Wolf of Words

For a Cast of Characters and some fancasting, please click here.

Part 1 and Part 2

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Interior – Control Room

Mammoth arrives at the control room and Merlyn welcomes him. However, he retreated from battle and Merlyn has no use for soldiers who retreat. A bunch of mind-controlled guards and KGBeast tase Mammoth and hold him down. Merlyn hands a collar to Bolton, commanding him to install the collar. When he hesitates, Merlyn states that he also has no use for soldiers who hesitate. Merlyn slips a collar around Bolton’s neck and we see the collar take over his mind. He orders him once again to collar Mammoth and he does so without hesitation.

Interior – Cell Blocks

Anarky alerts the others that he has discovered a signal being reproduced throughout the prison. He is not completely sure what the purpose is but found signatures for programmers named Jervis Tetch and a Mad Mod. He and the heroes have a simultaneous revelation — mind control. But none of the people present are mind-controlled so there must be another element to it. Knockout doubles down on their team, outraged at the idea of being mind-controlled. 

China White steps into their path and tells them not to worry about mind control as they will not have heads soon. Green Arrow calls out to her and says that she must be worried about being mind-controlled. She is an intelligent criminal and that is nothing without free will. Nobody deserves to have that taken away. China orders the attack which leads to a huge pitched battle between the quartet (Magpie slips away again) and China’s forces. The four have to cut loose and go all out to win. In the madness, China White retreats. Magpie pops out and hits the last straggler with a back elbow, asking if the heroes are satisfied. She helped. Knockout tells her that sometimes you have to fight. Magpie replies that sometimes you don’t.

Interior – Control Room

China White makes her way into the control room and yells at Merlyn for the mind control, asking him if he intended to control her as well. He feigns innocence and then Mammoth grabs her arm and lifts her up. She twists around and hits Mammoth with a penalty kick between the legs, causing her to get dropped. She lands on her feet. She is ambushed by Bolton who collars her and we see her mind disappear just like the others. 

Interior – Final Hallway

Green Arrow and Black Canary lay out what they are up against that they know of. Merlyn, Calculator, and whatever mind-controlled prisoners are in the final area. Arrow promises them nothing. No certainty. He lays out that he has not even cleared his own name for the murders Merlyn framed him for. He just asks that the three prisoners help him finish things. Not because he has a dangling carrot but because it is the right thing to do in so many senses of the word. They will all have their priorities and objectives to accomplish but none of them are alone.

Interior – Control Room

The room is dark. Merlyn sits under a single spotlight and welcomes Green Arrow, his nemesis to the end. He acknowledges that GA came a long way and fought through a lot but this is his end. Green Arrow says that he did not come alone. He could not have done it alone. And he didn’t have to mind-control anybody to get them to team up. Merlyn signals the lights on Black Canary, Magpie, Anarky, and Knockout. Merlyn gives them one last chance to either turn and run or bend the knee. Green Arrow’s allies decline. Merlyn turns the lights on for his own team. The final fight begins.

In the final fight:

Green Arrow goes toe to toe with Merlyn, their skills almost a perfect match. GA is occasionally distracted by a mind-controlled guard or two but keeps his focus.

Black Canary goes up against China White and some guards.

Magpie tries to escape again but is grabbed by Bolton. Remembering the words of Knockout, she finally decides to fight, using her quickness to counter the big man. 

Anarky goes up against The Calculator in a battle of hacking and quips with a few punches thrown in as well.

Knockout squares up against Mammoth and KGBeast. She is fighting them when Solomon Grundy tears his way through the floor and enters the fight. Knockout remembers the heroes’ words of compassion and offers the same to Grundy. She says how sorry that he died again but he does not need to be used again these people. Grundy has risen again with more intelligence and agrees, making it more of a fair fight.

In the end, the five overcome their opponents and Anarky shuts off the mind-control signal. GA and Merlyn are still fighting but a newly freed China White attacks Merlyn, distracting him enough for GA and Black Canary to incapacitate both crooks. The five (and Grundy) stand victorious, happy but exhausted.

Interior – Control Room

The elevator access has been opened and the authorities are about to arrive. Green Arrow begs Black Canary to run as she is not a prisoner and she was not framed. She refuses to let him go, kissing him. They look back to the other three and they have disappeared. Green Arrow laughs to himself. Black Canary asks Whatever happened to togetherness? Green Arrow does not blame them for taking the opportunity. He’ll hold up his end of the bargain and still put in a good word for the three of them. The Justice League will catch them soon enough but maybe they will do some good out there. Maybe, Canary responds but her smile reveals her optimism.

The warden says that he is prepared to say they saved the prison and not only recaptured most of the prisoners but also added a few new ones. He gestures to Bolton, Calculator, and Merlyn. 

The authorities arrive and they draw guns on the couple. Green Arrow kneels and puts his wrists out, ready to be cuffed again. The Warden walks into the line of fire and pleads their case. Black Canary also tries to explain. Agent Kate Spencer of the DEO walks out and tells everyone to put their guns down. Green Arrow’s name has already been cleared thanks to Oracle calling every number in law enforcement she could reach. Kate even pulls up the analysis of the doctored video and alternate angles, which show Merlyn committing the crimes. Kate says that since Green Arrow and Black Canary helped with a possible high-level prison break and the Justice League has a good reputation with the US government, they will just call this a wash. Green Arrow follows through and puts in a good word for the three missing prisoners but admits that they got away. Kate says that they will deal with it.

Kate gestures for the two heroes to take their leave and they climb into the elevator and start the journey to the surface. Canary says they are lucky to get away. Arrow says that it was not luck, it was the power of friendship yet again. Continue to take a chance on people and people will take a chance on you. They kiss again happily as their communicators suddenly come to life with the voice of a very concerned Oracle. They laugh.

For a Cast of Characters and some fancasting, please click here.

For Part One please click here.

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Interior – Supermax Control Room

Bolton and Calculator try to appease Merlyn that at least the crooks in intake slowed Green Arrow down. They have an optimised path where they can strike again. Merlyn is angry but calms himself down. He carefully selects the next candidates for an attack. If that doesn’t work, he needs to personally negotiate with the next option. Bolton asks if this is all they are going to do, try and kill superheroes. Merlyn says that ending Green Arrow was just a bonus that he could not resist going after. The real plan is to use special mind control collars to amass an army of some of the choicest villains available. He asks to Calculator to start working on the big guns but Merlyn will spring the next trap. Then he will go shopping for test subjects.

Interior – Supermax Organized Crime Wing

Merlyn walks down to a cell and presses a button next to it and the door becomes transparent. China White sits up from her bed and approaches the door with an interested smirk. The two fellow Green Arrow villains have not seen each other in quite some time. China asks what is happening; something big must be happening. Merlyn reveals that Green Arrow is in the prison and that Merlyn will kill him. He requests her assistance. They bargain for a few moments and China requests that her people be released. Merlyn agrees and promises to make her his partner in the endeavor. In fact, he will give her a key to open any cell she wants to amass a small army. She wonders what he is not saying but he avoids the issue.

Interior – Supermax Hallways

The heroes and Magpie are walking through a hallway when Green Arrow shoots a camera out. Magpie yells at him as he is just giving Merlyn a clear view of their path. Its best to just avoid the cameras. On the next hallway, Magpie demonstrates by flipping and moving fast to get pas the cameras. Once they are past, Green Arrow asks why Magpie isn’t a superhero. She says she just likes shiny things too much. Black Canary says she is selling herself short. Magpie reiterates that they need to be stealthy as Merlyn must have a computer guy. You can’t do it without a computer guy.

Interior – Supermax Control Room

Calculator pulls up a microphone and informs the heroes that he is that computer guy and much more.  Whether they shoot out or dodge the cameras, he still has so many toys to track them with. So many toys to kill them with.

Interior – Supermax Hallways

The heroes and Magpie are assaulted by a series of traps. Trapdoors which are defeated by GA and Magpie’s grappling hooks, giant gouts of fire that Magpie deals with by using a confiscated cold gun, electrified surfaces defeated by destroying electrical junctions, and so on. The trio breaks their way into a guard station to avoid an explosion. Once inside Green Arrow spots a cell roster that gives him an idea.

Interior – Organized Crime Wing

China White gives a rallying speech as she walks among the holding cells. She says that she has the key to release anybody who swears to follow her.  It does not matter whose gang they are a part of. Tonight, they are one gang. They are the gang that is going to kill Green Arrow and Black Canary. They can prove to their various masters that they are capable, that they are worthy. They can go back with news that they helped kill members of the Justice League. Or they can simply join up with China White and Merlyn and remain dominant. Their choice. Stay imprisoned or kill the heroes. She has many takers.

Interior – Cybercrimes Wing

Green Arrow presents to the team their very own computer guy. Meditating in the middle of a transparent cell is Lonnie Machin. They check the area for cameras and Lonnie tells them not to worry about it, there are no cameras. There are no electronics at all in this wing. The wing was actually designed for power-drinking villains like Parasite or Overload. They put Anarky in there as he was able to spring himself with only a stolen pen, a cell phone, and an outlet. Green Arrow updates him on what is going on. 

Green Arrow knows from talking to Batman that Anarky could sometimes be a hero. Emphasis on “sometimes”. If they spring him, the heroes cannot promise his freedom but they will put in a good word. They need Anarky to counter Calculator. If Merlyn has taken over a whole prison, nothing good can come of it. He could release anybody he wanted to. Anarky responds that he believes that many do not deserve to be imprisoned and that he does not trust the State to handle prisons morally as the State itself is corrupt. He cites that the Supermax was built primarily for profit with public safety being a distant secondary concern.

Black Canary cuts him off and points out that they can talk about politics later. It is the hero’s duty to protect not only the public but the criminals who are kept in a vulnerable state. Merlyn could do things with or to the prisoners that they don’t even know about yet. This isn’t about the future of the Supermax. This is about saving the day right now. Anarky can get behind that. They spring him.

Interior – Guard Station

Anarky assembles a portable rig out of a data pad that he can mount on his wrist. He smiles and breathes in the connection to the world again and shuts down most of the motion sensors, cameras, and other devices used to track them. More importantly, it will be incredibly difficult for Calculator to spring traps on them again. Anarky points out that he has not shut everything down and Calculator still has more control since he is linked to the main line with full access. 

Interior – Control Room

Merlyn dresses down Calculator for getting hacked by a relative child. He tells him to get his act together. Calculator promises that he still has worth as he still has control and can still spring some surprises on the heroes. Merlyn tells him to prove it. Calculator says that his superior intellect has told him where the heroes are likely to go next and they will soon die. Merlyn relents but shows off his first test subject, courtesy of mind control. The KGBeast stands completely under Merlyn’s control. Bolton is uncomfortable with this. 

Interior – Supermax Metahuman Wing

Magpie leads the heroes through a heavy-duty airlock and warns them that they are about to enter the secure metahuman wing. Prisoners there have superpowers that far outclass the trio. They need to move quickly and get out as soon as possible. A lot of the villains in that area of the prison could probably single-handedly rip all three of them apart. 

Interior – Supermax Metahuman Wing

The trio are walking by a series of huge, thick metal doors. Magpie explains that the cells are built tough as a secondary precaution because there are power dampeners inside.

Interior – Supermax Control Room

We see Calculator briefly as he grins at his screen and inputs a few keystrokes into his setup.

Interior – Supermax Metahuman Wing

A klaxon goes off causing Green Arrow, Black Canary, Magpie, and Anarky to freeze. Magpie tells the others to run. They start to run but the door to a cell flies off of its hinges and they barely stop in time to avoid getting hit by it. Solomon Grundy walks out of the cell, mumbling his simple nursery rhyme. He recognizes Green Arrow and Black Canary and begins to rampage. Magpie vanishes yet again. Two more doors burst open and Karshon and Mammoth emerge. At first, the tree monsters go after the heroes who manage to hold their own but they are well out of their weight class. Anarky has an idea that he hopes will work and he hacks into and breaks open another cell door. Knockout steps out of her cell. The heroes ask for her help but she brushes them off at first. 

The three monsters start going after her and each other, creating a huge chaotic brawl. Knockout uses her super strength to go toe to toe with the monsters. She slams and suplexes the three with flair. When it looks like the three might work together to pull her apart, Green Arrow launches a smoke arrow into Karshon’s mouth, stunning him. Knockout shoves him back in a cell and then jams the door back on. Canary uses her cry to stun Grundy and Mammoth accidentally launches the zombie into a mess of electrical cords. Grundy is electrocuted and dies smoking. Knockout gets the upper hand on Mammoth but he decides to run for it instead. They lament that Grundy died but they know that it will not be long before he ressurects. 

Anarky is able to seal the rest of the cells, preventing Calculator from remotely releasing anybody else. He is not sure how long it will hold, so they had better get going. Knockout again refuses to join up with them. Magpie reappears and points out that with the intake completely locked down, the only exit is the way they are heading. Knockout muses that her girlfriend is still out there and she wants to reunite. She will join them for now.