Vertigo Base, the Glades
A natural-borne gift Werner Zyrtle had nurtured since his youth was his chemistry skills. Having such a vast, in-depth knowledge base of the elements and composites that made the world, well, the task of making a homemade bomb was rather simplistic, almost therapeutic. The Count whistled as he completed the trigger circuit. He removed his safety goggles and addressed his three heads of security.
Zyrtle waved his index at the six bombs he'd made. "Plant these in strategic Yakuza and Cartel territories. Meanwhile, direct our foot men to East Starling. Any joint, bar, casino, club, restaurant Red Hood has his fingers dipped in, wreck it and kill anyone in your way" he reconsidered that last order, "actually, just kill anyone who isn't us".
East Starling
Underground Casino
The Vertigo men swarmed into the nightclub, bursting from every entrance and exit, rifles aimed at the roof, going off at will, tables tipped over scattering playing cards, glasses, mayhem everywhere you turned. The entire neighborhood was in sheer pandemonium.
A thug threw the bartender onto the counter who had been too slow to get away when he tried to contact his boss of the attack. He struggled, both afraid yet in pure disbelief at the treatment he was receiving. He shouted over the din of screams, gunshots, and stampede of guests running for their lives. "What are you doing? We're protected! We pay up to the Red Hood."
He was silenced with a bullet, his dark blood mingled with the liquor that spilled by the gallons.
Seaview, West Starling
After training with Malcolm, Thea stood in front of the expanse of her living room windows. The view she saw was of two skyscrapers, the reflection of the sky rippling on their façade. The distance between them provided a view of the silvery bay, Starling bridge, and a darkened cluster of buildings beyond the docks; the Glades.
"Oliver's banning me from entering the Glades". She watched the news play on the screen, but not in that detached state of mind most people have when they see destruction in some far off country they had never been too. This was Starling City, her home, and it frustrated her to it see come under attack. Roy's out there, fighting for it tooth and nail.
She felt utterly useless across the bay. The accuracy range of her archery skills was improving and she could more than handle herself with a sword. The scum of the street wouldn't even see her coming if she decided to wear a mask and beat their asses.
She smiled to herself; it was one of those wild daydreams you had, which seemed so far removed from reality that it made you wistful and amused at your own absurd imagination.
"That's good advice he's given" Malcolm said, standing beside her at the window. He had changed into a suit. She shot him an irritated look, beginning to resent being pent up in her apartment by both her father and brother.
"I'll have to push the club re-opening by at least two weeks at this rate".
"The situation is only getting more dangerous across the bridge, there's no telling when it will settle down over there, if it ever will."
"The news is putting a death toll on the headlines now."
"Good or bad, innocent or criminal, death does not discriminate."
Thea thoughtfully looked at the Glades. There was smoke twisting into the sky from fires she couldn't see, it was white now, seamlessly joining the white clouds of the azure blue sky. All the mayhem, death and darkness of the night before, forgotten in the purity of a new dawn.
There was a chill remoteness in her voice. "Starling is better than it was three years ago, but it hasn't changed. Not really. Maybe this is what you foresaw, when you started planning the Undertaking", she said without looking at him.
She saw his reflection on the windows, his brows creased, "It's been more than six months since you asked me to train you, and we have only touched that topic once." Tommy. I remember.
"You're still pretty vague about what we're really up against."
Malcolm smiled, "Everything in its own time Thea. I have to leave or I'll be late for my flight."
"Where are you going?"
"Central City. I have a business meeting with an old friend." Which could mean any number of mysterious contacts Malcolm had. It still amazed her how he survived this long without anyone finding him.
"I didn't know you still had friends."
He laughed, "Alright, acquaintances. In the meantime, you stay put. See you soon."
The Foundry
It was the night after their last scuff with the Red Hood. "Trafficking is high" said Felicity, eyes flying over the monitor as the latest statistics for crime rates came in spiking up to triple the value of what they were a week ago. "The precinct is flooded with an influx of charges against possession of contraband; namely illegal drugs such as Vertigo, but also firearms."
"Sin told me Vertigo prices have dropped, turning the market back over to the Count" supplied Roy. It had been breaking news for the past six hours that there was chaos on the streets. The initial battles appeared to the public as random tiffs in unconnected locations across the city- Oliver knew better, they were cesspools of crime, regions of Vertigo's competitors. It's as if every criminal forgot about their fear for the Arrow and was emboldened to fight, all at the same time.
"I talked to Lance; it's Vertigo retaliating, hitting at the Red Hood's territory" said Oliver. "If the Red Hood loses control, all the factions he has under his belt will start taking matters into their own hands. And then we'll be in a full-blown gang war". Werner is merely testing the waters, when war comes, it will be much worse than this. Oliver was flying solo now, since Roy had torn a ligament in his leg and was on crutches for at least a fortnight.
From the Japanese, to Mexican, to Italian mafias, each one of them would take up arms and spill as much blood as they wanted to carve Starling into the pieces they wanted to regain. Jason's plan to control the crime in the city had its recompenses, but it only worked for so long…
Central City
Later that evening…
Four of Talia Al Ghul's assassins were at their respective destinations. "We are in position, my lady, we await your orders" David Cain, her lieutenant, informed. Though her followers were from varying backgrounds, and were of ages young and old, their loyalty was without question.
"Ready."
Talia strode down the hallway towards the guard room, sword trailing besides her leaving a mark in the carpet. There was an addictive power in knowing that you could cause as much damage as you wanted to someone else's property without facing the consequences.
"Ready."
"Ready."
"Ready."
She kicked down security room door. The guards could not reach for their guns when she pinned their wrists with ninja stars to the chair, wall and desk. The light dancing off her sword was the last thing they saw before she cut their throats, painting the walls with spattered blood. Talia demolished the computers, disabling the emergency systems.
She pressed the explosive onto a wall and set the charge for sixty seconds. She calmly walked out, a canister of gasoline in her hand, towards the crowded office floor. The over time workers going about their business barely noticed her, so heavily were they involved in their worthless, mindless jobs. Only when the smell of the gasoline she was sloshing onto the floors and into their cubicles hit their noses, did they protest.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing?"
"Who are you? What is that?"
She didn't answer them, but idly tossed a lighter over her shoulder.
Fire bounced onto the gas soaked carpet. The absolutely lovely sound of vroooom followed and the office was ablaze as if the gates of hell had opened. She leaped out the window as the explosion went off, its pressure throwing her out into the open air a dizzying forty stories above street-level.
She propelled herself five stories above and looked out at Central City.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM.
Four other explosions and fires simultaneously destroying and wreaking havoc. Mushroom shaped smoke clouds whooshed into the night air, fire cackled. She smiled serenely, orange, yellow, red, and white flames dancing in her eyes for miles all around.
….
Star Labs, Central City
Barry Allen slowed down on the treadmill, he was still a blur but eventually his physical image returned to normal. Panting he reached for a towel and water bottle on the floor.
"Excellent Barry, 400 miles per hour, that was a new record" said Dr. Wells from the other side of the observation window. Cisco was fiddling with the ECG on his suit whilst Caitlin was alert at the computers for any meta-human activity.
"Oh my God!" She cried, "Five explosions went off in separate buildings across the city".
"Fire Department isn't on it?" Cisco asked, rushing to the seat next to her.
"All their sprinkler systems are out" she reported. "The fire department is stretched thin and the fires at Hammersmith and Braker are spreading to the bottom floors."
Barry had zoomed into his suit the moment Caitlin said oh my God. "I don't think I can get to each of them fast enough".
This hero thing was still new to him, he was fast, sure, but could he solely rely on his speed to save people?
"Yes you can, Barry" Harrison encouraged him, blue eyes full of certainty and resolution. Allen nodded appreciatively and ran off, the after-wind blowing at them.
"This is definitely not meta-human activity" Cisco confirmed.
"How can you be sure?"
"It's too well-planned, I mean why bother to disable the sprinkler systems?"
Caitlin pulled up cameras feeds, there were glimpses of dark-hooded figures, barely there, carefully avoiding the camera's line of vision, shadows skipping from one hallway to another, impossibly quick. Then it went to static as they aimed projectiles at the cams to disable them.
"Why these five buildings? How are they connected?"
"I don't think they're connected at all—"
"—they just wanted a distraction" Wells ended for him.
Their speedster had made it to the first site, but it was wildfire and the other four targeted areas were still in danger. Authorities were evacuating as many people as fast as they could but it may not be enough to save everyone.
Cisco sipped his soda, anxiously chewing on the straw. "But who would want to distract Barry? And distract him from—" he stopped, eyes-wide.
Caitlin frowned at him, "Cisco?"
"Frrrooommm…." Cisco's eyelashes fluttered shut, his limbs lost function, he dropped the soda can and his head banged on the keyboard.
"Cisco!" She leapt out of her chair.
Then there was a giant sword against her neck.
She let out a squeal and reared back into sitting position, the cold steel never leaving her jugular. A raven-haired woman was holding the sword. They did not move at Barry's speed, but they didn't seem to need it at all. They had evaded the cameras, sensors, and security measures throughout the facility; as if they were ghosts that just materialized into the room with them.
Two other people were behind her, in black hoods and half-masks, both had arrows aimed at Wells, even if he couldn't physically do anything. Barry was desperately asking them for advice to stop the fires but they couldn't answer.
Caitlin stared at her, the sword, and Cisco, her heart felt like it was going to rupture from the surge of fear and adrenaline. Cisco was so still, there were no vital signs she could discern, his eyes were closed… "Is, is he—"
"He's not dead" said the woman who looked like she couldn't care less about her friend's condition.
"Who are you? What do you want from us?" Wells demanded, surrendering as the intruders neared him with their bows nocked.
"My name is Nyssa Al Ghul. Don't worry Dr. Wells, I just need Dr. Snow". The leader turned to her men cocking her head at Caitlin, "rabat-al-laha" then her dark eyes landed on Wells, "hu-ailiya" she said and it did not sound like it was going to end well for him.
She tried to move for a pen on the desk, a makeshift weapon of any sort. The woman tutted like she was a school girl caught in a petty misdeed. She felt the sword bite into her neck, just enough to draw blood. "No, no, no, try anything and then I'll be inclined to slit your wrists—" cupping her chin she forced her to meet her gaze, "—thus giving you a time limit in which you will do as I ask of you. And frankly, neither of us would want that".
She glared holes into her, "You're going to regret—" the hilt of her sword came down; it was a shock of pain and then darkness spread.
East Starling
They dragged him like a dead animal towards the abandoned car, though he wasn't spent yet. Freddy Bertinelli had been stripped down to his underwear, his face rendered a swollen bloody mess, his arm bent in multiple places. He couldn't stand on his own two feet for his life. Vertigo's thugs left him as a sagging heap against the rusted car.
Freddy glowered at them from his blackened eye, "Do you know who...who you're messing with?".
"Yeah, Freddy Bertinelli".
"You're a club owner and some big damn drug dealer in the east quarter right?"
Gasping from the lance of pain through his ribs he said, "I am the east quarter drug trade. You stupid bags of—"
"Manners" chided the one of the left, "I don't care who takes care of you. You watch your mouth".
Freddy stared at them glassy-eyed, disbelieving that they would dare to attack him knowing what they knew. "Then you know who's got my back, you know who I answer too".
"Sure, the Red Hood, and we work for the man who's gonna take back what's his. So at the expense of your life, we're sending your boss a message" he gave Bertinelli a murderous look and drew a Molotov cocktail and lit it. Freddy nearly wet his pants.
A bullet broke the glass, the liquid within burst through and was engulfed in flames, Vertigo's thug along with it in a howling cry of terror, as he was showered by the fire.
The Red Hood slammed onto the car roof, crouching with his gun drawn. "Okay, what's the message?" The other thug was long gone by then, screaming.
"A simple one actually" the Fearsome Hand of Four swooped down in order. The largest male was eight feet tall, built like a truck. He and the woman wore green, she had twin katanas. The other two wore blue; one with a light fixture on his head, Jason deduced was some sort of energy beam, and the other with a bo-staff.
The mercenary group was not well-known, preferring to remain on the other side of the world, but Zyrtle must have pulled some strings (given them a ton of money) to get them all the way here just to fight the Red Hood on his behalf. He was almost touched by the Count's effort to kill him.
They charged, Freddy found the strength in himself to flee as the Hand of Four and the Red Hood crashed into one another.
The woman's swords stuck into the car roof, he leapt off from the side, firing as he soared to skid on the ground. Their armor was bullet-proof but that didn't stop him. As the two green assassins ran towards him, swords and giant fists, he flipped shooting at them and landed on his knee in time to lean back to avoid the staff of the blue assassin.
He kept shooting and swinging under the staff as it blocked the hits of his bullets. Jason got behind him and kicked him across the face as he turned. The swordswoman joined, her swords coming down in an X, he ducked and she dived over his back. They were trying to put him into a corner, he used the wall to plant his foot on the head of the staff-wielder and project himself onto the fire escape. It was a good vantage point to shoot from.
But it was a short-lived advantage, the blue member of the Four with the energy blaster fixture on his forehead-a device Jason had never seen used before in his life-only had to look at him when a massive bright blue beam shot at him. He released his hold but the impact force flung him off.
As he was falling, the largest one caught his leg and threw him like a rag doll at the cement pillar. He slammed on it, feeling every bone in him crunch, and fell, groaning and clutching his side.
"OW."
The assassin grabbed him by the collar and pinned him to the wall, legs dangling. Jason grunted, "You four have all this power, and all you do with it is kill for money."
"From what I hear we have that in common."
"You heard wrong." When he tried to head-butt him, the assassin clamped his fingers around his mask and threw him. He rolled in the dirt and dust until he up righted himself. But the girl was attacking him again and so was the bo-staff. He got in a few hits at the latter but the swords were relentlessly cutting down and managed to draw blood when he was occupied with the other.
The bo-staff caught him in the gut and then came down onto his shoulder.
"I thought you'd put up more of a fight" the girl taunted, raising her sword to deliver the finishing blow.
His knees folded beneath him as he tried to catch his breath, the pain in his torso spreading. Through short breaths he managed to let out a manic chuckle in staccato which threw the assassins off completely, "The fight hasn't started yet, ha, ha. I'm just stalling."
The night was filled with arrows. Two of the Four lurched and lunged over the projectiles, the big one caught it in his first and broke the shaft in two. The one with the bo-staff knocked them away in the air but missed the one that opened into a net to capture him.
The Arrow landed with a scruff of feet onto the ground next to him. The Red Hood glanced up at him.
"What the hell took you so long?" He said, bitter but grateful. His remark to the Hand of Four would have resulted in a laughable death if Robin Hood did not show at all. He watched the Arrow from what part of his face he could see beneath the green hood.
Like that, they considered each other for the briefest of seconds, before the Arrow offered him a helping hand.
The Starling vigilante quickly retracted his hand from Jason's, as if to tell him that that was no handshake and this was no long-term alliance. "I could have easily left you to die" he growled and nocked an arrow, "so shut up and fight."
Together they worked, both Hood's, two against four. The bo-staff assassin was freed by the swordswoman. The Arrow could maneuver away from the blundering massive arms of the blue assassin. Energy beams were shot at them, the blue staff swinging and the sword hacking.
The Arrow was on the offensive at the other two. The giant rejoined the battle and lifted the abandoned car over his shoulders to their bafflement. The Red Hood and the Arrow exchanged looks of shock.
The former quickly got out of the way, but the Arrow leapt onto hood of the car as it was chucked at them, climbing over it as it soared down. He seemed to fly onto the giant and stuck an explosion arrow to the armored suit. The monster was literally flown away from them in spirals, leaving his much smaller colleagues for the two 'hero's' of Starling to handle.
"Look out!" Jason shot the bo-staff wielder that was about to take the Arrow unawares from behind. And before he could also be tackled, Jason grabbed the woman's sword hand, twisted it behind her, and elbowed the space between her shoulder blades. He held her head in his hands like a lover's embrace, and then head-butted her.
The Arrow broke the bo-staff in two and forced an uppercut to the assassin it belonged too. They were both taken down.
"Harper doing alright?" Jason asked, both of them panting from the intense fight.
"No thanks to you".
But they were not out of the woods.
The last one surprised them, the Arrow took a full-blown hit to the chest from the energy beam. Jason couldn't get out of the way in time when he took one as well. It seared the front of his suit and knocked the wind out of him as if a boulder had landed on his ribcage. He landed just behind the Arrow. He pinned Jason to the dirt by the wrist and leg, wrenching them painfully. The device was like a blue eye on the assassin's full-mask, shining bright and blinding as it leered down at him.
"I'm going to end you..."
Jason Todd saw the beam gain its full charge, the light brightening into his eyes as it prepared to explode his head off. His hand reached out towards the Arrow's quiver, his fingertips fluttering over the arrows, battering outwards to reach for one.
He strained and strained, strained, and finally got a shaft out. He skewered the assassin in the opening of his gorget; the material was not bullet-proof or arrow-proof there. The assassin gave a wet squelch, as if surprised that he was the one dying. Blood washed onto Jason's wrist and down his arm.
"No!" The Arrow shouted, too late.
He pushed up and straddled the assassin, Jason forced the arrow deeper into his neck and then angled it upwards into the inside of his skull.
Jason got to his feet. Blood pooled from beneath assassin's mask, seeping into a puddle around his lifeless head.
They were both silent, the Arrow speechless, no righteous commandments to say anymore. Jason's felt his heart pounding as if it wanted to set free itself from his thoracic cavity. In the after-effects of killing a man, your blood boiled, you felt a little bit high, a little bit not you.
"Just be happy I only killed one of them" he said quietly. A growl emitted from the Starling hero and he aimed an arrow at him.
"They're all assassins" said Jason, although he knew it would not stop him.
"And what are you?"
He gave him a scornful look even though he could not see it, "I'm cleaning up Starling. More than you ever did". Todd knew full and well that his city was failing for years under the Starling's 'hero's' love and care. It was total bullshit to Jason. This Arrow was hopeless as a vigilante and had left the city in shambles, a fucking mess that he didn't want to fess up too.
"You're stealing territory from Vertigo and killing anyone who gets in your way. You're becoming a crime lord."
"Yes. you can't stop crime, that's what you never understood. I'm controlling it! You wanna rule them by fear. But what do you do with the ones who aren't afraid?" He motioned at the dead assassin at his feet, what more proof did the Arrow need?
"I'm doing what you won't anymore, I'm taking them out!"
And that was the last straw for the Arrow. Jason deflected the shaft and left the hero the same way he left Harper, with a tear gas bomb.
Hardwell Tower, Central City
Barry covered his eyes as glass exploded near his face. He coughed, his eyes watering from the smoke, it was suffocating and the heat was unbearable. He could see the workers huddled in a corner, the fire growing to loom over them like some demon from Hell.
The first site he got to had not been as bad as this. The fire department were at the other three, but it could be a while before they made any progress, and they still had to rescue survivors in the carnage.
He remembered the names of everyone who died since he decided to put the red suit on and become Central City's speedster hero. And he did not want to add a hundred more names to that list.
"Cisco! Caitlin! Dr. Wells!" He tried for the hundredth time. "Come in, I need your help!"
...
Star Lab, Central City
Her loyalists took Caitlin outside, meanwhile Talia approached Dr. Wells, the multiple fires would keep the red speedster busy, and with his team detained he had a long night's work ahead of him. She pushed down her half-mask, deftly trilling the switchblade between her knuckles.
"Talia Al Ghul".
She hastened her movements. How did he know her real name? Nevertheless, it didn't faze her. She smiled enigmatically and drew closer. Should she kill him quickly or slowly? The scientist tensed in his chair and leaned further into his seat, white knuckles grasping the handles. The Al Ghul observed him, his breathing, his pupils, his tiny movements...
He was afraid, but there was something else in his pale blue eyes, a whisper of wickedness, deception. He was not afraid of dying…not quite, not how she wanted her victims to be afraid when she approached them.
Still, she bent down to come face to face with him, smiling as if watching a curious zoo animal react to her.
"You would kill a disabled person?" He wanted to know, whispering it yet also disturbingly composed.
She pursed her lips and slid the blunt end of the knife down his cheekbone to play with him, he seized, anticipating pain that didn't come. "It would actually be quite boring to carve you up. You can't fight me; thus the whole act loses its thrill". And just when he thought he was in the clear…
Talia stabbed him in the thigh.
Harrison Wells cried out in agony and bit down hard on his lip.
Talia Al Ghul threw her head back, laughter ringing across the room.
"I knew you were liar" she chuckled as he glared holes into her, gripping the arm rests as he tried to contain the mounting pain. They were both fully aware of the lab's cameras recording every second of this; she waved at one to mock him. "That knife's in your femoral artery, I wouldn't remove if I were you."
Harrison was clever enough to know that if he did try he would bleed out on the floor faster than Barry could run. Talia grabbed the arm rests on the wheelchair and threw it on its side. Wells fell out of it and landed as a bleeding heap, his glasses askew.
Dr. Harrison Wells was in fact, not a cripple, and he'd chosen to let Talia Al Ghul kidnap Caitlin Snow at risk of having his secret revealed. It was both a selfish and malevolent act. She thoroughly liked it.
"Don't you worry Dr. Wells. I'll keep your secret".
...
"Barry! Come in Barry!" He managed to carefully crawl to the chair Caitlin had vacated, leaving a smear of blood on the floor, mindful of the knife in his leg.
"Dr. Wells. Thank god! What's going on? I need your help!" He could hear the fear, the plea, and the grief in Allen's voice.
"I'm here for you Barry". Eobard was disgusted by himself and this folly he had to play, some days he found it hard to even share the same air as Barry Allen without strangling the life out of him. Strike the fear of death and wipe that arrogant happy self-satisfied smirk off his annoying mug.
"There was a mishap at the labs. Don't worry about us; you need to get to the other three locations and save as many people as you can. I'll get the sprinkler systems up and running again." Allen clicked off and did as he was told. If only he was this obedient when we were nemeses.
"Come on Cisco". Eobard took out the dart from Cisco's neck and sniffed it.
Pit viper venom. But the potency and dose he could not discern. He had enough speed to zoom around the facilities, searching for the antidote. He would have to spend longer recharging himself during the week but it was a small price to pay, he needed the young scientist alive. He would delete the lab footage later.
He clutched the stabbed leg, squeezing his eyes shut as he plowed through the agony, hot blood trickled down his trousers. It was too soon to inject Cisco with the antidote; he had to control the pain to make it appear as though he could not feel it. His secret could not get out. Damn you Talia Al Ghul.
He ripped his sweater and wrapped it around the wound so he wouldn't be dripping blood everywhere.
I know your future, proud, powerful demon's daughter; like a plague, you cause death wherever you go… He stood again, his legs nearly buckling from the pain and zapped to his secret lair for 25th century medicine.
Indeed, you defeat many heroes. But in his timeline, history wrote she met a sad, tragic end. Considering tonight and what he knew would come, his mouth twisted into a defiant smile, to me; you've been dead for centuries.
The Glades, Starling.
That night, Malcolm did not immediately go to Central City. He donned his League attire, though a version of it that was more personal. He knew the Canary was sniffing out for his trail because of Thea, likely at Oliver's bequest, aware of the possibility that his sister and Merlyn had been reacquainted. They all still follow that boy's orders, as if he has any idea what the hell he's doing.
Sara may be a skilled tracker, but Merlyn was far superior to Taer-Al-Asfar in that field. He had found her first, seen her meeting with her sister, Ms. Smoak, and visiting the LexCorp chemical plant. She was distracted by Team Arrow, which would be her downfall if Merlyn had anything to do with it.
The purpose of his stealth mission was not to be some common vigilante. He wanted to see how much further the Glades had decayed. Normally, he would have left it to rot, but Thea's words gave him the inspiration to prowl the streets he wished he cleansed two years ago. He liked to think the only time the city was truly safe was when he was still Malcolm Merlyn and not a fugitive.
Malcolm stood from his position after witnessing a confrontation between Red Hood and the Hand of Four-which would need to rename itself now that one of its members was deceased. The Arrow, unsurprisingly, had joined the fray.
Oliver had failed to prevent the Red Hood from killing, failed to capture him, was failing at preventing the gang war that was erupting across the city and was failing at protecting his little sister.
But Merlyn had a plan falling into place. If it the Arrow, or any one of Starling's new villains interrupted that, he would simply adapt. Malcolm was slowly beginning to realize that Oliver was no hero and had never been one. The city was beyond saving and the only thing important to him now was Thea's safety.
Hopefully an alliance with HIVE would be able to secure that.
A/N: I felt the only way Talia Al Ghul could get the best of the Flash when she had no superpowers of her own was to use his own compassion as a weapon against him. Dialogue adapted from the Flash and Red Hood movie. No flashbacks today but they'll be back soon.