Chapter 5: The Man in the Hood
Roy Harper kneeled on the floor of the Sherwood Apartments' lobby, blood flowing from his broken nose and the barrel of a gun pressed to the back of his head. Ivan, who was holding the gun, loomed above the young man, while half a dozen other men, all with Slavic features and dressed in tracksuits. Two of these men were holding onto Matt while a third had a tight grip on Felicity's shoulder, keeping either of them from interfering.
"Any last words, bro?" Ivan questioned as he looked down at Roy.
Roy's only response was to let out a terrified sob.
"Don't do this, Ivan!" Matt shouted as he struggled against the two men holding him, "I can get you the money!"
"It's not about the money now, bro," Ivan replied as he looked at Matt while making a motion with his free hand, causing one of the thugs holding Matt to punch him in the gut, doubling him over, "It's about sending a message."
Looking back at Roy, Ivan pressed the gun harder against the young man's head and moved his finger to the trigger.
And then a knock came from the elevator door.
His brow furrowing in confusion, Ivan looked over at the elevator, as did everyone else in the room.
"Bro, I thought you said the elevator was broken?" one of the thugs questioned.
"It is, bro," Ivan insisted, "It must be rat or some-"
Ivan was interrupted by a series of knocks coming from the door in the rhythm of "Shave and A Haircut." Silence fell over the room as Ivan and his men looked at one another in bafflement.
"Bro," Ivan said as he pointed at one of his men who wasn't occupied with Matt and Felicity, "Go see what it is."
"Okay, bro," the man agreed with a nod before he made his way over to the elevator. Managing to wedge his fingers into the gap between the elevator doors, the thug forced them apart with a grunt of effort. Once the doors were open wide enough, the man looked into the elevator shaft as an expression of confusion crossed his features.
"What the-" the man started to say but was cut off as a figure came flying out of the shaft and struck him on the head, sending the man falling backwards as the figure landed on the floor of the lobby in a crouched position.
Standing up, the figure revealed themself to be dressed in a torn, dirty green hoodie and worn jeans with black sneakers on their feet. Brown leather gloves covered their lower arms and a quiver strapped to their back, with a makeshift bow in their left hand. Lifting his head, Oliver scanned the room with his grey eyes, his features obscured by a raised hood and green cloth mask wrapped around his lower face.
"Who the hell are you, bro?" Ivan questioned as everyone looked at Oliver with a mixture of amazement and confusion.
"Just a concerned citizen," Oliver answered with a shrug, before he drew and nocked an arrow, pointing it at Ivan.
"Bro, is that a bow and arrow?" Ivan asked with an incredulous laugh, "Are you joking, bro?"
In response, Oliver loosed the arrow, striking Ivan's pistol and knocking it out of the man's hand, sending it sliding across the ground.
"Don't knock it until you've tried it, bro," Oliver said with a shrug.
"Get that bro!" Ivan shouted as he pointed at Oliver, prompting his men to charge towards Oliver. As the first one reached him, Oliver ducked low and struck the man on the knee with his bow. Turning towards a second thug, Oliver quickly slapped the man across the face with his bow before turning back to the first man and doing the same to him. With both thugs stunned, Oliver looped his bow around the second one's neck and used it to flip the man onto his back, before swinging his bow low and knocking the first thug's feet out from under him and finishing him with a stomp to the stomach to ensure he stayed down.
Spinning around, Oliver hurled his bow at one of the charging men, striking him in the face and stunning him. At the same time, Oliver rushed towards a different thug and threw himself bodily at the man, wrapping his arms and legs around him before using his momentum to throw the man to the floor, the thug rolling to a stop in front of the man Oliver had thrown his bow at. Kicking himself back to his feet, Oliver rushed over to the man he had thrown his bow at and dropkicked him in the chest, sending the thug sprawling, then elbow dropping onto the man on the ground, hitting him square in the stomach and leaving him writhing on the ground in pain.
Noticing two more thugs rushing him from either side, Oliver rolled across the ground, picking his bow up as he did. Drawing an arrow, Oliver fired it at the thug in front of him, hitting the man in the knee. As the thug cried out in pain and fell to his good knee, Oliver rushed him, the other thug chasing right after him. Reaching the first man, Oliver planted a foot on the thug's chest before using him to flip backwards, kicking the thug on the chin as he did. As Oliver flipped through the air, he planted his hands on the shoulders of the thug running up behind him. Using the thug as a pivot point, Oliver swung his legs down and planted them against the man's back before kicking off again, flipping further into the air. As he hung in the air, Oliver drew an arrow and nocked it on his bowstring. Aiming at the thug he had just launched off of, Oliver fired the arrow and hit the man in the rear, causing him to squeal in pain before he tripped over the first man and went sprawling across the ground.
Having retrieved his gun, Ivan spun around to point it at Oliver, only to see all of his men laying on the ground unconscious or in pain. Shocked, Ivan quickly turned towards Oliver as he heard the young man draw and aim an arrow at him, quickly leveling his gun at the archer.
"I think this is the point where you surrender, bro," Oliver said as he stared Ivan dead in the eye.
"W-Who the hell are you, bro?" Ivan asked, his gun shaking in his hand.
"My name…." Oliver began to say with a serious tone before he cut himself off with a snort of derision, "Is none of your goddamn business."
With that, Oliver fired the arrow, which shot towards Ivan. Flinching and closing his eyes, Ivan instinctively pulled the trigger on his gun, only to receive nothing more than a broken sounding click in reply. Opening his eyes, Ivan looked down at his gun and was shocked to find Oliver's arrow sticking out of the barrel.
Looking back at Oliver, Ivan saw that the archer was walking towards him, prompting him to begin backing away towards the door of his office. Rushing forward, Oliver leapt into the air and slammed his knee into Ivan's face, the blow snapping the man's head back and knocking him off his feet. Ivan flew through the air a short distance before he crashed through the door to his office, landing on the floor in a shower of splinters.
As Ivan lay on the floor, groaning in pain, Oliver walked up and stood looking down at the prone man.
"What do you want, bro?" Ivan asked groggily.
"What I wanted was for you not to murder someone," Oliver explained as he crouched down, "I'm also going to ask you to stop selling drugs, because if you don't, I'm one hundred percent going to come back and beat you up again."
"That's not fair, bro," Ivan whined, "I'm not the only one dealing Vertigo."
"Oh, don't worry, I know," Oliver replied, "And soon enough, this whole city is going to know this is what happens to anyone who deals that trash."
"You can't stop it, bro," Ivan said with a weak laugh, "Cottonmouth runs these streets. He'll find you and make you suffer for messing with his business, bro."
"We'll see," Oliver replied dismissively, "For now, it's time to say good night, bro."
"Good night, bro?" Ivan repeated in confusion.
With that, Oliver punched Ivan in the face, knocking him unconscious.
Standing up straight, Oliver turned his attention to the rest of the room, where he saw Roy, Matt, and Felicity huddled together in a corner.
"Are you all okay?" Oliver questioned, averting his gaze and changing his voice as he spoke.
"Yeah, thanks to you, man," Roy said, a look of wonder on his face, "You saved my life."
"Who are you?" Felicity questioned, an expression of shock plastered across her features.
"You know, I've been getting asked that a lot recently," Oliver said, pointing a finger at Felicity as he walked towards the door, "I'm really going to need to come up with an answer for that."
And with that, Oliver opened the front door to the building and slipped out into the night. For a moment, the three residents remained silent as they stared at the still open door.
"Okay, you guys are pretty straight laced, so I figured I'd check with you," Roy said as he looked at Matt and Felicity while gesturing at the rest of the room, "But you saw all that too, right?"
While Felicity nodded in reply, Matt said nothing, a pensive look on his face while his head was pointed in the direction of the door Oliver had disappeared through.
Later,
An hour or so later, a few police squad cars sat parked outside the Sherwood Apartments, the lights on top of the vehicles painting the street in flashing reds and blues. At that moment, a car pulled up to the barricade the police had set up around the apartment building. Pulling to a stop, two people exited the car.
The first was an older man with salt and pepper hair, Caucasian features, a slim build, and brown eyes. The second was a younger, African-American woman with brown eyes, an athletic build and an afro of brown, curly hair. Both were dressed in dark colored suits, with police badges dangling around their necks.
Flashing their badges as they walked past the police barricade, the two made their way up into the apartment building. Inside, the two found that Ivan and his men had already been taken away, with numerous plastic placards bearing numbers scattered across the floor in their place. Numerous crime scene investigators were spread around the room, taking pictures of the scene, while uniformed police officers talked with Matt, Felicity and Roy.
"Detectives," one of the officers greeted as he walked up to the pair.
"What's the situation?" the woman questioned.
"Gangland execution," the officer explained, "Though it went bad for the executioner this time."
"How so?" the man inquired.
"So, apparently, the owner of the building is also a known Vertigo dealer," the officer elaborated, "One of the tennents owed him some money and he decided that it was worth more to use the guy as an example than get the money. And that's where the twist comes in."
"Twist?" the woman asked as she arched an eyebrow.
"According to all the witnesses, some guy in a hoodie showed up out of nowhere and took the dealer and his men out," the officer explained as a grin spread across his face, "With a bow and arrow."
"Bow and arrow?" the man questioned skeptically, "You've got to be shitting me."
"If I'm lying, I'm dying," the officer replied with a chuckle as he pulled out a plastic bag and handed it to the detectives, "One of the CSIs already bagged and tagged this for you to look at."
Taking the bag, the woman looked over the arrow that was sealed inside, noting the dried blood on the weapon's tip.
"Damn," the man said with an impressed tone, "Certainly looks like the real deal to me."
"You said there were witnesses?" the woman questioned as she turned her attention back towards the officer while handing him the arrow.
"Right over there," the officer replied as he indicated towards the corner of the room where Felicity, Matt and Roy had been gathered.
"Thanks," the woman said as she indicated for her partner to follow her before she started walking towards the trio of witnesses.
"So, looks like we've got a vigilante on our hands," the man observed as he fell into step next to the woman.
"Just another criminal for us to catch," the woman replied simply.
"I don't know, this feels different," the man argued uncertainly, "You weren't here then, but I was on the force back when Black Lightning was still around, and this is already feeling like those days."
"And here I thought you'd been around since the Black Canary's day," the woman said with a smirk.
"Geez, partner," the man complained, "I'm not that old."
By that point, the two had reached Matt, Roy and Felicity, the latter two looking at the detectives as they approached.
"Good evening," the woman said as she and her partner flashed their badges, "I'm Detective Misty Knight, and this is my partner, Detective Rafael Scarfe. We were hoping to ask you all a few questions."
"Certainly, Detective," Matt replied with a nod of his head.
"Can you tell your names?" the woman, Misty, asked as she pulled out a notepad and pen.
"Of course," Matt continued as he gestured at himself and the two others, "I'm Matthew Murdock, and these are my neighbors, Roy Harper and Felicity Smoak."
"Can you tell me what happened here tonight?" Misty inquired.
"Well, our landlord Ivan tried to kill me!" Roy spoke up loudly.
"And why'd he try to do that?" Misty asked.
"I kind of owed him money," Roy admitted awkwardly.
"Your landlord tried to kill you over rent?" Scarfe questioned with a crooked eyebrow.
"Not exactly…." Roy replied hesitantly.
"Sir, we need you to be upfront with us if we're going to figure out what happened here," Misty stated as she looked pointedly at Roy.
"What I think my neighbor here is trying to voice is that he wants to help you without incriminating himself," Matt spoke up.
There was a pause as Misty turned her gaze towards Matt.
"Let me guess," she said with a sigh, "Lawyer?"
"Just opened up my own office," Matt answered with a grin.
"Fantastic," Scarfe commented under his breath.
"Very well," Misty stated as she turned her attention back to her notepad, "So the altercation occurred for….reasons. Can you tell me what happened after?"
"Well, Ivan was getting ready to put a bullet in my head while his goons held these two back," Roy replied as he gestured towards Felicity and Matt, "I thought I was dead until he showed up."
"And who is he?" Misty inquired.
"The dude in the hood!" Roy exclaimed with a laugh, "He's the reason you're here, isn't he? This dude with a bow and arrow showed up out of nowhere and took Ivan and his dudes out. It was like something out of a comic book."
"Kind of wish I had been here to see that," Scarfe commented, causing Misty to shoot him a withering glance.
"Did you know this person?" Misty inquired as she turned her attention back towards Roy.
"No way," Roy answered with a shake of his head, "I think I would remember if I had met a dude who could do backflips and shoot a bow and arrow at the same time."
"I can't say I recognized him either," Felicity added, "Though with the hood and the mask, I'm guessing that was the point."
"He wore a mask?" Scarfe questioned, "Like one of those old Zorro type deals around the eyes?"
"Nah, his covered the bottom part of his face," Roy answered with a shake of his head, "Like he was a ninja or something."
"Is there anything you can tell us about him?" Misty asked.
"Not much," Felicity admitted with a shake of her head, "He was kind of on the short side, but that's all I can really say."
"I might be able to help you if I could hear him talk again," Matt added with a shrug, "But beyond that, I'm not sure there's anything I could tell you."
"Very well," Misty said with a sigh as she closed her notepad, "We'll be in contact with you if we have any further questions."
"Good luck, Detectives," Matt replied with a nod.
"Man, this is crazy," Roy commented with a shake of his head as the detectives walked away, "Do you think we'll ever figure out who that guy was?"
Matt made no reply as he kept his head pointed towards the detectives while they headed towards the door, a solemn look on his face.
"Not exactly a lot to go on," Scarfe commented with a sigh as he put his hands in his pockets.
"No, but it will have to do," Misty replied as she tucked her notepad into her coat, "We'll have to have some uniforms look around for anyone else who may have seen something."
"You're certainly focused," Scarfe observed as they walked out the door.
"I know not everything is on the up and up in this city," Misty explained, "But we can't let people go around and take justice into their own hands."
"I don't know," Scarfe replied with a shrug as they made their way towards their car, "Worked the couple of times they tried before."
"Until it didn't," Misty countered solemnly.
"Misty!" a voice called out from the small crowd that had gathered on the other side of the police cordon, "Misty!"
"Uh oh," Scarfe said with a smirk, "Looks like your favorite member of the press wants to have a chat."
Sighing, Misty looked over in the direction the voice had come from. Directly behind one of the police barricades was a middle-aged man of African-American descent. He had short black hair threaded with silver, brown eyes behind thick, square-rimmed glasses, and was dressed in a brown jacket over a plaid, collared shirt and brown slacks.
"How did he get here so quickly?" Misty asked with a tone exasperation.
"You know him," Scare answered with a shake of his head, "He's got ears all around this town."
"What can I do for you, Mr. Ulrich?" Misty questioned as she walked over to the barricade while Scarfe waited for her.
"Oh, so we're on a last name basis now, Detective Knight?" the man retorted as he arched an eyebrow at Misty.
"You know I can't be too familiar with you, Ben," Misty replied with a shake of her head, "It's against regulations."
"Alright Detective, then can you tell me what happened here?" Ben inquired as he pulled out a pen and a pad of paper.
"Someone broke up a drug deal," Misty answered.
"Interesting," Ben replied as he jotted down a few notes, "And do you know anything about this person who broke up the drug deal?"
"Why are you so interested?" Misty inquired with an arched eyebrow.
"I just figured the people of Star City might want to know there's someone out there trying to put a stop to the poison flooding our streets," Ben observed with a shrug.
"What are you driving at here, Ben?" Misty asked as she crossed her arms, "You seem to know more than you're letting on."
"I have sources that say this was the work of a vigilante," Ben replied as he adjusted his glasses and gave Misty a knowing look, "An old-school vigilante."
"One of these days, I'm going to find the leaks in this old tub and plug them up," Misty sighed as she shook her head.
"So, what can you tell me about this guy?" Ben inquired eagerly, "Do we have another example of black excellence on our hands?"
"Black excellence?" Misty echoed with a snort.
"Of course," Ben confirmed with a proud nod, "Star City has a long history of black heroes. Black Canary. Black Lightning."
"Well, I don't know yet if this guy is black," Misty replied with a shake of her head, "It's certainly not in his color scheme."
"What does that mean?" Ben inquired with a crooked eyebrow.
"It means that the guy we're looking for dressed in green and uses a bow and arrow," Misty explained as she began backing away from Ben, "So, I guess you can tell your readers we're looking for Robin Hood."
As Misty left, Ben frowned over the information he had just been given. Looking down at his notes, Ben focused on his last entry, where he had written "wears green & uses arrows." As he read it, an idea struck Ben and a smile spread across his wrinkled face.
At the same time, Misty and Scarfe had almost made it back to their car.
"Hey, lady!" a voice called from nearby, prompting Misty to look over at its source, finding Oliver leaning against one of the barricades and giving her an annoyed look, "What the hell is going on here? I just got off a late shift and I'd appreciate it if I could go to freaking sleep now!"
"I'm sorry, sir, but there was an incident in your building," Misty replied as she gave Oliver a helpless shrug, "They'll let you back in as soon as the crime scene is clear."
As Misty continued on her way to her and Scarfe's car, Oliver sighed while leaning against the barricade. As he did, Oliver felt a drop of water hit him on the forehead. Glancing up, Oliver could see the night sky was blocked out by roiling clouds before rain began falling down on the city.
"Well," Oliver grumbled as he turned his attention back to his apartment building, "Isn't that just typical?"
5 years earlier,
The rain was pouring down hard as Oliver stumbled through the dark jungle, doing his best to keep up with the man who just saved him. Behind him, Oliver could hear the faint sound of men yelling to one another, along with the noise of an alarm, indicating the entire complex was on alert.
As the two ran through the jungle, Oliver's foot caught on the exposed branch of a tree, sending the young man crashing to the muddy ground. Hearing Oliver grunt as he landed, the man skidded to a halt before turning to look back at the younger man.
"You okay, kid?" the man questioned as he hurried to Oliver's side.
"Yeah, I think so," Oliver replied as he pushed himself up onto his hands and knees.
"Good, because we really have to keep moving," the man replied as he took one of Oliver's arms and tried to help the young man to his feet, only for Oliver's legs to buckle underneath him.
"I can't," Oliver said as he fought to catch his breath, "You got to give me a minute, man."
"Kid, really we can't stay here," the man replied as he cast a worried glance in the direction they had come.
"Man, I've been tied up for…." Oliver argued before trailing off as he tried to think, "Shit, I don't know how long. So unless you feel like carrying me, you're going to need to give me a minute."
The man studied Oliver with a clear expression of concern for a moment before he nodded in reply.
"Alright," the man said as he made his way over to a nearby tree and sat with his back against it, prompting Oliver to settle into a seated position on the muddy ground.
"What's your name, kid?" the man questioned.
"Oliver," the young man replied, "Oliver….Smith."
"Nice to meet you, Oliver," the man said with a nod, "My name's Clint."
"What are you doing here?" Oliver asked.
"I was about to ask you the same question," Clint replied with a snort.
"I came here with Robert Queen," Oliver explained, "We were on a boat, but these people sunk it and took us prisoner."
"Why were you on a boat with a fatcat like Robert Queen?" Clint questioned as his brow furrowed.
"He's….kind of my dad," Oliver admitted awkwardly.
"I didn't think Robert Queen had a son," Clint observed, "Only a daughter."
"Yeah, well apparently, I'm a secret love child that got dumped into the foster system," Oliver explained with a wry grin, "Trust me, it was a surprise to me too."
"Well, I guess I should figure out how to get your old man out of there too then," Clint observed with a sigh.
"You….You don't have to worry about that," Oliver replied as his face fell, "He's….He's dead. There's some crazy professor guy experimenting with this drug that makes you see shit. He was using the two of us as guinea pigs, and overdosed Robert."
"Aw jeez, kid," Clint said with a sympathetic expression, "I-I'm sorry."
"Yeah," Oliver sighed as he looked down at the ground, "Back to square one, I guess."
"What were you two doing here anyway?" Clint inquired.
"Robert said he was looking into some kind of business interests here," Oliver answered as he raised his head to look at Clint, "He brought me along so that we could get some bonding time in. Decided he finally wanted to be part of my life, I guess."
"Business interests?" Clint muttered to himself before a look of realization struck him, "The Trans-Pacific Railroad!"
"The what?" Oliver asked in confusion.
"It's this thing your dad, his company, was working on," Clint explained, "They're basically building a tunnel under the Pacific Ocean so they can run one of those bullet trains between Japan and the US."
"And what, you think it runs by this island?" Oliver inquired.
"Exactly!" Clint replied as he excitedly pointed at Oliver.
"And what does that have to do with these druggie pirate people?" Oliver questioned.
"I….don't know," Clint answered as he visibly deflated, "At least not yet."
"What are you doing here anyway?" Oliver pressed.
"Oh, that's easy," Clint chuckled as he reached into his parka and pulled out a badge before showing it to Oliver, "Clint Barton, Agent of SHIELD."
"SHIELD?" Oliver repeated, "Never heard of it."
"Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division," Clint explained, "And honestly, it's probably better that you haven't heard of us. Means we're doing our jobs right."
"And you're an agent of this SHIELD whatever?" Oliver inquired.
"Special agent," Clint corrected before holding up his bow, "That means they let me use this."
"They give their special agents worse equipment?" Oliver asked in confusion.
"I didn't hear you complaining when I saved your butt," Clint countered with a cross expression as he lowered his bow.
"Fair," Oliver relented, "Did SHIELD teach you how to do all that?"
"Nah, I learned that in the circus," Clint replied with a snort.
Oliver's only response was to arch an eyebrow at Clint.
"It's a long story," Clint replied with a wave of his hand, "To get back to your question, SHIELD picked up some intel that something weird was going down here and they sent me to check it out."
"Just you?" Oliver asked in surprise.
"Yeah, but I have some equipment that will let me call in some backup," Clint explained.
At that moment, both Oliver and Clint heard the sound of people approaching through the trees, accompanied by men yelling to each other in a language Oliver didn't understand.
"Speaking of backup," Clint muttered as he rose to his feet before moving over to Oliver's side and offering the young man his hand, "Come on, kid. We can't hang around here any longer."
Taking Clint's hand, Oliver let the older man pull him to his feet before hobbling after him as they both disappeared into the jungle.
A/N: So, this chapter was a lot of fun to write. Hope you guys enjoyed some more action after the last chapter. As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!