Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.
Let's get to it.
Chapter 11- Duel of the Knights
Oliver takes a deep breath as he circles the Quinjet high over Sacramento. He, Natasha, and Marc had arrived in Sacramento by Quinjet earlier in the day. They had set down outside Sacramento to keep the Quinjet hidden and had done a recon of the area to prepare for the fight ahead.
As the day turned into evening, Marc had allowed himself to be seen as Moon Knight twice in areas near the spot where the arms dealers were holed up. Now, as it's nearing 11 at night, Oliver and Natasha have returned to the Quinjet and are now circling over the city near the area where the arms dealers are holed up, high enough that nobody on the ground will be able to see that a Quinjet is circling overhead.
As Oliver looks below, he hears Marc's voice call over the radio, "Alright. I'm heading in."
"Got it, marc. We're watching the warehouse. Your brother shows up, we'll see him," Oliver says.
"Copy that," Marc replies.
Natasha walks up beside Oliver. "You think this is gonna work?" she asks.
"Well, it's not gonna be hard for him to tell that Marc's here. From what Marc told us, I don't think that Randall is going to be able to resist it," Oliver responds.
"I think so too. Hopefully we can finally put an end to this madman," Natasha says.
Oliver nods in response. Natasha then kneels down beside him, smiling. "And maybe once we take down Shadow Knight, we can actually get started planning our wedding," she says.
Oliver turns to Natasha, smiling. "You're really excited for this, huh?" he asks.
Natasha smiles at him. "I always thought love was for children. It's been over the last decade or so that I started to realize that I was wrong, that love truly is something amazing," she says. She then pauses for a moment before saying, "And you're the one who has shown my what true love is. Being with you…it's really shown me how amazing it is to be in love with someone. Being with you has changed me."
Oliver smiles and gives her a quick kiss. "It's not just you. Being with you has changed me as well. I thought I knew love with other women, including Felicity. But it was nothing compared to what we have," he says. He then pauses for a moment before he says, "I can't wait to call you my wife."
Natasha smiles. Then, her eyes flick towards one of the Quinjet's displays, and she says, "Someone's approaching the warehouse."
Oliver turns to look at the display, and focuses on the infrared imaging system, which shows a figure approaching the warehouse. He then switches over to an actual camera, and zooms in on the warehouse. The camera is a very advanced camera, able to pick small details even at this altitude. As Oliver zooms in on the figure, the suit he is wearing becomes clear.
"That's him," Natasha says.
The two of them watch as Shadow Knight enters the warehouse. Oliver the noses down the Quinjet and dives towards the warehouse, pulling out just above the warehouse. Oliver then sets the Quinjet down on the roof of the warehouse.
Natasha gathers her weapons as Oliver lowers the ramp at the back of the Quinjet. Then, the two race out of the Quinjet. As they clear the Quinjet, Oliver thrusts his hand out to the side, and his uru bow flies out of the Quinjet and into his hand. A burst of lightning and energy envelops Oliver as his armor takes shape. As his armor finishes forming, Oliver draws and fires an explosive arrow that destroys a skylight at the top of the warehouse.
Oliver and Natasha rush to the new hole in the roof and leap through it, lowering themselves on a cable. As they lower down towards the floor, they see Shadow Knight rushing towards Marc. Natasha throws down a small explosive charge, forcing Shadow Knight to stop in his tracks and knocking him off his feet.
The two reach the floor a moment later, facing down Shadow Knight. Oliver quickly begins to circle around to get behind Shadow Knight before he can get back to his feet, to ensure that he can't escape.
Shadow Knight quickly gets back to his feet. He looks around at his three opponents, and then begins to laugh. "Well. You couldn't face me yourself, brother, so you had to call in aid?" he mocks his brother.
"You have been a plague to me for years. You killed my girlfriend. You have caused me nothing but pain. I'll do whatever it takes to kill you," Marc says.
"You will try," Shadow Knight says before he turns towards Natasha, and to the shock of all three of his opponents, releases a blast of energy from his eyes. Natasha ducks and somersaults to the side to avoid.
Oliver, though shocked at this unexpected show of power from Shadow Knight, quickly draws an arrow and fires it at Shadow Knight. Shadow Knight whips out his bo staff and deflects the arrow away before charging at Oliver.
Oliver charges at Shadow Knight, striking with his bow as Shadow Knight tries to strike Oliver with his staff. The two weapons clash, Oliver and Shadow Knight struggling against each other. Oliver then jumps up and kicks Shadow Knight in the chest. Shadow Knight flies backwards, but turns it into a backhand spring and turning his attention to Natasha as she rushes at him. Natasha jabs her stun batons towards Shadow Knight, but he easily deflects them with his staff.
Shadow Knight kicks Natasha's legs out from under her, but then immediately has to defend himself from a strike from Marc's staff. Natasha then flips back onto her feet and jabs one of her stun batons into Shadow Knight's back. Marc then strikes his brother in the head with his staff before kicking him in the chest, knocking him to the ground.
Oliver raises his bow to fire an arrow. But, before he can, Shadow Knight turns to Oliver and releases another blast of energy from his eyes. Oliver reacts quickly by holding his bow out in front of him. The energy hits the bow, the uru in the bow easily blocking the energy and deflecting it away.
Shadow Knight then rolls away as Marc tries to strike him again and flips back up onto his feet. Marc attacks with his staff, but Shadow Knight blocks it with his own. Marc then flips up over Shadow Knight's head, hitting him in the side of the head with his staff and knocking Shadow Knight off his feet. However, as he lands, Shadow Knight spins himself around and regains his feet, charging at Marc. He kicks Marc right in the chest as Marc turns to face him again, knocking Marc onto his back. Marc immediately flips himself back onto his feet, then immediately ducks under a blow from Shadow Knight before delivering an uppercut to Shadow Knight's chin hard enough to knock him flying. However, Shadow Knight rights himself in midair and lands on his feet.
Shadow Knight draws a pair of crescent shaped blades and throws them at Marc. Marc deflects one, but the other manages to slice across his arm. Marc hisses as he stumbles back a step as Shadow Knight rushes to attack him, but Natasha rushes forward to attack Shadow Knight.
Shadow Knight tries to strike her with his staff, but Natasha flips up over it. She manages to get up onto Shadow Knight's shoulders and scissors his head with her legs. She then tries to beat him over the head, landing several blows before Shadow Knight ducks down and manages to throw her off of him. However, Natasha's distraction gives Oliver the chance to attack again, firing an arrow right into Shadow Knight's shoulder. Shadow Knight growls from the pain and rips the arrow out of his shoulder before Marc flies in and kicks him in the side of the head.
Shadow Knight tumbles across the floor before flipping himself up and turning back to face them. He fires another blast of energy from his eyes, but Oliver again blocks it with his bow. Natasha then fires a taser disc from her Widow's Bite. The disc hits Shadow Knight, forcing him to his knees as the electricity surges through him. Oliver then fires another arrow, hitting Shadow Knight in the stomach.
Shadow Knight cries out in pain. However, before he can try and pull out the arrow, Marc rushes forward and knees him in the face. Then, he loops his staff around Shadow Knight's head and puts him in a headlock with it. Shadow Knight struggles, trying to get free, but Marc keeps a tight hold on his brother.
After several moments, Marc leans and whispers into his brother's ear, "It's been fun, Randall. But I guess we finally know who is the better fighter. And now it's time for you to pay for all that you've done." He pauses, then says, "See you in hell." Finally, with a sharp movement, Marc snaps his brother's neck. Shadow Knight's body goes limp, and a moment later, Marc releases it, letting the body crumple to the ground.
Silence reigns for several moments as the three of them look at Shadow Knight's body. Then, finally, they all look up at each other. They're silent for several more moments before Oliver says simply, "We won."
And, I'll end there. I hope you guys don't mind that the fight was rather quick. I think, with Moon Knight, Black Widow, and a superpowered Green Arrow, Shadow Knight wouldn't last long.
Before any of you protest that I made Shadow Knight too powerful with the energy blast from his eyes, that's not something I made up. He actually had that power in the comics.
So, they've finally beaten Shadow Knight. We're down to the end of the story. Next chapter will wrap things up. It should be up within a week. Until it is, please leave a review, and stay tuned!
