Poison
Chapter 6
Chapter 6
“I don’t care what it takes! Find the Green Arrow. He’s already terrorized not only myself but other innocent citizens in Metropolis as well. I want all of my best men on this.”
“Shouldn’t the police be handling this Mr. Luthor?”
“I’m sure the police are doing what they can. We’re simply giving them a little help. Notify me when you find any information.”
“Yes sir.”
Lex stepped over to the mirror. The black eye he sported was the worst of the various other bruises and cuts that marred his features. He was sore everywhere. It had taken him nearly the entire day to get out of bed. The strength that the Green Arrow possessed was inhuman. He’d witnessed it first hand. The drug worked. Unfortunately for the Green Arrow, his time was short. Lex was certain that the Emerald Archer was unaware that the same drug that gave him strength and increased his aggression would also kill him. Lex smirked. He’d hoped that when they did find the man, he’d already be dead. That thought alone was worth the little beating he’d been given.
He pulled his cell phone from his pocket, dialing. “Dr. McClellan. Yes, I realize it’s late. I need to see you immediately.”
* * * * *
Keep Chloe safe, protect her. It was a mantra so long ago ingrained in him, that it became an instinct, a part of him. Something he didn’t have to think about. Since she’d first become his Watchtower, that very first mission when they’d destroyed the Ridge Facility two years ago, to the night on the Daily Planet rooftop, when she’d tried to escape from Dinah Lance. Keep Chloe safe, protect her. He had leapt from the ledge of the building, running to her side that night.
Somebody’s after me... Isn’t this the part where you swoop in and save me?
And every mission after that, his instinct was to keep her safe. He remembered that night, months before he’d ever kissed her, when they’d run together through a darkened alley, making their escape, his only concern was for her, getting her on his bike, getting her out. She’d held onto him so tightly, her body so close he could feel her breasts pressing against his back through the leather, her inner thighs fitting snugly against him, her small hands on him, her very nearness making him ache for her. He’d quickly cast those thoughts aside disregarding them, because she was his Watchtower and his friend, and her safety came first.
And now, he’d locked her in a closet to keep her safe. Only this time the threat to her well-being was himself.
He rode over the darkened highway, toward Luthor mansion. One task to complete. Somehow all of his anger and rage was now fixated on Lex Luthor. It didn’t matter anymore why. He knew he had to get to Luthor, finish what he’d started.
Oliver blinked away the sweat from his eyes, his vision blurring, his breathing becoming irregular. His bike swerved, weaving slightly over the white-line dividers of the road, but he recovered, and continued onward. Closer to the mansion, closer to Lex, closer to ending this once and for all. He didn’t stop when he began to feel discomfort and heaviness in his chest, or the tingling in his arms and hands. He kept on. It didn’t matter, he was invincible. He didn’t stop when the discomfort in his chest became pain, or when dizziness threatened. He had a mission to complete.
* * * * *
She'd tried the door several times, but it wouldn't budge. The closet, void of anything useful to pick the lock or break out. Chloe sat back down on the floor, glancing at the bars on her cell phone, the glow from the display light, casting shadows on her tired face. No signal. She buried her head in her hands, as she sat hunched on the floor of the storage closet. No one knew where she was except Oliver, and she was worried. He hadn’t looked good when he left, and she feared the worst. Massive coronary or stroke, Dr. McClellan had said. She hoped it wouldn’t happen, but she needed to get out of here, they needed to get to him before he hurt Lex, or before he suffered a heart attack, or worse.
He had listened to her. She had somehow gotten through to him, and he’d stopped his assault on her before it could go too far. She wondered if the drug’s effects were subsiding, and if they were, that meant his body, weakened by the onslaught of such greatly increased levels of adrenaline and stress would soon collapse. “Oh Ollie,” her voice, weakened with sorrow, broke the silence of the enclosed, darkened space, causing her to feel even more helpless. All of this, because he fought against injustices and wrongdoings, tried to keep people like Lex from hurting others. It wasn’t fair, it wasn’t right that Oliver should suffer because he tried to do some good in the world. Yes, he knew the risks, and so did she, but that didn’t make it any easier to accept.
Looking down at her useless phone once again, a thought came to her, and on a whim, she rose to her feet, calling out. It was worth a shot. “Clark!” She waited. “Clark! I need you to find me!”
* * * * *
“You don’t think he’ll hurt her do you?” Bart paced the penthouse living room. “We need to go after them! I can’t handle standing around waiting for something to happen.”
“If we try, he might kill her,” Victor said.
Clark! I need you to find me!
“I don’t know. I never thought I’d see the day he’d hold a knife to her throat and kidnap her. It’s unreal. I honestly don’t know what he’ll do,” Clark answered worriedly. “But I don’t think he’ll kill her.”
“Let’s just hope the drug wears off soon. Ollie’s going to be one messed up dude when this is over.” A.C. swallowed, his throat constricting with his next thought. “That’s if he survives it.”
Please Clark! Please. I need you!
“Or remembers it,” Clark added, turning away from them, gazing off somewhere to another place, another time. Speaking to the distance, he continued. “Many times when someone’s infected like this, they have no memory of what they’ve done. I’ve seen it many times. My own father nearly killed someone once, when he was infected, and had no recollection of it later. Nothing having to do with meteor rocks is ever good.” Clark faced them again. “My powers are coming back, so that might mean the drug is wearing off, and if it is, we need to get Chloe and be there for Oliver when he finally falls apart.”
Clark!
“But we don’t know where he is!”
Clark! If you can hear me, please find me!
Clark spun around suddenly, his eyes wide.
“What is it?”
“It’s Chloe!”
“What?”
Clark! Please find me!
“She’s calling me. Her voice… I can hear her. I know where she is!”
* * * * *
He rode through the pain and the dizziness. His bike slowed, swerving again, but he was almost there, half a mile away from the mansion. Half a mile closer to finally getting rid of Lex Luthor.
Sharp pain now, stabbing through him like a thousand arrows in his chest, gripped him. The Green Arrow swayed, losing complete control of his motorcycle. The bike spun out from under him, skidding and sliding down the road, sparks flying. His body, limp, rolling, bouncing off the pavement, following the path of the bike, before motorcycle and rider’s paths diverged, and the bike came to a stop, wheels spinning, rider heading for the ditch alongside the road.
And witnessing all of this, as they traveled down the opposite side of the highway, was a black vehicle. The men inside pulled over to the shoulder, stopping. One man stepped out, flashlight beam cutting through the darkness, crossing the road to investigate.
The beam fell on a figure below, appearing twisted and broken, but alive. The man pulled out his cell phone. “Mr. Luthor. I think we’ve found The Green Arrow.”
End Chapter 6
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