Oliver awoke in his apartment dressed up in his suit at 6:27 PM dazed and confused. The night before, he had been taken down by a tranquilizer dart from Lyla, revealed to be in league with the Monitor the entire time, most likely butthurt due to the fact that her child had received a sex-change due to Barry Allen aka the Flash's flashpoint shenanigans. Whatever her reasons may have been, Oliver was a bit confused and pissed-off.
"No way it's the same," Mia said annoyingly as she waltzed in with Connor and William.
"I'm telling you, Big Belly Burger is better," Connor insisted.
"If I'm being completely straight with you, and I rarely am, I agree with Mia," Willam chimed in.
"Dad, what are you still doing here...and with her?" Mia asked.
Oliver gave her a clueless look and then saw Kara looking out the window. "Holy shit!" he realized.
Kara eyed the three of them and smirked amused. "No need to worry about me. We're both married," she said flashing her wedding ring.
"How did I get here?" Oliver wondered.
"What do you mean?" William asked.
"Uh, I was on a roof with John and got tranquilized," Oliver recalled.
"Yeah, Lyla, she said it was all a big misunderstanding," Connor said.
"Oh really? That sounds like bullshit," Kara doubted.
"What do we do with the plans for the weapon?" Oliver asked.
"You said we didn't need it anymore," William told him.
"That also sounds like bullshit," Kara said amused.
Oliver gave her a dirty look. "Why? The Monitor is still out there. He's still a threat," he asked the three.
"Dad, are you okay? You look a little anxious, a little shook up," Mia said concernedly.
"I need to talk to John," Oliver said befuddled.
"That should be easy. He's at that fancy fundraiser," Connor said.
"The one you're really late for," William added.
"You do remember you're Oliver Queen, right?" Mia asked condescendingly as she gave him a card with all the fundraising details.
"Fuck yeah, I am," Oliver agreed as he took the card.
Oliver fixed himself and went for the door. Kara looked over the future kids giving Mia an approving glance and then gave both Connor and William a sneer as she left with Oliver. "What's that bitch's problem?" Mia wondered ignorantly.
At the party, Oliver looked around for John. "Hey, Queen, what's the difference between a cop and the Green Arrow? A cop doesn't need to play dress-up to do his job," a cop joked.
"Fuck yourself," Oliver said giving him a fake smile.
A waitress suddenly crashed into Oliver spilling glasses of champagne. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Queen. Please don't kill me," she said fearfully.
"It's okay. I pardon you," Oliver said, graciously letting her slide past him.
"There you are, man. The party started an hour ago," John said to him.
"You remember being tranquilized, last night?" Oliver asked softly.
"Yeah, Lyla feels awful about that. By the way, that wasn't last night. It was two days ago," John said.
"John, that's bullshit. That's the last thing I remember before waking up in my apartment," Oliver argued.
"Ha! You're weak as fuck. I woke up only a few hours later," John chuckled.
"This is the Monitor's doing. Your wife is working with the Monitor. I mean, what the fuck?" Oliver asked him.
"I thought we already settled this," Lyla said entering the conversation.
"I've been working with the Monitor but as a double-agent. I thought I told you on the roof," Lyla lied.
"I don't remember that," Oliver said confused.
"Because it isn't true," Kara said interrupting. "I don't know what's more unbelievable: That you, a mere human could somehow act as a double-agent against the all-seeing Monitor or that you expected Oliver, here, to believe that BS story," Kara said with a champagne glass in her hand.
"Well, if it isn't the queen of lies, herself. The truth must sound strange to you," Lyla said insultingly.
"It must really piss you off that your daughter, Sara, got replaced with a Deathstroke cos-player," Kara shot back.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Lyla lied.
"I think you should go back to your apartment and get some sleep," John advised Oliver.
"Yeah, fuck that," Oliver refused.
"Oliver, there you are. The mayor's been looking for you. Come on," Rene said, pulling him aside.
"What?" Oliver wondered.
"What happened there? You can't give a speech with a stained shirt," Rene said, referring to when the waitress crashed into him.
"Do I look like I give a damn?" Oliver asked super-serious.
"Very funny. You have joint remarks with the mayor," Rene reminded him.
"Isn't Palmer the mayor?" Oliver asked confused.
"In his dreams, maybe," Quentin said, spooking Oliver. "What's the matter, Oliver? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Yeah," Oliver stared at him.
"So, look, I had a few changes to the speech. I figured I should run it by you first," Quentin said.
"No, we go with the original script," Oliver said argumentatively, still stunned.
"Don't tell me you're afraid of a little last-minute memorization," Quentin mocked.
"I'm not afraid of anything. I'm the fucking Green Arrow," Oliver said, not taking the situation seriously.
"So, I was thinking of adding a witty joke about you and...," Quentin began.
"Diaz shot you," Oliver blurted out.
"Yeah, that son-of-a-bitch nearly killed me. I almost died. You don't remember?" Quentin asked, confused by his demeanor.
"I remember it...differently," Oliver said vaguely.
"It must have been a miracle. I escaped my fate or something," Quentin smiled.
"There's a hostage situation at the SCPD," Rene said casually.
"Well...shit," Quentin frowned and went over to the TV showing live footage of the situation.
"The leader is demanding to meet with the mayor," Rene said.
"How about fuck no," Oliver said quickly.
"We got a special ops team there," Rene said.
"I'm the mayor. No one does my own dirty work. Give my apologies to the guests," Quentin said.
"I'm coming with you," Oliver said resolved.
"You might want to bring a change of clothes. You know, your green clothes cuz you're the Green Arrow," Quentin smirked.
"Har-har," Oliver mocked. He then sighed wondering what to do. "Shit."
At the SCPD, Quentin, Oliver (Green Arrow), and Dinah discussed the hostage situation. As they argued what to do, a fast-moving person entered the SCPD and punched to death each of the gunmen within a second. Supergirl (wearing pants) looked over the leader and took the detonator from his pocket. The SCPD bomb squad then entered the building and began releasing the hostages. Kara looked around for the bomb with her X-ray vision and spotted it in the basement. She proceeded to spin her way down to the floor below and found the bomb. Looking it over, she tried to figure out how to disarm it.
"Well, fuck it," Kara said disconnecting the bomb.
It exploded inside her cape harmlessly. Kara then dusted her hands off and casually walked away.
Kara came out of the SCPD and over to Oliver and his crew. "Well, hello, young lady. At least you're not wearing a mask. What would your name be?" Quentin asked Supergirl.
"Super...girl, yeah, let's go with that," Kara decided.
"Well, Supergirl, this city owes you its appreciation," Quentin said to her.
"I know," Kara replied arrogantly.
"We could have handled it," Oliver said miffed.
"No, you would have fucked it up," Kara shot down.
"How do you figure?" Oliver asked offended.
"I don't know, maybe you would have shot the leader's gun out of his hands instead of a head-shot allowing him to push the detonator killing you all," Kara said.
"Killing isn't the answer," Oliver told her.
"I beg to differ," Kara smiled condescendingly. "World War II was won by killing the enemy until they surrendered. When you face the Anti-Monitor, he won't be coming alone. No, he's got billions of soldiers and thousands of ships ready to punk your ass. So, you better reconsider that no-kill rule."
"No," Oliver rejected.
"You're a damn fool but I can't stay mad at you," Kara smiled.
What quickly followed was a chain of events leading to either Oliver's, John's, or Quentin's deaths as they tried to unravel the mystery of who made the bomb at the SCPD. Even when they were successful, Lyla would intervene and kill them resetting the time-loop. After a year of time-loop, Oliver finally gave up trying to save Quentin and walked into a room to think.
"Congratulations, Oliver. Now, you understand," Lyla said appearing to him in the room.
"I was just taking a break. I'm totally going over to the SCPD in a sec to save Quentin," Oliver told her.
"Oliver, stop this. You've been trying to save him for an entire year. We're both trapped here until you get it through your thick skull that you can't change his fate nor can you change your own," Lyla said frustrated.
"I have to keep trying. That's what heroes do," Oliver said resolved.
"That's what fools do. You have to let this go," Lyla said.
"Why did the Monitor go to all this trouble just to prove a point?" Oliver asked.
"You've always been a man that needed to see things for himself. Telling you wouldn't have been enough," Lyla answered.
"How long did you work for him?" Oliver asked.
"A while," Lyla said vaguely.
"You lied to us, Lyla. You lied to John," Oliver pointed out.
"Lying to John has been the hardest thing I've ever had to do," Lyla replied.
"Then why do it?" Oliver questioned.
"To protect my family," Lyla said.
"And you think working with the Monitor is the best way to do that?" Oliver questioned.
"It's the only way. The Crisis is coming. There is no stopping it. All we can do is hope to survive it," Lyla said.
"So, this has all been a test?" Oliver asked.
"He needed to be sure you were ready," Lyla said.
"But are you ready, Lyla?" Oliver asked smugly.
"What do you mean?" Lyla asked confused.
Oliver dropped his hologram revealing himself to be Brainiac 5. "What the fuck?" Lyla asked wide-eyed.
"Oliver, John, and Quentin were teleported to Earth-38 early on in your experiment. I replaced all three with drones. You've been running this time-loop for an entire year trying to persuade me of the futility of changing fate. But I've always believed in 'no fate but what we make.' I have changed timelines countless times in the pursuit of knowledge and experience. Did you enjoy this year as much as I did?" Brainiac 5 asked.
"You sick bastard," Lyla said, giving him a shocked look.
"You tried to fuck with Oliver. I just returned the favor a hundred times," Brainiac 5 smiled.
"When the Monitor hears about this," Lyla said pissed-off.
"Assuming he doesn't already know. You were arrogant, sloppy, and inexperienced. You talk about fate. I'm from the future, one thousand years from now. I know exactly what you are doing and what you will do, Lyla. Shall we play another round or do you tire of this game?" Brainiac 5 asked.
Lyla glared at him and pulled out a pistol. Brainiac 5 was faster and stunned her to the floor with his own. He then activated the trans-matter portal and exited the room.
Earth-38
At the DEO, Brainiac 5 emerged from the portal. He then walked into the command center and saw Oliver, John, and Quentin hanging out with Kara. "Is Lyla okay?" John asked quickly.
"She will not be permanently damaged," Brainiac 5 replied.
"How many time-loops did you do?" Kara asked curiously.
"A year seemed sufficient," Brainiac 5 replied.
"Damn," Kara shook her head amused.
"We need to get back to our Earth. The Crisis is imminent," Oliver said urgently.
"As you wish," Brainiac 5 allowed. "However, Quentin Lance will remain here until the Crisis is over."
"Sure," Quentin agreed.
"You seem confident there will be an end to it," John remarked.
"I'm from the future a thousand years from now. In that future, the multiverse still exists. The odds are not perfect that we will win, but I think they are better than before," Brainiac 5 said.
"What is my role in all of this?" Oliver asked him.
"I don't know. You were an insignificant player up until recently," Brainiac 5 admitted.
"Thanks," Oliver said peeved.
Oliver and John entered the portal and disappeared. Brainiac 5 and Kara looked over a chessboard. "Look after Oliver," Brainiac 5 said to Kara.
"Why is this pawn so special?" she asked moving one forward on the board.
"For some reason, the king is paying special attention to him. I want to know why," Brainiac 5 replied, grabbing the pawn and eying it in wonder.
Author's Notes: The theme of Arrow season 8 is for Oliver to not only accept his future fate but to settle with events that have already occurred like Quentin's death. However, SG and crew have soundly rejected this notion many times and so do I. If you want to make an episode where it is "impossible" to correct anything in an endless loop, the writing has to be impossibly iron tight. No fate but what we make has always been the theme of Adventures and this will clash repeatedly with Oliver's certainty he has to die.