It seemed heaven had heard their thoughts. Less than a week later, Shado, who was working at the police station, brought them some "good news."
At last, a reckless villain had surfaced within Star City's borders. The group, who had been idle for far too long, were overjoyed. It didn't matter what he was here for—first, they'd beat the crap out of him!
"This guy's name is Brick. The limited information we have shows he's been secretly gathering Star City's underground forces. The police tried to surround and suppress him once, but he seems to have a power that makes him impervious to blades and bullets, and he ended up killing his way out of the encirclement," Shado gave a brief introduction.
There was nothing to discuss. Thea had made it clear long ago that her current area of responsibility was Metropolis—Star City was up to them.
Shado, Laurel, and Tommy unanimously recommended Oliver as the leader of this small team.
Whether it was to look more compatible with Shado or because he genuinely liked the color green, Oliver still chose the codename Green Arrow.
With her stockpile of black technology, Thea naturally wasn't going to let Oliver head out like he did in the first season of Arrow—wearing a green hood and painting his eyes like a panda while fighting criminals.
She gave him a suit of high-density Kevlar armor no worse than the Batsuit, painted entirely green at his request. His bow was a 150-pound American takedown hunting bow. As for Shado's high-tech trick arrows, he didn't want them.
He did notice Tommy copying Batman's grappling gun by making grappling-hook arrows, so he crafted a few of his own for mobility.
The four of them didn't let Thea take part. Fired up and full of confidence, they charged off toward the target location.
Half an hour later...
"Thea! Come quick—look at Tommy, he looks like he's been poisoned!" Oliver burst into the base carrying his friend, shouting between gasps for breath.
Thea, who had been in the inner room developing new armor using the body of the Cheetah God, hurried out to check.
"He is poisoned—but you've been shot too, haven't you?" Thea examined them. Tommy's lips were bluish-purple, his face deathly pale, and black blood was gushing from a wound beneath his ribs—clearly a gunshot wound.
Oliver had taken a shot to the shoulder as well. He must have reacted quickly and twisted his body; the bullet grazed his shoulder. A simple bandage would suffice.
"Why were Tommy and I shot at the same time, yet I'm fine?" Oliver asked in confusion.
"What do you think I injected into you? It was just poison smeared on the bullet, that's all." Thea replied without turning her head. Tommy clearly hadn't injected the god-blood yet—otherwise, he wouldn't be in such bad shape. She traced a few intricate runes through the air and pressed them into Tommy's body.
After a moment, she cast a spell at a distance and extracted a pale green droplet, about the size of a pinky nail, from inside Tommy, tossing it far away. "Plant-based toxin?"
She took a bottle from her spatial ring—an antidote formulated by Poison Ivy that could neutralize almost all plant toxins. Since the toxin had already been removed, giving Tommy the whole bottle would be waste. Thea fed him two drops. Once his breathing stabilized, she laid him down to rest.
"Heroes? Can someone tell me what happened?" After Tommy was treated, Shado and Laurel—who had taken a long detour to cover the retreat—also rushed back, their expressions grim.
Oliver and Laurel were both older than Thea and felt a little embarrassed. Shado quietly explained what had happened.
In truth, their experience was utterly unremarkable. Twenty-five minutes were spent traveling back and forth; the actual fight lasted less than three minutes before they were counterattacked and forced to retreat.
"Brick is that strong?" Thea was skeptical. In the TV series, Brick was a complete clown—constantly showing off, letting anyone shoot him once just to 'test his endurance.'
Against someone that brainless, Thea didn't believe that a Green Arrow team upgraded several times over the original timeline could possibly lose.
"We didn't really exchange blows with Brick, but he did take my arrow head-on with his body. The rumors about him being immune to blades and bullets are probably true. Still, we were mainly beaten by a sniper. His marksmanship was unbelievably precise—I've never seen anyone shoot that well," Oliver said, as the team leader.
He then described the sniper's appearance.
Thea knew immediately: pinpoint accuracy, a high-tech infrared sight over the right eye, special body armor, a tall Black man with a silenced pistol mounted on his arm. Wasn't that Deadshot? What was he doing in Star City, teaming up with Brick? Amanda must have been incredibly busy—otherwise, she'd never have let him roam free this long. A miracle.
Oliver didn't ask for Thea's opinion and continued, "I know the woman who was dealing with Brick at the time. Her codename is China White. People who know her also call her Chien Na Wei. She's a Triad leader."
It took Thea a few seconds to recall who that was. It wasn't that her memory was bad—this really was a minor character, the kind with constant petty crimes but nothing major. She pulled up the city surveillance footage of the fight. Looking at the white-haired Asian woman on the screen, Thea clicked her tongue; her skills were mediocre at best.
Still, the team composition of Brick, China White, and Deadshot was very solid. Brick tanked damage up front, China White handled close combat with dual blades, and Deadshot provided powerful long-range fire.
Compared to that, the Green Arrow team was much weaker. Three of the four were archers, plus Laurel tagging along. Losing to a counterattack wasn't unjustified at all.
Moreover, Green Arrow's role in the team hadn't really come through. He lacked coordination with the others. Even though their overall individual skills were stronger, they were still defeated. Teamwork was the most pressing weakness of the current Green Arrow squad.
"Do you need my help?" Thea asked. She doubted they did, but she still offered.
Oliver didn't disappoint her. He waved his hand immediately. "No. We can handle it."
Rely on his sister? If it came to that, what kind of hero would he be? He might as well go back to Lian Yu and fish with Yao Fei.
Thea nodded quietly and didn't get involved further. Watching them pull the just-awakened Tommy aside to drill their shortcomings, she returned to working on her armor.
As far as she was concerned, Brick was nothing more than a paper wall—one kick would knock him over. From a genetic standpoint, he could be considered mildly mutated, but his extreme toughness came with side effects—namely, a problem with his brain. In a one-on-one fight, Green Arrow could beat him outright. There was no need for her to worry.
Her peace didn't last long. Trouble came knocking the very next day.
"Miss, you may not know me, but Boss Merlyn instructed me to seek your help if anything happened," a tough-looking middle-aged man said respectfully.
"I know you. I even drank at your bar back then. Something happened to Malcolm?" Thea narrowed her eyes as she stared at him.