Connor Hawke felt the
strange quiet that
permeated his top floor apartment. For the first time in
weeks,
there was calm, a sense of the Ashram on the wooden floors and white
walls of the spacious living room. Eddie’s stale
Marlboro
smoke still lingered in the spacious room a grim reminder that everyone
was gone. For the first time since he picked up his
father’s mantle, he would be operating by himself.
And now
with the missing homeless growing everyday, he wondered if
he’d
have what it took to do this job solo. If he’d be
able to
do the job that his father left him by himself.
His thin form sat comfortably on the plush burgundy couch that was
pushed up against the far right wall. A warm mug of mate tea
steamed from its ceramic prison sitting stationary on the toffee
stained coffee table. His nimble legs were folded up tightly
his
bare feet gripping on the cold solid wood floor. The gray
Acer
laptop Eddie had left at the place, warming his thighs as it sat on his
khaki pants. His fingers gently pecked at the black keys, as
he
navigated the Google search engine. He was trying to find any
more information regarding this Dr. Jason Woodrue and Botanical
Solutions.
He had made a phone call to Robin, when he had returned to his
apartment from the Watchtower. Unfortunately his friend knew
very
little about what led to the parole of Woodrue. The boy
wonder
promised to do some research and get back to him.
Unfortunately
with Batman still missing from the city, Connor gave himself very
little hope, and his research was pulling up very little
leads.
Of course his lack of experience using a computer was half to
blame. It made the entire process seem overly frustrating.
He leaned forward to nook his fingers on the handle of tea
mug.
Bending back against the couch he let the warm beverage fill his mouth
and slowly let the drink expunge to his throat. He took a
second
sip before he placed the cup back on the table. Connor let
out a
sigh as he looked at the time on the laptop; he only had a few hours
before he was to report to the soup kitchen. Maintaining a
secret
identity did take up a lot of time he could spend out on the streets.
“Arrow, you here,” a soft feminine voice called
from the
open window set into the wall furthest from the archer.
Connor craned his head up from the computer, with a scowl on his face;
he already knew who it was without looking at the black jump suit and
the long flowing blond hair that fell across her shoulders.
“Yeah, I’m here Crackshot,” Connor spoke
his nimble
fingers pushing the lid to his laptop closed.
“What are you doing here?” Crackshot
asked, her
shapely legs sliding through the open window ahead of her torso.
“I live here, which obviously you know,” Connor
said in an
irritated grumble. “More importantly what are you doing
here?”
“I’m here to find you,” the sometimes hit
woman,
sometime vigilante said, as she straightened out her form.
She
wore a different outfit than the one she was in the last time
he’d seen her, on the adventure to Rome. She had
traded in
the white spandex for the black rubber looking jump suit. It
looked more substantial than the last iteration with a crimson flack
jacket base sewn onto the torso pushing her cleavage above the low
neckline. Large red wrist protectors encased each arm just
inches
short of her elbows, and a thin red belt snuggly fit against her
waist. Despite the added protection and the large assault
rifle
clinging to her right shoulder, little was left to the
imagination. Despite Connor’s disdain for such
obvious
displays he couldn’t help but realize just how much more this
new
outfit seemed in her personality.
“I mean, why are you trying to find me?”
“Because the big super hero isn’t out saving the
city from
destruction?”
“You’ve completely lost me,” Connor
admitted his
almond eyes focusing on her, as though she was finally his center of
attention.
“Batman you are not,” Crackshot said as she padded
her
stride across the hardwood floor, stopping next to the large flatscreen
TV that sat imbedded in the left most wall. With her index
finger
extended she hit the power button. A scene of wreckage
unfolded
across the entire sixty-inches in vibrant HD quality.
--Here in San Francisco,-- the short-haired female reporter exclaimed
in front of a large sky scraper building. One wall was missing, outcome
from a devastating attack, and roof beginning to slide from its perch
sending chunks of rubble to the fractured side asphalt. Her
small
olive skinned hands held onto the ear-piece that sat in her raven
hair. --A sudden attack by what can only be described as Tree
Men
has left the entire city in disarray. The San Francisco PD is
doing all they can to slow the threat with the US military on their
way. But will the city survive that long?--
As the Asian news reporter spoke more about the incident, going over
how it had started thirty minutes ago, the screen switched to airborne
chopper footage. The footage showed a gigantic tree
slithering on
roots down 3rd Street. The roots crashed violently against
the
pavement and pushed cars out its way with a brutal strength.
Its
massive limbs moved wildly against the skyscrapers that lined the
streets slamming into the walls, in explosive destruction.
--Where is the Justice League, the Titans, anyone?-- the
reporter
asked with a voice masked with true fear.
The
Emerald Archer...
Herbology: Part Three
'Walking Amongst Trees'
The
events of this issue take place before The Flash # 14
“You have been warned
countless
times!” Woodrue shouted, his spinney arms stretched
wide,
standing on the concrete roof of The San Francisco Chronicle.
The
wind ripped through his twig formed hair. The currents taking his brown
blazer with it, ruffling his clothing like a flag.
“So this
is it, humans. This is the final straw. You quit
your
murdering ways or you all die!”
Navy blue police choppers swarmed several hundred feet above the smooth
brown walls of the building, red signal lights flashing against the
hundreds of windows below. Despite the lethal intent The
Floronic
Man seemed to not pay the choppers any mind at all. His attention was
on the news chopper, which hovered several feet behind the no fly
zone. “California, has sacrificed the few places
left
untouched by greed, because they cannot balance their check
books. Giving up their hold on national parks, where
construction
crews are drooling at the thought of flattening out the native flora to
make room for more of their so-called progress. This will not
go
on. This bill will not be passed.”
“And to prove my point, my children that are currently
devastating the Golden State are each circulating enough explosives in
their wooden bodies to level a few city blocks each. The
Governor
Schwarzenegger has five hours to rip the bill up.”
“I wish I could disagree with him,” the voice of
Zatanna
Zatara spoke. The Mistress of Magic stood in the crowd that swarmed at
the doors to the newspaper building. Her tuxedo and fishnet
costume seemed to not catch one stray eye as she looked up at the
villain with both her white gloved hands plastered against the dome of
her curved forehead.
--Its not the politics, Zee, it’s the method.--
Oracle’s voice spoke from a small silver headset underneath
Zatanna’s long raven ringlets.
“I’m just saying, it’s kind of messed up
the way the
government is handling the situation. I’d rather
them
release some prisoners from jail,” Zatanna explained, as
though
she was talking to herself.
--Look, your city is being butchered, you asked me to research Woodrue
and I did. Of course Robin made the same request only about
twelve hours before you.--
“Yeah, you already told me. Said he was doing a
favor for
Green Arrow, who believed Woodrue was behind a series of
kidnappings. That’s why I haven’t moved
out
yet. I want to see what the new Arrow slinger is capable of,
now
that he’s made a home in MY city.”
--You’re barely ever there, Zee.--
“What the hell is keeping him?” Zatanna
blurted
out. “I’m giving him ten more minutes,
then
he’s lost Premiere Super Hero status to a chick with a magic
wand.”
21st
and Main San
Francisco, CA
The wreckage was extreme. The
corner of the
San Francisco financial district looked like a war zone. The
black asphalt was fractured with large fissures and dents like the road
was a pattern of broken glass. The pristine buildings that
once
lined up against the street front of the corner of 21st and Main Street
were brutally damaged. Whole buildings crumbling across the street like
landslides of concrete and glass. The entire pathway was
strewn
with clumps of former vehicles now alight with billows of flames and
smoke.
Two black SWAT vans were parked side to side at the mouth of the posh
area of the city, plugging the end of the street and the entrance into
the residential area on the skirts of downtown. Sixteen
heavily
trained SWAT officers stood over the vans. The line of assault rifles
sticking out from the metal blockade. Each face that peered
down
the gun sights was glazed with sweat and marred with the dust and grime
of the burning city around them. Yet all attention was on the
trunk of the tree that was slowly slithering towards them.
Their guns popped bullets in never ending orange lines towards the
gigantic tree. The bullets impacted in the trunk in bronze splashes of
sap. The bullets riddled the tree sending flecks of wood in
every
direction. However the tree continued to slither slowly
towards
the cops, its massive limbs slamming into more buildings shattering
concrete and sending more rock and glass tumbling to the destroyed
street.
“It’s not retreating, it’s moving
forward!” One of the officers screamed in a panic
that
didn’t seem to match his stoic features and deep voice.
“Don’t let up. We’ll shoot the
motherfucker in
half!” a gritty female voice shouted from behind shades and a
deep red lipstick.
Without warning a series of ten arrows pierced through the halo of
bullets. Unlike the bullets that went to the trunk, the
emerald
arrows hit the roots, the shafts effectively, stapling the large wooden
tendrils to the asphalt. Each shaft did its job to stop the
advancement of the tree only several feet from the SWAT team.
“I don’t think it’s going to hold it for
long,”
Green Arrow said moments before his boots slammed on the broken
concrete. His legs bowed to take the impact from his drop
from
what appeared to be a rooftop.
“Move back, to what-- save ourselves but sacrificing more of
the
city?” the female swat officer asked. Her
voice was a
deadly snarl. “Green Lantern never would have asked
us to
do that.”
Green Arrow slowly rose from his haunches. His head moved to
the
side just enough for his profile to peek from the emerald
hood.
“Green Lantern is dead,” the martial artist
mentioned his
voice raw with pain. “So you are going to have to
make do,
and trust me.”
He turned his gaze to the giant tree whose gigantic roots were already
pulling free from the arrow shafts. He slid his left foot
forward. His right hand scooped out an arrow from his quiver
notching it onto the bow-string. He pulled the arrow back and
let
it fly towards one of the tree’s large limbs. The
tree
reacted in kind, lashing another of its thick limbs towards the ground
like a wooden whip.
Arrow instantly pushed off the ground. His knees bent enough
to
have his heels rest against the back of his thighs. The limb
hit
the ground sending rock and asphalt flying in a 360-degree radius
following the archer into the air. The former monk stretched
his
legs out the moment the limb had struck and flung his left hand from
his shoulder. His body maneuvered top over bottom towards the
limb.
His left hand slapped against the limb. Arrow used the impact
to
roll forward, his feet gaining purchase on the Tree’s
appendage. And like a small ant, he began to run up the limb,
as
it was raised from the ground. The trained martial artist
adjusted his balance in sync with the tree’s movements and
the
surface he was running on. His left hand scooped another
arrow
from his quiver as he continued to make his way towards the top of the
tree. His senses fully open in an active meditative state,
looking for any sort of clue as to where there might be a
weakness. But it was a tree. He had already hit the
roots,
which is what a normal tree’s weakness would be.
He notched the arrow back on the bowstring as he snapped his hip, his
aim looking for the trunk. Letting the arrow go the green
projectile drove through the woody husk with little
resistance.
Bits of saw powder and wooden meat escaped the trunk, as the metal
point impacted.
As the limb Arrow was running on flailed at full height he pushed off
the appendage. He brought his knees to his chest and his body moved in
a summersault through the air. Both hands stretched from
shoulders. The rushing of the wind sounded in his
ears. He stretched his body fully once more as his left hand
grabbed the arrow that was wedged in the large body.
Arrow only got the chance to expel a single breath before another of
the tree’s limbs whirled through the air towards
him. He
pushed off the trunk, back flipping into the air. His body
was a
knot of green and brown swirl, as he moved through the air.
His
body retracted as his ears heard the deadly limb smashing into its own
trunk. Notching an arrow in the span of a heartbeat he drew
the
arrow and released it in mid air.
Though he was in the air, unable to use the Wushu archery style he was
accustomed to, his form was strong enough to force a strong parallel
pull. The shaft’s release pressure pushed the
arrowhead
through the coiled limb and into the trunk base stapling the limb to
its own body.
Arrow’s bones shook in pain as he landed on the street from
the
sizeable altitude. It proved a service to his Buddhist
conditioning and his body’s physique that it didn’t
affect
him more. “Damn,” he heard one of the
SWAT officers
say from behind the metal van barricade. In front of him the
giant tree creature let out a high pitched squeal. Its
stapled
limb moved like a fish out of water trying to tug itself free from the
well-placed arrow.
Arrow rose up slowly; he knew his arrows were going to do very little
damage to the tree. It was but an annoyance to
them. If he
was going to take it down, then he was going to have deal with the
largest of he limbs. Sliding the bow across his neck and
shoulder, he freed his hands and slid his left hand to his
waist.
His right hand curved at the elbow lined with his shoulder tucking his
pinky and ring finger carefully against his hand, his remaining fingers
formed the Chi Dagger. His left leg was slightly bent in
front of
him his right turned gently to the side. It was Weeping Crane
stance. Though Green Arrow rarely did offensive martial arts,
there was a time and place, if he was to save the people in his
town. And what good was putting Silver Monkey’s
stances to
memory if he was never to use them except at the Dojo?
The large tree swirled its body towards the small hero. One
of
its other limbs came towards him in a whistling wind shear.
Arrow
slid the hand at his side upwards, his hand moving in a green blur, his
right hand drew downwards in the same motion. As his fingers
connected with the large limb the wooden appendage exploded on contact,
the hand breaking through the wood separating it into two pieces.
The large limb crashed behind Arrow as he brought his hand back to his
waist. He resumed his previous stance, as a second and third
limbs whipped towards him. His hand lashed out again, his
fingers
crashing through one of the limbs. He leaned back on his
right
foot as the third limb launched at him. He brought his leg up
in
a powerful kick, spinning on the balls of his right foot, the heel
bursting through the limb in a savage motion.
It was the fifth and sixth limbs that gave no time to move that caught
the archer off guard. His left hand moved in a quick chopping
motion. His strike demolished the fifth, in a sudden burst of
quickness. However the sixth moved at almost the same
time.
The limb slammed into his back. Arrow felt the sharp pain as
the
strike lifted him from his feet. He had little chance to
recoil
as the powerful strike slammed his back against the ground.
Arrows scattered over the cracked street.
The shriek from the tree caused Arrow’s emerald eyes to turn
towards it. Two of its limbs were stretched high in the air,
extending to their full length. His mind was reeling in the
back
of his head assuming this was it. The limbs launched
downwards to
the street, seemingly in slow motion. He closed his eyes not
ready to witness the final impact.
“sbmil
no
eriF!” a familiar
voice shouted in backwards rote, that
caused Arrow’s eyes to open in a flash. Standing
above him,
a pair of well-toned fishnet covered legs, with a black tailcoat
brushing against the back of her thighs. Above her, two limbs
were balls of flames wiggling in the air at the sorceress.
“Zatanna?” Arrow spoke as he leapt to his
feet.
He was taken off guard by the magician’s sudden appearance.
“Green Arrow stay back!” Zatanna’s broad
voice spoke
menacingly. As her lithe arm held him at bay the
Tree’s
flaming branches smashed into the yellow fire hydrant that stood
unharmed imbedded into the sidewalk.
“By Azarath…” Zee mouthed as the spout
of water rose
from the crumpled metal. The stream catching the
creature’s
limbs and exhausting the flames that were burning it. Green
Arrow
pulled an arrow from his quiver as the Tree was suddenly saved from
certain death by the blessing of luck. However to the
surprise of
both monk and magician as the tree had righted itself found itself
walking to the pooling water where the light of a spot lamp had been
glowing undisturbed, now the light reflected off the water like glowing
marbles.
“Water and sunlight, what every plant needs,” Arrow
said as
Zee lowered her thin arm to let him past. “Maybe
with
enough light and water we get all three of the creatures in one
place.”
“It’s a start, Green Arrow, but what are we going
to do
once we get them rounded up? That just means one big bomb
instead
of the three smaller ones,” Zatanna asked. Her dark
eyes
came to a stop on the rookie hero.
“We’ll figure that out when we get them
there,” Arrow
said. “We don’t have time to come up with
plans. We
have to act.”
Zee found a soft smile coming to her face. He
wasn’t
anything like she assumed he would have been. He
wasn’t
nearly as cerebral as most powerless vigilantes she’d
met.
Heroes like Batman, and the original Green Arrow who had everything
cooked up before they went into action. It seemed this new
Green
Arrow was more about thinking on his feet. Well he was right;
time wasn’t something they had a lot of.
“Alright,
you go east. I will go west. We’ll lure
the trees
back to this place. Then we’ll figure out a way to
put them
down for good.”
The sorceress then turned her attention to the cops. Her
black
hair slipped over her sharp cheekbones her flat top hat not even being
threatened by the sharp movement. “You guys call
every
helicopter in the city. I want as much light I can get on the
lake I’m about to make.
“Teerts
eht
ni dnop a mroF!”
Zee spoke, in her backwards spell
casting. Her voice seemed to sound doubled, and very deep
like a
demon had taken over those cherry-painted lips. However as
those
words were spoken that small bit of water frothing from the hydrant
glowed even more than the light on it had gave it initially.
Rays
of light ripped from the water like lightening. The sorceress
took to the air immediately as the pool of water grew from curb to curb
stretching a quarter mile in the opposing direction of the SWAT
officers. Like magic it stayed in a balanced pool as though
there
were invisible dams keeping it in line.
“That should be good,” Zatanna said looking at her
handiwork. “Now to find a tree,” she said
for her
ears alone. As the words were said she called out in the same
demonic double talk: “eert
ot em
tropsnarT” and as
soon as her words left her mouth her
body flashed in a brilliant light and disappeared in a loud pop.
Green Arrow ran across the rooftops. His head slanted
downwards
towards the streets. He only looked up where he was going,
when
one rooftop was getting ready to end. So he could leap to the
next one and continue perusing the large tree that was still a few
hundred yards in front of him, heading towards the Bay Bridge.
Arrow could feel the burning of his lungs as he pushed himself
harder. He couldn’t calculate the distance between
the
tree’s stance and the bridge. But he knew that he
had to
act. His left hand scooped an arrow from his
quiver. His
right reached to his belt and pulled out a TNT stick. He took
another leap, his feet slapping on the gray concrete of the Thompson
Banking Company’s skyrise. As he landed he came to
a
stop.
He slid the TNT stick into his mouth as his hand pulled a roll of
electrical tape from his brown belt. His fingers gripped the
black tape and tugged the length of the adhesive free. He
grabbed
the explosive stick with the same hand that held onto the
arrow.
He pressed the brick red case against the emerald shaft and quickly ran
the tape several times around both objects. Ripping the tape
free, he slid the tape back into his belt. Placing the arrow
in
his teeth his hand slipped to his belt pulling out a small Bic
lighter. He flicked the ring and pressed the trigger bringing
forth the flame. Carefully he set the flame at the wick of
the
TNT stick.
“Okay, Dad… It’s been a while since
I’ve tried
this sort of thing, so you’ll have to guide me,”
Arrow said
out loud, notching the arrow against the thin bow string. His
right hand tightened the grip on the Chinese bow, his fingers gripping
the blond wood as he drew the lopsided arrow back with the
string. His green eyes took aim at the large tree that was
still
over three hundred feet in front of him.
Arrow let his ears listen to the wind gauging its strength.
His
skin felt for the direction as it past over his flesh. The
mind
of the archer tried to calculate how the bulky arrow would fly,
adjusting his aim. He knew it would not be a bullseye, as he
wasn’t Oliver Queen, nor was he Roy Harper-- he
wasn’t good
at the heavy trick arrows like they were. But he only had to
hit
some part of the body. That he believed he could
do. Three
hundred feet wasn’t impossible. And he was
confident in his
ability. He could do this. Either he hit the tree and got its
attention, or people were going to die when the bridge
collapsed.
Green Arrow couldn’t allow that.
He held his breath and his green fingers let the arrow go from the
string. The green shaft moved in a blur, a black trail of
smoke
following it. Arrow watched as the arrow moved off target to
start with. Then as the wind pushed the weighted TNT stick
and
shaft it moved in line. The arrowhead hit its mark, sinking
into
the large caprice of wood. Not a heartbeat later the TNT
exploded. A hot bubble of flame and smoke struck the tree
with
enough force to knock it from its standing position. Its
large
body fell to the ground, pieces of wood raining down on the dark
asphalt.
The Tree made a hissing sound as it realized what had just
happened. A large smoldering gash in its trunk gave it a clue
that it’d been damaged. It would take another hour
for the
pain to be reported. But it knew the damage was
there. Six
of its limbs hit the ground hard, causing cracks to appear on the
street. The large Tree pushed itself back on its
roots. Its
body spun around, twelve limbs launching from the trunk like an
octopus. The large limbs slammed with a super human force,
against any unfortunate buildings that got in its way.
Green Arrow sprung from his position leaping four feet in the
air. His legs bent tight, his heels pressed into his ass as
the
large limb shattered the concrete he was standing
on.
As his feet clapped the ground, he didn’t stop. He
used the
force of the jump to promote his run. Taking off across the
rooftops, looking back over his shoulder to make sure the tree was
following him.
The Tree creature showed its anger, as it mammoth roots pushed the body
of the ten foot tree across the black pavement. Large
trenches
busted forth as the Tree pushed itself after the small green clothed
archer. A high pitched yell could be heard by Green Arrow as
he
began to move back towards the meeting area. He hoped Zatanna
was
having luck on her side of the plan.
Zatanna levitated thirty feet above Van Ness Avenue. The
large
domed top of City Hall rose a few inches short of her dangling
stilettos. The famous stretch of San Francisco’s
government
sector harkened back to the 1920’s with large buildings cast
in
bleach white stone. It felt like one was looking at what
Washington DC should look like. The difference being the busy
streets were now a clog of running citizenry and a large tree that
stood on its roots slamming its gigantic limbs in a fury colliding with
decade old buildings sending parts of the stone and brick crashing to
the pavement.
Despite the wreckage and danger, Zee’s attention was slanted
to
the left side of the battered street. The large tree creature
towered over the broken ash colored bricks of the Herbst
Theatre.
Large stone pillars capsized across the street broken into large chunks
of rock. Citizens ran in all directions across the
road.
Cars vacated with the doors still open. Emergency alarms
raining
through the busy city street like an electronic symphony.
“!erif
no
eerT hctaC”
Zee spoke, her voice morphing as though
two voices kaleidoscoped into one. Her backwards spell craft,
vocalizing her intentions to reality. Her dark eyes watched
as
one of the limbs of the tree suddenly combusted in a snap of
light. She held her hand out palm in front as one of the
large
limbs caught aflame in a cherry explosion.
The Tree squealed a high pitched yelp. Its flaming appendage
crashed to the street in a sudden thump, in a modest attempt to stop
the flame. It didn’t stop there however; it
continued to
slam its limb onto the street smashing it over and over again on the
ground.
“If you somehow manage with dumb luck to snuff that fire,
I’ll just light another limb,” Zee said in a voice
that
didn’t suit her usual kind demeanor.
The Tree slowly turned its trunk towards the floating
sorceress.
It let out a powerful squeal. The flaming limb streaked
through
the air towards Zatanna. She easily flew a few feet back. The
flaming limb caught her after image before slamming hard into the
street once more. Knowing she had the Tree’s
attention she
turned her body around in mid air. Her top hat left the crown
of
her head for a split second before landing squarely where it
started. Gripping the hat’s brim she took off at a
rushing
speed through the streets of San Francisco, her ears hearing the
pulsating crush of the roots as the tree attempted to catch her.
Zatanna’s tuxedo and fishnet covered form flew through the
streets of San Francisco, with the tree creature carefully on her
tail. The Mistress of Magic knew that there was little to be
scared of the Tree actually catching her until she got to where she was
heading, she just hoped that Green Arrow managed to get his own target
moving to. The plan was to get them centered at the same
time. That is why she didn’t simply teleport the
tree to
where she wanted it to be. It probably would have not given
way
so much city damage.
As Zee turned the corner onto 3rd Street she moved her head behind her
as a blur of brown and green caught the corner of her eye.
Her
heart skipped a beat as she waited for the tree’s limb to
catch
her skull with brutal efficiency. She had even closed her
eyes
for the impact. When it didn’t come she finally
opened her
eyes. They went wide as she noticed the limb that was to hit
her,
was impaled with an arrow set in an emerald shaft.
Zee had little time to look for the archer however before a second limb
came at her. She spun around in the air and
shouted. “!bmil
potS”
she told reality in backwards spellcraft, the limb halting in mid
air. Zee then turned her body towards the meeting
place.
Her eyes scanned the area, looking for the second tree and Green Arrow.
She flew down 3rd Street, behind her the tree creature only a few steps
behind. “Dammit Arrow, where are you?”
she spat
knowing that the kid was a master of martial arts but she
didn’t
know he was moon lighting as a ninja.
“ZATANNA!” Arrow’s voice screamed as the
green and
brown hooded body of the hero flipped across her vision landing on the
very fringes of the building to her left. The Tree thing that
was
following behind her could be seen crushing the roads as it crossed a
block in front of her. “Follow me!” Arrow
said as he
ran towards the edge of the rooftop and began to leap going east, down
towards 4th Street. His nimble body moving in leaps and
jumps, in
a speed in pace that she hadn’t recalled even Batman moving
at.
Zee turned her body as she flew, extending her speed towards 5th
street, separating the trees by a block. As she flew over the
row
of brownstone buildings that lined a fence between the two streets, she
kept an eye fixed on the Emerald Archer, even if really she
didn’t need to. Ahead was the square that came
before the
bridge that ran into the residential area of San Francisco.
The
pool of water and more so the third tree were coming into
view.
She was a few body lengths ahead of Arrow, and she pushed her magic
further, clearing the buildings and moving out into the square.
As she made it the tree that was chasing her moved as expected towards
the water. Unfortunately Green Arrow was not as
lucky. As
the youth came to the end of the street he came to a stop, practically
falling off the roof.
The tree creature that was following him made good on that
blunder. Its largest limb slammed into the building smashing
the
aged concrete and shingles into a rain of debris. Arrow had
leapt
as the limb hit but he felt the sting of rock as his face was smashed
with the extra noise. As his body began to fall, he pulled
three
arrows from his quiver and aimed towards the building. Three
fingers separating the arrows. He launched them downwards at
the
building’s fractured walls. Gripping the bow in
both hands
he used all his upper strength the push himself towards the
building’s wall. The bow smashed into one shaft
breaking it
on impact. Then he hit the second, which bent down
sending
him to the third, which was ripped from the wall.
The stopping of his speed allowed him to take the remaining nine feet
straight down. The soles of his boots slapped the pavement as he
landed. The shock shaking his very bones, as he remained on
his
haunches, the boy’s head bowed down exhaling deeply from the
deepest pits of his lungs.
Zatanna still flew over the scene. Her hair ruffled in the
wind
like a black shag carpet, the tail of her tuxedo jacket lifting in the
turbulence. Her dark eyes however looked at the
tree
creatures as the two remaining creatures crawled toward the water, that
looked more yellow than transparent thanks to the
helicopter’s
spot light that rained down on the pool of water.
“!enots
ot
seert nruT” her
backwards voice called out casting her
magicks on the trees. The wave of change was instant as
though
someone blinked and the brown bark and green leaves changed to
monochrome with no explanation. The trees transformed into
stone
statues of their former bodies-- their forms frozen in place.
“Well that seemed to work better than I thought,”
Zatanna
called out to Green Arrow who was rising to his feet. His
dark
sandy brown face took on a bruised texture. The exhaustion flushed his
cheeks.
“We still have to find Woodrue. He’s paying for all
the
lives he stole,” Arrow spoke.
“I’m not paying for anything, Green
Arrow!” a voice
boomed from a megaphone. “It is humanity who is
paying for
the destruction they have caused. Do you think just because
my
creatures are petrified stone, that I cannot activate the ignition and
still cause them to explode? The added bonus is that I will
be
taking two members of the Justice League with me.”
Jason
Woodrue shot his black beady eyes at the two heroes, his brown hand
gripped a white metal megaphone, and his opposing hand held a black
remote in his tightly laced fingers.
“Wait, Woodrue, neither of us are JLA members. Well
I’m a reservist, but I’m not even sure that
counts,”
Zatanna said in a nonchalant way.
“Silence, I am sure the world will notice when--“
Woodrue’s speech was cut shot as a single emerald shaft shot
towards him in a thin thread, hitting his hand with a bone shattering
impact.
The arrow’s force knocked the black remote from
Woodrue’s
hands, the plastic case making a hollow thud as it was
dropped.
The arrowless shaft followed seconds later in a second thud.
Of
course Woodrue had little time to note that an arrow wasn’t
sticking through his hand. As by reflex and adrenaline
Zatanna
found herself saying “eurdooW
ot
tropeleT”
The Mistress of Magic disappeared in a curling wisp of white
smoke. Her black clothed form appeared a heart beat later in
a
sudden pop, her small knuckled strike curving at her elbow in a quick
thrust. Her punch slammed into Woodrue’s jaw,
chunks of
wood spit from the impact as the villain lost his balance.
The
Arkham inmate fell hard onto the ground, his head impacting inches from
where the arrow had landed.
Green Arrow could hear the cheering of the cops and citizens as he
pulled his bow back over his shoulder. He could feel his legs
aching as he walked towards the alleyway. He smiled at the
idea
at least a little justice had been served, and that he would be able to
go back to the soup kitchen tomorrow, and let everyone know that they
would be safe. Despite, being used to being looked past when
he
did the hero thing, for once he wished he’d get some
credit. As Connor had promised Green Arrow would
help.
There was a ping in his heart that made him feel like a heel for
thinking that way.
“Batman was right about you, Green Arrow,”
Zatanna’s
voice spoke to him. Arrow turned his head from his feet,
seeing
the beautiful face of her washed in her long black ringlets looking at
him from inside the alley. “You are
damn good.”
“I couldn’t have done it without out you, Zatanna.
You have
my thanks,” Arrow said to her as modestly as he could
muster. The pride swelled inside him. Like when
Batman
spoke fondly of him it was hard to swallow that pride.
“We make a good team, and that’s really
important. I
wasn’t sure how we’d work together having very
different
skill sets. But since you’re now operating in my
town, I
waned to see if I could entrust you to take care of her.”
“And I suppose you aren’t going to kick me out
now?”
Arrow asked with a smile.
“No, you’re safe for now.” Zee
smiled.
“Let’s do this again sometime, okay?”
Arrow just nodded and walked past her. She was a lot nicer
than
he had imagined. And he agreed with her. They did
work
quite well together despite her being a magician, and he an archer--
both long distance fighters. But it worked rather
well. He
knew as she did, that with them both working the city, it would be a
safe place. Also he knew it would allow Zatanna to focus on
things beyond her city, as was her duty as one of the world’s
most powerful magicians.
“Also you totally have Ollie’s ass.”
END
Next
Issue: Crackshot and Green
Arrow take on the gangs of San
Francisco, but all is not as it seems.
