"Green"
Part 5 of 6
by Steave
"Come on boy, I ain't got all day."
The man that calls himself "Ironhorse" now stood up to his full height. Due to my current position on the ground, I could not see how tall he really was. He seemed very demanding as to what he wanted me to do. Personally, I didn't give a damn if he wanted a good fight or not, because I was going to give him one whether he wanted it or not.
With all of the pain coursing through me, I didn't even think it was possible to pick myself up, but yet, I don't think I'm ever going to doubt myself in anything ever again. I got myself off of the soft grass. I managed a glance and saw a nice sized puddle of blood where I was laying.
I stood up to this man, and I was as tall as he was, if not a little taller. A small smirk crawled on his face as he eyed me up and down.
"Well, it looks like the bear roughed you up pretty good huh boy. Now don't think I'm gonna go soft on ya because you got some scratches. I just want you to know though that, from what I heard, your mother, squealed and begged like a dog before she died."
A fire was lit inside of me, and that all too familiar rage that was in me was rekindled. Without any kind of hesitation, I threw my right fist straight into his well rounded nose. He didn't fall down, but he staggered backwards from the force of the blow. I think even he knew, that I pulled the punch a little.
After reorienting himself, he turned his head back towards me, a trickle of blood running from his nose into his red mustache. "Oh, I'm gonna enjoy this," he said as he pulled off of his shades, revealing steel blue colored eyes.
I already had known what his next move would be. He would strike out of anger, trying to show me just how strong he was. My prediction was correct. He threw his fist straight for my face, instinctively, I reacted and ducked. As I was ducking, I stepped into his body and threw a fist of my own straight into his stomach. This time, I didn't pull my punch.
He let out a grunt and spit flew from his mouth. My anger wouldn't allow me to stop there, it was time to strike him again. I stood up and quickly swung my left fist into his right cheek. This rage was giving me strength I didn't even know existed. I was trying to channel my anger, trying not to let it engulf me, but I was failing.
After I hit him with another left fist to his cheek, I lowered my shoulders and threw my right shoulder into his stomach. He fell to the ground with a grunt and a thud. Staying on the offensive, I threw my body onto his and threw left and right punches relentlessly.
I screamed with every punch I threw. I wasn't holding anything back, not now. Blood started to squirt from his temples. Finally, however, after many blows to his face, he caught my fists. A crazed look was in his blue eyes, and it was the look of death.
The anger flooded from me, and all that remained was fear. I froze up, and the thought of what he was going to do with me was racing through my mind. His face started to shake with anger, where as mine was frozen with fear.
He pushed me back, but still held onto my fists, allowing himself to hold on to me while getting up. "Now then, my turn you little punk." He let go of my fist and threw one of his own. I could feel my nose pop and crackle with the meeting of his fist. I did all that one of my age could, I screamed.
"How does it feel kid? True pain, you'll get used to it." He then fully released me, and both of my hands immediately cupped my nose as I screamed in agony and pain. "What's this," Ironhorse said pointing to the jean leggings around my stomach, "looks like ya hurt yourself there kid. Why don't we take a look." Ironhorse pulled away the leggings and threw a fast and hard jab to my gut.
I fell down to my hands and knees and tears came dripping from my eyes. The pain was too great, and finally, the feeling came back of blood creeping up from my stomach. I tried with all of my might to hold it down, but it was in vain, for the blood came out anyway.
Ironhorse then started to laugh, and walk away. What this could mean, I had no idea. The only thing my mind would focus on was the pain I was feeling. Why did this happen to me? More importantly, why was this man attacking me?
His footsteps then drew back to me, only he was dragging something. I managed a glance to see what he was carrying . . . a tree branch. He then grabbed the branch with both hands and cocked it back, ready for a swing. Then, two words entered my brain and exited through my mouth . . .
"Oh hell."
The branch cracked and splintered against my exposed skin. I screamed, even louder and in much more agony then before. Blood then emitted from my mouth, like I was puking after eating too much. When I had said before how it wouldn't stop, this time, it truly didn't. Blood flowed from my mouth down my exposed chest and stomach.
"You're tough kid, I'll give ya that. Kids your age would either be dead, or screaming for their mommy. But of course, the second option isn't really available to ya is it kid?" Ironhorse then smiled a gritty and bloody smile. All he was trying to do was anger me, let me lose control of myself, and make a mistake, like I had earlier. This was what he was counting on, but I wouldn't allow it to happen.
I rolled onto my back and held my stomach instinctively. There wasn't much else I could do but wait for him to make a mistake, and I had a feeling, that that wouldn't happen for a while.
He then strode towards me and bent on one knee. "I'm sure ya have questions for me kid, so, if ya can, would you like some answers before I kill you?" The cockiness in his voice was sickening.
"Why?"
He then pulled a rather long knife from a brown sheath on his belt. "Ya know kid, there are a lot of 'why' questions I can think of, but how about you narrow it down a little first, unless you want me to end this right here and now."
"Why are you doing this?" I had to force the words out of my mouth.
"Well, there are a lot of answers to that question, so lets start with this one. I'm doing this because it's my job. I'm a mercenary, I kill people for a living."
"Why?"
"I got nothing better to do."
"So, you're trying to tell me you kill people because you're bored?"
"Yeah kid, I am. When everything ya ever cared about has been taken from ya, ya start to realize that ya got nothing to lose. So, this was about the only job that popped into my head. I've always been good at killing people."
"Why is it your job to kill me?"
"Well, I guess I'll tell ya kid. The mayor of Star hired me to kill ya to help unite Star."
"What?"
"Well, it turns out the mayor wants to unite Star again so that it will be viewed as one of the world's greatest cities and get more business. Right now, with Star being separated and all, it's not exactly the ideal place to live. So in order for more people to come to Star and business to be good, he has to reunite Star. This means drastic measures, which means annihilating the homeless."
"How? What?"
"Ya know kid, you're really not good at this whole catchin' on thing. The mayor is letting one member of each homeless family go into East Star and get a new start on life. He's giving that homeless money and a guaranteed place to live. But, here's the catch to the whole thing. In exchange for all of those things, they have to give up their family."
I felt something click in my mind, the final piece of the puzzle was finally solved. But, I had to know for sure.
"Is that why you're here?"
"Yeah kid, I'm here to finish the job those homeless started."
"Then, that means my father . . ."
"Yeah kid, you finally got it. The truth is, it was really your dad that murdered your mom."
The fire was rekindled within my already somewhat enraged spirit. What I was going to do next, I wasn't sure. This man, his eyes were too convincing for him to be lying. All of it made sense, but I didn't want it to. My questions were finally answered, but now I wished I would never had found out. Ironhorse spoke again.
"Your dad was the first to start this new movement. The mayor hired me to kill you because it was only fair that if all of the other homeless had to lose their entire families, that he should too. Your father then got second thoughts, but then the mayor reminded him of why he was there in the first place. Plus, for your father being the first to do this, he's going to make your dad a kind of assistant mayor of Star City."
My fingertips dug into my hands and blood dripped from them. The anger that raged inside of me was immense and uncontrollable. I was now shaking, hard and furiously. How could he do this to us after all he had said and promised? Then, another question rose to my head.
"Who was the man who delivered my mother to the homeless?"
"To be honest with ya kid, I don't know."
To me, that man was every bit as responsible for my mother's murder as my father. They would both pay, they would all pay. Justice would be served, and it would be served by my hand.
"So kid, I guess it's time to end it."
"No, not now. I'm not going to quit now. If you try to kill me now, it will be you who dies, not me."
I stared into his blue eyes with mine, and we stayed like that for what seemed like days. After a while, he could finally see the truth and sincerity within them. He knew that if he was to try and knife me, it would mean the end of his life.
"Alright kid, you're the only one I've ever let go, so you better feel pretty freakin' special."
Special couldn't describe how I felt. The hatred with had driven me only moments before had left me and I was left with amazement. Did he just say what I thought he had just said?
"Why?"
"I had a family once kid, a beautiful wife and twin daughters. They were all beautiful, but then they were taken from me, and when they were taken from me, I lost everything I had ever had. All of the feelings and emotions I had with them were also taken. There was nothing left in me, except hate. I used that hate to kill the ones responsible for killing my family.
"After killing them, I realized I was actually pretty good at it. I knew it wasn't right, but it was all I had. The killing never stopped, and vengeance just led me from one face to another. If you let vengeance consume you like it did me, it will kill you in the end too. I don't want that for you kid. No one else deserves to go what I've gone through, and I mean no one. I want to give you the chance no one ever gave me.
"There's a village not to far from here, I'm gonna take ya to it and get ya patched up. After that, there's a preacher I know, his name is Dezmaund. He can teach you things that I can't, and maybe he can help you."
"I'm sure he can do the same for you."
"He tried kid, it's too late for me. This is the life I'm cursed with because of my actions. Vengeance doesn't lead you to anything except more killin'. Now lets get outta here kid, you're bleedin' all over the place."
He gently lifted me off of the soft ground. Putting my arm around his neck, we walked towards my unknown destination. We past through the forest and saw some very beautiful trees and signs of nature. I never acknowledged any of these things, and neither did he, for my mind would then wander to possible futures.
I could see myself slaying my father with a knife, or my bow. All of these things that popped into my head suddenly would end in my father's death. But, like my mother said, I would always have the choice, and vengeance, as proven by Ironhorse, was not the answer to my problems. But, I couldn't help but wonder what would happen when I returned to Star and confronted my father and the others responsible for this treachery.
After walking quite a ways, we reached a very beautiful clearing. The grass was greener than in anyplace I had ever seen. And, sitting in the middle of this beauty, was some monstrous thing that looked like a green box sitting on two large black circles with holes in the center.
I recollected my father showing me a picture of something similar to this, only it was smaller. I couldn't help but point towards the thing and ask, "What is that?"
He managed a short cackly chuckle, "That would be my most prized possession in the world kid. Besides my guns of course."
Whether this was an attempt at humor or sincerity I wasn't quite sure. If it was at humor it failed miserably, I knew that much.
We came to the monstrous thing and he put his hand underneath a strange black bar and pulled towards us. The device opened towards us and inside were the comfiest chairs I had seen my entire life. He helped me climb into the vehicle, and I almost fell unconscious when I made contact with the chair. I just sank into the cushioned seat and could feel sleep overtake me.
The door like device closed and he walked around the vehicle and entered on his side. The drowsiness didn't leave, and I decided to give in, it had been a long time since I had a good sleep.
"Rest kid, you need it after the hell you've been through."
The last of his words faded into nothingness, and all was quiet.
". . . I will tell him for you Eddie."
"Thanks Dez, just make sure you take care of him."
"I will Eddie, now go to your boss."
I heard footsteps and then they vanished. My eyes were still closed, and I was a little worried what I would awake to. Would I like it? What if Ironhorse lied? What if he sent me to my death? I guessed there was really only one way to find out.
I opened my eyes.
There was a dark skinned man standing over me. His eyes were dark brown, and mysterious. His hair was a short cut black, and his features were strong, but old. He wore a dark black robe and had the symbol of a cross on it.
He then spoke in a low baritone, but soothing voice, "Welcome back son."
"Where am I."
"The Church of St. Patrick."
"And where is that?"
"It's about 10 miles south of Star City."
"How long was I out?
"You've been out for almost twenty-four hours."
I sat up and noticed the pain in my stomach was gone. I looked down and there was now tape there, along with some tight bandages. It was actually a lot more comfortable then in my jean leggings. Speaking of my jeans, I was now wearing an actually pair of jeans, not torn ones.
"I see you guys fixed me up pretty well."
"Yes, but be careful of your nose, we did some work on it while you were out, but it may still be fragile."
I put my hand on it and it didn't hurt like it would've. Then I pushed a little and a twinge of pain shot through my nose like a volt of electricity. I let out a small squeak from my pain.
"So, why am I here?"
"I believe Eddie already told you."
"He told me that you could help me with my anger."
"I tried to help him, but he was so far down the path of vengeance that there was no way to help him."
"What's the difference between justice and vengeance?"
"Vengeance is when you seek revenge on a person or thing for something they did to you. In the end, it's about you making yourself feel better. But after you have dealt revenge, it corrupts you, and devours your soul. All that is left of you is revenge and you continue to seek revenge for things that happened in the past, and then you start to make up excuses to seek vengeance and revenge until finally, you are revenge itself. This has happened to Eddie, or as you know him, Ironhorse.
"Justice is about harmony, and is doing what is deserved. Some people may think that sometimes justice and vengeance are the same thing, but they aren't. However, justice, sometimes isn't the answer. And just because it's doing what is deserved does not mean that it is doing what is right."
"How do you know whether it's what's right or not?"
"Your heart will tell you."
This all started to seem way too familiar. Then it hit me, my mother had come to me in the dream and had told me all of this before. Now that I had these things straight, there was only one thing left.
"Teach me, please."
"I will Ollie, I will."
"How do you know my name," I asked, puzzled.
"Eddie told me, he said he knew because your father had mentioned you many times before."
"What, exactly, will you teach me?"
"I will teach you everything. You are a very underprivileged child Ollie, I will teach you how to write, you obviously already know how to speak and read, and we will further in your knowledge on that. I will teach you about science, math, and all other areas of learning. But more importantly, I will teach you about life, and how to control your anger.
"You are going to need to have the means, and the skills, and methods if you are to confront those responsible for what happened to your mother. I will teach you to channel your anger and incorporate it into what you do."
"And, what is it exactly I'm going to do."
"You will do what is right Ollie. You will follow your heart, and become the greatest warrior of the heart that there is."
"How long will this training last?"
"Until you are ready to return to Star City. It could take weeks, months, or even years. It may even be ten years before you return to Star City."
"How will you know what my father will be doing in the meantime?"
"We too have methods and means Oliver, we will be watching every move that your father makes."
"But isn't that wrong?"
"We're just making sure you know where your father is and what he'll be doing when you return. In the end, it will be you who decides what is right and wrong. But, if you decide to continue in doing what is right for Star City, you must take on another persona."
"Persona?"
"Another identity or person. You can't run around Star City as Oliver Queen and expect to stay alive for much longer. They think you're dead, true Ollie, but if they discovered that you were alive, they would have you killed on the spot."
"So how do we accomplish this other identity?"
"You will have to act, sound, and look completely different from how you really look. This is something else I will teach you."
"How will I look different?"
"Have you ever heard of Robin Hood?"
"No, why?"
"He was a man who stole from the rich and gave the money back to the poor. He did what was right. He was also known for his excellence in archery, which Eddie told me you were quite the archer yourself. In honor of this, we have developed an outfit in which will bear some resemblance to the clothes that Robin Hood wore. There will be some modifications of course."
"And, when the people of Star know that I have returned, how will they not know that my original identity is Oliver Queen?"
"We will have to change your name."
"No, I will not change my name. I have had it since I was born, and it's one of the only things that remains of my mother, I refuse to change it."
"Then, this question, you will have to answer for yourself."
"Very well, when do we begin?"
"As soon as you have fully healed."
"And when will that be?"
"Not for a few months. When recuperating, rest is one of the most essential things that leads to better health. But in the meantime, we shall start with your other training. The only training you won't be able to start will be the physical part of the training. So, I shall leave you to rest since we are in your resting quarters. The outfit is in the closet over there."
He pointed to a tall black rectangular closet with a sliding door.
"We have made one so that you can get used to it and will have an idea for what it will feel and look like. When you get older and bigger, we will recreate it to fit your new size. I will now leave you in peace."
"Father Dezmaund?"
"Yes Ollie?"
"Thank you . . . for everything."
"You're welcome . . . for everything Ollie."
He left me alone in the room, and I got out of the bed. I walked towards the closet, my entire being full of curiosity. This was going to be the man I was destined to become, this other personality. Without too much hesitation, I slid open the closet door.
The outfit was on a hangar in the closet and I pulled it out, laying it on a nearby counter. Anxiously, I removed my clothes and started to put on the uniform. It was very comfortable, and I felt like I could be in it all day. It was all made, or what felt like, an olive green leather.
It was a pair of olive green gloves, and a tunic. The outfit also had light green leggings, which fit under the tunic. It too, was made of leather, and not tights. The sleeves of the tunic went slightly past the shoulders, but didn't go any further.
After putting these on, I looked inside the closet again, inside was a yellow belt, with a large golden G for the buckle. I wrapped it around my waist and continued to search. There was something missing to the outfit. Then, I finally found it.
Inside the closet was an olive green bandana. It fit over the entire top half of my head, reaching down to the tip of my nose. There were eye holes for me to see through, but inside were opaque colored lenses. On the forehead of the bandana was the same type of G that was on my belt, it too was golden. I wrapped the bandana on my face, and the opaque lenses almost made everything clearer than they had ever been before. But there was still something missing.
I then found a hat, the same color as my uniform, which bore a feather on it. I put that on my head too, but it still felt like something was missing. I continued to search and then I found what I was looking for. Propped in the back corner of the closet, in the shadows, was the all too familiar shape of my bow.
My gloved fingers welcomed the grooved carvings back into them and I gave the string a good "twang." Beside the bow was a brown leather rectangular bag, that held what looked like arrows. The feathers on them were a sort of lime green color, and I put the strap over my shoulder.
I walked towards a mirror and looked at myself. I looked and felt like a whole new person. This was to be my new identity. This would be the one who gave justice to the mayor of Star City. This would be the man who would confront my father.
I pulled out an arrow and drew it at the mirror, and then finally realized what the G's on my outfit would stand for. They would stand for green.
"I . . . am Green . . ." I looked at what was fitted into my bow and the name came as clear as rain. "Arrow. I am Green Arrow."
