The Longbow Hunters.
Like Spider-Man's sinister six but for Green Arrow.
Brick, Killer-Moth, Clock-King, and usually two other flex roles depending on the comic run and continuity.
It was all coming back to Lucien as he headed for the flaming forest.
"All of the Longbow Hunters are Vampires. Even Merlyn— who's usually a leader of sorts. But he's dead, and they're still making moves. Meaning, someone else leads this rendition of assassins and mercenaries. I pray it's not Deathstroke. But praying does nothing….. so let's prepare instead." Lucien monologued as he ran through the alleyways of Star City.
The more he pushed, the more his mind worked, warming his memory and bringing with it, knowledge of the world he now inhabited.
"Green Arrow Villains dead so far? Clock King, Merlyn and Brick. Living— well, remaining a possible problem? Killer-Moth, Cupid, Onomatopoeia, Deathstroke— sometimes, Cheshire— though that's a little dated, and Prometheus."
He climbed the walls of a skyscraper belonging to some tech company. His claws cut into the metal and glass with ease.
The forest burned just on the other side.
"Now of them— who's most likely to lead? Who's most likely to align with a Vampire uprising? Like I said, not Killer-Moth. Not Deathstroke either— he's more of a solo hunter and his grievances with Nightwing and the Titans would stop him from truly converting as many people as possible. It'd have to be someone obscure and skilled who isn't deeply connected or rivaling any heroes. Or is smart enough to put it aside for…. This. It's Prometheus. Maybe he got tired of being a near cyborg."
With his suspicions set, he reached the rooftop of the skyscraper.
Star City spread below him. The dark twisted and jumped against the sillouette of the burning forest. It was the shape of a star. A burning star to signify the withering of the city. Maybe the world beyond. A star. A special planet left in ruin.
Even so.
"I want to live…" Lucien jumped off the roof. There was a joke in there somewhere….
He fell through the darkness. Inconsequential. Unseen. Building in speed and force.
As he neared the grounds surrounding the forest, he twisted until he was upright and let his clawed hands rip into the glass walls, slowing his fall until he hit the ground below hard enough to crack it.
His mind continued warming. Adjusting. Bringing forth memories of his time as a child and young adult flipping through comics. Studying the fictional world even more than his own.
"Prometheus is just an inverse of Batman— with aspects of Taskmaster sprinkled in. That's a nightmare. If I was as technically sound as Batman— if electronics and wifi worked in this dark dome, I'd be able to wire the compact discs in his helmet to copy the physical attributes of someone like Stephen Hawking and then take my leave. What's the alternative? There is no alternative. Only the hope that his cybernetic enhancements stopped working when he died and came back a Vampire. IF they didn't stop working already."
Lucien entered the forest.
It was a hotbed of flames and ashen oaks. He could smell charred flesh and blood in the soot clinging to his pawed feet. Heat suffocation was the worst.
"Iraq in the summer isn't even this hot…" Lucien thought aloud as he walked past a pile of burning bodies. They looked like fluidless husks.
He didn't need his nose or eyes to know they didn't die by fire. They died by bloodloss.
So did the rest of the trail in the forest leading him to the four figures ahead. They waited. Simply waiting.
Lucien headed through the forest, trying to keep his distance from the maze walls of fire. As he reached the center where the figures waited, he found that he wasn't alone.
To his left, seemingly spawning from the fire, a Demon walked at his side. The creature had scaled yellow skin like that of a dragon and full red eyes. Black knights armor covered his body and a massive sword was sheathed at his back. Though it didn't look like he needed it due to the thick claws at the end of each finger.
"….Etrigan."
"The beast knows my name, what other knowledge does he claim?"
"…..I thought we'd be fighting Prometheus. That's not him. I guess I have no other knowledge." Lucien replied.
"The pursuit is often more fruitful than the destination. Now let's temper these flames before we meet cremation." Etrigan flicked his head to the figures looming in the clearing of fire and ash.
Lucien watched the demon with a raised eyebrow of suspicion as he thought, "Etrigan isn't a superhero. He allies with them often than not— but only when magic is involved and he's often susceptible to becoming the muscle in some evil plot. So, the dark-dome is magic. Magic that interests him. Maybe he'll know how to take it down."
He rolled his shoulders, feeling the ash and soot clump in his fur. "Ok, let's go."
"Let's."
They entered the clearing.
He didn't know anyone he was looking at.
The leader was a mundane looking man wearing only pants. He was balding and his chest hair was scraggly and unkempt. A silent power loomed in his every movements— an unnatural precision and rhytym in the way he tapped his foot in waiting.
Beside him, a bald woman stood holding an old wiry man by the back of his neck.
"Hostage. Why? Who are you? Why are you important?" Lucien asked internally.
"The amatuer…." Etrigan said as he too stared at the man.
"What?"
Etrigan pointed at him with a clawed finger. "The man no more than skin and bone, is the one and only creator of this dark-dome."
Lucien looked back to the balding man, "Make him remove it and I'll let you live."
For the first time he smiled.
Then he started hysterically laughing.
"You'll let the dragon live? You, you mangy animal, don't have a clue in the world. Do you?"
"I've got a few." Lucien replied.
"And yet here you are, a werewolf, with no pack, and only one ally. A demon. You're not living right. May I interest you in dying?"
"You can try. But I'll do the same. I want out of this hellhole and I don't care how many criminal enterprises I have to topple to do it." Lucien snarled.
The Dragon looked at his hostage weilding ally, "Red…. He thinks we're a criminal enterprise. What would I gain? As a criminal enterprise, by cutting off a small city from the entire world? Think bigger, you oaf."
She laughed.
"Oh right, you're the future…. or whatever cult fantasy shit you wanna sell."
"You l—"
"AHHHH!" Etrigan breathed fire, "MY IMPATIENCE GROWS! COME FACE ME SO I CAN BREAK YOUR BONES!"
"Finally."
The demon unsheathed his blade and threw a magical blast at the trio of high ranking Vampires.
They took off like rats as they ran through the flaming forest.
Lucien gave chase.
"Beast, take the dragon and remove his head. For that is the only way to keep him truly dead." Etrigan said as he ran beside him.
"I know. Any idea on how to remove this dome?"
Etrigan grunted, "This is occult magic…not very sublime. Volitile and unrefined. I wish to study it and you, there I may find a clue."
"….right."
The dragon suddenly spun around in a tornado of black smoke. Within the dark miasma he shifted. His skin darkened and went scaly. His body lengthened and wings unfurled from his back.
Now as a literal undead dragon, the vampire roared a tidal wave of black smoke.
The other vampire and her hostage continued running.
Lucien jumped, rising above the smoke to tackle the dragon. He slashed at its face, running his claws through one glowing eye with ease.
The dragon twisted with the blow and tail whipped him so hard he flew back through three trees.
The fires ate him alive. His mind went numb, his vision went white. He'd never been burned alive— but he'd seen what white phosphorous does to people. He'd heard their screams. Now he was hearing it from himself….. wondering if for all his new powers, he could withstand the burn.
He should've been able to. But the fire wasn't normal. He should've known. They were at the epicenter of the magical event. Of course the fires covering the entire forest with no sign of calming werent normal.
"Fuck!"
The burning faded. Faster than he could adjust to.
Suddenly he was healing, skin raw and tingling as his vision returned and he found Etrigan pulling the hellish fires to himself. In one hand, he concentrated the flames into a focused ball of demonic heat so bright it was like a miniature sun. It burned from his eyes and spewed from his mouth in wild steamy spirals.
"Allow me to show you the true gift of hellfire, Richard Dragon."
The Dragon roared and charged him.
He didn't get very far since Lucien tackled the massive scaled vampire and took him to the ground, gnawing one of his legs off with jaws stronger than anything alive in the entire city.
From there, he picked up the twisting beast and threw it towards the dark sky.
Etrigan threw the concentrated orb of hellfire at the vampire and evaporated it in a flash.
Lucien didn't even watch the ashes fall. He didn't even care to know who Richard Dragon was. His target was being dragged towards the ends of the ashen forest.
Or at least they were.
"Red Dart? You look different. New haircut?"
Lucien's ears twitched at the sound of Arsenal's voice as he ran along the edges of the forest, emerging from the city.
"Don't bother running, sweety. We already got your getaway driver, Killer-Moth." Green-Arrow added from somewhere nearby.
Lucien took off. In seconds he was at the edges of the forest, running beside the archers.
"We need the hostage. He created the dark-dome. It's some sort of magic."
"Yea, I know." Green Arrow replied.
"You do?" Lucien and Arsenal asked.
"That's Albert Davis. He's a philanthropist that dabbles in the Occult arts. Never anything big. I guess he got tired of being semi-reasonable and finally jumped out of the window." Green Arrow explained.
"Albert Davis….. that name doesn't ring a bell. But it doesn't need to." Lucien sped up past the archers and ran down Red Dart, the last of the Vampiric Longbow Hunters.
The closer he got, the more he changed. Growing even more. Getting even stronger, thirsting for life to a vampiric degre—
Etrigan stepped out from behind a nearby tree with his blade out.
Red Dart in her urge to escape was ran through with ease.
Lucien was on her still, grabbing her by the neck hard enough to rip her head off.
Ash fell at his feet.
Albert Davis remained, sweating and wild eyed.
"P-please! I just need more time to contact the other side! It's incomplete. Give me— m-more time. I can fix this world. It starts here!—"
"Take it down or I'm gonna kill you." Lucien said.
"Woah now, wolf-man." Green Arrow said from behind him. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves—"
"Ahead of what? We have a Vampire cult issue and a plot much larger than this city to survive and you're trying to play it like it's a regular Monday. Wake up. As soon as this dome came up, our timer started." Lucien explained.
"What are you talking about?" Green Arrow questioned.
"Arsenal told me. There's been reports of vampire adjacent homicides and crimes all over the world for some time now."
"A week." Arsenal said.
Lucien continued, "Then, here in Star City, we get a gang of them making a play with some amateur occultist. Sure they tried to use this time to take over different parts of Star City but there's more to it. This is a distraction— a test run. Albert Davis got used to split us— you, off from everyone else. The internet doesn't work. You haven't been in contact with the Justice League in hours. You think that was for no reason? You're fucking great value Batman and Robin. That means something."
Arrow didn't look surprised.
"You knew that though, didn't you?"
"I had a hunch. But I didn't think you would. I get the feeling you aren't just a guy with extra body hair."
"What makes you say that?" Lucien asked.
"You have a demon looking at you like you're the best thing since Lucifer himself." Green Arrow said.
"Sup, Etrigan." Arsenal nodded to the demon.
"Greetings, man of many weapons." Etrigan nodded.
"We need to get this thing taken down, Etrigan?" Lucien asked as the demon held Albert Davis who was left mumbling pleas.
Etrigan turned Albert to face him and held a hand to his forehead. Glowing sigils and smoke flowed from his fingers. "I see darkness deeper than our own in your future. A wound grows that we may never suture."
Lucien's fur stood on end in the presence of magic. Magic he loosely understood, though he didn't know how.
"The strength of this dome is directly tied to the strength of his life force." Etrigan explained.
Suddenly he understood Etrigan's previous comment.
And why his gums itched.
Green Arrow clapped his gloved hands, "Ok. So let's try sedating him. It should leave the dome in a state of…. Limbo? Relaxation? From there we can contact some other magic folks who might be able to help. I hear Dr. Fate's got some great Christmas deals on divin—"
Lucien lunged forward in a blur, running his clawed hand through Albert's frail chest.
His hand exploded from the man's back with his heart in his fist. It was crushed to ribbons before the archers could blink.
Albert looked into Lucien's eyes, there was as black as midnight. Shock melted into death on his pale face. His glasses cracked as a magic wave pulsed from with him.
Lucien dropped him.
Green Arrow looked at him angrily.
"I just told you, the timer started when this dome came up and you want to look for other mages and trouble-shoot?" Lucien asked.
"Well yea, it's kind of a superhero prerequisite to not try bloody murder first when you encounter a problem." Green Arrow replied, as sarcastic as ever.
"Well I'm not wearing a suit am I?"
Lights shined above them. The sigil he saw before in the sky returned, this time dissipating into smoke and glowing shards. With the spells undoing, the dark-dome fell away like paint on a canvas in the rain.
The light returned, showing a silent city in ruin.
"Well, for what it's worth, the city is saved." Arsenal said.
"And I'm free." Lucien thought before turning and heading out of the forest.
"Still don't wanna try the league? We could use you, violent murder aside!" Green Arrow yelled after him.
"I'm tired of being used." Lucien replied, "Bye."
The three of them watched Lucien leave. Seven feet tall on raised canine heels covered in fur and blood.
All the whole Green Arrow couldn't help but wonder where he came from.
"Arsenal, head back to HQ. I want you to do a full review of all military personel files you can access with the name Lucien as a keyword. Try special forces and infantry regiments. Focus on deployments in the Middle East and Asia."
Arsenal nodded in confusion.
"He's trained. You said you found him fighting Merlyn. Well he also held his own against Richard Dragon."
"And Brick. Who he didn't need to defeat in a strength match."
"You get it." Green Arrow explained. "I'll head to the Hall of Justice, just have to make a pit stop first."
"What about you, Etrigan? Where are you off to?"
"I will walk in the beasts footsteps…."