I don't own Young Justice or Ben 10
Royal Memorial Hospital; Star City; March 21st; 11:14AM
"How long has he been awake?" Ben asked as he and M'gaan speed-walked through the halls of the residential ward in a hurry with the doctor not far behind.
"Only about five hours, he and Roy Harper awoke at the same time but, only Roy has had anything to say," he flipped through the papers on his clip-board trying to give them any news they could work with.
M'gaan spoke up, "What does that mean?"
They stopped simultaneously in front of their room which they had visited many times before, "It means only Roy has said anything at all, Kenneth won't speak, eat, or emote in any way."
Ben peered through the viewing window of the door but, Ken nor Roy were looking that way, "But, he's healthy?"
"Perfectly, his vitals are normal, his blood is clean, and he doesn't seem to have sustained any brain damage that an X-Ray can detect. He just won't talk."
Ben looked to M'gaan who gave him a serious nod, they entered the room and received a rushed look from Roy who was disappointed to not recognize either of them, he looked off at the window the second he laid eyes on them; Ken was the opposite, he kept blinking eyes on them the entire time, almost recognizing them but, not completely sure.
M'gaan rushed over and gave him a warm hug, tightening her grip around him almost never wanting to let him go; Ben put a hand on her shoulder as she stepped back, "Hi," she said looking back at Ben almost for approval, "I'm M'gaan, Ms. Martian, do you know who I am?"
He shook his head, blinking normally.
She cleared her throat, "Do you know who you are?"
He shook his head once again.
Ben ran his hand through his hair, groaning, "This is a total drag."
Ken locked eyes with him, narrowing his eyes, "Ben… Tennyson."
They gave him an odd look, "You know my name?"
He nodded with a blank stare, still completely emotionless, M'gaan stepped back as Ben knelt down next to him, "If you know what my name is, do you know what this is?" he pointed down to Ken's wrist where the deactivated watch lies dormant.
"Om-ni-trix."
Ben gave M'gaan a glance who smiled in return, "Well, here," Ben pulled the Omnitrix core from his pocket and held it up, "This is yours and I don't have the right to take it from you, so I'm giving it back."
Ken blinked as Ben twisted the core back into the Omnitrix base causing a few emerald sparks to fly until a beeping signified its reactivation.
M'gaan knelt down again, getting to his eye level as Ken kept his eyes staring at his glowing watch, "Do you remember anything? Anything at all?"
He shook his head almost in a trance staring at his Omnitrix before he shook himself from the daze; Ben stood as M'gaan did the same, "We should have a word outside…" They both approached the exit as two figures quickly entered the room, Oliver Queen and the cloned Roy Harper.
"Ollie?"
Ben and M'gaan left the room and begun talking again, discussing what they had learned so far, "Why the hell did you give him the core back?" she shouted in a whisper.
He shrugged in response, "It wasn't mine!" he said back, "Besides, I remember being his age, if someone took my Omnitrix without my knowledge, I'd be pissed about it."
She huffed and stomped her foot, "Who cares? He doesn't know anything about himself or us, for all you know he's programmed by Cadmus just like Roy was."
"Is he?" Ben asked as she looked away, "Don't pretend you didn't check."
She sighed in defeat, "As far as I can tell, no, there just isn't a lot going on in his mind for him to go off of, just key words he was programmed with psychically, probably by the G-Gnomes," she glanced back in the room where Ken fiddled with his Omnitrix dial and Roy trying to absorb a lot of information from Oliver and his clone.
"He knew me," Ben said analyzing the information he'd been given, "He knew my name and my face, the Light must have had something planned for him but, you're absolutely sure there's no hidden programming, brainwashing, nothing?"
She nodded, "Positive, he just had your name in his head, no ulterior motive, no psychic secret, notta."
"Well, we'll have to see what he says and does next, lets see if the doctors have anything in his file."
…
"So, let me get this straight, while I was on ice; you found another Roy Harper, the side-kicks formed their own team, aliens invaded Earth, and Ollie grew that dopey goatee?" Roy exclaimed rubbing his bare chin as he tried to absorb as much of the new information as he could.
"We try not to call ourselves side-kicks-" his clone responded before being interrupted by Oliver.
"You don't like the goatee!?"
Roy frowned, "So missing the point; you've both been talking around it this whole time, now I want answers, what happened to me? How can there be another Roy Harper? And what happened to my arm!?" He waved his right stub at them as they both rubbed their necks nervously.
"Okay, okay; we wanted to wait until you were fully recuperated but, I guess the moment is here," Roy's clone sat down at a nearby chair as Roy interrupted him.
"Moment's passed."
"What's the last thing you remember before we found you in Tibet?"
Roy looked up at the ceiling recalling memories as best he could, "I've been trying to piece that together, I remember investigating a LexCorp shell company, that we suspected of smuggling weapons to North Rhelasia," he looked over at Oliver as he remembered the bits with him in it, "Some LexCorp goons got the drop on me, I remember feeling… embarrassed than nothing."
Oliver closed his eyes and sat down on the edge of the bed, "That's right, they grabbed you, thing is Roy? That was eight years ago."
"What!?"
"Lex Luthor and the Light, this criminal organization he works with, abducted you. They amputated your arm," The elder Roy explained from his seat with a grim expression.
"Why!? To keep me from using my bow?" He tried to explain simply but, it was never going to be that simple ever again for him.
"No, they needed an endless supply of your DNA, to perfect their human cloning process."
Roy looked down at his stub and back up at his elder, "So, that's what you are, a clone."
Roy sat back in the chair, shifting his shoulders uncomfortably, "Yea, they grew me or rather force grew me, in a matter of months I looked your age; they programmed me with all your memories and skills and… worse."
Oliver spoke up, "Then they spoon fed me clues to your location, I thought I was doing detective work but, in hind-sight…" he rubbed his neck looking back on how easy the clues had come up, almost as if they'd set up key individuals that Oliver knew to look for with the information, "You'd been missing three months!" he finally shouted, "I'd been going crazy looking, so when I found you, er, him, I didn't question the good fortune; I had no idea it wasn't the original you, no idea that Luthor had you on ice this entire time…"
"So, what your saying is," Roy turned and looked his clone in the eye with rage-filled eyes, "you took my place, you've been living my life for eight years."
The clone turned away as Oliver spoke up for him, "And he's been tirelessly looking for you for five of those years!"
"But, not you Ollie," the billionaire raised his brows in surprise, "You gave up on me…"
The clone stood from his seat and raised his hands in mock-surrender, "I don't wanna be the cause of more conflict between you two, I'd understand if you never wanted to lay eyes on me ever again."
Roy looked around the room in deep thought, "I dunno… seems to me the clone didn't do anything wrong, he didn't ask to be born and he actually found me, I can't blame him for this," Roy was actually relieved for a moment until the original turned on his former mentor, "But, I can totally blame you!" Roy sat up and grabbed Oliver by the arm with his one good hand getting in his face.
"Roy-"
"We were partners, friends! How could you not know I had been replaced!? How could you leave me in Luthor's hands for eight years?" His face turned from rage to disgust, almost cringing at the sight of the man, "And how could I not see how absolutely useless you are?"
There was a short pause before Roy muttered, "Get out…"
"Roy, I was just trying to-"
"GET OUT!"
Oliver stood up with his hands up, slowly putting them in his pockets as he headed for the exit, passing Ben and M'gaan on the way out.
His clone stood for a moment rubbing his neck, "Look, I appreciate what you did for me, uh, Roy…" the original stuttered, "But, I could use some time to think."
"I completely understand," The clone nodded and turned to follow Oliver out into the hall.
Roy sat fuming in anger and confusion, the last thing he remembered it was 2011 and he was a fresh teenager starting out as a vigilante and now, all of his school friends would be in college, he didn't even have a family waiting for him since the accident, and beyond that his clone had made all the connections he should have made. He didn't have anything in this world anymore and while Oliver Queen was useless in helping him, he wasn't actually responsible. Lex Luthor is the one who grabbed him, took his arm, took his life! The only one who should pay physically for his anguish was him but, as these thoughts rolled around in his head he realized he was being stared at.
He turned his head noticing Ken blinking confusingly at him, "What?"
Ken turned his head, "Angry…"
"Yea, I don't know if you over-heard any of that but I have every right to be angry," Roy folded his arm and felt even more frustrated when he realized he couldn't do that anymore, "Aren't you mad at all?"
Ken shook his head and shrugged.
"Yea, I guess you don't have a lot to compare this situation to; this is only the beginning of your story while this feels like someone ripped out eight chapters from mine!"
Roy turned his body off the bed and felt the cold tile on his feet, he looked out the window, realizing what he had to do, "I'm getting out of here, I need someone to pay for this, this, bullshit!"
Ken blinked and tilted his head, "Sad…"
Roy widened his eyes and looked into his reflection before whirling around, "You aren't just stating the obvious, are you? You're reading my emotions…" he smiled and stepped over to his bed, before extending his hand, "My name is Roy, and yours?"
Ken just blinked at his extended hand, before reaching out and clasping it with his, Roy shook and took a look at his clipboard attached to the bedframe, "Looks like that guy calls you Ken," he shrugged in response, "Good enough for me."
Roy turned back to the window, "If you can read emotions, what else can you do?"
Ken pointed up at the old Tv sitting on the counter with a coincidental filming of Ben fighting crime with M'gaan and Superboy at some beach in Florida a few days ago; he saw as Ben transformed and then used his watch to transform again, "That watch-thing, you've got one too?"
Ken shrugged and flashed his forearm with the Omnitrix glowing green with a hum, "Well, how about we be friends for the day, huh? What do ya say?" Roy gave him a thumbs up as Ken looked down to his hands, forming the same thumbs up symbol.
"Great!" He approached the window and looked down noticing he was about a dozen stories up, "Think anything inside that watch can help us get out of this hospital room?"
Ken shrugged before reaching for his Omnitrix dial, popping up the faceplate and scrolling through the silhouettes of his aliens; he landed on one he thought looked interesting and slapped the dial gently which released a massive green light causing Roy to shield his eyes with his good hand. In Ken's place was a six-foot tall burning man made of lava-rocks with a flaming skull to match, "Nice!" Roy announced as he stepped behind Heatblast and pointed out the window, "Now just get this window open and get us out of here, bud!"
He smiled as Heatblast approached the window and placed his thick hand on the glass quickly burning through it as it slowly melted a giant hole big enough for them both to get out; He reached over and grabbed Roy by the shirt and held him up, "Hey, watch it! This hospital gown snags!" he leaped from the window using small flames from his feet to slowly descend to the ground. Landing gently and putting his friend down.
Roy stood and dusted himself off, "Perfect, now transform back so we're not too conspicuous…" He looked around making sure no one was around, they had apparently landed on the back end of the hospital near a line of large brown dumpsters.
Heatblast looked down at Roy with a slanted eye, "What?" he asked as the burning-man just stared, "You don't know how to change back, do you?"
Heatblast shook his head as Roy looked around, "Great, now I have to hide the giant candle-stick while making my great claim on revenge; look, this way!" Roy pointed and jogged down an abandoned ally-way as Heatblast followed after him.
…
Roy pushed the door open to the darkened church where people with sick or injured family members would often pray for their loved ones; he found Oliver looking down at his feet with his elbows placed firmly on his knees, "It's a curse, isn't it? Having me as a mentor?" He paused and sighed, "Speedy, Red Arrow…" he whimpered slightly, "Artemis… all poster children for the stay away from Green Arrow club."
Roy scowled and turned his head, "I may not have always shown it over the years but, I don't feel that way," he shoved his hands in his jacket pocket and walked into the pew sitting next to him, "Neither did Artemis, and trust me I know Roy doesn't feel that way either, not really. You're a good man, Ollie, so get back in there."
Oliver narrowed his eyes, forcing himself to put the depression aside and face his fears; he stood and marched down to the hospital room, pushing open the door with a determined glare, "Roy, listen I-"
They froze when they saw the curtains billowing in the light breeze flowing from the large hole melted into the window-pane and the two empty hospital beds, they slowly gave each other concerned glances.
…
Mount Justice; Happy Harbor; March 21st; 12:01PM
"Aquaman has all of Atlantis on the case," Mal Duncan assured as he, Nightwing, and Powergirl stood in the holo-ring staring up at a hologram image of Aquaman, Conner, Aqualad, and his armored soldiers, "He's, quote unquote, searching the seven seas for Superboy and his captors," he turned toward a holographic map of the globe, "It's a big world and that's a lot of water."
Kara looked frustrated and exhaled through her nose, "We'll find Conner…"
Mal tightened his fist, "And Aqualad," he muttered before speaking up, "I want his fish head on a platter for what he did to Artemis."
Kara rubbed the bridge of her nose, referring to Nightwing, "I don't suppose we're any closer to finding out about the Light's new partner-" she stopped when she found Duncan and herself alone in the room, "Nightwing? I hate it when they do that; where is everyone?"
Mal turned and jabbed his thumb toward the hall behind them, "The girls have all hit the showers, the rest of them are down in the grotto," his voice finished the sentence with a solemn expression.
…
Tim, Garfield, Jamie, Veronica, and Bart were all standing in their civilian identities staring up at a ten-foot holographic statue of Artemis surrounded in a damp-cave by other holograms of the previous Robin, Aquagirl, the previous Blue Beetle, and Zatara whom gave his life to Nabu in order to free his daughter from Dr. Fate.
Jamie slanted his eyes in a mournful expression as a tense silence filled the room, the sound of dripping water as the only soundtrack, that is until a loud crunching echoed through the cave from Bart chomping on potato-chips. The others turned their head internally questioning if he was seriously eating at a time like this, "Sorry," Bart responded to the judgmental stares, "Mourning makes me hungry."
Jamie groaned and yanked Bart away from the group, pulling him about fifteen feet away before yelling in a whisper.
"You stole those freeze-dried chicken-wizzies from my locker, didn't you!"
Bart threw his hands up, "Hey, hey, where I come from, it's not stealing, it's scavenger rights!" the excuse didn't sell so he tried a different explanation, "Point is, we don't have chicken-wizzies in my era, freeze-dried or otherwise, so blame Kid Flash, he got me hooked."
Jamie facepalmed, "Forget I asked."
Bart glanced around and frowned, "So, why are these here? I mean, it's pretty and everything," he watched Jamie turn and look at the hidden and secluded damp cave, "But, these people are heroes, killed in the line of duty, they deserve big, crashing memorials in the Hall of Justice or something."
Jamie looked down, "Yea, I asked that question too; Captain Atom says the League doesn't want or need a memorial to their fallen but, I don't know, seems to me they just don't wanna advertise that they're not immortal."
Bart's expression softened as Jamie continued, "Half the people who see me in action think I'm this guy, in a new costume," he looked up toward the Blue Beetle hologram, "Most people will never know of Ted Kord's sacrifice."
Bart smiled and stepped over poking him in the chest, "But, you know, and you're carrying on the Blue Beetle heroic tradition, right?"
He looked away with a resentful glare, "I wish; Superboy has Powergirl and Superman, Wondergirl has Wonder Woman, Robin has Batrgirl, Nightwing, and Batman," he turned back to face Bart still holding the bag of chips, "You've been in this timeline for what? Like, 5 minutes? And you already have three Flash mentors! One who feeds you junk-food…"
Bart glanced down guilty of his hand digging through the bag before tucking it behind his back, "But me? I never even got to meet the guy who should have been my mentor…"
Bart chuckled, "I hear that, see, you and I might have more in common than you think," he wrapped an arm around Jamie's neck, "Our love of chicken-wizzies for example, how about I replace the bag I salvaged, we hang, it'll be totally crash," they walked toward the exit leaving the others behind.
"Uh, sure…"
"Great! You got any money?"
…
Gotham Cemetery; Gotham City; March 21st; 1:26PM
In a large field littered with organized gravestones and memorials, Wally West and Paula Crock sat across from a granite slab that read 'Artemis Lian Crock – Beloved Daughter.' She rested her arms on her wheels and turned to face the supposedly widowed speedster, "Thank you for coming Wally, these have been the hardest few days of my life, harder than losing my legs, losing my freedom, losing Jade to the life," tears welled in her eyes as the emotions rushed over her once again, spilling from her eyes down her chin, "I could not have survived this without you."
Wally stood and put his hands on the handles that allowed him to push her chair, he sighed and looked away for a moment. It was destroying him, lying to her, knowing full well Artemis was alive and under-cover in one of the most dangerous criminal groups on the planet but, would the truth even help? It would only give her unrelenting anxiety to know the severity of her mission, and then she could become a target herself. He kept his mouth shut and simply took hold of her chair, pushing her back toward the main path.
On a separate hill, a hundred or so feet from Artemis' grave, two figures stood in the shade of a large oak tree, Jade and Lawrence Crock stood in their civilian identities with baseball caps and jackets to blend in; Jade held Lian in her arms and stared out at her mother and Wally, "Artemis and I had our differences but, she was my sister, and I loved her; I should have taken better care of her, if I brought her with me all those years ago…"
Lawrence scowled facing the opposite direction in deep thought, "Yea, well, too late for that now, little girl."
Jade suddenly hardened her expression, getting a fire in her eyes, "But, it's not too late to get revenge on her killer; Aqualad is mine," she spat like deadly venom.
"Again, Jade, you're missing the point; Artemis' death is a direct insult to our professional reputations," Lawrence turned around to face his daughter, "The son of Black Manta cannot kill Sportsmaster's daughter… not without running it by me first. I can't let this stand! Or everyone will think I'm a punk, you can have Aqualad, I want reckoning with Manta."
…
Star City; March 21st; 2:45PM.
Roy peaked his head around the corner of an ally-way, checking if it was clear for them to move across the street as quickly as possible, "Okay, clear," he waved Heatblast over and they both sprinted across the open street into the adjacent ally, a few cars honked at them but, they soon made it out of sight.
They ran all the way to the end where a brick-wall stood blocking their path but, Roy didn't stop to explain verbally instead leaning toward a single brick and allowing a high-tech retinal scanner to shine crimson lasers into his eyes.
"Recognized: Red Arrow."
The wall split open revealing the entry to an old safe house, complete with armory, food, money, clothes, and a single zeta-tube teleporter but, all he could focus on was the fact that the clone changed his name, "So, the new Roy goes by Red Arrow? Wow, that's original."
Suddenly, Heatblast's Omnitrix symbol on his molten chest began flashing bright red for about five seconds before exploding in a strobe of crimson leaving Ken in his place, over looking his features and realizing he'd returned to normal.
"Huh," Roy looked him up and down before turning back to the entrance and walking through, "Looks like you only stayed transformed for about fifteen minutes."
Ken was silent and shrugged his shoulders, "Come on, looks like nothings changed, Ollie is still a pack-rat."
He approached a wall littered with Speedy weapons and armor staring up at it and remembering fighting in the costume when he was much smaller, he grabbed his old domino mask and fedora and glared at it, "Wonder if he kept this out of preservation, nostalgia… or guilt."
Ken gave the hat a look before turning away, "Hope."
Roy raised a brow and sighed, "Whatever," he tossed the hat onto the ground turning to face Ken, "There should be clothes around your size in that closet, you don't really need armor with that watch."
Ken nodded and followed Roy's directions; meanwhile, security cameras watched as the clone Roy and Oliver Queen approached the entrance wall, chatting lightly.
"This is the only place I've maintained since Speedy's day, there are other places he might go," Oliver finished.
"But, none where he can get himself into trouble," Roy placed his hands on the wall and leaned in allowing the scanner to peer into his eyes.
"Recognized: Red Arrow; Error, Red Arrow already inside. Security alert; Lock out."
Roy and Oliver gave each other a concerned glance before Oliver leaned in, "Override lock out, Green Arrow, zero-eight."
The scanner flashed in his eyes as well accepting the command code and sliding open the brick wall where they took two steps in before watching the teleporter activate manually with Roy and Ken dressed and holding a plethora of weapons. Ken had a Glock-22 in his right hand dressed in a black tee and denim jeans but, Roy carried the majority of their arsenal in his Speedy suit; "Sorry, Oliver, can't let you stop me."
As the yellow light disassembled their molecules at the speed of light, they left behind a flashing grenade with the speedy-fedora lying next to it, "Get down!" The clone grabbed Oliver and yanked him back through the entrance as the explosion rocked the armory destroying the teleporter in the process.
It began to rain as dark clouds littered the sky, blocking the sun and dropping a storm of water down into the city; Roy and Oliver coughed and stood up soaking wet, "Great! We can't follow!"
The ginger archer rubbed his chin, "But, we can figure out where they went!" he ran through the room and sat at a monitor, letting his fingers fly over the keyboard bringing up the transport history, "They zeta'd to Metropolis…"
"Why would they…?" Oliver's eyes widened, "Oh, no."
Roy sighed, "Only one reason, to get revenge on the man who stole their lives; they're going after Lex Luthor
Oliver gave a serious glare, "And Luthor will kill them," He ran a hand through his hair, "Should we tell Ben and M'gaan?"
"That we lost their kid clone? Have fun with that, I'm going to get them back before they get back to the hospital."
"I like that idea better."
…
LexCorp Building; Metropolis; March 21st; 5:14PM
Lex sat at his desk with his attractive pan-suited body guard by his side, handing him papers to sign, "Who knew aiding an alien invasion would require so much paper work?" he over looked the next sheet and sighed, "Huh, looks like the boys have abandoned their hospital beds."
Across the street with a clear view into Lex's penthouse office on the top floor, Roy and Ken sat with the archer peering into the room with binoculars. He lowered the viewers and grabbed hold of a large RPG, swinging it over his shoulder and aiming it toward the office building, "Gotta love modern technology," he announced catching Ken's attention, "Easier for a one-armed man to use a missile launcher than to put on his shirt."
Ken watched as Roy fired the explosive with a pop that echoed through the area, even being heard by Luthor who looked up and glanced around before noticing the danger heading toward him. He ducked under the desk just in time as the explosion shattered the massive windows and obliterated almost the entire level. He popped his head up minutes later to observe the scene cautiously, "And that my dear," he referred to his android body guard, "Is why I paid extra for the reinforced steel desk," she grabbed him by the arm without responding pulling him toward the exit, "I know your only concern is my safety but, there is something in here I need."
He pointed a finger scanning key toward the large canvas painting behind him which accepted the signal and slid to the side revealing a large metallic safe; once opened, Lex quickly grabbed a silver suitcase leaning on a pile of money before closing the safe. Suddenly, he felt a buzzing in his ear and pressed down on the communicator, "Mr. Luthor! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Oogus, but do me a favor," he kicked open the emergency exit leading to a flight of stairs, "There seems to be a would-be assassin on the roof opposite to HQ… kill him for me."
Once the SWAT team of security guards had made it to the rooftop, it was abandoned with a blanket, binoculars, and a discarded RPG launcher lying on the ground.
Lex finally made it to the parking garage minutes later, his white luxury sedan was waiting for him as Mercy used the key to unlock the doors, as she did, a beeping triggered an explosion which totaled the car in a ball of flames sending Lex and Mercy onto their backs. The billionaire grabbed his head and looked up, watching as Ken and Roy approached, the former aiming his glock expertly and the latter wielding a smoking grenade-launcher.
"I see the weapons training programming I paid for has gone to good use," Lex narrowed his eyes at Ken who simply cocked the barrel back and re-aimed with a serious glare.
"For a smart man, Luthor, you're pretty easy to out maneuver…" Roy mentioned stepping closer with his weapon, "One little missile flushed you right out," he aimed the weapon directly at Lex's head only, he smiled and stood up dusting himself off without fear.
"Mr. Harper, so nice to see you again."
Roy growled, "Feelings not mutual, now tell your body guard to disarm!"
Lex raised a brow, "Disarm? Mercy carries no weapons," he helped up his body-guard as she raised her hands in surrender. Only she quickly shifted her right arm into a cannon of some sort, firing off a laser round which knocked the grenade launcher from his grasp and flipped him over head and onto his stomach. Ken fired off three rounds into Mercy's face but, it had no lasting effect, "She is a weapon."
She blasted at him but, he only narrowly dodged as Roy stood and backed behind the wreckage of the car he destroyed, "Now would be a good time to change into something else!"
Ken nodded and popped the dial to his Omnitrix, he flipped through the silhouettes but, heard footsteps approaching and had no time to think of strategy. He slapped the faceplate down and with an explosion of green light he transformed into an eight-foot-tall bulky man made completely of teal crystal shards, his eyes shun green as Roy smiled in response, "Nice! You take the terminator, I'm going after Luthor!"
Diamondhead nodded, rounding the corner and sprinting at Mercy whom fired off several bolts of energy which bounced off his crystal body; he used his weight and momentum to tackle her into the wall beside the exit, shattering concrete with her back.
Roy smiled as he grabbed Ken's pistol and aimed it at Luthor, stepping closer as he prepared to fire, "Oh, Mercy!" he shouted with his hands up.
Diamondhead tried to keep her pinned but, she lifted her legs and placed her feet flat against his chest; her strength was impressive as she launched the five-hundred-pound alien off his feet and through the air crushing an SUV with his body. Roy quickly fired off a bullet but, the android threw herself in between them and took the shot instead; the former archer quickly backed away and ran through the garage, dipping from side to side to avoid energy bolts from her arm cannon. He fell to the ground and slid under a large car, using it as cover so he could reassess his thoughts and strategy. He pulled a crossbow from his belt and used the hood of another truck to jump into the air, dodging an energy bolt and firing off two arrows which hit the car directly behind Mercy.
After landing, Roy wasted no time backing behind the cover of another car as the arrows he fired exploded and knocked Mercy through the air face-first into a front windshield.
Diamondhead shook his head and stood up, looking around for Mercy and Roy, "Quite the arsenal you've brought with you tonight, Mr. Harper," Lex announced.
"You don't know the half of it, Luthor!" Roy announced from his hidden position whilst Diamondhead approached from behind to grab the billionaire villain, however; Mercy noticed this and sped over, shoulder tapping the Crystalsapien back on his heels causing Luthor to smile without flinching.
"Oh, I wasn't talking about your weaponry, no, I myself never go armed," Diamondhead swung at Mercy whom was far more agile than him, ducking below his fist, gripping his wrist, and firing half a dozen energy rounds into his abdomen, "The greatest arsenal a man can bring is the resources of his own mind! His intelligence, his strategies, his force of will," he places his hands casually behind his back as Diamondhead was judo-flipped over Mercy's shoulder and onto his back.
"And you, my young friend, have all of those in spades," Roy narrowed his eyes from behind a bumper, analyzing Luthor with Mercy having bested Ken in hand to hand combat; she opened up her arm cannon and fired a round through the car windshield and over Roy's head dropping shattered glass into his hair. He ran for cover through the line of parked cars as she sent a volley of bolts in his direction, hitting several different vehicles before striking an SUV's gas-tank igniting an explosion that sent Roy fifty-feet across the garage, denting the roof of a sedan with his back.
Diamondhead shook his head and morphed his right arm into a jagged structure which he used to fire shards of crystal at her as projectiles, she ducked under one and dipped to the side to avoid another, meanwhile; Roy used a lock-picking device to enter a small pick-up truck, hot wiring it and igniting the engine. Mercy caught one of the shards inches from her face but, was too distracted to see the vehicle reversing toward her at fifty miles-per-hour. She fired off several rounds which popped the tires and sent the truck tumbling into a row of parked cars, Mercy immediately doubled back, blasting the driver-side door off its hinges only to find an empty seat and an arrow stuck down on the accelerator.
She raised a brow as Roy leapt in from above with a roundhouse kick she only narrowly avoided, he had a wooden baton in his hand which he swung at her but, she dipped her head back dodging and fired a bolt of energy into it sending him through the air and into a the hood of a car.
Diamondhead came from behind and back handed her into a cement support pillar rushing her immediately she ducked below a right cross which shattered the concrete and kicked him away, leaping up and wrapping her legs around his head, using her strength and body-weight to flip him onto his back. Roy caught his breath quickly getting to his feet and ducking behind a row of parked vehicles of different size and color, Mercy turned and followed after him, losing sight shortly after. Aiming her cannon-arm out in a scanning motion, she walked right past a ducking Roy whom, after ensuring enough distance, pulled a rope from his satchel before tugging and biting about a foots worth off.
Mercy looked through a row of cars out in front of her as Roy jumped from the hood of a car behind her and swung the cord over her beam-weapon which like wrapped tightly around her when she kicked him in the chest and into the passenger door of the juxtaposed truck; he quickly looked up and revealed a triggering-device which he flipped the cover on it waving his thumb over a bright red button.
Mercy looked down to her arm where the cord lit up crimson with a detonation charge, her eyes widened and Roy smiled simultaneously as he pressed the trigger. She was blasted back by an explosion that vaporized her arm which was currently a short-circuiting stub.
Roy marveled in his success as Diamondhead's chest-plate began flashing crimson for the same five seconds, disappearing in an explosion of red light. Lex walked toward his bodyguard with his arm out to help her, "Mercy…" when Roy flipped forwards and spun another cord of detonation-rope around his left forearm.
As he landed he pulled out the trigger and waved his thumb over the button; he backed toward Ken standing a short distance from Luthor, "That's military grade detonation-cord, Luthor, the kind LexCorp sells illegally; it's the perfect revenge, I use your own tech to do to you what you did to me!" he waved his stub at him angrily.
Lex looked only slightly worried, "Except, we gave you anesthesia; your method seems rather… crude."
"We reap what we sow, Luthor."
"Indeed, but, are you prepared for the harvest?" Lex looked behind Roy where about two dozen agents with rifles had their targeting lasers on his chest and head.
"Vengeance is a suckers game, son, and yours can only be achieved at the cost of your own life…"
"You think I wont pay that cost?!" Roy shouted taking his thumb closer to the trigger.
"Honestly? I have no idea," Luthor answered frankly, "I might just be dying to find out."
"Want we should take him out now, boss?" One of the men trained on the former hero shouted.
"No, Ootus, I am inclined to wait patiently for Mr. Harper's decision," Roy growled at Luthor's sarcasm and confidence.
"Don't mock me, Lex! To get my revenge I would run any risk."
Ken felt the confidence wafting off of Lex Luthor, it was unbelievable, he felt as though he was prepared for anything, even with an explosive attached to his arm.
Lex scoffed, "I don't believe in risk, I believe in preparation; you see ever since vacated that cozy little freeze-chamber we set up for you in Tibet, I expected this confrontation."
Roy lowered the trigger a bit, looking on as Luthor picked up the briefcase he had sitting next to him, "So, I came prepared," he dropped it in front of him and kicked it over to his would-be assassin.
Roy was shocked but, kept his composure, instead he put the trigger to the side, and moved to open the case, still being cautious he paused, "How do I know its not booby-trapped?"
"I suppose you don't."
Roy narrowed his eyes, but proceeded to press the button that popped open the case, revealing to him something caused a smile and wide eyes to appear in his expression.
"What is it you really want, son? Revenge or satisfaction?"
He closed the case and picked it up, dropping the detonator and crushing it, "Alright, deal," he turned around as Lex waved his men off, they picked their rifles off the two trespassers and made a path for them to walk out of the garage.
"Come on, Ken, we're leaving," Roy ordered with a smile.
"Oh, Kenneth," Lex announced getting the clone-boy's attention, walking toward him he pulled from the inside of his jacket a business card with his contact information splayed in fancy-fonts, "If you ever wish to learn more about your powers, give me a ring."
Ken narrowed his eyes but, Roy simply stared with the case Luthor had given him so, he decided to grab the card and stuff it in his pocket for safe keeping.
"C'mon!" He shouted as Ken ran back toward his comrade; they both walked out of the facility and into the alleyway leading into the garage where they bumped into Red Arrow and Green Arrow in full costume, "There, look!" the other Roy shouted.
"Hey guys, what took you so long?" Roy chided with a smile.
Green Arrow stepped forward, speaking up first, "Roy, are you alright?"
"I'm good," He answered, "Well, better than I have been in eight years."
"You didn't-"
"Kill Luthor? No, not tonight anyways."
"What's in the case?" Red Arrow asked, pointing at the silver gift from Luthor.
Roy smiled and picked it up to show them, opening it up and revealing a highly advanced weaponized prosthetic arm, "Satisfaction."
"Speedy, are you sure you're okay?" Oliver asked with a concerned tone.
Roy ripped his domino mask from his eyes and tossed it behind him, "Speedy died eight years ago but, I am liking the name: Arsenal."
Roy walked away with the case in hand when Ken tried to follow, "Ah, ah, ah, unlike him you have two legal guardians, we have to take you back to the hospital," they grabbed Ken's arm and pulled him back, he tried to fight it but, he just ended up staring off at Roy who didn't even look back. He thought they were friends but, he guessed not.
…
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