Issue 3: "Kobra Rising"

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Green Arrow

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Issue #3: “Kobra Rising”
Written by Brian Burchette
Cover by Ramon Villalobos
Edited by Mark Bowers[/center]

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Five minutes ago, the six-foot, five-inch security guard that answered only to the name of Tuba, believed that his new job was one of the most boring he had ever had. The pay was great - he couldn’t complain about that - but there was very little for him to do, except stand outside his boss’s room and wait for the man to walk out, so he could follow him to the next room.

Some of the other guys had the really cool jobs: leaning on people that owed his boss money, and even making a few of them disappear off the map entirely. Not him, though. Nope, he was stuck with the most boring job in the organization.

Four and a half minutes later, that belief ended as a green boot came out of nowhere and struck him in the stomach, causing the air to leave his body as he doubled over. The fact that things had just gotten interesting was the last thought he had as the clenched fist, covered in a green glove, struck him on the side of the head, and he fell to the ground unconscious.

Green Arrow and Eddie Fyers brought their legs up simultaneously and kicked open the double doors that led to the den of Tai Lee, who jumped up from desk, startled by the sudden intrusion. Then, as recognition quickly came across his face as he saw the emerald archer, his hand immediately went for his top desk drawer. He didn’t even see the bowman nock the arrow, but heard the thick thud sound as the green shaft stuck into the oak desk, less than an inch away from his hand. Lee stopped moving.

“You are breaking and ent-”

He never finished the sentence as Eddie’s fist was already in front of him, and he took the right hook hard, on the chin. He fell back into his chair, which flipped him over, where he landed on the floor behind the desk.

Tai Lee, his head ringing, was than yanked up and thrown backwards over the desk where he found the nozzle of a gun shoved into his temple. Tai Lee was not as strong-willed as his brother had been, and, in that moment, he wet himself.

“I’m only asking this once, you sick son of a bitch: Mia Deardon, what did you do to her?” Eddie screamed.

“I have no idea-”

The pulling back of the hammer of the gun cut off, for the second time, his chance to finish a sentence. He closed his eyes and waited for the end, but Green Arrow’s shout of “Stop!” made his heart calm just a bit.

“We don’t need him,” the man named Fyers said. “We’ve got his computer and his files. We let him go, he keeps doing what he’s doing. I can end this.”

“Yeah, and someone will just take his place,” Arrow replied, “just like he took his brother’s place. I told you before: no killing.”

Eddie cursed under his breath and then suddenly grinned. “Fine, no killing. I’ve got a ton of CIA tricks up my sleeve.” He put the gun away and came out with a knife. “Let’s go with the classic fingernail bit first, and see if that gets us anywhere.”

“Stop him!” Lee shouted at the archer, panic rising again. He hated pain, any kind of pain.

Green Arrow remained still, leaning against his bow. “Hey, I’m just here to make sure he doesn’t kill ya, pal. After that, all’s fair, in my opinion.”

Lee’s eyes opened wide. “Alright! Alright! I remember Mia. She was a pretty blonde kid. I gave her to a rich foreign man. He was a business man, in Turkey. I can give you his name; just let me look it up.”

Ten minutes later, both men were in the car, racing towards the airport, the information they needed in their possession.

“So you were just going to let me do the fingernail thing, huh?”

“Nope, I was bluffing.”

“Figured,” Eddie mumbled.

“I’ve booked us two tickets to India. I can’t get a hold of anyone in the Justice League, so we’re going to have to do this the old-fashioned way. We stop Kobra, and then we go get your daughter.”

“Why ain’t we usin’ your private jet?”

“Long story,” Ollie said, dismissively. “You wanna fill me in on this Staff of Shesha? Seems to be the hot item of the season for international terrorist organizations.”

“I don’t know,” Eddie said. “Don’t look at me like that; I honestly don’t know. It was in my CIA days; we were ordered to go with some archaeologist to dig it up and retrieve it for national security reasons. You know how it is: you don’t ask questions, you just follow orders. Anyway, right after we found it, we were attacked by Kobra agents. We barely escaped with our lives, let alone the staff. Then, in their infinite wisdom, the top brass decided the best place to hide it would be the last place Kobra would look… Where it originally was found. What it is and what it does, I don’t have a clue.”

They drove to the airport in silence for a while, then Ollie grabbed his cell phone and punched a number. “Batgirl, glad you’re in. I need help… Anything you can find on some kind of ancient artifact called The Staff of Shesha... Well, as soon as possible would be nice. Oh, and can you check into one Kemal Asad for me. I’ll explain later… Thanks.”

“Any particular reason you didn’t ask your old group for help?” Eddie asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah.”

“Want to tell me why?”

“Want to tell me why the CIA is gunning for you?”

“Touché,” Eddie said, clearing his throat.

[Admin]

Fear is almost always caused by the uncertainty of the unknown. Do not fear what you have not encountered, but embrace it, examine it, understand it. Conquering fear is but another step towards your own personal enlightenment. Carry this knowledge with you in your travels, and it may help you when you need it the most.

“Words of wisdom may sound simple enough, but it’s a little harder in practical terms,” Connor Hawke said to himself out loud, as if his Master was standing next to him.

The chaos of people and small motor cars surrounded him as he made his way through Kathmandu. It had been years since he had been out in the real world - he’d been a mere child then - and now the noises and crowds seemed to be overwhelming his senses.

He hurried along, wanting only to be in the city as long as he had to. This was not for him, and that realization made him doubt his quest. If he could not handle this place, would he be able to handle an American city like New York… and then Star City?

His thoughts were interrupted by the short scream of a young girl. He turned to see her running down the street; her dark hair was a mess and there was blood seeping from her nose and the corner of her mouth. Behind her, two men were chasing her.

“Somebody help me!” she screamed as she ran blindly down the street, but everyone stepped out of the way.

Connor realized that she was speaking English. She was an American! Probably the reason people were not getting involved.

As she got closer to him, her eyes wild and hollow, he realized that the two men were nearly upon her. He reacted without thinking, without a thought for his own safety. He did not have time to pull out his bow from his large pack, so instinctively he brought the pack up as the girl passed and struck the first guy in the face with it, while his left leg shot out and tripped the second man.

Both of them went falling into the dirt street, giving Connor time to drop his bag and brace himself for the obvious attack that was to come. Years upon years of training in several different types of martial arts made him one of the best in this part of the world; something his Master had stepped out of character to tell him on several occasions. Pride was something that was not allowed in the monastery where he was raised, but even his Master would allow a small amount to leak into his words from time to time.

The man struck by the bag was on his feet, and, from beneath the local garb he was dressed in, he brought out a long serrated knife and ran towards the young man.

Connor was shocked at the sheer clumsiness of his attacker. He barely had to move to disarm him, stepping to the side and grabbing the man’s arm, flipping him into the air and bringing him down hard, twisting his knife-wielding arm and jabbing him in the breast bone with his right leg. The knife dropped and the man gasped for air, clutching his chest as if he was having a heart attack.

The second man had come up behind Connor with a similar weapon, but was shocked when, without looking, the blond hero swung around suddenly, his leg coming around and kicking the knife out of the attacker’s hand. Connor’s arm snapped forward quickly, striking the assailant dead center in the chest, just as he did the first man, and, like the first one, the second man also fell to the ground clutching his chest.

Connor looked around for any sign of the young girl, but she was gone. He ran up to an elderly lady who had watched the entire thing. “Please,” he asked in her native language, “Do you know where the young girl went that those two were chasing?”

The woman nodded and pointed down an extremely narrow side street without saying a word.

Giving thanks, he took off in the same direction. He stopped halfway when he heard a small whimper. Turning, he saw her, huddled behind a pile of baskets, shaking. She couldn’t have been more than fourteen.

“There’s no need to be afraid,” he said, without approaching her. He didn’t want to spook her. He did, however, hold out his hand and gave her a warm, reassuring smile. “My name is Connor Hawke, and I want to help you. Who were those men? What did they want with you?”

Still shaking, she opened her mouth and shouted two words before she collapsed: “Kemel Asad!”

Connor went to her then, and held her gently, checking for any apparent wounds. He didn’t know what he had stumbled onto, but he knew he couldn’t walk away from it; his father wouldn’t, he thought to himself.

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“Halfway to India and I’ve spent it with a kid kicking the back of my seat. You couldn’t have gone for first class?” Eddie grumbled as his body jerked forward from another jab by the toddler behind him.

“I didn’t see you offering to throw in any dough for this trip. How much of a head start do you think King Kobra has on us?”

“Probably a good twelve hours at least, but, even when they get to the site, they’re not going to know where to dig. We didn’t bury it in the same place we found it in; that should buy us a little more time.”

Ollie felt his phone vibrate and leaned down to take the call. “Go ahead.”

Barbara Gordon’s voice came back clear, “Shesha is considered one of the primal beings in Hindu religion, and an avatar of the Supreme God, Sankarshan. He is considered the king of all nagas, and is known to constantly sing the praises of Vishnu…”

“The staff,” Ollie demanded impatiently.

“You’re sitting on a plane, Oliver. I think you have a little time for some background information,” Barbara replied sardonically. “The Staff of Sesha was carried by him when he would come to Earth in human form. It’s shaped much like the staff that King Kobra already has, but it’s rumored to have mystical powers. They say that it can draw the powers and abilities of all snakes on the planet, most notably, the power of mental command and hypnotism; I suppose it’s something akin to a cobra mesmerizing its prey. That’s about all I could pull up at this point.”

“I appreciate it. What about Kemel Asad?”

“He’s big time, Ollie. One of the richest men in his country; third generation businessman, whose main exports are garments and oil. In the last year or so, he’s also become very involved with Turkish politics. He’s funding the People’s Ascent Party, a relatively new organization that advocates social democracy.”

“Okay, anything we can use?”

“Sorry, no. If he’s involved with anything illegal, he’s very good at covering his tracks.”

“Thanks, I owe you one, Red, for the info and the fake passport for Eddie.”

“Don’t sweat it; just make sure you’re back in Vegas in time for Christmas. Dinah is expecting you here.”

Ollie swore under his breath, “Damn… Christmas! I’ll be there. Give my pretty bird a kiss for me, will ya.”

“Keep fantasizing, green jeans,” Barbara chortled and then her voice became distant. “And God bless us all… everyone.”

“Babs, you okay?”

The line went dead.

“Problems?” Eddie asked.

“Don’t know, but let me fill you in on what I just learned.”

“Hold on a second, will ya.” Eddie got up and turned around, staring the six-year-old boy in the face. The child grinned mischievously at him; his mother was obviously sleeping next to him. The grin slowly left his face as Eddie gave him a wicked grin of his own; then ran his finger across his throat, followed by a quick jab of his finger towards the kid. The child slinked back and huddled next to his mother.

“Feel better?” Ollie asked dryly as Eddie sat back down.

“Actually, yes.”

[Admin]

Interlude
Star City

The sign outside the old Queen Enterprises building had been changed, not too long ago, to LexCorp, but that sign was now being taken down as well. LexCorp was a thing of the past. The new sign, announcing the new buyers, was yet to go up.

Inside the building, however, the offices were ablaze with gossip and rumors, as is natural in cases like this. Second time in less than a year that the company had been sold; would that mean more mass firings, as Lex Luthor had done?

Only a few people had gotten a glimpse of their new CEO as he made his way to the largest office in the building, which was situated on the top floor, of course. With him were two men, both wearing dark suits and sunglasses. This caused a flurry of speculation on how rich this guy was that he needed the obvious security.

As the dark-skinned man of Spanish descent - his jet-black hair slicked back, his goatee trimmed to perfection and his suit obviously Armani - walked into his new office with his guards close behind, he looked around the room with a satisfied grin. Although he wouldn’t be there on a daily basis, he would make sure this office was kept ready for him at all times. Of all the acquisitions that his employer had made, this was the one that he was most interested in. Buying LexCorp was just the means to get this holding… that which once belonged to Oliver Queen. Eventually his boss knew that Mr. Queen would be going after it, and his boss wanted to make sure that he had it.

“This is perfect,” the gentleman said to his two guards. “The boss will be pleased, or as he would put it, ‘tickled as drinking a mint julep on a hot summer night’. Make sure the security of this building is tripled. We don’t want a certain green archer to be able to just wander in when he feels like it.”

The two men nodded and left the room. The man in charge chuckled to himself as he took a seat behind the massive oak desk and stared out of the window at the skyline of Star City.


^* Editor’s note: For all the juicy details, read issues 23 and 24 of DC2’s Action Comics!

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They had arrived at the largest airport in Karnataka, found an old broken down European car that they had to cram into, and were on their way to the ancient ruins. Neither had said much, both lost in their own thoughts.

The ruins of Vijayanagra were not far away and within an hour they were approaching them. Eddie slowed down a quarter of a mile from their destination, pulling up around an old stone building. As soon as they cut the engine, they could hear the distant voices of many men, echoing through the valley, and there was something else: the sound of rushing water… and a lot of it judging by the thunderous noise it was making.

They made their way quietly up the hilly region and soon came upon the ancient ruins. Stone and marble lay strewn across the plateau ahead of them. In the middle still stood a giant statue. Although chipped away by time, it remained upright, and they surmised by its representation of a creature with seven serpent heads, that it was the statue of Shesha himself. It was also at the base of this statue that they saw several Kobra agents digging.

“$*#@!” Eddie mumbled.

Ollie turned his head slowly towards his friend, “You actually buried it right in front of the statue?!”

“Well, they figured it would be the easiest way to remember where it was, without leaving a big paper trail.”

Ollie, already suited up in full costume, shook his head. “And people wonder why I doubt our government.”

“No arguments on this end. So how do you want to handle this?”

Green Arrow thought for a moment. “I don’t see many options. We can’t go around from behind because we’re blocked by that huge river on one end, and the rest is open ground. I’ve got three blast arrows that should take out most of the guards surrounding the area. How many does it look like?”

“At least two dozen, but where the hell is King Kobra?” Eddie wondered as he pulled out his gun and put in a full clip.

“He’s got to be around, and I’m going to tell you one more time, shoot to wound, not kill.”

“I swear, you’re like a broken…”

“We’ve found it!” screamed one of the Kobra agents as he jumped up from inside the pit.

From where he came, the duo didn’t know, but suddenly the King was there, leaping into the small pit.

“Awww $@#^!” both men said as they leapt up from their hiding place. It was now or never.

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Green Arrow fired his first blast arrow, striking the ground in front of several of the guards, who were flung up into the air, crying out in surprise before landing unconscious. He grabbed two more regular arrows with lightning speed and fired them at two more agents; the ones who were the first to recover from the shock of seeing them there. Both arrows hit their marks as they flew through the air, separating at just the right moment and embedding themselves into the hands of the henchmen, causing them to cry out and drop their weapons.

Eddie fired several shots at the ground in front of three more agents, causing them to run for cover, all of them gathering in one spot behind a stone pillar. “There’s the set up,” he shouted to Ollie.

Another blast arrow was fired and more men went flying into the air. “And there’s the take down!” the Emerald Archer shouted back, not being able to hide the rush of adrenalin that he got from moments like these.

His excitement, though, quickly turned to shock, and admittedly a little fear, as the voice of the King Kobra shouted for all to stop. His voice was no longer natural, but seemed to resonate through the air; deeper, darker than his natural voice.

Both the agents and the two heroes stopped dead in their tracks, as if some outside force had grabbed a hold of them and forced them to.

Eddie and Ollie’s eyes grew wide as King Kobra began to rise out of the pit, his body stretching and slithering upward like that of a snake. His eyes were no longer normal, but oval, like those of a snake as well. His mouth was wide with a triumphant grin, revealing large fangs that were growing from where his incisors were. In his right hand was a golden staff, just like had been described to them, but the eyes of the cobra head were glowing a very dark sapphire.

“It just hit the fan,” Eddie said.

“You’re too late, you pathetic pieces of flesh! The power of Shesha is mine, and the time for the Kali Yuga has arrived! How unfortunate that you will both be unable to see this great event.” His laugh was rich and deep as he slithered out of the pit. The lower half of his torso had now merged together, creating a snakelike appearance. He towered over them, at least twelve feet tall.

A determined look on his face, Ollie tried to move just a finger, and found that, with an effort that made him break out into a sweat, he could do it. Just as he figured; the King may have acquired the staff and its power, but he wasn’t in full control of it yet.

“And I thought you couldn’t get any uglier,” he called out as he broke the control long enough to reach back for his final blast arrow, nocking it and firing. The effort alone made his body feel as it were boiling from the inside, and he fought to keep from getting sick.

The arrow struck its mark and exploded in the hand that held the staff. The hand was blown off and the staff fell to the ground. King Kobra screamed in pain as his body instantly shifted back to normal and everyone else around him was freed again.

The Kobra guards quickly swarmed around their master to protect him, and Eddie fired at them, as they fired back. With no more blast arrows left, Ollie began to fire his blunt-tipped ones, knocking out three of the guards in less than ten seconds.

“Kill them, you fools,” they heard the First Naga scream as he grabbed his wounded master and began to run in the opposite direction.

“Can you take out the guards and get the staff?” Green Arrow shouted over the noise of the weapon fire.

“Stupid question, bowman,” Eddie shouted back with a smirk as he pulled out a second weapon and with both guns blazing, ran toward the remaining guards.

“Son of a bitch is going to get himself killed one of these days,” Ollie said to himself as he took off to follow King Kobra and the First Naga.

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Green Arrow was gaining on them rather quickly for two reasons: First, King Kobra was maimed, his right hand now missing, and the First Naga had to practically drag him away. Second, the raging river Sharavathi was blocking a clean escape.

Realizing that there was no other way out, the First Naga let go of his master and turned to face the archer. He dodged two arrows that flew at him, and pulled his own weapon, firing wildly.

Ollie hit the ground and rolled, coming up on one knee and firing another trick arrow. He hadn’t used his bolo arrow in a while, and it felt good to see it being used as it hit the First Naga, flying around his arms, and the two metal balls on either end, striking the target in the face. He fell to the ground unconscious.

Getting up and dusting himself off, Green Arrow walked up to King Kobra who was lying on his side, moaning. When he reached him, he bent down to turn him over, and was struck in the legs by the King’s gold staff. Ollie’s legs buckled and he fell to the ground.

Placing his bloody stump under his left arm, King Kobra stood up, holding his staff with his left hand. He went to bring it down on top of Green Arrow’s head, screaming in primal anger and frustration, but Ollie was quicker and rolled out of the way, the staff striking inches from where his head had been.

“You can not stop the power of Kobra! You can not halt the coming of the Kali Yuga!”

“The hell I can’t,” Green Arrow replied through gritted teeth as he threw himself headlong into the maniac. Both of them went tumbling backward and landed in the fast flowing river.

The current was extremely powerful and although they tried to trade punches, it was soon apparent that it was going to take every ounce of strength they had to fight the undertow that was pulling at them.

The thundering sound that Green Arrow had been hearing was building and he looked behind him to see what it was. Although he didn’t know it was called Jog Falls, the largest falls in India, he did know that it spelled certain doom for both of them.

Ollie began to swim sideways, trying desperately to fight the current, but it was a losing battle. The sound behind him was growing louder, the screams of King Kobra being drowned out by the roar of the rushing water, and he could see the rising mist from the edge of the falls and felt its spray.

“Green Arrow,” came the cry from the shore and he looked up to see Eddie running along the side of the river, terror written all over his face.

At that same moment he heard the final scream of King Kobra before his body was washed over the edge of the falls, disappearing forever.

Dinah, he thought suddenly, her face flashing before him. Her blonde hair shining as she smiled at him with the playful grin that always got him going.

I’m not going down like this, he thought to himself as he prayed that at least one arrow had not been taken from him. He felt around in his quiver at the remaining couple of arrows and felt a sudden burst of joy upon discovering that the one he was looking for was still there. He grabbed it, letting the tide take him right to the edge of the falls as he nocked and fired it towards the shore. The grapple hit the rocky shoreline and held for a second, as Ollie grabbed fast to the rope, his body being battered by the pounding of the water. He was hanging just over the falls now, and his arms were already growing tired.

“I got ya, buddy! Just hang on, dammit!” Eddie shouted as he reached the hook and began to pull on the rope. It was a battle of raw human strength against Mother Nature herself as he tugged with all his might. For what seemed like minutes, everything seemed to stand still. He couldn’t budge it, the current was too strong, but then with a grunt he felt it begin to move as he continued hand over hand pulling as his muscles strained. His heart was pounding in his chest rapidly and his muscles screamed in protest, but he didn’t give up.

Ollie, near exhaustion, felt himself being dragged back up, over the lip of the falls, and, when he could, he used his last ounce of energy to start paddling his legs, helping as much as he could.

Finally he was at the edge of the shore, a three-foot ledge separating him from land. Eddie reached out his hand and screamed for Ollie to take it. The green glove landed squarely in his friend’s bloodied, rope-burned palm, and he felt himself slowly being lifted up. That’s when he saw it out of the corner of his eye. It was no more than a foot away from him.

“Wait!” he screamed as he tried to reach out sideways for the green object that had gotten snagged onto a root that was sticking out of the side of the ground.

Eddie cried out in frustration, and yanked his friend up, anyway. At the last second, as Ollie went flying out of the water, the fingers of his left hand snatched the green hat and both were pulled to safety.

The two of them lay on the ground, panting and gasping for breath. Every muscle in their arms was on fire, and it was several minutes before either one of them could speak.

“The $#%@ hat,” Eddie finally said in exasperation. “Like you don’t have others?!”

Still trying to catch his breath, Ollie grinned and looked at him. “Yeah, but this is my lucky one.”

[Admin]

When they reached the ruins again, they found that the Kobra agents were still unconscious or lying in pain. Ollie tried his JL communicator again, and was able to get a hold of Wonder Woman, who informed him that they would get in touch with the proper authorities to have them picked up.

As he clicked it off, he turned to see Eddie standing there with a odd look on his face, the staff in his hand.

“What’s wrong?” Ollie asked.

“This isn’t the staff.”

“WHAT!”

“This isn’t the Staff of Shesha; this is King Kobra’s other staff.”

Ollie looked at it for a second before turning to face the river in the distance, “Then that means…”

“… the Staff of Shesha went over the falls with King Kobra.”

“I’ll let the League know,” Ollie said. “But it’s probably for the best. Maybe it’ll stay lost down there.”

Eddie nodded. “And with King Kobra dead, this little terrorist organization will take a while to regroup.”

“Famous last words,” Ollie mumbled as he rolled his eyes.

They stood there for a second staring at the statue of Shesha.

“Thanks for the save.” Ollie said.

“What are friends for,” Eddie replied nonchalantly.

Ollie slapped his friend on the back, “Come on, let’s go get your daughter.”

They turned and walked away, Eddie holstering his gun, and Ollie placing his soaked hat back on his head.

[Admin]

The Adventure Continues…[/b]

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