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Author's Note: Here's Chapter Fourteen, the Storm everyone has been waiting for. There's a lot of great stuff in this chapter, the highpoint being Round Two with Bottom Feeder which I think is the longest fight I've ever written. The latter part of this chapter is a rewrite, the first time through it was just plain crap, I have to thank Lilith for setting me straight on that one. I also have to thank djkauf for the wonderful editing and DC Comics for their wonderful characters. There's only one more chapter after this which should be up soon so until then enjoy this very fun and extra long ride.

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Chapter Fourteen:

“How many guards are there?” Probe asked as I scanned the perimeter.

The complex was far enough away that it looked like a dollhouse. The three of us were lying flat in the scruff, keeping our distance at the moment. The three four wheelers were behind us, cooling off after our long drive. I know one thing; I’m never driving one of those damn things again. They were loud and uncomfortable. I know what you’re thinking, hey, you were a guy, you should like those things. But I’ve never been the outdoors man type. Even when we lived in Texas, I was never one to venture far outdoors. I stared mainly in my room, tapping away at various video games. I didn’t have many friends there because most of the guys around me were into football and other sports. I was the weird geek who rifled around in the garbage for junk.

I thought it was going to be the same when I moved to California. Then I met Brenda and Paco. Brenda was that girl; you know the one that every guy wishes he could grow up next to. She was amazing from the first time I saw her and I must admit I had a little crush. But as I became friends with her, I realized it would never work out and I just let it fade away. Now she was like a best friend and sister rolled up into one. Paco was the big shy guy that everyone thought was scary. The two of us hit it off immediately though. We had the same interests and both of us felt we were misunderstood. Now the two of them were in that horrible place and I’d do anything to get them back.

“You’re daydreaming.”

“I’m thinking.”

Probe asked the guard question again. I concentrated on the task at hand. The complex was surrounded by what appeared to be a barbed wire fence, beyond it, I saw two guards patrolling the grounds. There were another two in a guard tower in the right corner of the complex and three more in the left corner in a small guardhouse. They were all carrying M-16’s and were dressed in the same black uniforms as the guys that attacked us yesterday. I told them the numbers and Probe groaned. Olivia didn’t seem too fazed by it though. In fact, she nocked an arrow and sat up, staring through the scope of her fancy bow.

“Can you hit them from here?”

She laughed. “Not even I’m that good.”

“What are we waiting for?” snapped Probe, she was a lot more impatient than I was.

We set up in the airstrip until it got a little later in the day. Olivia and Mia set up in the main office, sending the staff home. None of them got a glimpse of the Green Arrow, thank God. They both agreed that it might be better if we waited until nightfall to make our attack, it would be easier to slip past their defenses undetected that way. Of course, Probe argued. She wanted to go there and get her friends right away. Even I was a little antsy but I understood what would happen if we tried to make a day assault. The guards would see and cut us down before we even got close. We spent the few hours in the cramped lobby, eating crap from the vending machines and watching Mexican television. We were so close to the border that the only stations they got were in Spanish. It wasn’t even a proper TV either. It had those funky rabbit ears and was really funny. The worst part, I seemed to be the only one who understood what they were saying. It was some comedy show and I laughed through the whole thing. The others rolled their eyes.

We set out as soon as the sun started to wane in the sky. It took us about two hours to get out to the complex. Even then, we had to approach slowly for fear that the guards might hear the engines of our four wheelers.

“This is ridiculous,” snapped Probe “we know they’re in there, I can sense all of them. It’s stupid that we’re waiting.”

“Her impatience is going to get her killed.”

I sighed. “Probe you gotta calm down. We’ll go as soon as we get the right opportunity.”

Olivia smiled, lowering her pair of night vision binoculars. “And there it is.”

I turned back to the complex and tried to find what she was talking about. It didn’t take me long to see. The guards were changing shifts. The two patrolling the perimeter were walking back toward the complex. It was the perfect opportunity, now all we had to do was time it right. Olivia moved first, creeping over the scrub grass in front of us. I took a moment to activate the armor. I felt the tingling sensation as it crawled up my skin. I crawled as it slowly crept up my body. Probe followed behind, sticking close to me like we told her to. Both Olivia and I were afraid if she strayed too far from us she might be hit by a stray bullet or something and we couldn’t let that happen.

We made good time as we crept along the desert, keeping low to the ground. We weren’t running but we weren’t walking either. We had to get there before the guards came back on shift, if we didn’t then the whole thing was crap. I looked ahead as the armor finished covering my body. Olivia was moving like a wild woman. She was already way ahead of me. I cursed and picked up the pace. Thanks to my armor enhanced speed, I caught up with her faster than I wanted too. I turned and waited for Probe.

“You and I should go ahead,” said Khaji “the humans are slowing us down.”

“Hey I’m still human too, you know.”

“Technically none of you are human, even our fearless leader in green isn’t, even though she doesn’t want to admit it.”

I ignored the comment. I didn’t like the idea of not being human. Of course, I was human. Just because I had an alien, symbiote attached to my spine didn’t make me any less human than my family and friends.

“You’re wrong.”

“You and I can discuss this later. Right now we have to save your family.”

I groaned and decided I was done discussing anything with her right now. Olivia took the lead again. I waited for Probe to catch up and then followed at a brisk pace, making sure that Probe didn’t fall too far behind. We reached the fence just in time. The new perimeter guards were coming out of the building just as we reached the fence. Olivia was fast, faster than I’d ever seen. She fired off one arrow and it almost seemed like the other before the first even left the bow. The first arrow hit one of the new guards, dropping him quickly. The second arrow hit the other guard just as fast. Neither man knew what hit them. I snapped toward the tower and saw the search light move over to the spot where the two guards fell. It was right about there when Olivia struck again. Her first arrow hit the light; the second dropped the guard manning it.

I got into the action after that. I fired two energy balls. Both of them hit their targets at the same time. Effectively the two of us cleared out five guards in less than a minute. It was pretty impressive. She turned to me, smiled and pointed at the fence. I stepped up, extending one of my blades from my wrist. I cut through the chain link like a hot knife through butter. I slit a hole big enough for a person to crawl through. Olivia went first then Probe. I followed up in the rear.

“Should we take out the guard house?” whispered Probe, pointing to the squat building in the distance.

Olivia looked and shook her head. “They’re too far away to notice a difference. By the time they do, hopefully we’ll be long gone.”

We left it at that. Olivia led the way again and we continued to keep Probe between us. We crept silently across the courtyard, making our way stealthily toward doors. We came upon the two guards from earlier. I half expected to see them dead. Instead, they were both breathing, arrows stuck in their shoulders. I bent and touched one of the shafts, getting a slight spark.

“Stun arrows,” Olivia explained. “They have a little charge, enough to take down a three hundred pound man for a couple of hours. They’re completely harmless.”

I nodded. Tell that to the guys with the arrows in their shoulders.

When we got to the doors, Olivia nocked another arrow and peered through the glass. She motioned me over. I went and stood next to her. I switched from blue to red. I looked through the glass. I scanned the long corridor before us. The place looked deserted but one could never be too careful. After all, she sent a whole fricking army after us yesterday. Besides I had this strange feeling that she knew the three of us were coming. It was almost like she was expecting it and it felt like she was leaving the place wide open for us. The idea of a trap had crossed my mind on the ride over here as the wind and grit hit my face. Did I tell you how much I hate four wheelers? But would she really risk her entire operation on a trap that might actually fail. It was a big gamble and I was certain that someone like La Dama wasn’t stupid enough to take such a risk.

“It's too easy,” I whispered to her, turning away. “The corridor is completely deserted; I’m not even picking up the heat signature of a mouse.”

She nodded and tapped her throat mike. “What do you think, Mia?”

I was tapped into the same radio frequency so I heard her response. “Josie’s right. It’s too easy, it’s like she’s waiting for you.”

“Can you tap into the base’s security?”

Mia sighed. “I’m trying but they’ve got a killer firewall. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Every time I try to override it, the system seems to adapt.”

“Let me try.”

I looked at Olivia. “Khaji’s going to try. Give her a few minutes.”

I told them all about Khaji in the little lobby of the airstrip office. I didn’t have anything better to do so I gave the three of them the abridged version. Olivia and Probe listened silently but Mia was immediately impressed. She kept asking me questions for her. Khaji responded quickly and the two of them hit it off pretty good. It was a shame that I was a pathetic go between. After an hour of saying, “Khaji says this or that”, I got kind of annoyed. It was like being the third wheel in a two-way conversation.

“Interesting” said Khaji after about five minutes. “I cracked the firewall like you wanted but there was something very strange about the computer mainframe.”

“Strange how?”

“It was too advanced for modern Earth technology.”

“Are you saying it wasn’t from this world?”

“No, it’s terrestrial in origin; it’s just far too advanced for the technology that you possess.”

“Should we be in trouble?”

“Not any more. As soon as it sensed me, it shut itself down. I’ve never seen anything like it. As soon as it deactivated, it was like it purged itself completely from the system.”

“You make it sound like it was alive?”

“I think it might have been.”

“What should we do?”

“Nothing for now. Let’s keep this between the two of us. There’s no reason to worry the others with something as trivial as this. Tell them I shut down the firewalls so now they can access whatever they want.”

I turned to Olivia and smiled. “Khaji cracked the firewall; Mia is free to tinker around in their mainframe all she wants.”

“Tell her she’s a miracle worker,” said Mia with a sigh.

We waited for Mia to get finished with her hack. But Khaji was way ahead of her. She hacked into the mainframe for me ahead of time. A 3D rendering of the whole complex appeared on a screen in front of my eyes. I could see everything now. I couldn’t see people but I knew where all the rooms were and where I could find the prisoners. On the first floor was nothing important but most of the prisoners were being held in the sub-basement level, where it looked like there were cells. But there was no way La Dama would put my family there. It wasn’t her style. So I looked up on the second floor. There was a room there that had a sophisticated door lock.

“I think I found them, Khaji.”

She didn’t respond but she didn’t need to. She was seeing the exact same thing I was. I smiled and looked over at Olivia. She and Mia were currently having a conversation, trying best to figure out how to infiltrate the base. They finally decided that the direct route was probably the best. So that meant the three of us were going through the front door. I groaned and looked through the glass one more time. I swept about with the red vision but still I saw nothing.

“I have a bad feeling about this” I said softly to myself.

______________________________________

I was right about the whole place being deserted. It was kind of creepy going down hall after hall and encountering no one. It was clearly a trap and the others seemed to know it as well. Olivia was in front of me, her bow raised, an arrow already. She kept peering around the corners with the bow first than beckoned us forward after she checked. I didn’t really need her caution. I could see several hallways at once through the red vision, searching out heat signatures in hopes of seeing the ambush before it came. But there weren’t even any of those. It was like the whole place was cleaned out for one purpose in mind.

“The lack of people in this place is disturbing.”

“Does it have anything to do with that AI you detected?”

Khaji sighed. “No, it was hiding in the mainframe. I suspect that those in charge of this place didn’t even know it was here. I can only guess its purpose but I believe it was gathering intel. There was something fundamentally primitive about it but it was definitely far more advanced than anything humans could create, at least at this time.”

“You keep saying that. Does that mean this thing is from the future?”

The future, was that even possible?

“It’s very possible but improbable. Time travel is dangerous because it always has unforeseeable consequences. Even the Reach knew better than to meddle with time.”

Olivia stopped up ahead. I nearly ran into her because I wasn’t paying attention. I scanned around the corner and nearly missed it. But there it was anyway. It was a single heat signature, very faint. Olivia was crouching now, raising her bow, ready to fire. I turned to Probe and motioned her to get down on the floor.

Instead, she stepped forward, getting close so she could whisper in my ear: “It’s him,” she whispered, gripping my arm. “The one from the alley, the Bottom Feeder.”

My stomach flipped and I inwardly groaned. That’s all we needed. I had a feeling I was going to run into that thing again but I was hoping to avoid it. Getting into a fight wasn’t something I was planning on. I just wanted to get into this place, get everyone and go. Now I saw the whole plan: the facility was cleared out and only the Bottom Feeder remained. I think this was the trap that La Dama seemed to be setting up for us.

I tapped into Olivia’s radio. “We have company up ahead. It’s that guy I told you about, the one from the alley.”

“The one who calls itself the Bottom Feeder?”

“That’s him.”

“We have the element of surprise,” she said as she stood up. “And it’s two to one.”

I liked her style but I fought this thing, well kinda. There was no way any of her arrows were going to dent it. Hell, it thrashed the hell out of Posse more times than I could count, according to Probe. There was no way just the two of us could handle it. But Olivia was a professional and there was no way she was going to back down from this fight. The best thing I could do is get in and make sure it never gets anywhere near her.

“I’ll go first, you flank me.”

Hey, it sounded cool. I didn’t wait for her to respond. I stepped around her and moved slowly down the hall. I followed the faint heat signature. As I got closer, the reddish blob got bigger. I finally got to the end of another corridor and saw it. This corridor opened up into a large room, probably some kind of mess hall. The Bottom Feeder was standing in the middle of it, staring at the entrance. He was waiting for us, waiting for me. I took a deep breath and stepped around the corner. His hooded head rose up and he stared at me with those beady, lifeless eyes of his. As soon as our eyes locked, he laughed, at least that’s what I think it was supposed to be.

“Ah, the Blue Demon at last. My mistress said you would be coming but I did not expect you to make this venture alone.”

“Who says she’s alone?” said Olivia as she stepped into the corridor beside me, her bow raised.

The Thing laughed again, it sounded like two rocks scraping against one another. “This is what you bring me, the Green Hood. I was hoping for the Behemoth from Chicago, not this pitiful excuse of a criminal.”

We ignored the taunt. He was trying to goad us but it wasn’t going to work.

“You can avoid this fight,” I said, making the blades grow from my wrists. “Walk away and this doesn’t have to get ugly.”

He laughed again. “I am the Bottom Feeder, chosen by the Lord; you are an Abomination that needs to be Cleansed. The Lord God has deemed me Worthy to expunge the world of vermin like you.”

“So no reasoning with this thing” whispered Olivia.

She stepped away from me; taking up a position to the thing’s left. I stepped to the right, hoping that by dividing he’d have two targets to concentrate on instead of one. It didn’t seem to faze him one bit though. He seemed to forget all about her and turned to me. But of course, he did because I was his primary target. Olivia could fire a volley of arrows at him and he’d ignore her to his heart’s content. It was me he wanted and no amount of pestering from her was going to get him to think otherwise. Which gave me an idea that I’m not sure she was going to like.

“Arrow” I had to remember not to call her by her real name. This hero stuff is kind of annoying. “You and Probe go on ahead; I’ll take care of the religious nut.”

“Are you sure?”

I looked at him, staring at me from underneath his shroud. I nodded. “This guy is a push over.”

Bottom Feeder growled and charged. It’s exactly what I wanted. He came right at me, barreling full speed with his head down like a rhinoceros. Olivia fired, her arrow hitting him behind the left knee. He howled in pain and dropped like a ton of bricks, skidding to a thunderous halt in front of me. I quickly unfurled my wings and took to the air. It was enough of a distraction for Probe to slip into the room too. She and Olivia took off, heading for the doorway at the other end. I waited until they disappeared through it before I looked down at Bottom Feeder but he was gone. It took me all of ten seconds to realize before his hand wrapped around my ankle and pulled me out of the air. He slammed me down on the ground like a dead fish. I hit the concrete face first, the armor absorbed most of it but it still stunned me. I groaned and he lifted me again, spinning me by my foot toward the far wall. When I made contact, the plaster gave way beneath me but I didn’t go through. Instead, I kind of oozed toward the floor, coughing and gasping. Damn, this Son of a Bitch was a lot tougher than I thought.

I got to my feet and he was on me again. He was fast too, really fast. He slammed both of his fists into my back, driving me to the ground again. Inches from the ground, he kicked me in the stomach, rolling me off his foot into the wall again. The impact was jarring and the armor did everything to keep the pain to a minimum. But I felt it this time and boy did it hurt. I fell off the wall. I was on my stomach again; my whole body felt like it was on fire. He came at me again, raising his foot to bring it down on my head. But something happened. My hand moved on its own, the blade on my wrist slicing upwards. I heard him howl in pain as I sliced off the front of his foot, cleaving away four of his five toes. He screamed and fell backwards. I struggled to my feet, gasping for air.

“Khaji, did you do that?”

“I can take over temporarily when you’re incapacitated.”

Bottom Feeder stumbled over to the far wall, leaving a trail of blood in his wake. He fell in the corner, grasping at his foot. He glared at me. “What kind of demon are you?”

I slowly got to my feet, groaning. I could taste blood in my mouth. “I’m not a demon you jackass.”

He growled and climbed to his feet. How in the hell could he even stand. I looked at his foot and what I saw shocked the hell out of me. His toes, they were starting to grow back. Slowly, brand new toes formed out of the front of his boot, covered in blood but just like the old ones. He saw me staring and laughed. Then he charged again but this time I was ready for him. I took off at full speed, slamming into his chest, meeting him half way through his charge. We flew through the air and into the far wall. There was a loud crashing sound and the two of us were two tangled bodies in the corridor beyond. I got to my feet first, dazed but unharmed. He took the brunt of it. He was underneath me, groaning. I thought I finished him off until he snapped opened his eyes.
He went for my throat. His fingers wrapped around it and he started to squeeze. I snapped my arm around, slamming my elbow as hard as I could into his forearm. He howled in pain and let go. I grabbed his wrist and activated my wings, flying up toward the ceiling of the corridor. It wasn’t very high but it wasn’t where I was going. I dragged his heavy ass back through the hole we just made in the wall. He tried to struggle out of my grip so I gave him a few punches in the face to quell him. Once I got back in the much taller room than I went up. I carried his heavy lump up to the ceiling, snapped around and drove him toward the floor. He struggled and fought but in the end, it was pretty useless. We slammed into the concrete together, him under me.

The sound was like a thunderclap. There was a lot of cracking. I’m not sure what was concrete and what was bone.

When I sat up and looked down at him, his hood finally fell from his face. I wasn’t the least bit surprised by what I saw: it was grotesque, twisted and mangled, barely recognizable as a human being. He moaned and turned to me. It was amazing that he could even move after smashing into the floor like that. He did a lot more than move. He lashed out at me, slamming one of his giant fists into the side of my side. It threw me off his chest, sending me flailing. I hit the floor on my side and slid into the wall. What the hell was this guy made of? I turned my head and saw him unbelievably sit up. He turned and looked at me, grinning with a toothless grin.

“The Lord has granted onto me the powers He gives all his chosen.”

“He has remarkable regenerative capabilities, its staggering.”

“How do we beat him?”

“Cutting off his head might work.”

A blade grew out of my wrist involuntarily but I forced it back down. “I’m not killing him. How do we beat him without killing him?”

“Rendering him unconscious will do it too.”

“Easier said than done.”

I clamored to my feet and staggered away. I needed to put some distance between him and me. I was starting to feel the battle whereas he was taking it and walking away without as much as a scratch. Even now, he pulled himself up from the floor and the only thing he did was groan. I could see several places where the bone had actually broken through skin. But he just pushed them back in and brushed it off. It was the most amazing and the grossest thing I’d ever seen. It was a shame this guy was my enemy because he’d make one hell of an ally. But La Dama had already twisted him too much for me to even consider that. This guy definitely had to be stopped and I had to do it.

I had to do it right now.

The Bottom Feeder put his hood back up, covering his face. It was a face only a mother could love. It reminded me of what Jason Voorhees looked like underneath the hockey mask. I shuddered just thinking about it. After he was done covering himself, he made another go at me. But I wasn’t going to fall for the same old tricks. I decided to change things up and play keep away. Every time he lunged, I used my speed to stay one-step away from him. He was kind of big and lumbering, not nearly as fast as he was when we started this. So maybe I was wearing him down after all. I just needed to keep wearing him to keep myself alive.

I turned on the heat after a few minutes of playing tag. I gave him a double dose of energy balls. I kept firing, aiming for his head and his chest. The only thing it seemed to accomplish was that it distracted him. But it was enough of a distraction to try something new. I took off into the air again, flying all the way up to the ceiling. I got above him and took a deep breath. It was time to drop on him like the car. I gave it my all, going full force. I slammed my heels into both his shoulders, driving him to the ground. I hit him so hard that he actually sunk into the floor. It was pretty damn impressive. I rolled off him on impact, landing on the ground behind him, panting. It took me a few seconds to recover and when I turned around, he was still stuck in the floor. I took a couple of deep breaths, wondering if I’d actually stopped him this time.

“This won’t hold me. I am an Instrument of God, I was Chosen to do his work. God will free me from this trap and when he does I will bring His Wrath down upon you and the vile She Devil who spawned you.”

Something inside me snapped. I’m not sure what it was. Maybe it was his annoying religious babble or his inability to stay down. Or maybe it was his insulting my mother but whatever it was I went to town on him and hard. I ran toward his back and drove my heels into his shoulder blades. When he screamed out, I flipped over his back and spun around in one fluid motion. I punched him in the face then punched him in the exact same spot. I kept punching, again and again. I’m not sure how many times I punched him. I just know that he passed out somewhere in the middle of it and that at the end when I finally calmed down, my armored gloves were covered in his blood.

I fell to the ground panting. I couldn’t breathe. I willed the mask away, allowing my head to breathe in normal air for a change. I looked down at my bloody hands and threw up. Then I looked up at the Bottom Feeder. What little of his face that might have been human looking was now more mangled and blood covered. I think I broke every imaginable bone in his face. I waited for him to spring back, to make some snide religious comment but he didn’t. Even he gurgled something and drooled. I left out a big sigh, slumping my shoulders.

“Are you finished?”

I sighed. “I think so.”

Khaji sighed too. “I don’t think he’ll be able to regenerate from that for quite some time now.”

I continued to sit there for a few seconds more then slowly got to my feet. I was absolutely exhausted and the worst thing was I wasn’t nearly done. I still had to find my family and help spring the other prisoners from this place. I sighed; a hero’s work was never done. I looked back at the monster one more time then turned away. I stumbled across the room, wiping my sweaty brow. Then I let the mask reform around my head and tapped into the radio link:
“Arrow, this is Beetle, you still there?”

A few seconds later, Olivia’s voice came back to me. “It’s about time; we thought something happened to you. Did you defeat that thing?”

I sighed. “Barely. But don’t worry; he’s not going to be terrorizing anyone else for a while.”

“Good to know.”

“How’s your end going?”

Olivia sighed too; I could hear the exhaustion in her voice. “We managed to storm the Cell Block. We’ve taken out most of the guards and freed all the prisoners down here. Probe’s with her people now, having their happy reunion moment. I can head up there and assist if you need me?”

I was about to say no, but I realized how drained I was. “Meet me at the stairs, I think it’s about time we end this bitch.”

___________________________________

Olivia was waiting for me at the stairs when I arrived. She looked about as good as I felt. She was leaning against the stairwell, her hood down, her quiver several arrows light. She was holding her bow in one hand, her face drenched in sweat. It never occurred to me that she was a real person too. She was a superhero after all, they weren’t supposed to sweat or get tired. But here she was, acting very much like a real person. When she saw me she only half smiled. I could tell the day was really getting to her. It didn’t help that the place was hotter than hell. You’d think that a place in the middle of the desert would have air conditioning or something. But the whole of this place was like a damn sauna.

I trudged up to her, dropping to sit on one of the steps for a second. She sat next to me, leaning on her bow.

“That rough, huh?” she asked, all I could do was nod. “I should have never left you.”

“He would have pulverized you. It took everything I had to take him down and in the end that wasn’t even enough. I snapped on his ass, I ended up beating him to a bloody pulp.”

She nodded. “After Merlyn killed my grandfather and I cornered him in the office. It took every bit of will power not to put an arrow in his throat and end it all.”

So she didn't kill him. I guess the geeks on the Internet would love to hear that, if she ever confirmed it. “So what happened?”

She sighed. “I didn’t resort to his level. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t kill the son of a bitch. I shot an explosive arrow at the glass instead. When the window exploded, he was pulled out by the suction. The police ruled it a suicide. Seeing as no one knew the Green Arrow was there, they said he was an assassin. I released a press release later, saying he failed to kill my grandfather but the shock of it caused his heart to give out.”

I remembered that. It was all over the news for days. JAMESON QUEEN SURVIVES ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT, DIES OF HEART ATTACK. The media had a field day with it. There were a lot of rumors flying around. Olivia stepped up though and handled everything. I think it was the first time I ever saw her, at the press conference a few days after her grandfather died. I mean, I vaguely saw her at the funeral but I was so far back in the crowd that it didn’t make a difference. But seeing her at the press conference, that’s when my crush started. She was so cool and confident then, especially seeing what she’d just been through.

“I had a chance to kill Bottom Feeder” I admitted it. “But I couldn’t do it, I’m not a killer.”

Olivia smiled and nudged my shoulder with hers. “That’s what makes us human. No matter what happens keep on reminding yourself that you’re not a killer and everything will be all right.”

I smiled. She got to her feet then pulled me to my own.

“Perhaps I misjudged your friend.”

I nodded. “I think I did, too.”

We climbed the stairs after that, taking things cautiously. When we reached the second floor landing and pushed the door open, Olivia went first. She led with her bow, an arrow at the ready. I followed quickly behind. I surprised at the difference between levels. The floors here were made of polished marble, the walls were painted a tranquil yellow and there was air conditioning. Clearly, La Dama was hiding on this level. The two of us moved down the corridor as one, each watching the other’s back. We had a simple plan: find my family, find La Dama and put an end to all this crap.

Up ahead we spotted two black suited guards standing on either side of a mahogany door. Olivia fired her arrow, hitting the door in-between the two of them. There was a burst of bright white light and two thuds. When the light dissipated, both guys were on the floor. Olivia smirked and we moved down the hall quickly. When we reached the door, I looked down at the two guys.

“Flash Bang” she said, nocking a new arrow. “The brightness blinds them then knocks them out.”

I looked at the door in front of us. “She’s definitely in here.”

Olivia nodded. She reached for the door knob but stopped before opening. “No matter what happens inside, you have to promise to keep your cool. We don’t want to make this situation more dangerous than it already is.”

I nodded. I took a deep breath. “I understand. Open the door.”

Olivia grabbed the knob and turned. She pushed open the door then led us into the room with her bow. I’m not sure what I was expecting but I wasn’t expecting what I saw. The room looked like something straight out of a Bond film. There was a long table in the center, several funky chairs on either side. The head of the table had the biggest chair of course. Off to the side was a little sitting area with a giant fireplace. There was even mounted antlers above the mantle. Amparo, aka La Dama, was sitting at the head of the table of course. There was a huge feast spread out before her. She was dressed in an elegant black dress, her hair flowing, a glass of red wine in her hand. The only other person in the room was Brenda. I sighed when I saw her. She was sitting in the chair directly to Amparo’s left. She was dressed in the same clothes that I saw her in last. Her eyes were red, her cheeks tear stained and there was a bruise on her forehead. When she looked to the door and saw me, her face lit up. Amparo’s face was a blank slate. She didn’t even smile. She just picked up her wine and took a sip. Looking closer at the table, I noticed two more places set.

Finally Amparo spoke, she was definitely channeling a Bond film.

“Good evening ladies, care to join us for a late supper?”

Olivia fired her arrow. She sent it flying toward Amparo’s head but missed on purpose. It hit the carved back of her chair, pinning the smiling angel right between the eyes. The shaft was a millimeter from Amparo’s left ear. The horrid woman didn’t even blink. But there was a slight twitch to her left eye. It was subtle but I caught it. Even though she was trying to play it cool, I could tell that that shot scared the hell out of her.

“My next one won’t miss” said Olivia, nocking another arrow.

Amparo smiled. “Right to business then” She set the wine glass down. Then she looked right at me. “Really Josie dear, its rude to cover your head at the dinner table.”

I bit my lip and dissolved the mask, allowing my real face to show for the second time tonight. Amparo smiled then picked up her glass and took another sip. Her fake pleasantries were driving me nuts. I could feel my anger rising but I kept my cool just like Olivia told me.

“How about you, Miss Arrow. Care to drop the hood and enlighten us as to your true self.”

Olivia smirked. “I like being the rude guest.”

“Suit yourself.”

I was tired of all the crap. I wanted answers and I wanted them now. “Start talking, lady.”

I moved down the length of the table but stopped a few chairs short of her. I so wanted to reach over and snap her neck. I looked over at Brenda. Now that I was closer, I could see that she’d been crying a lot and there were bags under her eyes so clearly she wasn’t sleeping either. She looked at me for a second and our eyes locked. I saw the pain in those eyes and I knew right then and there that she was as innocent in this thing as me. I guess that kind of made me relieved. I’m not sure what I would have done if she’d been in on the whole thing.

“I suppose it’s only fair that I tell you what this whole thing is really all about” Amparo drained her glass. She steepled her fingers then smiled sweetly at me.

“You see, I first learned about the Scarab in college. I, like Ted Kord, was a student of Dr. Garrett. Of course, he didn’t speak of the Scarab as being a real thing but the way he spoke about it, with such passion, I knew there was more to it than a simple legend. I spent the rest of my undergraduate time at the college in the library trying to read and find anything I could on it. I even applied to be Garrett’s TA but that weasel Kord beat me to it. He was always sucking up to him. I think he figured the Scarab was real too. When Garrett died and his effects passed to his family, I pursued them, asking if I could have some trinkets that reminded me of the dear departed man. I searched through everything Garrett owned but the damn Scarab was nowhere in sight. It absolutely destroyed me. I went into a depression for some time. Then I got smart and started to be enterprising. Through my researching, I made some dubious contacts. I started a little export business on the side. I made a pretty good name for myself and established quite the criminal empire. I rose through the ranks and it didn’t take long for people to label me the Dreaded La Dama.”

“I was on top of the world for the first time in my life and it felt pretty good. But there was still one thing I wanted more than anything. I wanted that Scarab. I became obsessed with it. I finally convinced myself that Garrett passed it onto to Kord; it was the only possible explanation. I made numerous attempts to contact him but he refused to meet with me. I was crushed until an opportunity present itself to me. Danielle Garrett came to me with an afford. She had her grandfather’s old journals, confirming what I thought for a long time. The Scarab was real. She too was convinced Kord had it as well. She wanted my help in procuring it for her. I agreed immediately but I had no intention of passing it onto the little drip. I got her and some of my men to try and steal it from Kord.”

“But of course he showed up in the middle of the robbery and things got messy. The prick deserved to die for stealing what was rightfully mine. But when Danielle and my men returned empty handed, it crushed me. You see, I don’t like to lose, and this was a major setback. I made some promises about that Scarab, told certain people certain things. You see, my partner, the same man who built this wonderful place, is obsessed with Metahumans. He gave me the capital and the resources and all I had to do was get him the Metas. Me, I could care less about the disgusting things but he wants to do whatever with them. I was doing pretty good too but I could have done so much better with the Scarab on my side.”

“I never would have bonded with her. There’s too much vileness in her blood. She reminds me far too much of the bastard who killed my first host.”

Amparo pointed at me and glared. “Then you came along. You of all people found my Scarab. You stole my glory right from under me. I didn’t think anything of it at first. There were those punks in the alley but though their eyewitness accounts were sketchy, I had to be sure. I knew the bearer of the Scarab couldn’t resist playing the hero, so I set up the bank robbery in the mall, hoping to draw them out. Lo and behold, you took the bait. You went charging right in, playing the heroine, I knew you would be. It confirmed my theory that you had the Scarab. But knowing you had it and attempting to get it from you were two different things. I needed your identity too. It was the way you reacted with your sweet sister that tipped me off. But I wasn’t certain until my guys roughed up that diner owner.”

“Seeing Brenda at the scene helped seal the deal for me. You see, she was at both incidents. I knew it wasn’t her because she tells me everything because we have a loving, almost mother daughter type relationship. Then she introduced you to me, her new precious friend, Jaime Reyes’ cousin. News flash, Jaime has no cousins. It didn’t take me long to figure out you two were the same person. That’s why I planted that bracelet on you and sent my precious Bottom Feeder after you in the alley. I needed a distraction to keep you busy while I took your family and that stupid idiot Paco. I figured if I had your loved ones, you’d come blundering here in a foolhardy attempt to rescue them and I’d finally have you right where I want you.”

She finished talking, finally. She was really taking the whole villain thing to heart, even throwing in the monologue. It was so cliché. But it explained so much. What I couldn’t figure out was why. Why would she go to so much trouble to possess Khaji? She was already very successful, she had a great niece who looked up at her and she had everything that one could ask for. So why pour all your resources into finding something that wouldn’t even work for her if she bonded with it. Looking at her, sitting there in her high back chair, it was obvious Khaji would have never deemed her worthy enough to bond with. She may have looked like she had everything in control but she was totally cracked.

“Pay attention to her hands.”

I did. There was something on the table. I didn’t notice it before because I was too busy listening to her yammer on. Now it was as clear as day. There was some kind of panel there, with a bunch of little buttons. It looked like a built in remote panel of some kind, also in a lot of Bond movies. I wonder which one of those buttons opened the shark pit. I gave Olivia a side glance but she noticed it, too. She gave me a little nod and let her arrow fly. Amparo never saw it coming. She gasped and jumped back as the green arrow slammed into the panel, destroying all attempts for her to use it. We both knew it was coming. One of those buttons probably called a slew of guards.

Amparo smiled and leaned back, taking her hands away from the table. “Was that really necessary?”

“Move another inch,” said Olivia, nocking another arrow. “And this one will be in your head.”

Amparo pursed her lips. “They were right about you; you really are a very efficient and highly skilled opponent.” She laughed. “But don’t bluff me girl, I’ve brokered deals with foreign nationals ten times more threatening than you.”

I looked over at Brenda. She was gripping a cloth napkin in her hands, looking from me to her aunt and back again. I had to get her out of here before things got out of hand. Olivia was already stirring up the water and it was only a matter of time before Amparo made her move. I took a deep breath and tried to see if there was a way out of this. Finally, it dawned on me, maybe I can bluff, too.

“Let Brenda, Paco and my family go,” I sighed, sounding defeated. “If you do that, I’ll hand over the Scarab.”

Amparo raised an eyebrow. “How stupid do you think I am? I’m not some low level Enforcer; I can spot a bluff easier than you can tie your shoe. I’ve been doing this for a long time.”

“Then you know there’s no way you’re ever going to come out on top” said Olivia, her arrow pointed right for Amparo’s throat. “Now release the girl and everyone else and you can walk out of here with your head held high.”

Amparo slowly rose to her feet. Olivia and I followed her with our eyes. She walked over to Brenda, standing behind her chair. Brenda trembled a bit. What the hell had this bitch done to her. I’ve never seen Brenda look so scared for as long as I knew her. Even in the bank, she was calm and cool. Now it was like she was a completely different person. Amparo was going to pay for crushing my best friend like that.

She leaned forward, wrapping her arms around Brenda from behind. She started rubbing her index finger along Brenda’s cheek. “You don’t want to leave, do you sweetheart. You like it with Aunt Amparo. Tell these nice scary girls how much fun we’ve been having.”

I saw the tears starting to swell in Brenda’s eyes and her lip trembled when she spoke. “Josie” She was looking at me when she spoke. “I’m sorry.”

I smiled. “It's ok Brenda. I’m going to get you out of it.”

Talk about cliché, jeez.

Amparo gently grabbed Brenda’s chin. “What’s the matter, sweetheart, don’t you like living with fun aunt Amparo anyone?”

I saw it in Brenda’s eyes. Even though they were filled with tears, they were filled with something else too. Then it happened, it was so quick. Brenda pushed back the chair as hard as she could, Amparo stumbling with it. Then there was a glint of something metal in Brenda’s hand. I’m not sure, when she grabbed it, probably when the bitch was talking, it was a fork. Using the chair stunt as a distraction, Brenda slammed the fork as hard as she could into Amparo’s thigh. She screamed like someone was murdering her and pushed the chair forward. Brenda fell to the floor and an arrow cut across the room. It snagged Amparo in the shoulder, while her hand was moving toward her belt.

I scanned her. There was a gun there, how could I have missed it.

Amparo screamed for a second time. She tried to make a run for it but there was no way I was going to let that happen. I moved like lightning across the room, cutting her off. I grabbed the front of her dress and lifted her off the ground. She started kicking and screaming, doing everything she could to stop me.

“I’ll do anything,” she gasped, trying a last attempt to bargain her way out of this. “Let me go and your family will be well off for the rest of their lives.”

I couldn’t believe the cool, calm woman from moments before was now this sniveling little coward. It was amazing how quickly the tides could turn. “I don’t want your money. I want my family. I want Brenda and Paco. I want to see you in an orange jumpsuit, paying for all the things you’ve done over the years.”

She nodded, tears streaming down her face. “You can have them, take them all.”

I lowered her to the ground. A part of me wanted to lash out and grab her by the throat. I could have done it; I could have leeched the life out of her. But looking at this woman standing before me, this broken mess of a human being I realized I’d already killed her. She played a deadly game and lost. She let her obsession with the Scarab rule her life, when she could have had a happy, successful one. I looked over at Brenda, who was sitting at the table again, crying, her face buried in her hands. She could have had a good life with her niece; they could have been a family. But she threw that all away just because she wanted power.

I groaned. Great, now I sound like I’m the clichéd one.

“You did good.”

I smiled. Then I pushed Amparo onto the couch, turning to Olivia. “Do you have her?”

She nodded and came walking over, another arrow at the ready. She walked and stood in front of Amparo. “Same threat as before, you move, you die.”

I walked over to the table. I looked down at Brenda. When she looked up at me, she jumped up from the chair and wrapped her arms around me, crying. I held her for the longest time. It felt good and safe. When we pulled away, she did something that took me by surprise. She kissed me. It wasn’t a shameless peck on the cheek either. It was a full on mouth to mouth deal and it lasted a lot longer than a few seconds. My heart started racing and my body was all a flutter. When she pulled away, she was smiling. Me, I was kind of at a loss. I knew I didn’t like girls anymore but there was something about that kiss that sent a tingle up my spine.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly, her lip trembling.

I grabbed her hand. “We don’t have to do this now.”

She nodded. “I know where your family is. Don’t worry, she didn’t hurt them.” She held my hand tightly and led me toward the door. "C’mon, they’re this way.”