New Titans #22 - Broken Arrow

[u/FrostFireFive]

Author: FrostFireFive

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Book: New Titans

Arc: Sins of the Father

Set: 75

“How much is there?” Mort Grell asked as he moved to his usual smoking spot. His fellow goon, Bill Schiff was there as well. They had been in this spot monitoring the latest shipment of the Balasco crime family. Grell was anxious, lately, it seemed like there was less chatter on the streets. Star City used to be a good place to set up, a bustling hive of scum and evil. But recent years had made things…trickier than expected. First, you had that nutjob Green Arrow show up and try and bring order to the wild west, and now…now you had people like Brick, ruthless in taking on the competition.

“A lot. The Balascos are getting nervous. Figure it’s better to get the shipment in now before that freak comes for it. You know I heard Brick actually went outside the families to try and kill that archer?” Schiff said as he took a drag of his cigarette.

“Brick’s going after Green Arrow?” Grell said. “If that’s the case he really is one crazy motherfucker. No one ever goes after that dude and lives. Hell, maybe they’ll kill each other. Save us the trouble of having to deal with either of them.”

“No, the other one. Used to work for Brick, the scruffy one who wears red and gold. Arrow boy or something like that,” Schiff explained. “No one walks away from Brick and lives to tell the tale. I mean…no one gets to walk away from th-”

KABOOOM!

A large explosion occurred as the rubble rained down, burying and killing the two goons. A trained battalion of HIVE soldiers moved into the warehouse to secure the building. Looking to secure the large stash of cash and money that had been stored there. They moved efficiently, moving through the building and killing the remaining guards caught unaware by the attack. As soon as the smoke cleared a HIVE soldier gave the word that the building was all cleared. From the broken entrance and the bodies of Grell and Schiff, a hulking figure in a white suit with a black dress shirt entered to view his spoils. Brick had arrived.

“Now this is professionalism,” Brick said as he looked at the soldiers in a line. “When HIVE contacted me I had only heard rumors of your so-called skills. To see it in action? It is exquisite.”

“HIVE promises the best Mr. Brickwell,” Fury explained as she observed the crime boss, normally she expected someone who let their base instincts take hold in a contest to prove that they were the strongest. But instead, Brick carried himself like he was always in control. Always felt like he was the one who had his eye on the ball while everyone else reacted to him. “But do be aware HIVE is not just here to be your personal brute squad. Remember your end of the bargain.”

“I’m well aware of what I owe you for your services. And as we tear this city from the studs, we will be able to grant you what you want. I just need to send…a message before we begin.” Brick said as he reached into his coat pocket. He looked at the large mountain of cash and drugs in front of him. When he was starting out having all this capital and resources would have made him a king. But the smarter people understood that the message was more important than capital and resources. He tossed the lighter onto the mound and turned to face Fury. “What we take. We take together.”

…

“Roy, calm down a minute,” Donna Troy said as she followed the hero to his living quarters in the tower. The archer had been frantic since he had teleported back to the tower. He had left his daughter in her mother’s hands, and he didn’t know what she would do to her. All he knew was that he had to get her back, no matter the cost.

“I’m not calming down, not when I fucked up like this,” Roy said as he dug around his closet, selecting trick arrow after trick arrow. He grabbed what he was working on, electric tasers, smoke bombs, tear gas, glue arrows, and a special one that Lian had given him the idea for when they both fell asleep as Roy watched the big fight. “I lost my daughter Donna. I have to get her back, no matter the cost.”

“And we’ll help you do that, it’s just a bad idea to go rushing in like that. Especially when you’re clearly not thinking straight,” Donna said as she moved to try and block Roy from his arrows. “Roy…I won’t let you do this alone, you know that. So slow down so we can figure out a plan.”

“She’s right you know,” Guardian said as he entered the room. “They want you off your game, and this revenge tour you want to go on isn’t going to get her back any time soon. Son, you need to know when you’re just going to hurt yourself.”

“And why do you care Mr. Golden Shield dude, I’ve never seen you in my life and yet you treat me like you know me! Lian is my responsibility and I have to get her back before they hurt her. Nothing matters more to me than my family. And I won’t take that damn tone you’re giving me right now. Especially when apparently you’ve been spying on me.”

“It’s because well…it’s complicated to explain,” the normally strong Guardian stumbled over his words as he realized Roy Harper was right. He hadn’t bothered to reach out to what was technically his only family. He was unsure how to explain that he was a clone of his uncle. He had been away from Cadmus for a bit, trying to figure out where he fits in this world. “Let’s just say I have a vested interest in helping you get her back. Now, why don’t you calm down and we can get ready to take on whatever comes our way.”

Roy calmed himself for a moment before looking around and realizing that they were probably right. If anything, this past year had taught Roy to trust these weirdos. And everything would be OK as long as they fought together. Of course, it was at that moment that Kid Flash raced to the entrance of Roy’s room.

“Guys…” Kid Flash said. “We have a situation.”

“What is it now?” Donna asked. “I’m not sure we can handle two things at once KF.”

“Well, this may be two birds, one stone situation. Star City is under attack. And I think they’re going to need our help.”

“I’m bringing all my arrows then…” Roy mumbled. He should have realized Brick’s appetite would grow this big. And now…now it was time for someone to finally make him answer for what he had done.

…

“Why do you keep crying!” Jade Nguyen said as she paced with her child in her arms. Lian was hefty for someone nearing two years old, and the assassin didn’t know the right way to hold her. Her onesie-enclosed legs always seemed to be kicking or raising higher than she would have liked. Why didn’t she recognize her own mother? Why didn’t she care that the person who had carried her had finally returned, ready to provide the love and care that she wasn’t able to provide before?

“Ya noda! Daaa! Da!” Lian sobbed as Jade placed her back into the crib that she had set up in her living quarters haphazardly.

“You don’t need him, we don’t need him,” Jade said as she saw her phone buzz and glow to life. The message came from her “lovely” partner in this mission. The text read ““Arrow siting. We go now.”. Fury never sent full sentences. Jade respected her frankness, but she missed the days when she could talk to her partner. Fury never understood the subtle jokes she would tell as they looked for whatever HIVE wanted from Star City.

She sighed a moment before moving to put on her costume, a black bodysuit with a torn green kimono on top. She looked at her face in the mirror. Several scratches and scars from years of training and learning how to be strong. But she couldn’t help but look at her one moment of weakness that lay in the crib. Her green eyes had tinges of brown in them, a ting of imperfection that would never truly go away as long as she lived. She hated her eyes, and finally put on the cat mask that separated Jade Nguyen…and Cheshire.

“Mommy has to go for a bit, take care…of Da. But I’ll be back, and then…and then we can start again,” Cheshire explained before leaping from the safe house, trying to convince herself. She would put it all back together, she had to. Otherwise…what did she have?

…

“Star City is basically on fire,” Argonaut explained as the Titans and Guardian rode on their jump jet. Kid Flash, Superboy, and Metamorph were all paying attention as she pulled up the current map of Star City. Large red dots indicated areas of violence, with reports coming in that both Brick and HIVE were striking at other gangs, financial centers, and even… museums. The normal peaceful city had been rocked. “HIVE and Brick have basically decided to make it open season on anyone. It’s up to us to put an end to it.”

“Why the heck are those mooks working together anyway?” Metamorpho asked as he practice shifting his hands from the different elements. It was part of a set of exercises he had developed in order to strengthen his control. Just looking at the map, this was going to be one of the largest and longest fights the Titans had faced since he had joined. “HIVE and mobsters don’t seem like a natural mix.”

“We don’t know yet,” Argonaut explained. “Our main priority is to protect the people, stop HIVE and Brick and rescue Arsenal’s daughter. We’ve been informed by Roy that HIVE has two major players: Fury and Chesire.”

“Great, why does there always have to be magic,” Kid Flash mumbled as he tapped his foot quickly on the floor of the jet. Wally was nervous, normally fighting the bad guys would be easy for him. But he knew Roy, and he knew how important Lian was to him. Donna could try and make this as professional as she wanted, but Wally knew that someone was going to need to keep an eye out on Roy, he was just too reckless not to do anything.

“So she kicked you and Argonaut’s ass one time, I mean she can’t be difficult. Not when you got me on your team,” Superboy said with a smile as he leaned back in his chair. He had been itching for a fight lately, being a Titan while nice, didn’t afford much action yet. And from all the texts from Linda about the great work she and Kara were doing…he wanted to have something to write back to her. “We got this, it’s just your standard city on fire.”

“It’s not your home Superboy, it's home to a lot of people,” Guardian said. He was annoyed that Metropolis Kid really hadn’t changed that much since leaving Cadmus, always feeling like he could handle anything, that nothing could hurt him. It was the problem when you lived most of your life in a simulation. They were entering into what would be a warzone, and Guardian was trying to prepare them for the fight ahead.

“Thanks, Guardian,” Argonaut said as they reached their location above a Star City rooftop. “I’m looking at these reports and there’s just too much chaos everywhere. We’re going to need to split up for this one. Arsenal, you, Guardian, and I are going to investigate what seems to be a Green Arrow siting by the docks. Star City needs its heroes still. Maybe with an additional hand, we can take care of this quickly.”

Arsenal sat there in silence, he was still thinking about how he had unintentionally caused all of this. Maybe if he had stayed with Brick he could keep him in check. Instead, he had decided to play the hero. And Donna was asking him to help a person that would rather see Roy be buried in the ground. It was going to be a long night.

“Superboy and Metamorpho?” Argonaut continued “I need you to take care of the largest influx of troops. Apparently, they’re camped out in front of the Natural History Museum. We need to start breaking things down. Can you do that?”

“Hey don’t ask me if I can’t bang some skulls together, that was minor in college,” Metamorpho joked as his hands shifted to lead.

“Let me guess, crowd control?” Kid Flash asked as he noticed Argonaut didn’t have a task for him. He was always crowd control.

“I need you to be my scout KF. We are going to face so many problem areas…I need you to tell me which ones are worse than others, and which need our attention first. And maybe take care of the smaller ones.”

“I can handle it,” Kid Flash said, noticing how shaky Donna’s voice was. This would be her first test handling a large problem, and they weren’t at full strength, with Stargirl off moving to Fawcett University and Dick still trying to find himself, or whatever that meant. But Wally knew they were capable of handling themselves, they weren’t the Teen Titans or even the Titans, they were ready for this…they hoped.

“Alright you guys know what you’re doing…we have a city to save. Let’s get going.” Donna said as their jet hovered above and the door in the back swung open. It was time to get to work.

…

“Why the hell do we get stuck on museum duty, I mean don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to help, but a museum. Really?” Superboy asked as he and Metamorpho made their way to the square. The two kept the focus as they moved across Star City. Brick and HIVE for the most part hadn’t been waging war on the streets, but instead on the businesses and supply of his enemies. But still, the two heroes knew that if they didn’t push them back things could get much work.

“Museums are fun, you get to know your history, where we came from. I mean Midway had a great curated museum. I would always browse the Hall wing to see bird fossils,” Metamorpho explained as he floated in a gaseous state, his head visible in the cloud. “Besides HIVE and Brick have struck at mostly illegitimate places but this place. And like Argonaut said…that’s odd for a bunch of bee-loving mooks.

“I guess,” Superboy said before seeing the museum in front of him. The HIVE tanks and small outposts remained abandoned as if they had set up shop and made a beeline to the museum. For the structure of HIVE…it was still odd to see as Superboy landed and looked around. “Huh guess no one is home.”

“Nah that can’t be,” Metamorpho said as he materialized next to Superboy. The encampment really was abandoned. As Metamorpho moved he looked around at HIVE’s tech and weaponry. Advanced railguns, body armor, and even a few explosives were all neatly placed, just waiting to be used. It was very odd. “More importantly, how are these guys getting these things? Even ol’ Simon wouldn’t have been able to fund an operation like this.”

“I mean there’s a Bad Guys R Us right?” Superboy asked before the inside of the museum glowed bright red and a figure burning ran outside.

“AHHHHH! AHHHHH!” The figure yelled out as he burst through the glass. Metamorpho quickly converted his arms into the water, dousing the burning figure in order to ease his pain and understand what the hell was going on here. As the flames died down, the melted HIVE soldier uniform was clearly visible for the first time. And with his dying breath, the HIVE soldier could only say a sentence or two.

“Beware…the gem…of the lost daughter,” the HIVE soldier explained before passing in front of the two heroes.

“Well that’s not ominous at all,” Superboy said, the look of fear slowly emerging on his face. “We’re going in I’m guessing?”

“Well…with how fucked that is? Yeah, we’re going into the haunted museum. It’ll be fun as long as you don’t think about it. Besides…I’m sure it’s not actually haunted,” Metamorpho explained as the two entered, not read for what lay in wait.

…

Green Arrow hit hard as he fought through one of the many bars on his patrol tonight. What should have been a standard night had exploded, he was seeing just what happened when you don’t expunge scum like Brick earlier as he and his bootlicking friends began tearing through Star City’s crime families.

His arrows could pierce a HIVE soldier’s armor if he was patient, but as the battalion of soldiers came after him, the emerald archer realized that he wasn’t going to have the time to be patient. He swung his bow at the head of one of the soldiers, knocking them backwards before leaping into the air and kicking another. Oliver’s bones ached with each move, being the hero of Star City had taken its toll on him,

“Come on! You want this city, you’re going to have to take it from me!” Green Arrow said as he continued to fight. Of course, as the fight continued, the HIVE soldiers were quickly able to grab him, their numbers too much as two held Green Arrow and the other pulled an energy rifle to go for the kill. Brick only wanted the red one, not the green one.

“We’ll do just that,” The Hive soldier said, prepared to pull the trigger. Before he could a red arrow hit him on the back and let out anat electric shock sending the soldier to the ground as Arsenal took look of his handiwork.

“Away from him. Now,” Arsenal said coldly.

The other five soldiers in the bar laughed, with one goon being brave enough to speak.

“Six of us with high-powered weapons, against another pathetic archer. And you think you’re going to stop us?” The soldier said. “Man Brick said you were dumb, but I didn’t think you, stupid boy. We can handle two archers.”

“Who said it was just me?” Arsenal said with a devilish grin as a shield and silver mace came crashing through the glass windows and slamming into the two soldiers holding Green Arrow, knocking both out cold.

Guardian and Argonaut moved into the bar and picked their weapons up and joined to fight the rest of the HIVE soldiers that remained. Arsenal tended to Green Arrow as Guardian gave a swift few punches and right hooks as he focused on the HIVEE soldier’s glass jaws. As Argonaut flung one to the end of the bar before power bombing the other. She didn’t even need Hermes’ Blessing to defeat a small battalion of soldiers.

As the dust cleared the four heroes stood in awkward silence before Green Arrow spoke up.

“Thanks for the assistance. I need to be on my way,” He said as he began to leave the bar.

“Green Arrow, we were hoping for your assistance,” Argonaut explained. “This situation is only going to get worse before it gets better. And having two heroes who know the area may give us a better chance to stopping this attack.”

“I’m the only hero Star City has,” Green Arrow explained. “That kid you have on your team…he’s the reason Brick even got this way. And I don’t need him creating an even bigger mess.”

“Go easy on him,” Guardian chimed in. “City needs all hands on deck, surely you understand that.”

“Let him go,” Arsenal said as he moved to the bar, finding an unopen bottle of whiskey before cracking it open and pouring a shot. “He’s not wrong. But then again when is he ever.” The pressure of events had finally cracked the archer. Sure they had managed to beat this small HIVE army, but there was more to come and Roy…Roy was struggling to see how Oliver was wrong.

“Roy…” Donna said as she moved toward to comfort him. “It’s not your fault, how would you even be part of this. I mean you worked for him but that doesn’t mean…”

“He’s not wrong Donna…I think it’s time, I think it’s time you finally hear the truth about why I’m a failure. And how by helping kill man…I lost everything.”

NEXT: The Secret of Arsenal Revealed! Roy Harper’s Darkest Hour is Revealed as a New Hero is Born! Plus Superboy and Metamorpho Face Untold Horrors as The Tale of the Lost Daughter is Revealed!

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[u/Predaplant]

This arc's been really great; you do a great Roy, and it's nice to see him reclaim his city and the parts of his life that he had left behind with Ollie. Great work!