The Rise of Artemis

Chapter 20

The next night the team was in the bunker getting ready to go out on patrol when Barbara found something that she thought that they should look into being that it happened at the QC Applied Sciences building.

"Hey. You guys should look at this. Someone just broke into one of your family's buildings, Oliver." Barbara said.

"Which one?" Oliver asked.

"Applied Sciences. You should get out of here and try to stop this guy." Barbara said as the team left the bunker to make their way to the Applied Sciences building.

When they arrived they saw that the door had been busted off of its hinges. This gave Oliver a bad feeling because he had seen something like this before. He looked back at Thea and all she could do was nod, knowing what he wanted to know before he could even ask.

"Let's get in there and stop this guy. We need a sample of his blood though. It will help with what is coming." Artemis said as the rest of the team started to focus on what needed to be done.

They entered the warehouse and it didn't take them long to find the man that they were after. Green Arrow, Artemis, and Arsenal all knocked an arrow and shot it at the man. They buried into his flesh but it didn't seem to phase him at all. He turned around to them and just smiled as he charged at them. He hit Green Arrow first and sent him flying backward toward a wall. Black Canary went to check on him while the other three went about attacking this man that had more strength then anyone should ever have.

The man made short work of Artemis, Arsenal, and Spartan. He then decided to go after Green Arrow and Black Canary. Black Canary went on the attack first so that she could protect Green Arrow and this plan of attack didn't work out too well for her as she was thrown to the side and the man made his way toward Green Arrow.

The man picked up Green Arrow and all Black Canary had the time to do was use the device on her neck to hopefully slow him down enough so that all of the others could get back in the fight. When the sound came out of her mouth, she felt that it was more powerful than normal and it actually sent the guy flying into one of the shelves behind him and knocking him unconscious.

Everyone was looking at Black Canary with amazement on their faces. They didn't know that the device on her neck could be that powerful. The only one who had any idea what was going on was Artemis since she had seen it used in the future.

"What just happened?" Arsenal asked.

"I don't know. All I know is that I screamed and somehow the sound came out more powerful than it ever has before." Black Canary said.

"I think I know what is going on. Let's get back to the bunker and I will explain everything." Artemis said and they all nodded, as Green Arrow walked forward and took the arrows out of the guys back and hoped that there was enough blood on them so that they could make a cure.

. . .

Once they were back at the bunker, Oliver gave the arrows to Curtis and he and Barbara started to work on a cure right away. Oliver then turned to Thea and he could see that everyone else was looking at her too, waiting for an explanation to what was going on with Laurel.

"So Speed, what is going on with me?" Laurel asked.

"If it is what I think it is, you are what is known as a metahuman. These people have powers and it seems that yours have to do with your Canary Cry. Your doppelganger had the same power on Earth 2. The only difference is that you will use your power for good where she used hers for bad things for a while until she changed her ways and pretty much joined the team." Thea said.

"Ok. How did I become a metahuman though?" Laurel asked.

"I don't know. It must be genetic. I thought I was going to have to have you go to Central City for the particle accelerator, but that looks like it doesn't have to happen now though." Thea said.

"What about the particle accelerator?" Oliver asked.

"It blows up and gives a lot of people in Central City powers. I thought it was the only way for Laurel to get her powers." Thea said.

"Maybe we should go and stop the accelerator from being turned on." Roy said and Thea shook her head.

"No. It has to go off. One of our friends in the future needs for this to happen so that he can gain his powers." Thea said and the others nodded in agreement.

"Ok. I guess that means we need to find out why I got these powers without having the accelerator to cause them." Laurel said.

"Sounds like a good idea. Let Curtis take some blood and see what he can find out." Oliver said and Laurel nodded as she went over to where Curtis and Barbara were working.

It didn't take long for Curtis to take some blood and start working on seeing what was going on. When the results came back, Curtis had found that the metagene was activated, and it looked like the only way for her to have it now was if it was genetic. She would have to ask her parents about that at some point.

"I think what probably triggered your powers is that something stressful happened and it activated because of that." Curtis said.

"I was worried about Ollie when that man went after him. Maybe that was what triggered it." Laurel said.

"That is the most likely explanation. You might want to find somewhere that you can train though, so that you can get control of your powers." Curtis said.

"I will work on something for that. Now that we know what is going on, let's head out for the night. Hopefully tomorrow we can get to working on that cure and then we will be ready for what is coming. I am afraid I know where this is all going, because I fought a man on the island who had the same strength. It is the only way that I can think of that people would have this strength. He has to be behind it." Oliver said.

"He is." Thea said quietly and that was all Oliver needed to know.

They all headed out after this so that they could get some rest. It looked like the next few weeks or months were going to be very hectic if what Oliver's look told them was true.