Black Arrow #8

[Glippernip]

Black Arrow#8

Recyke Happens

Written by Jim Crawbuck
Edited by Joel Sawyer


Central Circle, Star City, is almost the absolute center of the City. Most of the major thru- ways merge and change here. It’s cluttered with industrial buildings, traffic, and warehouses. Its constant 24-hour laboring gives it its own unique feel. Tonight is a new moon so the only thing lighting the circle is the soft glow of old, dying streetlights and business signs. The ones that work; most of them just occasionally flicker.

Even with the skyline, drifting slowly and silently in the night is Black Arrow. He blends with the night sky. The muffled hum of his stealth jets is drowned out by the soft buzz of flickering neon signs.

“Night Vision. Telescopic vision. Split view. Right side zoom 80%. Left side deactivated Telescopic Vision,” Black Arrow quietly commands his armor.

He comes to a stop and is hovering outside a closed liquor store. Its front gate is pulled down but an acid has eaten its way around where the door is. The door’s handle and lock are also melted away.

Organized crime in Star City is a growing problem. It starts with two rival families, Hsu and Berelli. They are in a constant power struggle. Central is owned mostly by Hsus and Up Town is owned mostly by the Berellis, but it’s in constant flux. Down town is all a gang called the Wall. They are named after a wall that used to surround that area and separate the city. They seem to have that as their goal. They are into everything from street muggings to politics, from arms and drug trafficking to protection rackets. Their home is down town but their influence is everywhere. Hsus and Berellis sort of fight it out for second place. Nobody messes with the Wall except these guys.

“Amplify vector b-16, standby for target lock," Black Arrow says. A small red word underneath Black Arrows zoomed in view flashes Standing by.

The sound of laughter and the shuffling of broken glass issue through the busted door of the liquor store. Three men and a white dog emerge from the doorway. The men all have their faces painted white with big red smiles on them. The tall man wears pink shiny sports jacket and pink shiny pants. Under his sports jacket he has a purple shirt with ruffles that flow out of his jacket. He has an over sized purple fedora on his head with a pink plum sticking out of it. His eyes have purple circles panted around them.

The fat man wears an old robin T-shirt that his gut hangs out of. He is wearing white leggings with the green robin short shorts pulled over them. On his cheeks he has two red circles paint with a yellow ‘R’ in the center. Around his eyes is a painted mask like the legendary Robin the Boy Wonder used to wear. His hair is green with a patch of red. Sticking out of the red patch is a fake crowbar he wears like a hat.

The little one is dressed completely different. He dressed like on oopa loompa from Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory except his face is white and he has a big red smile.

The dog is unusually large and all white. Its mouth is also oversized and yet it’s teeth still hang out of it. It is dressed in a big orange bow tie.

The Jokerz. They are barely a threat to the other organizations. It’s just a small faction that migrated here from Gotham and New Bludhaven. They seem to have no purpose. They just look to start the other three fighting. They have no regard for life, theirs or other peoples. A victory for them is getting the Wall to start trouble with pretty much anyone. I decide if I’m going to go after all these organizations, I should start with this one. Let’s eliminate the chaos and get rid of the wild card.

“Amplifier acknowledge targets” says Black Arrow. In his telescopic view in his visor the four jokerz get a red glow around them. “Lock” he says, “Number targets”. A translucent number, one through four, appear in his view on the three men and their dog.

I don’t even know if they have any type of hierarchy in their group. I can’t just go around beating up the ones I see. I’m hoping these guys can lead to something or maybe even get me some insight to the way they work.

^

[Glippernip]

In the basement of the run down apartment building were Denis, Danie,l and Dodo are staying, the three recently sprung splicers are playing Texas hold’em for pretzel sticks. In the far corner of the basement Danny sits on a crate and watches his brother pace.

“I don’t get it. What’s wrong?” Danny asks his brother.

“Everything,” Denis whispers back to his brother.

“I know we didn’t get all the money but we got a good amount,” Danny whispers back.

“The money is the least of the problems right now. We need to get out of here fast. But where are we going? I don’t know. Who are these guys and what’s their angle? Again I have no answer. The big one right now is, where the frak did Dodo go?” Denis quietly confesses to his brother making sure the other three aren’t paying attention.

“Dodo? He’s your friend. Why are you worried about him?” asks Daniel.

“ ‘Cause I don’t know the word on the street, Danny. This is exactly the world I didn’t want to bring you into. You say friend but in this life there are no friends. There is understanding motivation. There’s knowing the type of people you can rely on with in certain situations. Our situation has just changed drastically,” explains Denis.

“You mean we can’t trust Dodo?” ask Daniel.

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you. There is no trust. This life is heinous acts motivated by power, lust, greed, hate or survival and sometimes all of the above. If Dodo found a way to profit off what he knows, he’s no longer on our side”.

^

[Glippernip]

It is some time after midnight, in an empty parking garage for a large mall. On the bottom floor, a large Asian man paces nervously, playing with his right ear. He jumps when he hears a muffled bang. He quickly turns to his left but all goes silent again. Then he hears the echo of a grunt leading into another bang. Again he scans the area.

“Hello,” he shouts into the darkness. He is now convinced he’s not alone. He waits but there’s no answer. “Hello,” he tries again. Still he gets no reply. “This relationship was supposed to be over,” he says. “I gave you Jackie. You were supposed to give me my freedom,” he argues to the echo in the darkness spinning as to check all angles. He hears a faint clicking sound. He faces that direction to see a small flame floating. Then the lit end of a cigarette as the flame goes out.

“I lied,” a voice replies. “What can you do about it?”

“That’s not very lady like and I’m pretty sure what your doing is against the law.”

Again there is no answer, just a distant cigarette dancing in the darkness and a long awkward silence. A chill crawls up his back. His teeth quickly tap. He shakes his shoulder and takes a deep breath. He summons his courage and pushes his jacket off of his hip.

“What if my brother and I just slag you right now?” he eventually asks with anger replacing fear in his tone.

From behind him another figure approaches with a hastened pace.

“What can YOU do about that?” he barks in to the shadows.

The cigarette shakes wildly until it falls spinning to the floor. The large Asian man pulls his gun out.

“I wouldn’t do that Leo," a feminine voice whispers in his ear.

The eyes grow filling with surprise before he’s jolted with a heavy dose of electrical discharge from a stun gun. He convulses and drops his gun. He hits the ground hard enough to bounce a little and convulses for few more seconds. His gun lay less then a foot from his head but his muscles' involuntarily spasms are keeping him from reaching for it. He watches as a ¾ inch heel kicks his gun into the darkness. There’s an absolute quiet while the effects of the stun gun wear off. As Leo starts to compose himself he feels that ¾ inch heel on his throat. Then a flashlight is illuminated shining into his eyes.

“I wouldn’t do that because that’s your brother,” the female says as she changes her flashlight’s direction to reveal Leo’s target.

Leo’s brother Hal is cuffed with his hands through the window of an open car door and a ball gag in his mouth. The ball gag has a small round hole in the middle of it about the size of a cigarette butt. Hal’s forehead is shiny with tiny sweat droplets. He breathes in deeply and relaxes his muscles as he exhales.

“We need to talk, Leo, and there are, two ways we can do so. You know what they are. So how’s it going to be,” the voice asks, returning the flashlight’s glow back to Leo’s eyes.

“Nice shoes, Detective O’Leary. How can we help you today?” meekly replies Leo.

^

[Glippernip]

Back at Central Circle, looking through Black Arrow’s visor, another red glow appears in the distance, approaching at a slow but steady rate. A translucent question mark fills the middle of the dark approaching figure.

“Split screen. Left question mark. Left zoom 50%. Left night vision,” LJ orders his armor.

The man approaching is not dressed like the Jokerz that LJ is tailing. This man appears to have no make-up. He’s wearing a long black trench coat with its over sized collar flipped up. He has a haste in his step as if he is nervous and in a hurry. It only takes a few seconds to realize that this man is here to meet these Jokerz and robbing the liquor store was just something to do to kill time before they meet this man.

LJ waits for them all to get together.

“Merge screens. Amplify targets, add question mark. Renumber,” LJ adjusts his surveillance equipment.

“Dodo, you must have some pretty good reason to want to meet us because you know how dangerous we are,” says the tall joker with the pink shiny sports coat. The three jokers start to laugh as they surround Dodo.

“Of course I have sumpin’. What do you think? I’m stupid,” Dodo’s voice wavers a little.

“Yes,” answers the tall joker and they all laugh again.

“I have some info about the jail break,” explains Dodo.

“So?” laughs the Joker spokesman. “You talking to the wrong gang, Dope-o. It’s The Wall that’s looking for the ones responsible for the break. The Hsu and Berelli’s are fighting to find info. What do I care?”

LJ hasn’t had a lot of run-ins with the Jokerz, but he did do his homework and he doesn’t like the way this conversation is going.

Recyke. This kid's a total K-Fed. Lucky break for me, I guess, as long as he doesn’t get himself killed. “Tranqu. Lock target 2”, whispers LJ, “ Garth. Kory continuous”.

Dodo states, “I know. But you guys love messing with all three those groups. I thought this way you can make them all run in circles,” Dodo explains.

The mocking Robin and the oompa loopa wanna-be starts laughing. Even the dog looks like it’s laughing. Dodo starts to slowly back out of the circle they made around him.

I can’t even imagine how that kid feels right now. I think it’s starting to sink in that this idea wasn’t a good one. It’s lucky for me I stumbled upon this. It’s luckier for him I’m here.

“Shut it,” demands the tall joker. “Okay, Dodo. Spill it then”.

No, Dodo. Don’t spill it.

“You do think I’m stupid. I tell you and then you don’t need me. I want payment, then I’ll bring you to where you can get answers,” Dodo replies.

Good boy Dodo. It’s on now. I’m ready.

[Glippernip]

“I got a better idea, Dopie-old boy. How about we destroy all possible leads that will help someone find out about who’s responsible for the jailbreak. That way none of those guys will ever get answers? That will really tick them off, won’t it?” responds the Joker as they all begin to close in on Dodo.

Wow. Does he really not see where this is going? Poor kid.

“I don’t care what you do to the leads once I give them to you,” Dodo says.

That’s my cue. I think I’m starting to enjoy this part.

“Good! Then first lead we’ll destroy will be you,” says the Joker, drawing the small automatic weapon from under his pink sports jacket. Simultaneously , as the weapon is drawn, the dog ‘yelps’. Within fractions of a second later, the pink-jacketed joker’s gun is sawed in half by a well-placed Garth arrow. The dog, with a black arrow’s shaft sticking from its butt, curls in a ball and goes to sleep. The other two Jokerz quickly cover their leader by drawing their automatic weapons and looking skyward for the sniper. They try to shield the tall joker with their bodies. They are quickly disarmed by a shower of green energy.

Dodo takes the opportunity to run. He doesn’t get more then ten steps when a loud, deep echoing, loudspeaker-like voice booms, “Ollie two.”

Dodo is thrown to the floor, with an arrow in each side of his long trench coat pinning him to the floor. Green gas comes pouring out of both arrows. Normally it would be an easy trap to get out of, but just as he wiggled out of his coat to freedom the gas takes affect and he falls asleep.

This is the part I’m starting to enjoy. Time to up Black Arrow’s street cred.

Slowly lowering himself down to street level, Black Arrow bellows “Jokerz! These streets are mine,” in that deep metallic echoing voice the armor produces. His cloak under his quiver is being pushed up like Marilyn Monroe’s skirt as he lands. Only the dim glow of his visor is seen from under his hood. His armor is modern but styled after an era long past. His bow is folded and tucked away. He just lets his towering presence sink into his target's minds.

“Get’em!” yells the leader.

Come get me yourself tough guy.

The little ones hurls himself at Black Arrow spinning in a ball. He unleashes a kick to the head of Black Arrow just before impact.

Black Arrow just stands in the path of the attack without flinching. As the little Joker unfolds himself Black Arrow catches him, spins him around in the air, and throws him at the fat Joker dressed like Robin.

The fat joker is slowly charging, and he easily swats his friend to the side as he gets in to melee range. He swings a power strike at Black Arrow, who effortlessly deflects the shot. He responds with five quick little jabs to the fat man’s chest before the man can recover from his blocked shot. He takes a step back to regain his balance, then tries to bear hug Black Arrow. Black Arrow catches his hands as the two large men lock in a game of mercy.

Even if I wasn’t stronger then this ox I have about 5 inches on him. That gives me a leverage advantage. Bad tactical move by the fat clown on many levels.

Black Arrow bends the fat joker backward. Then he kicks the fat man’s leg from underneath himself. He lifts the man off the ground with their hands still locked and spins and throws him like the hammer throw in the Olympics. The fat man lands on the little joker that he swatted away earlier.

I better grab the ‘leader’ before he runs to far. Most these leader guys try to run once their buddies get beaten.

As the tall joker turns to run away Black Arrow grabs him by the collar of his shirt. He pulls the tall man into him, changing his grip from the shirt to the back of his neck. He ducks down and grabs him between the tall man’s legs and presses him over his head. The tall man pleads for mercy from the moment Black Arrow grabs him until the moment he is thrown on top of his friends.

Okay, a little on the job training to put these guys down long enough time to go collect my prize. Hope this goes better then last time.

Black Arrow’s voice projects one more time “BC at 2%.” Following that command, protective dampeners cover LJ’s ears and a loud screech is projected for the voice box in the armor. The three Jokerz are thrown back into the liquor store they had vandalized and robbed moments before meeting with Dodo. All bottles and windows in the shop all shatter, crumbling in place.

[Glippernip]

Better this time, but I still have to learn to master that weapon. I think Mom will still be happy with this outcome.

Black Arrow rockets away, scooping up the unconscious Dodo as he passes. A red warning flashes across the visor. Emergency phone line activated. Rerouting call.


“Of course,” Black Arrow declares after listening to his caller. Oh, my! How did get Gabe get caught out of the Battlion suit? “That’s quite a shopping list, Gabe. Are you sure about the last items?”

I haven’t heard that tone in his voice since... Black Arrow shakes off the thought. Not this time Gabe. Neither of us have any regrets this time. “I’m on my way,” Black Arrow promises.

I’ll put tracer on this guy, drop him Queen Park and catch up with him later. Star City will have to wait.

(Black Arrow ‘s cousin Gabe called him in to help the Titans. Follow that story starting in Titans #11)