Disclaimer:
I do not own DC Comics. I do not own The CW. I do not own anything related to DC Comics in general, or Arrow specifically. Except maybe a few DVDs of old DC movies that I haven't given away yet.
Following Through
Chapter Five
Purgatory Becomes Hell
By The Shroud
A/N:
Please review on whatever you can, suggestions, ideas, etc. This chapter imagines if Adrian's bombs actually did something… or rather, actually destroyed… the… whole… island. I would say to expect inconsistencies with S4, because I doubt many of you want consistency with S4, but it didn't matter enough to change things. Now that's explained... so it begins.
Late May, 2017
Lian Yu
Oliver tightly held William in his arms, and Adrian, with an arrow in his leg and barely sitting up on the floor, was talking, "He's younger than you were, so he's gonna be fine. And you have each other."
He interrupted, "What are you saying?"
Adrian continued anyway, "Which is good, Oliver, that's good. Because it's going to be lonely, without Mom… and everyone else."
As he finished his sentence, Adrian pulled out a manual trigger, holding it in front of his heart. He yelled out, "No, Adrian-"
But it was too late, the trigger had been set off, and the island exploded in the distance. Adrian just smiled. "Now, kill me, whatever… I've finally succeeded, in taking everything away from you. Maybe you don't understand it yet, but it's a favor. Those people… they're just gonna drag you down, give you talks about what's moral, but morals don't exist, not really, not outside the imaginations of people like them. When you killed my father, you helped me realize I could be something similar, something else beyond an average person, with darkness and power. You regressed, so I just consider this to be returning the favor, getting you to embrace this darkness just as you got me to. In time, you'll thank me."
He held back his rage… and began tying Adrian up.
A few minutes later, the boat arrived at the shore, and he told William, "Wait here. There are landmines, and I don't want to risk you, especially- especially if… you know."
Later, he found the monastery, only to discover that everyone there was dead. Adrian must have placed extra explosives in the monastery, in case someone tried to hide there. And not long after that, he found them. All of them. He slowly walked through the bodies, trying to find anyone with a heartbeat… until he got to Slade, who awoke with a start, badly injured and dying from the explosion. "Kid, I'm sorry, for not being able to get them to the boat."
Oliver shook his head, "Slade, I know you tried your best. You're going to be o-"
Slade spoke almost acerbically, "Don't give me useless platitudes and maybes, kid. Tell me, am I going to die?"
Oliver regretfully nodded, knowing he was unable to treat the wounds Slade had.
Slade made a final request, "Then, promise me, please, find my children [1], make sure they're safe."
Oliver nodded again, and Slade spoke his last words, "Thanks, kid."
And Slade fell limp.
Later That Day
He asked Lyla as he saw a group of A.R.G.U.S. agents handling Adrian, "So what's going to happen to him?"
Lyla answered, "We're sending him to a recently built supermax, the Mariana Trench Facility, physiologically impossible to escape from. It's underwater, at a great depth. I don't know the exact science, but it has a modular design, and if anyone did escape, they'd instantly be crushed or they'd suffer from a form of decompression sickness so bad that they'd literally explode upon getting close enough to the surface [2]. He's not ever getting out, though he can still be contacted wirelessly if you need to ask him anything."
Oliver felt sick at the thought of ever seeing Adrian again. "Good."
Lyla asked him, "So what are you going to do now?"
He slowly considered the question, before answering, "I made a promise to Slade, before he died, that I would find his children, make sure they're safe. So that's what I'm going to do."
A/N:
And that concludes this chapter. This was a somewhat depressing chapter, and the sequel should be no less sorrowful, given how all sorts of characters, both allies and enemies, will remind Oliver of those he lost to Adrian. This might be the last chapter I'm posting until the move (in real life) that I'm doing is complete.
[1] In here, Slade's children are (and he knows them to be, unlike how he didn't know that Grant existed) Joe, Rose, and Grant, from oldest to youngest. Or, rather, were.
[2] This actually probably could work, from the physics I know and making a few guesses.