Chapter 1

The world was a desolate wasteland. The destroyed crumbling buildings of Starling city were a wreak, the trees burned and far too many bodies lay ominously still upon the blackened ground. Only one masked man stood, in absolute triumph, smirking at the hooded defeated man whom knelt before him.

The man pulled of his black and orange Deathstroke mask, wishing to look at the man whom he saw as responsible for the destruction of all he held dear, realise the true magnitude of his actions those five long hateful years ago.

The green hood fell back, the emerald leather mask dropped to the ground, a bow lay abandoned upon the floor, the quiver empty of arrows, green or otherwise. Tears fell freely down the kneeling man's face as he gazed at the dead bodies surrounding him; Thea, Felicity, Diggle, Sara, Laurel, Roy, Officer Lance, even Nyssa al Ghul and Malcolm Merlyn.

Slade's cruel smile would have formerly evicted an incredible bloodthirsty killer rage inside Oliver, but now, with his family and allies surrounding him in death, he felt naught but inconceivable guilt and the hope of a quick end to the suffering.

For without Felicity's constant words of encouragement and unmovable ethics, or Diggle's continuous drive and discipline, or Sara's skill, and Tommy's moral compass, Thea's sisterly love, Laurel's hard endless determination, Yao Fei's gentle but persistent strength, Shado's calming nature, his Father's passionate protection, Roy's young sense of fairness and equality; even without his hate for Malcolm's undertaking and the pain he caused him and his city. He was lost, without purpose, without his usual single minded will to fight back, to never give up.

He had started and continued this fight for them, not for himself, never for himself. He knew in is heart that he should continue the fight despite the irreplaceable loss, not have them just die in vain but the pain was relentless, overcoming his sense of Justice and desire for vengeance. He felt responsible for their deaths, he would not, could not blame Slade for them, he blamed himself.

He created him, Slade the monster, Slade the vengeful, Slade the Terminator. Turned his own brother, a good man, into an enemy that knew his every weakness, his every failing, an enemy that he could not truly fight. He never wanted any of this, he never wanted to be the Hero, he never wanted to fight and lose.

Deep inside him, that young playboy still screamed for comfort and safety though there was none, inside he wanted another to take the mantle of Justice. He couldn't live like this any longer. He gazed up to the man he once called brother.

"Get it over with, Slade. You've won. Kill me." His voice was harsh but strong, he would not let defeat take his voice as well.

Slade stroked his blood-stained katana against the neck of his sworn enemy. Oliver fought the urge to shiver and pull away from the bloody blade. Though he was defeated, Oliver would not shrink away from death. He would take it – just like Shado did.

"You keep forgetting the promise I made to you. You will live in suffering, knowing that you caused your own downfall and the deaths of everyone you love. You will not die, not yet."

Slade withdrew his blade and walked away from the utterly defeated man, black dust swirling as he navigated between broken buildings and corpses, with an almost thoughtless swagger, not a care in the world as he left behind the destruction he had caused.

A sudden surprisingly bitter rage fuelled Oliver. He staggered to his feet, pulling one of his trademark green arrows out of a Mirakuru corpse. No one would keep him from revenge, not even defeat. He would not stop fighting until death.

He tackled Slade to the ground and held him there, despite Slade's superior strength, and raised the arrow ready to destroy his other eye. Then Time slowed. Oliver found himself frozen, unable to move, and yet his mind was a whir. It was as if his body wouldn't react to his mind's directions.

He felt his eyes being drawn upward, away from the man below him, away from the man he desired retribution upon, away from the man whom was once a brother now turned arch enemy. In the dust and destruction, a glimmer of impossibly white cloth in the distance and then the world filled with white fog, not like the black smoke from the fire, but rather like a fluffy mid-summer cloud.

A beautiful woman appeared through the dim haze. Her skin was the palest shade of white, her hair the darkest black. She wore a floor-length sleeveless dress, pure black at the bodice, slowly fading into the most untainted of whites. Her eyes were like a reflection of the stars of the night sky; black with pinpricks of pure light.

And yet she walked through the bloody carnage like it was naught but a dream, like it was not real, like a figment of an overactive imagination. She reached out to him, Slade faded away, and the world turned grey.

Make Right what went Wrong. Do what you must, and all you love will live. But fail and this future will be a Mercy. Many things will be different but many things will stay the same. I will guide you where I can and gift you with knowledge but you will be on you own. This is your choice. A second chance. Choose Wisely, Emerald Archer.

Oliver looked at the greyness around him, in his mind he could see his dead friends and allies. He could hear their screams as their final breath was taken from them all too soon. Could he right his wrongs? Turn right where he turned left? Was he ready to sacrifice this life for a slim chance at a better one, which by far more likely would turn out to be a worse one?

A second chance.

He looked at the green arrow in his hands and decided. He would not fail them this time, none of them. Not Slade, not Shado, not Sara, or Tommy, or Thea or Felicity or Diggle or Roy or his mother. No one. He stood up and cast aside the arrow. He reached out and took the women's hand and willingly let the darkness close in on his mind.

…/|\…

His eyes seemed heavy, as if weighed down by the whole mass of the world. Memories of this new alternate world engulfed him. A jumbled mess of information flooding all at once into his brain sending it into overload mode. He could barely think from the onslaught of recollections of this new and yet familiar world.

He groaned quietly and involuntary forced himself to open his eyes. The filtered sunlight of the wreckage plane Wedgetail on the Island of Lian Yu, hit his face dilating his cerulean blue eyes, warming his pale clammy face. Oliver pulled his unwilling, aching body into a sitting position, his back leaning against the rough metal walls.

To his intense surprise he saw Yao Fei and Shado talking by the radio. He frowned in slight confusion, Yao Fei never went to the plane in his memory, at least certainly not while he was there.

He glanced around and saw a man he couldn't recall ever seeing in his life, sitting on the other side of the plane, sharpening a large machete similar to Slade's, in fact his clothing was also akin to Slade's. His new memories told him that he wasn't a threat, but for some reason the man's stance made Oliver extremely untrusting of him.

Some things in the Past have changed to help you decide the Future. The annoyingly beautiful littering voice pierced his mind.

Well that's helpful, he thought, sarcastically. His memories were still in an utter mess. He could not remember exactly what had happened in his original memories and his new ones were covered in an odd haze making it difficult to determine what happened when and in what timeline.

He knew that he needed time to think properly, away from the man sharpening his knife, away from Shado and Yao Fei's quiet but piercing Mandarin that he could now, unbeknownst to them, understand. The new man looked up as Oliver shifted his weight against the metal walls, accidentally causing the oxidized aluminium to creak. The man gives him this twisted half-smile of encouragement but Oliver knows that he is surprised by his sudden awakening by the way his eyes flicker and his stance changes.

He stood up, suppressing a painful groan. He ignored the startled looks upon Shado, Yao Fei and the unacquainted man's face, and lumbered out of the plane into the open air. He stood outside taking in deep breaths of the freshest air he had breathed since his third trip to Lian Yu after Tommy's death and the partial destruction of the Glades.

He suddenly sways, as if in the wind, and he leans his hand against the plane to steady his throbbing body and pounding head. He hears Shado walk over to the unfamiliar man and start a hushed conversation with him. Unknown to the occupants of the plane, Oliver could hear exactly what they were saying despite the fact that he wasn't supposed to speak and understand Mandarin in any proficient manner.

"He should have been out for at least another three hours, and even then he shouldn't be able to stand or move around." Shado alleged, half worried, half puzzled.

"If it was Slade, I would understand the fast recovery, but the Kid? I don't know, he seems more alert and less pained then he should be." The other man whom Oliver still didn't remember, apparently also spoke and understood Mandarin.

Oliver winced, realising how hard it would be to fool them all, they knew him far too well for this to be any kind of easy. His memories of this alternate world really needed to be sorted through, so he would not make any more careless mistakes.

He quietly slipped away from the plane, ignoring his pained chest and head. He quickly scaled a small cliff to a small ledge. He had found this the second time on the island, it was perfect as you were completely unseen unless someone deliberately went to the edge of the cliff – which was steep and covered in prickly bushes – and looked right down.

The ledge was positioned so no one, even if they climbed trees and deliberately looked right at him, would be able to see him. He remembered how lucky he was to find it, after falling from the cliff he managed to grab the ledge before he hit the ground. It was just one of the many close calls he remembered from his time in this Hell.

Oliver pulled his legs to his chest and lent his head against the rocky cliff face, and calmed himself. Taking deep breaths, he began to list the differences and similarities of this Alternate World to his Past Timeline, as he decided to call them. And ends up with about four important changes/ parallels that were worth note in his current position as a castaway on Lian Yu.

1. Until he was captured by Edward Flyers, everything of this life was for the most part (At least the parts that really mattered at this moment) were basically the same.

2. There were three ASIS agents sent to extract Yao Fei from Lian Yu. William Wintergreen did not betray Slade, the third unnamed guy did (Whom was only the mildest of acquaintances to the other two). But Billy Wintergreen was captured like Yao Fei and was only freed while Flyers camp was destroyed by the missile.

3. Yao Fei was not killed by Flyers as Wintergreen escaped and tackled him while Shado and Oliver went to stop the missile and Yao Fei, Slade and Wintergreen took out the rest of the soldiers.

4. Billy Wintergreen was a far better teacher than Slade (Although not as good as Slade in actual warfare) in hand to hand combat, meaning that he was now better at this point in time than he was in the Past Timeline at the same time…

Wow. Oliver thought, my life is confusing. Or is it lives now? He shook his head clear of such thoughts, it would do no good to dwell on the past. It would only distract him from doing this right. Not everyone gets a second chance. He wouldn't waste this, he wouldn't let them die, not this time.

He ran his hand through his long rugged blonde hair and sighed, he had a trek in front of him, and he wouldn't shy from it, he wasn't going to lose this time, he promised himself. They wouldn't die this time, at least not before he did. Ivo would not kill Shado, the Mirakuru would not poison Slade and he would not let Malcolm Merlyn destroy his city. The world better be ready, because the Emerald Archer was not going to back down this time.

…/|\...

Soo… I've finally gotten around to posting this Arrow Fanfic. Hope you like. Review if you want more.

*Darkmoon111*