I'm gonna split too. I've taken some time to reflect and I've been kinda personally toxic in this RP and had too much going on elsewhere. Apologies if anyone was looking forward to interacting and for leaving the Star City group in a lurch.
Dblade26 Member
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Location: Star City, The Star Bridge
Crisis! Part 2
Connor was pretty sure that for most people 'first time borrowing Dad's car' didn't happen in the middle of a super-terrorist attack. At least Stanley was controlling it remotely with the help of some sort of on-board guidance system. He just had to trust that the butler knew what he was doing. Then again what else was new? It was weird that his first real moment for reflection came while sitting in the cockpit of a super-car racing to save lives. But now that he had time to think he felt like being stuck in a rocket car piloted by someone else was a good metaphor for his life lately.
Sure he'd told Roy it was his choice and he wasn't lying. He'd chosen this life and done a lot of good with it, he hoped. Just like he'd chosen to get in the car. But from the beginning he'd barely thought anything through. He went after Brick because...well, Brick was there and the biggest criminal name in the city. He hadn't known anything about Brick's history or motivations or even his operations beyond what little he'd read in articles and seen firsthand. Oh sure, Brick had done his whole motive rant before all the...unpleasantness but other than that Connor knew nothing about the guy. Once Overwatch involved herself he had thought about things even less. At first he was just grateful to have any help. Then he just went where she told him, beat up some guys and trusted things would work out. Even beating Brick was just...something that fell into place for him.
It was like he'd been an arrow aimed at someone else's target. He'd just flown forward with no control of his own. Neither of those was the best metaphor but he had a long way to go before matching Master Jansen's skill with koans or imagery. Anyway 'No Mind' might be a positive thing for meditation, but no way it was a positive thing in vigilantism, right? That was another thing! What did all this mean for his faith anyway? He'd left the monasteries behind. He'd even given up his initiation into the sangha too, the whole monastic community. What was left for him now? He'd never given it any thought...
Even from high speed and a distance the looming cables and towers of the Star Bridge were unmistakable and they shook him out of his contemplation. So when Stanley told him "Now slowing down for approach, young sir" he was already expecting it. What he wasn't expecting was the pure devastation around him once the world stopped blurring. There were hunks of twisted, burning metal that were once cars piled everywhere. People had gotten out on foot and even crawled still injured from their cars from the look of it, just to bash each other's heads in. Those who still had working vehicles were either getting ready to weaponize them or else uninfected and panicking.
A slight whine from his mask was Connor's first clue that the in-lense cameras were active. Sounds of shock and horror from Overwatch and Stanley echoed his own. Before any of them could even decide where to start a plane started falling from the sky right toward one of the main suspension towers. "Guys, I don't think I have an arrow for that!"
Connor felt helpless watching it plummet toward the bridge, just hoping that it wouldn't take the whole thing out and the buildings beyond along with hundreds, maybe thousands of innocents. When flying figures suddenly caught the plane and then actually started turning it away, all that helplessness turned to pure joy and relief. Unfortunately for the young archer that didn't last long. Something went wrong, then a wing ripped clean off and exploded midair and the two saviors went plummeting down even as the plane's remnants started falling at a much safer angle.
"Well can't just sit back and let everyone else play the hero, right?" Connor started visually ransacking the dashboard for the correct button. At the same time he flipped through a memorized manual in his head looking for- The big green button, duh! Connor had never tried a maneuver like this but he'd seen Oliver and Roy do it in news footage before. This was either going to work and be awesome or...Well, Connor had always liked pancakes. Ignoring the cold fear in his stomach as best he could, Connor flicked open the little protective casing and punched the side of the bisected button closest to him.
The supercar's canopy burst open and suddenly he was rocketing through the air toward the falling heroes, a living arrow. It was ridiculous and he had no idea how it actually worked but he immediately understood why the mechanism had appealed to Oliver so much. The freezing wind lashing his face and the brief feeling of flight was awesome and liberating. Thankfully just not distracting enough to make him forget what he was doing.
His flight path was set to intercept the man who'd caught the nose of the plane head on, but the one who'd walked on air would be too far to reach! Well, he couldn't be in two places at once, but a mid-air shot on a falling target while moving at high speed? No problem! Muscle memory guided his fingers to the right arrow and he placed it in the thicker fabric where her cape blended with her collar. A second later and he was drawing back another arrow until he heard the *click!* of something in the nock securing itself to his bowstring. He twisted in flight, launched an arrow-line at a gleaming support tower and secured the bow to his back. All barely in time to catch the falling hero in his arms.
It was a harder collision that the young Emerald Archer was going for and it knocked the wind out of him hard. He barely managed to keep his arms wrapped around the guy while they plummeted. The magnetic arrowhead latched onto the metal of Star Bridge and slowly drew his drag-line taut. Their fall slowed then stopped and Connor gasped in relief, staring into water that was far too close. He'd operated on instinct and training for those few moments. Now terror at all his near-misses rushed back in full force and left him feeling like he'd already been dunked in the sea.
As the grapple started automatically reeling them back up he remembered the girl and risked a quick, panicked glance over to his other target. He found her floating safely downward with a parachute blooming from the fletching embedded in her collar and his fear started to drain away. The whole thing had happened stupidly fast, but he'd actually pulled it off, somehow. From what felt like a far off distance he heard voices buzzing in his earpiece and noticed that the man he'd rescued was conscious, if maybe stunned.
"Real stylish aerial bridal carry! Soooooo, does this count as a meet-cute?" Connor didn't know what Overwatch meant but it sounded like it should make him uncomfortable. Stanley's "Well done young Sir, an excellent use of the catapult seats!" was much more straightforward praise. As for his passenger...
"Uh, hi? I'm Green Arrow, welcome to Star City. Can you fly? Because my arms are really freaking tired!"
Smooth as always, the perfect way to introduce himself in his first ever team-up.
Location: Star City, Underneath the Queen Estate
Crisis! Part 1
"Look Stanley, all I'm saying is 'The Quiver' sounds way cooler than 'The Arrow-Cave'. I mean, I get it, this is literally a bunch of caves and I'm the Arrow but arrows rest in quivers, not caves."
It didn't really feel much like a cave network anymore, now that Connor was used to being down here. The walls and floor were worn down and polished smooth to the touch, the air was usually fresh with a mix of ozone and air freshner scents from filtration systems, and Connor hadn't heard any creepy skittering even once. Nothing but humming from the fluorescent lighting that made target practice easier.
Good thing too, considering that target practice made up most of Connor's day for who knew how long since his hand finished healing. He'd just finished his tenth bullseye of ten and sat down at the big computer when Stanley started lecturing him about needing to leave the cave more. Again. The tangent was just a handy distraction.
"Well, you're free to take that up with Speedy the next time he comes back, since the name was his idea. It hardly changes the fact that apart from going out to fight crime you haven't left the estate once!"
"I agree! Connor needs to get a social life and maybe a better civilian identity!"
Connor and Stanley both whirled around in shock as the screens of the Cave's computer lit up one-by-one. She had a new voice distorter, but it was definitely:
Stanley spluttered for a second before putting that same warm, unshakeable mask back on. "And just how long have you had access to our computer systems Miss..."
"It's Overwatch, and I've been poking around in here since Connor turned his phone back on in the cave for movie night. This thing is definitely better than my old rig."
Stanley glanced over at Connor, eyebrow raised, but he just shrugged. He had no idea how Overwatch did anything she did.
"In any case she's right, you need to expand your horizons beyond just vigilantism and training. You've been put in my care and it's become blatantly obvious that you need a life, friends, a chance to be young-"
"Look I appreciate what you're trying to do but what I need is to train enough to beat that Dark Archer and keep the city stable. Things might have calmed a little for now but open war could break out any day and I've gotta-"
"Got to what? Run yourself ragged being Green Arrow every moment of the day? Doing nothing but training here and patrolling? When was the last time you saw daylight without stopping a robbery? You've hardly been up to the estate either. You may have been living in a monastery before but-"
"But what? Because I don't think that-"
guys!
The young vigilante and bristling butler turned back toward Overwatch and the monitors, startled out of their argument by the worry still clear through her modified voice.
"You're both...really gonna need to see this"
"The time of Men has come to an end." Weird pointy bucket helmet or not, it was clear to Connor that whatever this guy wanted, it was the exact opposite of good.
"You sit atop your ivory towers and in your arrogance believe yourselves to be the superior people. You think your government, your armies, your heroes can keep you safe- that they will protect you from people like me. You're all fools. I am called Stryfe, and we are the Metahuman Supremacy Front. We will show America- and humanity- humility. We will tear down your palaces, put to the pyre your precious law and order. We will show you how truly vulnerable your nation really is. Safety is an illusion."
Yeah, definitely not good. Brick had liked his ominous speeches about power and ideals too but this was a whole new level of criminal.
"This is your reckoning."
"Can you trace this creep?" the words were already halfway out of his mouth before Stryfe finished his crazy speech
"I'm already on it but I don't know what we can do for New York except-
"No wait! Look!"
Star City locations were flashing up on the screen along with the New York ones.
"One in front of the Grell Museum, one in front of City Hall in Orchid Bay, a third in Avalon Park and another in the heart of the Glades. They've even got one up at the tower capping Star Bridge, must've disguised it as maintenance on the big star installation." As Stanley mentioned each one, Overwatch brought up a video feed of the location on one of the computer's many screens and held it there. Oddly enough, as each one came up any people visible on screen paused to look at their phones. After a second even Connor's Arrow-Phone pinged loudly and flashed, and he realized Overwatch must've hacked into the city's emergency alert system. People started to hurry away from the art installations, clearly frightened.
Still this changed things. Changed everything. Connor was already dashing up and fitting himself into the suit and gear before Stanley finished listing off the locations. Oliver's more high-tech style of quiver and arrows was heavier on his back but he'd already had plenty of practice moving with them and the actual armoring was light and mobile so he shouldn't have any problems.
"Oh, my God."
Connor turned his head to check what caused Stanley's outburst and froze, his jaw slacked in awe and terror. Clouds of tiny robots had swarmed over everyone around, on every screen. Overwatch's warning was clearing the area but not fast enough, and the odd weapon found a horrifying amount of victims...
...only for them to rise unharmed and start attacking.
"Okay, we've got zombies. Like, 28 Days Later fast-zombies."
Connor was still frozen, his shaking hands the only part of him that could move. This was so far beyond anything he'd ever dealt with. This was crazy, impossible, way too much. How could he really help, how could anyone-
He jolted as a hand came down on his shoulder and then Stanley was face to face with him, pressing Oliver's bow into his hands. He took it, shakes dying down as the Queen family butler gave him a grim little smile and straightened the costume out, adjusted the quiver, then adhered the green mask firmly to Connor's face.
"You're the new Green Arrow, and this is your city now. This is what it means. Time to save the day."
"Right. Thanks."
Stanley clapped him on the shoulder again. "You'll do us all proud. Now, take the car. You'll need the extra protection, speed and firepower. Don't worry about driving it, the onboard computer will manage and for the trickier maneuvers it has remote capabilities. Set it for the bridge first. At this time of day it's bound to be loaded with civilians."
"Hate to interrupt but the signal for these things must be coming from somewhere in the city. No way they have the infrastructure to set up and launch something this complex from New York alone. So while you do that, I'll work on finding whoever's in charge so you can shut them down, maybe seeing if I can hack the bugs. Time to really test what this new toy can do!"
"Again thanks, both of you. Right um...time to save the day!" he did his best to grin while he said it, trying to seem more confident than he felt.
With all that decided on Connor rushed toward the vehicle bay and the exit tunnels.
It was time to make Oliver proud.
Okay so because you seemed eager for it@Retired I wrote up some thoughts on your posts thus far. Like you've been saying to others this isn't a judgement on you as a person and this is purely based on my reactions and thoughts on your writing. It's also always easier to give advice than live advice.
So yeah. Feel free to take or leave my comments and suggestions.
Overall I think you would improve engagement with your audience if you streamlined your narration style a bit and used slightly more direct language and tenses. Don't be afraid to really try and describe what your characters are thinking with more emotional content when explaining their motivations and thoughts. Also try to engage senses beyond sight more often, like you did in the latest post with Kitty. On that note though, watch out for your tendency to use tautology in your descriptions, since they bog you down and add to word-count without adding meaning.
You're a more technically proficient writer than a lot of people in the group, including me. If you can just remember that the goal is as much to have us empathize with your characters and react emotionally to your stories as it is to impress us with your writing, you'll go from good to amazing. Your third post is already doing better at it.
I haven't read your latest post yet, I may add it in after I do.
So yeah. Feel free to take or leave my comments and suggestions.
Overall I think you would improve engagement with your audience if you streamlined your narration style a bit and used slightly more direct language and tenses. Don't be afraid to really try and describe what your characters are thinking with more emotional content when explaining their motivations and thoughts. Also try to engage senses beyond sight more often, like you did in the latest post with Kitty. On that note though, watch out for your tendency to use tautology in your descriptions, since they bog you down and add to word-count without adding meaning.
You're a more technically proficient writer than a lot of people in the group, including me. If you can just remember that the goal is as much to have us empathize with your characters and react emotionally to your stories as it is to impress us with your writing, you'll go from good to amazing. Your third post is already doing better at it.
I haven't read your latest post yet, I may add it in after I do.
Alright that's Connor's epilogue started. This'll hopefully shake some stuff up for him and set him up for the Crisis and to take on other stuff down the line. Just gotta get an opportunity to post the last bit with @Webboysurf!
Location: The Triangle At Dusk, Two Weeks Later-Storefront Rooftop
Queen's Heir Epilogue: Inheritance Pt. 1
"...by letting go of yourself, leaving yourself and everything yours behind you so decisively that nothing more is left of you...”
Connor had been waiting on this rooftop a long time. Once again he could count the rats skittering away from the overfilled dumpster below, fewer this time than the last. But even in a dingy side-street Star City felt weirdly pretty and peaceful at this time of day. Besides at least now he wasn't bored. Now he had company. Well, more company than scurrying rats and his own thoughts, anyways.
"Okay, so you were right and The Force is definitely a ton like Chi and I know I asked this the other night during the stream, but if Obi-Wan knew Vader was Luke's dad, how come he didn't tell him?"
It wasn't like they had anything better to talk about while they waited, nothing that wouldn't leave Connor an anxious mess anyways. Besides, his mind was only half-committed to the conversation. He used to think that once Brick was in prison crime rates would drop, but it seemed like the whole criminal underworld just flared up to try and take his place instead.
Since Overwatch had apparently spent a lot of energy promoting some edited version of his fight with Brick online, Connor was noticing some changes from the city's criminals. For one, a couple times in the last week some lower level street thugs actually tried to run. But more important than that, he'd already had to interrupt two skirmishes between some seriously bizarre gangs that Brick used to keep under his big rocky thumb. According to some chatter Overwatch picked up over the last week, tonight the major heads of Star City's criminal groups would meet here in the Triangle to discuss a compromise to avoid all-out-war.
First there were The White Hair Triad and the remnants of Brick's gang, both pretty conventional criminal outfits even though Connor was pretty sure he'd heard China White's name mentioned in martial arts circles before. Then you had the Death Throws. From what Connor knew, they were a weird circus-themed group and all their members were trained with throwing weapons, trained up by some obscure early enemy of Oliver's with a major grudge. even Star's premiere big-scary-metahuman gang, The Berserkers, were supposed to attend. The only group they hadn't heard any word on was the Yakuza and-
Connor had totally spaced on the actual conversation.
"...or it was part of a plan to trick him into taking out Vader, depending on how you interpret things."
"Yeah, yeah that's pretty messed up..."
"You okay? You sound out of it..."
Before Connor could answer a blur flicked toward him out of the corner of his eye and he snatched at it. Mosquitoes sure were getting huge and...
Arrow shaped. Huge and arrow shaped and softly beeping in his fist.
Huh. I caught a beeping arrow.
Crap!
Connor tried to throw it as far away from him as possible but it was almost too late. The black arrow exploded in a bang and a blast of force that threw him from the rooftop. Acting more on reflex and terror than anything, Connor twisted and curled to land in a blessedly overfull dumpster. The world was spinning, his ears were ringing and everything hurt but he was still alive. Alive thanks to luck, hunted by an archer he hadn't sensed or seen.
"Oww..."
"Connor! Are you okay? Was that an explosion?!"
"Yeah...I think some mystery archer...shot an exploding arrow at me. I...kinda caught it...then fell in a dumpster."
"I haven't heard anything about this on the web. Maybe it's Merlyn? I mean, he could've seen the video and decided to act on it..."
Connor shifted off of some old tin cans, silently grateful he hadn't crushed any rats. "Yeah maybe. Either way, I'm gonna try and find out more."
"Okay but be careful, run if you have to."
"Alright, I will." Or at least he would if he got the chance.
He did his best to readjust his quiver, snatch up his bow and dig himself out of the garbage agonizingly cautious and slow, pulse pounding, sounds and sights hyper-focused and overstimulating as he tried to find any sign of his assailant from street level.
Nothing. He crept his way down the narrow side street to the entrance closest to the arrow's flight path, his own nocked and half-drawn as he hugged the corner.
"Nothing yet, maybe he left but I'm gonna get a better look."
After peeking around the corner he saw a hooded figure all in black against the orange-purple skyline. He drew back his arrow, turned the corner and snapped off a shot. Somehow the figure was faster and fired three arrows at once. One black arrow intercepted Connor's green one right as two more flew right at him. The young vigilante ducked back around the corner but not fast enough to stop the broadheads from slicing his shoulder and side as they passed.
Connor froze up for a second at the searing line of pain and the scent and feel of blood. Apart from Brick he hadn't been seriously injured by an opponent yet, and for all his durability and power even Brick didn't land too many hits. He was already running off nothing but panicked adrenaline and the first wounds paralyzed him.
"Connor?!
"I...I'm fine, he just grazed me and I got spooked. I don't think I can beat him at range but I have a plan to draw him in. Stay quiet or-"
Just then an arrow pin-balled off the entrance to the alleyway, ricocheted off a corner and flew right at him. He actually caught it left-handed, amazed at himself until he noticed the stream of blood trickling from the slice down his palm. Shaken, he stumbled down the alleyway and slumped against the dumpster, clutching the bloodied arrow close to his chest. He willed his vitals to slow and hoped the little crimson trails added to the realism as he closed his eyes in real pain.
He heard a whirring thunk at the end of the alleyway and an odd metallic hissing noise, followed by two heavy boots clomping down on the asphalt. He tracked the left-right stomping of each footstep, surprisingly light, until he could feel the dark archer looming over him.
Connor sprang up and launched himself at the would-be assassin, planning on closing and throwing him hard against the metal surface of the dumpster. Maybe he was outmatched in an archery duel but he was sure he could take anyone on hand-to-hand. He'd hurt Brick, he could do this!
That thought lasted right up til a compound bow's metal limb cracked him across the face. The Dark Archer followed up immediately, driving the tip of the compound into Connor's stomach, leaving him slumped over and gasping for air before the hard edge smashed into the side of his head.
Connor's world turned into a little galaxy of spinning, burning stars while his lungs spasmed and screamed for air. He was suddenly on the ground as a booted foot stomped down on his chest and an arrow pointed right at his face. Beyond it, he finally saw that his adversary's face was completely covered by a hood and a black cloth mask, even the eyes shadowed. He'd die without even knowing his killer.
Sorry Overwatch. Oliver. I guess maybe I wasn't good enough...
Before the world faded out Connor thought he heard a gunshot and then the weight suddenly lifted off his chest.
But being saved was so tiring, maybe he'd just take a little nap...
So! That's Connor's first arc almost finished! Since this is sort of an origin story though, if we have time beforehand there's gonna be a two-part epilogue/setup of sorts that'll fully establish Connor and hopefully prep him for the events of the Crisis.
Location: Star City(?), ???-Brick's Kill-Room
Queen's Heir #1.06: Nock, Draw, Aim, Loose.
"For this is what the art of archery means: a profound and far-reaching contest of the archer with himself."
He couldn't remember his name. He'd been trying, but it seemed...unimportant? He thought it started with a 'C' maybe.
Calvin? Corey? Conway?
He knew lots of other things now, though.
There were lots of new smells, for one thing, or maybe a combination of smells. He'd peed himself sometime during the first round. He'd thrown up at some point, but he couldn't remember when. Probably when he'd first figured out that the gross, greasy charred meat smell was from him too. It was all mixed in with the sharp, clean smell the electricity made before it touched him, and no amount of ice water baths could wash it out. He was pretty sure he knew what fear smelled like now too, even though he'd always thought that was just an expression. It smelled bitter, like vinegar, and it came out with his sweat.
More importantly though, now he knew about hate. Not just hate for his torturer, but hate for a world where anyone would be able to do the sort of things that had been done to him. If he ever got out of here, then-
Well, who was he kidding. He was going to die here.
The floodlights dimmed again and a now disgustingly familiar stony hand clamped around the back of his head and forced him to look sideways. As his eyes adjusted to relative darkness, he saw that at some point someone had set up a metal folding-table in the room and laid out a bow and a quiver full of arrows on it, all colored green. His bow and quiver.
Connor. My name is Connor.
The massive mitt tightened its grip and Connor thought he could make out individual pebbles against the back of his scalp.
"Awww, there it is! I thought this might be a good way to get that little spark of awareness back, but for a minute there I was worried I'd totally lost you! No fun in torturing someone who can't even get what's going on anymore!"
The hand let go of his head, but Connor's gaze stayed pinned to his gear even as Brick stomped back into his field of view, grinning for the cameras and standing between the table and Connor, gesturing between them for the audience at home.
"Tell you what! I'm getting bored of the same old electro-torture-" The crime boss dismissively tossed the cattle prod aside "-So I figure I'll beat on you with your own bow 'til it's nothing but splinters and string. Maybe stab you with your own arrows as a finale so you die a human pincushion. How's that sound?"
Before Connor could answer, darkness fell like a sledgehammer and even the camera lights winked out. For the briefest second he was convinced this was some new unannounced torture from Brick, but the metahuman's roaring curses told him otherwise. For the first time since his torment began, the thought of escape bloomed in Connor's mind.
"Thanks, partner"
The ropes securing him were even more soaked than they'd been at the start. After probably hours of being bound up by them, the young vigilante was sure they were old and crappy all along, something Brick's goons probably had lying around. His arms heaved against the bonds at his wrists, the boy pleading with the universe as his already agony-ridden muscles strained against the cords.
The sounds of ropes snapping had never seemed so sweet. He repeated the process with his legs, frantically reaching down to tug at the ropes and fumble with the knots in the dark to help the process along. Luckily, Brick was even worse at keeping his cool in the dark than Connor and just kept swearing at whatever men were supposed to be watching to get the power back on.
Finally, Connor felt the rest of his bonds slacken enough to slip free of the chair. A handy trick from Master Jensen let him will the feeling and blood flow back into his arms and legs and then he was dashing past the stomping and fumbling noises that were Brick. He almost ran right into the table but his fingertips found it first, and then he was scrabbling to find both bow and quiver in the pitch blackness by memory and touch, eyes squeezed shut to enhance his focus.
He snatched up both, but by then Brick had heard enough to guess what was going on. The metahuman charged the table blindly and with all the silence of an erupting volcano. Connor rolled out of the way as he heard crashing and metallic shrieking, and then the power came back on all at once. The heat and light were painful against his eyelids, but not nearly as badly as during his time in the chair.
Connor opened his eyes and saw Brick still blinded from the initial flash among the flipped and bent remains of the table. No hesitation now, he nocked and loosed three arrows one after the other-
-and watched them bury into Brick's right shoulder, elbow and hand without the big man even noticing. Well, that wasn't really true. He got reminded Connor existed. The man-mountain whirled around roaring and threw a wild haymaker. It connected, but just barely and Connor rolled with the hit, even though knuckles like gravel gashed his cheek. He went tumbling but came up to his feet, swaying. Brick was on him again with another huge punch, but Connor ducked under easily and hit twice with the heel of already bruised palms. It was about as useful as hitting a statue and Brick was already winding up for a third massive punch.
Strikes were no good, arrows were no good. Time to switch tactics and get desperate.
As Brick overextended his already telegraphed swing, Connor actually grabbed onto one pillar-like arm, leaped and wrapped himself around it. A flying armbar was supposed to take an enemy down first, but Connor just clung for dear life and used his whole body to try and hyper-extend the one limb to the breaking point.
Something started to tear and pop in Brick's arm in a way Connor felt more than heard, and Brick cried out in real pain to Connor's grim satisfaction. It didn't last though. Brick stumbled and flailed his locked limb, smashing both Connor and his arm into first the ceiling, then two of the floodlights. Pain from impacts, hot wiring and shattered glass finally shook the young vigilante loose and left him half-dazed on the floor while Brick stared down at him, pain and surprise warring on his craggy face as one arm hung limp.
Connor's mind was whirling as he stared at the crime lord and looked frantically around. Brick could be hurt, Connor was sure of it now. His indestructibility was literally skin deep. Somehow, somehow he could be beaten, the answer was here...
Connor stood, slowly, dragging his hands through the fine powder of pulverized concrete and glass shards around him. He ignored the pain and blood from his hands to rise with fists clenched.
""C'mon now! Let's see it! Show me what power looks like!"
Connor tried a flying knee to the face again right as he finished his taunt, but once again Brick managed to catch him out of the air one-handed, fingers like stalagmites around the boy's throat.
"Hahaha! Just like I said, you're still dumber than the real Green Arrow!"
In another second he would start to crush Connor's windpipe just like before, but this time Connor would die.
Which was why this time, Connor threw two fistfuls of powdered glass right into Brick's eyes.
Brick dropped Connor to the floor, howling and clawing at his eyes with his one good arm, but the boy could tell it was no good. There was no time to waste! While Brick was still screaming and blinded Connor rushed back over to the chair, readied his bow and snatched up his only hope of putting the crime lord down.
The discarded cattle prod.
No nock to fix it to the bow-string, no fletching to stabilize the flight, it probably wasn't even flexible enough to make it around the bow like an arrow should. It was going to be a stupid, million-to-one shot...
"I'll kill you! You little bitch, I'll find out who you are! I'll kill everyone you've ever loved! I'll rip you to pieces until they have to bury you in a thimble! You'll-"
Tune it out. Breathe. It's all as simple as breathing.
He breathed in and out. Then steadied his hands, weighed and balanced the cattle prod for a moment and picked his target...
Nock, draw, aim, loose!
*Twang!*
The front prongs of the cattle prod lodged square in the back of Brick's open, screaming mouth.
The crime lord of Star City went from human mountain to human avalanche. He toppled stone-stiff backward onto the floor with a massive crash and just lay there twitching, screams muffled by the metal shaft until the pain took him beyond screaming. He was as helpless as Connor had been minutes before.
Connor walked right up and stood over the man who had made him experience hell. He could just leave Brick like that, if he wanted. Let him fry until the cattle prod ran out of juice. Even for someone as big and tough as Brick, that much electricity for that long might kill him. Why should Connor care? Maybe he should even be glad, ridding the world of a monster like Brick.
Connor sighed, leaned in close to Brick's head and tugged the weapon loose.
"May this suffering serve to awaken compassion."
Then, Connor noticed the still running cameras. He knew he'd just done the impossible. He knew he'd maybe just been lucky. Most of all he knew the world could be watching and he should say something.
"Tell all your friends...and spread the word! I'm the Green Arrow...and Star City...is under my protection now! To anyone who doesn't like it, you can come take your best shot! But just know that after you do, I'll take mine and I never miss!"
He was exhausted, hurting, panting and covered in filth but the words came anyway. He was pretty sure Overwatch was sending the cops to pick up Brick at that very moment. After that he was gonna go home, probably cry a little, and sleep forever.
Still, not too bad for his first fight against a real villain, right?
Welp, it got a little away from me at points, and I was trying to do something kinda weird with it I guess, but there's the second-to-last Connor post for this arc.
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