Chapter 6: ARGUS Shadows
The Arrowcave was a pressure cooker, its air thick with the sharp click of Felicity's keyboard and the metallic tang of gun oil as John Diggle cleaned his sidearm, his broad hands steady but his jaw tight. Luke stood over a workbench, the Mirakuru sample glowing faintly, its blue light casting shadows that danced across his tired face. His fingers drummed the table, a nervous rhythm, as he popped a piece of candy from a nearby bowl, the sugary burst doing little to ease his nerves. ARGUS is hunting me, and we need a cure yesterday. The team's urgency was palpable—Felicity muttering to her screens, her glasses glinting, Oliver pacing like a caged beast, his boots scuffing the floor, Sara twirling a baton with restless precision.
Luke's eyes burned with exhaustion, but he cracked his knuckles, the pop sharp in the quiet, and focused, the System pinging as the clock ticked past midnight.
[SYSTEM: DAILY ROLL ACTIVATED: ROCKET GADGETEER (FACE 4)]
[SYSTEM: POWER ACTIVATED: INGENUITY/CRAFTING. STAMINA DRAIN: MODERATE]
"I've got the molecular structure, thanks to Felicity's analysis," Luke said, his voice steady despite the knot in his chest, his fingers flying across a cracked tablet, the schematic glowing. "The antidote's a reverse-engineered enzyme stabilizer. ARGUS has it in their black-site, Section Gamma."
His Gadgeteer power surged, a rush of clarity as he grabbed a toolkit—circuit boards, wires, a scavenged comm unit. His hands moved like they had a mind of their own, crafting a sleek multi-tool and an electronic skeleton key, their surfaces polished, humming faintly in the cave's dim light. He fumbled a wire, cursing softly as it sparked, the burn stinging his finger.
[SYSTEM: GADGETEER CRAFTS TOOLS.]
[SYSTEM: MASTERY UPDATE: ROCKET GADGETEER +10% (ADVANCED TOOLS).]
"My very own spy kit," Luke announced, tossing the tools to Oliver with a flourish, his grin masking the ache in his shoulders. "You're the distraction, Hood. ARGUS knows your face. They don't know mine. Yet."
Oliver caught the tools, his jaw tight, his green leather creaking. "Don't get cocky, Luke. Lyla's not Isabel."
"Cocky's my middle name," Luke quipped, winking at Felicity, who rolled her eyes but smirked, her fingers pausing on her keyboard. He turned to the training mat, Diggle's laser tripwires glinting in the dark, his heart pounding. Time to move like Hawkeye. He wove through the beams, his body reacting with unnatural precision, the System sharpening his reflexes, the whizz of imaginary arrows focusing his senses.
[SYSTEM: ARCHERY SIMULATION.]
[SYSTEM: STAT UPDATE: AGILITY +4 (DODGE DRILLS).]
Felicity clapped, her voice bright, her ponytail bouncing. "Look at you, dodging lasers like a sci-fi ninja!"
Diggle grunted, a rare smile tugging at his lips, his knife gleaming as he set it down. "Kid's got moves."
Luke's chest heaved, sweat beading on his brow, his shirt clinging to his back. Lyla's facility won't be this forgiving. He wiped his face with his sleeve, the fabric damp, and steeled himself for the heist, his fingers brushing the skeleton key in his pocket.
The ARGUS black site was a fortress, its underground corridors cold and sterile, the air heavy with the hum of machinery and the faint scent of antiseptic. Luke phased through the final security wall, Vision's power a draining buzz in his core, the icy air hitting his face like a slap. He shimmered back into existence, his breath visible in the dim corridor, his heart racing. Lyla hides her toys better than Isabel.
He slipped into ghost form, his spectral senses probing the ventilation shafts, the hum of electronics guiding him. A flicker of movement caught his attention—a low-level technician in a server room, his nervous posture betraying him as he typed a coded message on a hidden device. The words chilled Luke: The target is compromised. Prepare to move.
[SYSTEM: SCOUT DETECTS MOLE.]
[SYSTEM: MOLE SIGNALING OUTSIDE OPERATIVE. VENDETTA CLUE.]
Slade Wilson. The name hit like a punch, his pulse spiking. He's got a mole in ARGUS, and he's gunning for Oliver. Luke pressed on, the cure his priority, his sneakers silent on the polished floor. He reached the cryogenic vault, its steel doors gleaming under harsh lights, the air growing colder. As he reached for the antidote, a containment field flared, a crushing wave of force pinning him, alarms blaring, red lights pulsing like a heartbeat.
"ARGUS welcomes you, anomaly," Lyla Michaels' voice boomed, calm but lethal, her authority echoing through the intercom.
The field's pressure made his bones creak, pain lancing through him, his knees buckling. No regeneration. Used it on Thea. He gritted his teeth, phasing just in time, the force passing through him like a ghost, the effort searing his chest.
[SYSTEM: VISION PHASING EVADES CONTAINMENT. STAMINA DRAIN: CRITICAL.]
He shimmered back, hands trembling as he used the skeleton key to unlock the antidote cylinder, the briefcase-sized dispenser heavy in his grip, its surface cold against his palms. He phased out, moving like smoke through the vault's walls as Oliver's distraction raid erupted above, gunfire echoing through the facility.
[SYSTEM: CURE STOLEN. +25 EP.]
Luke teleported to the Starling City docks, landing hard on a pier, the raw, fishy smell of the harbor mixing with the ozone of his portal, gulls crying overhead in the night air. He clutched the antidote, his breath ragged, and sank onto a crate, his legs jelly, his hands shaking as he brushed salt from his eyes. Got the cure. Now for the hard part.
Sara met him, her silhouette sharp against the moonlit water, her white suit scuffed, the faint scar on her neck catching the light, a reminder of the clock tower. She crossed her arms, her voice soft but heavy, her eyes tired. "The League won't stop, Luke. Not after you saved me twice."
He set the antidote down with a thud, his voice flat with exhaustion. "And ARGUS has me on their radar. I'm a disaster magnet with a multiverse countdown." He forced a smile, but his empathy caught her sadness, a deep, rational acceptance that mirrored his own.
[SYSTEM: EMPATHY MUTUAL SENSE.]
"You saved my life," Sara said, her voice barely a whisper, her fingers brushing her scar. "You keep Thea safe. You're a good man, Luke." She reached out, her touch a quick, firm squeeze on his arm, heavy with respect and sorrow. "But I belong in the shadows. You're meant for the light. I'm due back at the League, and you're leaving town."
Luke's throat tightened, but he nodded, his smile watery, his eyes stinging. "So, we upgrade our status. From 'date with danger' to 'friends upgrade unlocked'?"
"Friends. Always," Sara said, her eyes holding his, a bittersweet warmth in her gaze.
[SYSTEM: BREAKUP AGREEMENT REACHED: AMICABLE SPLIT. +50 EP (EMOTIONAL GOAL COMPLETE).]
He looked out at the water, waves lapping softly, the sound a quiet comfort. It hurts, but it's right. My chaos would only break her. The cure was secure, but the mole's message pointed to a larger threat—Slade Wilson, targeting the Queen family. Luke's fingers tightened around the crate's edge, splinters pricking his skin. The annual Queen Consolidated Gala loomed, a perfect stage for a vendetta. Time to suit up, stop a tragedy, and maybe not ruin a tuxedo. The city's pulse thrummed, pulling him toward the next fight, the antidote a fragile hope in a storm of shadows.
To supporting Me in Pateron .
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