Nevermore was loud.

I found myself defaulting to my mindscape in my unconsciousness, a useful technique I'd developed to avoid the necessity of using my mirror, to be ready for action whenever someone managed to knock me out. The Emoticlones were gathered in a sort of throne room, a statue of me in all my white, post-Trigon glory in the center, the multi-colored Ravens arranged in a semi-circle around it.

"We must go about this wisely. We're dealing with prominent Leaguers." -said Wisdom.

Courage scoffed. "It's Black Canary and a bunch of copycat archers. We can take 'em. Come to think of it, how come we didn't?"

Timidity spoke up, a rare feat indeed. "They'd hate us...if they knew we attacked the Canary, they wouldn't tolerate our existence anymore."

"We're rusty. Dinah Lance outplayed us. Move on." -I ordered, taking my seat right in the middle of them.

Courage crossed her arms glumly. "Fine, but I want a major ass-kicking soon. We've been pacifists way too long."

Rage agreed with a monstrous snarl. I grimaced a bit; Courage and Rage thinking alike was usually disastrous.

Sloth yawned. "Let's just phase out and forget about it, man."

"No." -Wisdom and I said at the same time. The Yellow Emoticlone deferred to me. "We need to figure out why they thought kidnapping me was a good idea."

Wisdom nodded. "It's true. We are supposedly under the Batman's protection. Black Canary is the current public face of the Justice League. She would not openly defy the Dark Knight if she didn't think we could help."

Love sighed. "Or maybe they're just desperate about finding Roy and went with it when you randomly popped up in Star City."

Wisdom hummed, conceding the possibility. Those two had gotten a little too chummy, of late.

"I guess the only way to find out is to wake up. You are dismissed. Except for you, Rage."

The Emoticlones promptly vanished, except for a confused Rage. I rose, narrowing my eyes at her. I approached my once-dreaded emotion confidently, betraying no fear.

"There's a significant chance you will be called upon soon."

Rage's feral grin would never fail to unsettle, but I stood my ground. "You've been out of any significant action for some time, so I think it fair to warn you: we cooperate. We are one and the same. I give you some measure of free will, and you give me victory. This does not mean you'll take over. Not even for a second. Act otherwise, and you'll find yourself buried so far beneath my subconscious that your boredom here in Nevermore will be your most treasured memory."

Leaving no room for argument - or whatever the demonic sounding equivalent could be - I dispelled my Rage, and prepared to return to reality.

For once, I didn't awake with a start.

I don't know how long I stayed in that groggy, half-unconscious state. I do know that I woke up annoyed, because I had to listen through various bits of their discussion regarding my immediate future.

"We have to let her go! If Br-Batman catches wind of this, Dinah..."

"He can take it up with me. We need information, and she's our best bet."

"No offense, but I highly doubt you can match up to the Batman." -I said to Black Canary.

I groggily opened my eyes, and saw two blondes in front of me. The Black Canary was in the middle of a shouting match with the archer who claimed to be the current Speedy.

"You'd be surprised." -Dinah replied, sneering at me.

The younger woman frowned. "We used enough tranquilizer to keep an elephant under for a day. How are you awake already?"

I shrugged as much as my bound limbs allowed. "There's fire in my veins."

"Is that literal, or…?"

"Speedy. Come on."

I snorted. "Your identity is public, Canary. How long do you think it would take me to Google her name? You're barely wearing a domino mask."

This time, Speedy gave me a smug grin. "Dinah's right. You'd be surprised."

Lance crossed her arms. "Anyway. I'll save you the monologue. Tell us everything you know about Arsenal."

"Y'know you didn't have to kidnap me for that, right? Especially because I can't really tell you anything I haven't told the League."

Speedy sighed. "Look. You're dangerous. Like, end the world dangerous. You got here...sooner than we expected, so we had to improvise. Until we could conjure up some sort of insurance. Y'know, for us lowly mortals."

Lance shrugged. "I don't really care about all that. You're the biggest mass murderer in history, as far as I'm concerned. League protection or not, you deserve what you got, and more. Way more."

I hummed. "I always thought the Black Canary would be above petty revenge."

"You know what they say. Never meet your heroes."

"You're not. And right now, you're acting like nobody's heroine. You're some kind of lawyer, aren't you? Tell me, does the Vigilante Act cover kidnapping?"

"No. It doesn't. Neither does it condone murder, which you're two counts in for already. And that's not even considering the seven billion people you and your daddy killed. So, whatever moral high ground you think you're on? Not that high."

I frowned, trying to keep myself from lashing out. "You have no idea what you're talking about. Make your questions. I have to rescue a friend."

Speedy sighed. "Ok. You told the League that Arsenal attacked you."

I nodded, barely. "Him and two assassins. Broke into my home, shot Beast Boy, and tried to shoot me. I reacted accordingly."

"You've met Roy before, right?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure which Roy Harper I met. He was condescending and brash then. Didn't have a metal arm, for sure." -I said, then scoffed. "He definitely didn't use to be that murderous."

The two vigilantes looked at each other. "You're an empath, right?"

"Yes."

"What was he feeling?"

"Rage, mostly. Hatred. No guilt."

Speedy shook her head. "This isn't right. Roy's...difficult, but he's not evil. And he hates the Light. Why would he work for them?"

Dinah pursed her lips. "He must be under their control."

"It could be. They've controlled you before?"

Black Canary shifted uncomfortably. "Klarion and Vandal Savage, yeah. They managed to infiltrate the Watchtower several years ago, and controlled almost every member of the League. The Team took them down."

The Witch Boy again…"Klarion doesn't work alone. He gets bored otherwise. Who is he working with now?"

"The Light still, probably."

"And this group hasn't been seen since the end of the Reach crisis?"

"No. They broke apart. Savage took the Warworld, and he's been MIA ever since, but the rest of their circle have gone back to solo acts since." -the Canary confirmed.

"Who's likely to be working with the Witch Boy right now?"

Lance snorted. "You mean besides Ra's? Those were his ninjas you killed."

I rolled my eyes. "Spare me the guilt trip. Focus on figuring this out." -I said, exasperated. "Know any other villains with the ability to resurrect?"

The two looked at each other, uncomfortable. "Uh...not villains, per se…" -Speedy said, crossing her arms.

"I do not have the time for this." -I warned them, my irises burning red.

"She means me." -a rough, raspy voice came from somewhere above me. A shadow dropped in front of me, large and heavy. It was the hooded archer from before, clad entirely in black.. His face was hidden from view by a half mask and a cowl, all but his glowing blue eyes concealed.

I raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "And you are…?"

"The Black Arrow."

"Creative, aren't you?" -I said, sarcastic.

"Quoth the Raven…" -he replied, sardonically.

"You've died." -I said, trying to get a feel for his magical signature.

He nodded. "Impaled. I don't recommend it."

"How were you brought back?"

"A portal. And a clone."

My stomach dropped. "Cadmus?"

The Black Arrow crossed his arms. "Assholes. They made me a new body, and my soul was brought back through the portal. Or so they claimed; I wasn't exactly conscious at the time."

"And you escaped?"

He chuckled. "Not before they trained me."

"Why would Cadmus want an archer?"

"They didn't. Not at first. I was a failure, according to them. Don't know what that means, though. I feel just fine." -he said, shrugging. "Given my...history, they figured I could be a useful tool against the Green Arrow. For a while, I was."

I hummed. "And so, a redemption arc later, you're part of the Arrow family."

He laughed. "I like your nerve, witch."

"Well, this has been interesting." -I said, as my eyes glowed and black aura enveloped me, untangling my bonds. I rose, only to see a couple of arrows nocked and aimed at my face.

"And just where do you think you're going? GA hasn't even arrived yet. And he wants to talk with you, bad." -the Canary said, taunting.

I scoffed. "Like I have the time. I'll spare you this mistake. Don't pull this stunt again."

The last I could see of them was their outraged expressions, as I melted into the floor.

Setup, setup, setup. Sorry about the super long wait. Also, the Black Arrow is an OC.