Alright. Here we go. The chapter many have told me they have been waiting for. The chapter where Oliver and Barry will finally reunite. You'll also get to see Oliver's bow in action.
Alright. Let's get to it.
Chapter 12- The Green Arrow Returns
The Battle of Wakanda is raging. The Wakandans are still holding onto the advantage provided to them by Morris and Barry at the beginning, but that advantage is shrinking.
In the frenzied battle, Barry races among the aliens, attacking with all of his weapons, including his speed punches and the same energy redistribution factor T'Challa has been regularly using with his suit. His attacks have grown more desperate as the battle has gone on, due to the growing losses among the Wakandans, and the fact that the chaos he and Morris caused at the beginning has all but worn off.
Barry sees several aliens racing up behind Steve. Barry races past, slashing across their chests with one of his wrist blades, killing one of them and badly wounding the other two.
A few yards away, Morris has briefly solidified to help a wounded Wakandan. Suddenly, an alien jumps on him from behind. Morris grabs the alien and tries to hold it back, but it's mouth inches closer to him. Morris turns the tables by turning himself into a geyser, shooting the alien hundreds of feet into the air.
In the air over the army, Rhodey is unleashing every gun and rocket he has, trying to slow down the surge of aliens racing through the gap in the force field. Aliens are being slaughtered by the droves. That is, until a massive hammer-like weapon attached to a chain slams into Rhodey, knocking him out of the sky. The hammer is withdrawn by the chain back into the hand of Cull Obsidian, who has walked through the gap in the force field, along with Proxima Midnight.
On the battlefield, an alien lunges at T'Challa and knocks him over. T'Challa desperately tries to grab onto something, but the alien grabs his leg in its mouth and pulls him around on the ground before throwing him. Two more aliens join that one in leaping on T'Challa.
A few yards away, Steve, who has been backed up against a boulder, jabs one of his gauntlet's into an alien's throat. The alien, refusing to die, snaps its jaws open and shut as it tries to reach Steve. Steve desperately tries to hold it back, but is forced to dodge away as several more lunge at him. He finds no respite, as more attack him and knock him to the ground.
At the same time, several aliens get in a lucky shot when Barry slows down for a moment. Several of the aliens manage to tackle him from behind. Barry struggles against them as they try and bite their way through the suit.
Banner has been a big help so far, using the Hulkbuster suit's size and weapons to try and offset the numbers disadvantage. Now, a dozen of the aliens all jump on the suit, forcing it to fall over.
"There's too many of them!" Banner shouts over comms as the aliens try and bite their way through the armor, and slowly making progress.
Suddenly, a column of light shoots down from the sky and slams into the ground amidst the charging aliens, knocking some flying. For several moments, the light continues to stream from the sky. Then, an axe, wreathed in lightning, comes flying out of the light, cutting down any alien in it's path as it flies like a boomerang. It cuts right through the aliens holding down T'Challa, Steve, Barry, and Banner before slowly curving around back towards the column of light.
Barry gets back to his feet. He turns towards the light right as the axe flies into it. As it does, the light dissipates, revealing Thor, the axe now in his hand. Groot is standing in front of him, ready to go, as Rocket leaps off his back, gun at the ready. And standing almost back to back with Thor is Oliver.
Barry is stunned. Not only at the fact that Oliver is alive, but at his appearance. He's now wearing a suit of armor nearly identical in design to Thor's, but entirely colored green. His quiver and arrows look different. And his bow, a bow that Barry has never seen, is glowing with energy. But, he still has the same hood he's always worn.
Barry can't contain the huge smile that breaks out across his face. The rest of the Avengers are very excited to see Thor, even if they don't know who his friends are. Banner actually retracts his helmet and shouts out, "Ah-hah! You guys are so screwed now!" The looks on Proxima Midnight's face shows she doesn't entirely doubt that.
Thor fixes his gaze on the alien army and, so loud the Wakandans can hear it, bellows, "Bring me Thanos!" He charges towards the aliens, with Oliver right by his side, and Rocket and Groot following close behind him.
Thor leaps into the air. Lightning gathers around him as he shouts a war cry before coming back down, slamming Stormbreaker into the ground, sending out lightning all around him, killing over a hundred aliens. At the same time, Oliver fires an arrow into the midst of the aliens. It hits one, killing it instantly, then discharges several bolts of lightning, killing several dozen more.
The Wakandans bellow at the sight, and charge back into battle. Barry grins as he races into the attack. As Oliver continues to fight beside Thor, he sees flashes of yellow lightning, and grins as he knows that Barry is there.
Slowly, Thor and Oliver's fight against the aliens takes them over towards Steve. Thor and Oliver cut down several aliens, clearing the area around them. Thor and Oliver turn to Steve, who turns like to look at them. Focusing on Thor first, Steve asks, "New haircut?"
"Notice you've copied my beard," Thor responds. Steve nods. At that moment, beside them, Groot extends his arm like a spear right through three of the aliens.
"Oh, by the way. This is a friend of mine, Tree," Thor says as he points Stormbreaker towards Groot.
Steve turns to Groot, who looks over at him and says, "I am Groot!"
Not knowing that Groot could literally be saying anything, Steve takes it as an introduction and says, "I am Steve Rogers."
He then looks at Oliver and asks, "And who's your green friend, here?"
Right then, Barry races up. He beams brightly and shouts, "OLIVER!" He runs towards his friend at normal speed and throws his arms around him. Despite his general dislike of hugs, Oliver laughs and hugs Barry back too, more glad to see Barry than he's been to see anybody in a long time.
When the two finally separate, Barry looks at Oliver and asks, "How are you alive?"
"I managed to get off the ship before Thanos destroyed it. Some space travellers found me and Thor and saved us," Oliver explains.
"Where have you been all this time?" Barry asks.
"On a planet called Sakaar. I was stuck there until Thor wound up stranded there as well, and we helped each other escape," Oliver says.
"Okay. And where'd you get this bow and armor?" Barry asks, still admiring his friend's new look.
Oliver grins. "From a place called Nidavellir. It's the same place Thor just got his axe," Oliver says.
Barry smiles. He wants to keep talking, but Oliver says, "We can catch up later. Let's win this battle first."
Barry nods. Right then, the ground beneath them starts to shake. The two turn towards the force field, and see the ground beyond it is churning. They watch as the churning ground comes closer and goes under the force field. After it's passed the force field, the churning ground bursts up as these massive wheels made out of blades erupt out of the ground.
"Fall back! Fall back now!" T'Challa shouts. The Wakandan army hurries to retreat out of the path of the shredders.
"Go, Barry!" Oliver shouts. And Barry is instantly off, grabbing Wakandans and running them to a safe distance.
As he races around, he sees Okoye and Natasha fighting together not too far from where Oliver and the others are. And he sees five shredders bearing down of them. He races towards them, only to see a flash of red light overhead. He looks up and is stunned to see Wanda flying overhead and land in front of Okoye and Natasha. Quickly using her powers, she lifts the shredders into the air, then sends them flying over their heads to go crashing into the aliens, killing hundreds of them.
Barry stops short, not too far from Oliver, taking a moment to digest that, then smiling at yet another display of how much of a bad*** his wife is.
Oliver is also stunned by the sight of this. "Who's that?" he asks Barry.
"Wanda. My wife," Barry says proudly.
Oliver whips around to look at Barry. "What?!" he splutters.
"Long story," Barry says before blasting an approaching alien..
Oliver looks back towards Wanda, then back at Barry, confused as all get out.
Meanwhile, up in Shuri's lab, Corvus Glaive has infiltrated the lab and waited for Wanda to leave. Now, at Proxima Midnight's signal, he comes out of hiding and cuts down a Kingsguard guarding the entrance to the room where Shuri and Vision are. Another Kingsguard tries to stop him, but is also cut down.
Glancing behind her and seeing Corvus, Shuri speeds up, hoping against hope she can get the Stone out of Vision's forehead. As she does, Ayo desperately tries to hold him off. But, she is unable to stand against him and is thrown back.
Knowing she's run out of time, Shuri deactivates the display, then grabs one of her gauntlets and fires two bursts at Corvus, who blocks them with his glaive before slashing her work table in half. Ayo gets back to try and attack again, but Corvus knocks them both flying before leaping over the railing and landing next to the table. Looking down, he sees that Vision is gone. Whipping around at a sound behind him, he is too late to stop Vision from grabbing him by the throat and flying out of the window with him. Vision loses his grip in the process, and the two fall into the forest below.
Sam sees the two fall and radioes out a warning, "Guys, we got a Vision situation here." Right then, an alien tackles him out of the sky.
"Somebody get to Vision!" Steve shouts before punching another alien.
"Got him!" Banner replies as he flies off in the direction of the lab.
"On my way," Wanda adds before a blow from Proxima Midnight sends her tumbling down into a ditch.
Barry's eyes widen. He's about to race forward, but finds Oliver's arm blocking him.
"You need to handle the aliens. I'll protect your wife," Oliver says before racing to Wanda's aid. Barry hesitates for only a moment before racing off to continue attacking the aliens.
In the ditch, Wanda is trying to struggle back to her feet before Proxima Midnight turns her on her back and says, "He'll die alone. As will you."
"She's not alone." The voice catches Proxima off guard. She turns around to see Natasha standing there, ready to fight. A movement out of the corner of her eye makes her turn around, and she sees Oliver leap down into the ditch, bow at the ready. He looks at Natasha and nods once, then lunges for Proxima. She slashes at him with her sword, but Oliver easily blocks it. He and Proxima exchange a few blows before Natasha joins the fight. She and Oliver switch between attacking Proxima, fighting fluidly together as though they've trained together for years.
Meanwhile in the forest, Vision is being beaten badly by Corvus Glaive. While trying to recover from a strike, Vision is struck by Cull Obsidian's hammer and sent flying.
But, before the two aliens can move towards Vision, a roar from above draws their attention. They look up right as Banner lands in front of them. Banner raises his hands and says, "Oh, no. Oh, no you don't. This ain't gonna be like New York, pal. This suit's already kicked the crap out of the Hulk."
Right then, Cull Obsidian leaps forward and clamps his gauntlet around the Hulkbuster's arm. "Wait, no," Banner cries, but it's too late. He activates his foot thrusters, sending him and Cull Obsidian away from Vision.
"Guys, Vision needs backup now," Banner calls over the radio.
Barry wants nothing more than to go and help, but has already seen Steve racing in the direction of the lab, and continues his attack against the aliens.
Meanwhile, in the ditch, Oliver and Natasha continue to fight against Proxima. Oliver gets knocked on his back by a blow from Proxima. She stabs down at his head, but he rolls out of the way, pulling an arrow from his quiver and stabbing it into her leg.
Proxima yells in pain, then gets smacked across the face by Natasha's staff. Oliver leaps back to his feet, summoning his bow back into his hand, and uses it to hit her again, knocking her to the ground. Then, before Proxima can recover, Wanda uses her powers to throw Proxima into the air, right as one of the shredders passes overhead, causing Proxima to be cut to be pieces.
Oliver and Natasha keep looking up for a moment before looking at each other. Oliver extends his hand and says in greeting, "Oliver Queen."
Natasha looks surprised. "Barry's friend?" she asks. Oliver nods.
Natasha smiles before taking the offered hand. "Natasha Romanoff. Nice to meet you," she says.
Oliver nods, then pulls his hand back, nocks an arrow, and sends it through the head of an alien trying to leap down into the ditch. He looks back at Natasha and says, "Let's get back to this battle." He then takes a running start and leaps out of the ditch. Natasha grins as she follows him.
At this point, Barry can't take it any longer. He's been able to hear the sounds of Steve fighting over his earpiece, and it doesn't sound good. "Morris, I'm going to help Cap. Take over," Barry shouts to Morris, who's just a few yards away, before racing off in the direction of the lab.
Arriving in the trees below it, Barry sees Vision lying against a tree, and Corvus Glaive pinning Steve to the ground by the throat. A fierce wave of protectiveness surges through him at the sight of his team leader and friend in danger, and he races towards Corvus Glaive. Stopping behind him, Barry vibrates his hand and shoves it right through Corvus' back and through his heart.
Corvus looks down in surprise at the hand that has burst through his chest. Then, Barry withdraws it, and the last of the Children of Thanos crumples to the ground, dead.
Barry reaches out his hand and helps Steve to his feet. Steve looks at him in surprise and says, "You killed him."
Barry just stands there for a moment, taking that in. He hadn't really thought that killing those aliens was that bad, as they really were nothing more than animals. But killing a sentient, intelligent creature is another matter. He's killed metahumans before, though usually not intentionally, and always as a second measure. Now, he killed Corvus as a first resort.
But, he doesn't feel bothered. And that is what makes it out of his mouth. "I know. And it doesn't bother me, Cap. Things aren't as black and white as I always thought. Yes, I still prefer not to kill, and will try to avoid killing. But with this thing (gesturing to Corvus as he says this), there was no choice for me. He was trying to kill you. And you're my friend. I wasn't going to let him endanger anybody anymore."
Steve nods. Then, he turns to Vision and says, "Come on. We should get you back to the lab."
And, I'll end there.
I hope you liked this chapter, and that it was everything you hoped it would be.
Just for clarification. Oliver's bow has some similar powers to Stormbreaker, but is nowhere near as powerful. So, don't expect an arrow from that bow to be able to pierce right through the Infinity Gauntlet's energy like Stormbreaker did. Also, Oliver is not wearing a cape if you were wondering.
Now, regarding Barry killing Corvus Glaive. I feel that after everything he's been through, and all he's learned from the Avengers, Barry would realize that there are times when it's necessary to kill your enemy. And in the case of Corvus Glaive, I agree with Barry that there really was no other choice.
I decided to have Oliver be the one to fight Proxima with Natasha so that we could get the first sign of a bond between them. Natasha is currently my prime candidate for Oliver's new love interest, and if I do choose to follow that path, I wanted to start setting it up here.
Alright. Next chapter, Thanos will finally arrive on Earth, and we'll see if our heroes can manage to stop him or not. Until then, please review, tell me what you thought of this chapter, and stay tuned!