Post by DiscipleofBob on Jan 8, 2014 14:29:52 GMT -5
Issue 10, Historical Legacies
The Gateway Museum bustled with activity. Although it was the weekend before the official opening of the new exhibit, most of the displays were already set up. Monday the prices would be inflated for the event.
The bulk of the tourists were led by volunteer guides, explaining the exhibits in thorough if boring detail. One couple stood out among the crowd despite their attempts to blend in. Oliver and Dinah tried to dress informally, but their clothes while casual were noticeably more expensive. Oliver in a green designer brand collared shirt and his Errol Flynn inspired blond goatee, Dinah relishing the chance to wear her black leather knee-high boots which clacked against the marble floor with each step. Their good looks drew more attention than either wanted, and the name Oliver Queen had just enough celebrity status to draw more unwanted glances, even this far from Star City.
All they could do was keep their heads down and politely listen to the teenage tour guide give her speech. “Diana Trevor was born Diana Hawk in 1906 in a small rural town near Chicago, Illinois. Her mother died in childbirth, leaving her to be raised by her father, Bartholomew Hawk. Bartholomew was a crop duster pilot and mechanic. From a young age, Diana was raised with a deep love of flying. She closely followed the career of then national celebrity Amelia Earhart. In 1922, after graduating high school, Diana married her high school boyfriend Ulysses Stephen Trevor. Their marriage was not without conflict. During Prohibition, Ulysses Stephen Trevor became a bootlegger, and while Diana Trevor was never vocal one way or the other about the issue of prohibition, she could not abide Ulysses's involvement in growing organized crime.”
Dinah listened attentively to the tour guide, but every time she glanced at her husband, Oliver was constantly looking over his shoulder. “Something on your mind, Ollie?” she asked with mild annoyance.
“Hm? Oh sorry,” Oliver answered after a brief reality check. “I'm just feeling a little exposed without my... things,” he emphasized in a way only Dinah and the rest of his family would recognize the meaning.
Dinah rolled her eyes. “You don't need to have protection every minute of every day. You can pick it up when we leave.”
“Call me paranoid but I'd rather have it with us.”
“We're not in Star City any more, Ollie. Gateway City has one of the lowest crime rates in the country. We don't have to be armed at all times,” Dinah turned to Oliver, stroking his face and grabbing his attention. “This is our first real date in weeks. I want an uninterrupted hour with my husband.”
Oliver gently took his wife's hand, his concerns momentarily soothed. “Fair enough, my love. Though we might need more than an hour.”
“Later. That's what the hotel room is for,” Dinah smirked as the tour guide continued with the next part of her speech.
“When her son, Stephen Trevor, was born in 1926 by her husband, Diana took a drastic option. Divorce was not a feasible option for a woman in this time period. She confronted her husband at gunpoint before taking her son to Gateway City to forge a new life. She worked as both a full-time schoolteacher and a single mother during one of the most economically tumultuous times in history. Ulysses never attempted to contact Diana or Stephen again and was killed a few years after she left in a shootout with federal police.”
The tour guide led the group to the next exhibit. Oliver and Dinah took a moment to lag behind and admire the exhibits. Old family pictures of Diana Trevor and her family, antiques from their early life, dioramas of life in the early twentieth century. “How's Mia doing?” Oliver asked to break the silence when they moved on.
Dinah sighed, remembering the funeral from earlier that day. “As well as can be expected. The poor girl lost her mother two years ago and has still been losing her ever since. Maybe now she can start trying to move on with her life.”
“I think this is the longest Mia's been without being joined at the hip with you since we freed her from the camp. I'm surprised she hasn't called or texted.”
“She's got Roy, Thea, Jade, and Diggle to keep her entertained today. She's fine.” The next room drastically shifted the tone of the tour. Instead of pictures showing family life in the early 20th century, displays of World War II planes and troops decorated the next room.
“When America entered World War II, Diana Trevor joined the Women's Army Corp almost immediately. Many of her former students were now high-ranking officers in the military. Although initially she served as an aviation instructor, she quickly rose to prominence as arguably the top female pilot of the era. Her talent was comparable to male ace pilots of the time. Her son, Stephen Trevor, falsified his records in order to join at the age of 16. Despite protests from his mother, Stephen continued to serve as an air force pilot promoted to the rank of Captain over the course of the war and joining the second generation of the Blackhawk Squadron.”
“Blackhawks? I think I did a report on them in high school,” Oliver commented.
“Are you sure you don't mean you got someone else to do a report for you?” Dinah joked. Oliver's subsequent nervous laughter and lack of response told Dinah all she needed to know. “And what lucky lady was doing your homework at that point in time?”
“Well...” Oliver stalled, “Oh look, the tour guide's talking again. Better pay attention.”
“The Blackhawk Squadron was founded in World War II by rebels in Nazi-occupied countries. Comprised of some of the best pilots of their respective militaries, they refused to fight for the Axis powers and instead banded together to form an international rebel air force. Running strikes from inside enemy lines, the Blackhawk Squadron played a large role in destabilizing the Axis powers from behind their lines. The original founder and leader was Polish air force pilot Janos Prohaska, whose family was killed in the German blitzkrieg that took Poland. Other founding members included Andre Blanc-Dumont of France, Wu Cheng of China, Carlos Sirianni of Italy, Hans Hendrickson of the Netherlands, Olaf Bjornson of Sweden, and Sanislaus Drozdowski, also from Poland. The first American member of the Blackhawk Squadron was Chuck Wilson, a Texan member of the Tuskegee Airmen captured behind enemy lines.”
Various models of World War 2 era planes hung all around the hall in dynamic displays, recreating the aerial talent of the legendary ace pilots. Oliver noticed Dinah perked up and pay particular attention to the Blackhawk exhibits.
Oliver took it as a silent hint to pay attention so when Dinah inevitably brought it up in conversation later, he could prove he was paying attention and pass the husband-quiz.
“The Blackhawk Squadron was one of the most ethnically diverse military groups of the time, but there were no women among their number. When the Blackhawk Squadron made contact with the Allies, Diana Trevor remained one of their chief contacts as she knew the locations of Ally-friendly air bases in Europe. She petitioned the join the Blackhawks to take a more active role, but was denied each time.”
The tour guide led the group to one of the key exhibits. While models of planes hung in mock aerial combat near the ceiling, one of the few main exhibits that was actually erected at this point was a damaged but restored bright red biplane marked with black crosses.
Oliver glanced at the plaque, describing the plane as the “Fokker Dr. I” also known as the “Hammer of Hell.” It was something he had only seen model replicas in some classic aerial dogfight movies, and it sent chills down his spine.
“The most famous pilot on the Axis side was Hans Von Hammer, aka the Enemy Ace, officially credited with over 80 kills including three of the original Blackhawks. In 1945, Diana Trevor flew support for the Blackhawks while they commenced a bombing raid on a Nazi munitions base. Diana was the last to engage Enemy Ace so the Blackhawks could finish their mission. In the end, both planes went down. Von Hammer crashed in Ally territory, but Diana Trevor crashed behind enemy lines. Although the battle could be considered a draw, Hans Von Hammer went on record conceding the victory to Diana Trevor.”
“Verräter ,” a deep voice scoffed from behind the group. Oliver turned in time to see a large hulk of a man turn and leave the exhibit room. His instinct was to go and get changed into his other outfit right now, but just being suspicious and foreign wasn't enough to justify suiting up and ruining the day for Dinah. Not yet anyway.
“Stuck deep behind the lines, Diana Trevor took it upon herself to engage in a one-woman campaign of guerilla warfare. Although there are many unconfirmed accounts of her exploit during this time period, Diana Trevor would never return to Ally territory.. The exact date of her death is unconfirmed. Diana Trevor was posthumously awarded an honorary seat on the Blackhawks. Ever since, the title of Lady Blackhawk was a proud tradition among the Blackhawks.”
Oliver almost followed the guide to the next part of the tour, until he noticed Dinah lag behind, transfixed on one of the exhibits. He looked over her shoulder to see a plaque and a list of names. Above the plaque was a line of portraits of various women throughout history, all but the first with the same familiar uniform.
“It's all the women who have ever had the mantle of Lady Blackhawk,” Dinah somberly explained.
Oliver read the chronological list aloud, “Diana Trevor, Zinda Blake, Natalie Reed, Sheila Hawke, Penny Van Camp, and...” Oliver hesitated reading the last name. “Holey moley...”
“Dinah Drake Lance,” Dinah finished for him.
“Your mother was Lady Blackhawk?” Oliver asked, knowing only about his wife's mother's other super-alias.
“The last one. Where do you think the name Black Canary came from?” Dinah smiled.
“But I thought your mother's identity was secret?”
“Well yeah. Her role as Lady Blackhawk was public information. When the Blackhawks disbanded in 1987, she took up the mask and did what she could. Different costume, a mask, and she only had the resources to fight crime at the street level.”
“Now I get why you wanted to come here so much,” Oliver noted, only now realizing the emotional roller coaster his wife was going through right now. “It's got to be surreal, seeing your mother's name, your name even, in a museum.”
Dinah nodded. “It makes you think, you know? Is history going to remember us like Diana Trevor? Are Black Canary and Green Arrow going to have their own memorials?”
“I thought the entire point of having a secret identity was so we could avoid stuff like that.”
“It's inevitable. We'll be exposed or someone in our lives will let it slip st some point.” Dinah took a deep breath, fingers softly touching the framed photograph on the wall. “Lady Blackhawk was remembered for service to the world. Black Canary was remembered for stepping in when no one else would, saving homes, families, whole neighborhoods. Even if no one knew them as the same person. She gave me the name of Black Canary that meant stepping up when the night seemed blackest. We'll have a legacy too.”
“Come on,” Oliver pulled his wife to a nearby theatre exhibit where seating was offered. It was easy to forget how recently she had lost her mother. Dinah looked at him with tears wanting to fall in her eyes and nodded, pulling him close. “I think we need to go sit down for a minute,” he said as he casually led her to the in-museum theater where she could collect herself.
The theater room was a small, isolated facsimile of a 1920's silent movie theater, though it had full audio and was used to show documentaries and whatever other presentations the museum had planned. Oliver picked a seat in the back so the two could have some privacy.
The lights dimmed and the movie started, giving time for Dinah's tears to dry. The movie was an episode of an old 70's TV show. Campy as hell, but that was just the way Oliver liked it.
What he didn't like was the look of the German sasquatch from before. Sitting down in front of the couple. So massive that he was obscuring the lower half of the screen just sitting down. It was more than just a nuisance, however.
Even in the mild darkness of the theater, Oliver read the body language of the giant. Just from the twitches in his muscles, Oliver read as mild irritation slowly simmered into boiling rage. “Be back in a minute, Di. Bathroom break,” Oliver whispered as he excused himself.
Oliver found himself a nice, obscure corner just beyond an employees only sign. He'd marked nine other such corners throughout the tour earlier, in a worst case scenario such as this one. Underneath his casual clothes was the thin green mesh armor, invisible beneath his clothes but strong enough to stop bullets or at least prevent their lethality. Stashing his civie clothes behind some boxes, Oliver plucked the hidden folded ceramic bow from the inside lining of his belt. It didn't have the strength or the style of his favorite longbow currently sitting in the coat check, but it'd have to do. That and the collapsible arrows hidden in what looked like a cigarette box to the casual observer.
After pulling up his hood, Oliver pulled out and applied the most important aspect of his costume: the domino mask to conceal his identity.
He turned back around the corner, only to see his wife, no longer in civilian tourist clothing, but in her signature black leather tights, fishnet stockings, domino mask, and a very irritated scowl. “Bathroom break? Really?”
“There was a rip in my shirt?” Oliver, now in the full guise of Green Arrow, offered with a cheesy smile.
“Uh-huh...” Dinah glared. “And you were just going to leave me behind and go superheroing with your backup bow?”
“Well I can't just walk ALL the way back to the coat check,” he complained. Just then, a certain German giant loudly roared from the theater room along with the sounds of crunching concrete. “But if you're headed that way, could you grab it for me? Okay, thanks, love you too, bye!” Green Arrow rushed as he dashed past the angry Black Canary to the danger.
“DAMN IT, OLLIE!”
Suddenly, something zoomed through the air, passing mere inches in front of the giant’s face before being imbedded into the wall. The giant’s attention was momentarily distracted by the green arrow in front of him, and he turned to its source: a hooded archer, bow already drawn with another arrow, balanced on top of the front row, his silhouette plastered against the wall by the light of the projector.
“Intermission’s over, ugly,” Green Arrow smirked, “Now get back to your seat or the next one won’t miss.”
“You do not interest me. Leave while I still allow it!” the giant scoffed before turning back to the victim in his grip.
This was new. Green Arrow wondered what the superhero protocol was when the bad guy completely ignored the warning shot. “I don’t know if you’re new at this, but you’re supposed to listen to the guy with a weapon pointed at you, or else...” He fired another arrow, this one directly at the giant muscled arm holding the museum worker. Perfect aim to a nerve ending which should have forced him to let go, but instead the arrow snapped like a twig without leaving a scratch. “...apparently nothing happens.”
As disappointing as it was worrying, the giant was about to crush the hostage like a grape. Searching for another target, Green Arrow let another one fly, this bolt crossing directly in front of the giant’s face, seemingly a near miss...
Until it ruptured a fire extinguisher, which in turn exploded in the berserker’s face. “In case of a fire, please follow the directional arrow to the exit,” Green Arrow motioned with a smile and wink. He took a quick moment to make sure there weren’t anyone else within reach.
The same muscled arm from before lunged out and wrapped around Green Arrow. He made a mental note to provide for a larger margin of error when determining positioning and his opponent’s reach in the future. “You now have my attention, archer,” the giant scowled from close-up, giving Green Arrow his first real good look at the monster. Bald, face stretched and contorted into a permanent leather expression of rage. What he initially thought was a tattoo of an vicious bird of prey on his face turned out to be a horrible burn scar.
Green Arrow focused on the breath which smelled like rotten bratwurst. It was easier to just be grossed out rather than be intimidated. “It’s Arrow actually, and glad to be apprec-” His quip interrupted by the sudden trajectory of his body crashing through the museum wall. Somehow he managed to tumble to his feet with nothing broken, just in severe pain. “That all you got? I’ve had worse,” Green Arrow said as he shook off the dizziness, though he couldn’t immediately think of an example.
“Arrogant fool! You will not live to see worse after today!” The giant charged forward again with a punch like a freight train, but this time Green Arrow had plenty of room to duck to the side. The giant kept up the barrage of heavy punches, but Green Arrow kept his priority on evading attacks. He fired a few point blank arrows when he had a clear shot, aiming for any anatomical weak point he could remember where the skin might be softer, but each arrow bounced harmlessly off of invincible skin. “Your primitive weaponry is useless! You do nothing but postpone your death!”
“Give me a break, these are only my backup arrows!” Green Arrow complained, “If I had my real equipment I’d...” His quip was interrupted, this time by the sudden arrival of Black Canary who ducked between the two and shoved a full quiver into the giant’s face blunt end first, knocking the giant back a surprising distance. Enhanced metahuman strength plus an appropriately heavy object. “Normally you use those to shoot the bad guys, but glad to see some improvisation,” Green Arrow smiled, even as Black Canary angrily shoved the quiver into Green Arrow’s hands.
“Next time, get your own damn equipment!”
“Love you too!”
“When your pathetic weapon fails, you fight with your woman instead? Is this the best your Amerika has to offer against the Übermensch?” the giant sneered as he lumbered over to the super-couple.
Black Canary charged. “I’m not HIS woman.” The Übermensch swung one giant fist to flatten the superheroine, but it smashed into the floor as Black Canary sidestepped the punch and wrapped both of her arms around Ubermensch’s limb. “If anything, he’s MY man.” Flipping over his arm, gaining as much momentum as possible, Black Canary threw her leg into his chin, sending the giant back to the floor head first. “And this is OUR date you’re ruining.” She shoved the stiletto of her heel into the prone Übermensch’s cheek. “So please, just try to get up.”
“Very well.” In one swift blurring motion, Übermensch’s arm grabbed Black Canary’s leg and tossed her into the far wall, her body leaving a crater into the thick marble. He picked himself back up again and wiped the trickling blood from his mouth, just in time to notice the quickly growing shadow enveloping him.
The giant model plane plummeted down onto Übermensch, completely covering him in metal debris. Green Arrow leapt down from the perch he used to shoot down the ropes holding up the model plane and rushed to Black Canary. “You all right?”
“I’m fine,” Black Canary said as she limped to her feet.
Green Arrow remained unconvinced as he tried to help her up. “You sure? Your leg’s still healing from when Cavanaugh nearly took it off.” The memory of their first “super-outing” was still fresh in his mind, where Dinah almost had her leg amputated. The only reason she could even walk was due to her metahuman genes, even though Oliver still didn’t understand how they worked completely.
“I said I’m fine!” Black Canary insisted with frustration as she changed the subject. “What’s the deal with this guy, anyway?”
“He called himself Übermensch.”
“Like from the movie?”
Green Arrow shrugged. “Either he has the worst taste in cosplay, or he’s really let himself go since 1945 .”
“The show was fiction though!”
“Hey, it said it was based off of real stories and rumors of Diana Trevor. Maybe this guy’s one of the rumors,” Green Arrow tried to reason as he noticed the pile of debris start to rumble. “Or maybe he’s just a big scary guy who hates museums and television.” Arrow drew another arrow and Canary readied herself to continue the fight.
Predictably, the Übermensch burst out of the rubble with a loud roar. Canary and Arrow leapt to opposite sides to dodge flying debris and flank the giant. “And judging by the tattoo, probably everyone else.”
“Your so-called museum mocks greatness and exalts heresy! And then you peddle your blasphemies as history and childish entertainment!” the behemoth roared.
“So do you understand what he’s saying?” Black Canary asked while she threw a leaping kick (with her good leg this time) and sent one piece of debris flying back at the Ubermensch, who just shrugged it off.
“Nope. Shame. Must not speak a word of English,” Green Arrow quipped.
The Übermensch raised both arms above his head. “Perhaps you will understand this!” He pounded both fists into the ground, the crater and shockwave tearing up the marble floor and once again sending Black Canary and Green Arrow flying. “I am the Übermensch! Herald of the return of the master race! Scion of your destruction! The greatest creation of the divine genius of the Baroness!”
Arrow somersaulted to his feet and dove for cover. “Three trick arrows,” he muttered to himself. “Better make them count…” His eyes caught Canary’s, who similarly dove for cover. The two exchanged glances and silent tactical hand gestures, but argued over which play to use. Sign language married bickering in costume was not how either imagined this date to go.
Green Arrow’s cover was suddenly ripped up and thrown aside as the Übermensch lumbered over him. Canary leapt to her feet, running to try and keep her husband from being torn limb from limb, but she was too far away.
As Übermensch raised a fist to pummel Arrow into the ground, suddenly something slammed into him, knocking the giant back down to the ground. Arrow and Canary looked up to see a musclebound woman in shining red and gold armor, repeatedly punching the Übermensch into the ground, deeper with each strike.
Canary and Arrow watched the beating continue with surprise and momentarily relief. “You know her?” Canary muttered softly to Arrow.
“I swear, I've never seen her before in my life!” Arrow replied defensively.
Canary rolled her eyes. “I meant is she on our side?”
“Oh,” Oliver’s transition from reputed playboy to monogamous husband still kept him paranoid about Dinah’s jealousy, whether or not she was actually the jealous type. “I sure hope so.”
The armored woman momentarily stopped beating the Übermensch’s face in, “You know the Baroness?”
Despite the blood and bruises, the Übermensch looked directly into his attacker’s eyes and smiled. “The reputed Wonder Woman. She told me you would provide a challenge.”
“Does she live?”
The Übermensch laughed in response. “The Baroness is one whose greatness transcends death itself. Death is for the weak and the simple-minded. Death is a concept that no longer applies to such divinity as the Baroness.”
She picked up the Übermensch by the cut of his shirt and slammed him into the wall. “WHERE IS SHE?!”
“You are strong,” the Übermensch said with unfettered calm, “but you are under the delusion that your strength is superior or even comparable to mine. Allow me to help you understand the reality that is the Übermensch!” He moved with a new speed and efficiency unneeded earlier. One massive arm wrapped around the woman’s arm while his other wrapped around her head, thrusting her face into the floor.
The woman struggled, not flailing helplessly, but contorting her free arm and legs to try and reverse the hold, but even a direct groin shot didn’t faze the giant or loosen his tight grip on her face. She was skilled, well-trained, but so was he. And the Übermensch’s hand cut off her sight and her breathing. “Is this all that the so-called Wonder Woman is capable of?” Soon she would pass out, either from suffocation or being slowly crushed in the Übermensch’s grip.
A few green-tipped arrows shot into Ubermensch’s skin, finally piercing and drawing blood, though they did little else. “And THAT is why we only use the backup bow as a backup, and don't leave the real thing in coat check.”
The Übermensch remained unfazed even as arrows stuck out of his chest and shoulder. “You think just because you are able to draw blood you pose a danger? You are still nothing but a mosquito.”
Green Arrow only smirked. “That's why I'm just the distraction.”
Black Canary meanwhile had quietly climbed to the top of one of the larger statues. Leaping off in a graceful dive, Canary flipped midair to deliver a gravity-powered kick directly to Übermensch’s skull.
It was enough to knock Ubermensch away from his victim, which was Green Arrow’s cue to fire a special arrow. Striking Übermensch in the dead center of his chest, as the brute saw no reason to try and dodge or block the shot, this time the mere inconvenience was accompanied by a literal shock as a million volts coursed through his body.
“Looks like that stung a bit more than the other mosquito bites,” he quipped before noticing Black Canary having more difficulty getting up than before. Rushing over to her side, he pulled her arm around his shoulder before she could protest. “I don't care if you have enhanced metahuman healing, you still need time to fully recover.”
Black Canary tried to stand on her own, but her healing factor was taking longer than usual to kick in. “Just give me a few minutes for the sprain to go away.”
“Hate to break it to you, but I don't think we have that long!” Übermensch was already back up and charging the two, swinging both arms up to slam down on the couple. “Only two trick arrows left,” Green Arrow muttered nervously. He shot the first arrow at the floor directly in front of Übermensch. Upon striking the floor, the arrowhead exploded, spraying a dark green liquid.
Übermensch may as well have stepped on a greased-up oil slick on black ice. Instead of charging forward he slipped and fell shoulder first, but still the giant’s body slid towards Arrow and Canary, threatening to crush them.
Green Arrow quickly loaded his second arrow and fired, this one attached to Arrow’s quiver by a thin but strong cable. The arrow imbedded into a far wall and secured itself. Grabbing Black Canary, he hit the trigger for the cable to retract, pulling the two out of danger as the Übermensch crashed through the marble wall. It was as Errol Flynn a maneuver as he could pull without any medieval chandeliers to drop on enemies while riding the hypothetical rope up.
The Übermensch landed on the grass outside the museum, wiping the majority of the slick fluid off of him. Wonder Woman grabbed pair of heavy line divider posts, connected together by a thick cable, and rushed out the Ubermensch-shaped hole. When Arrow and Canary followed, they found Wonder Woman trading blows in the middle of the museum lawn with Ubermensch, only rather than risking another ill-fated wrestling match, Wonder Woman twirled the heavy metal posts like oversized nunchakus and bashed him repeatedly.
“Get me in position,” Canary said sternly.
“No way!” Arrow protested as he positioned himself between Canary and the rest of the action. “You’ll hit Wonder What’s-Her-Name. Just give her a chance.”
“We don’t have time! You know the Gateway City police are already on their way. And they won’t care if we’re the good guys or bad guys. They’ll arrest everyone in a costume. And even if she can take him down, how much collateral damage are they going to cause in the meantime?” As if to punctuate her point, Ubermensch grabbed one of the posts flying at him and reversed the momentum to fling Wonder Woman into a nearby statue, shattering it. Wonder Woman stood back up quickly to continue the fight.
Arrow reluctantly stepped behind Canary. “All right, just try not to hurt the good guys too much.”
Canary drew in a deep breath, and let out an ear-piercing focused scream. The sheer force of the sound tore up the lawn and stopped both Wonder Woman and Übermensch in their tracks. Both clutched their ears in agony as the glass in every car on the street shattered at once. She kept the scream constant, wearing the Ubermensch down as she slowly stepped closer to focus it more.
Übermensch shot an angry glare in the source of the screeching noise, and rather than continuing to cover his ears, managed to swing both arms back and slam them together in a resounding thunderclap, the shockwave knocking all three heroes, as well as several cars, back several feet. “Irritating noisy bird,” the Übermensch growled. “This no longer concerns you!”
Sirens of a different nature drew closer as the lights of the Gateway City police were now visible several blocks down the road. The Übermensch scoffed. “We will finish this later, Wonder Woman. For now, my mistress commands my presence elsewhere.” He turned his attention to the other two heroes picking themselves up. “As for you two, pray we do not meet again.” Squatting down, the Übermensch took a bounding leap, clearing a nearby three-story building as he made his escape.
“Get us out of here,” said an anxious Canary as she helped Arrow back up.
“Er... about that. I used my only Grapple arrow in the museum already. I’m fresh out,” Green Arrow said meekly, prompting a venomous glare from Black Canary.
The sirens grew louder as the police quickly closed in. “Come on, we’ve got to move!” Black Canary’s hobble turned to a quick jog as her leg started to behave normally again, thanks to part adrenaline and part healing factor. Carrying each other, they had to cross a four lane street just to find even an alleyway for cover. She doubted they could lose the police in the museum either.
Suddenly a jeep swerved around the corner and parked as close to the scene as possible. Rolling down the window, an old man smiled out the window. “Well, hurry up now. I don’t have any money for the meter.”
“Seems like a good idea to me,” Arrow said as the two rushed into the back seat. “I don’t know who you are, old timer, but I’d be mighty grateful if you got us the hell out of here.”
The old man turned back and scowled at Green Arrow. “Did I say old timer? I meant sir,” Arrow quickly corrected.
“Didn’t your parents ever tell you you’re supposed to hold the door for the lady?” the old man accused.
Before Arrow could even react, much less ask what he was going on about, the back door to the jeep opened again and Wonder Woman jumped in, wedging Arrow in between two very muscular, scantily clad, and very easily angered women, one of which he was married to. “Awkward,” he muttered to himself. “Can we go now?”
“One moment,” the old man said calmly as he meticulously fiddled with a dated cassette player, much to his passengers’ frustration. “Always select your music of choice before you start driving. Safety first.” He inserted the cassette tape and pressed play as the police were now less than a block away.
The Benny Hill theme started playing over the speakers.
Green Arrow’s face went white. “We’re doomed.”
Going from zero to fifty in practically no time at all, the jeep suddenly swerved into a U-turn and zoomed down main street with the Gateway City police in hot pursuit.
In the past month, Green Arrow had faced off against corporate sabotage, lethal assassins, an entire camp of trained mercenaries, and marriage. But sitting in the back of this jeep with no seat belt was truly terrifying.
He could hardly watch, closing his eyes as and feeling every jerk as the jeep made sharp turns down alleyways and back roads, all while the trumpets and carnival music of Benny Hill blasted over the jeep’s speakers. He vowed never to criticize Diggle’s driving again.
When the song finally ended, which seemed like an eternity that would only end with being mauled in an inevitable crash, the jeep came to a clean, if abrupt, stop in the basement of a parking garage. “This looks like a good place for you to get out.”
Green Arrow couldn’t reach the door fast enough, except that Black Canary hesitated, “Won’t they arrest you for helping us?”
“Me? Whatever did I do? I’m just an old man who gave three harmless, lost, oddly dressed strangers a ride across town. After all, everyone knows we don’t have any vigilantes in Gateway City,” he said with a knowing smile.
“What about you?” Black Canary turned her attention to the other woman, “Are you coming with us?”
“Oh don’t you worry about her,” the old man answered for her, “This stop is just for you Star City folks.”
“Thanks for the assist, Gramps,” Green Arrow said with a smile as he rushed Canary out of the car before turning to the other passenger. “And as for you, Wonder Woman. I don’t know what your story is with the big angry Nazi, but it’s a pleasure working with a new hero like yourself,” he said in his best cheesy hero voice, shaking Wonder Woman’s hand. “If you ever need our help, you can look us up in Star City.”
Arrow flashing a smile elicited a VERY disapproving scowl from Black Canary, who pulled him out of the jeep so the two could make their escape. Wonder Woman didn’t have a chance to respond until they were well out of earshot, instead turning to the old man. “Who were those people, Steve? Are there many people like them around? And what’s a Wonder Woman?”
Steve Trevor only chuckled as he drove the jeep casually out of the parking lot and out of the city, easily avoiding the GCPD while doing so.
To be continued…