In an abandoned back alley in the Glades, a young girl named Cindy, or Sin as she was known as on the streets, was walking down it on her way home. Having a very strong feeling that she was being followed, she turned around to see Black Canary walking up to her.
"Hey Sin." Canary greeted.
Sin smirked as she fully turned around to face her.
"Haven't seen you in a while." Sin remarked. "Someone came around asking about you."
"Say anything?" Canary asked.
"Only the good stuff." Sin replied.
"Anything good on the Mayor?" Canary inquired.
Sin scoffed a bit.
"That's a good way to get a bullet." Sin remarked.
"Sin, please." Canary pleaded.
"… word is after Green Arrow cleaned out his weapons stash, he's been working to rearm." Sin relented. "No idea when or where."
"Meaning he's probably planning something big." Canary surmised.
"How exactly are you planning on stopping that guy?" Sin asked as Canary started to walk away.
"Thinking of outsourcing some help." Canary replied.
…
The next day, Oliver's Cash for Guns event was off to a rousing success. While Sin was coming up to talk to Thea and Roy, Oliver was overseeing the whole thing from the distance as Sebastian Blood walked up.
"You don't show up when you say you will," Blood remarked. "And when you promise not to, here you are."
"It's going well?" Oliver asked.
"At last check, we've taken in over 200 guns in only three hours." Blood reported, noting Oliver's smile. "Try not to look so happy about it."
"A lot on my mind Alderman." Oliver responded.
Sebastian let out a breath of slight annoyance.
"My job is to help the people of this city with their problems." He told him.
Oliver turned to face him in surprise. Finally, he relented.
"There's someone I've been trying to work with." He admitted. "Like you I've been trying to convince her that I'm trying to help, but she's still hesitant. I'm sure you can understand that."
"In a way yes." Blood admitted. "Sooner or later though, we all go through a crucible. I'm guessing yours was that island."
Oliver nodded slightly.
"Most believe there are two types of people who go into a crucible. The ones that grow stronger from the experience… and survive it, and the ones who die. But there's a third type. The ones who learn to love the fire. They choose to stay in their crucible because it's easier to embrace the pain when it's all you know anymore. That's why I'm on the clock to help this city. Before it becomes used to living like this."
"'Living is not for the weak.'" Oliver quoted, causing Sebastian to look at him in confusion. "Old friend of mine once told me that."
"That's a wise friend." Blood complimented.
"Yeah." Oliver agreed.
Just then a red truck carrying the Mayor and a few of his cronies came blaring up to the drive. They were firing their machine guns wildly, causing several bystanders to duck in cover as the truck plowed down the police barrier.
"Listen up people!" the Mayor called out as the truck came to a stop. "This is your Mayor speaking. Now I don't recall this here event being sanctioned. What happens in the Glades only happens if I allow it!"
"You're not the leader of this community!" Blood shouted, getting the Mayor's attention. "You don't speak for these people!"
"And neither do you." The Mayor replied. "Not anymore."
With that, the Mayor gave a signal for his men to open fire. Thinking fast, Oliver grabbed Sebastian and pulled him out of the way as bullets flew wildly through the air, hitting several innocent people. The police present tried firing back, but it was to no avail. Finally, the Mayor and his men began driving away. Oliver then ran over to check on Thea and Roy.
"Hey." He called out coming over to them. "Are you ok? Are you hit?"
"No." Thea replied.
As they looked around, they saw Sin hunched over.
"Hey Sin are you alright?" Roy asked.
"All's good." Sin replied pulling out her blood soaked hand.
Roy ran over to her to help as Thea ran off to get help.
…
At the hospital, Roy and Thea could do nothing but watch as an unconscious Sin laid in a hospital bed.
"Hey," he told Thea. "I'm gonna stick around in case she wakes up."
"Is it ok if I stick around with you?" Thea asked. "I mean… you saved her life Roy. Guess you can't stop being a hero."
Roy smirked a bit as he glanced out a window. To her surprise, he saw Black Canary standing on a ledge across from the hospital.
"Hey I'm gonna get us some coffee." He told her, heading towards the door. "I got a feeling it's gonna be a long night."
…
He quickly made his way to an alley outside the hospital. As he got out, Black Canary was there waiting for him.
"I didn't know you knew Sin personally." Roy told her.
"She's a good friend." Canary admitted. "Helps me keep an ear to what's going on in the Glades. But I'm not here to talk about her."
"Then what is it?"
"I want you to deliver a message to your friend in the hood."
…
At the cave, Oliver Diggle and Felicity were going over the news footage of the Mayor's attack.
"The coward finally decided to show his face." Diggle remarked.
"Vanity is gonna cost him." Oliver agreed.
"I 'borrowed' the FBI's facial recognition software." Felicity informed as the software did it's work. "Got a match. Xavier Reed."
"Did Mr. Reed serve in the military?" Oliver asked.
Felicity checked through his records.
"No military history." She confirmed.
"Family members?" Oliver continued to inquire.
"Reed was in and out of foster care his whole life." She reported before something caught her eye. "Wait hold on… in 1996 Reed spent three years with a foster family and their son Ezra Barnes."
She pressed a few keys to check if Barnes had any military background.
"He served three tours in Iraq. He's stateside now."
"Twenty bucks says he was stationed in Camp Kirby." Diggle guessed.
"Pay the man." Felicity confirmed. "The Mayor's foster brother is assigned to a weapons convoy that carries SCAR 16s by truck. The convoy's scheduled to come through Starling City tonight."
"FN SCAR 16s are military assault weapons with grenade launchers." Diggle told Oliver. "The Mayor gets a hold of these Oliver… its game over."
"He won't." Oliver reassured.
As they were talking though, something on the clubs security feed caught Felicity's eye.
"Uh, might want to hold up on that." She told them.
Oliver came over to see Roy standing in the alleyway.
…
Outside, Roy was standing in the alley, waiting for Green Arrow to show up.
"This is going to have to wait kid." Arrow said, getting Roy's attention. "I have bigger problems to worry about."
"Sorry," Roy told him. "I have a message from the Black Canary."
Arrow raised an eyebrow at this.
"She said she wants to meet with you." He continued. "Something about accepting a proposal."
…
On a rooftop in the city, Black Canary stood in wait for her potential vigilante partner.
"Thanks for agreeing to meet with me." She said, knowing Arrow was behind her.
"What changed your mind?" Arrow asked as Canary turned around to face him.
"Came to finally realize you're trying to help this city rather than hurt it." Canary admitted. "Guess because I was trying to stop you for so long it was hard for me to accept."
Canary paused for a moment as Arrow took in what she was saying.
"Besides after the fiasco earlier today, it's clear the Mayor needs to be stopped. And I don't think either of us can do it alone."
"No, especially since he's getting his hands on high grade assault rifles with grenade launchers." Arrow informed.
"What?" Canary let out. "We can't let that happen."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Arrow asked smirking.
…
The Mayor stood in anticipation as the convoy carrying his new weapons pulled up to him. As the drivers started getting out, the Mayor walked up to his foster brother, Ezra Barnes.
"They're with me." He reassured. "He wasn't."
The Mayor looked over at one of the men dead in the back of the truck. He and Ezra just laughed in response as the two embraced each other, both happy to see the other. One of Ezra's men came up, carrying one of the assault rifles. Ezra took and handed it to the Mayor, who took it with gleeful delight.
"With toys like these," he said. "You and I are gonna own this town."
"First I've heard about it!" a voice called out.
They all looked up to see Green Arrow standing on one of the trucks.
"Sorry to tell you Mayor," Arrow continued. "But your term has expired!"
"Tough talk from a guy bringing a bow and arrow to a gun fight!" the Mayor countered.
"Good thing that's not the only thing he brought." Black Canary added stepping out of the shadows.
Canary wasted no time bashing at several of the goons with her batons. They tried to fight back, but Canary was quick enough to counter their attacks and retaliate with her own.
"Load up the weapons." The Mayor ordered. "Now!"
Before any of the men could move, Arrow fired off two arrows that took out two of the men present. Another one of the goons started firing at him, but he quickly jumped down to the ground to avoid the bullets. He and Black Canary were back to back as the Mayor's men started surrounding them.
"Well this is a fine situation you dragged me into." She commented.
"If memory serves, you volunteered." Arrow retorted, readying one of his arrows. "What about that fancy scream of yours?"
"At this range, it could end up killing them." She explained. "And I think we've both established at this point we're not about dropping bodies."
"Then it looks like we're doing this the old fashioned way." Arrow decided.
He then shot off an arrow, striking one guy in the shoulder as he and Canary dispersed to fight the forces before them. Arrow blocked and countered every punch dealt to him. He then struck one guy across the face with his bow and gave a left hook to another oncoming guy. As a third guy approached him, he swept him off his feet with his bow, pulled out an arrow, and impeded it into the guys shoulder.
Canary seemed to be doing alright as well. With both batons in hand, she blocked and bashed several oncoming men. Seeing one guy about to fire his machine gun at her, she tossed one of her batons at him, knocking the gun out of his hands. She then ran towards the guy and jumped at him, wrapping her legs around his neck. She then used her weight to flip him down to the ground, taking him out.
Arrow meanwhile had just finished striking one guy in the stomach taking him out as another one came up. He quickly pulled out an arrow and fired it before the guy could even reach him.
"Not bad." The Mayor complimented, getting both Arrows and Canary's attention. "But can your arrows do this?"
The Mayor then fired one of the grenade launchers at them. Thinking fast, Green Arrow fired an arrow at the oncoming grenade, setting off an explosion that knocked both vigilantes back. As Arrow started to get up, he saw that his bow was gone and one of Canary's batons was lying next to him. As two of the Mayor's men came up to him, he quickly grabbed the baton and started knocking them back. Even knocking the gun out of one of the goons' hands before taking him out.
Unbeknownst to him, Ezra was standing behind him with one of the assault rifles in hand. Before he could get off a shot however, he was struck in the back by an arrow. Green Arrow turned around to see Ezra on the ground and Black Canary holding his bow.
"Nice shot." He complimented as she walked up.
"Thanks." She replied as the two traded back weapons. "Now let's get this guy."
Meanwhile, the Mayor had taken off, but was sure the two heroes weren't far behind.
"Come on, where are ya?" he asked.
As if on cue, an arrow flew through the air and hit the assault rifle, dislodging it from the Mayor's hands. Before he had a chance to react, Canary struck him in the back before spinning around and hitting him in the face, knocking him to the ground.
"That was for a friend of mine." She told him.
…
On a rooftop, Canary and Arrow watched as the police carted the Mayor and his cronies away.
"Good riddance to bad rubbish." Canary commented.
"Hopefully our next Mayor will be a little less liberal on gun control." Arrow joked.
Canary chuckled a bit at that comment.
"Never would have pegged you for having a sense of humor." Canary told him.
"It's a new development." He admitted. "Thanks for agreeing to work with me… and saving my life."
"… I owed you." Canary replied. "For seeing you wrong for the longest time. It's just after everything that happened…"
"The quake?" Arrow guessed.
Canary didn't respond, but Arrow could sense the truth.
"I lost someone close to me…" She admitted. "Because I was too stubborn to leave the Glades when I had the chance. After that I just felt… helpless. With all this death and destruction around me… I felt like I had to do something. And I guess a part of that was trying to stop you. I guess it sounds kinda silly."
"Some might say that." Arrow admitted. "But a friend of mine would call that going through a crucible."
This caused Canary to look up in surprise.
"You went through pain, and came out a hero for many." He told her, walking over to her. "That's something to be proud of."
Canary smiled at his words.
"Though I am curious about that little scream of yours." Arrow inquired.
"Easy there Robin Hood," Canary replied playfully shoving him. "You can't expect me to reveal all my secrets at once."
"I'm pretty good at finding things out." Arrow told her.
"Well then I wish you luck with that." She told him backing away. "See you around Green Arrow."
With that, she turned around and jumped off the edge of the roof. Arrow ran forward to see that she was gone. All he could do was stand there and smirk in response.
…
The next day at Queen Consolidated, Oliver was standing in his office watching a news report on the Cash for Guns event yesterday. It was reported to be a complete success with no idea who the donor was to make the event possible.
"I guess it's true what they say," Sebastian admitted, entering the office. "One man can change the world."
"I'll leave changing the world to you alderman." Oliver replied.
"I'm only in the world because of you." Sebastian told him extending his hand. "Thank you."
Oliver wasted no time taking the hand and shaking it.
"I was just acting on instinct." Oliver admitted.
"It wasn't instinct." Blood objected. "It was strength."
Oliver smiled in response to the comment.
"You know I've seen the signs and the graffiti," Oliver told him. "'Blood for Mayor'. Now that the Mayor is in jail, maybe you should run."
"There is more than one way to save a city." Blood protested.
With that, Sebastian left the office, leaving Oliver with a proud grin on his face. At long last making an ally out of Sebastian Blood, and making real progress to help the city.
…
As soon as the bag came off his head, the Mayor was overwhelmed with confusion. Instead of being taken to the police station, he was strapped down to a chair with a cop standing in front of him.
"What the hell is this?" he asked. "This ain't the police station."
The officer just walked away, revealing a man in a skull mask entering the room.
"Hello brother." The skull mask said in a demonic voice. "Are you ready to serve?"
"Why are you wearing that mask?" The Mayor asked.
"This city is in chains. And I'm going to free it." The skull mask said ignoring the question. "But to do that, I'm going to need an army. An army of the strong."
As he spoke, a man carrying a syringe came up to the Mayor.
"Whoa! What's in that thing?" he asked as the man started putting the needle in his arm.
"A miracle." The skull mask answered as the man injected what was in the syringe into the Mayor.
"Hey get that off me!" the Mayor protested to no avail.
"Are you ready to serve?" the skull mask asked again.
The Mayor then began breathing heavily. Then he started shaking in his chair as he let out a scream of pain. He continued screaming as his eyes started bleeding. He then finally fell over dead. The skull masked man was irritated by this as he took off his mask, revealing to be Sebastian Blood.
"Bring me another." He ordered.
"Yes, Brother Blood." The cop replied.
The plot thickens. So by now I bet some of you are wondering about Laurel's origins as Black Canary aside from motivation to fight crime. her training, how she got the sonic scream. well don't worry, all will be revealed in time. So just stay tuned, and I'll be back in a flash.