There he is! Finally, after almost an hour of waiting, deLeon had shown up at his office. Oliver had staked out the office building on and off for the past few days, his lessons in patience during his years on the island not having been for nothing. Stringing his bow, Green Arrow fires an arrow, which smashes through the window and destroys deLeon’s phone. Enjoying the moment of shock on the crook’s face, Green Arrow shoots another arrow – this one with a cord line attached to it.
I’ll show you a Robin Hood. Rolling down the cord line, he bursts through the window, kicking the man who had exiled him to Starfish Island to the floor. The man who had tried to have him murdered. “Get up,” Oliver says, grinding his teeth together.
Bewildered for a second, John deLeon quickly resorts to bravado, pretending to be unfazed by the sudden excitement. “What- who do you think you are in that get up, Queen? You’re not fooling anyone in that costume! I mean, I know you’ve always been on edge since your parents died, but this is just insane.”
Grabbing deLeon, Oliver pushes the stout man against the wall. “Don’t ever talk about my parents. Look what you’ve done to this city! Your pettiness has created more homeless, your greedy love for "industry" has actually put more people
out of jobs than
in and this has all led to such a drastic raise of crime, that people of this city might never get out of this rut!”
“Don’t give me that liberal spew! You just want a scapegoat. Have I done bad things? Yes! But that’s the way the world is. That’s how it works. If life was like this idealized version you want to believe it can be, than why am I not in jail right now?”
Hesitating for a second, Oliver can’t come up with an answer.
“It’s because,” John deLeon continues, “those others, the ones who’s job description is to ‘protect and serve’, the police, the city council…they’re as every bit as ‘bad’, as neglectful as I am! You don’t know how the system works- you think it’s easy, living in this city?”
“That’s no excuse.”
“No. But it’s the truth.”
At a loss of words, Oliver has barely time to react when a small, wraithlike man comes out of seemingly nowhere, attacking him with speed Oliver thought impossible. Side-kicking Oliver into deLeon’s desk, the assassin Drakon doesn’t let the emerald archer catch a breath, grabbing onto the hero’s wrist. Seeing deLeon flee the office, Green Arrow feels a surge of anger. Smashing his elbow into Drakon’s face, Oliver is able to release himself from his foe’s grip. Taking the moment to kick Drakon backwards as well, Green Arrow draws his bow, and fires an arrow – only to have Drakon catch the arrow, and break it in half. “Oh crap.”
Sprinting across the room and firing more and more arrows, Drakon evades all but one, which snags him in the shoulder. “Are you finished with this foolishness, archer?”
“Not even close!” Running at his enemy, Oliver flips forward at the last second, drawing his bow in the air and firing two arrows at once. Drakon catches one, as the other hits him in the shoulder. Not sparing a moment, Oliver throws a punch at Drakon, though it misses as the assassin moves out of the way.
Finally, the villain lets out a laugh. “This is certainly a better fight than the one you put up last time.”
Smirking, Oliver draws his bow, this time three arrows strung out. “Last time, I didn’t have years of experience. And I didn’t have this.” Shooting his bow, Drakon evades the shots, but Oliver doesn’t let up, firing more and more shots. Seeing his enemy evade them all, Green Arrow tries a new tactic, and swings his bow at Drakon’s head, before the villain is finished grabbing the arrows.
The formidable fighter catches the bow with both his hands, however, and smashes Oliver in the right arm with it. “It’s been fun archer, but I’ve had enough of your antics.” Picking Green Arrow up with hands that seem far too large for a man of his stature, Drakon proceeds to choke Ollie. Unable to breathe, Oliver begins to get dizzy and somehow tastes blood, though he’s not sure who’s. Using his last bit of strength, Drakon is abruptly stabbed in the side with an arrow that had been broken in two, which Oliver had grabbed from the ground right before Drakon had hit him with his own bow. Not letting go of his grip, Oliver twists the sharp weapon inside, hoping to force Drakon to loosen his grip. For but a second, his grip loosens, but a second is all Green Arrow needs. Managing to twirl his enemy to the ground, Oliver grabs what is left of his bow. Drakon is on his feet again, lunging at Green Arrow. Barely moving out of the way in time, Green Arrow realizes his back is right against the broken window. Unsure what to do, Oliver’s decision is made for him, when he sees arrows in the hands of his adversary. Unhooking the rope he had originally used to crash into deLeon’s office, Green Arrow swings out of the building, arrows being literally thrown at him.
This guy’s insane! How can he do that stuff? An arrow snags Oliver in the leg as he’s swinging across, and the crime-fighter’s grip on the cord gives, as he barely manages to grasp hold on a fire escape on the building he had been swinging towards. It takes all his will power to pull himself up. Catching his breath, Green Arrow heads toward home, masked by the grey night sky.
Stupid. Stupid rookie.^
