The Rise of Artemis

Chapter 21

Over the next couple of weeks the team had taken down some more people from the list. Thea knew from the future that because Oliver stopped going after people on the list, the city never truly got cleaned up. That was something that Thea was going to make sure happened in this timeline. She was going to make sure that their city was clean of any corruption.

Laurel had also been working with her powers and she was really becoming an expert at her Canary Cry. She was able to use different pitches to do different things. She also worked on hitting targets instead of just letting the cry free. She had gotten really good at this. Sometimes she and Oliver would have a competition, seeing who could hit the most targets. Oliver was still a bit better right now with his bow and arrows, but Laurel seemed to be catching up to him rather quickly.

The development of Laurel's powers made Curtis come up with an idea for ear pieces that would filter out Laurel's Cry so that the rest of them wouldn't be debilitated if she had to scream near them. Everything was working well with those so far, so they were glad that Curtis had been around to make them.

Barbara and Curtis had also been working on reverse engineering the Mirakuru so that they could make a cure. That had been going well. They already had some doses made and were going to mass produce it soon.

Everything was going well for the team as of right now. They knew that it would just be a matter of time before Slade showed up, so they knew that they had to be ready, but for right now, they were just worried about stopping any crime that had arisen in the city.

Tonight was an easy night, so when the team got back from their patrol, Thea and Oliver went to change into training clothes and Thea was going to work with Oliver on his sword training.

"I know you don't see the need in this Ollie, but in the future you will need it. I have seen that in person. You actually get pretty good with a sword. Not as good as me but still good enough to do what needs to be done in the future." Thea said.

"I believe you Thea. I just never thought that I would have to use a sword in my mission to save the city." Oliver said.

"That is understandable. You weren't too happy about it last time either. You went into the fight thinking that you were good at it when you weren't and you got hurt badly because of that. I am making sure that you are good this time around." Thea said.

"Thanks for that Speedy. I am really enjoying having you around. The rest of the team as well. I always thought that I was going to have to do this alone, but I am glad that I don't." Oliver said.

"I am happy to be here too. It is what I always wanted. We got close in the end, but we had our problems for the first couple of years that you were back. I always just thought that you were flaking on us, but I finally found out the truth and we became very close after that. We still had our problems sometimes, but we always got over them." Thea said.

"Well, that is a good thing. How about we get to work?" Oliver asked and Thea nodded as the two siblings began working on their sword skills.

Oliver was really getting good at this. Thea knew that her brother was always a quick learner, but she didn't know that he would pick up sword fighting that quickly. Once Thea was done working with Oliver for the night, they both walked over to the edge of the mat and took a drink from their water bottles.

"So, how did I do?" Oliver asked.

"You are picking up everything quickly. I think you might be as good as me soon. That will really help with the situation when the time comes." Thea said.

"I don't feel like I am doing that great though. You still beat me everytime." Oliver said.

Thea couldn't help but smile at what her brother just said. "You are picking up everything really quick, Ollie. Sure, you might not think that you are doing great and it is not a competition. We just need you to keep getting better and then you will be beating me just as much as I am beating you." Thea said.

"Ok thanks. I will take your word for it. By the way, Laurel and I are going on a date tomorrow night and we wanted to know if you and Roy would like to tag along." Oliver said.

"I think that will be fun. I will ask Roy tomorrow and I will let you know for sure." Thea said.

"Yeah, it should be fun. I hope the two of you are able to make it." Oliver said and Thea nodded with a smile.

"I don't think that it would be a problem. I will let you know as soon as I find out something. I think Dig should be able to handle everything for a little while tomorrow night." Thea said.

"Yeah. He should be able to. We will have our phones with us in case we are needed though. Maybe we can choose something that is nearby." Oliver said.

"I have a better idea. Why don't we just hang out at the club? We will be here if something happens, but it will look better if you are here though, being that you are the owner and you need to show your face every once in a while." Thea said.

"You make a good point. I think I can work with that. I think it is time to head home Speedy. There is no reason for us to stay here any longer on a slow night. It looks like everyone else has already left anyway." Oliver said as the siblings looked around to find the bunker empty other than the two of them.

"Yeah. Let's head out." Thea said as they both made it home at a decent hour for the first time in weeks.