Star City
Two Weeks AgoIt had been awhile since Roy had visited his hometown, long enough that he hardly recognized it. He chuckled to himself quietly as he found his old neighbourhood now gentrified. He had been aware that for several years Oliver Queen had been investing a lot of money into fixing up Star City, but he was still impressed by how much progress there had been.
“Look Lian, this is where daddy grew up,” Roy said to the child in his arms.
Lian responded with a smile as the pair walked down the street. This was Lian’s first time in Star City, as Roy wanted her to connect with his past. While there were a lot of bad memories in this city, there were just as many good ones. Addressing these memories was key for Roy, as part of his path of sobriety was making peace with himself. And Roy felt at peace right now, standing in this familiar place.
The brief moment of bliss was interrupted by the text jingle of Roy’s phone. Shifting Lian so that he could hold her with one arm, Roy checked his cell. A link had been sent to him, one labelled urgent. Roy quickly opened it, his eyes widening as a video played. The Justice League were battling some kind of monster, and seemed to be losing. Roy’s eyes were fixed to the screen as various Leaguers were tossed around. Then Green Arrow was grabbed by the arm and thrown, a sickening crunch being audible as his arm twisted in an unnatural way.
“Oliver, no…” Roy whispered.
Lian seemed to realize the pain her father was in as she began to cry. But still Roy couldn’t look away. He saw the Brazilian hero Fire collapse dead. He saw the batmobile crunched into a heap of metal with Batman inside. He saw Superman explode. By the time Roy became aware of his surroundings, Lian was deeply crying, making the wails only an infant can. And Roy was also crying, as tears fell down his face silently, while a rage burned deep inside him. He was angry at that monster, but he was also angry at himself. He should of been there, fighting alongside the other heroes. As that rage spread throughout his body, Roy looked back at his phone. Footage of the destruction left by the battle and those who were injured or died was all around social media.
“Damn it!” Roy shouted as threw his phone at the ground, shattering it.
The tears continued to flow down Roy’s cheeks as Lian wailed even louder. Roy finally became aware of Lian’s tears as he looked into her eyes. A small feeling of calm spread through his mind as he focused on his daughter. Even as the tears began to fall, Roy managed to form a smile.
“It’s alright baby,” Roy said softly as he held her tightly, “Everything will be alright.”
***
Metropolis
NowRoy stood in his bedroom, once again staring at his costume. While he had commissioned it several months back, Roy had yet to wear it. For a while he felt it wasn’t the right time to become a hero again, not when he was still trying to sort out his life. But Roy had begun to think that was selfish, what with people in need and him being able to do something. That was represented all too well by the silver insignia that he had added to the belt of the costume.
It had been in light of Superman’s sacrifice that Roy had decided to wear the costume. Black Lightning had offered him a place in the Supermen of America, to which Roy agreed, ready to join a team again. It had been a long time since Roy was on a team, having left the Teen Titans several years ago. That whole time operating as Speedy was important to Roy, but he had changed since then. It was due to this that he had formed a new identity: Arsenal.
It was then that a blond woman entered the room, holding Lian in her arms, “Whatcha staring at Roy?”
Roy quickly pressed a button, causing the suit to disappear back into the wall, “Nothing Artemis.”
“Sure,” Artemis said while putting Lian down on the bed, “Look, I understand the whole superhero ennui thing, so if you need to talk I’m here.”
Roy sighed, before changing the subject, “Spoken to Oliver recently?”
“Yeah, he’ll be in a cast for awhile,” Artemis replied, “But you could’ve asked him yourself.”
Roy shrugged, “Well you know it’s hard talking to someone who threw you out when you really needed them.”
“That’s old news Roy,” Artemis stated, “I thought you were over that.”
Roy frowned. He had thought that he was over it until just now. Internally he beat himself up, trying to keep moving forward with his life. He glanced over at Lian, then to Artemis. He knew had a family here but he guessed calling Oliver couldn’t hurt.
“I guess I am,” Roy said as he sat next to Lian on the bed.
Across the room on his desk, Roy’s laptop began beeping. He turned to Artemis, “Could you turn whatever that is off please.”
Artemis nodded, before opening the laptop, “It’s an urgent call for Speedy.”
“What?” Roy asked he got up.
“Yep, that is the Supermen of America contacting you,” Artemis handed the laptop to Roy.
Roy answered the call, the face of Black Lightning popping up. Before the older hero could say anything Roy stated, “Y’know its not Speedy anymore, its Arsenal.”
Black Lightning chuckled, “Sorry, guess we haven’t updated the database yet.”
“See that you do,” Roy said with a smile, “So what’s so urgent?”
“Well a couple things right now,” Black Lightning’s face grew solemn, “But I would like you here in Metropolis for a crisis brewing. How fast can you get to the Daily Star Radio Station?”
“Ten minutes give or take from here. What’s happened?” Roy questioned.
“Bloodsport and Livewire have taken the station hostage. Apparently just to play Livewire’s music. But we need someone down there to rescue the hostages and the Supermen are spread thin,” Black Lightning grimaced, “Can I count on you?”
Roy glanced over to Artemis before turning back to Black Lightning, “I’ll be there ASAP.”
“Good, Lightning out.” The video call closed.
“You sure about this Roy,” Artemis eyed him.
“Yeah, I need to do this,” Roy said while standing up, “But could you watch Lian?”
“Anytime,” Artemis said before hugging Roy, “Be safe.”
“Always,” Roy said while returning the hug.
Roy then pressed the button to reveal his suit from the wall. With a big grin on his face he turned to Lian, “Daddy needs to go beat up some bad guys, but Auntie Artemis will be here.”
In two minutes, Arsenal sped away from the town home on his motorcycle. With as much speed as his vehicle could muster, he headed toward the radio station.
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