Arsenal

Roy Harper’s head was spinning as he was led back to his cell. His ancestor, Vandal Savage, had just promised him immortality. All it would cost was either Donna Troy, the woman he loved, or his daughter Lian.

His eyes widened slightly as he passed the cell and was taken to a teleport chamber. Vandal Savage was waiting for him.

“You have one hour,” Savage instructed. “Bring Troy here or your daughter dies.” He upended a worn hourglass and the sand began trickling through to the bottom. “Go.” Before Roy could say anything, he was vanishing in a burst of light.

Roy found himself in Donna’s apartment. “Phone!” he yelled. He grabbed at the phone and was rewarded with Savage’s voice.

“Before you waste any more time on this pointless search,” Savage said, “Allow me to reassure that I really do have your daughter. Do not test me.”

The line went dead. As Roy hung the phone back up, Sharon Tracy walked out of the back bedroom.

”Roy?” Sharon asked. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

”Where’s Donna?” Roy asked.

“In the back,” Sharon said. “She’s still not feeling well after whatever happened at the restaurant.” Roy pushed past her and ran to the bedroom.

Donna lay on the bed. “Donna,” Roy said. She sat up.

“Roy?” she asked before he grabbed her and pulled her close.

”Looks like you two need some alone time,” Sharon said as she closed the door.

“Roy, what’s wrong?” Donna asked.

“It’s Vandal Savage. He’s got Lian.” Roy’s voice was shaky as he fought to keep control of his emotions.

“Great Rhea,” Donna whispered. “Where?”

“I don’t know,” Roy said as he pulled off the suit jacket and tie and threw them onto the floor. “But he’ll find us.” He turned back to her. “Can you give me a lift to my apartment? I need my uniform.”

”No problem,” Donna said. She already had her closet open and was pulling out her Troia uniform. “Give me a sec and I’ll be ready.” He nodded and walked out into the living room to give her some privacy.

Roy paced as he waited. His mind was racing as he tried to figure out how he would save both Donna and Lian.

Miles away, Mirage resumed packing. Her wounds from Deathwing’s assault had mostly healed, but she still found that she couldn’t even set foot in Donna’s apartment without breaking into a cold sweat. She knew that she had to stay firm. She didn’t know where she was going, but she knew she couldn’t stay in San Francisco any longer. When Donna came to pick up her son, Mirage would tell her that she was leaving.

Roy grabbed his sunglasses and walked out into his living room where Donna was waiting. “What now?” she asked.

Roy held up a small silver disk. “I found this in that suit Savage gave me. I’d say this is our ticket.”

”Where?” Donna asked.

”Wherever he wants us,” Roy said. A moment later a burst of light enveloped them and they were gone.

Roy materialized in the teleport chamber alone. Vandal Savage stood before him. As Roy solidified, Savage began clapping.

“Excellent work, my boy,” Savage said.

“Where’s Donna?” Roy demanded.

“Safe,” Savage said. He smiled a predatory smile. “Come with me,” he said. He led the way down the hallway.

”I want to see my daughter,” Roy said.

“In time,” Savage replied. He snapped his fingers and Roy heard someone go running down the corridor. “I will have her brought to the study where you will both gain my gift of immortality.”

“You will of course forgive me if I do not linger after you feel the effects of the meteor,” Savage continued as he swung the doors to the opulent study open and stepped inside. “I will have matters to attend to.”

“Dissecting Donna?” Roy asked.

“Of course not. If you will recall, I can only accept organs from my own bloodline.” Savage’s smile made Roy’s blood run cold. “I could never dissect her. Our children, however, are another story all together.”

“Children?” Roy asked as the door opened again. One of Savage’s servants entered, gently leading Lian along.

”Here we are,” Savage said as he sat down behind his desk. “One big happy family.”

”Daddy?” Lian asked as she ran to Roy.

“It’s okay,” Roy said without taking his eyes off Savage. “We’re fine.”

“Fine?” Savage asked. He laughed. “You’re better than fine.” He pulled a small rock from a safe and placed it on his desk. The rock sat there giving off a faint blue glow. “You’re about to become immortal!” Savage turned his gaze back to the rock. “Who’s up first?” he asked.

Savage let out a cry as the rock suddenly exploded. His gaze whipped to Roy, who still held the smoking pistol. “Run, sweetie,” Roy said. “Daddy’s got this one.”

As Lian hurried from the room, a scowl crept across Savage’s face. “That was very foolish of you,” he snarled.

“I’m the one holding the gun,” Roy said. “And I’m not aiming to wound.”

”What do you want?” Savage asked.

“My daughter and Donna,” Roy said. “We leave together and you don’t bother us again.”

Savage smiled. “So you think you can defeat me,” he said. “Pathetic.” Faster than Roy could react, he threw a paperweight from his desk. The weight cracked against Roy’s hand and forced him to release his grip on the pistol, which fell to the floor. Savage bounded over the desk and slammed into Roy.

“Now you can join the rest of my supply bank,” Savage snarled. With one hand he held Roy’s throat to the ground and pounded the other into Roy’s face. Roy’s sunglasses flew off his face and shattered on the floor.

“Hey! I liked those!” Roy yelled. He worked his leg between himself and Savage and kicked the caveman away. “Offa me!”

As Savage landed on the floor, Roy jumped up and started toward him. As Roy approached, Savage’s hand latched onto Roy’s ankle. He effortlessly threw Roy across the room and into a cabinet filled with china. Roy fell to the ground and was showered by the ruins of the glass collection.

Across the room, Savage picked himself up and slowly crossed the room, stalking his prey. “You have become an annoyance,” he said. “I will simply kill you and let your organs rot!” Savage gripped Roy’s throat with his meaty hands and lifted him. As Roy dangled from Savage’s grip, Savage began to squeeze. Instinctively Roy’s hands locked around Savage’s wrists and tried to pull them apart, but Savage’s grip was too strong. Roy’s tongue was beginning to protrude from his mouth as he delivered the only blow he could – a swift kick below the belt with all that remained of his strength.

Immortal or not, Savage still reacted the way anyone would. He dropped Roy and fell to his knees. Gasping for breath, Roy pushed himself across the room and waited for the stars to clear from his vision.

Savage slowly dragged himself to his feet. “For that I will tear you apart,” he growled.

Roy grabbed a shard of glass and tried to make it look threatening. “Not if I carve you up first,” he said.

Roy doubled over as the wall behind him exploded. Donna Troy stood there, as regal as a Greek goddess. “Not today, Savage,” she said. She picked up Roy like he weighed nothing and put him over her shoulder. The glass fell from his weakened grip and shattered on the floor. “Today we all leave.” She turned and walked away, smashing through walls as she made her way to the outside with Roy over her shoulder and Lian following close behind.

Savage picked himself up enough to watch them go. As Troia lifted into flight with her two passengers, he burst into laughter for reasons only known to him.

“Well now,” Donna said as she and Roy returned to her apartment building after collecting her son and dropping off Lian at Roy’s. “Maybe next time you’ll be more careful.”

Roy smiled sheepishly. His face and arms were covered with Band-Aids to cover the cuts from the broken glass and he had some remarkable bruising on his throat. “Don’t worry,” he said, dismayed because his voice was still weak. “Maybe I can help you out against some of your relatives one of these days.”

Donna smiled back. “I doubt it,” she said. “Although I’d imagine you’d give taking on an Amazon a try. Especially if it involved mud wrestling.”

Roy grinned. “You know me too well,” he said. As they entered the elevator, Roy leaned against the wall. “So what did Miri say?”

Donna shifted her baby in her arms. “She’s leaving. I can’t really blame her, though. Not after what Deathwing put her through.”

”Yeah,” Roy said. “Do you know where she’s going?”

Donna shook her head. “She wouldn’t say. She just told me that she wanted to take Julienne and make a fresh start.”

“Good for her,” Roy said as the elevator arrived at Donna’s floor. “She’s been living in his shadow for too long. She needs this.”

Donna stopped as they neared her door. “What’s wrong?” Roy asked.

Donna pointed at the door. A thin strip of light shone under the door. “I didn’t have the lights on when we left,” she whispered.

”Sharon?”

Donna shook her head. “She’s gone to Amsterdam.”

”We won’t see her for a week, then,” Roy muttered. “Savage.”

Donna nodded and backed away, protectively covering her baby.

Roy threw the door open and rolled into the room. He pulled out a pistol and aimed it at the room’s only occupant, a man smoking a cigar.

“Ah, Mr. Harper! And Ms. Troy!” he added as she came around the corner. “You don’t need that gun.”

”Who are you?” Roy asked.

The man smiled wider. “My name is Maxwell Lord. And I have a proposition for you…”

To Be Continued...

But NOT in Arsenal! Roy and Donna’s story picks up in Justice League International #1! (coming soon)

Author’s Notes
As everyone’s probably heard, this is the last issue of Arsenal. I’m ending it now so that I can move on to other books – specifically the JLI. Don’t worry – Donna and Roy will both be coming along.

It’s funny. This book all came about from a group chat one night. I remember that TC remarked that Arsenal was a great character, but he didn’t think he could carry a series. That led to the mini, which led to this run.

It’s been a lot of fun to explore Donna and Roy’s characters but now I think it’s time for them to rejoin the mainstream DCA Universe. Like I said above, they’ll be joining the JLI. Hope you’ll come along, too.

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