The Man:
"Click," something rings. "Click. Click."
I check the Seahorse's sonar and map, but based on our current location and the location of the nearest orichalcum burial site, Oliver and I are still over 200 miles away.
"Click," something goes on. "Click. Click."
Pushing a button on the dashboard, a screen flickers to life, showing me Oliver in the backseat. Looking closer, I see Oliver clicking his tongue.
"Click," he goes on. "Click. Click."
"Stop that," I yell, watching as Queeine jumps.
"Sorry," he says. Putting his fist to his mouth, Oliver then coughs.
"Sooo...," Oliver says, tapping his hand. "Can I ask you a quick question?"
I sigh and shake my head.
"The answer is yes," I start. "I did almost eat someone. I almost resorted to cannibalism, but in the end, I didn't."
".....What the hell are you talking about!"
"Swear," I say.
"You ate someone!"
"I say almost, almost ate someone, but I didn't! Isn't that what you wanted to ask me?"
"No! Wha--Why would you tell me this? That wasn't at all what I wanted to ask you!"
"Oh. So what did you want to ask me?"
"I was going to ask why you picked me, but now I'm thinking how long before you think about taking a bite out of me!"
"Again. I did not eat Darry, but believe me, at the time, no one would have disapproved. We all hated the bastard. We were low on food, and the zombies wouldn't go away."
"Zombies? You mean, like Grundy?"
"Not even a little."
"Oh my---"
I lower my head and look at the screen. I watch Oliver hold his stomach while trying not to throw up, his mouth hidden behind his fist.
"So you wanted to know why I picked you instead of anyone else?"
"....Sure," Oliver replies in between breaths. "I need something else to focus on."
"Well," I start, bouncing my head up and down. "As I said before. There are only so few people in the Insurgency that I can stand being in a tight space with. Besides you, there's Kara and... and... No. It's just you two. Just the two of you."
"Okay, but why? What's wrong with Barry?"
"He betrayed me. That bastard was ready to hand me over to Superman."
"Really? That was like, four months ago!"
"I'm petty and have a long memory. Two of my greatest qualities."
"Okay. In his defense, you just shot Iris."
"That was Clayface I shot. How bad is your memory?"
"Yes, but at the time, we thought it was Iris. We didn't know it was Clayface. Okay. You know what? Moving on. What about Harleen, or the Professor, or even Dinah?"
"I'm trying to avoid Harleen after what she said right after I rescued her from the Amazo Android."
Hearing those words, I shake my head and clear my throat.
"The Professor isn't bad, but with him, he's a package deal, and I don't like Jason Rusch. He was mean to me during our Watchtower mission. As for Dinah, she's alright, but I still prefer you over her."
"Thanks?"
Hearing a ringing sound this time, instead of a clicking, I push a button. The screen with Oliver switches to a map of the surrounding area. In the center of the map is a bright blue dot, with a long, green line extending from it. Going in circles, the green line hits and reveals a red dot.
"Hey," I say, "We're getting close now."
I keep checking the map. As the green line makes another full circle, the Seahorse picks up something else. Another bright red dot appears on the map.
"What the--?"
The new red dot moves toward the Seahorse. It moves too fast to be a sea animal or a rocket. Even if it were a rocket, the Seahorse would've picked up a third red dot, symboling the vessel the rocket was being fired from. No, this was something else.
"Brace for impact," I say.
"What?" Oliver asks.
"Brace for impact," I repeat, looking out the window. I see nothing but black and blue seawater and large stone mountains. As I keep searching, I sense something incoming. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up. My mind is burning up. The way my sixth sense is jumping up and down, how it's reacting, the fire inside burning bigger and bigger, I recognize this sense. It is pure magic.
"Activating shields," I say, pushing buttons and flipping switches. The Seahorse's electric force field bursts to life, a transparent bubble appearing around us. However, it's not enough.
"Aahhh!"
Oliver screams as something hits the Seahorse. A powerful green fire encases the Seahorse's shield. All the screens in the Seahorse flash red. All the alarms start screaming and shrieking. I look at one of the flashing screens. It shows the Seahorse's shield drops from 100 percent to 30 percent.
"Activating rocket counterattack," I say, flipping a series of switches and green lights turning on. Pushing another button, the Seahorse spins in circles, firing out rockets in all directions.
"I'm going to be sick," Oliver shouts, slamming his hand over his mouth. "What are you doing? Why are we spinning like this?"
"I can't see him visually," I answer, snapping my head right and left as I keep looking. "But I will after this."
"Him who?"
"Argghhhh!"
Hearing a muffled voice, I turn and see him hovering in the water. With skin whiter than snow and a green hood and cloak, the person looks at me with glowing yellow eyes and grinding teeth.
"Spectre," I answer, grabbing the steering wheel to stop the spinning.
With the swing of his hand, Spectre orders the water to move the bubbles out of the way. Now, with nothing in between us, Spectre and I look right at each other.
"Man in sunglasses," Spectre says, his voice sounding like thunder even underwater. "Your day of reckoning has come. You stand guilty of the death of Phantom Stranger, for the death of the Lords of Order, for the destruction of Jump City."
"Uhh, I think that last one was more Trigon than The Man," Oliver says, raising his hand. "Also, who are you again? Spectre? Yeah, I don't think we met before."
Ignoring Oliver, Spectre pulls his hand in before swinging it forward. Shooting out a massive wave of green fire, so hot that the water sizzles, it flies toward Oliver and me.
"I'll tell you who Spectre is later," I shout, tilting the Seahorse's steering wheel. Dropping down and dodging the wave of green fire, the water sizzling as the wave flies above us, I push a button and activate the Seahorse's jets. Shooting forward, the Seahorse shoots past Spectre, leaving him in a cloud of bubbles.
Swimming through the bubble, Spectre chases us. Shooting out his hand, his hand glowing green with pure energy, the mountains in front of us crumple immediately. Giant boulders fall and almost crush us, but I activate the Seahorse's built-in laser rifles. Destroying the boulders before they can hit us, I check the map.
"We're coming upon the burial site," I say.
"That's awesome and all," Oliver says, "But I don't think he's going to let us dig up the orichalcum in peace."
"You're right," I say, "Spectre isn't going to let me go. Once he sets his sights on someone, you're basically finished."
"So what's the plan?"
"Remember what I said about Spectre setting his sights on someone?"
"That once Spectre sets his sights on you, you're basically finished. Yeah. Why?"
"Well, he has his sights set on me. Not you. Here."
Lunging forward, I reach down and pull out an instruction manual from beneath the controls. I then give the manual to Oliver.
"I hope you're a fast reader, Queenie."
Once Oliver has the manual, I push another button on the control. The floor beneath my feet slides open. The driver's seat pulls itself back slightly. Straightening my back and placing my hands on my shoulders, I hold my breath as I slide off the seat and through the opening.
Falling into the freezing-cold, near pitch-black water, I watch as Oliver's eyes widen and his jaw falls. He mouths something while punching the window, but I ignore him and turn around.
Spectre, still chasing after the Seahorse, stops when he sees me floating in the water with him.