American Comics: The Strongest Villain

The Queen's Gambit incident impacted many lives, but none more so than two families: the Queen family and the Lance family.

Quentin Lance, a detective in Starling City's police department, was the father of Laurel and Sara Lance. Sara's tragic accident devastated him. He had opposed Laurel's relationship with Oliver Queen, even quarreling with her several times over it. But he never anticipated that while he was keeping an eye on his elder daughter, he would lose his younger one. He harbored deep resentment toward Oliver Queen, whom he saw as the cause of all this pain, and also toward himself. With Sara gone, he became stricter with Laurel, even blaming her a little. If Laurel hadn't met Oliver, would Sara still be alive?

But as much as Quentin wanted to protect his daughter, Laurel was no longer a child. Already in college, she decided to move into the dorms. Even though the school wasn't far from home, she couldn't bear to face her father's grief or the reminders of her sister that haunted their house. She couldn't decide whether to resent her sister for "stealing" her boyfriend or to mourn her loss.

Avoidance was her way of coping.

Unfortunately, her father did not agree with her decision, leading to a heated argument that ended with Laurel storming out of the house.

She wandered aimlessly through the streets, lost in her thoughts, until she found herself in the city's rougher neighborhoods. Still fuming from the argument, she didn't realize she was being followed. A man in a hoodie trailed her, and as she unknowingly turned down a deserted alley, he suddenly shoved her from behind, pushing her into a corner.

Laurel stumbled, barely catching herself before falling. When she turned around, she was staring down the barrel of a gun.

"Hand over your valuables, girl."

She was being robbed.

Only now did Laurel realize the gravity of her situation and where she had wandered. As a lifelong resident of Starling City and the daughter of a detective, she knew better than to resist. She handed over her purse without protest.

"Smart girl."

The man took it with a smug grin, but instead of leaving, he eyed her up and down. Laurel was tall, with delicate features, straight brown hair that fell to her shoulders, and long legs. Even in her casual state, she was strikingly beautiful.

"Let me check if you're hiding anything else," the man sneered, advancing toward her with the gun.

Laurel took a step back, trying to maintain her composure. "My father is a cop. If you just rob me, I'll consider myself unlucky. But if you lay a hand on me, you'll have the entire police force hunting you down."

"A cop, huh? You think that scares me?" the man said, hesitating slightly.

"You're not afraid?" Laurel asked, trying to sound confident.

"Of course not... Who's there?" The man suddenly froze, hearing a male voice that wasn't Laurel's. He instinctively pointed his gun toward the alley's entrance, where a young Asian man was casually walking in.

"Yellow-skinned monkey, you want to play hero?" the man growled.

Su Sheng chuckled, shaking his head. "A black man being racist? That's rich." He looked past the man to Laurel. "Need a hand?"

"If you can," Laurel replied hesitantly, unsure whether to trust this stranger.

"Of course," Su Sheng said with a bright smile, walking toward them.

"Stop, or I'll shoot!"

"You really think I won't?" The man aimed the gun at Su Sheng and fired.

Bang!

The gunshot echoed through the alley, but to the man's shock, Su Sheng remained standing, untouched.

Did I miss? the man thought, panic rising as he fired again.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The shots rang out in quick succession, but none of them hit their mark. In the blink of an eye, Su Sheng was right in front of him.

"So fast!" The man gasped, stumbling backward in terror as Su Sheng smiled and suddenly punched him.

Infinite Superposition—Fifty Times.

Boom!

The force of Su Sheng's punch exploded through the man's head, leaving a gaping hole as blood and brain matter splattered across Laurel's face and clothes. She stared in horror as Su Sheng calmly withdrew his fist from the man's skull, watching his lifeless body crumple to the ground. He picked up Laurel's bag, now stained with blood, and handed it back to her with a slight smile.

"Here's your bag."

Seeing the blood and gore on the bag, Laurel's eyes widened, her legs buckled, and she fainted, collapsing to the ground.

Su Sheng looked down at her, a faint smile on his lips. "It seems if I want to turn her into Black Canary, she'll need to toughen up first. If she faints every time, what good will she be?"

He slung Laurel over his shoulder and carried her out of the alley. Over an hour later, patrolling officers discovered the body and cordoned off the scene.

Meanwhile, Quentin Lance, having calmed down, regretted the argument and called his daughter to apologize and ask her to come home.

But her phone was switched off.

 ...