
By this time, William has successfully unbuckled the seat of the hooded man, so both of them fall to the ground. Seeing the hooded man on top of him, William immediately flips them over. He then finds John getting up and then, knowing what the driver may do, he first takes out an arrow and shoots it at the driver's hand. The driver, soon after having his palm pierced, cries out in pain. With a few seconds at least in his hands, William immediately knocks out the hooded man pinned under him with his bow.
He was about to take a concussion arrow and shoot it at the driver. He stops himself when he sees Rene already knocking him out with the butt end of his handgun.
William gets off of the hooded man and leans on the side of the car, taking a breath or two. As he lets himself relax, he notices the phone his younger self saw slightly out of the hooded man's pocket. As important as it may be, he does not go for it just yet.
Instead, he looks at his younger self, knowing that he feels uncertainty of who the man in the costume like his father's is and knows what suspicion is in his mind.
He stops himself before he can ask. "No. I'm not Dad."
As he says this, he reaches in for the hozen and presents it to his younger self. Taking this as some sort of badge for a secret society Felicity never mentioned, Younger William takes it out too and holds it out. He then pulls it apart, showing the GPS inside. Younger William does the same thing, looking at it with both curiosity and confusion.
He looks back to Future William. "Who are you?"
Future William can feel a bit of doubt in his younger self's mind. It isn't much, but enough to say that he's not going anywhere without a proper answer.
A stubbornness he knew wouldn't be broken easily. So, he switches his white lenses out and lowers his face mask. His appearance does not ring a bell in his younger self's mind but does find it familiar.
Future William then says, "I'm you."
The statement made his younger self's eyes go wide and his jaw drop. He stares at his future self, not knowing how to process the information. Part of him thinks that this is some sort of trick while another part of him wanted to believe that it isn't because this would be the most awesome thing he's seen in his life.
"William?!"
The sound of Felicity's voice breaks younger William from his contemplation, his mind now filling with concern, worried about Felicity being disappointed in him if she found out about him trying to run away from Boarding School.
"It's alright. She knows about us running away from Cambridge. She understands."
Future William can feel younger William becoming a bit more relaxed, but not very. Future William nods his head to the car door.
"Go."
Even with so many questions in Younger William's head, he doesn't hesitate to unbuckle his seatbelt and exit the car. Even as Young William closes the car door, Future William can see, through his memories, Felicity running up to him and giving the biggest hug he now remembers.
He can see tears of joy stream down her face. "Oh William, I'm so glad you're okay."
The last thought Future William hears his younger self think as he hugs her back is She said she would come back for me. And she did.
Little do you know, it's the other way around.
Then, the car door next to Future William opens, Rene stepping in.
"Hey. William, you alright?"
"I'm fine. How's John."
"He's good. He went back into the van to try and find the other kids."
"I don't see how-"
Remembering the phone, Future William leans over and picks it from the hooded man's pocket. He goes into the text app, seeing recent ones from a name he doesn't recognize. The oldest one says, "All buses are now heading to Bloodhaven. Confirm you are heading for Gotham?" After that is a response text.
So they were heading for Gotham and Bloodhaven? Why send younger me there?
The most recent text is an odd one. It says, "This is the Dragon. Batson, aka Shazam, and other students escaped. Heading towards Central City. Do not divert buses. Will take care of it."
He recognizes the code name "Dragon" as the alias used by Diaz in Dante's list of clients. As glad as he is to see that Billy escaped, he can't help but wonder why they are calling him Shazam.
Regardless, William is now faced with a dilemma. He can't let those students be taken to Bloodhaven, but he can't let his only friend from boarding school, and more than a dozen others get captured, especially if he is somehow important to Dante.
But…
William remembers something. In the data he got from ARGUS' mainframe, he found a series of secret outposts they've established in case they needed to ambush the enemy or stop them in their tracks. One of those outposts lies between here and Bloodhaven. If John can pull a few strings, then ARGUS can save the students while he and the others save Billy from being captured by Diaz.
"Will." William turns back to Rene, who is looking at him and the phone with a curious look. "What is it?"
William holds up the phone with a smirk. "Our best bet."
"Welcome home."
Oliver is led down a large room that looks like a mix of a cell block and a mess hall. On his left are a few tables, not as big as the ones in the mess hall but can still seat quite a few people. On his right are the cells, which are structured somewhat differently to the ones above.
As they go towards another set of cells, Oliver sees a prisoner being dragged to a door at the far-left corner of the room, the prisoner struggling in what looks like fear.
"Where are they taking him?"
The guard leans a bit towards Oliver's ear. "Pray you don't find out."
As they walk to an empty cell which Oliver believes is his, he catches a glimpse at a familiar face. Oliver stops dead in his tracks, seeing one of the prisoners who attacked him in the showers, the one who gave him the false message of Felicity's "death." The man looks down and turns away.
"Friend of yours?"
Without looking at the guard, Oliver shakes his head, his anger somewhat rising. "No."
Oliver feels the guard's hand on his shoulder. "Is there a problem, inmate?"
Knowing that the guard may be looking for any excuse to hurt him, Oliver turns around and politely answers, "No."
The guard leads Oliver into his cell and shuts it. Before the guard leaves, Oliver asks, "When is visitation?"
The guard turns. "There is no visitation."
Oliver becomes a bit befuddled. "What do you mean?"
A sinister smirk forms on the guard's face. "If I were you, I would forget about the people you care about. Eventually, they'll forget about you. That's what happens to everyone here."
The guard then walks away towards the cell of the inmate he spotted. Coming towards him are a couple of other guards.
"Take this one."
The inmate cowers back. "No. No, please. We already did the therapy. Get away from-"
As the inmate tries to fend them off, the guard presses a button, which follows with the inmate becoming spastic as he falls to the floor, his teeth clenched in pain. Oliver also notices that the wristband dot light shines as this is happening.
A shock collar.
The inmate, looking somewhat conscious, is taken towards the door that Oliver saw. As it opened, Oliver couldn't see much but a couple of silver tables. The door closes shut before Oliver can get a better view in there.
Oliver is now left with concern running through his mind. If I can't see Felicity or anyone else, how am I supposed to tell them about what information I find? What if…what if I never see them again?
His thoughts are interrupted by Oliver's keen awareness detecting that he is being watched. He looks to one of the cells across from him, catching sight of a blonde woman who retreats into her cell quickly.
As Oliver is about to ask himself who that was, he looks down to see a small piece of paper in front of his cell door. He bends down and picks it up through the horizontal bars. He unwraps it to find a message that says The Demon knows you're here and will meet you tonight after lights out.
Wait. Is this from-
As confused as he was about why this information was given to him, he is glad to know that the Demon will come to him. It's about time they met face to face.
"…And the detective vision comes from a discreet Wayne Tech Satellite that I hijacked a few months back, so don't worry about anyone tracking it to us. Just stay on comms and keep John and Curtis posted."
"Got it."
Now finished with showing Felicity how she can help John and Curtis when they are about to execute their part of the plan, he sits down next to Younger William, who is messing around with a rubix cube that Felicity lent him. He sees the recognizable pattern, one color making up the outer rim surrounding a cube of another color.
"A cube within a cube."
Younger William doesn't look up, Future William sensing how overwhelmed he is from having been explained about time travel and what Future William has been doing over the past month. Future William knows this is one of the ways he keeps his mind off of things when growing up.
"Yeah, Felicity told me that solving a rubix cube is-"
"Is a lot like running an algorithm since they're puzzles within puzzles. I've learned a new one, if you want to see it."
Curious, Younger William lent the cube to future him. He began to turn the cubes as he said, "A friend of mine called this 'a cube within a cube within a cube within a cube, or 3 cubes for short.'"
He hands it to Younger William, who looks at the new pattern, which is similar to the last one, except there is one colored cube surrounded by an 3-cubed rim within the outer rim.
Young William smirks and looks up to future him. "Nice."
"Hey." Both Williams and Felicity turn their attention to Rene, who is driving as fast as he can to where Billy may have gone. "I know that you know this kid a lot, but how do you know he's going to his old family's house?"
"His foster family's house, Mr. Ramirez. He's an orphan. He told me that he lived with this family for a whole year. They sent him to Cambridge so they could move to the city after getting a new position. They were going to get him back after he finished one year there."
"Most likely, Billy will head to the old house to hide and call the parents from there."
"And you would be right. I just intercepted a call coming from the address you described. A cell phone that matches your friend's."
"That means Diaz won't be far behind. How close are we to Central City Rene?"
"Still a bit far, but we should get there in time. What about John and Curtis? You think they don't need help saving those other kids?"
"They have help from ARGUS. And I trust them to get the job done. I know John hasn't let me down before in the past."
"You mean recently in the past or in the future?"
Future William takes note of Felicity's question. "Both."
William found it a little strange that the coordinates would lead him and Roy into what were now the ruins of Smoak Tech. He would've thought it would be somewhere familiar or much more concealed. But he guessed that a place no one would ever go near was a good place as any.
"Smoak Tech. It must've been something in it's hay day."
They walk into a room that was larger than the other rooms they passed, with a couple of worktables, a secretary's desk outside the entrance, and a more pristine desk at the far end of the room.
"This must be her office. But why lead me here and not just meet me face to face?"
Roy shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know."
William picked up a device from one of the worktables. He couldn't help but give a small smile. "You know, after everything that happened, she still inspired me to go into the tech business."
"And did Oliver inspire you to become a vigilante?"
William turned to Roy, his smile now sarcastic. "I guess time on the island didn't affect your deduction skills. And yes, he did."
"Then you're a lot more forgiving than I am."
"'Forgive, and you will be forgiven.' At least, that's what I hope will happ-"
William stopped when his eyes saw a circular black screen on the wall behind the desk. He put the device down and went to it, Roy following behind. He waved his hand in front of it and, as he expected, a hologram appeared, showing a very familiar program, at least to William.
"I know this. Felicity showed these to me in New Haven. Back then, they were a set of designs."
"Can you hack it?"
"It's a very old model, so yeah." William went to work, using his knowledge of computers and his memory of the designs to hack the program. "Just a little cursive algorithm followed by a little Felicity special."
After doing this, the hologram disappeared. A part of the wall opened, revealing a small bag inside. William grabbed it and hooked it around his belt.
"Alright, let's get to someplace safe so we can-"
"Freeze!"
William and Roy turned around to see two police officers aiming at them.
"This is a restricted area! Put your weapons on the ground now!"
William proceeded to take off his quiver. When Roy didn't do the same, William whispered, "Do as they say."
"They won't go easy on us."
"Just do it and wait for the signal."
Hesitantly, Roy did the same, putting his quiver at his feet.
"Now the bows!"
William and Roy unsheathed their bows, slowly crouching down to their quivers.
"Now!"
Simultaneously, they took out arrows and send them flying at the handguns, disarming the cops of their weapons. They then rushed in and took them down, Roy going in for a tackle and an elbow to the face while William went for a hip throw and a punch to knock the other one out.
After taking them down, they heard shots and the crashing of walls beyond the door they came from. They go back to their quivers, slung them over their shoulders, and quickly readied their arrows.
As the door came crashing down, they see another police officer going down with it. Coming through the doorway was someone wearing a helmet with a black visor and light kevlar armor on. He looked at them and aimed his gun.
Seeing that he wasn't another cop, William and Roy relinquish their arrows and put their hands.
"Whoa, Whoa, wait! We're friendly!"
William didn't know if the man believed him or if he recognized him, but as soon as they surrendered, he lowered his gun and stepped forward.
"It can't be."
The man removed his helmet, revealing a man with a somewhat wrinkled face, a mix of black and white hair, and the eyes of a man who had been through too much pain,
"Roy? William?"
Upon a more detailed look and hearing the man's voice, Roy and William's eyes went wide in surprise.
"John?"
"Mr. Diggle?"
John cracks a half smile, his wrinkles becoming somewhat more profound. "Goddamn. It's good to see you two here. But you shouldn't have come back."
John, Curtis, and a dozen other ARGUS agents laid prone on either side of the road, hidden in the grass and shadows. Curtis readies his remote control while John and the other agents ready their rifles. As expected, 3 buses can be seen far down the road from their position.
John gets on the comm to Felicity. "Overwatch, 3 buses heading our way and the road barrier is set up."
"Copy that. I got eyes inside each bus. There are only the drivers and students. Guess they're not expecting company."
"Got it." He then turns to Curtis. "You ready with the T-spheres?"
"Yep. One for each tire. Just say the word."
"Good. Get ready."
The busses get closer and closer. As the lead bus' headlights shine on the barrier the agents set up, it starts to slow down, prompting the ones behind it to do the same. When they come to a complete stop, John waves his hand towards them as a signal to Curtis to use his T-spheres.
Working quickly, Curtis moves his T-spheres towards the tires and, with the small blades inside them, pops them one by one until all of them are flat, leaving the buses immobile.
"Okay. Buses are out of play."
John then gets on the comm to the other agents. "Move in. Now."
John and the other agents spring up and rush to the buses. Curtis hangs back, directing the T-spheres to follow them in case they are needed. John and two other agents take the lead bus, breaking the glass of the bus door to easily open it. They step inside, aiming their guns at the driver as they head inside.
"Freeze! Hands in the air!"
The driver complies. "Sir, there must be some misunderstanding. I'm a teacher taking these children to Bloodhaven for a field trip."
John grabs him by the collar and forces him up.
"We'll see about that in a moment. Curtis."
"On it."
As John restrains the man, the T-sphere scans the man's face.
"Found him on the database, but his credentials are fake."
"You're lying. You were a teacher at a fake boarding school and now you were about to bring these students to Bloodhaven against their wills."
The man looks back at him with surprise. "How do you-"
"You're under arrest for abducting these children and any other students over the years." John turns to the other agents who are proceeding down the aisle, checking up on the children. "Get them to the outpost and back to their parents. I'll bring him in."
As John brings the man outside, he calls Felicity. "Overwatch, we have the students. What's your status?"
"Nearing Billy Batson's place now. We'll call you when we have him."
"Copy that…"
"…John out."
Night begins to fall as Rene parks far from the address William gave him.
"We're here."
"I can see one person through detective vision. A child."
"It must be Billie."
"How did Billy manage to get that much distance from Ricardo Diaz along with the others?"
"A question I'm sure he'll answer when we see him. Rene, you're coming with us."
As Rene gets up from the driver's seat, He sees Felicity with a hand on Young William's shoulder as if keeping him from moving.
"Wait, wait, wait. You can't just bring your younger self in there. If Diaz catches up and-"
"Felicity, Billy is scared. He doesn't know who he can trust right now. He needs to see a familiar face in order to place his trust in us."
"I agree." Felicity looks down to Young William, probably a bit in disbelief at what he just said. "Felicity, I'll be fine."
Felicity takes a deep breath and then looks up to Future William. "The moment somebody comes in, your younger self gets out of there."
"Agreed."
Future William then puts on his masks and hood. He slings his quiver over his shoulder and sheaths his bow.
"Keep the lights off and stay on comms." He then puts a hand on his younger self's shoulder. "Ready?" His younger self nods. He then looks to Rene. "Let's go."
Rene and both William's head on out of the portable base and towards the house, hoping to find Billie before it's too late.
As they open the door, they are greeted by what looks like a living room, with two chairs and a couch surrounding a TV to the right side. To the left is a dinning room table and chairs. In front of them is a hallway with doors probably leading to various rooms, but the only open one is the one leading to a kitchen. There is also a set of stairs nearby.
Future William points to the stairs. "Billy should still be in one of the second-floor rooms. Let's go."
As they walk towards the stairs, both Williams can't help but look at their surroundings. It all looks so…familiar.
As they go up the stairs, Younger William echos their feeling, "This place looks a lot like my old-our old house."
"I know, but we shouldn't dwell on it."
As they reach the second floor, Future William turns on his detective vision, seeing Billy in the same place as he was when they got here.
"Rene, wait by the stairs."
They slowly approach the door, Future William keeping an eye on Billy through the detective vision. Younger William knocks on the door. Future William can see Billy ready to do something but is hesitant to do it. He seems to be expecting somebody but doesn't know whether or not they are there.
Younger William calls out, "Billy? Billy, it's me. William."
Billy starts to relax. "William? Are-are you alone?"
"I'm-" He turns to his future self, looking for permission to reveal him to Billy. He gives a quick nod. "I'm with the Green Arrow."
"Seriously?! Okay, give me a sec."
Younger William steps back as he hears the door unlock. As it opens, future William turns off his detective vision, seeing Billy oddly unharmed. As he looks upon future William, who he sees as the Green Arrow, his jaw drops in awe. Both Williams know how much of a fan Billy is of the Green Arrow and the Flash. It was practically the first thing he brought up when they met, and once they talked about which hero would prevail in a fight to the death. Now, to see a Green Arrow in person must be a dream come true for him.
"Oh my God. You are him. Well, you're another him, but you look so much cooler."
"Billy Batson. There were other students on that bus with you. Where are they?"
Billy then regains his composure. "Oh, right. They're in the basement. I was going to divert the attention of whoever was coming to me while they escaped."
"Wait. I couldn't find-" William turns his detective vision on again, looking downward. He doesn't see anything at first, but then sees a little gleam that comes up every second or so that is hard to detect unless looking at it very carefully. "Optic deflection camouflage."
"Wait. I thought you said your parents were working for a small-time company."
"They are. They work for Wayne tech at one of their newest offsite companies in Central City. They turned that off when they left, but I knew how to turn it on again. Just in case, you know."
"That still doesn't explain why they deem you a high valued target. Why do they call you Shazam?"
"Oh. Well, you see-"
"William."
Future William puts a hand up. "Hold on. What is it Overwatch?"
"Someone's heading your way."
"Diaz?"
"No, some guy in a…dark hoodie."
"Dark hoodie?" Future William rushes over to the window and looks out towards the front yard. He sees someone, as described, in a dark hood coming towards the house. In his experience and probably the experience of all of team Arrow, it meant someone bringing trouble and probably an army of ninjas with him. But that wasn't the interesting part. What catches his eye is a long sword with a faint white hue that he instantly recognizes. It can't be.
He quickly turns to Billy. "Billy, is there another way out of here besides the front door?"
"Um, yeah. There's a back door in the kitchen."
"Good." William rushes to Rene. "Get the other students and get to the portable base. There's a good chance that if Diaz is here, he may have found Felicity."
"Wait, if that's so, how are we gonna get out of here?"
"With backup. Just wait for me to get outside then take the back door. Okay?"
Rene nods, prompting Future William to go downstairs. As he does, he places a call to the only group of people that can get them out of this.
"Come on, Nora. Pick up."
Oliver lies in the darkness, pretending to be asleep for when the Demon comes to him. As expected, he hears the door to his cell open and close, followed by the sound of footsteps coming towards him.
As he sees a hand hovering over his face, he grabs it and rolls off the bed. As soon as he did, the Demon employed a wrist escape and back steps away. The Demon then comes in with a series of punches, Oliver employing high and low blocks. Focused on the punches, he didn't see the leg that kicks him and forces him down on his knee. As the Demon goes for another punch, Oliver grabs it in time and uses the Demon's momentum to throw the Demon to the ground.
He then raises his fist, ready to…he stops himself, seeing who it is. A face he thought he would never see again.
"Talia?"
Talia gives a little smirk. "Hello Oliver. I heard you were looking for the Demon."
Oliver lets go of Talia's wrist and stands up. He lets her get up as well, but doesn't offer to help her. To him, she is still the one who supported Adrian Chase, aka Prometheus, the man who killed William's mother.
As she finally stands, she grunts a bit. "I see you've improved since last we met."
"You survived Lian Yu?"
"Barely. Ricardo Diaz found me after the explosion. He gave me one of his drugs and helped me regain my strength."
"So, it was you. You told Brick to hire the men who attacked me in the showers. You did it so Diaz-"
"No. Even though he healed me, he is not the one I am indebted to. Ricardo Diaz, Adrian Chase…they are pawns in someone else's game. They may claim that they were hired by an anonymous benefactor named Dante, but that is a lie. Their real master is a man going by the name of the Deacon."
"The Deacon?"
"The last surviving member of the Order of St. Dismas, a group of Warriors created by a crusader that my father once fought alongside with. He and the Order had a strong alliance until it was destroyed."
"If it's not the Order, then what cult is this Deacon leading?"
"The Ninth Circle. I don't know much about them, but they are the same people that ordered Adrian Chase to kidnap your son. The same people that probably have him even now."
Oliver's eyes then grow wide. "Now? You mean they kidnapped my son? Why? He's just a kid. He's an innocent."
"He's also the Green Arrow." Oliver becomes more surprised "Did you really think they wouldn't find out?"
"How?"
"All I can say is that it's not because of what he is. It's because of his mother…and the debt she owes."
"What debt?"
Future William opens the door and steps outside, his bow in hand. He looks to the stranger, whose face he can now somewhat see because it is covered by a mask. The mask looks like that of a hellish demon, which he expects all former members of the Order of St. Dismas to be like.
William slowly walks down the stairs, preparing himself to take out an arrow at any moment. The stranger does not move, showing no signs of attack.
"I knew you would be here. In fact, I hoped you would be here."
"What do you want with Billy Batson?"
"The same thing we want with you…William."
The fact that the stranger knows who he is didn't surprise Future William. He was more focused on discerning the voice. It was hidden by a voice modulator that made him sound as demonic as he looked. However, it did hide an accent he cannot easily discern.
"The same thing we want for all our students. A chance to be one of us."
"I'm well aware of what you are. Your sword gives it away."
"Though I carry the sword of Azrael, I do not claim to be one. I am the Deacon of our great St. Dismas. The last Deacon in existence, and the one who will carry on his will."
"Dismas was a crazy crusader who only lived for the thrill of violence, and his Order was equally as insane and perverts God's holy will."
"God's will is that this world of sin be cleansed by his holy fires. But he loves his children. He loves us so much that he cannot bear to do it. St. Dismas knew this. He knew we were inherent to violence for a reason. To wipe sin clean from our world, we must destroy it at it's root. It is what we have done for hundreds of years and what I continue to do still, especially to your precious Star City."
"So, it was you then. You were going to buy Stent's weapons, use an energy weapon to destroy Star City, sent Wolfman to try and take me down, and hired Cortez to set off fires in the Glades."
Future William steps a little further, readying himself. "And if I'm correct-" he spins around behind him, taking out and aiming an arrow at the person he found with his detective vision, looking at who he used to know as the Dean of his school dead in the eyes. "-You're probably Dante."
Dante, who is holding a couple of knives in his hand, smirks. "How did you know?"
"When you couldn't be found on any database, not even on your list of clients, I had to assume that the fake school was something you funded and ran yourself. I guess I was correct."
"You are a smart one, aren't you? As much as we want you to be a part of us, you have been a thorn on our side. Not getting our hands on weapons is one thing and burned down property only has a 50/50 chance of starting a riot." Dante pulls out his phone, bringing up a text message that says "Got captured. ARGUS agents stopping us. Mission failed." "But now I get this, which seems to me like a big coincidence, leading me to believe that you actually told those former vigilantes who you are and roped them into this. Do you know how much I put into recruitment like that?"
"You were taking children away to be brainwashed! It's probably what you do to every child who you bring into your cult."
"Not all of our recruits were just snatched off the streets William. Not all of them were put into our schools. Some came to us willingly…like your mother."
Future William's eyes grow wide, his jaw dropping a bit under his mask. After a moment of processing what he heard, he shakes his head. "No! You're lying! My mother would never-"
"Your mother was one of us William. She was our best. And she was my friend. You can even say that…I loved her." The sinister smirk on Dante's face falls into a saddened, disappointed look, as if remembering William's mom is a burden for him. "But she became…disillusioned with our organization. She wanted to leave it. But we do not let people leave easily. In exchange for her freedom, she needed to give us someone to take her place."
"Okay, so the Ninth Circle needed Samantha to find someone else. What does this have to do with William?"
"They don't take just anyone to replace someone Oliver. They want someone whom they can mold easily. Someone whose mind is susceptible to their propaganda. They wanted a child."
"Wait. You mean…"
William tugged back on the bow string hard. "You mean to tell me that you forced my mother to conceive a child with my father?!"
"We did not make her do that! I wanted her to stay! I wanted her to be with me!" Dante's growl looked like it is hiding his attempt to fight off a couple of tears. "I loved her. I wanted to have a child with her. We would've made our child the future of our organization. But…she didn't love me. She loved him!"
William detracts on the bow by a bit. "She…she loved my father?"
"I don't know what she saw in him. Or in you! A few days after she gave birth, when we were supposed to pick you up, you were gone as was she. She managed to hide from us until the day you were kidnapped by Damien Darkh. We tracked you and her and sent Adrian Chase to take you back to us."
"Adrian Chase?" William starts to breath heavily. "You…you sent him after us?" William pulled on the bow string even tighter. "You're responsible for my mother's death?!"
"She got what she deserved! She betrayed us and paid the price. Besides, don't pretend that her death wasn't your fault as well." William's bow string once again detracts, his arms shaking a bit.
Oliver sits on his bed, letting the new information told to him process in his mind. Hearing that Adrian Chase was sent to both kill him and take William to be brainwashed by some cult, yet that Samantha also loved Oliver, he doesn't know whether to feel angry or sympathetic. Maybe feel both at the same time, if that's possible.
After a while, Oliver remembers that Talia broke in here and for a reason. He looks up to her.
"I don't think you came in here just to tell me all of this?"
"Among other things, I come to you with an offer. There is a way out of here, but it isn't an easy route. The exits are heavily guarded and these…" She holds up the metal wristband. "…send thousands of volts into our body whenever we do something foolish. What we are about to do is a three-person job."
Oliver tries to think of anyone else he has met in here that would do something as dangerous as what Talia describes. He then remembers the person who warned him about Talia's presence tonight.
"The blonde woman."
"Yes. She and I came up with the plan, and now all we need is you."
"Why me? Aren't you working with the Deacon?"
"I did as he asked. I knew that as soon as I did, he would leave me here to rot. But, little did he know that bringing you here is as much a boon for me as it is his. Now, I need to escape, and I need your help. So, what do you say? Get out of here, save your family?"
Oliver hesitates to answer. The offer is appealing, but what is the cost? Him being branded a runaway criminal? Then again, with the possibility of William, past and future, being in danger, it must be worth the cost.
But those prospects are not what make him hesitate. What makes him hesitate is that he remembers what he did to William to get here, what he made William witness, not trusting William, even before he knew he is the Green Arrow. Maybe, this time, he should have faith that William has it handled.
"Rene, are you on your way?"
"Yeah, just taking the long way through the woods. Nearing you…oh crap."
"What?"
"Diaz is heading right for you."
"What? Where's-" As Felicity looks to the back of the van, she sees Diaz with a grin on his face, coming towards her. "Oh frak."
Remembering that John brought along something that can remove the mirakuru from Diaz's body, Felicity goes to the armory and frantically searches for it.
Come on, come on. Where was that mirakuru antidote?
Suddenly, she hears the sound of the door, looking to see it being ripped from its hinges. Seeing that it is too late, she grabs a baton and retreats to the back of the van.
As Diaz steps inside, his grin turns into a grim smile. "Hello Felicity."
Mr. Ramirez looks towards the van where Ricardo Diaz is cornering Felicity and back to young William and the other students, probably indecisive on what to prioritize.
William gives the answer, "Save her!"
Rene nods and points to them. "All of you stay here! William, keep an eye on them."
Mr. Ramirez takes out his gun and runs towards the van. William does as he is told, motioning everyone to stay down, fearing that there may be others around. They all do so, except for Billy. As William waves down more and more, getting frustrated every minute, Billy looks like he is about to shout something.
Before William can force Billy to get down, lightning, of all things, pushes him away as Billy says, "Shazam!"
As Rene steps quietly into the van, he sees Felicity hitting Diaz with a baton, each hit not even making him flinch. Diaz then catches the baton, flings it to the side, and grabs Felicity by the neck.
Rene aims his pistol at Diaz's head. "Hey!" Diaz turns around, a grin on his face. "Put her down."
"Ramirez. Last time I saw you was when I used your daughter as leverage. How is she by the way?"
"I said let her go!"
"Make me."
Rene then shoots at the arm, hoping the pain will make Diaz lose his grip. Surprisingly, the bullet does nothing but crumple upon contact and fall to the floor. It didn't even make Diaz bleed. He then remembers what Future William said about mirakuru, now feeling a bit dumb for forgetting.
Oh. Right.
Diaz chuckles. "Guess this is your first time fighting against someone with mirakuru. A little rule of thumb: I'm nearly indestructible. Bullets can't hurt me." Diaz then turns his head to Felicity. "Now, you get to watch as I crush Felicity into-"
Suddenly, something or someone breaks through the roof of the van, grabs Diaz, and pins him to the side. Felicity falls to her knees and gasps for air. As the dust settles, Rene sees something he'd never though he'd ever see in his life, something out of a comic book. A man with black hair, red spandex, and a white cape. Both the spandex and cape have a large yellow lightning symbol on them.
"Hey there, buddy." The man grabs Diaz by the shirt. "Let's take this outside."
The man then flies with Diaz outside through the newly made hole. Rene runs to it, seeing the man throwing Diaz onto the street.
Rene helps Felicity onto her feet. "Felicity. You alright?"
Felicity tries to catch her breath as she stands. "Yeah. Who the hell was that?"
"I don't know, but he looked like something out of those comics Zoey started buying."
They go outside to see the man just stand there, letting Diaz get up. As Diaz charges at him, the man shoots lightning out of his hands, sending Diaz flying back across the street. Diaz gets back up and charges again. The man shoots lightning again, but Diaz dodges them as they come. Eventually, Diaz pushes the man's arm downward and gives him a punch to the face. The man stops the next punch with his palm and strikes Diaz with a sloppy but effective punch to push Diaz away.
The man then grabs Diaz and flies up into the air. He doesn't do anything except look at the ground, both Rene and Felicity confused about what the man intends.
"Guys!"
The sound of William's voice draws their attention, seeing him run towards them. Rene shows a bit of disappointment.
"Will, I thought I told you to keep an eye on the others."
"I tried, but then Billy-" Suddenly, the sound of someone crashing into the street caught their attention. They turn to see the man over a knocked-out Diaz. "-turned into that."
Felicity turned to William. "Wait, that's Billy?"
Rene's eyes are still on who they now know as Billy, who has a smile on his face and is giving a thumbs up.
"I think I got him!"
Suddenly, Diaz opens his eyes and stretches out his hands and legs to lock Billy into a hold. Diaz then flips them over, leans up, and pins both of Billy's arms to the ground.
"You're good kid, but I'm better."
He then headbutts Billy, which he follows up with slow, hard hitting punches that become faster and more aggressive each time. Before Rene can react, William runs up and stops just at a distance from Diaz.
"Stop!" Diaz stops punching and looks at William with gritting teeth. "It's me you want! Let him go!"
"No!" Felicity steps outside grabs William by the arm. William resists every attempt from Felicity to move. "William, come with me right now!"
"You know what?!" Diaz stands up, leaving Billy groaning in pain. "You're right. It's you I've wanted to kill for weeks. For these PAST 6 MONTHS!" Diaz slowly approaches them. Rene rushes in front of them, for all the good that it would do.
"I don't care what Deacon or Dante told me to do. I don't care about what deal your mother had to make by bringing you into the world!"
Rene is now a bit confused by what Diaz said, but it didn't matter to him right now. As they slowly step back, he looks at William, who looks to be shocked. "W-what?"
"All I care about is the look on your father's face when he survives his little 'rehab,' when he hears that his wife and son are TRULY DEA-"
Dante smirks. "Well, I think that was enough exposition, don't you Deacon?"
"Quite."
"What?"
Then came the sound of battle from afar, where Felicity Smoak is supposed to be. No doubt Billy Batson is using his secret abilities to take on Ricardo. Knowing Ricardo, though, Dante believes he has it handled.
"You might as well give up. Even if you deprived us of our other students, you won't deprive us of the last batch, especially your friend Batson. Your mother's debt shall be paid, and nothing can-"
They run as fast as they can, the world around them looking slow from their perspectives. Cars look as if traveling only 1 mile per hour, birds halfway flapping their wings. To the rest of the world, they are traveling almost at the speed of light, their red and purple streaks there one minute and the next gone.
Ahead of them is their destination, marked by the man, Ricardo Diaz, walking towards a defenseless Felicity and William.
As they run, his daughter gets ahead and looks to him, asking as she points at Diaz, "May I?"
Knowing what she is referencing, Flash gives a nod. "Okay, but make sure your speed is good enough before landing the punch. He does have mirakuru in him."
As they near Diaz, Nora brings her right arm back, readying her punch. As she nears Diaz, she extends her arm and gives a solid punch to the face, the force of it sending Diaz flying, slowly from their perspective, of course.
She keeps going, probably to get Green Arrow. He stops in front of William and Felicity, seeing them unharmed. As he comes back to normal speed, Diaz falls onto the street pavement out cold.
Felicity's face starts to form a smile of relief in his presence. "Barry."
"Felicity."
Before Dante could say anything more, a wisp of lightning suddenly zips by and William disappears out of thin air. Both of them are stunned by what they just saw, trying to comprehend what exactly that was. Then, they remember that they are near central city. There is one person they know of that patrols there and can pull something like that.
They both say with worry, "The Flash."
Nora, going by the name XS, swooshes back with Future William in tow. Felicity's attention turns to him, relief riddled on her face.
"William!"
"Felicity." He gives Felicity a quick hug. Following that, Felicity looks up and down William's body, probably looking for any injuries.
"Are you alright William?"
He puts his hands on Felicity's shoulders as he says, "Felicity, I'm fine."
"Billy!"
Their attention turns to Billy, who has somehow become an adult and is lying on the street. He looks like he's breathing but is seriously injured.
Flash quickly looks to Future William. "Where are the other students?"
Future William moves away from Felicity to point up towards the hill, recollecting his younger self's new memories. "Over there."
With the location confirmed, he gets on his comm. "Cisco, we're gonna need a breach at my location."
The breach appears out of thin air, making a couple of people who have never seen one before jump a bit, but others like Flash and Future William are unfazed by it. Immediately, Flash and XS zip by and take the students away and through the breach, one by one.
"You're right about one thing. My son is the Green Arrow. I have seen news reports of all the things he's done, all the criminals he's stopped, all the life threatening situations he's lived through. If he can handle those, I know he can save himself and I believe that he isn't doing it alone."
Meanwhile, Felicity and Young William retreat into the breach. Rene and Future William try to get Billy up on his feet and they slowly move towards it.
"As much as I worry about him and my family, I know that they can handle whatever comes their way and that they can handle it together. My friends always do."
Future William looks back, seeing the Deacon and Dante running towards them. But by the time they go through the breach, it closes behind them.
"So, whatever elaborate escape plan you have for escaping Level 2, you can count me out."
"Oliver, you don't understand. I am trying to get us out of certain death."
"Certain death? They reform criminals."
"No. They BREAK criminals. They want YOU to break. That's why you're down here. Our new mutual friend had firsthand experience with their methods, but for some reason, she wasn't killed."
"Probably because they thought she had been reformed."
"And do you remember the first criminal you noted down here? The one you put yourself in here to find. What do you think became of him?"
Oliver recalls what happened after the inmate was taken away. Strangely enough, sometime afterwards, the door did open again. The inmate wasn't seen, but the guards were rolling out a stroller with a…black bag.
Oliver starts to connect the dots. "Was that him…in the bag?"
Talia nods. "Now you know their true colors. Now, if you're convinced, let us plan-"
"No."
Talia gives a surprised look. "I just told you what this place truly is."
"And now I know that everyone here is in danger. We need to do more than just escape this place. We need to expose it. Shut it down."
"And how do you suppose we do that, because-"
"We go in there." Oliver points to the direction of the mysterious door. "If there is any evidence of Dr. Parker's operation, it's got to be in the one place they don't let just anyone into. Besides, you said your friend was in there before, so she had to have told you that there is something in there that can be used as credible evidence. Did she?" Talia doesn't answer, but the silence is enough of an answer for Oliver. "You help me, I get you and your friend out. Deal?"
Oliver extends his hand out. Talia looks at it, then at him. Oliver can't tell whether she's uncertain or hesitant. After a little while, she smirks.
"You were always stubborn to work with."
She then takes Oliver's hand and shakes on it, solidifying their deal.
Rene paces back and forth and keeps looking at his watch, waiting for Felicity and Future William to come back home. Apparently, according to Future William, he was bound to somehow go to another Earth where he meets his mentor. He never made clear how he did this, nor did they ask. Rene and Felicity just trusted that he knew what he was talking about.
The entrance opens, Barry Allen walking in wearing normal clothing. He looks at Rene with a concerned stare. "You okay Wild dog?"
Rene stops and takes a deep breath. "They've been gone for too long. That's all. I just…I just thought I would be getting Zoe out of the hospital by now and relaxing back home."
Barry Allen places a hand on Rene's shoulder. "They'll be back."
As he says this, a breach opens in front of out of the portal was Felicity and Future William, who is holding a duffle bag in his hand. There is no sign of Younger William, meaning that he has been dropped off to where he needed to go.
Rene walks towards them. "So, did you drop him off?"
"Yeah, we did. My younger self was a bit hesitant but agreed to the arrangements."
"What matters is that both Williams are safe. Well, relatively safe. Now we can get back to Star City and focus on getting Oliver out of wherever he is."
"Right." Getting a bit more curious, he points to the bag. "What's in that?"
"Something I've been waiting to get for months. Something that may give us an edge on Diaz in his mirakuru state."
Rene nods his head in approval. "Good to hear. We good to go?"
"In a minute. I want to talk to Mr. Allen for a minute."
Rene and Felicity step out, with Felicity quickly hugging and thanking Barry.
When they are gone, William asks, "How's Billy?"
"Still recovering, but we managed to get him back to his younger self. Turns out a shock of something equivalent to the energy of a lightning bolt turns him back to a young boy, or that's at least what a foster sibling of his told us. Did you know-"
"Yes. Yes, I knew he was a young boy. What will happen to him?"
"He'll go back with his foster family when he's fully recovered. But we'll also be keeping an eye on him, training him from time to time. He's really eager to be a superhero, but he has a long way to go."
"Good. I also wanted to say thanks. For coming to our aid."
"Well, you should thank Nora. She was the one who responded to your message."
William smiles. "Already did."
"Great. But still, I'm sorry we couldn't get there sooner. We were a bit tied up."
William holds up a hand. "No, no. It's okay. So, knowing everything, I suppose you'd want Devoe's chair back?"
"If it's not too much trouble."
"Sure, sure." William then takes out a paper and pen from his pocket that he has been saving for this moment, knowing that he would be in the Flash's presence. "But first I need you to sign this."
"Okay." Barry takes the pen and paper, a bit confused when he sees the blank paper. "But what is this?"
"Your autograph."
Barry begins to laugh almost immediately after hearing that. William can't help but give a smile that he tries to play off as sarcastic.
"Come on. I'm in the presence of my favorite superhero."
"Didn't I sign an autograph with your past self just a little while ago?"
"Yeah, but…that was past me."
Still chuckling a bit, he humors William and gets to signing. As he does, William's phone chimes, indicating a text sent to him. He takes it out and sees a message from Dinah Drake, whom he entrusted with his number in case she found something. Her message read, "Found something. Meet me in your lair as soon as possible. Bring whole team."
William smirks, glad that a possible lead is found. He puts the phone away and takes the pen and now signed paper.
"Thanks."
He rushes out to find the others to tell them of their new potential lead.
"Okay. I've arranged everything with him. Younger me just wants to say goodbye."
Young William walked to Felicity, who kneeled to his level.
"I know that this must feel like sending you to Cambridge again, but-"
"It doesn't. This is what I want. What 'I' wanted." He looks to Future William, who gave a small smirk.
Felicity puts her hands on the sides of William's head. "Well, just know that when we stop Diaz, the first thing we are going to do is arrange for you to visit us. We'll have you over every month and we'll be like a family again. Okay?"
"Okay."
Felicity and Young William hug. Felicity looked like she was going to cry while William kept darting to his future self, looking as if he was uncertain about something.
When they broke off the hug, Future William gave Felicity a pat on the shoulder. "I'll be with you in a minute."
Felicity nodded and left for the front door. Future William kneeled to face his younger self.
"I know what Diaz told you-"
"Is it true? Did mom just give birth to me so she could get out of some cult? Was that all I was to her? Just some pass?"
"No." Future William put his hands on his younger self's shoulders. "She loved us. She loved us…and Dad. She took us with her, even when she knew that meant her life would be forfeit. She did it because her love for us was stronger than her devotion to some cult."
"And what about them? I heard what Felicity said about that Deacon guy, about how he thinks he's killing people in God's name."
"His interpretation of God's will is a perverted one. One that strays from it more than it reinforces. Let me tell you from experience…" Future William took his hands from his younger self's shoulders and took out the Bible from his suit pocket. "This brought hope to me in the darkest of times and led me to answers to the most difficult choices. That's why I keep it close to my heart. It's foundations are a part of my own. Don't give up on it because someone misunderstands it or gives up on it themselves."
He places the book back into his pocket and placed a hand on his younger self's shoulder. "But remember this. To be a superhero, to work as someone who reinforces the law, even Gods law…sometimes, you have to work around it, but never doing it in a way that you stray from it. And, even if you do, you can always find your way back. Okay?"
Younger William seemed hesitant but nodded after a little while. "Okay."
"Good."
"Master William." Both Williams looked to the old man, who is at the top of the stairs. "Your room is ready. It is best that you get aquatinted with your new accommodations."
Future William gave younger him a pat on the shoulder. "Go on ahead."
Younger William nods and runs off. Future him stands up and got ready to walk to the door, but not before being called to.
"Oh, and the suit you requested has been made. It's waiting for you in a duffle bag by the entrance."
"Well, tell him I said thanks for making it. And give him my regards."
"Certainly."
Future William started to head for the door, now becoming more relaxed knowing that his future was secure.
Diaz makes another hole in the wall, and another, and another. He stops when he has filled the whole room with craters, breathing heavily through his teeth. Dante and the Deacon should be acting scared, but they have seen variations of Diaz's rage many times that this doesn't even make them flinch.
Though, Dante is concerned about Diaz destroying the entire room, even though it is only the training area. "You do know those walls aren't cheap?"
Diaz turns around and stomps towards Dante. "Does it look like I care?!"
Dante puts his hands in his back pockets with the hidden titanium knives, which are the only ones good enough to penetrate Diaz's mirakuru skin, anticipating an attack from him. Instead, Diaz just briefly growls and then walks away.
Before Diaz can leave, Dante asks, "Where do you think you're going?"
Diaz turns to them. "What does it look like? The plan failed! Our recruits are gone, William probably took his younger self someplace we can't get to, and now we find out he has the whole team backing him up! I'm going to destroy Star City, with or without your help."
"That was not part of the plan."
"To Hell with your plan! My only goal now is to see Oliver Queen suffer, and I'll start with his city, then his family and friends. Then, when he's begging for me to kill him, I'll happily oblige."
Diaz starts to quickly walk away, but Dante does not want his whole plan undermined by one man's ambition.
He tries calling out, "Ricardo…Richard!"
Diaz stops at the sound of his real name, the name that he made both Dante and the Deacon, the only ones who know, never say again. He left that name behind when joining them, and he does not want that name to be like a lingering ghost that reminds him of his dreaded past. But, in this case, Dante is not afraid to use it.
"If you go out now, we will not help you. All our resources will not be at your disposal."
Diaz looks back once more. "Well, I still have the Longbow Hunters, who've been paid in advance. So, 'reliable resources' BE DAMNED! And if you get in my way, I'll kill you too!"
Diaz walks out the door quickly before another word can be said. Dante looks to the Deacon, who has not said a word during the conversation.
"Are we really allowing him to do this?"
The Deacon looks to Dante. "As the great Dragon in his pursuit for the mother's child lost the war against Heaven, so will Ricardo in his lust for revenge. These signs only hasten the apocalypse we shall bring to Star City. Let him do as he likes. He has made his position clear. So have we."
The words coming out of the Deacon's mouth start to worry Dante, knowing that the Deacon, as he did several times before, is determined to burn down another city, while he wants, for once, to take control of one.
Despite this, he keeps his cool. "Of course."
"Call Dr. Parker and tell him to double security. If William is ahead of us, there is a good chance he knows about our little operation."
"Yes sir."
As he takes a step, the Deacon grabs his shoulder.
"Just a question. You and I have the same goal, don't we?"
Dante turns his head to him, his facial expressions not betraying his true intentions. "You have raised me, trained me. I am an extension of you. Your will and God's will is also mine."
There is a bit of a pause, Dante hiding his worries as best as he can.
Then, Deacon raised his hand off his shoulder. "And so it is. Do as I ask."
"Yes sir." Dante then walks out of the room.
When he left, the Deacon bowed his head down and sighed in disappointment. You pathetic, predictable liar.
Hello Readers! So, there will be those who have watched season 7 that are going to point out that I have only told half of what is supposed to be episode 5. Well, I ended the chapter like this because adding the newer stuff that was never in the episode felt like writing a whole episode, so trying to write it as the entire 5th episode would have been like trying to fit in two episodes in one. So, for those who have noticed this, just know that this was just the decision I felt had to be made.
So anyways, thanks for reading. Don't forget to favorite this story if you like it so far, leave a review, follow the story so you don't miss a new episode, and feel free to share this story with anyone you think will enjoy it.
Also, before I go, I do want to let you know that I have seen questions on reviews about whether I will be covering the Elseworlds Crossover. I am not announcing how I will be writing it just yet, but just know that it will be something I will get to in the future. So, once again, thanks for reading and have a great day.