Finally. I'm back and I've done it. I've finished the shortest, single-most exasperating chapter I've ever had to write. Now I understand why fights are so hard to capture on paper. Hope I didn't fudge it. Anyway, so sorry for this delay. Had to run around a lot the past few weeks. And thanks, as always, to those who leave a review. You keep me writing! Won't keep you further. Hope you enjoy! XOXO

Chapter 15

Central City, Southern Docks, 11:31 pm

Oliver struggled against the vines that coiled around his feet. He quickly maneuvered to retrieve his knife but before he could even unsheathe it, another vine caught his right hand. And before he could even blink, his left.

"Nuh-uh-uh," the woman tutted. And then a malevolent smirk marred her face as she clenched both of her fists.

Her intent was clear. The vines responded.

Oliver felt them pull taut against his body, binding him, forcing him into a penitent pose. He was helpless against them. The more he struggled, the more they tightened. He gritted his teeth.

She walked towards him then, in that particularly sauntering gait of hers, confident in her victory. And as soon as she was close enough, she studied him for a moment then ran her fingers appreciatively along his jaw, his lips, his throat.

He felt himself responding to her nearness. His lips curled in distaste.

"Interesting," her sultry voice noted. "Too bad, you'll be in such poor company."

He fought his body, forced it still as he bided his time, waiting, watching.

"Oh, well, time for a goodnight kiss. Pucker up," she said as she swooped in to deliver her final blow.

Oliver capitalized on her forward motion to butt his head forcefully against hers. She stumbled back in blind pain. The vines loosened around him with the loss of her concentration.

Just enough to loosen around his hand.

Just enough for him to reach his knife.

But not enough to spare him from the blood curdling scream that erupted from her lips.

She advanced towards him with naked fury in her eyes and a whip of thorny vine in her hand.

Trapped, Oliver's eyes closed reflexively as his body anticipated the lash.

But it never came.

Central City, S.T.A.R. Labs, 11:32 pm

The crazed female punched Barry. Hard.

And he felt it.

And he felt it again when she slammed him against the wall.

His knees gave out just in time to see her come after Caitlin. He tried to move but his body wouldn't.

Fortunately for him, Caitlin was no wilting flower. As the clown-faced woman swung towards her, she discharged the full power of the defibrillator on their unwitting assailant and sent the hag flying through the air.

Unfortunately for them, the wacko just laughed it off – cackling hysterically like having been zapped with a thousand volts was the best thing ever.

But all that changed in a snap, when the hard edge that laced her voice belied her almost manic glee. "I do love a broad with spunk!" she gritted as she sprung from the floor and made for Caitlin yet again.

Central City, Southern Docks, 11:32 pm

Digg had doubled-back once he realized that he'd lost his target and Oliver. And it looked like he came back just in time to stop the woman from flaying his friend alive. He caught the tail-end of the herbaceous whip on reflex and pulled. His suit kicked in, giving him a powerful boost that allowed him to forcefully snap it from her hand.

That turned her vicious anger on him.

And before Digg knew it, he was already on the defensive against a full-on assault, countering punch after punch, kick after kick.

She was relentless, ruthless, brutal, putting a surprising heft to her blows.

His helmet cracked. And he was just glad that he could still take a hit. Or two.

Then three.

Four.

Six.

And then he saw an opening and took it. His fist connected with her face, his foot with her gut. And finally, finally, he was able to put some distance between them.

He threw his helmet off. Took a breath. Then primed his body to attack. But before he could strike again, he was lifted off his feet by the neck. By what, he didn't particularly know. Digg dangled precariously from the ground. Helpless. Exposed.

She picked herself up and sauntered towards him then, a saturnine smile on her face. "Sorry, darling," she said as she squeezed her right hand. "You're plucked."

The coils that held him constricted. He gagged. He choked. He struggled.

Until he heard an arrow swish through the air and slice through whatever had him bound.

He kissed the dirt with a hard thud.

Central City, S.T.A.R. Labs, 11:33 pm

No! Barry thought as he launched himself at their attacker. He didn't care that he was winded or that he was aching all over. He didn't care that he didn't have his speed. He caught her heel – just barely – but he brought her down and that was what counted. Caitlin needed time to get away.

"Oh, come on, sweetie!" the batty female groused as she fell. "You don't have the Juice. To. Take. Me!" she angrily said, punctuating each of the last syllables with a kick.

Barry did all he could to hold on.

Central City, Southern Docks, 11:33 pm

Oliver saw the woman call the giant creeper vine that snatched Digg from the ground like he weighed nothing. Come on, come on, the archer thought as he viciously ran the serrated edge of his blade against the thick tendrils that trapped him.

Once the last of them snapped, he scrambled for his bow, nocked an arrow and fired.

The sight of Digg falling told him that he'd succeeded. But before their enemy's livid scream confirmed it, he was already moving quickly toward higher terrain – making for the shipping containers at a dead run. He wasn't waiting for her to turn on him. He expected it and wanted all the advantages distance and elevation could give him.

What he didn't expect though were the thorny projectiles that accompanied her wrath. He dodged the spikes – narrowly – only to be hounded by the large, serpentine vines that suddenly sprouted from the ground to come after him.

The earth trembled. The ground shook. He stumbled to a halt as tree roots punched through the soil beneath him. He took a breath and regrouped. This was the environment that bred him. His body knew this by instinct honed. He sprung up and began to trust his feet.

He managed to elude the vines that grappled at him but he couldn't see Digg through the sudden lushness of his surroundings. He can't see their target either – which was more worrying. So he waited, used his ears.

There was little warning for the thorny jungle vine that swung against his head. Only reflex saved him from getting creamed.

She was right behind him.

xxxxXXXXxxxx

Cisco circled his drone back just in time to see Oliver in a fight. "What the actual frak?!" he exclaimed. The sylvan denseness of the previously barren soil bed of Sector 4 would've astounded him, if not for the incongruity of Oliver's fencing with seemingly sentient tree limbs.

The woman used her thorny weapon like a flail, aggressively wielding it to snap at Oliver's head - all while she directed smaller strangler vines to grab whatever they could of him. She pushed him higher and higher on the root he was on - so much so that he'd landed himself on one of its hanging limbs.

"A little help here, Cisco," Oliver huffed as he heard the familiar whir of the drone. He needed help - and fast. It was difficult to balance himself on the narrow aerial root while dodging her attacks. An inch either way and he'd fall to a very painful death. Stop and he'd get caught. "Any time now," he gritted, as he used his blade to slash at the tendrils that hounded him. He took another step back.

"Hold on," Cisco said as he jostled his machine into position. It wasn't an easy task to train the drone's laser sights on a target that was moving amidst the abundant forest cover.

The woman advanced with her weapon yet again. But this time, Oliver had been ready for it. He ducked and lunged, thrusting his blade towards her body.

But before he hit her flesh, a tendril caught his hand, crushing his wrist enough for him to lose the knife.

She capitalized on that and kicked him squarely on his chest.

He stumbled back but his feet held.

And then she came gunning for him again.

Cisco aimed his laser on the woman but her furious drive to get at Oliver made him miss. The laser cut through the root they were standing on instead. "Oh, shit!" he muttered as he saw both of them fall against the root and slide down on it.

Oliver and the woman landed in a tangled heap. She grappled him but he reversed her hold quickly enough to pin her down.

She struggled to unseat him but he was too heavy.

"Yield," he snarled as he trapped her arms with his hands.

She softened underneath him. But the glint in her eye kept him from trusting it.

"You really are something special," she laughed - her seductive chuckle teasing.

The air around them turned heavy. He felt his body relaxing.

"Yes, handsome. Just feel it," she coaxed.

"No!" he protested. But he was losing control. He felt his body submit.

And the next thing he knew, she was on top of him.

She used that advantage to choke him.

xxxxXXXXxxxx

Cisco kept his drone steady. It had looked like Oliver had the upper hand. But that turned on a dime. He kept his sight trained on the woman as he urged his laser to finish charging. "Come on, Baby," he gritted.

Once the light turned green, he fired.

He had nicked her bare arm and it had been enough to take her attention off Oliver and turn it on his drone.

"Uh-oh! Not good! Not good!" Cisco muttered to himself as he saw her scream. The earth cracked and sprouted greenery. He hurriedly maneuvered his baby away from it. His lasers were only at 50% and that was about all he's got.

But he wasn't fast enough. The rotors of his quadcopter protested as several vines shot out and clung to them.

Critical alerts popped all over his screen. With two engines failing, his drone was going to go down – and there was nothing he could do about it.

Central City, S.T.A.R. Labs, 11:34 pm

Hold on, Barry, Caitlin thought as she hurriedly filled a syringe with enough sedative to down an elephant while Barry suffered through the impact of the intruder's attacks. Barry wanted her to run. Not gonna' happen.

She didn't know who this woman was, only that she was somehow connected to this case. And she wasn't going to let her go, period. As the syringe topped out, she quickly drew it out and stuck their assailant – emptied it into her, right where the back of her neck was marked with a scarred 'X'.

It stopped her from beating Barry to a more bloody pulp – if only for a second. Then the hag took the syringe from her neck, turned at her with crazy eyes.

Caitlin took several steps back out of shocked fear.

"You're making me want to break the rules, sugar!" she said as a sinister smile formed on her face. "And that ain't gonna' come cheap!" she threatened as she turned on Barry and used the syringe to stab and puncture his lung.

"No!" Caitlin screamed, scrambling towards him as Barry struggled for breath. But before she could get to him, the woman caught her by her shirt and flung her towards all of the equipment.

"Quit yappin'!" the manic blonde spat as Caitlin whimpered and lost consciousness. "I just did ya' a favor. He was gonna' die anyway."

Central City, Southern Docks, 11:34 pm

Oliver coughed and sputtered. Getting choked was no fun. No fun at all, he thought as he tried to clear his throat.

The sickening crunch of metal called his attention. Cisco's drone.

He forced himself to turn on his belly and pushed himself up, reclaimed his bow and set his sights on the woman who was proving to be a whole lot of trouble. He retrieved an arrow… steadied his breathing… spotted his range.

But just before he could shoot, Digg shot out from out of nowhere and tackled the woman to the ground.

"Uunnnh…" Digg groaned, feeling that flying tackle on his own body. It, unfortunately, had also taken the wind out of him.

The stillness around him prompted a quick check on the body beneath him.

He'd knocked their target out.

His breath whooshed out in relief as he rolled away from her.

Finally!

Central City, S.T.A.R. Labs, 11:37 pm

It was too bright, Felicity thought as she came to. She blinked the starkness out of her eyes as she found herself lying on the floor with a terrible headache. She touched her forehead only to find a tender lump.

She tried to remember what happened.

There are two of them. Of what? Her brain struggled.

And then it all came back to her.

After she squealed her realization over the comms, she had seen Joe's body fly across the cortex, flung by a seemingly invisible hand. And then she had seen her – the clown-faced, crazy-eyed blonde, who threw a baseball bat at her just like a dart and knocked her out.

Joe!

The thought had her sitting up despite her headache.

Central City, Quay Alley, 11:40 pm

Oliver and Digg made their way to the van with their quarry. They've bound her using a pair of space-age handcuffs Cisco had given to Digg and used one of Oliver's special cable net arrows to cage her and make it easier to carry her between them.

They both silently hoped that she'd stay down the rest of the way home. They didn't really know how they'd be able to contain her abilities.

They were just about to reach the van when Cisco came rushing out.

"It's bad. It's S.T.A.R. Labs. They've been attacked," Cisco said, almost tripping over his words.

Oliver's stomach dropped. Digg's heart almost stopped.

And then all three of them scrambled to get themselves packed up and ready to go.

Fire away! Reviews, favs and follows are always welcome! Kisses!