"Hey!" Shado hurried over to Oliver, frowning when she saw him frozen stiff like one of those temple statues. Irritated, she gave him a shove.
Nothing.
She pushed harder—thud! Oliver toppled backward like a log, crashing solidly to the ground.
Even Thea winced. Yikes… please don't let that give him a concussion. If he got brain damage here, the future Justice League would be down one member. She quickly snapped her fingers, dissolving the spell.
Oliver, meanwhile, felt like today was one long string of disasters. His goddess of a woman had been right there within reach—almost literally—and then boom, everything went to hell. First he'd gone blind mid-fight, then paralyzed, and now she'd dumped him face-first into the dirt for good measure.
Still, he knew the enemy was probably still nearby. Shouting for Slade, he got no answer. Panic flickered in his eyes as he looked at Thea, instinctively stepping closer to Shado.
"Oliver Queen," Thea said coolly, "do you want to go home? I can take you back."
She wasn't in the mood to waste words. If he wanted to leave, fine. If not, he could rot on this island for all she cared.
But inside, Thea was torn. His lack of fighting skill didn't bother her—Talia could train him, or she could—but it was his heart that was the problem. He lacked the conviction, the self-awareness, the will to be a hero. Yao Fei's first year of teaching had completely failed.
She could reveal her identity right now, and he'd definitely follow her—but would that be his choice, or just her pulling him along?
If he stayed a spoiled playboy forever, Thea could take over everything he was meant to handle. Star City didn't even have that many villains; she could wipe them out before breakfast. But that wasn't the point.
What she wanted wasn't for him to save others—but to save himself.
And that wasn't something anyone else could do for him.
She couldn't exactly stage fake tragedies to "force" growth out of him—what was she supposed to do, manufacture suffering to make him evolve? That was ridiculous. It'd be less exhausting to just leave him here and let fate play out as it was supposed to.
So she just stood there quietly, watching him, waiting for his answer.
Oliver didn't realize this question would determine his future. He blinked, trying to process it. "You… you're from my family?"
Thea nodded, saying nothing. I am your family, she thought. So yes, technically, I sent myself.
Oliver looked down at the unconscious Slade, still sprawled in the dirt. My family has someone this strong? Until now, he'd thought Slade was unstoppable—swift as the wind, fierce as a tiger—but the man lay beaten. Maybe the Queen family had a lot more hidden power than he'd ever imagined.
"I…" he started to agree, but the words caught in his throat. Could he really just forget everything that had happened? Go home and be a carefree rich kid again? What about his father's dying words, the mission left to him—did he have the courage to see it through?
"I want to…" he hesitated, glancing at Shado. She gave him a small nod, and that gave him resolve. "If I leave, they're coming too. They're my friends."
Loyal, at least. Thea pointed toward Shado. "She can." Her finger then shifted to Slade. "He can't."
"Why not?" Oliver frowned, confusion turning to defiance.
Thea paused, choosing her words carefully. "That man will bring you… an irreparable kind of pain. Are you sure you still want to take him?"
If someone had told Oliver that yesterday, he would've laughed in their face. But after seeing her cast actual magic, his worldview had taken a serious beating. He couldn't just dismiss her warning outright.
Still, what did "irreparable pain" even mean? A physical wound? The death of someone close? The words were too vague, too ominous. He thought about Slade—their shared time, their bond. Slade had been harsh, sure, but he'd never hurt him. He was more of a gruff older brother than an enemy.
"If he can't come," Oliver said firmly, jaw tightening, "then I'm not going."
He said it with more confidence than he actually felt, thinking that this mysterious operative—clearly sent by his family—would eventually compromise for the "mission." She wouldn't just leave, right?
Thea simply nodded. "All right then. Stay."
Oliver froze. Wait—what? That wasn't how this was supposed to go!
While he was still processing the abrupt end to his negotiation, Thea turned to Shado. "And you? Will you leave this island? I can take you to Hong Kong. Your sister's waiting for you."
In truth, Thea had no idea if Shado even had a sister—she was just riffing off a half-remembered TV plotline.
"Yao Mei…" Shado murmured, the name stirring old memories. The thought wavered in her mind, but then she saw the look on Oliver's face—pleading, uncertain—and shook her head. "No. I'll stay."
Thea caught their exchanged glances and sighed inwardly. Young love… troublesome as ever.
"I'll be around for a few more days," she said casually. Then she realized—if they did change their minds, they'd have no way to contact her. She amended quickly, "Never mind. I'll come back when the time's right."
And with that, she dropped a Batman-brand smoke bomb, vanishing into the mist before they could blink.
"Slade!" Oliver rushed to his mentor's side as soon as the mysterious figure disappeared, kneeling beside him.
But before he could even touch him, Slade's eyes snapped open—sharp and cold as a predator's. Without a word, he sat up, glaring after the direction Thea had gone.
Thea had hit him perfectly—her nerve strike should've kept him unconscious for half an hour. But Slade wasn't normal. Even without Mirakuru, his body was honed to the very peak of human ability. What would've knocked out a normal man for thirty minutes only kept him down for ten. The only reason he'd stayed prone was to avoid provoking that terrifying opponent any further.
"That one…" Slade rasped, flexing his neck. "Was she sent by your family?"
Oliver hesitated. Even if his mother, Moira, were here, she couldn't have answered that question. The truth was—no one could.
This was still an age before Superman, before the Justice League, before the world knew the name Thea Queen.
"I—I'm not sure," he admitted weakly.
Slade grunted, half in annoyance, half in pain. He picked up his twin blades—one of which had been neatly sliced in half by Thea's sword—and his expression darkened.
"She's got to have a plane or a boat hidden somewhere," he said, voice low but commanding. "We're going to find it."
It wasn't a suggestion—it was an order.
Oliver and Shado exchanged a look, then nodded. Neither of them had a better plan.
And so, the three of them set off together—toward whatever fate still awaited them on this cursed island.