Chapter 6
Chapter 6
My name is Oliver Queen,
After five years in hell, I returned home with one goal: to save my city. Before, I was fighting that war on two fronts, by day I was leading Star City as Mayor, but by night I was someone else, I was something else ...
I am… the Green Arrow. At least I was.
Everything changed when Thanos landed and wiped out half of the universe with the power of the six Infinity Stones. And that I saw my city sink into chaos, as no one had ever seen. I had lost. We had all lost.
Earth – 1; Star Labs – Central City
An interdimensional breach emerged from nowhere, and Kara emerged from it. After recovering Thor from Norway, she set out on a quest to go to Earth – 1, to look for Oliver. She hadn't seen him for five years, from the Thanos Garden. His help was welcome. She appeared right in the lab of Star Labs in Central City. What she saw under the eyes made a hollow in her stomach.
The laboratory was empty and covered with dust. It seemed to be abandoned for years. For five years, it looks like. With emotion, she looked at the black screens of the large laboratory office. She came across an old picture half covered with dust. It was a picture of the entire Team Flash (Barry Allen, Iris West, Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, Ralph Dibny and Joe West) with big smiles.
With a sad smile, Kara looked at the old fallen Team members, then decided to leave the deserted laboratory.
As she flew away, she was shocked to see what had become of the city of Central City. The city was almost extinct. No car was traveling. Police vehicles were abandoned on the sidewalks. Shops were completely looted. The Jitters coffee was abandoned and in ruins.
Barry, if you could see your city…
Then her attention was focused on a couple who seemed to be having fun. It was Sam Scudder aka the Master of Mirrors and his girlfriend Rosa Dillon, aka Top.
"It's a wonderful day," he exclaimed with a grin. "All Central City is ours! Flash is no longer there anymore. Since half of the planet has disappeared … we're doing what we want in this city. No more Flash, no police, no judges to put us in jail. No one to stop us. All metas-humans are free to do what they want in Central City."
"A new life, darling," his girlfriend scolded, resting his head on his shoulder. "Fortunately we didn't disappear like everyone else. We were lucky."
Then his eyes fell on a poor woman who was running away with booty. The Master of Mirrors nodded to his girlfriend and disappeared into a mirror. He reappeared through another mirror right in front of the poor woman, blocking her way. The frightened woman tried to flee, but Rosa blocked the road.
"Please, don't hurt me," she said with tears in her eyes, begging her captors. "Please, let me go!"
"What do we have here?" Sam Scudder grabbed the booty of his prey.
It was a bag full of food. The woman looked at the couple, still begging them.
"Food, and I guess you have enough to pay my little lady?" sneered the Master of Mirrors.
"No, please, I have nothing in money! I gave you everything! It's food for my daughter! Please, she's only eight years old, she's very hungry and she's all that remains to me! Please!"
"Sorry for your kid, but you have to pay for this food," scans Top with a grim smile.
"It's our law," added the Master of Mirrors. "You have to pay, you pay. My darling, show her what happens to those who don't pay."
Rosa Dillon shook her head, and used her power to make the poor woman lose her equilibrium, making her dizzy. She fell to the floor, moaning and being mocked by the Master of Mirrors.
Unable to see this horror scene, Kara decided to intervene. She lands down to them. She grabbed Sam Scudder by the shoulder and sent him to a wall with her super-strength. She glared at Rosa Dillon.
"Leave her alone!" she ordered curtly. (She spoke to the frightened woman.) "Go right now!"
Immediately, the poor woman got up, retrieved her bag and disappeared from the alley.
"Who are you, the little blond girl?" said Top, staring at the kryptonian with curiosity.
"Someone who would be better avoiding piss me off, the little blond girl. You and your boyfriend, you just made me angry. I'll show you what happens to those who make me angry."
"Oh, screw you!" Top scolded, using her power over Kara.
The latter lost her balance and got dizzy. Sam Scudder stood up, rubbing his jacket.
"Another idiot who thinks she's Flash," he grumbled as he watched Kara writhing on the ground.
With one last effort, Kara managed to clap her hands, causing a powerful shock wave that propelled the two metas-humans backwards, destabilizing them. Rosa collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
The Kryptonian rose, while the Master of Mirrors, half sounded, looked at the young woman with a look of terror.
"But who are you?" he murmured.
"I'm a friend of the Flash, and since he's not here, I'll take care of you," Kara thundered in a voice full of threats.
She lifted Scudder by the jacket and slammed it against a wall, holding him firmly.
"Well, guess what, Central City isn't your city anymore. No more now, got it? Answer me?
The Master of Mirrors nodded, shocked.
"Yeah, Yeah."
Kara seemed satisfied.
"Good."
And she threw him into a dumpster. She took Rosa Dillon, unconscious, and threw her in turn in the container. She closed the lid, all satisfied.
"Have a nice day, Bonnie & Clyde! It's hard to believe that Thanos spared stupids people like you!"
And she flew away from Central City.
Earth – 1; Star City
When she arrived at Star City, Kara was shocked again by seeing what had happened to the city. It was in the same state as Central City. Several abandoned cars. Shops looted and ransacked. Apparently, a big wave of crime raged throughout the city.
The Kryptonian arrived at Oliver Queen's apartment. At least, where he was supposed to live. On entering, she find out the deserted and abandoned residence. Oliver didn't seem to live here for years. She found an old dust-covered photo of Oliver with his wife Felicity and his son William. Stunned, she watched the family smile on their lips in a time before Thanos.
Then she kept the picture and left the residence.
She resumed her exploration of the city in search of Oliver flying over. Then she find out a battlefield on a crossroads. Individuals were shooting at each other with automatic weapons. A real war scene. Kara, despite her desire to find Oliver, landed on the ground, determined to stop the bloodbath. But before she could react, she saw an arrow touching a criminal in the leg. Then, Green Arrow emerging from nowhere, attacked the thugs with bare hands. He neutralized their weapons with a crossbow, and knocked them out with their fists. He fired an arrow from his crossbow, neutralizing a criminal who was about to shoot him.
Thinking he knocked everyone out, Green Arrow went off in one direction, when another criminal behind him pointed his gun at the archer. Kara hastened to use her super-breath, pushing the enemy away. Green Arrow then noticed the kryptonian heading towards him.
"Oliver! It's Kara! I know it's been a long time since we've seen each other, but we need to talk."
"Kara?"said Green Arrow, whose voice did not match her friend.
Interrupted, Kara looked at the archer, and find out that it wasn't Oliver Queen under the mask. It was John Diggle.
"Kara, what are you doing here?" replied the latter, stupefied.
"Where is Oliver?" exclaimed Kara, stunned. "I have to see him."
"I haven't spoken to Oliver for five years," Diggle replied, shaking his head.
Later, Diggle had taken Kara to his apartment, which was just as abandoned as that of the former mayor of Star City.
"I've been home alone since… Thanos has…" Diggle explained, unable to formulate his words.
"I know," said Kara, shaking her head. "What happened to this city?"
"The result of the consequences of Thanos when he wiped out half of our Earth. Half of Star City having gone, with my wife and my child… the whole city fell into the hands of the most dangerous criminals that could have been arrested. With the absence of the police forces, they took control of the entire city. Star City belongs to them now."
Kara looked shocked.
"And Oliver? What has become of him?"
Diggle pulled off his green hood before sighing.
"At first… When we came back to Earth – 1, Oliver did… he did what he could… He was clueless like me, I was. He fought with me to save the city. Together, we fought a battle for days… But… without the help of Felicity and the others, it was difficult for us to bring order. Oliver was devastated. In the deep end. One day, he told me… he couldn't bear to stay at Star City anymore. He said his mission to save his city was lost when Thanos snapped his fingers. That we were fighting an endless fight, that it was lost in advance. Then he left… He left the city, and he never came back…"
"Rao!" exclaimed Kara, shocked.
But there must be another reason. Oliver Queen would never have abandoned his city like that on a whim. Kara was certain there was something else.
"And since… I'm alone… trying to save this city. This hell has been going on for over five years. I took the identity of Green Arrow and since then I have been trying to save this city… what remains of it, more or less."
"John," said Kara gently. "If I'm here now, it's because… on Avengers' Earth, we've find out a way to repair the Universe. We can save those we lost, as well as this city."
Diggle looked at Kryptonian with a curious look.
"How?"
"We found a way to get the Stones and use them to bring everyone back. But Oliver must be here. We need him. Don't you know where he could be?"
Diggle shook his head, before answering:
"I may have an idea of where he might be…"
Earth – 1; Lian Yu Island
John Diggle had given coordinates to Kara. A lost island. Her name was Lian Yu. Oliver had spent five years of his life fighting hell. Kara didn't know the whole story, having a vague idea about the history of Green Arrow.
The kryptonian flew over the sea, and finally discovered the dark island. She landed on a lush forest, surrounded by explosive weapons destroyed in neglect. She walked through the forest, using her super-hearing. Then, she heard someone. She stopped walking. She felt the presence of her friend nearby. Not knowing in what state of mind she was going to find her friend, Kara preferred to act with caution and gentleness.
"Oliver! Oliver! It's Kara! I know we have not seen each other for years, but we have to talk! Oliver? Where are you? I know you're here, I hear your heartbeat. Oliver?"
Suddenly, an arrow rocked the kryptonian, she managed to grab it before she could touch her back. Kara threw it, and saw a figure running in the woods.
The kryptonian hurled herself in pursuit of the individual, and finally blocked her way. Immediately, a bow and arrows were pointed at her. Kara raised her arms in the air as a sign of appeasement.
"Oliver, it's okay! It's me, Kara! You know very well that your arrows cannot hurt me."
"Unless they're in kryptonite," a hoarse voice replied.
Kara finally saw Oliver emerging from the shadows. He was unrecognizable. A long beard hid almost his entire face with ragged clothes. It was like a vagabond disconnected from reality.
At least he didn't become fat.
Oliver stared at Kryptonian with a lost look. Then he turned back.
"You shouldn't have come, Kara. Whatever you say to me, I'm not into it!"
Kara ran after him and came to stand in front of him.
"Oliver, I wouldn't be here in front of you if it wasn't important…"
"Let me guess, John told you where to find me? If you came to convince me to come back and save my city, you're wasting your time! I'll not be returning to Star City!"
"I'm not talking about saving your city, I'm talking about saving the Universe. Repair what Thanos did."
Oliver laughed bitterly before retorting:
"Repair what? And how? The Stones are gone. We can't bring everyone back, and you know it well. Go away, Kara, and never come back here!"
Kara remained calm, not wanting to upset her old friend.
"Oliver, I'm serious. We may have found something that can change the game. We can bring back all those we lost. Listen to me, at least, what I have to say to you. If you don't do it for yourself, do it for them! (She showed him in front of her face the family picture she had taken from his home in Star City.)
Oliver looked shocked at the smiling faces of Felicity and William.
"Where did you get that?" he exclaimed, annoyed. "Kara, don't play that with me!"
"Do you want to see your wife and your son again? And your team? I need you to listen to me, I'll not leave here until you listen to what I have to say to you. You can use up all your stock of arrows on me if you want, but I'm not goin' anywhere."
The former archer finally nods.
"All right, I'm listening to you."
And the Kryptonian told him then for Ant-Man, his misadventure in the Quantum Realm and the travel time to recover the Infinity Stones.
Once Kara had finished, Oliver sat on a rock, meditating on what he had just learned.
"So, to save the Universe, we have to shrink in a place… which is the Quantum…"
"The Quantum Realm," Kara replied. "A place where time and space have no impact. And it's a microscopic place. We must therefore shrink to a very small size to be able to enter."
"Right," Oliver agreed, not excited. "And so, we will change the universe with a travel time. (He laughed bitterly.) Kara, I don't know if you remember, but Barry went back in time to save his mother, and it didn't really succeed, do you remember?"
"Well, I was just getting to it. It'll not be like Flashpoint. Nothing to do with that. Because we're not going to change the past, we'll use the past to change this destroyed world. Stones are in the past. We collect them, we gather them in the future, we use them, and we can bring back everyone, all those we have lost. Great, huh?"
But Oliver didn't seem enthusiastic about this idea.
"Kara, even what you say is dangerous. When you play with time, there are consequences. There are always consequences where you don't expect it. We could do much more damage than Thanos."
"Funny, Tony Stark said the same thing," Kara pointed out. "Then he changed his mind, he helps us to make the trip back in time. But I need you here, Oliver. From you as a Green Arrow."
"Green Arrow," Oliver murmured, lost in thought. "It's over for me."
Then, Kara decided to change the subject.
"What are you doing here? Why did you leave your city?"
"What did John tell you on this island?"
"I just know you lived here for a long time, and it was when you returned to Star City that you became Green Arrow."
"This island is called Lian Yu. It's Mandarin. It means purgatory. It was here, after I saw my father shooting himself in the head, that I found myself and learned to survive. I saw things no one had ever seen before, and I saw another man better than I was before, but I also saw the worst things in me. For a long time, I tried to hide that dark part of myself when I was Green Arrow. But when Thanos destroyed everything, I felt it rise in me. The demon that lies dormant in me. That demon who would have taken control of me, if I had stayed at Star City. I left my town, because I didn't want to be that monster again. I thought about my wife Felicity, also about my son William. I didn't want to betray their memory by becoming a murderer in cold blood. You wanted to know why I left Star City, you got your answer. I didn't want to disappoint people who have believed in me for a long time. Tommy, Roy, Thea, Laurel, Felicity, William… Because I know they wouldn't want that for me. And what could I do to what was happening in Star City? There were no more teams, nothing to bring order and calm in the city. Thanos has destroyed my mission of rescuing it, and it's lost forever. Here, I can be myself."
Kara nodded, finally understanding why Oliver had deserted her city, but remained uncompromising about her plan to save the Universe.
"The only way to save your city is to come with me to Avengers Earth, repair what Thanos broke. Even if it's dangerous, we have to, Oliver. Because I lost everything during those five years. I lost my loved ones, my identity, and even my Earth. You can go home. Me I can't. On my Earth, the air has become toxic to me. Kryptonite was spread throughout the atmosphere. If I go home, I die. I had to flee not to die, and I took refuge for five years on Avengers' Earth. Now, I have nothing. Thanos took everything from me. All. This new chance is our only hope. My hope of returning to a normal life. Because I'm nothing at all without Supergirl. I don't know what to do with my life. What do you want to do? Stay on this island until the end of your days without worrying about others? Do you really think Felicity and William wanted that? Join me, Oliver. Don't do it for yourself or for me, but for your son and your wife. Be realistic, you cannot go on like this. Like me, I cannot continue to wander the Multiverse like a ghost. Your family misses you. I miss mine too. My sister Alex misses me so much."
For a moment Oliver looked at Kara thoughtfully, then nodded.
"You are right. We must act for our Universe."
Later, Kara brought Oliver back by flying to Star City. The former archer wasn't a fan of being carried by a kryptonian, but didn't say anything. She had brought him home. He had gone to change. Diggle came to see them.
"Did you find Oliver?" asked he.
Finally, Oliver came to them. Kara could see that his friend archer had shaved his long beard and hair, making them short, and that he had resumed his Green Arrow hoodless outfit. He glanced at John with a look upset.
"Hello John!" replied he.
"Oliver," Diggle greeted, nodding. "It has been a long time."
"I know, and I'm sorry to be gone. I was probably cowardly but… I didn't want to tarnish the memory of our loved ones by becoming a murderer in cold blood. I didn't want that for me…"
"It's okay, Oliver, keep your apologies for later, and let's go ourselves to this… how's this thing called?"
"The Quantum Realm," Kara explained.
"That's it, let's go now, without delay," Diggle replied.
Kara pulled the extrapolator out of her pocket, activating it, creating an interdimensional breach. All three left towards Avengers' Earth.