++++++ Sorry I didn't get this up sooner. Busy day.
I hope you enjoy.
I do not own ++++++
Something Wicked
A flash of blue lightning.
That was the first time she ever saw him.
She'd heard of him before, they called him Zoom in Central City, the Fastest Man Alive. She'd never really given much stock to the world outside her little bubble, as long as she was left well enough alone, people would live to fight another day.
Starling City belonged to the wicked...Wicked Lady to be precise.
Once upon a time, the self-proclaimed queen of Starling City had been known by another name but preferred the proposed title Wicked Lady. Before Starling City had been reduced to a post-apocalyptic waste-land it was a thriving city who had a bored percentage of rich people who decided to destroy the Glades, a section of the city occupied solely by the poor. Of course she had been working side-by-side with the perpetrator of the plan but in her eyes-he wasn't thinking big enough.
If Wicked Lady liked anything-it was to think big.
She wanted more than just the Glades-she wanted the entire city. And the entire city was what she got. Like a child throwing a tantrum and getting what they wanted, Wicked Lady took over the city, killing anyone who got in her way, eventually getting total dominion over the Starling City with the help of an old friend.
Along time ago…or what seemed like a long time ago, Wicked Lady used to be called River Quinn. She was born and raised in Starling City but at the age of sixteen, her father took her on a three-week vacation to Paris via boat. At sixteen, she wanted to tell her friends that she got to spend three weeks on a yacht with party-boy Oliver Queen. She didn't care about school or the fact her parents were divorcing…fast forward through six years deserted on an island and the death of an entire city…that young girl was long gone and replaced with something much, much better.
On the island of Lian Yu, Wicked Lady met a man by the name of Slade Wilson and his daughter Suki Wilson-it was thanks to them that she now had control of the city and an endless stream of Mirakuru super soldiers at her disposal.
As queen of Starling City, it was ironic that Wicked Lady had taken up residence in the former Queen Manor just outside the city. It was probably the only building that had survived the city-wide earthquake so that was where she set up shop with her own little court. Standing by her side, her best friend and closest confident, Felicity Smoak, who took care of everything to do with technology and money. There was her somewhat accidental lover, one of her soldiers Roy Harper who went by the name Arsenal and her bodyguard-not that she needed one-John Diggle.
And like every royal, she had her enemies. The Green Arrow, former CEO of Queen Consolidated, Robert Queen. It had been her, Robert and Oliver that had survived the sinking Queen's Gambit-a year on and she stood on a hill overlooking Robert as he buried his murdered son…Oliver Queen's blood was the first blood to ever be on her hands and it wouldn't be the last.
Not a lot of things remained of her old life, but taking sunset walks was one past time she always kept. That was where Wicked Lady met Zoom for the first time and it wouldn't be the last.
Taking a walk alone through the backyard always gave the self-proclaimed queen some time with her own thoughts. She sat alone by the duck pond when the air suddenly changed. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and every cell in her body screamed out warning.
Wicked Lady got to her feet and turned to look back up at the manor. Sure she wasn't easy to kill, her own Mirakuru enhanced blood was to thank for that but everything else was her own and painfully acquired over a long period of time. Closing her eyes, she waited for that electrical shift in the air, her hands hovered over the blade hidden in the small of her back…her violet eyes flung open at the same time she swung her blade down, straight across the meta-human's chest. Wicked Lady watched him loose his traction and slam into the ground. The queen of the manor never went anywhere unarmed even with brute strength.
"So you're Zoom?" she asked. Wicked Lady waltzed up to him, hips swaying somewhat in the moonlight and put her heeled foot to his throat. "Fastest Man Alive meets his fate like an ant meets my boot."
"We…we could achieve so much if we work together," the speedster argued.
Wicked Lady smirked. "Queen's do not work with worker's bees." She knelt down patted him on the head. "You're not the first meta-human I've come across and you certainly won't be the last. I hear you're working with my former student? One you've taken as a lover?"
Underneath the mask, she was sure that he was scowling at her.
She took a step back and waited for him to get to his feet. "Tell, me, Zoom," Wicked Lady spoke, putting emphasis on the word 'zoom', "what brings you to my dominion?"
"Your reputation in Central City proceeds you," Zoom answered. "I am sure you have your spies in Central telling you of the breaches that have opened up."
"As a matter of fact I have," Wicked Lady replied. "I find it amusing that you have your own little meta-human army wrecking-havoc throughout my city." She tucked her hands behind her back. "Please, take a walk with me. No one will hurt you."
"They will try," Zoom growled.
"You may have speed but I have experience," Wicked Lady replied. "I don't think you counted on me being able to put you down so easily or perhaps you didn't count on me being able to put you down at all. We shall ignore the fact that you desired to fear me into a partnership with you. Now, come along." She turned and headed back up towards the manor. "You come to my town with an offer of partnership, I do not partner with anyone. The last time I did-well let's just say his corpse is still unfound. I'm not afraid to admit that I do not play well with others."
As Wicked Lady and her guest entered the back of the manor, her guards looked at Zoom but didn't say anything. Just inside the manor in what used to be the dining room was a huge computer set up. Bouncing around inside was the IT goddess herself, Felicity Smoak.
"Oh wow…WL who's that?" she asked her.
"This is Zoom," Wicked Lady replied. "He'll be joining us for dinner."
Felicity raised an eyebrow. "He'll what now? Does he even eat?"
"I will not be staying for dinner," he growled. "I will say my peace and I will leave."
"Felicity be a dear and pull up everything we know about the breaches," Wicked Lady ordered.
She went and sat back down at her computers and fiddled around for a while. Once she'd pulled up what she wanted, she turned in her chair with a smirk. "We hacked into a military satellite and have been using it to watch the city."
"Say your peace and be done," Wicked Lady warned. "I tolerate guests to a certain point. You came to my house uninvited and when I offer you the curtesy of a host, you rudely deny me. It won't happen again."
"The breaches open up to another Earth," Zoom told her.
"Another Earth?" Wicked Lady asked him. "Why I do find that mighty interesting."
"Well that would explain the breach we've got here," Felicity frowned. "I'm eager to find out why we have one. They're all localised to Central City but for some reason we have one here where the old Queen Consolidated foundry and the Green Arrow's bade used to be."
"You want an ally for what?" Wicked Lady asked. "I like my little patch of paradise. Here I am Queen and my rule is absolute. Why would I want to jeopardise that?"
"You don't want me as an enemy," Zoom growled. "I want the Flash. I want his speed force. Bring him to me. I will be the fastest man alive…the fastest man in all realities, in all worlds. If you do not believe me, go and discover the truth yourself than come and see me." The air around her cracked and he disappeared in a flash, the electrical feel in the air was gone letting Felicity breath again.
"We have to talk about your guests, River," Felicity frowned.
"Indeed," she replied.
-XXX-
The following evening, Wicked Lady took her usual sunset walk alone but this time she made her way into the city. For the people in the city, those who lived in the debris, it was unusual to see her alone, let alone walking.
Diggle never liked her out alone…especially with the Green Arrow out there defending the hopeless. Felicity knew where she was going…that was all that mattered.
Her mind flashed back to when she first arrived in the city…just months before the Undertaking took place. It was like her feet knew where they were going, taking her to the old Queen Consolidated Foundry. She'd been there once and only once-that was to take care of the Green Arrow's companion, the Black Canary and destroy his base. What was once a high tech set up-was now a garbage heap.
Wicked Lady stepped right through the scattered bones of the Canary, ignoring the sound of crunching beneath her booted feet. Ahead of her, right where she had jammed a knife right into the bird heart, was the shimmering breach between the worlds. Without hesitation, Wicked Lady walked straight through, coming out on the other side in a dusty basement.
Above her she could hear music.
As she emerged from the basement, Wicked Lady found herself in a night club. Seemingly gliding through the crowd of pathetic little ants, she made her way outside.
She walked the streets of Starling City-or as it was now called-Star City. Once her home had been liked that…Wicked Lady was sure that she preferred the rubble ruins of Starling City over the bright lights of Star City.
"River? River? What are you doing here?"
Wicked Lady turned her head to see Laurel Lance approach her. "Excuse me?" she hissed venom in her voice.
Laurel paused. "River what on earth are you wearing?" She looked her up and down, obviously not able to tell the difference between Earth-1 River and Earth-2 Wicked Lady.
"Laurel what are you doing?" came the unfamiliar voice of Oliver Queen. She cocked her head to the side and stared at Oliver. In his arms he was carrying a sleeping baby in one of those baby carriers. "That's not River."
"Hello Oliver Queen," she smirked.
"Holy fuck me dead!" gasped her own voice.
Wicked Lady looked up to see her doppelgänger standing in front of her. Suddenly she smirked. "Oh what fun and games we shall have," she grinned. "Let the blood spill and the buildings burn."