The Greedy Frog
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DC: The Enchanter Chapter 72
🕑 Added 2023-09-29 19:05:21 +0000 UTCChapter 72: Then Burn You Shall
There was something viscerally pleasing in witnessing the downfall of the people that ruined your reputation.
It was a feeling that gave the greatest satisfaction, the greatest joy.
And while Arrow was not able to experience it fully, he was making the best of what he could.
If not the root, he would still take pleasure in burning the branches.
He felt joy in that sadistic thought.
Why? He didn't know.
His mind was falling apart. Magic and his lust for vengeance had already destroyed every moral code that he had. He had forgotten everything that he swore –including the promise he made to himself about never killing anyone again.
The Hood, that was the name he had when he did not follow that rule.
And now, Hood was returning; albeit not for the good reasons.
"W-Why are you he–"
For the first time after the formation of the Justice League, one of their members took the life of an individual.
"To bring judgment."
Blood splattered all around as a single arrow blew brain matter all around the headless corpse.
The crowd that had gathered felt a sense of dread around them –a feeling of helplessness and horror that they had never felt around any hero before.
This was akin to the terror they felt from villains such as the Joker or the Mad Hatter.
"R-Run!" Even without a second thought, a man among the crowd yelled. He could sense that Green Arrow was not himself. And if he stayed around, there was no guarantee for his safety.
Arrow did not feel like a hero, instead he felt like those very monsters that he was supposed to protect the innocents from.
Tragically for the man, Arrow had heard him.
"This place…"
And under the influence of magic, he did not care about the people around him.
"These people…"
He did not have the rationality to understand the mind of others.
"...are just criminals."
"M-Mommy, why did Green Arrow kill –"
"No one is innocent in here."
It did not matter to him if it was an old man or a child. If they lived in Serenora, if they followed Jasper Hughes –they were no less than filth themselves.
And thus, he did not think twice before shooting an arrow towards the man that was trying to run away from the place.
"Everyone… will pay."
The arrow struck the ground and started to spread a seathe of ice cold mist all around –engulfing the road and even the people in frost.
"Aghhhh!"
The man that was running away got his leg frozen and turned into ice.
"Mommy I'm scared…"
A little girl cried but her mother could not utter a single word as she was left petrified by fear. All that she could do was to wrap her baby girl in her arms and pray that Arrow would spare them.
"Gotham had always been a failure of a city," Arrow sighed, sounding rather calm as opposed to his actions. "Batman had failed the city countless times."
Gotham was different from cities like the Star City, Central City or even Metropolis.
The villains of Gotham were much more sinister and powerful; not strong but powerful.
The villains of Gotham were capable of breaking any hero psychologically and this was an aspect that many people missed, including heroes that judged Batman's failure.
And if any of those heroes were in place of Batman –they would have been broken in a day.
Batman was one of the only few people capable of handling a city such as Gotham.
"Gotham is a failure and the reason is Batman," Arrow sounded sad, "It is his failure that he allowed a hot pot of a district of crime like Serenora to bloom."
"W-We can talk this through, Green Arrow!" The goon that acted as the driver came out limping, hoping to at least keep his life even if he ended up in prison.
"Lost people can be guided back to the correct path, but not evil." He stared at the goon, unbothered by his words, "Evil is like a disease without a cure, that only goes away with the death of the sufferer."
No one, not even the stans that worshiped Arrow as their god were able to explain the situation.
And nothing could have prepared them for the visuals that they just witnessed either.
"Death is an easy escape," He looked at the goon with pity, "For people like you, it should not be that easy."
The goon understood his standing immediately. He understood that there was no way that he would be able to convince Arrow to let him go; if anything, he was about to be killed.
"No!"
So he did the most logical thing that he could think of.
Run.
Run leaving his other members behind, run leaving the girls behind and run leaving the dream of being rich behind.
The only dream that he did not let go was –was staying alive.
Yes, a dream.
Because it could not become reality.
He ran with all his might, uncaring of all the pain that he felt from his injured body.
However, he forgot that no matter the distance –no matter how far he was from the Arrow; the Arrow never missed.
"I am–"
The man that thought he had escaped felt his voice stopping abruptly. He felt a cold sensation spreading to his chest, like a cool liquid that spilled over him.
He lowered his eyes, trying to understand the feeling better. But as he tried, he felt a sharp and ghastly pain.
His vision blurred and his body went cold as he finally understood.
That his neck had been impaled.
And by that moment, he had already dropped dead.
"Tonight." Arrow took a calming breath, "Serenora shall be no more."
That declaration send shivers down the spine of every resident and every tourist.
That included the girls that he was supposed to save.
Picking another arrow from his quiver, he aimed at the van that had the girls inside.
"I am sorry about this." He sighed, "But this has to be done."
And with that, he pulled the arrow back.
However–
"No it fucking does not!"
The arrow did not leave the bow.
"Not on our watch!"
As strands of vine wrapped around his arm.
But was that enough to stop him?
…
…
**Time till arrival: 25 minutes.**
"Damn it!" Batman cursed out loud realizing the amount of damage that could be dealt to Gotham in that time.
"I told Flash to keep an eye out for Oliver!"
Sadly, Barry Allen was busy with a never ending tragedy and pain of his own.
A tragedy called the Reverse Flash.
"System, try to reach Green Arrow!"
**Negative! Green Arrow's intercoms are deactivated!**
Batman gritted his teeth, aware that Oliver was upto no good.
He had noticed that Oliver had been doing a lot of shady activities and he knew that there might be a time when he would have to confront Oliver.
Just not this early.
'Diana… I expected better from you.'
He knew that the other members had noticed Oliver's recent actions as well and he thought Diana would be able to understand the situation just like everyone else did.
Manhunter did, Hawkgirl did and even Superman did. So, it baffled Batman to think that Wonder Woman would be that stupid.
Geniuses, be it someone with Enhanced Intelligence like Violet or someone with a great mind like Batman had one weakness –that was underestimating the stupidity of others.
And this left him with no choice but to slam the button on the cockpit.
"Justice League…" He finally decided to not keep this situation to himself, "We are going to need all hands on deck for this one."
…
…
'How did we end up here?'
Ivy cursed her luck. She knew that things were moving too well for it to be true.
She found a decent job, Serenora was a success, Harley had recovered and life was going well.
A little too well.
"Poison Ivy, huh?"
And so it had to come crumbling down as well.
"Tricks such as this only works on the powerless."
As she heard Arrow say that, she saw one of the arrows in his quiver falling apart –causing the arrowhead to drop down.
"You have to do better if you want to restrict my movement."
The arrowhead exploded, releasing a form of smoke that wrapped around Green Arrow. And to her horror, the smoke caused the vines to dry up and crumble down –causing Green Arrow to be free.
'Fuck!'
Arrow was not amused by the scene and prepared to counter attack.
But there was another variable.
"I got this, Ivy!"
Ivy knew the situation was tough but she was not worried?
Why?
Because she had another person with her.
"Erif nrub, nordlauc elbbub!"
Because she had Zatanna with her.
"Zatanna Zatara…"
An fiery explosion went off around Arrow, surrounding the man with flames.
"Ytivarg esaercni no mih!"
"Ugh!"
This was something that worked, as Arrow felt a heavy force pushing him down.
"Why!" Zatanna yelled, infuriated to see the place covered in ice, fire and blood.
There were extreme damages done to the building and the road. Solidified foam spread across the place and irreparable damage was done to the beauty of the place.
"Why did a hero destroy this haven"
Zatanna was fuming with anger, her blood boiled to see hers and Jasper's hard work being undone once again by someone.
It was as if people never learned.
"Why?" Oliver muttered, trying to push his body up, "Because a haven of crime such as this should have never existed!"
Shocking Zatanna, Arrow was able to cancel out her gravity spell.
"How…" She was stunned as she saw the scene, 'And why do I sense magic in him?'
He pulled out another arrow and shot it at the two women.
It hit neither as Zatanna was able to bounce it away from them, but it still managed to do damage as the moment it landed on a building –it exploded.
"Why?" Oliver repeated again, "Because it is about sending a message!"
He roared and shot multiple arrows, that the two barely managed to dodge. Zatanna tried using her magic, but was stunned again as she saw him bouncing her magic right at her.
"Serenora shall burn!" He announced, "And it shall start with you!" Saying this, Oliver sent a magic-induced arrow at Ivy.
"Ivy no!"
And yes, today there was going to be fire. And today, someone was going to burn.
Just not Serenora.
Just not Ivy.
But someone else.
And the proof was the sky that turned red and a voice that silenced the crowd.
"Then burn you shall."
And all that the people saw was the light, a light bright enough to burn.
A light that was going to be remembered as the Inferno of Judgement.
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[[A/N: We will learn why Oliver is being so influenced by his vengeance soon.
A reminder: Zatanna's spells are simply words or sentences spelt backwards.
P.S. And sorry, I got very little time to write today so I was only able to write one chapter.
P.P.S. Same for tomorrow –not because of the lack of time but I will have to work on the next chapter. It is a major chapter, so it requires quite a lot of effort to write. And I would rather focus on making that chapter as good as possible instead of pumping out 2 chapters.]]
