Chapter 11

Barry, Kara, Alex, Winn, James, Conner, Tess, J'onn, M'yrnn, and Mon-El were in a bar enjoying karaoke night as everyone took turns going up on stage and performing a song of their choosing. Kara was the first to go up on the stage as she proudly performed "Intergalactic" by Beastie Boys.

After Kara was finished with her performance, the next person to go up on stage was James, who sang "Tears Away", to Kara's and Winn's excitement.

"Take your shirt off!" Winn yelled jokingly, as everyone laughed.

After James was finished, Alex went up on stage next and sang "I Drove All Night" by Cyndi Lauper with genuine sadness in her voice.

"Oh, who let her pick this song?" Kara wondered, as she and everyone else looked at Alex with sympathy regarding her breakup with Maggie.

Next, J'onn went up on stage and performed "So Emotional" by Whitney Houston in his own way, though the performance was still pretty good.

And then his father M'yrnn went up on stage and did a surprisingly good performance of "Suspicious Minds" by Elvis Presley.

Next, Barry killed it with his performance of "Glad You Came" by The Wanted, to everyone's astonishment.

"Whoa, Barry's got some pipes," Winn commented.

"No kidding," Kara agreed, as she remembered her and Barry singing with each other in the musical dream world that Music Meister had trapped them in last year.

After Barry, it was Tess' turn. She sang "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" by Eurythmics as everyone was impressed by her performance as well.

Winn decided to go up on stage next as he was about to perform "Take Me On" by A-ha. Before he could start singing, he froze upon noticing on TV a news report about Winslow 'Toyman' Schott Sr. being found dead in prison.

"That's Winn's dad," Kara said in alarm, also noticing the news report. "Guys."

Barry, Tess, Conner, Mon-El, J'onn, and M'yrnn all saw the report as well.

"Toyman," Conner noted with a stunned look.

Visibly shocked and upset, Winn dropped the microphone on the floor and left the bar.

Winn stopped in front of the dumpster in the alleyway when Barry and James came out of the bar after him.

"Hey, um, I'm... I'm okay, it's... it's okay, just..." Winn stammered.

"Look, Winn, if you need to talk, we're here for you," Barry said, with sympathy.

"He's just gone, right? That's all," Winn said, conflicted feelings about his father swirling around in his mind. "I mean, it's not like anything's gonna change. I never talked to him, I never saw him, I..."

"That doesn't mean you never felt him," James pointed out.

"What's that, I'm supposed to be feeling something, right?" Winn scoffed. "I don't feel anything."

"Your dad may have been dick but he was still your dad," Barry said. "I know you hated him for everything he's done, but maybe deep down, you..."

"Just go inside," Winn said.

James patted Winn's shoulder. "I'm not going back in."

"Give it time, man," Barry said. "We're all here for you."

"Okay," Winn said.

(Next day, National City Cemetery)

Kara, Alex, Barry, Conner, Tess, Winn, J'onn, Mon-El, and the priest were gathered around Winslow Sr.'s coffin.

"Winslow Schott Sr. was a man with many demons," the priest spoke. "As we lay him to rest, we may not celebrate his life, but we can examine it, and perhaps forgive a troubled soul of its transgressions. Would anyone care to speak on behalf of the deceased?"

Everyone glanced at Winn as Kara patted him on the shoulder to provide him comfort. As the coffin was lowered into the hole in the ground, Winn picked up a handful of dirt and threw it angrily on the coffin.

"Winn?"

Winn turned to see that his mother Mary had arrived.

"Do you recognize me? It's been a while," Mary said, as she neared him.

Winn glared at her. "I know how long it's been. You just missed him."

"Well, I wouldn't say that," Mary said. "I never missed him. I'm not here for him."

"Oh, so you're here for me?" Winn asked, sarcastically. "Wow, Mom, it's a little late."

"You have every right to be furious with me," Mary said in understanding.

"Oh, thank you, thank you for your permission," Winn sneered.

"But I am so happy to see you, honey, you don't understand it yet, but we're finally safe," Mary said.

Just then, 'Jack in the Box" music started playing from inside the coffin as Kara, Conner, and Barry instantly realized what was going on. The three sped off and returned a second later in their superhero suits.

"Everybody get down!" Supergirl ordered. She pushed Winn and Mary to their knees and shielded them as the casket exploded, while The Flash sped everyone else to a safe vicinity.

Superboy quickly extinguished the flames with his super-breath.

Mary stared around in shock. "Bastard always wanted to go out with a bang."

(D.E.O.)

"I hate to ask, but I have to," Kara said to Winn, as they, Barry, Conner, and Tess headed downstairs.

"He's dead, Kara," Winn snapped, his arms crossed against his chest.

"Winn, are you sure..."

"He's dead," Winn interrupted Barry. "Look, I had the warden and two separate medical examiners sign off on the body. I had them cross-check his dental records and his fingerprints just to be sure. The dude in the box was my father. Okay?"

"But why would he blow himself up at his own funeral?" Conner wondered, as they entered the main room.

"Maybe for the headline," James suggested.

"Yeah," Winn scoffed. "Toyman's last trick. Sounds about right."

"What if we're dealing with a copycat who is hell-bent on following Toyman's work?" Tess suggested.

"That's what I was thinking too," Barry nodded. "On my Earth, we had a criminal who called himself The Trickster. He used bombs just like Toyman did. There was another guy who worked together with The Trickster and used the same M.O. when he found The Trickster's old lair."

"You think this might be the same scenario?" Conner asked.

"Come on, no one's crazy enough to follow my dad's work," Winn protested.

"There is not necessarily a limit to how crazy some people can become," Tess pointed out.

"I still think we should run a full mass spectrometry on the explosive residue, Winn," J'onn instructed. "It may tell us who's helping your father."

"No one is helping him!" Winn insisted, angrily. "Seriously, he was a crazy person! Crazy people do crazy things, like, oh, I don't know, mass murder!"

"Winn, I know this is hard for you to believe, but you need to face the possibility that your father had some help," Barry said.

Alex entered and turned to Winn. "Well, I'm happy to report that Mary has a clean bill of health. She wants to talk to you."

"Yeah, she's had twenty years to talk to me," Winn grumbled, as he sat down at his computer.

As M'yrnn entered with a box of pizza, J'onn and Alex headed off with him, while Mon-El approached Kara.

"Hey, Kara," Mon-El said, as she turned to him. "Hey, we, uh, we never talked."

The two went into the conference room.

"Hey, I, uh... I owe you an apology," Mon-El said.

Kara frowned. "For what?"

"When we were together, I never really got how it must've been for you to find out that I'd been lying," Mon-El told her. "About being Daxam's prince, about a lot of stuff. And I'm sorry that I did that to you."

"I do really appreciate you saying that," Kara said, leaning against the table.

"Of course," Mon-El nodded.

"Are you okay?" Kara asked.

"Uh..." Mon-El sat down in a chair. "Yeah, Imra... Imra lied to me. About, uh... about something big with Legion business, and Brainy was in on it too."

"Oh, wow," Kara said, incredulously.

"Yeah," Mon-El sighed. "When your wife conspires with your best friend..."

"It feels like garbage," Kara finished, with understanding.

"There's something else I wanted to talk to you about," Mon-El said. "It's about you and Barry."

Kara frowned. "What about us?"

"It's just that I've noticed you two have been, um, spending a lot of time together, not that it's any of my business... But I was just wondering..." Mon-El paused for a moment. "Do you have feelings for him?"

Kara took a breath as she thought about it for a few moments. "Mon-El, honestly, I... about Barry, I don't know what I'm feeling. I mean, we've been through quite a bit together and helped each other out when we needed it. And he helped me get past what I was feeling when I was still grieving over you."

"Kara, all I want to say is, if you care about him, I'll respect that," Mon-El said. "I know he's your friend and that he's a good man."

(Later)

Supergirl, Superboy, The Flash, Tess, James, Winn, Mary, and all the D.E.O. agents rushed towards the entrance of the headquarters and looked outside. They saw a horde of green and gold metallic monkeys flying around in the evening sky.

"What the hell is that?" James wondered.

"It's a message, for me," Mary stated.

The main monkey, whose body was entirely gold and was bigger than all the others, was creating an airborne message out of smoke that read 'SURRENDER MARY'.

"Flying monkeys?" Superboy said, incredulously.

"Let's hope the Wicked Witch doesn't show up," Tess remarked, tapping her watch as she transformed into Red Tornado.

"Here we go," The Flash said, taking a fighting stance.

The monkeys flew into the D.E.O., shattering the windows on the way in and started wreaking havoc around the facility.

"The big one is mine," Superboy announced, before flying outside towards the bigger flying monkey.

The agents fired their guns at the flying monkeys, while The Flash sped around destroying several of the flying monkeys by hurling lightning at them and punching through them with a vibrating fist, Supergirl flew around destroying many via speed-blitz and heat vision, and Tess destroyed some of the monkeys with blasts of air.

Outside, Superboy flew right through the large golden monkey, shattering it into many pieces upon impact. He made his way back to the D.E.O. and found that all the monkeys had been destroyed.

"Well, your mom's right, somebody is definitely helping your dad out," James said to Winn, as they walked over to where Barry, Conner, and Tess were examining some of the remnants of the flying monkeys.

"I honestly just wish she would leave," Winn said, bitterly. "Like, who the hell does she think she is anyway, huh? Like, she just doesn't get to walk back into my life after twenty years. I did not get a say in her walking out. I definitely get a say in her walking back in."

"It's a fair point," James said.

"Winn, don't you think you at least owe your mom a benefit of the doubt?" Conner asked. "I mean, she must've had a reason for leaving. The very least you could do is hear her out."

"You think that I should?" Winn asked. As James chuckled, Winn looked at him incredulously. "No! Dude, no. Don't think that I should."

"Brother, it doesn't matter what I think, it matters what you need," James pointed out.

"Winn, you have to admit, you owe her that much," Barry said. "It's obvious she wants to reconnect with you and make it up to you."

Winn sighed. "You know what, even if... Even if my dad had threatened to kill me, she could have done a thousand other things. Gone to the police, the FBI. No. Instead, she decided to abandon me. And you know what, she has to deal with the consequences. You know, if she'd have stayed, then maybe, you know, we could've had a... You know, a great relationship."

"Let me stop you right there," James said. "That is a dangerous thought exercise designed purely just to piss you off."

"It's not too late to have a relationship with your mother," Tess said to Winn. "She seems to genuinely care about you, which is more than I could say about both my biological father and my adopted one. Not everyone is lucky enough to have caring parents in their life."

"Family is precious, Winn," Barry said. "Cherish it while you still can. I lost my mom when I was eleven and even time travel couldn't bring her back without messing things up. Your mom, on the other hand, is still alive, which means you still have a chance to make things right with her."

It was silent for a few moments before James moved closer to Winn. "When my dad died, my mom did everything for me and my sister. She worked night and day, she busted her ass, and I still blamed her. Because she was the only one there. And that was rough. We got over it, though. You know, it took a long time, and a lot of forgiveness, and me taking responsibility for my part in that. You can't change what happened, but she's here now. It's up to you what you wanna do with that."

In the workshop, Barry, Tess, Conner, Winn, and Mary had reassembled one of the flying monkeys and were examining it to figure out who had built them. When the others weren't looking, Mary removed the side panel from the monkey and looked at it, noticing it contained a symbol of three W's inside a circle. She pocketed the panel and turned to Barry, Tess, Conner, and Winn.

"I could use a break," Mary said. "I'm gonna head downstairs, rest for a little bit."

She left the workshop and snuck into the armory, where she stole a gun.

After realizing that the panel was missing from the monkey and that Mary had been gone for a while, Barry, Tess, Conner, and Winn returned to the main room.

"Have you guys seen my mom?" Winn asked with concern, as they approached Kara, Mon-El, and James.

"I thought she was helping you guys put Humpty Dumpty together again," Mon-El said.

"She was, but she's gone," Barry said. "She must've taken the side panel from that monkey's gear chamber with her."

Suddenly, a transmission appeared on the screen, followed a moment later by a video showing Mary in some kind of facility entrapped in a large mechanical claw.

"I have your mother, but you can trade your life for hers," an unknown female voice announced. "She's hanging around at the old Wiggins Game Company factory. But hurry, Junior, the pressure is on."

Winn, don't come here!" Mary pleaded, before the video ended.

"I'll go," Kara said.

"Me too," Mon-El said.

"So am I," Barry said.

"Of course I'm going," Conner said.

"No one even has to ask if I'm going," Tess said.

"Not without me," Winn stated.

"That's exactly what she wants," James pointed out.

"I've spent my entire life trying to fight off the part of me that's like my dad, but now I could use it, let's go," Winn said in a tone that indicated he wasn't taking 'no' for an answer."

(Wiggins Game Company Factory)

Supergirl, The Flash, Superboy, Tess, Winn, James, and Mon-El entered the factory.

"Any ideas?" James asked.

"She was in that claw apparatus," Mon-El said.

"Suspended from above," Winn added.

"We'll find her," Supergirl said.

The Flash sped around the room and returned a second later. "Nothing here. We should check another part of the factory."

The assembled heroes heard a noise behind them and turned around to see a toy airplane flying towards them.

"What is that?" James asked.

"It's a plane," Mon-El noted.

"No, it's not, it's a bomb!" Winn realized in horror.

Superboy and Supergirl stepped in front of the others as the 'toy plane' crashed to the floor and exploded. Then, several more of those planes appeared.

"Go find Mary!" Supergirl ordered, as she, Flash, and Mon-El started destroying the incoming planes, while Superboy, Tess, James, and Winn headed off.

"Welcome, welcome to the Willard Walter Wiggins Game Company," the same female voice from the transmission at the D.E.O. earlier announced over the speakers.

As Superboy, Tess, James, and Winn ran through the facility, a toy truck with a flamethrower on top appeared and pursued the four heroes.

"Oh, man, we got a thing on our twelve!" Winn exclaimed.

"That's our six!" James corrected.

"I'm very stressed right now!" Winn said.

Superboy spun around as the toy truck fired flames at him, but he was unaffected. He fired his heat vision, blasting the toy truck into pieces.

Then, more toy trucks, which were smaller, appeared and pursued Superboy, Tess, James, and Winn. Superboy fired a blast of heat vision at each truck, effortlessly destroying all of them.

Meanwhile, Supergirl, Flash, and Mon-El had destroyed all the toy planes.

"So glad Junior brought his friends," the female voice said.

Supergirl then spotted Mary's kidnapper running around a corner. "There she is," the Girl of Steel muttered, before going after the woman.

"Heat vision, freeze breath, and so many points of articulation, I think I'll keep you," the female voice stated.

Supergirl was walking along the hall looking for the woman when she was suddenly encased within a plastic rectangle resembling a life-sized action figure case. Unable to move, Supergirl unleashed her heat vision in an attempt to break out of the plastic, but the plastic was unaffected.

"It's so rare to find a vintage superhero in mint condition," the female voice boasted.

The Flash and Mon-El entered and rushed down the hall. They both stopped in their tracks upon seeing Supergirl trapped in the plastic.

"Supergirl," The Flash and Mon-El both called out in concern.

They went to help her, but Mon-El was knocked to the floor by the tail of a large mechanical T-Rex, who roared at him and Flash. As the T-Rex charged at the two heroes, Mon-El rolled out of the way while The Flash sped over to the plastic rectangle containing Supergirl.

"Hang on, Kara," The Flash said, as the T-Rex swung its tail at him.

The Flash sped out of the way as the tail hit the plastic rectangle behind him, freeing Supergirl from it.

"You okay?" Mon-El asked Supergirl, and she gave him a thumbs up in response.

The T-Rex charged at Mon-El, who dived over a table, grabbing a plastic blue sheet from it. The T-Rex's foot landed on the table, breaking it in half. Mon-El swung the blue sheet, hitting the T-Rex in the head with it. He maneuvered behind the T-Rex, wrapping the sheet around its tail before slamming the T-Rex against the wall. He then leapt into the air and wrapped the sheet around the T-Rex's head, pulling the T-Rex to the ground as it was destroyed.

"Nice trick," The Flash commented, as he and Supergirl approached Mon-El.

"Cloth magic," Mon-El said.

Meanwhile, Winn, James, Superboy, and Tess located the room Mary was held in and entered. Winn rushed over to the controls and pulled one of the levers, freeing his mother from the mechanical claw, while Superboy threw Mary's kidnapper against the wall, knocking her out.

The team were once again at the bar as Mon-El was on stage singing "Carry On A Wayward Son" by Kansas. His performance was way off-pitch as everyone in the crowd was unimpressed.

After Mon-El was finished, Winn and Mary went up on the stage and performed "Take Me On" by A-ha together.

"It wouldn't have been as easy getting through everything that's happened this past year without you here," Kara said to Barry, as the two were sitting in a corner together.

"You know I'm always here if you need me, Kara," Barry assured her.

"I know, and that goes both ways," Kara said. She paused for a moment before looking at Barry with a serious expression. "Mon-El told me that he, Brainy, and Imra came here from the future on purpose. That they're here to prevent something horrible from happening."

A stern look appeared on Barry's face. "They came here intentionally to change the future? Do they not know risky that is?"

"I know," Kara nodded. "But I don't think they would come here unless they didn't have another choice. But from what you've told us about Flashpoint, what if they end up actually make things even worse?"

"If that happens, they're gonna have to live with the decision they've made," Barry said, before letting out a sigh. "The truth is, you don't know how your actions may affect the future. All you can do is hope for the best. As I've learned the hard way, you can't remove the mistakes you've made, but you can make up for them by doing right by everybody."

Kara smiled at him as they looked at each other with consoling looks. A few moments later, she and Barry leaned towards each other and their lips crashed as they started kissing passionately.

Earth-1

(Star City, Night)

Oliver Queen, Roy Harper, Earth-2 Laurel Lance, and Slade Wilson were engaging a group of thugs in a warehouse. The four of them easily avoided their opponents' attacks as Oliver and Roy struck them down with their bows, Laurel sent several men flying back with her Canary Cry while attacking others with her baton, and Slade effortlessly sliced them down with his sword and shot some down with his gun.

Since the deaths of Felicity, Samantha, Rene, and Curtis on Lian Yu almost a year ago, Oliver had returned to taking a harder stance on crime and targeting corrupt people on The List like he had done during his first year as The Hood. For years, he had lost sight of his true mission and, if he hadn't, maybe some of the people he'd lost would still be alive. For instance, had he put Prometheus in the ground before the madman had gotten the chance to set foot on Lian Yu, his teammates could still be alive. While Oliver had never liked resorting to lethal methods, someone as evil and insane as Chase couldn't be reasoned with and needed to be put down for good. And Oliver knew killing remorseless enemies, especially when there was no other choice, didn't make him a monster or a serial killer. As for his so-called 'confession' last year after Chase had taken him, Oliver had never meant what he said. He had simply told Chase what the latter wanted to hear.

Not too much had happened this past year in Star City. Aside from the occasional takedown of a street thug, drug dealer, or someone on The List, Team Arrow had dealt with Vigilante, who had turned out to be a man named Vincent Sobel, a former CCPD detective and Dinah Drake's old partner. The reason for Sobel's return to Star City had been to gun down Oliver and his team out of revenge as he had blamed them for Dinah's death. However, Team Arrow had taken Sobel down and he was currently locked up in A.R.G.U.S. Then, there had been the mission with Slade when Oliver had gone with him to find the Slade's son Joe, only to discover that Joe had become a mercenary and was the leader of a criminal organization called the Jackals.

Now, Team Arrow, along with Slade, was currently dealing with a drug lord named Ricardo Diaz aka The Dragon, who had recently shown up in Star City. As Oliver, Roy, Laurel, and Slade continued taking down the thugs, a gunshot rang out and Oliver turned to see that Diaz himself had appeared.

"Green Arrow, been looking forward to meeting you," Diaz sneered.

Oliver raised his bow, aiming an arrow at Diaz. "Ricardo Diaz, you have failed this city!"

"No, I'm gonna take over this city!" Diaz snarled. "And when I do, not even you and your team will be able to stop me!"

He raised his gun preparing to fire, but Oliver quickly fired an arrow, knocking the gun out of Diaz's hand.

"I disagree," Oliver snarled back, before he and Diaz rushed each other and engaged in a hand-to-hand fight.

As they exchanged punches and kicks and blocked each other's attacks, it was evident that Diaz was quite skilled and able to hold his own against Oliver, who had been trained by some of the most efficient and deadliest fighters in the world. However, Oliver was clearly more competent as he grabbed Diaz's arm and threw him to the ground. Diaz pulled out his knife and growled as he lunged it at Oliver, who kicked the knife out of Diaz's hand.

"Stay down!" Oliver ordered, aiming an arrow at Diaz.

"You wanna shoot me? Do it!" Diaz taunted. He pointed to his chest. "Right here." As Oliver just kept the arrow pointed at him, Diaz added, "See, that's your problem. It's always been your problem!"

"I'm not gonna kill you," Oliver growled. "I only kill when it's absolutely necessary. But I am gonna make sure you get put in a hole where you'll never be able to hurt anyone again."

"Unfortunately for you, I'm not as merciful as the kid," Slade announced, as he appeared next to Oliver and stabbed Diaz in the chest with his sword.

Diaz gasped in pain as Slade retracted the sword from his chest. Then, Slade swung the sword and chopped Diaz's head off. This was to make sure that Diaz would stay dead, considering that people – such as Malcolm Merlyn when he had been seemingly killed by Oliver on the night of The Undertaking, Oliver when he had been stabbed and kick off a mountain by Ra's al Ghul, or Slade himself back on Lian Yu when Oliver had stabbed him in the eye – who were thought to had been dead from seemingly fatal stab wounds turned out to be alive.

"There's no coming back from that," Slade stated.

"Nope," Oliver agreed, not at all bothered by Slade taking Diaz's life.

(Arrow lair)

"Thank you for your help in stopping Diaz tonight, Slade," Oliver said, as they, Roy, and Laurel were in the bunker.

"Anytime," Slade replied. "I should get back to looking for my son."

"Take care, Slade," Oliver said.

"You too, kid," Slade said, before leaving.

"That makes one more criminal we managed to put in the ground," Laurel said. "That's another win for us."

"It's only a matter of time before someone else shows up in Star City and causes trouble," Oliver pointed out.

"And we'll deal with them when that happens," Roy said. "In the meantime, I'm gonna head home and call it a night. I'll see you two tomorrow."

Roy also left the bunker, leaving Oliver and Laurel alone.

"So, Oliver, ready to have that conversation we mentioned earlier?" Laurel asked.

"You mean about the fact that you think us being together would be awkward just because we used to date each other's doppelgangers?" Oliver asked.

"You have to admit that it would be quite awkward when you think about it," Laurel said. "I mean, every time I look at you, it's hard not to see him. The Ollie I knew."

"Laurel, I'd be lying if I said that the same didn't apply to me with the Laurel I knew whenever I see you, but I'm willing to look past that and give you and me a real shot if that's what you want," Oliver said.

"Really?" Laurel asked, incredulously. "You're not only saying that because I'm the doppelganger of the person you loved for most of your life?"

"Of course not," Oliver shook his head. "Whatever happens between you and me doesn't have to have anything to do with what we had with our late doppelgangers. What do you say?"

"I say, um, if you're really serious about this, I wouldn't mind trying things out just to see where they will lead," Laurel said.

"Okay then," Oliver nodded.

With that, he leaned towards Laurel and kissed her. To Oliver's relief, Laurel wasted no time returning the kiss.

I decided to take a break from the Supergirl/Flash stuff during the second half of this chapter and focus a bit on the Arrow portion of things, mainly to show what's been going on in Earth-1 Star City and get rid of Diaz. In case anyone is wondering how Roy is permanently back in Star City without drawing unwanted attention, he was pardoned by President Brayden at Oliver's request a few weeks after the Lian Yu incident. Also, Earth-2 Laurel has already started using the Black Canary codename and her suit is the one from Arrow Season 8.

While Barry and Kara's relationship will definitely be permanent in this series, Oliver and Earth-2 Laurel, who have known each other for over a year now, are just trying things out to see where their relationship will lead. Even I'm not sure at this point if it's gonna be temporary or permanent.