Arrow ~ The Thanatos Guild ~ Part Three

***

"This is a idea."

"Well, you're not the one being targeted by these assassins, so thank you very much for your opinion, but it will now be disregarded."

"Oh, the sound of those three bickering," Winn sighed over the comms. "This almost feels normal."

"I'm glad you think so," Laurel rolled her eyes as she followed Slade and Malcolm down the steps.

"Overwatch, Telle, do you have eyes on the Guild?" Oliver asked as he and James were next, Kara and Mon-El watching from in the air as the team descended into the plant.

"No, not yet," Felicity answered, "but I'm reading a frequency spike, which means they just activated a bomb."

"Athena's way of putting pressure on us," Nyssa scowled, looking over her shoulder at Malcolm. "Let's hope your plan works."

"Oh, ye of so little faith," Malcolm scoffed.

"Please don't tell me you're about to sing," Winn sighed.

"Actually, if he's anything like his doppelgänger in the musical world, he's pretty good at it," Kara piped up.

"In the Malcolm looked sharply up at her.

"Multiple heat signatures, guys!" Felicity warned. "They got you surrounded."

"Head on a swivel," Dig looked around.

"Well?" James looked up and around. "Where are these assassins?"

"Everywhere," Kara narrowed her eyes.

Nyssa and Malcolm exchanged looks, and Malcolm nodded, heading off in a different direction, backed this time by Oliver, Thea, and Roy. Laurel watched them go with a worried eye, then stiffened. "My six."

Slade spun around at once, just as three assassins dropped down, just like she thought.

***

"You want your map so bad?" Malcolm called, looking around. "Come out. Let's talk."

"Perhaps our lord Ra's taught you some sense after all," Athena's voice echoed around them. "But you are mistaken if you think that all we want is the map."

A zipline arrow wrapped around Roy and pulled him away, the man yelping in surprise. "Roy!" Thea shouted.

Footsteps sounded behind them, and Malcolm turned to see Athena walk up, a smirk on her face. "The map is meaningless without spilling your blood," she told him.

"You know," Malcolm scowled, drawing his sword. "You're starting to piss me off."

He and Athena lunged at each other, and Oliver closed in around them, keeping Athena on guard as Thea ran to free Roy.

***

Laurel grabbed one assassin by the neck and screamed in his ear, enough to drop him unconscious on the ground. At her side, Slade shot twice into the air, felling an assassin about to grapple down.

As James deflected arrows away from Dig, Mon-El dropped to the ground and tackled an assassin about to sneak up on Alex. She gave him a quick nod of thanks, then ran to jump onto the back of one of the three assassins dueling Nyssa. She jammed one of her claws into his neck, making blood spray everywhere; Nyssa nimbly dodged and kicked another assassin towards her, turning to focus on just the one left.

***

"Don't forget, guys, we still have a bomb situation," Felicity said.

Roy scoffed as Thea undid the cable around him. "There's always a bomb situation."

"Good news," Kara announced, and Roy looked up to see her drop onto the walkway above them. "I found the bomb situation."

"Hey, yay, score one for the Kryptonian!" Winn announced.

"Uh," Kara examined the bomb as Roy ran up to join her, Thea running after Malcolm and Oliver. "Now am I able to get this out of here without automatically detonating it?"

"Better not to risk it," Felicity said.

"OK, then this is not my field," Kara muttered.

"What type of bomb is it?" Roy asked, crouching by her.

"It's a collapsible circuit," Winn answered.

"We can freeze it," Roy said. "I've done it before."

Kara nodded, taking a deep breath. "No!" Felicity shouted, stopping her. "No, it's a Mercury switch. That will definitely set it off."

Kara pouted, and Roy thought for a short second that it was one of the most adorable things he'd ever seen. "What do we do?" he asked.

"Short-circuit it," Winn answered.

Roy snorted. "You know, I'm kind of out of electricity arrows right now at the moment."

***

Oliver ducked to dodge a sword swing by Athena, backing away as Malcolm spun into that same place, bringing his sword and bow up in an X to block Athena's downward swipe. "Oliver!" Kara called.

Oliver nodded, having heard the entire conversation. "On its way!" he called, drawing an electricity arrow from his quiver and aiming into the air.

He fired, and Kara flew down and grabbed it in midair, flying back up to the bomb. Then he felt a stinging pain in his side and yelled in pain, legs buckling. "Ollie!" Thea cried in horror as he reached down and found the cut Athena had made with her sword, the assassin grinning victoriously even as Malcolm snarled and pushed her back.

Sparks flew from where the bomb was, and Oliver heard Winn's cheer of success, then Kara was by his side. "Oh, my God," she swallowed, her hand covering his to try and staunch the bleeding more.

Oliver gritted his teeth, shaking his head. "Help Malcolm," he ground out.

"Oliver!" Kara protested.

"I'll be fine!" he waved her off. "Go!"

Kara bit her lip, looking at Thea. "Will you – "

"Help my dad," Thea waved her off, too.

***

Malcolm grimaced as his and Athena's blades met in a lock, each using all the strength they had to try and gain the upper hand. "Your bomb is done for," he growled. "You are not destroying this city, so get the hell out of here while you still can!"

"Not without the map!" Athena spat.

Wind blew past them, and Malcolm felt the paper get pulled from where he had tucked it in his belt. "You mean this map?" Kara asked angrily, and both turned to see her stand behind them, holding the map up and over the burner next to her.

Athena's eyes flickered in panic. "You don't want to do that."

"I don't?" Kara raised an eyebrow. "You hurt my fiancée." Her eyes lit up white-blue, ready to use her heat vision. "I think I do."