The Return of the Queens

Chapter 54

Three days later Oliver, Thea and Laurel met with Ras and his men by the bay. Oliver brought backup incase Ras tried to cheat or something. Once everyone had arrived, Ras turned to Oliver and asked, "Are you ready to join the League and take your rightful place by my side Oliver Queen?"

"Sorry to disappoint but I am not going with you. I had already told you that, but it looks like you didn't think I would go through with turning you down." Oliver said.

"Well, in that case, I will have no problem destroying your city. I am sorry that it had to come to this." Ras said.

"You won't attack my city." Oliver said.

"And why is that?" Ras asked.

"Because I challenge you in a trial by combat. Do you accept?" Oliver asked.

"It has been many years since I have been challenged and I am a man of honor, so yes I do except your challenge." Ras said.

"Ok, so how do we do this?" Oliver asked.

"We will remove our shirts and take a weapon and then we will fight to the death or until someone yields." Ras said.

"I can agree to those terms." Oliver said as he took the top part of his suit off and then went to the case to pick a sword that was similar to the one, he had been using in his training as Ras did the same.

"Whenever you are ready Mr. Queen." Ras said, and to his surprise Oliver didn't attack right away like most of the people that he had fought in the past.

"Looks like you are smarter than most of the people I have faced in the past. Most of those people were too eager to attack and attack right away which made them easy for me to take down." Ras said.

"I had a good trainer that taught me never to make the first move. I know that can leave me open to your counter moves." Oliver said.

"I can see that. Well, I guess since you won't make the first move, I might as well." Ras said as he attacked and to his surprise, Oliver was the able to block him easily.

Soon they were both going at each other and no one could even see the swords because they were striking so fast. All you could do was here the sounds of swords clashing. Laurel and Thea were impressed at what they were seeing. They didn't know if Oliver would be able to hold up against Ras, but they now knew that he was able to and that the longer the fight went, they could see that Ras was starting to tire out because of his age and Oliver still looked to be going strong. Soon enough Oliver saw an opening and was able to strike and this was when Ras fell to his knees and he looked up at Oliver truly impressed that this man was able to beat him.

"I have never been beaten before. It looks like I pick my heir well. Now finish it so that you can take your rightful place as the leader of the League of Assassins." Ras said.

"I will kill you, but I have other plans for the leader of your League." Oliver said

"And what might that be? I know you won't disband the League because you know that it has a purpose." Ras said.

"You are right. I won't disband it, but I do have a plan for who will lead it." Oliver said.

"And who might that be?" Ras asked.

"It is good to see you again father." Talia said as she walked out of the shadows.

"So, you trained this man to be able to take me down so that you could lead the League?" Ras asked.

"That is correct. I knew I couldn't beat you so I found one of my old students and trained him to take you down and the deal also included that I would take over the League." Talia said.

"Very well. Finish it now and take your rightful place as ruler of the League." Ras said and Oliver raised his sword and struck Ras in the chest and he died instantly as the sword went through his heart.

Oliver then reached down and removed the ring from Ras's hand and gave it to Talia who put the ring on and everyone in the League bowed to her. Talia was very impressed at what Oliver had done and how quickly he had taken her father down.

"Ok, you know the deal. You and the League have 24 hours to leave this city and never come back unless I call upon you. Keep this satellite phone so that we can keep in touch when we need something." Oliver said and Talia nodded.

"Head back to Nanda Parbat. I will be there as soon as I can." Talia said to her underlings.

"Thank you for your help Talia. I couldn't have done this without you." Oliver said.

"It was no problem, and I was able to get something that I wanted in return." Talia said.

"That's true. Good luck with everything and hopefully we will not need to see each other for a very long time." Oliver said.

"Yeah, I hope you don't need me any time soon as well." Talia said as she took her leave.

Oliver walked over to Laurel and Thea. "Well, I am glad that is over. What do you think will come up next?" Thea asked.

"I don't know, but I know that we will face it together as a team." Oliver said.

"Yeah, we will. So, let's get back to the bunker and let the rest of the team know that everything is ok now." Laurel said and the other nodded as they headed to the bunker.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city there was a man and a woman talking and trying to come up with a plan as what to do in order for their takeover to work.

"I don't know if this is worth it anymore. It appears that the Green Arrow was just able to take down Ras Al Ghul. I don't think it is a good idea to try and take over this city anymore." The man said.

"We are better than the League. He will fall to us and we will then be able to take over the city." The woman said.

"I think you are letting your feeling get the better of you. I know that you are in charge, but the rest of the group is getting tired of following you and they definitely don't want anything to do with challenging the Green Arrow." The man said.

"Well, in that case, I want you to find the people who are not loyal to me and take them out. Do it now Dante and I will forgive your cowardice." The woman said.

"Sorry to inform you that the other heads of the Ninth Circle have voted you out as leader and they will not be coming to your aid. So, if you wish to have revenge on your brother and sister, that will be on you and you alone Emiko." Dante said.

"So, you would abandon me?" Emiko asked.

"Yes, I think you have let your vendetta take over the Ninth Circle and that is not what we are about. So, if this is what you want, you are on your own." Dante said.

"Very well. Leave now, and if I ever see you again, I will end you and the rest of the Ninth Circle for what they have done." Emiko said as Dante left her for the last time.