Green Arrow

“it’s a regulator for the sternbots and if—ah, it would be better if we did this somewhere more private.” the young korean had always been an impulsive person, his team often balancing it out by being a bit more levelheaded. except lin lie. ha, that ass. it was a miracle he was able to stop himself this time from exposing himself. there was no way in hell he was going to hulk out when the gcpd were probably on the way to the crime scene. “kind of connected to what i’m going to show you so kind of would want to do in private. maybe a big enough space?” besides, it’s not like he was going to go full-on hulk and lose his mind. but he was still impulsive and cindy wasn’t there to bring him back to reality.

“Sternbots... sounds like some children’s toy.” Oliver jokingly stated and chuckled after his words, but clearly, it was only him finding it amusing. A big enough space. He then thought it would be of a transformation of some sort and the individual doesn’t seem so harmless so he engraved in his mind that he shouldn’t be worrying too much. Oliver scanned the man one over before nodding to his Arrowcar, “Get inside.” He sternly said as he heard the GCPD approaching and hopped in the driver’s seat. Oliver was still making his finishing touches in his Arrow Cave for New Gotham, but it was a big enough bunker, making it a replica of the one he had at Star City.

donna scrunched her nose as she smiled at oliver, still a little bothered at the stain but also giving up on doing anything more—not when he’s already zipped up his jacket. he’s going to have a hard time taking out that stain, she thought to herself instead. “if you insist.” her eyes follow his line of sight before taking her camera and holding on to it. “yeah, i had a few exhibits in detroit before.” ah, detroit. she kind of missed her pseudo-quiet life in detroit. taking photos, putting up exhibits, helping out detroit pd, exposing poachers…that was nice. “i was wondering when you’d ask that. donna troy. i was diana’s sidekick. and, well, i worked with roy.” it was vague enough for the normal people but specific enough for oliver.

“Anything I’ve seen?” Oliver asked since he did have that one-holiday stint in Detroit where some woman took him to see an exhibit after a previous night of fooling around. Upon hearing her name, he nodded his head once because it gave evidence for the familiarity with her face; she was a bit younger then when he briefly saw her... with briefly, it was just a passing of a glance since she was his teammate’s side-kick. “You’re her kid, right, or something? Makes sense.” He then said before pursing his lips into a thin line, placing his hands inside his pockets, surveying his eyes around them for a second. “You see Roy around often?” 

Roy had finally gotten out to grocery store, after he was interrupted the last time he’d time to go. Living on a bachelor’s diet, and especially one where he as more active than the average person, lent to him going to the grocery store more than he probably should. While swinging by the milk section, he saw a very familiar face. Nothing like a helping of awkward family bonding to go along with his grocery run. 

“I’m just surprised you came to New Gotham and didn’t tell anybody. And i’m pretty sure it doesn’t really matter. All cheeses are basically the same, right?”

Oliver has already landed his eyes on his former side-kick even before he went inside the grocery store, and knew fully well that they would interact in a matter of a few minutes. “Well, I didn’t want to hog the spotlight if I told anyone.” He jokingly stated with a small smirk before having a good look at Roy, glad that he looked good and well. “A fine lady once told me it wasn’t. But I guess this will do.” Oliver placed the block of mozzarella in his basket before pushing a bone which has gone out of place from his shoulder back in place before retrieving the basket from the ground and walking over to Roy, “How’s it going Speedy?”

he was quiet for a moment before finally nodding at the other guy. “okay, that’s fair.” and then he watched as the other man shot arrow after arrow at the group of petty criminals, standing still until all of them were dealt with. cho grimaced at the dirty work in front of him but he can’t say he wasn’t thankful either. “nope. they just came at me out of nowhere, probably out to steal this one.” he held up his wrist, showing him what looked to be a normal bracelet but held the trigger for the sternbots in his system. “or they’re just petty thieves out to make quick cash. anyway, you in the mood for fried chicken? because i found this place that sells good chicken a few blocks down. and i did promise you food.” and then he started walking in that direction, leading the other guy to the restaurant. “i’m amadeus cho, by the way. everyone just calls me cho.”

Oliver dropped the mask beside the unconscious criminal and then went to the other male, grabbing his wrist and analyzing the fairly average looking bracelet. “It’s clearly not Cartier. What’s inside it?” He asked, dropping his wrist. The people of New Gotham would have reached a different level of crazy if they were going through lengths just to steal a bracelet so it had to hold something important. “You’re good. I was kidding about the food,  but thanks. You have a good fried chicken spree. I have somewhere else to go.” He informed the other male as he stopped in place, and he didn’t help just because he offered something superficial. “Well, nice to meet you, Ch,” The bracelet was something of a curiosity, “but who are you?”

for a moment, donna thought she was hearing things. but one glance at the person in front of her and she confirmed that she was not in fact hearing things. it really was oliver queen in front of her. then again, she’s never really interacted much with him—donna was definitely closer to roy than oliver queen. our little sidekicks club. well that, and she’s always seen more of batman than the other members of justice league; it was the very reason why she close with dick after all. “well i’m glad it’s not your favourite shirt then,” she sighed out as she took her handkerchief. apologetic, she nodded as she looked at his ruined shirt. “i’m fine, thanks for asking. but i really am sorry for the shirt. can i at least offer to wash it?”

Oliver carefully watched the expression of the female who looked rather bothered by the coffee she has spilled on him when honestly it should be the least of the problem of both of them. “You know what...” He zipped up his jacket so they can finally seal the issue with the coffee stain on his shirt before removing his hood and flashing her a soft smile, “Don’t worry about it.” Oliver noticed that she had a camera hanging by her shoulder. “Ah, you do photography?” He then asked while gesturing to the camera before he veered his eyes back to her features; she looked familiar but unfamiliar at the same time. “Do I know you?” Oliver couldn’t help but ask as he stared deeply into her eyes.

Oliver found himself seeking refuge at the bar much like the two previous nights. He has been out of control with his drinking, finding as if none of his actions nor anyone else’s in the city were making much of an impact as crime rates doubled and escalated in severity every week. The collateral damages were scattered everywhere he looked. Being in the New Gotham was getting into his head and he was lacking in a resolution of his loneliness and absence of worth. Oliver rubbed his brows with the pads of his thumb and forefinger, skin glistening from sweat as he looked around for a second and then met his eyes with the bartender. “Ma’am.” He greeted with one nod and a lazy smirk before downing his third bottle. From the corner of his eyes, he has been studying the movements of a male whom he’s investigated the background of since it wasn’t the first time he’s seen him. The male seemed clear, but his thoughts were rather distorted while he was intoxicated. Sensing the other male exit through the back door, Oliver followed after a few seconds and was hasty in his decision. He followed the male until he got the chance to corner him, not even bothering to hide his identity. Oliver violently pulled him to an alleyway and pinned him against the wall with his newly customized arrow. “Who are you? You were a journalist, right, so what’s the deal? Why are you following me?” He said with a grunt, digging another arrow against the other male’s nape when there was no answer, slowly bending it against his neck in an attempt to make him speak. “So here’s my deal. I’m gonna stop hurting you if you begin talking.” Oliver continued, bending the arrow a tad bit more with furiousness in his eyes which was unable to see the fear from the civilian’s eyes.

new gotham was weird. it was like a darker new york city and cho had to wonder if gotham really had been a dark city. it was like hell’s kitchen but bigger. it was always more dangerous to be dealing with crime lords, and he’d much rather deal with ultron, thank you very much. organised crime was way too complicated and definitely above his payroll, and he’d let the people above his payroll deal with them. that, and he missed san francisco. and he was currently surrounded by men in masks and he’s not actually sure what’s going on. “uh, a little help here?,” he called out as someone approached them. cho could very much deal with the men in masks all on his own but he doesn’t know the protocol yet on whether he should be hulking out in public or not. “i promise to buy you food and get you tony stark’s autograph. that’s a thing here, right?”

“Just waiting for them to make the first move...” Oliver whispered, glaring at the masked individuals one by one, but analyzing every flinch of movement through his peripheral sight. “Okay. That’s a promise. Any food.”  He then casually said, shooting an arrow into the barrel of the gun of a masked individual on their right side, pinning him against the wall as the arrow surpassed his shoulder. Oliver can shoot thirty-nine arrows in one minute, never missing, and so this would only take less than thirty seconds. Barely breaking a sweat, he impaled all of them and then proceeded to remove their masks in no time, “You know these guys? Why are they out for you?”

the universe apparently can’t give them a break. one minute they were dealing with deathstroke, then she died and seemingly came back to life, and now new gotham. as if gotham city wasn’t bad enough. but it made for good material. donna walked around the new city, her camera hanging by her shoulder as she sipped on her coffee, taking in the new sights like a tourist. and it was then that she failed to notice that there was someone in front of her until they bumped into each other and her coffee spilled on the other. “shit.” there was a frown on her face before she took out her handkerchief and passed it on to the other. “i’m so, so sorry.”

Here he was walking in the streets of New Gotham just trying to maintain a threshold of normality although the meaning of the word itself has been distorted for quite some time already. Oliver took a pause, hands slipped in his jacket pockets and watched the city in a standstill for a moment; right now, it looked rather peaceful to an everyday citizen, but sadly he held the knowledge of the underlying truth held by the city. He released a heavy sigh before pulling his hoodie over his head and turned in his heel to proceed walking. However, he soon felt the scorching temperature of the coffee on his skin as he ran into the stranger, taking a step back to get a clear view of her while holding his shirt to hover over his skin instead. “Ma’am you’re good. I’m glad I decided to not wear my best shirt today.” Oliver responded reassuringly with a soft smile, handing her back the handkerchief as soon as she passed it to him. “Don’t worry about it.” He’s gone through worse than just a coffee spill so it wasn’t a big deal. “Are you okay?” He then asked, seeing that she was slightly disoriented.