Brave New World: Arrow

Chapter 13

Malcolm Merlyn was standing in his office, waiting to hear confirmation that his plan was in motion, when suddenly, the lights went out.

"Well, this is a surprise." Malcolm said as he heard someone drop down from the vents behind him.

"Malcolm Merlyn, you have failed this city." the Green Arrow snarled.

"Really, and how can I have possibly done that?" Malcolm asked as he turned to face the Green Arrow.

"I know everything about you. I know you were once Al Sah Her, one of Ra's al Ghul's Horsemen. I know that you were released from the League under the condition that you followed it's code and I also know that you have done nothing to follow that code. I know about your Undertaking, about how you blame the Glades for the death of your wife and plan to destroy it all with an earthquake machine to get revenge. But this won't bring Rebecca back." Green Arrow said, since while he knew it was vain, he had learned from Earth 2 Tommy that it might be possible to consider talking Malcolm down.

"I know that. But I'm not trying to bring her back. I just want to make the people who killed her suffer as much as I have." Malcolm said.

"One man killed her. Think about all the innocent people you'd be killing." Green Arrow said.

"Innocent, you're dumber than I thought. I would hardly call anyone in the Glades innocent. And while one man may have done the deed, the rest of them couldn't be bothered to help her. They deserve the same fate as her." Malcolm said and Green Arrow sighed.

"What would she say if she were here right now?" Green Arrow said, giving it one last shot.

"That's funny, I don't know. The dead have nothing left to say. Now, if you're done trying to appeal to my humanity, let's get this over with." Malcolm said.

"Figured I'd tell your son I tried to save you." Green Arrow said as Malcolm dropped a flash bomb, forcing the Green Arrow to look away, but when the light died down, Malcolm was gone.

"Flash bomb, really?" Green Arrow asked.

"Well, I didn't feel properly dressed for the occasion." Malcolm said as he jumped down, now dressed in his Dark Archer garb.

"You have some nerve to wear League Armor while dishonoring it." Green Arrow said.

"And you have some nerve coming here alone." Dark Archer said as members of the Thanatos Guild surrounded them.

"Who said I came alone?" Green Arrow asked as he activated his new earplugs, right as a loud sonic cry pierced the air, shattering the windows as Black Canary, Artemis, Wild Dog, Nyssa and several League members entered through them.

"I'm guessing talking it out didn't work." Black Canary asked.

"Figured it was a long shot, but I had to try." Green Arrow said.

"Now we can please get to the part where we send them all to hell?" Artemis asked.

"Remember, Merlyn's mine." Green Arrow said and they nodded.

"As long as I get Athena." Artemis said as they charged.

"Overwatch, is the hacker in place?" Green Arrow asked.

"Yep, while you were getting chatty with Merlyn, Artemis did her job and planted the bug in the Merlyn Global servers, I am currently going through the data now, I'll let you know when you're cleared to kill Malcolm without being turned into a public enemy." Overwatch said.

"Good." Green Arrow said as he engaged Dark Archer, their moves were perfectly timed as his bow clashed against Merlyn's sword.

"You're good. It's a shame you had to follow this path. We could've been allies." Dark Archer said.

"I've tried being allies with people like you. Never ended well. And I would never side with you." Green Arrow snarled, since he'd never work with Malcolm again and honestly never would've to begin with if he'd had any other choices in the past.

"So be it." Dark Archer said as they fought each other, only for the Dark Archer to quickly begin to realize how outmatched he was.

"You dare to wield that sword you vermin?" Athena asked Artemis as the two of them sparred.

"I earned this sword, not you'd believe it. It's time to take you down." Artemis said.

"It's funny, the woman who named herself after the archer goddess uses a sword over a bow." Athena said.

"I adapt to the situation and I want to do this up close and personal." Artemis said as they fought, sparks flew as their blades clashed, but it quickly became clear that despite her being named after an archer, Artemis was the superior swordswoman and she disarmed Athena before holding her blade at her opponent's throat after knocking her to the ground.

"Go on, beg for mercy." Artemis said, her anger at what this woman had done to Roy in the old reality surfacing.

"Never." Athena said.

"Okay then." Artemis said as she drove her sword through Athena's chest, taking great pleasure in doing so as she did.

"Good riddance." Artemis said as she turned to join the rest of the fight.

"Well?" Green Arrow asked Overwatch as he continued to fight Dark Archer, but honestly, he was starting to get bored of toying with him.

"Just leaked all the evidence to the SCPD and the FBI, excluding anything regarding your mom or Tommy of course. You're good to kill him now." Overwatch said.

"Finally." Green Arrow said as he finally stopped stalling and quickly disarmed Malcolm and used his own sword against him.

"I'm impressed, Oliver." Dark Archer said.

"So, you know my name. Good. Now you'll know who killed you and why. This is for my father." Green Arrow said as he proceeded to decapitate Malcolm as a precaution to ensure that this time, there would be no coming back for him.

On seeing both Malcolm and Athena dead, the surviving members of the Thanatos Guild knew they were beaten and quickly used smoke bombs to escape.

"The League will pursue them to destroy Merlyn's villainous legacy once and for all." Nyssa said and Green Arrow nodded.

"Let's get out of here." Green Arrow said as he and his team vanished as they heard the SCPD already approaching.