Grunting could be heard in the base of one Nathaniel Queen, as he bobbed and weaved through Lyla's attacks, before he spun around her spartan kick, and slapped her ass causing her to gasp, and rub the stinging cheek.
"Your attack patterns are still too predictable, and you're thinking too much. Don't think, just act." Nathan said.
"What good would that do? You're a ninja with super powers."
"That's the thing, I'm not using my Mirakuru right now." Nathan said before he broke his own arm. Then he closed his eyes and opened them to reveal his kyuubi eyes. His arm then suddenly snapped back into place, as if it had never been broken in the first place.
"What does those eyes of your's mean?" Lyla asked.
"I'm only using my Mirakuru powers when my eyes are like this." Nathan pointed to his Kyuubi eyes, Lyla watching as they changed back to their original color. "I've learned how to turn it on or off."
"And your cloning?" Lyla continued.
"My ability to create a perfect clone of myself is tied to my Mirakuru. It a physical ability and that is the reason it leaves me temporarily physically drained just making one. If I attempted to make more than say 5 clones at a time, even I would probably die," Nathan said causing Lyla's eyes to widen slightly "Speaking of being dead."
Lyla watched Nathan head to a computer "Scott Morgan runs Water & Power in the Glades. Jacks up the prices when people can't pay shuts them down even in the dead of winter." he said.
"Which is at least a month away." Lyla said before she brought something up while Nathan raised an eyebrow "Look at this."
"These guys started in Keystone three years ago. Began moving west, hitting banks along the way. This morning, they hit Starling City Trust. Shot an off-duty cop. He's in a coma. Doctors say it's a coin-toss whether he'll make it."
"If he's a cop, S.C.P.D. will be over it." Nathan said.
"Overwhelmed, underfunded. These guys don't hit one time, they hit two or three per city. Right now, they're planning their next job." Lyla said.
"Why exactly are you bring this up?" Nathan said.
"You said you wanted to help this city. And while going after all the names in your dad's book is okay and all, but your city still needs a symbol."
"I'm not a hero, Lyla. I'm a protector, an enforcer of order. I ain't looking to inspire anyone." Nathan said
"Well you will regardless, now people think you're a psychopath going after the rich. Show them that your actually trying to help this city." Lyla said pointing to the article.
"You're going to hound me on this aren't you?" Nathan asked causing Lyla to smirk in triumph.
"You know me so well."
"I'll think about it." Nathan sighed, before Lyla slapped him.
"That's for slapping my ass." Lyla said as Nathan smiled.
"I remember you liked to be spanked." Nathan said causing Lyla to blush.
Later
Queen Estate
Nathan, and Thea walked toward the steps as Thea talked "I mean, haven't you noticed she's been acting a little down lately? Heh, what am I saying? Of course you haven't."
"Since when do you pay attention to how Mom's feeling?" Nathan asked with a raised eyebrow as they walked down the stairs.
"Since our step-father decided to take a business trip halfway around the world."
"When someone at Walter's pay grade takes a trip, it's always sudden. It's part of being a CEO, I wouldn't read too much into that." Nathan said just as Moira walked into the hall with flowers.
"Ah. Guess who I just hung up with?" Moira said happily as Nathan rose an eyebrow "Janice Bowen. Carter's mother."
"Ugh." Nathan gagged.
"Carter Bowen. The perfect son." Thea smiled
"Is he perfect?" Moira asked.
"According to you. Carter Bowen just won the national chess championship." Nathan said playfully mocking Moira
"Carter Bowen is anchoring the debate team." Thea joined him
"I didn't make that big a fuss." Moira smiled
"Nathaniel, Carter just got accepted into Harvard and Princeton." Thea smiled.
"Because Carter got a perfect score on his SATs. Now, how did he manage to study and cure cancer?" Nathan mimicked.
"All right, all right you two. I get it, I get it. Well, they're coming for brunch and I expect you to be there."
"I'll be busy doing anything but that." Nathan said as a matter-of-factedly.
"I haven't seen the Bowens in years. Whatever it is that you have planned I'm sure the two of you can make the sacrifice just this once." Moira said looking at her children.
"We'll be there." Nathan sighed after a moment as Moira smiled and walked off.
"I hate you." Thea said making to walk off, but Nathan smirked and grabbed her before he began to tickle her sensitive spot like he did when she was younger causing her to laugh "Stop, stop".
"Take it back and I will." Nathan said as Thea laughed.
"Okay, okay, I take it back." Thea said breathing heavily as Nathan stopped his assault and let her go, before Thea hit him, and ran off giggling when he reached to grab her again.
"This isn't over!" Nathan shouted, as his phone rung.
"Yeah?"
"Scott Morgan from your father's list? He just tried to kill himself. Maybe afraid of getting a visit from you. Can you make it to Starling General?"
"I'm on my way." Nathan said turning and running into Tommy.
"Hey, just the man I wanted to see." Tommy said as Nathan raised an eyebrow "I just picked up a new sports car. I'm thinking, we can open her up, pick up a few speeding tickets."
"That sounds great, but something has come up with the club construction, and I gotta take care of it, Sorry bro." Nathan said tapping Tommy's shoulder and walking off.
"Oh, uh, okay." Tommy said lamely as he watched Nathan leave "Nice talk. Thanks."
"He moves fast, doesn't he?" Thea said walking into the room.
"It's ironic since you're the one we call Speedy." Tommy smiled turning to Thea.
"Ah, "Called," please. For the love of God." Thea groaned before she said "But if you need somebody to talk to, I'm here."
Tommy looked thoughtful and nodded "You know, maybe you could help. There's this girl that I'm interested in. And I am really not sure how to pursue it."
"Have you tried using your usual lines? "My name is Tommy Merlyn, I'm a billionaire, even though I don't look like Warren Buffett." Thea said smiling.
"Yeah, she is aware of that and she doesn't care. You know, money really isn't a big deal to her." Tommy replied.
"Why don't you just tell her how you feel?" Thea asked.
"Well, I've-I've known her for a long time. And I'm not sure the direct approach is the right way to go." Tommy admitted.
"Maybe you have to figure out what's a big deal to her and make it a big deal to you." Thea offered.
Tommy smiled in realization "Thea, you are amazing, heh. Love you." he said running off as Thea shrugged and walked upstairs to find something to do.
Starling General
Nathan arrived in his car, and hopped out as Lyla walked over "Scott Morgan isn't the type to kill himself." Nathan said looking at her.
"Well, I knew it would get you to come here." Lyla said as an ambulance unloaded a comatose man as a woman walked up.
"Ms Michaels, I can't thank you enough for arranging to move my husband from county ward to Starling General. Now I know he's getting the best care."
"You should be thanking Nathaniel Queen over here. He's paying the bill." Lyla smiled shaking the woman's hand "Jana's husband, Stan, is a police officer. He happened to have been making a deposit at Starling Trust."
"The bank that was robbed." Nathan nodded as he looked to the depressed wife "Is he gonna be okay?"
"The next 24 hours are crucial. He should have just kept his head down, you know?" the wife said
"I've known a few police officers, they were always willing to help others even if that means putting themselves at risk." Lyla said as Nathan's eyebrow twitched.
"Thank you." Stan's wife said shaking Nathan's hand.
"No problem." Nathan smiled before the woman walked off. He looked at Lyla in annoyance.
"You see, your city has other problems, then the names on your father's list. You want to clean this city up, to do that you can't ignore the people who need your help." Lyla said before adding, "And besides, after your little episode of flaying Justin Claybourne alive, I'd say you need some type of moral anchor and maybe this could be it."
"Fine." Nathan sighed "Let's go before Lance and his partner show up and start giving me dirty looks."
Lyla smiled as she followed after Nathan.
Later
Nathan and Lyla were at the factory, going over the footage of the bank robbery, as one of the robbers punched a bank teller "See that guy there? He's got a temper." Lyla noted.
"And he shot Officer Washington." Nathan said.
"That's right." Lyla said as she enhanced the frame around the man's hand.
"High school ring. That ring will get us an ID." Nathan said.
"But even with photo enhancement you have a problem getting a clear shot of that ring." Lyla stated.
"It left an impression, the police would've photographed. It'll be in evidence lockup. I'll be back." Nathan said.
Sometime later
Nathan reappeared with the flash drive and put the flash drive in and brought up a picture "The bank manager Ace punched. His ring left a mark. Larchmont High School."
Lyla began to type "Cross-referencing his height and age with the students and alumni, we have Kyle Reston." Lyla said.
Nathan frowned as he read the info Lyla managed to get on Kyle "Before Kyle's senior year, not only did he drop out, he dropped off the grid, along with his family. Father, mother, younger brother."
"Aside from Stan Washington there were 22 customers and employees that came. Nine men, 13 women. Inside the bank, nine men, 14 women. The police are looking for a crew, but our actual target is a family." Nathan said.
Next Day
Nathan arrived home late for brunch after spending the night looking into the Reston family, entering the foyer he saw Moira, and Thea with their guests "Well, I'm sorry Walter couldn't join us." Janice said.
"Oh, yes. Well, the Australian trip came up suddenly. He sends his apologies."
"Where's Nathaniel? He's not out of town too, is he?" Carter asked.
"I'm sure he's,"
"Running a bit late, sorry." Nathan said causing everyone to turn to him as he walked closer and kissed Moira's cheek, and hugged Thea.
"Thank God you're here." Thea whispered before Nathan pulled back and winked at her.
Janice with a large smile walked up and hugged Nathan "It is so good to see you. We all thought you were,"
"Oh, well, we are just happy he's home." Moira interrupted Janice as Nathan raised an eyebrow at the woman, before everyone sat down at the table,
"Hmm, and returning as a celebrity too." Carter said as Nathan looked at him.
"How do you mean?" Nathan asked.
"Well, billionaire scion, castaway for five years. You know, there is a bidding war for the rights of your life story.".
"Really." Nathan said with a small frown.
"At least, that's what my agent says." Carter shrugged smirking.
"I thought you were a neurosurgeon." Nathan said.
"I know. It's crazy, right? One minute I'm publishing this book on how long-term potentiation initiates the creation of a slow-moving protein synthesis and then next, there's an agent trying to make me the next Dr. Oz, heh." Carter gloated as Nathan's eyebrow twitched dangerously, which his family noticed causing Moira to place a hand on his knee, knowing that he was going to say something inappropriate "Truthfully, I feel it's our duty as Starling City's more fortunate to help those most in need."
"I see five years has really changed your attitude Carter, seeing as I remember you being a bit of a bully to those less fortunate then us." Nathan said causing Carter to frown.
"Yes, I'm deeply ashamed of my past behavior." Carter nodded.
"So, Nathaniel now that you're back, what are your plans? Will you be taking a job with Queen Consolidated?"
"Not, yet. Walter has been doing a fine job, and once I'm fully caught up and learn every little detail my family's company has had a hand in, then I'll be taking over. But for now, I've settled for writing a book series and opening a nightclub."
Moira didn't know how to feel about Nathan wanting to dig deep into the company as he might something he shouldn't(Like Walter did), but she was surprised to hear about the book series.
"Really a book series? I'm sure it'll be a good read." Carter said.
"My publisher thought so." Nathan nodded.
"Wait you were already published?" Thea asked.
"Yeah, she published three of my manuscripts, Loveless, Make Out Paradise, and Chronicles of the Shinobi." Nathan said before his attention went to Lyla.
"Sir, your liquor distributor's on the line." Lyla said, before she leaned in and whispered into his ear "First Bank of Starling was hit two minutes ago."
"Sorry, I'll be quick." Nathan said to the others before he stood up and walked out of the room.
"If their M.O. holds, they made their escape underground. First Bank of Starling is located above water tunnels. The entrance is located here." Lyla said handing Nathan her phone with a map.
Nathan nodded and created a clone that secretly exited the building with Lyla, as Nathan turned around and walked into Moira "Nathan, what's going on?"
"Everything's fine mom, let's go back to entertain the snobs." Nathan smiled as Moira smiled and linked her arm with his and the two walked into the dining room.
Underground
The Reston men dropped down from the hole, and rushed to their meeting point, but paused when they saw Nathan walking toward them in uniform, and immediately Kyle opened fire, but Nathan was in his face with a elbow sending him flying back, before Nathan bent back when the other two shot at him, dodging the bullets before he kicked Derek in the jaw, and punched Teddy in the center of his mask causing it to shatter, as the two men went down dropping their bags of money.
Nathan looked over his shoulder, before he quickly grabbed the bags of money, and vanished like a ghost as the Reston men, got up noticing the vigilante and their money missing quickly they all ran off when cops arrived, as the bags of money would be found on the desk inside the bank.
Later
"Who the hell was that guy?" Kyle asked upset as he held a bag if ice to his bruised jaw.
"The local vigilante. Goes after rich guys."
"Clearly, he's branching out." Kyle glared.
"Things have gone sideways lately. That hood guy. Kyle shooting a cop." Kyle's mom said.
"You're the one warned me he was a cop." Kyle said.
"So you would take his gun, not shot him."
"Your mother has a point." Mr. Reston said "Maybe this is a sign we need to hang it up. Head for Mexico. Retire."
"No, we don't have enough. We said that we wouldn't quit until we had enough to set ourselves up for life." Teddy said wiping his bleeding nose.
"The kid is right, we need to hit another." Kyle said frowning
"We can make do. We'll be okay." Mr. Reston sighed
"I didn't spend five years risking my life and my freedom to just be okay." Kyle said walking up to his dad and glaring at the man "No, set for life. That was our deal."
"Okay. One more. And then we're out." His father relented.
"Aren't you, supposed to be the king?"
The Reston family jumped and looked to see Nathan sitting on the hood of their getaway van,
"Let's make this easy, put your hands up, and none of you have to be sent to the hospital." Nathan said
Nathan was answered by Kyle moving to pick up, his Ak47, and retorted by appeared over the man and stomping on his head into the ground and applying pressure till he went slack, before he dodged gunfire from the other Reston family before he appeared behind Teddy and a chop to the back of the kids neck knocked him out.
Mr. and Mrs. Reston shot at Nathan, who took cover behind their van. He fired an arrow into the sky, which gave off an intense light that blinded the parents.
"You both are terrible parents." Nathan said before he knocked them out.
SCPD
The cops rushed outside as pictures were being snapped of the Reston family who were still unconscious but we're dangling from ninja wire their gear, and money as well as a recording of their talk being tied to them as well.
One day later
Noon
Giggling and moaning could be heard inside of Chien Na Wei's mansion. It was, of course from her bedroom. Two figures were rumbling under the sheets and after a moment, Chien and Nathan's heads came out of the bed, sweating pouring down their heads after 3 hours of non-stop sex.
"Now, that was something to give thanks for." Chien quipped, referring to the fact that Thanksgiving was the next day.
"Well, we haven't seen each other in a while. I wanted to make sure you know I how much I love and appreciate you." Nathan said as he kissed her left eye, "And I love," he kissed her right eye, "and appreciate you," he finished by French kissing her, "very much."
They stared lovingly into each others eyes for a moment, before Nathan said, "I don't really know when we'll have a chance to see each other again, so I wanted to give these to you early." He pulled and reached down to the base of the bed where he pulled up a few gifts.
He presented the first gift. It was a necklace in the shape of a Chinese dragon. There were diamonds embedded along the dragon's body. "I saw this the other and I hoped you might like it."
She took the necklace and tried it on. Chien definitely liked this, especially since dragons were her favorite animal. "I love it."
Nate smiled and handed her another small box. This one was a white crystal necklace that was bound by a brown leather cord. It looked like it was handcrafted.(Shodaime's Necklace, just that it's white instead of green). "Now I know you love the color white, so I handmade this with a white moonstone that I found during my travels."
Chien, naturally liked it when she tried it on, "You're spoiling me rotten today, lover." She teased him with a smirk.
"Yeah, but you know you love it when I spoil you, both in and out of bed," Nate replied with a smirk of his own.
"Keep it up, handsome, and you'll be getting an early Christmas present of your own." She said.
"Well, in that case, I had better had you your final gift." He said as he pulled out his final gift. He handed her two Karambit daggers. "I know how you love Karambit daggers, so I got you this pair, which is made with a titanium steel alloy."
Chien happily gave him a deep french kiss, before she pulled away. "I have something for you as well." She over to her side of the bed and pulled up two items.
"Earlier this year, my men went to Lian Yu and found the Shin Gunto you used while there and I had them restore it." She handed him the Imperial Japanese Katana. She then placed two swords on the bed.
"I remember when you had told about your time on the island, about the one who first trained you. How you took a liking to the swords he used." Nathan pulled out of it's sheath, seeing that it was designed the same as the blades Slade and Nathan had used while they were on Lian Yu.
He marveled at it for a moment before he put it back. He placed his hand on Chien Na Wei's cheek and stroked it affectionately as he gave her a long, tender kiss on the lips. "Thank you, Chien. You have no idea how much this means to me."
"Then show me," Chien said to him as she climbed onto his lap and straddled him, "I want you to fuck me for rest of the day. Our final gift to each other."
"Ahh, I've turned into a nympho, haven't I?" He asked.
"With your stamina, and that monster between your legs, you could turn even a lesbian into a straight nympho. So, you up for it?" she didn't even have to wait 5 seconds as he plunged his hardened cock back into, eliciting a loud moan from the white haired woman.
"Always," he said.