The Arrow and The Arachnid

Years End

The Arachnid's body crashed through a store window with a groan coming from Jayden. He had offered to take this night of patrolling to give Oliver a bit of a break, but he wasn't expecting to run into this much trouble.
The young man sat up coughing and cracking his knuckles before his brain buzzed when danger was on the rise before he rolled out of the way of a moving car. 'Next time I'm not dealing with the whack job.' Jayden thought before shooting a web out and launching forward.
When he landed outside the store he was met with a man in some sort of rhinoceros suit preparing to charge at him again. "I'll flatten ya!" The Rhino rushed at Jayden who held his ground. 'We've been going at this for hours.' He thought leaping over his foe and striking him in the back with his escrima sticks not having any effect.
Jayden landed behind Rhino closely watching as the berserker turned and prepared to charge again. "Come on big guy, it can't be that hard." The Arachnid taunted as he ran towards Rhino. "Quiet spider freak!" He retorted as Jayden shot webs into his face blinding him for a moment as he crashed into a light pole.
Rhino unfazed turned back around to the arachnid themed hero with sweat dripping down his face while he was taking in heavy breaths. "What's wrong needle nose can't keep up?" Jayden continued to taunt earning a roar from his foe who charged again. Rhino shoulder checked The Arachnid into a local gym as the young hero laid there for a moment to think.
The berserker had entered the building and hovered over Jayden who was in a daze. "Wait, wait." He cried, earning a confused look from Rhino. "What?" "Weight!" Jayden shot a webline from his wrist and slammed a dumbbell into the back of the villain's head only for the weight to shatter against the hide.
Rhino then prepared to stomp on the hero only for Jayden to dodge and leap into the air landing a vicious three hit combination that Rhino couldn't keep up with. The Arachnid noticed Rhino was on his last legs kneeling down. "Let's get you in a nice cage in Iron Heights!" Jayden pulled his two fists together and brought them down onto the Rhino, not holding back and knocking him unconscious. "Now while you're not a reindeer I'm sure the SCPD wouldn't mind a present." Jayden said, wrapping the giant in webbing and leaving a calling card for the police as he swung off. "
Base of Operations
Jayden entered the room as Oliver and Diggle finished sparing, pulling off his mask and sitting at a desk. "How come the bad guys don't take a break even before Christmas?" He questioned crossing his arms.
"It's Christmas?" Oliver asked, walking over to Jayden. "Soon. I'm taking my nephew to the mall so he can have a turn with Santa." Diggle answered. "In his defense Dig, on the island we didn't really have much of a chance to think of holidays." The young Lance sibling said.
"Another reason to give the list a rest and enjoy the holiday. Plus St. Nick has his own list and I'm sure you both are on the nice part." Diggle said before leaving with a smile.
Queen Manor
  The duo had entered the mansion before running into Thea who was dressed for a dinner for Moira and Walter. "You know Queen, if I knew you were going to be looking like that I would've made dinner plans." Jayden smiled, earning a smirk from the younger Queen sibling.
"Well that can be arranged if you don't mind a bunch of mucky mucks being there." Thea said, nudging to the room behind her. "Actually, I was wondering where are all the Christmas decorations?" Oliver asked, looking around. "Everyone has just been really busy lately. I'm sure they haven't got around to it yet." She answered, still smiling.
"Does mom at least have some of those boxes of candy canes?" Oliver asked. "Oh yeah, we all used to race and see who could finish first, we would always lose for some reason." Jayden said while giving Thea a look. "Cause she would always cheat." Oliver snorted, earning a playful punch from his sister.
The trio then entered the dining room as Jayden noticed that Harry and Norman Osborn were also attending this dinner. It went how the young man thought with the adults mostly talking about business which didn't really interest him until they were on the topic of the vigilantes.
"So Jayden, what's your opinion on the vigilantes?" Norman asked, narrowing his gaze. "Honestly besides they have some pretty boring names, The Hoods ooo I'm so scared." He joked, earning a laugh from everyone. After a while it was noted that the vigilantes had struck again with Adam Hunt getting an arrow and Kurt Connors being kidnapped with a knife being left on the scene.
Jayden glanced over to Oliver who had received a phone call as he and the young man left to figure out what happened.
Base of Operations
"Who would try to frame you two while leaving arrows and knives at the scene?" Diggle asked while Jayden was at the computer going through the crime scenes. "It's the work of two separate people. The grouping on Hunt's chest  was tight and the knives that were left at the lab were engineered similarly to my own." He said looking at Oliver.
"So it's a setup." Oliver decided earning a shrug from Jayden. "Welp you know what to do when you need help." Jayden sighed.
Five Minutes Later
"Lance." Quentin answered from the disposable phone Oliver had sent him. "We didn't kidnap Kurt Connors or kill Adam Hunt." Jayden's altered voice rang. "You..." Quentin seethed. "You call us the Hoods. Pretty lame in my opinion, Detective." Jayden cracked before getting to the point.
"You said you thought it was a couple of copycats, so do we. That makes us your best bet at finding them." "What do you want?" Lance asked. "We need one of the arrows and knives. After that we'll catch your little impersonators and have them wrapped up for you before Christmas."
"Yeah, 'we're pretty good at pulling down leads off evidence. Thanks." The detective huffed. "Not like we are. Besides we can do things the police can't, and if necessary go places they won't."
"It'll be a cold day in hell when I decide to work with a couple of freaks in masks." Quentin said. "Don't be stubborn Detective you and I both know that if we don't stop these two then it's only going to get worse. Call back when you're ready to communicate." Jayden then hung up the phone.
Big Belly Burger
While waiting for Quentin to call back Jayden decided to meet up with Thea to try to make the day somewhat better. "I think there should be a national holiday for the guy that invented french fries." She chirped, taking one of Jayden's fries. "Oh dear Queen, a holiday is just so small, what about a statue or something like that." The young Lance sibling joked as Thea rolled her eyes.
"Sometimes Jayden Lance you are such a dork." "And yet you're eating out with said dork." quipped Jayden who smiled looking into her eyes. The two couldn't help but be happy being able to have some normality with everything that has happened. So not wanting to waste any time they started to move closer to each other.
"Yo Thea." Flash Thompson's voice rang as Jayden rolled his eyes before turning to the star quarterback. "Yo Flash." Jayden greeted sarcastically, earning a punch from Thea. "I bet the food on that island is better than this stuff huh Lance." Flash joked earning a smirk from Jayden. "You'd lose that bet QB 1."
"Anyway, we're heading down to the bay to hang out if you want to come Queen. Flash offered. "Thanks, but I'm spending the afternoon with my boyfriend." Thea said as Jayden did a quick spit take. "So you and little Lance are a thing, just wait till they guys hear about this." Flash then walked away as Jayden raised an eyebrow at his "girlfriend".
"So I'm your boyfriend now huh?" Jayden cooed as Thea rolled her eyes. "That depends on when you grow a pair and ask little lance." She teased as the young Lance sibling groaned. Jayden's phone then rang as he received a text from Harry as he sighed. "Can I meet you back at your place? Something came up and Harry needs my help.
"This is supposed to be our day Jay. She pouted only to receive a kiss on the cheek from Jayden. "I know, but I haven't really talked to him much since I got back. I promise it won't take long." The young Lance sibling gave the young Queen sibling a sympathetic look as she gave him the okay.
Osborn Residence
Jayden had met Harry in his room as the duo caught up. "You know Harry, if you wanted to hang you didn't have to send a 911 text." Jayden said as Harry walked over to the door and locked it. "Jay, I think my dad might be targeted by the vigilantes next." Harry said.
"Harry you and I both have heard on the news that they only go after wealthy crooks besides that Spider guy has returned tech that was stolen by Oscorp." Jayden attempted to reason with his friend who only frowned. "But those same vigilantes might have kidnapped Dr. Connors."
Jayden gave his best friend a pat on the back telling him that he's sure this is all going to blow over. "On a different note man you're on the football team. That's awesome." Jayden smiled as Harry returned the gesture.
"Oh you know it's not a big deal only that I also caught the winning catch that won us the championships." He bragged before giving his friend a smirk. "You also forgot to mention that you and Thea Queen are dating." "It's not official Hare, besides I don't want to rush it. Thea's always been special you know ever since we were kids." Jayden said smiling.
"Oh trust me I remember you and Flash getting into it about her too." The two then shared a laugh as the sound of glass shattering caught their attention. The pair entered the living room only to see that a vase was broken on the floor. "Must have been the wind." Harry proposed walking up to the window and closing it. Jayden's brain started to buzz before he quickly tackled Harry to the ground as a figure came crashing through the window.
"Merry Christmas Harold!" The figure yelled as Jayden got a better look at the figure. He was clad in a dark green and black costume with what seemed like an emerald goblin mask on. "Twas the day of Christmas, when all through the house. A little Osborn was stirring and he screamed like a mouse!" The assailant rushed as Jayden got on his feet and prepared to fight.
What Jayden wasn't expecting was for their attacker to dive past them outside the window and fly through the city on what Jayden could pick out was some sort of glider. 'Again I ask why don't the bad guys take Christmas off?' He wondered before he helped Harry off the floor.
The duo called the police who marked off the place as a crime scene before Jayden noticed his father was there. "Jay, are you okay?" "I'm fine dad whatever it was just tried to rattle us that's all." Jayden frowned. "It wasn't one of the vigilante's either. I'm thinking that it might have to do with Dr. Connors' disappearance."
"Leave the police work to the actual detectives Jay at least stay with Queen and her folks until we figure this out. "Quentin sighed as Jayden raised an eyebrow at the idea, but wasn't going to chance it and grabbed Harry before they left for the Queen's.
Queen Manor
After a couple of hours of resting Jayden woke up from his comfy spot in his room and got dressed in a black suit and tie. Before leaving he grabbed his spare web shooters, a bouquet for Moira,and a small black box .
"Merry Christmas." greeted Diggle as Jayden gave him a smile. "Right back at ya Diggle and are you alright Oli?" The young Lance sibling asked while his partner gave him a smile. The duo joined Oliver's family for the party as Jayden stood beside the photographer with the bouquet behind him.
"Mrs. Queen this is for you." He handed the flowers to Moira who smiled and thanked him before Thea grabbed him with a smirk on his face. "Oh so you got my mom something and not me. You're walking on thin ice Lance." She teased as Jayden turned to her as they began to dance to the music.
"It's a good thing I know how to skate then isn't it Queen." He retorted before twirling her around. "So what did ya get me hmmm?" Thea asked, nuzzling her face into his chest. "You'll see besides we have a whole party to get through." Jayden placed a kiss on her forehead before noticing Laurel and Tommy before excusing himself.
"Merlyn, keep this up and you might earn yourself a spot on the nice list." Jayden said, hugging the two of them. "Tommy, could you give me and Jayden a second?" Laurel asked as Tommy nodded and left to grab them drinks.
"I just wanted to get your opinion on this. Tommy and I have been doing this dance for a while now, and I know he's ready to take a step forward but I also keep making excuses. I kept blaming our family or work, but it's Oliver holding me back and I just don't know what to do." Laurel confessed as Jayden pulled his sister in for a tight hug.
"Laurel, trust me when I say that Oliver is happy for the two of you. Whenever we first found out we talked it over and we know that Tommy Merlyn is an amazing guy, and you two just work so well. I can speak for the two of us by saying that we just want to see you happy and he does." The young Lance sibling told his sister who squeezed her brother in response.
"I'm so happy for you sis, honest. After everything you've been through you deserve to be happy, Merry Christmas Laurel." Jayden kissed his sister on the cheek and walked off only for Oliver to pull him aside.
"The two copycats have made their next move. They have hostages." Oliver told him as the duo entered the room with Diggle turning on the tv. "Happy holidays, Starling City. For the past three months, this city has been laid siege by two vigilantes. But the police have been unable to bring them to justice because they lack the will to do what justice demands. We will kill one hostage every hour in the name of these vigilantes until they surrender themselves to our authority." A woman with tears in her eyes read.
"We have to end this." Jayden growled, grabbing his bag. " "The police are already on the scene Jay, maybe you should let them handle this." Diggle suggested as the younger Lance sibling started to suit up.
"The police won't be able to get answers on what happened to Dr. Connors and these guys are dangerous. I know that I'm not gonna sit by and do nothing when I can help people." Jayden ended the argument as the duo departed for the abandoned structure in the Glades.
The Glades
The duo crashed through a window and began freeing hostages as quickly as they could, taking in every part of the environment that they could. "Where are they?" The Arachnid asked as his spider sense went off before a fast moving object came crashing through the window and barreling into the spider themed hero.
The glider of some sort forced Jayden to use his strength to throw it aside as he looked around for its owner. The Arachnid's spider sense went off again as he dodged out of the way of a pumpkin themed knife. "Show yourself!" He yelled looking around as the glider came to life and flew off into a direction as the same goblin-like figure from before descended from a support beam and landed on the floor.
"You called hero?"The Goblin asked as Jayden readied himself by placing a hand by his belt. "Why are you doing this? Where's Kurt Connors?" He questioned only for the assailant to laugh. "So many questions, but such little time. What you should be asking is how you make it out alive." The Goblin grabbed a pumpkin knife and threw it as Jayden countered with his own knife.
The two projectiles collided before clanging to the floor as The Goblin reached behind and pulled out a long black katana. The Arachnid wasted no time and pulled out his escrima sticks preparing for a fight not wanting to take the first step until his opponent did.
It didn't take long for The Goblin to close the gap between the two and attempt a horizontal slash that Jayden deflected. The hero retorted by trying to sweep his advisory's legs only for him to dodge and receive a kick to the chest that sent Jayden skidding.
Jayden quickly got back into the fight trying to control the pace of their fight by using his enhanced speed to throw off The Goblin, but it was in vain because the assailant was moving faster and starting to pick up on his fighting style. The Arachnid brought his sticks down only for The Goblin to disarm him and land a vertical slash on his chest.
The young Lance sibling cried out in pain before shooting webbing in his opponent's face and pulling himself away with a webline to get away. While he got into the air the Goblin's glider swooped in and sliced through the webbing sending Jayden tumbling into some boxes with a loud thud.
'Talk about Santa's angry elf.' He thought noticing the wound on his chest start to pour out blood as he quickly covered the wound up in webbing to stop the bleeding. Jayden picked himself up looking in the direction of where The Goblin last was only for the villain to seemingly vanish.
'Great now where did he g-" The Arachnid was cut off from his thoughts as he felt his mind buzz again before diving out of the way from a knife from The Goblin. "Hey Emerald Elf, if you don't lay off the threads I'm gonna use that mask as a reef for my wall!" Jayden launched himself towards The Goblin landing a punch that staggered the assailant.
Not stopping there the young hero shot a web that latched onto a barrel before slamming it into his assaliant's side causing him to land a few feet away. "I have an offer for you Spider. Join forces with me and we could rule this city." The Goblin said sneakily reaching into his belt as Jayden cracked his knuckles before getting back into his stance.
"Sorry, but I already got a partner in green and he doesn't take hostages!" The Arachnid tackled into The Goblin with a punch to the jaw causing him to drop a small pumpkin like ball that glowed. The pair wrestled to the floor attempting to overpower the other but they were dead even.At least that was before Jayden's brain buzzed as an explosion sent him and The Goblin in separate directions.
'Worst Christmas ever.' The hero thought struggling to his feet only to notice his opponent and glider had disappeared. Oliver's screams soon echoed through the warehouse causing Jayden to switch gears and move as fast as he could with his injuries. As The Arachnid ran he saw The Dark Archer standing over his partner with an arrow in hand.
Jayden's body moved without thought as he body checked the foe catching him off guard sending him crashing into some boxes. "We gotta move." The Arachnid coughed, throwing The Arrow over his shoulder and crawling up and out of the warehouse. His strength left him once they made it outside to a dumpster before hitting the trash and raising his left hand to a communicator on his wrist.
"John, help." Jayden croaked while his eyes slowly closed losing consciousness.
Starling City Medical
Jayden's eyes snapped open as he winced trying to get up. "Easy there Jay." Laurel's voice echoed while his eyes adjusted to the light allowing him to see he was in a hospital.
He noticed he wasn't in costume which was a good sign that Diggle got to him and Oliver. "Is Ollie alright?" The young Lance sibling fired off as his sister gave him a hug. "He's fine Jay, but are you okay? Mr. Diggle told us that you two got into a motorcycle accident after riding back from taking care of something at the club." She told him as he hugged her back as tight as his body would allow him.
"Besides the soreness and lack of presents I guess I'm okay." He managed a soft smile that caused his sister to roll her eyes. "Sorry for worrying you Laurel, especially tonight I didn't mean to ruin your time with Tommy." Jayden apologized as Laurel kissed her brother on the forehead.
"It's okay Jay, I'm just glad you're okay." The older sister said before a knock on the door took their attention away. "That's my cue." Laurel smiled softly as she opened the door for Thea to enter the room. The two sisters shared a brief conversation that Jayden couldn't hear as Laurel stepped out giving the pair the room.
"You know it's not really cool to bail out on a Christmas party." Thea said with a smile sitting at the foot of the bed. "Did you just make a pun? I'm pretty sure I died in that accident." Jayden joked, earning a playful tap on the knee before switching gears. "Sorry for ditching the party. It's just Dr. Connors' disappearance is bothering me and I didn't want to ruin the mood."
"Jay, you know you can talk to me about anything. The police will find Connors, trust me you can't always be the hero." Thea said which made Jayden internally roll his eyes. "Maybe not in that regard, but do me a favor and grab something for me in my jacket." He told her as she got out of the bed and searched until she pulled out a black box.
"Open it." Jayden said with a smile earning a questionable look from his friend who slowly opened the box in question. Inside remained half of a silver heart locket with the initials J.L and T.Q.
          "Jay..." Her voice started to quiver only for Jayden to cut her off. "I know it might not be the shiniest thing you've gotten, but with everything going on I wanted at least this aspect of Christmas to be normal."
          "You're such a dork." She said hugging her friend before pressing her lips against his as fireworks shot off in their minds. The moment while not the prettiest still was something the two needed. Thea pulled away first however, earning an eyebrow raise from the young Lance sibling. She was silent but quick to put the locket on and smile with a wide grin on her face.
          "You've outdone yourself Jayden Lance, but you know that you'll have to come back to our place for your gift right?" Thea teased. "Ms. Queen I know I'm your boyfriend but this is just moving a bit fast. We haven't even gone on our second date." Jayden joked as Thea rolled her eyes and laughed.
          "Get your head out of the gutter Lance, I meant that I wasn't thinking of bringing you your present after hearing that you got into an accident with my brother." Thea held her smile high as Jayden couldn't help but feel a warm sensation swell up in his chest.
          However a knock on the door interrupted the couple as John walked in. "Can you see how long it's gonna be til we can go while I talk to Mr. Diggle?" The young vigilante asked as Thea nodded before leaving the room.
          "You and Oliver did good tonight, you know. 5 people get to go home and enjoy Christmas with the people they love. I'd take that any day." John said.
          Jayden sat up in the hospital bed as the grin on his faith turned to a frown. "Barley, when I'm putting the fear of god into people on the list I'm the one in control. Tonight John that other duo were running the show and we could've died."
          "They'll get theirs Jay and I know you and Oliver will give it to them." Diggle encouraged the young man who gazed out the window.
          "Something tells me that things are only going to get weirder when it's talking about that list John." Jayden sighed. "What do you mean?" Diggle questioned.
          "I'm saying that out there more dangerous people are starting to come to the surface much more powerful than those two mercenaries. And I know that it's up to me and Oli to put them down. Jayden said with determination beaming from his eyes.