NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2: Square 1
Oliver Queen:
I try to swallow a lump in my throat but it feels like the lump is scrapping against my dry throat. I toss and I throw but no matter what I do, I can't seem to rest. My body feels like it's on fire while my head and mind feel freezing cold. Every time I close my eyes, I see something I can't explain and my head starts to hurt. I scream as I kick the blanket off and wipe my sweaty forehead.
The door opens and Dinah runs in with a cup of water.
"Oliver," she shouts, running to my side. She hands me the cup of water and I practically swallow the whole thing. I regret it almost immediately. The water feels like sand in my throat, and it too is scrapping against my throat.
I push Dinah to the side to split out the water. As I do, I fall back.
"Oliver," Dinah says, grabbing my head. "Oliver! Are you okay? Can you hear me?"
"I can hear you," I answer. "I just feel a little under the weather."
"A little under the weather," Dinah repeats, "No. This isn't a little under the weather. This is, this is, this is something else. Oliver looks at yourself."
Dinah grabs my hand and shows it to me.
"You're pale. You're white as a ghost. I don't even have to touch your forehead to know you have a fever. Come on, let's go and get you to Scarecrow. I'm sure he can help you."
"I don't need to see Scarecrow," I say, shaking off Dinah's hand. "It's just all this space travel. It's making me sick. Ahh. I'm sure once we're back on Earth, I'll be fit as a fiddle."
"Are you sure? Are you sure you don't want me to at least ask Scarecrow if he had something for this?"
I have to swallow some sandy split before I could talk again.
"I'm sure. Go now. Come and get me when we're back on solid ground. Solid Earth ground."
Dinah slowly nods her head before leaving my room. She closes the door quietly and I listen to her footsteps as they get further and further away. Once I stop hearing them, I reach down to grab the blanket. As I reach for the blanket, I notice my arm and stop.
"Wait, what's that?"
I stare at my arm as the veins inside start to glow black. It goes from glowing to pulsing. I close my eyes and shake my head. When I open them again, the black glow is gone.
"A hallucination. Oh god, I can't wait to be back on Earth."
I rest my head against the pillow, cover myself with the blanket, and try to get some sleep.
The Man:
"Land ho," I yell as I close my telescope and put it in my pockets. My hands going back to the Rusted's wheel, I push a button and prepare the teleporter. While the teleporter warms up, I grab a nearby speaker.
"Attention everyone," I yell, "We are about to enter a portal. I repeat we are about to enter a portal. Brace yourself for turbulence."
I push the speaker back and enter in the code for the hidden base. Blue energy gathers in the Rusted's bowsprit before shooting out. It forms a portal only a few yards in front of the Rusted. Turning the thrusters on, they push the Rusted into the portal. I should be thankful there's no one on the deck because the wind from the portal is intense.
Having to grab onto the wheel so I wouldn't be blown off my feet, I look up when the wind dies down and I see familiar walls.
"Back to square one," I say as I pull levers and switches and prepare the Rusted for landing. With the solar sails folding in on themselves and the thrusters turning off, the Rusted then slowly comes down.
"Everyone off," I yell, pushing one final button. The ramp shoots out and falls. With that done, I leave the wheel and walk down the stairs to the deck. One by one, everyone slowly comes out from below deck; Doc, Cold and Ivy, Professor Stein and Jaime.
When Kara walks out, she sees me but then quickly looks away. I can't help but look away. I stare at the floor and wait for the last two people to come out.
"Where are Oliver and Dinah? Had anyone seen them recently?"
"I haven't Oliver since we left Oa," Cold answers. "That was what, almost a week ago?"
"More or less," Harleen says with a shrug. "Around five days. I did see Dinah though. Walking around in the hallways."
"Walking around in the hallways," I repeat. "Odd. That doesn't sound like Black Canary."
About to ask Harleen more, I stop when we hear a ding, and then some voices.
"Hey! Is that you guys? What happened? Where are the green lanterns? Hello?"
I walk over to the railing and peek over. There, I see Kent and Iris standing in front of the elevator. For some reason, Kent is waving his arms left and right.
"We see you," I shout. "You can stop signaling now. It looks really stupid by the way."
Despite the distance, I can still see a frown forms on Kent's face as he lowers his arms. I nudge my head, telling the others to follow after me as we all walk down the ramp.
Greeting us the moment they can, they barrage us with dozens and dozens of questions.
"What happened on Oa? Where are the green lanterns? Shouldn't there be green lanterns with you guys?"
"Enough," I say, shutting the two up. "Listen. There's no easy way to say this so I might as well just say it. We lost O--"
"Help," someone screams. "Someone help!"
Immediately, we all turn and look back up. There, on the Rusted's deck, we see a half-dead Oliver being carried by Dinah.
"Oliver," Flash says, running back up the ramp and to Oliver's side. The rest of us without super speed make it to Oliver in a few seconds
As I reach Oliver, I notice how pale he is. He's whiter than a glass of milk, and his breathing is incredibly shallow. Also, I can feel a strange heatwave coming from him.
"What's going on," Flash yells. "What does Oliver look like a ghost?"
"I don't know," Dinah answers. "He had been like this for almost the whole week."
"A week," the Doc repeats as he pushes his way through. "Why didn't you come to me earlier? I could have done something."
After saying that, he drops to his knees and examines Oliver.
"This is strange," the Doc says. "I have never seen anything like this before. Not even in your books."
"That's because this isn't a sickness," I answer, noticing a fading black pulse on his arm. The second I see it, I know what happened.
"What are you talking about," Dinah asks. "If this isn't a sickness, then what is it?"
"Move," I yell, pushing everyone aside. Even Dinah. With everyone out of the way, I grab Oliver by his neck collar and lift him up.
"Hey," Flash says, grabbing my arms. "What are you doing? Let him go."
"Let him go," Stein and Jaime yell as they jump onto my back.
"You look," I say, shaking Oliver, "Didn't you? You looked!"
"You looked," Iris says, "What are you talking about?"
"When I took off my sunglasses," I answer, turning to Iris as even she tries to pry my hands from Oliver. "Back on Apokolips, Oliver must have looked. That is why he is dying."
"Oliver is dying," Dinah repeats.
"Yes, and I'm not sure even I can save him."