Alright, let's get going with this next chapter.
Finally, the team is going to find out Prometheus' identity. And things are going to be different to how they react to this compared to the show.
Also, I have officially planned out my chapter plan for this story. This story will be 25 chapters long. So, we are ⅔ of the way through.
Let's get to it. And no, the chapter title is not meant to insinuate Talia will be involved. She will not be appearing in this story at all, except for maybe one or two future name drops by Adrian later on.
Chapter 16- His Name is Adrian Chase
"So, wait, Viper works for HYDRA?" Felicity asks.
"Yeah. And apparently, she didn't just know my name because of Prometheus investigating us. There was a Winter Soldier on this Earth, who I'm guessing worked for HYDRA too, and he must have been my doppelganger. She seemed to think I was him. Not sure if she still does after our 'discussion'," Bucky responds.
"So, are we thinking of reconsidering your judgement on the idea that Prometheus might be working for HYDRA?" Curtis asks.
"Not yet," Bucky says before pausing for a moment. Then, he says, "The way that Viper was talking...it didn't seem like a member of HYDRA. She clearly was a member at one point, but...I don't know, something about what she said about her motives for working with Prometheus makes me think that maybe she's acting on her own. I think she may well have backup from HYDRA. That's probably where all her men come from. But, they also weren't wearing anything that had any markings resembling anything related to HYDRA. Something else is going on here."
Bucky pauses again, then says, "In any case, HYDRA itself is not our worry right now. Whatever Viper's connection to them is, I think it's safe to bet that most of HYDRA is not at all involved in Prometheus' crusade here. Prometheus is the focus. Once we take down him, we can look into Viper's connection with HYDRA. But that has to be on the backburner for now."
He stands up, more confident, and says, "And we have someone else to worry about. Someone attacked me when I had Viper by the throat. A woman in black. And she had a cry like yours," looking to Laurel as he finishes.
"Really?" Laurel asks. Bucky just nods.
"Great. They have their own Black Siren. As if things weren't bad enough already," Curtis says in exasperation.
"Yes," Felicity says. Everyone turns to look at her.
"Why do you not seem surprised?" Laurel asks suspiciously.
"Well, during my searches for Prometheus, I came across a few scattered reports of a woman possessing a scream like yours. And then, I found a video of a woman in black with Viper, using that scream," Felicity says.
"When?" Bucky demands, feeling upset she didn't tell him.
"After your fight with Viper earlier," she says. Everyone looks at her in surprise.
"What?" Laurel finally asks in shock.
"I was looking to track them after they fled. And I got lucky. I was able to track them using traffic cams and recon satellites. But...we weren't the only vigilantes tracking them," Felicity says, putting emphasis on the word vigilantes.
Bucky says, before stating, "Vigilante went after them."
"Yup. He did. And he killed Viper's men who were still with her, but that lady in black drove him off with her scream. I wasn't able to get a good look at her face, but I could tell the attacker was Vigilante," Felicity responds.
Bucky is quiet for a moment. Then, a smile starts to break out on his face. "This could be an opportunity," he says. He then looks at Felicity and asks, "Do you still have a handle on Vigilante? Do you know where he is?"
"Not at the moment, but I can find him. Why?" she asks.
"Think about the last two times Vigilante has showed up. He attacked the bus and killed Warner before Harkness drove him off. Then, he attacked Viper, the other woman, and Viper's men. What are the two connections there?" he asks.
Laurel smiles, catching on. "He targeted Cutter, White, and Warner when Prometheus wanted to recruit them. And then he targeted more of Prometheus' followers," she says.
Bucky nods. "Exactly. He's gotten in Prometheus' way twice in a very short space of time. If Prometheus is all I've heard he is, he isn't going to let Vigilante keep roaming the streets. He's gonna try and put him down now before he can interfere anymore. Now, if we can find and follow Vigilante…"
"It may help us find Prometheus," Laurel finishes.
Bucky nods, then says, "I'll go alone when we find Vigilante. I need the rest of you trying to find Viper and the rest of Prometheus' followers." Everyone looks ready to protest, but the look on Bucky's face shows that now is not the time to argue.
Then, there's a beeping, and Felicity turns to face her computer. A second later, she cries, "Got him! A satellite photo got a picture of him on the roof of a building about two blocks north of the Palmer Tech building!"
Bucky turns and heads to grab his weapons again, eager to find Prometheus again, and to find out who he is.
(Downtown)
Vigilante slowly walks across the roof of a building in downtown Star City, his assault rifle clutched tightly in his hands, considering his next move and target. Suddenly, he hears a whistling, and he reaches up just in time to catch a shuriken flying right at him. Vigilante whips his head around, and sees Prometheus standing on a ledge above him.
"You've crossed me too many times. You've earned yourself a death sentence," Prometheus says.
"Not if I kill you first," Vigilante responds before raising his assault rifle and opening fire at Prometheus. Prometheus turns and runs to avoid it, leaping down onto the lower half of the roof, ducking behind a skylight.
Vigilante walks forward toward the spot, only for a shuriken to fly over to him and hit him in the shoulder. Vigilante grunts in pain and whips around, assault rifle at the ready. He scans the roof, and finally spots Prometheus as the man is racing right at him, just a few feet away.
Prometheus tries to grab Vigilante's assault rifle and force it down, but Vigilante yanks it back and swings it around to strike Prometheus. Prometheus blocks it, and the two exchange several blows. Then, Vigilante gets under Prometheus' guard, grabs him by the arm, and throws him over his shoulder.
Prometheus scrambles back to his feet as Vigilante rushes at him. But Prometheus gets under his guard and grabs him by the arm and the throat. Even as Vigilante struggles to fight back, Prometheus walks forward and throws Vigilante off the roof.
A moment later, Prometheus walks up to the edge and looks over the edge. But, Vigilante is gone.
Prometheus continues looking over the edge for a few moments, then turns away and pulls back his hood and removes his mask, revealing the face of Adrian Chase. Chase reaches into his pocket for his phone, dials the tip-line number, and quickly answers, "Yes. I'd like to report a sighting of Vigilante. This is District Attorney Chase."
As he gives the person on the other end the necessary details of his "sighting", he has no idea that from the next roof over, Bucky is watching him through the scope of his sniper rifle. Completely stunned.
A sense of betrayal quickly fills Bucky as he lets his sniper rifle fall. The man who had been one of Oliver's right hand men and one of his friends. The man who had helped Bucky and the others free John, and had made Bucky feel like he had started what was going to be a good friendship. This whole time, he was the psychopath who had them running circles.
After a few moments, he shakes himself out of his stupor and looks back at Chase. Chase seems to have just finished his phone call, as he's putting his phone away. Bucky growls and fires off an extension cable and swings across to the roof of building. As he hits the roof, he shouts, "CHASE!"
Chase, who had just finished putting up his mask, whips his head around to look at Bucky, who has started running after him, then turns and starts running. Bucky sprints after him, pulling out a pistol and shooting after him, but Chase turns and avoids the bullets before leaping off the building's roof.
Bucky follows him right off the roof and onto the roof of a neighboring building. Chase has a significant lead, but Bucky is slowly closing in on him.
For several minutes, Bucky pursues Chase across rooftops, trying to catch him. As he's finally getting close, he suddenly hears a whistling from his right. He stops short and raises his cybernetic arm, and something deflects off of it. Lowering his arm, he sees Harkness smirking at him from across the rooftop.
"A pleasure to meet you, Winter Soldier. And to kill you," Harkness says before he throws one of his boomerangs at Bucky. Bucky easily jumps to the side, pulling out a pistol and firing at Harkness, who ducks behind a large air conditioning unit on the roof as he catches his returning boomerang. He leans out a second later and throws two more boomerangs. Bucky deflects one off of his cybernetic arm and races towards Harkness, ducking as he goes to avoid the second boomerang as it returns to Harkness.
Harkness leaps out of his hiding place, a boomerang in each hand. Bucky draws his stun baton, and lunges at Harkness. The two fight fiercely for a minute, Harkness striking with his boomerangs, and Bucky striking with his stun baton and his cybernetic arm.
Finally, Bucky manages to dodge a swipe from Harkness with one his boomerangs, grabs the boomerang out of Harkness' hand with his cybernetic arm, and then breaks it in his hand. Then, he takes a swing with his baton at Harkness, striking him across the face and knocking him down. Bucky pulls out a pistol, and aims at Harkness before Harkness pulls out another boomerang and throws it down towards Bucky's feet. The boomerang explodes, knocking Bucky off his feet.
Bucky quickly scrambles back to his feet, scanning the rooftop. Harkness is gone, and a quick look around the whole roof shows that Chase is gone too.
Bucky clenches his fist, then lets out a cry of anger, furious that Chase got away.
"Mark my words, Chase. You will pay for that you've done," Bucky growls.
And, I'll end there. I hope you guys liked this chapter.
So, I just decided to with this idea of Bucky finding out because I felt it was the easiest to explain. Plus, I really like Vigilante's character, and I wish they had included him more in the show. So, I just decided to give him a bigger role in this story.
So, Bucky finally knows who Prometheus is. It'll take another chapter or two before they're able to expose him to the rest of Star City.
Next chapter should be up soon. Until then, please review, and stay tuned!