Thea dragged a chair over, sat down with one leg crossed over the other, and watched the trembling woman in front of her. Her mouth twitched slightly.
Fine, she thought. Let's see how long you can scream before you pass out.
Sara Lance's mind was a complete blank. One moment she imagined herself being chopped to pieces, the next she pictured her attacker pulling a gun. Her imagination spiraled, convincing herself she only had a few seconds left to live—so she might as well make good use of them and keep screaming.
It wasn't until her throat went hoarse that something finally clicked. Wait. The only sound in the cabin was her own voice.
Where was the enemy? Had she scared them off with her screaming?
She cracked one eye open.
Empty.
No enemies.
Sara gasped in relief and turned her head—only to nearly bite her tongue when she spotted Thea lounging in a chair.
"You—! Wait…" Sara squinted. The face looked familiar.
Thea had taken off her hood, revealing her true features. She should recognize me, Thea thought. It's only been a year—how much could my face have changed? Though honestly, Thea herself barely remembered Sara. Probably mutual.
Luckily, Sara wasn't completely oblivious. "You're… Oliver's sister, right?"
She patted her forehead, forcing her brain to work. Finally, she made the connection. "That's it—you're his sister! Uh… what was your name again?"
"Thea," Thea sighed. "Thea Queen. I'm here to rescue you. Your father and your sister miss you a lot."
She extended a hand and pulled Sara up from the floor. Despite her average height, Sara was surprisingly heavy. Must be the ship's rich diet, Thea thought wryly. Good thing she'd been training; her old, frail self wouldn't have managed it.
Sara, still half lost in memories of her father and guilt over her sister, followed numbly as Thea led her toward the door.
"Where are we going? What about the guards?"
"Relax. Everyone's hiding. We're heading to my plane on the island. I'm taking you back to Star City."
At the mention of Star City, Sara's eyes flooded with tears again.
Thea frowned slightly. Such a bundle of emotions.
Truth be told, Thea respected the woman deeply—for who she would become. The captain of the Waverider, leader of the Legends, the one who mended fractured timelines with sheer willpower. Legends never die—that quote alone had made Sara Lance unforgettable.
Compared to a certain scarlet speedster who rewrote reality just to fix his childhood trauma, Sara's reverence for time and consequence put him to shame.
But that was the future.
The Sara standing before her now—stumbling, sobbing, snot-faced—was still just a frightened survivor. Thea could only sigh inwardly. Heroes aren't born great; they become great through struggle.
Dragging and half-carrying her, Thea finally got them both off the ship.
All those thoughts of her father's scolding or her sister's disappointment vanished from Sara's mind the moment her feet touched solid ground. Who cares? As long as I'm off that damned island, they can yell at me all they want.
Then—just a short distance away—the air shimmered blue.
A wave of rippling energy distorted the space, and two figures stepped out of thin air: a tall man and a shorter, blonde woman.
The woman, instantly alert, scanned her surroundings—and froze. "Lian Yu?!"
The man beside her frowned. "This is the purgatory island Oliver told you about? Why would Gideon send us here? We were supposed to land in Star City PD, 2007."
The two exchanged a stunned look, then silently disappeared into the dark jungle.
Meanwhile, Thea was strapping her hoverboard back together.
Sara, nerves steadied but curiosity reborn, peppered her with questions to fill the silence—where Oliver was, how her family was doing, what had happened in Star City. Thea gave only vague half-answers.
Finally tightening the last clamp, Thea straightened—only for a sharp throb to pierce her temple.
Her instincts screamed danger.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a flash of blue light racing straight toward her.
"Down!" she shouted, tackling Sara to the ground.
The beam missed them by inches—but not the hoverboard.
With a clean, searing cut, the board split in two, sparks flying.
It wobbled midair for a second, then fell lifelessly to the dirt like a dead bird.
"Son of a—!" Thea swore violently, rage boiling up. She spun toward the source of the attack.
Not far away stood a tall, dark-haired woman clad in black, her expression utterly blank.
Who the hell is that? Thea thought. Why would someone like her be on Lian Yu?
Before she could ask, the woman raised her weapon—and fired again.
Zzzap! Zzzap!
Twin streaks of blue light tore through the air toward them.
Laser fire? Thea blinked. What the—? Humanity's tech isn't this advanced! Even the Batwing doesn't shoot laser beams!
Is she an alien?
No time to wonder. Whoever she was, she was an enemy—plain and simple.
"Hide!" Thea barked to Sara, then snapped her hand up. A ripple of darkness magic erupted outward—not enough to trap, but enough to blind for a few seconds.
Before Sara could protest, Thea activated Gale Step once more. In a blur, she crossed the hundred-meter gap between them, her blade flashing out the instant the black haze cleared.
Speed—unbelievable speed—carried her forward.
Within ten exchanges, she'd already gained the upper hand. The stranger fought like a trained soldier, but her technique was rigid—textbook. What she lacked in finesse, however, she made up for in sheer power and durability.
Thea's blade, sharp enough to slice steel, barely left shallow cuts across her opponent's skin.
Density this high? No way she's human.
What Thea didn't know was that her opponent was equally bewildered.
Who is this woman? the black-clad stranger thought, parrying blow after blow. She's not my target. None of this was supposed to happen.
Two people who shouldn't exist in this place, at this time, were now locked in a furious battle neither had planned for.
And as the fight dragged on, the stranger's temper began to boil.
She wasn't a robot—those shallow gashes stung like hell, and blood now streaked her suit.
Growling, she dropped her guarded stance and switched tactics. No more defensive posturing—she unleashed raw, brute strength.
Seeing the sudden change, Thea didn't dare block head-on. Instead, she deliberately opened her guard.
The black-clad woman took the bait—ignoring the sword lunging toward her collarbone, she threw a full-force punch straight at Thea's face.