My name is Nathaniel Queen. After 5 years of a hellish existence, I have come back with only one goal: To save my city. And I Succeeded. Now with my team at my back, I work day and night to weed the remaining scum to make sure this never happens again. To do so I become someone else. I become something else. I am Prometheus.
Queen Consolidated
CEO's Office
"Uh huh. Yes, I understand. Thanks for the help again, Lena, and congrats on the taking over Lexcorp again. We'll be in touch." Nathan said as he hung up the phone and finished some papers on his desk and sign some papers.
Speaking of Lena Luthor, he had connected his old friend several times since he had first been back, but their contact had been increased in the last 6 months, since when he first took over the company, she had come over under the pretense of discussing a potential business deal, which was really an excuse for Lena to come see him and catch up. Catching up in the form of some late night fun aka sex. After all, in their youth, the Queens, the Merlyn's, the Luthor's, the Wayne's(Until Bruce's parents were killed), the Vanaver's, and the Teague's got together for parties every year. Him and Lena had experimented sexually and gave each other their virginity at 15, though a relationship was out of the question, since Metropolis was too far away from Starling City. Although she was making plans to move Lexcorp HQ to National City and change the name. You know, fresh start and all that.
While she was here for a few days, she had given him some lessons in being a CEO that she had learned in the last year. He probably didn't need it, since he had managed to get a Master's in Business Administration from Harvard in a record 4 years, due to taking a bunch of classes in high school and always having his schedule full with the maximum possible class load in College, even in the summer. But the lessons did help.
He got up from his desk and looked out the window with his arms crossed behind his back. In the last 6 months, he had killed over 130 names on his father's list. Including the one's he had already taken down the previous year to make sure they didn't try anything again, and the member's on the list that worked at QC, emptying the company of scum. Which meant he had completed a little over a quarter of his fathers work. And he was using his influence to replace the people he killed with honest, morally structured people to make sure a corrupt person didn't replace them. That didn't mean he didn't keep an eye on them, just incase power corrupted them. If so, rinse and repeat.
He started to buy up the property in the Glades immediately after the Undertaking, particularly the worn down slums. He tore them down and had Bertinelli Construction, through Helena, make new, liveable, low-cost housing for the people in Glades. He made sure that Helena's company was staying within regulation by bringing in several OSHA officials to make sure they were within regulation. The people in the Glades were slowly beginning to see Helena and Nathan as saviors, which was good for PR.
He had handed off the reigns of his club to Thea, though he had been forced to lock her out of his Lair, so the door wouldn't open incase she accidently placed her hand on it. He had also purchased the land his families mansion was on, so he technically owned the property and the house, but he still lived in his loft. In his spare time, he had been working on establishing two backup lairs incase his main one under Verdant was ever compromised. One underneath the mansion and another within the city.
His relationships with Helena, Chien, Lyla (who was sitting on the couch in his office, working on some ARGUS stuff) and Talia were still going strong. Though Talia had to head back to her organization to keep her Shadows in check.
It hadn't all been good though. His lawsuit against Quentin hadn't quite gone the way he wanted. Quentin did lose his rank as detective and would not be allowed to advance in rank for a period of 10 years. But he was allowed to remain on the SCPD as a low-level police officer. The only good thing about that was that McKenna Hall had been promoted to Detective. He was strongly leaning towards approaching her as Prometheus about working with him on the side.
Tommy had passed away from his cancer about 2 months ago. His final days had been filled with joy of spending time with Laurel and Nate. In his will, he left Merlyn Global Group to Nathan and left Laurel with a large sum of money equivalent to 100 million dollars, but his will reading was kept a private affair. So Queen Consolidated had absorbed Merlyn Global Group and it's holding's and Laurel got all that money. He had tried to be there for Laurel but she had asked him for some space so she could grieve in peace. He had obliged but he believes 2 months is long enough and it's time for him to be there for her.
The other thing that was bugging him was a woman. Isabel Rochev. Right after the Undertaking, QC's stock had plummeted. He was able to buy most of it, about 60% of the stock, making him the majority shareholder. But he was unable to grab the other 40% when Isabel Rochev, the vice president of the Acquisitions Department at Stellmoor International, stepped in. She wasn't on the List. He had double checked to make sure of that, including cross-referencing his old man's copy with Frank Chen's and Malcolm's.
He just wasn't sure about Isabel. He had done his research on the woman. She had been an intern at QC but was fired around the time Thea had fallen off that horse, so he guessed his father might have been sleeping with her. After she was promoted to her previous position at Stellmoor, she showed a preference for buying up property that QC put up for sale, but other than that, nothing truly nefarious, but he intended to keep digging in case there was something.
He had been forced to give her a position on the Board of Directors and last month, was forced to make her his CFO for several reasons. 1: The company needed a new one since the last one had been killed by him because he was on the List. 2: He didn't trust the rest of the Board. 3: The only bad thing she had done so far to him was possibly sleeping with his father and attempting a hostile takeover of his company. 4: Unlike a majority of the top brass, she was the only one besides him that took this job seriously. Anyway, they had a decent working relationship, but she tended to fight him on a number of issues, including several projects he wanted to run. He was considering seducing her, because she was a beautiful woman and would definitely be a good lay, and it would certainly make her more agreeable, but he should probably run it by the girls first.
Flashback
Slade and Nathan were sparring with wooden bokken, and it was evident that Nathan had improved by leaps and bounds since the death of Fyers and the rest of the mercenaries. They fought fast and furiously for several minutes before mutually coming to a stop. A noise drew Nathan's attention, and he looked to the door to see Shado, now wearing her father's hood, walk in with a freshly caught bird in a cage. Slade took advantage and hit him hard across the side of his head with his bokken, sending Nathan to his knees.
Slade laughed. "You're not the first man to learn the hard way- women are a distraction." He said as he moved off to get a drink of water.
Shado came over, lowering her hood as she did so.
"You've come very far in all your training in the last five months." She told him as he pulled himself up. "Don't beat yourself up."
"Nah, that's your guy's job." Nathan said with a smile.
"And I love my job." Slade replied cheekily. "Not that I wouldn't trade it for a way off this island."
"While you two were playing with each other, I was hunting." Shado retorted.
"Well, there's nothing more attractive than a woman who can hunt." Slade complimented, walking past the two towards the cage.
Nathan smiled at a memory. "When I was marooned here, my first meal was a pheasant." He told her. "Your father cooked it for me."
"He was an awful cook." Shado said.
"Yeah." Nathan agreed. "But a great father. I'm looking at the proof." He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips.
Across the way, Slade snapped the neck of the bird. "Let's eat." He said. Before they could even start cooking, a beeping sound caught their attention.
"What's that?" Nathan asked.
"That's Fyers' proximity detector." Slade said as the three ran over to the crate it was sitting on. Shado reached it first and lifted it. "We salvaged it from the wreckage of the soldier's camp." Shado said. "Picks up anything moving outside our safe zone." On the screen there was a rough map of their section of the island, along with three dots that seemed to be moving. "It's been five months since we stopped Fyers. He and all of his men were dead." She said in confusion.
"Are we positive that's not a few small animals?" Nathan suggested.
"There's an imaging interface." Shado pushed a button, and a thermal image came up on the screen- unmistakably of three men, probably holding weapons.
"Okay. Those are not animals." Nathan noted.
"And we're not alone on this island." Slade added.
Flashback End
On several unrelated notes, he had gotten a new secretary last month after the last one quit. A pretty red head with green eyes named Natalie Rushman. It didn't hurt that she had also previously done some modeling in Tokyo and he had every photo from that shoot on his computer which he would occasionally look at and daydream about tapping that sweet ass. Cause hey, she was hot. And despite having 3-4 lovers on demand, he was always horny. One downside of having Mirakuru is an inexhaustible sex drive.
All the hacking he had done had also apparently caught the attention of a hacker that went by SkyeQuake, who was confirmed to be in the city. Apparently, whoever it was had been fans of his for the last 3 years, since he had hacked the NSA for ARGUS about the Sheldon Cooper job. His own hacker tag was Nine-Tailed Demon Fox.
Oh and Felicity's old position had been taken over by a new hire, her name was Daisy Johnson. Very pretty oriental girl.
One final thing was Blood. Sebastian Blood. An alderman who was in the business of saving this city. He wasn't interested in meeting him yet, but given the rumbling in the Glades about Blood for Mayor, he might have to.
Verdant Main Office
Later in the Day
Thea and Roy were busy ripping off each other's clothes to have a quickie on the desk.
"I only have a second." Thea said with a smile as they kissed hungrily.
"That's ok; my boss has been all over my ass today." Roy replied as she undid her shirt. "You should hear what she sounds like when- Ow!" Roy hissed in pain, and Thea paused in her ministrations and frowned. She looked down at his bruised side, now exposed as she was pulling up his shirt.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Thea said angrily, pushing Roy away roughly.
"Come on! I don't want to fight." Roy said, rushing after her as she stalked out of the office.
"Clearly you do, since you keep on taking every street corner drug dealer that you can get your fists on." Thea said. She exited the office.
Thea stalked down the stairs to the main floor as Roy trailed behind.
"It's not like that." He said. "The Glades are still a bad place to live, despite what your brother and his girlfriend have been doing."
"I know, but you already saved a busload of people that had crashed into a building during the evacuation 6 months ago and managed not to get killed." She argued. "I mean, how much more of a hero do you need to be? It's like you have a death wish. And guess what- it's going to come true." She said.
"Yeah, well, someone has to do something." Roy countered. The two came to a stop on the main floor and Thea turned back to look at him. "And stand up for what's right, like he does."
"Prometheus." She said dryly. "Who by the way, has been going around and killing a bunch of people, including some of the people my brother works with."
"Oh dear me. What exactly have I walked into?"
Thea turned around and smiled as Nathan walked into the club. "Nate!" she exclaimed happily, throwing herself into a hug. They separate, and she saw him looking at Roy. "Ah, you remember my friend Roy."
"It's alright Thea, I'm well aware he's your boyfriend. You treating her good?" Nathan asked with a bit of an edge to his voice.
"Always." Roy replied evenly, shaking his hand.
"Good, then we have nothing to worry about," Nathan said with a sickeningly sweet smile that promised pain if he did hurt her.
"So Thea," Nathan asked his sister as they walked over to the bar. Roy took the opportunity to get back to work, "How you been handling the bar?"
"It's been a learning experience. It's a bit rough and stressful sometimes but I definitely prefer this to community service at CNRI." Nate laughed a bit at that. "How's Laurel?"
"I don't know. She wanted some space so she could grieve alone and I didn't have the heart to deny her request, but I'm gonna check up on her later this week." Nathan said.
"Have you made it to Iron Heights?" Nathan asked gently.
"To visit the woman who tried to drop a city on 15,000 innocent people? No, thank you." She said sarcastically.
"Thea…" Nathan sighed. "That's not what mom did. You know that nobody actually died because of her and Malcolm."
"Right. She had no choice." Thea said acidly. "But guess what? She did. A choice not to be complicit with mass murder. And I have a choice, too. So I choose not to be her daughter."
She smiled at her brother- a genuine smile- and placed a warm hand on his arm. "But I am so happy you came down to see me." She let go and moved off further down the bar. "Honestly, I need to deal with our liquor distributor who shorted me on yesterday's delivery, and one of my bartenders called in sick, so…" she finally looked up at Nathan and noticed his expression. "What?" she asked.
"Nothing." He said. "It's- it's nice to see you like this."
"Like what?" she asked suspiciously.
"Like you have your ducks in a row." Nathan smiled. Thea returned it, and then moved off to continue working. The sound of the TV caught his attention and he turned back to the bar.
'-The representative from Central City says construction on the Star Labs particle accelerator should be completed by Christmas.
And in local news, billionaire Nathan Queen has done yet another good deed for the city, allying with recently reformed Bertinelli Construction to bring affordable and livable low-income housing to the Glades. With his mother's upcoming trial and his company coming back from the terrorist scandal of last year, analysts are asking what the Queen family scion has planned next." He looked at the screen, wondering the same thing.
City Hall
Night time
A benefit was being thrown to raise money for the Glades. In the main hall, the Mayor was having a discussion with the District Attorney about the usefulness of vigilantes.
"Wasn't our country founded on a brand of vigilantism, Mr. Donner?" The Mayor asked. "The revolutionaries in the Boston Tea Party were certainly choosing justice over law."
"I'd hardly compare our founding fathers to the late Arrow and his two former protégés, Mr. Mayor, or these twisted copycats who appeared last week." Donner argued. The Mayor looked past Donner and smiled at the figure walking down the steps. "Ms. Lance. What do you think about vigilantes?" he asked as she joined the pair.
"I'd be foolish to disagree with my new boss." Laurel replied with a smile.
"I knew I was smart to hire you." Donner said.
"I'd heard you joined the district attorney's office." The Mayor said.
"It was time for a change." Laurel said simply.
"Still, I'm sorry that you and your colleagues at CNRI won't be opening your doors again." He said. Despite him being a politician, she actually believed he meant it.
"There were no doors left to be reopened." Laurel replied with a twinge of sadness.
A series of musical chimes sounded. "They're playing my song." The Mayor said, racing off towards the podium as he was introduced.
"Good evening." He said to polite applause. "It has been a very difficult year for Starling City. Our losses have been incalculable, our grief unimaginable. But with the generous donations you people are making tonight, we will come back from this tragedy."
"You have failed this city, Mr. Mayor!" a voice screamed out, causing the Mayor to stop short. "The Glades almost descended into hell on your watch! You swore to protect all the citizens of Starling, not just the wealthy!"
"We're sorry about this, folks." The Mayor said. "We'll have this sorted out in just a minute."
Before any action could be taken, though, the Mayor was cut down in a hail of bullets. People started screaming and ducking for cover as four men, armed with automatic weapons and wearing Kevlar and paintball masks came storming down the stairs. They continued firing at the meager police presence in the room, cutting them down even as they tried to return fire. By the time they reached the main floor, the cops were all dead.
One of the men came up to Donner, letting his rifle hang on the sling and drawing his pistol. "Mr. District Attorney-" he started, but then Laurel was there; she swiftly grabbed his gun and sent three hard elbows into his face. The mask prevented any major damage, but the impact sent him to the ground. Laurel looked down at cold rage, the man's gun in her hand, but froze as she heard another gun cock behind her. She turned to see another masked man pointing his pistol right in her face. He gestured for her to get to her knees, and Laurel, her face full of rage and fear, complied.
"We are the Hoods." He said as she stared at him, unwavering. "And what was taken from us, we will take back." He pulled the trigger, but the gun only clicked- it was empty. She jumped slightly, but otherwise didn't react as the Hoods ran out of the building and into the night.
Later
Later that night, Quentin rushed in, looking for-
"Laurel!" he exclaimed, running up to her and hugging her tightly.
"Dad, I'm fine." Laurel protested, but returned the hug anyway.
"You've got one very brave daughter there, sir." Donner told him, walking up to the family.
"Yeah, one daughter's right, and I can't stand to lose another." Quentin said.
"Well, I still can't believe this happened." Donner said. "The hoods attacks have strictly been limited to people in the financial sector trying to redistribute wealth in the Glades at gunpoint."
"Yeah, well, clearly that's not getting the result they're looking for, is it?" Quentin said, walking off with Laurel. "Did you get a good look at any of them?" he asked, the stress of the situation reverting him to type.
"It was hard to focus on anything other than the gun barrel pointed at my face." Laurel replied.
"No tattoos, distinguishing marks?"
"What do you think you're doing?" Lance looked up to see a cross Lieutenant Pike stalking towards him. "Interviewing the witness is the job of the Detective. Officer Lance." He said pointedly.
"She is my daughter." Lance said desperately. "She was nearly killed tonight."
"Well, as a parent, you're welcome to stay." Pike said. "But as a beat cop, you're more than free to go." With that, Pike turned and walked off.
"You know, that's one of the downsides of being demoted- I don't get to witness his sunny disposition on a daily basis." Quentin joked. Laurel looked up and saw Nathan walking down the stairs.
"Dad, give me a sec." she said, moving off towards her friend.
"Yeah." Quentin said with a sigh.
"I was beginning to think you had forgotten me." Laurel said to Nathan as they met at the bottom of the stairs.
"I was already on my way here. You asked for some space to grieve in private and I decided 2 months was enough. I only just heard about what happened few minutes ago." He said, as they shared a hug.
"Just four hooded gunmen." Laurel said off-handedly. "Nothing a few self-defense classes couldn't handle."
"Well, I'm glad you're okay." Nathan said, silently vowing he was going to brutally butcher these so called "Hoods'.
Hoods hideout
Later that night, in an old abandoned church, the four hoods were watching the news to see how their actions were reported. Instead they saw-
'And in local news, billionaire Nathan Queen announces new plan to buy more land in the Glades to renovate and make it liveable for the folks of the Glades again.'
"Unbelievable." One of the men said. "We off the mayor on live TV, and what's the local news keep showing? Nathan Queen. Why?"
"Guess its because he's taking over the Glades." Another one said.
"We've been going about this wrong." The first one said.
"What do you mean?"
"If we want real payback, we got to take the fight to the name that did this to us."
"Queen?"
"Yeah."
"He's some useless brat."
"The applied sciences division of Queen Consolidated built the earthquake generator that almost went off." The first one said. "If we want real justice… then that family has to pay for the suffering it's caused us." He snarled. "In full."
Verdant
Thea was preparing the club for another night. Or would be, if her mind wasn't elsewhere.
"Hello, earth to Queen." Roy said, getting his girlfriend's attention. "What, did you drop a Vertigo when I wasn't looking?" he joked.
Thea gave him a tired smile. "I was just distracted." She said as she headed for the DJ booth.
"About what your brother said, about your mom?" Roy guessed.
"Eavesdrop much?"
"Ah, what I lack in height, I make up for in wicked good hearing." Roy joked.
"Well, don't keep me in suspense, Harper. What's your take on the matter?" Thea asked. "Though, keep in mind, I do control your paycheck and your sex life." She pointed out.
"Well, both my parents weren't worth a damn, either of them." Roy admitted.
"You never talk about them." She noted.
"You got nothing nice to say, right?" Roy chuckled. "Still, I- I'd be glad to see them and talk to them if I could. But look, you already lost your dad. Your mom, she's still here, and I'm sure she'd love to see you."
"I'm sure she's dying to." Thea said angrily. "Just like a lot of mothers in the Glades who almost never got to see their kids again. Because my mother wanted to kill them." She glared at Roy. "I'm not going to that prison. It's the only way I know how to hurt her." She said, moving off.
"You might want to consider how much it's hurting you." Roy called out after her.
Next Day
QC
Nathan and Lyla stepped off of the elevator and headed towards the conference, where they were met with Natalie.
"They're in the conference room, boss." She told them.
Nathan walked into the conference room. Isabel, dressed impeccably in a tasteful red dress, stood and extended her hand.
"Ms. Rochev."
"Mr. Queen." They shook hands.
"Let's get down to business." Nathaniel asked as he sat in the head chair, looking like a king in the process, "How's the company stock doing?"
"Stocks have risen tremendously due to your recent PR campaign, Mr. Queen." One board member said, "Stock is now nearly double of what it was after the Merlyn debacle."
"Excellent, keep me informed on that as we move forward." Nathan said before addressing another board member, "What's the general consensus among the workers?"
"There is an overall good sentiment among the various levels of Queen Consolidated, Mr. Queen. For the most part, they feel secure in their positions and that they won't be fired with you as Chief Executive Officer." One board member said.
"Why haven't we fired anyone yet?" One board member said and everyone looked at him. "if we fired some of our low end workers, we could save millions of dollars."
"Mr Sekulo," Nathan said condescendingly, as if a addressing a child, "QC is still recovering from the scandal that happened last year. We have established ourselves as a family-oriented company with a mostly non-hostile work environment. If we were to start firing people without justification, we would lose revenue and work productivity. Plus, we would look like hypocrites."
"And while we are on the subject, I have an update on project I.C.E.R." Nathan opened a briefcase to reveal a sleek black handgun. "As you know, Project I.C.E.R. is my own project, designed with the intention of giving police a nonlethal way to bring criminals in. Dendrotoxin bullet of my own design breaks when it hit's the skin, delivering the dosage subcutaneously, which instantly renders human target unconscious for several hours. I have been working with my team down in Engineering to slim the design down from the bulky version I showed 2 weeks ago, but we won't be ready for mass-production until we cover the rifle and shotgun variants. Ms. Rochev, where are we on those patents?"
Out in the hall an executive arrives at the bank of elevators. He reaches for the button just as the door opens- revealing the three hoods. The first one belts him across the face, dropping the businessman. The four armed men rush into the boardroom, their weapons drawn.
"I have managed to get patents for Queen Consolidated for both the bullets and the gun designs, Mr. Queen." Isabel said curtly.
"Excellent, now then…" He was interrupted.
"Nathan Queen!" the first one calls out as Nathan rises in alarm. "You failed this city." Nathan glances over at Ms. Rushman, then back at the men. How can he take them out without reveal his secret to the others in the room?
"Get Down!" Lyla shots as she ran into the room, her gun drawn and firing at the three terrorists. Everyone drops to the floor, and Nathan and Isabel look at each other in alarm from under the table
"Pull back!" Lyla called out, returning fire while taking cover under the table. "Nathan, go!"
Nathan grasped Isabel's arm and pulled her up, then pushed her to the door.
He turned around, looking for his secretary-
And came face-to-mask with a Hood.
Nathan, having no choice, knocked the gun away and twisted his arm until his assailant was bent over and shot one time with his I.C.E.R. pistol. The assassin falling to the ground unconscious.
Nathan grabbed his secretary and dragged her with him out of the conference room.
"Quick! They're getting away." The Hood yelled, chasing after them He opened fire with his rifle, but Nathan grabbed onto Natalie tight and took a running leap at the window. Just as he hit and the glass shattered, he grabbed the chain that controlled the blinds. Once again Natalie found herself swinging through the air in Nathan's arms as they dropped a few floors before the chain pulled taught. Nathan brought up his feet and the two smashed through the window of an empty office, tumbling over a desk to the hard floor. Natalie looked up, stunned to see that she was still alive, even as Nathan checked her over for injuries.
Flashback
Slade, Nathan and Shado were walking through the woods, with Slade carrying the motion tracker.
"Well, someone's definitely out there." Slade said. "They're moving closer." He looked up and noted Shado moving off. "Where do you think you're going?" he demanded.
"Flanking position." She explained. "They get the drop on you; you'll want some back-up." She smiled at Nathan and said something in Mandarin. He replied with a smile, and then watched her move off.
"She's teaching you Chinese. How sweet." Slade said sarcastically.
"Don't be like that, man. I'm sure she'd be happy to teach you, too—" suddenly there was the sound of a gunshot, not very far from them. "Shado!" Nathan shouted in alarm, running off towards where she had walked off. Not far away they found her hood lying on the ground. The two looked at each other in concern, then moved off again to search.
Flashback end
Iron Heights
Nathan was waiting in Iron Height's visitor's area as Moira was led in.
It was a shock to see his mother in gray prison jumpsuit and no makeup. She smiled at him as she sat down at the table.
"Hey." She said.
"Hey." He replied. "I'm sorry I didn't make it here sooner."
"Oh, no, no, no." Moira said, shaking her head." Please, Nathan. There are going to be enough apologies with me apologizing to you for the rest of my life."
"You don't have to." Nathan said. "You didn't kill anyone."
Moira gave him a pained smile. "Your sister doesn't see it that way." She said. "And, you know, my attorney is thrilled. If my own daughter can't forgive me, she's not too optimistic about twelve strangers in a jury box." She sighed. "All right, enough of that. How has it been going at Queen Consolidated?" she asked, then smiled at his surprised expression. "Yes, we do get the news in here, Nathan." She said.
"Right."
"You know, if I'd known the key to you taking your rightful place at the company was its demise, I would have declared bankruptcy a year ago." She said teasingly with a bit of a twinkle in her eyes.
"Don't be like that, I'm not that bad." Nathan admitted. "I would be getting much more done if my CFO wasn't fighting me on money issues."
"Isabel Rochev." Moira said with a sigh.
"Yes."
"Do not trust that woman, Nathan. She is dangerous." Moira warned.
"I know, but I also didn't have any other options." He admitted.
Verdant
Night
The club was hopping, and Thea was on the floor serving drinks to keep up with demand. She headed back to the bar and placed her empty tray down. "Table seven needs bottle service, and I need a round of Martinis on the three top." She told the bartender.
"You go see your mom yet?"
Thea looked over at Roy, who came to stand next to her at the bar.
"I thought about what you said." She said.
"And?"
"And…I'll go see her when you stop going out at night looking to clean up the streets."
Roy looked at her in confusion. "What does one thing have to do with the other?" he asked.
"I guess they're both things that are never going to happen." She said, moving back onto the floor and leaving a frustrated Roy behind.
Out in the club, no one noticed as three men dressed in black body armor, hoodies, and carrying assault weapons moved through the club.
The first Hood stopped near the DJ booth, cocked his shotgun, and fired a shot into the air, causing all of the people to drop to the ground in fear. His second shot blew away the DJ booth, turning off the music.
"We're looking for Nathan Queen!" he shouted as his friends circled around. "He owns this dump. Where can we find him?" On the ground near the bar, Roy and Thea exchanged looks. " Ok, then plan 'B'," the first hood grabbed a girl from the stairs and threw he off onto the ground. "I'm going to start shooting people until Mr. Queen grows a pair." He pointed the shotgun in the girls face.
Having seen enough, Roy leapt into action, even as Thea shouted for him to stop. Roy charged the first Hood, taking him down with a devastating tackle. He then turned and sprang up towards the second, forcing the Hood's M-16 up and away. He pushed him back against the stair, then used the rifle to flip the man over his shoulder and onto the ground. The man hit hard, and a prosthetic piece that had been attached to his hand fell off. Roy looked down in surprise at the man, whose gun hand was missing all of his fingers except the thumb. Shaking it off, Roy brought the rifle to his shoulder and aimed it at the third Hood-
Just as the first Hood recovered, grabbing Thea and pulling her up. He hid his body behind hers as Roy swung the rifle around to him and held his gun to her head as she whimpered in terror.
"Roy!" she screamed.
"Drop it, hero." The first Hood growled, holding tight to Thea as she thrashed around. "I'm just as happy to kill this Queen as her brother. Let's go!" the three backed out of the club, taking Thea with them as Roy watched, helpless.
Later that night, Nathan walked into the club as Roy was giving his statement to Detective Hall, as she had been charged with finding them.
"One of the guys was missing a hand." He was saying. "Mostly, anyway. He still had sutures."
"Excuse me. What's going on here?" he demanded.
McKenna sighed. "It was the Hoods, again." She told Nathan. "They came here looking for you, they took Thea instead."
"Where?" Nathan demanded.
"I'm sorry." Roy said. "I really tried to stop them, but I—" he didn't get to finish as Nathan stalked off.
"Nathan." McKenna said. "Nate!" she said louder, causing the man to turn and face her. "We'll get your sister back." She promised.
Nathan nodded to the Hall. "I was going to check something downstairs." He said, moving off towards the basement door. Helena and Lyla, who had arrived with him, saw and moved to follow.
"We need to find these guys." He said finally. "Thea's boyfriend said one of them was missing part of his hand." Nathan said. "Maybe a veteran? Check hospital records, any males that have had surgical amputations on their extremities." He ordered.
Lyla sat down and started typing. "Cross-checking by race and age." In seconds, she got a hit. "Got one-Jeff Deveau. Caucasian, late thirties."
"What else can you get on him?" Nathan asked.
"Ex-Marine."
"Would explain how he can handle himself." Helena noted. "Did he lose his hand overseas?"
Lyla looked deeper, then stopped. "No. In the evacuation." She replied. "Says here he and his wife were trying to make it across the 52nd Street Bridge when a car swerved and crashed into the them. She didn't make it."
Nathan sighed. "Phone records, please." Nathan said. "I want to know he's in contact with."
"He's made a lot of calls to a church in the Glades." She said after a moment of checking. "Something called Standing Strong. It's a support group for those who lost loved ones in the evac." She explained as Nathan looked over the arrows in their case.
"Great place to meet three other guys as angry as you, looking for a little payback." Lyla noted.
"Get me an address, please." Nathan said tiredly.
Helena looked to Lyla, who nodded. "You're going to need this." She said as she rose from her station. She walked over to a table and opened the case that was sitting on it. "I had it custom made." Nathan looked down at the brand-new black and red compound bow. "How'd I do?" she asked.
He picked it up and felt its weight. He moved it slightly to feel it's' balance. He sighed tiredly. "It's perfect." He admitted as they shared a quick kiss.
Helena made to get her stuff, but Nate stopped her. "Normally, I'd want you out there with me." Nathan said kindly. "But they made it personal when they kidnapped my sister. I'm gonna slaughter them all."
Flashback
Night had fallen, but Slade and Nathan had finally managed to track Shado. She sat on a log; her hands bound in front of her, surrounded by thee rough looking men. Nathan made to rush them, but Slade held him back.
"What are you doing?" he whispered.
"We need to save her." Nathan whispered back angrily.
"Listen, kid. You are not the only one who cares for her." He admitted. "But there's a lot of them. Wait for my signal." He ordered. Nathan nodded in agreement.
"Where are the graves?" one of the men demanded, holding a knife to her face. "Where are the graves?" he demanded again.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Shado said. The man slapped her hard across the face, causing her to grunt in pain. Nathan's eye's flared in rage.
"Tell me." The man demanded, yanking her up by her hair and pulling her head back, exposing her long neck.
Enraged, Nathan popped out of the bushes, pulling out his M1911 and fired two rounds into the head's of two of the Merc's, before shooting the one who had exposed Shado's neck in the right lung, dropping him. Slade pulled out his knife and cut Shado free while Nathan stood over the dying man with his gun pointed at the dying man. A passionate and intense rage filled the young man as he breathing was ragged and he imagined what the bastard was about to do to Shado. Not satisfied with letting him die in peace, he twirled his gun around so he was holding the barrel in his hand while flipping the safety back on, knelt down and repeatedly bashed the dying man's face with the butt of his pistol.
"Nathan, stop!" Shado cried out to him as he put his gun away and switched to his fists.
He repeatedly punched the bastard's face with each hand, blood now flying everywhere with every strike. All he saw was a haze of red rage.
"Nathan!" Slade shouted, breaking through the young man's haze of rage. Nathan stared down at the man that he had beaten to death in his rage. His skull had literally caved in due to the beating and he was bleeding in numerous places. Nathan moved off the man and sat back on the ground, spent.
Flashback
Abandoned church
Thea was bound to a chair in the church, trying her best to remain calm as the four Hoods moved around in agitation.
"So… what do you want to do with her?" one of them asked.
"We could knock her out, drop her off somewhere." Another suggested.
"Come on." The fourth Hood snarled. "Why don't you just buy her a new pair of Prada's while you're at it?"
"She's seen our faces." The first hood pointed out.
"Look, offing Nathan Queen's one thing, but his sister?" the third man said. "She's not much older than my sister was when she was killed in the evac frenzy."
"Your sister wasn't killed, she was murdered." The first hood interjected. "By her mother. What we're doing here is justice, which makes us the heroes."
"She didn't kill anybody." Thea said angrily. They all looked at her in surprise, but her focus was on the first Hood. "My mother didn't kill anyone." She repeated. "Malcolm Merlyn was the one who tried to destroy the Glades."
"With mommy's help." He shot back.
"Merlyn killed my father." She pointed out. "She thought he'd kill my brother, too. She was afraid of him. She must have been so afraid." She said, finally realizing what her mother must have been going though.
The first hood wasn't impressed. "Just like my wife when she was hit by one of the people desperate to escape the Glades." He said, pulling his sidearm and cocking it. She stared in fear, then closed her eyes as he brought the gun up to her head-
But the gun was knocked away by an arrow.
"Get away from her!" Prometheus roared.
Three hoods opened fire but Nathan dropped down to cover. The three looked around warily. One was holding his pistol while rounding a corner, only for his gun to be ripped out of his hands before his head was separated from his shoulders by a swift strike from Nathan's Chokuto.
He popped out from behind the construction and threw a shuriken at one of the hood, the shuriken slicing right through the bone and brain, coming out the other side and embedding itself in a pillar 40 feet away. The remaining hood of the three on the ground level, fired a few rounds while Nathan slipped back into cover. His gun jamming up, he threw it down in frustration and rushed at the vigilante. He threw a punch only to have his arm caught and broken with such force that his elbow was popping out of his skin. He didn't long to cry out in pain as Nathan drew his chokuto and sliced his head off just above the lower jaw. He turned to here voices of the last hood dragging his sister along at gun point. He jumped up to the upper level, landing front of a set of doors that led to the bottom floor.
He notched another arrow and pointed it at the terrorist, who once again shielded himself behind Thea.
"Let. Her. Go." He demanded.
"You want to save her?" the man spat. "There was no justice for people like the Queens till you showed us how to get it. You showed us."
Nathan didn't answer and fired. The arrow struck the man's shoulder and sent him spinning away from Thea, over the railing towards the ground two stories below-
But then Prometheus was there, grabbing his hand and arresting his fall.
"Go!" He shouted to Thea, who ran to leave after he had cut her bindings.
"You'll drop me anyway." He replied. "I know you. You're a killer." Nathan snarled, then grabbed the man's hand with his other hand and yanked him up.
He ripped the gun out his hands and punched him to the floor, the blow was so hard that it cracked the terrorists skull all long the right side. Looking around to make sure no one or any camera's were around, he flipped the man over.
"Your right about one thing. I am a killer." Nathan admitted as he took over his mask but kept his hood up, revealing to the man the face of Nathaniel Queen but with Kyuubi Eyes, "Especially when you go after my sister." The man was horrified by what he saw but before he could even utter a response, Nathan pulled his arm back and punched downward with his Mirakuru strength, his fist punching right through the copycat's face and his fist coming out the back of his skull.
Nathan pulled his blood drenched fist out and put his mask back on before leaving.
Iron Heights
Next Morning
Moira sat in the waiting area, watching a mother hold her baby sadly, and sighed.
"That outfit, with your coloring- isn't that cruel and unusual punishment or something?"
Moira turned and couldn't avoid the look of surprise that crossed her face as Thea walked up to the table. "I've done my best to avoid mirrors in here." She said as her daughter sat down.
"So, I—"
"How have you been?" they both started to say, and then both laughed lightly. "Don't worry about me." Moira said. "I want to hear about you. How are you doing? Are you still seeing, uh- Roy was his name, wasn't it?" she asked. "Sweetheart, I'm fine, really." She assured her.
"It's not that." Thea said. "I… I almost died last night." She started.
"What? Thea, what happened?" Moira asked in alarm.
"It doesn't matter." Thea said tearfully. "But when I thought it was over, I kept thinking that if… if I died, you would spend the rest of your life thinking that I hated you. And I want to hate you." She admitted. "I really tried to. But I can't. I can't, Mom."
"However long I am in this place, you have freed me." Moira said smiling despite tears of her own.
"If I hug you, are they going to shoot us?" Thea asked suddenly.
Moira chuckled. "I'm willing to risk it if you are." She said. The two women rose and embraced. "Oh, shh, shh." She whispered as her daughter cried in her arms.
Flashback
Nathan pulled himself to his feet, staring down at the man he had just brutally killed. Suddenly a radio went off, and Slade bent down to pick it up. He and Shado listened for several moments.
"We're not alone." He said. "The question is, where did they come from?" he wondered. Out in the bay, a ship hugged the coast, its search light playing over the coast.
Flashback End
Back in the present, Roy answered his phone as he walked through the Glades. "Hey, what's up?"
"Just came back from visiting my mom." Thea said from the club.
"Really? Good for you."
"So what do you say? You ready to start spending your nights safe with me?" Thea asked teasingly.
Roy stopped walking, alerted by the sounds of a woman screaming. He looked up to see a waitress being pushed around between three street thugs. "Absolutely." He lied. "Hey, I'm going to pick us up some big belly burger right now. I'll see you later."
"Ok." Thea said, then hung up.
Roy put his phone in his pocket and moved quickly towards the punks.
"We just want to be friendly." One of them said.
"What, we scare you or something?" another added.
"Yeah." They all looked up to see Roy standing there. "I think you do." He continued. "Me, though, not so much." The three thugs backed off from the girl to turn their attention to him. He glanced at the girl. "Run." He told her, and she did just that. The three punks moved to attack, and Roy fended them off. He ducked the first to hit the second, then lashed out at the third before turning back to the leader. He was too slow though, and got belted on the chin. He staggered back, wiping the blood from his lip. The leader pulled a wicked looking knife from his jacket and sneered at Roy.
"That all you got, man?"
Then suddenly SHE was there- all black leather and blond hair, wielding a metal bo-staff that separated into a pair of escrima sticks. She beat the punks down brutally in less than thirty seconds, much to Roy's astonishment.
"Where the hell did you come from?" he asked. She jumped up onto a ledge, looked back at him briefly, and then jumped down, disappearing into the darkness. In the distance, Roy could swear he heard a canary cry.