Oliver looked over the familiar island with a sense of dread. "The island they found me on is Lian Yu. It's Mandarin for purgatory. Now, I understand why, the memories, the pain, I have never escaped them. They're always with me. A reminder of what I had to endure. With only one thought, one goal: survive. To save the multiverse, I must become something else. To do that, I have to return to where my journey began: purgatory," Oliver said to himself.
"You okay?" John asked him
"Yeah, why?" Oliver asked confused.
"You've been walking around, staring off into space, and acting all stoic for the last hour," John observed.
"This is a journey I must take alone, a journey I won't come back from," Oliver said super-serious.
"Damn it, Oliver, I'm here with you and so are the kids," John pointed them out.
Oliver then suddenly noticed that Mia, Connor, and William were hanging out skipping rocks on the water. "I'll be damned."
Oliver walked over to them. "You were supposed to be in Star City. Why are you here?" he asked them.
"Lyla brought us here," Connor said pointing to her as she came out of her tent.
"There's no time to waste. Marv needs us to build his weapon and it has to be on this island," she said, a bit peeved from the last adventure.
"Yeah, fuck that," John refused.
The group started arguing with each other inside the tent while Supergirl (dressed in civilians) and Brainiac 5 walked along the beach. "I have connected myself to Chinese recon satellites. We are not alone here," Brainiac 5 told her.
"How many?" Kara asked.
"Twenty or so heavily armed humans," Brainiac 5 said casually. "You could kill them all within a minute."
"No, I want Oliver to see my new toy and what it can do," Kara said raising her right hand that held a white ring.
"Very well, then," Brainiac 5 allowed.
Lyla, John, and Connor exited the tent and were immediately surprised to see Brainiac 5 and Kara hanging out. "You're the bastard that kept me in that time-loop," Lyla said angrily to Brainiac 5.
He gave her a mock bow. "What are you two doing here?" she demanded.
"Sight-seeing," Kara mocked.
"I want you two off this island. We're doing sensitive work here," Lyla said to them.
"What you are attempting to do is mere child's play and it would be a pity if the Chinese government was made aware that a group of Americans was trying to create a nuclear weapon on one of their sovereign islands," Brainiac 5 threatened.
"Fuck," Lyla realized. "How did you find us here?" Lyla asked.
"I found it quite queer to discover a nuclear signature on an uninhabited island that just so happened to be where Oliver had been marooned on," Brainiac 5 said condescendingly.
"Queer indeed," Kara smirked.
"It will not be long before other governments are aware of it. If you wanted to hide your operation, this was not the way to do it," Brainiac 5 chided.
"I brought Oliver here so he could understand his fate," Lyla said defensively.
"Oliver's fate is irrelevant. Whether he lives or dies, it has no consequence for the war ahead," Brainiac 5 said dismissively.
"Then why are you here?" Lyla asked them.
"I concur with my robot companion on Oliver's relevance, but as it happens, I'm also a big fan," Kara smiled.
"I know the truth about you," Lyla sneered.
"You tell anyone and John is a dead man," Kara threatened.
"Soon, I will be more powerful than you can imagine," Lyla said to her.
"Tall order," Kara mocked.
"I have work to do. Don't get in my way," Lyla said walking off in a huff.
Soon thereafter, a cargo plane headed towards the island containing Dinah, Roy, and Rene. Kara and Brainiac 5 eyed the plane as it headed towards the runway. The Arrow group came out of the tent and eyed the plane. A missile from the ground fired towards the plane. It blasted off one of the plane's wings upon impact. The plane spun as it crash-landed on the island.
"You could have shot that missile down with your heat vision," John said to Kara.
"Oh, now you need my help?" she mocked him.
"I'm not like Lyla. If you can help, I invite it," John said to her.
"Well, finally some respect," Kara said pleased.
The whole group went back into the camp. "We have to get to the crash site," Oliver said super-serious.
"I'm working as fast as I can," William said lamely as he worked on his tablet.
"Don't bother. I know their exact coordinates," Brainiac 5 said to him.
"I can't get a signal out to them. Something is jamming my signal," Connor brought up.
"The enemy has a radio jamming device," Brainiac 5 informed him.
"I thought you said we were alone," John said accusingly to Lyla.
"I thought we were," Lyla said naively.
"There are at least twenty men on the island," Brainiac 5 brought up.
"Okay, genius, where did they crash land?" John asked impatiently.
"Where they landed is inconsequential. The Plutonium is in a different spot from the crash site," Brainiac 5 said coldly.
"Dinah is the priority," John said to him.
"Let's agree to disagree," Brainiac 5 said dismissively.
"We still need that Plutonium to arm the weapon," William brought up.
"Alright, John, we split up," Oliver said.
"Connor, you're coming with me to get to that plane," John said to his adopted son.
"I'm coming too. I called them here," Lyla said.
"This is a miscalculation. You're splitting up in the face of a superior force to achieve an irrelevant objective," Brainiac 5 chided them.
John gave him the middle finger as he left the tent. "Just be careful there. We don't know who they are or what they want," Oliver told him.
"Copy that," John agreed.
"So, let's get that Plutonium," Kara said enthusiastically.
"I'm staying here," Mia refused.
"What? She can't do that. Can she?" Kara asked aghast.
"Someone needs to protect William," Oliver allowed.
"Geeze, thanks," William said humiliated.
"Let's go," Oliver said heading out with Kara and Brainiac 5.
"Leave a unit behind to protect Mia," Kara ordered Brainiac 5.
"As you wish," Brainiac 5 obliged. His skin became liquid metal and poured off his metal endoskeleton. The pool of liquid metal then rose up and solidified back to his normal self. The metal endoskeleton activated a hologram presenting himself as before. The liquid metal Brainiac 5 then walked back into the tent.
"That was creepy as fuck," Oliver noted.
"Shall we proceed?" Brainiac 5 asked pointing out the way.
As the two took a stroll around the island, Oliver was a bit confused. "Why not fly or use your super-speed to get to it?" he asked Kara.
"What you're building won't matter in the scheme of things," Kara said dismissively.
"So, you don't really give a shit about the plane or the Plutonium," Oliver realized.
"Not really," Kara admitted.
"Then why are you here?" Oliver said confused.
"Because you are here," Kara said vaguely.
"I'm a dead man walking. You don't need to protect me," Oliver told her.
"Even lambs need to be fed and protected from wolves before they go to the slaughter," Kara replied.
"God damn," Oliver shook his head dismayed. "Well, for what it's worth, I never expected to be on a mission with you. Thanks for being here," he said gratefully.
"Is there a reason you allowed Mia to stay back seeing as how your time with her is so limited?" Kara asked him.
"Trying to give her some space," Oliver replied.
"To avoid an uncomfortable conversation? Perhaps, it was a mistake to tell her of your impending demise," Kara said.
"She had a right to know," Oliver insisted.
"The Oliver of my universe had many regrets. Things he wished he could have said to those he loved before they perished. It's not the dead that suffers loss," Kara reminded him.
As Brainiac 5 taught William how to handle the dwarf star particles, Mia sulked finding herself useless. John continued to bicker with Lyla over her association with the Monitor until they found Dinah and a severely wounded Rene. Oliver continued to walk around with Kara and Brainiac 5 by his side.
Oliver eventually came upon a case containing the Plutonium. He opened the case displaying the lead tube, closed the case, and then lifted it off the ground by its handle. Oliver then noticed he was surrounded by Deathstroke cos-players.
"Hello, Oliver," Edward Fyers said to him.
"Fyers, you're supposed to be dead," Oliver said to him.
"Seems I have been given a new lease on life. Only this time I'll be sure to finish the job. Four more goons exited the forest for a total of six men pointing weapons at him. Oliver calmly dropped the case and took out a pistol.
"Drop your weapon," Fyers ordered.
Oliver refused and instead fired at the four men in front of him dropping them wth perfect heart shots. At the same time, they fired back at him with their AK-47s. Oliver then turned to Billy Wintergreen. With his machete knife, he tried to slice Oliver up. Oliver blocked his strikes with his arms, disarmed him, and then sliced him through his heart. Billy fell to the ground dead with the blade still in his chest. Oliver looked around for Fyers and saw that he had managed to escape.
Oliver then picked up the Plutonium case and went back to Kara and Oliver hanging out nearby. As he came upon them, he morphed back to Brainiac 5. "Edward Fyers is still alive," he reported.
"How is that possible?" Oliver wondered.
"I don't know," Brainiac 5 admitted.
"Take this case to William. I have to go after Fyers. He's my responsibility," Oliver said to them.
Kara and Brainiac 5 looked at each other as if Oliver were an idiot. "I will take this back to William," Brainiac 5 volunteered.
Kara nodded as he walked off. "So, you're sticking with me wherever I go, huh?" Oliver assumed.
"I enjoy your company regardless of what you do," Kara replied.
"I can do this alone," Oliver said.
"This island is too dangerous for a human, like yourself, to be let alone," Kara rebuked.
"You're here to keep me from danger? It's impossible," Oliver said to her.
"Because you are fated to die?" Kara asked.
"Yeah," Oliver agreed.
"There are forces at play that don't even want you to reach your glorious martyrdom," Kara said.
"Fyers and his men know of the Plutonium and want to use it for themselves," Oliver figured.
"No shit," Kara said obviously. "Don't let these ghosts from your past distract you from your mission."
"I won't let that happen. I'm just...going on an enthusiastic walk to clear my head," Oliver said.
"Alright then," Kara smiled as they walked on.
Brainiac 5 sped through the forest reaching the tent in no time. He handed the case of Plutonium to his liquid metal counterpart. "Is my dad okay?" Mia asked him.
"For now," Brainiac 5 replied and then walked out of the tent.
Meanwhile, John, Connor, and Dinah finally came upon the crash site where Roy was. His arm was pinned under some machinery where the engine was sparking near an inconvenient pool of fuel. "Hey!" Connor pointed out.
"Roy!" Dinah shouted as he saw him.
"I can't move," Roy said.
"Roy, we're going to get you out of here," John assured him.
"Can you feel anything?" Dinah asked.
"No," Roy shook his head.
"We got a problem," Dinah said as she saw the sparking engine and the fuel.
"We got to get him out of here before the whole thing blows," John said urgently.
The three of them tried to lift the heavy machinery without success. "How bad is it? Tell me," Roy gritted his teeth in pain.
"Your arm is crushed," Connor said. "If you can't feel it, it means pretty badly. If you can't move and it's pinning you, then we need to think of other contingencies," Connor said.
"What are we talking about?" Dinah asked not liking where he was going with this.
"We don't have much time. The best way to get Roy out...maybe amputation," Connor said grimly.
"Can you do that?" Dinah asked.
"I have a med pack back there. I have what I need," Connor answered.
"If we can just move this off him, we can save his arm," John insisted.
John and Connor failed again to move it. "It must be under a root or something," Connor said.
"Then we dig it out," John said going to work on the tree roots nearby.
"That fuel is going to ignite soon," Dinah said.
"We are out of options, Dad," Connor insisted.
"No, we always have options," John argued with him.
"We don't have a choice," Connor replied back.
"We always have a choice, damn it," John said passionately.
"Then I'll make it. Do it," Roy said finally. "Just cut me free."
"No, Roy," John said giving him a haunted look.
"Better my arm than my life," Roy said bravely.
"Get the kit," John said to Connor acknowledging it was inevitable.
Brainiac 5 then decloaked and then easily lifted the machinery off of Roy. The Arrow gang just stared at him stupified. "Eat this. It will heal your injuries," Brainiac 5 said, giving Roy a green bean. Immediately, his crushed arm was healed.
"How...long were you watching us?" John asked dumbfounded.
"A while," Brainiac 5 said vaguely.
"You sick son-of-a-bitch," John pushed Brainiac 5 up against the tree. "Why? What the fuck?" he asked him.
"I wanted to see your decision-making process and what it would reveal about your characters. You refuse to submit to inevitable consequences even when they're obvious. Connor is pragmatic but emotionally detached. Dinah is open to all options. And Roy was willing to lose a piece of himself to save the whole. All of these decisions and emotions are character revelations even if they don't matter plot-wise," Brainiac 5 said to him.
"John, the fuel," Dinah reminded him.
"That's not fuel. That's just water," Brainiac 5 said calmly. "We can discuss this for as long as you like."
John stared at Brainiac 5 with a crazed expression on his face about to explode.
As Brainiac 5 was giving the Arrow gang a decent mind-fuck, Kara strolled around with Oliver. "The Fyers camp is just ahead."
"We should not be doing this," Kara told him.
"You don't have to help me. Find some other Oliver in some other universe to save," Oliver told her off.
They came upon the camp finding it completely abandoned. "Well, they're gone," Kara said.
"This doesn't make any sense. He should be here," Oliver said peeved.
The two suddenly got stuck in a net trap from the trees. Kara laughed thoroughly amused. "You knew, didn't you?" Oliver accused.
"Of course, but you should have seen the look on your face," Kara chuckled.
"We need to get out of here. Use your heat vision," Oliver said.
"Oh no, you got us into this mess. You get us out," Kara rejected.
"Fine, I'll knife my way out," Oliver said as he cut on the thick net strands.
"That knife is weak as fuck. You won't be able to get out that way," Kara told him.
"It will cut," Oliver insisted.
Brainiac 5 and the Arrow gang went back to the tent. Brainiac 5 and his liquid metal counterpart came together and shared their information. Meanwhile, Oliver was still working on cutting through his net. "You're boring. You're boring me," Kara said of him.
"I almost got it," Oliver insisted.
"We wouldn't be in this net if we had simply gone back to camp," Kara reminded him.
"You know what Fyers is capable of, right? I need to get to him before he gets to my family," Oliver said.
"You would be with them right now if you had allowed Mia and William to come along. The truth is that you're avoiding them because you think you're fated to die," Kara said.
"I've been fighting fate for a long time. I've accepted it. It's called maturity," Oliver said to her.
"It's called being a bitch, Oliver," Kara rolled her eyes.
Oliver ignored her and continued to work on the net. "No fate but what we make. Say it and I'll get us both out," Kara offered.
"I won't mean it," Oliver said.
"I don't give a shit. Just say it," Kara told him.
"No fate but what we make," Oliver rolled his eyes. "Happy?"
"Saying it out loud is the beginning of belief," Kara smiled and then used her heat vision to slice them both out of their nets.
That evening, it suddenly became tense at the ARGUS facility on the island. "Fyers and his men have surrounded the camp," he reported.
"How long until the weapon is ready?" John asked impatiently.
"I'm done building it. Once the Plutonium transfers its energy, we can turn it on," William said of metallic orb connected to wires on the table.
"How long will that take?" Lyla asked.
"I'm not sure," William said honestly.
"Can we take this to a more secure area on the island?" Dinah asked attempting to exploit a plothole.
"No, it has to be here. I've tapped into the central energy source of the island. We can't move," William said to her.
"It has to be tonight. We don't know when the next energy spike will be. We can't afford to wait," Lyla insisted increasing dramatic tension.
"We need to buy William more time," Oliver said entering the building. "Sorry I took off. I should have been here with the two of you."
"You're here now," William allowed.
"Power the device," Oliver said to him.
"If the orb is tapping into the power of the island, then it can take care of Fyers' ghosts. They were all brought back to the island because of the island's energy source," William figured.
"Activating the device will destroy them," Oliver agreed.
"I don't know. That sounds like bullshit," Kara interjected.
"Yeah, this is Plutonium here. We could end up blowing up the whole island including ourselves," Rene pointed out.
"If this is the best chance of surviving the Crisis, we need to take the risk," Lyla said.
"Lyla's right. This is it. This is our best shot," Oliver said passionately. "Suit up."
Oliver came out of the woodline to address Fyers and his men. "You're as foolish as ever, Queen. It's going to be easy to kill you with you coming alone," Fyers said confidently.
"I'm not alone," Oliver said dramatically.
There was a long awkward pause. "Guys?" Oliver shouted behind him.
"Don't walk so fast, Oliver. God Damn," John said as he emerged with the others. Mia, Connor, Dinah, and Roy stood in a line with Oliver and John. Kara casually exited the woodline and yawned as she saw the force in front of them. Fyers' force was composed of a dozen men with automatic rifles and a mounted 50 Cal. machine gun on a Humvee.
"Kill them," Fyers ordered his men.
Kara quickly activated her white ring created an energy shield around the facility. The bullets vaporized as they hit the shield protecting the entire Arrow team. "What is this power?" Fyers wondered amazed.
"White power," Kara smirked.
Inside the lab, Brainiac 5 looked over William's work as he messed with the orb. "Okay, I powered it on. Why isn't it working?" he asked.
"Perhaps, you are missing some necessary DNA," Brainiac 5 said condescendingly.
"Of course but whom?" William wondered. "Could it be my father?"
"No," Brainiac 5 said already knowing the answer.
"Look, man, my father, my sister, and my friends are out there fighting to keep Fryer's men from getting inside. This is not the time to joke around," William said stressed out.
"I assure you, I will survive any assault by Fyers' men. Work with what you have, not what you wish to have," Brainiac 5 advised.
"Wait, you're the one the Monitor trusts. It's probably you," William pointed to Lyla.
Fyers' men stopped shooting once it was obvious they couldn't get past the white shield. "So, we're just going to stand around and do nothing?" Oliver wondered.
"I can keep the shield up for as long as it takes your son to figure out the weapon," Kara said.
"We should fight Fyers now," Oliver said passionately.
"Do you know what it means to be surrounded? It means from all sides. If I lower the shield and allow you to fight them here, nothing stops them from entering the lab from the back. They can also just cluster you all together and mow you all down with their machine gun. They resurrect, you do not. Not to mention that fighting a superior force in an open field is completely retarded. You had a fortified position with numerous bottlenecks that also prevented them from utilizing their most powerful weapon. I mean, what the fuck?" Kara pointed out.
"Can I talk you for a second," Oliver said taking Kara aside.
"What?" Kara rolled her eyes.
"Look, this is my last hurrah. The fans are going to want to see a cool action scene with bullets flying and explosions," Oliver said to her.
"But it's total bullshit," Kara replied.
"I know it is but I need this. Can you do me this favor?" Oliver requested.
"Yeah, sure, you don't have to worry about a thing, little Stevie," Kara mocked as she pinched his cheek.
"Thanks, you're the best, Mellissa," Oliver said appreciatively.
"I know I am," Kara agreed.
Kara aimed her ring at the Arrow team giving them all white bubble shields around them. She then lowered the shield and let the fight begin. Instead of taking cover, the two sides simply charged at each other shooting, firing arrows, and fighting hand-to-hand in an open field. Oliver fired an explosive tipped arrow at the Humvee destroying the machine gun. As the Arrow team took down Fyers' men, they simply respawned a few moments later. Kara watched passively from the back as the Arrow team did their thing.
Brainiac 5 handed the orb to Lyla. "Wait...what?" she asked confused. "This thing is supposed to be the weapon Marv promised us."
"You are the weapon," Brainiac 5 told her.
Lyla reluctantly took the orb. It immediately began to glow. The dwarf star particles became active and energized. Fyers' men suddenly disappeared as the island lost its energy source. Team Arrow then rushed back into the lab.
"What the fuck is going on?" John wondered.
"I have to go," Lyla said to him as she received a sudden knowledge boost from the orb.
A portal then opened inside the lab by Lyla's will alone. She gave John and Oliver one last look and then disappeared into the portal.
"Well...shit," Oliver sighed.
The next morning, Team Arrow packed up their stuff. "Alright team, Lyla conveniently organized a rescue boat before everything happened so we're going home," Oliver told the group.
"Did Mom know what was going to happen?" Connor asked hurt and confused.
"Who the fuck knows?" John shook his head dismayed.
"Marv is all about surprises," Kara smirked.
"How much time do we have before the Crisis?" Mia wondered.
"It begins Sunday evening," Oliver said grimly.
"Holy shit," John muttered. "I'm going to start packing. Let's get moving."
Oliver waited for everyone to exit except Dinah, Rene, and Mia. "Hey, guys, I just want to thank you for being there for me, no matter what."
"Why does this sound like a goodbye speech?" Dinah asked.
"Because it is," Oliver frowned.
"I'm not accepting that, amigo. It's not over until it's over," Rene rejected.
"No, you don't understand. There's no way around this. I have to die to save the multiverse. I'm completely and totally fucked," Oliver told them.
Oliver then realized Mia was still in the tent. "Shit."
Oliver went over to John who was staring out over the lake. "Wondering where Lyla went?" Oliver assumed.
"No, fuck her. She's been lying and hiding shit for a long time now," John said disgruntled.
"Is this a bad time to ask for a favor?" Oliver asked.
"Yes, but whatever," John replied.
"I need those kids back in 2040 someway, somehow, before whatever happens," Oliver said.
"Yeah, sure, I'll just magically conjure up a fucking time machine," John said sarcastically.
"One more thing," Oliver added.
"Really?" John shook his head.
"When this is over, track down Felicity and tell her I don't want Mia and William to be kept separated. I think they deserve to grow up together," Oliver said.
"That could alter space-and-time in an unpredictable way...but fuck it, I'll tell her. And if she doesn't heed, I'll spank her," John assured him. "You know, for the longest time, I couldn't accept the idea of you dying. But these last few weeks, I've warmed up to it."
"Fuck you, man," Oliver smiled.
"I'm going to stay by your side for as long as I can," John said to him.
"Every mission has an end," Oliver agreed. "I couldn't have done any of this, I mean any of it, without you."
"I know," John nodded.
The two embraced in a heartfelt hug. "Let's get out of here, man. We'll get a room together, talk war stories, get wasted, and then pass the fuck out in bed together," John said.
"I'll be right behind you, literally and figuratively," Oliver smiled. "I just need to do one last thing."
"Sure, man," John said walking off.
Kara and Brainiac 5 stared off into an open field. "She'll be here shortly," Brainiac 5 predicted referring to Lyla.
"For the longest time, I've never felt fear. Now, I feel it all at once for my Earth, my people, and for myself," Kara frowned.
Brainiac 5 gave her a look. "There are contingency plans available if you fail," he said coldly.
"I'm scared," Kara admitted.
"I know," Brainiac 5 noted.
"Can I trust you to follow my orders," Kara asked him.
"Within reason," Brainiac 5 allowed. "Regardless of what you have done in the past or the future, I will always be your friend," he said extending his hand to her.
Kara nodded and shook his hand. The sky then became red with lightning streaks. "It is time," Brainiac 5 detected as a portal opened revealing Lyla in a new blue uniform.
"I am the Harbinger of things to come," she said to them super-serious.
"Meaning?" Kara mocked.
"The Crisis has begun," Harbinger replied.
Author's Notes: This Arrow episode had its absurdities but that amputation moment was...well...damn. Oliver, here, is an exaggerated caricature of himself believing his death will somehow save the multiverse. In the original Crisis, Green Arrow was a minor character. CW has decided to switch Oliver with Kara/Flash who do die in the original Crisis. Adventures Kara, however, tells Oliver to resist his fate and not simply go along with the Monitor's plans. The reasons for Kara's enthusiasm for Oliver become clear later.