Green Arrow: Eternal: The Count

*click*
“Good day, Werner. You’re being transferred.”
The man known as Count Vertigo looked up. Two voices - two thoughts appeared in his head.
A transfer could help. New sights, new locales, new people, new help-
Don’t let them take you, you don’t know who they are, you can’t trust them-
Instinctively, the chip in Werner’s head flared up. Before it could fully activate, however, the collar around his neck stopped it. Even if he wanted to try and fight back, he couldn’t. The Control Collars had been developed by some group based in Gotham during the early days of the Batman, designed to help restrain metahumans and nullify their powers.
Werner Vertigo slowly raised to his feet, the cuffs around his hands. His cleanly-shaven blonde hair had barely changed all the time he had been here, waiting and doing his best.
“I don’t understand why you’re takin’ my model prisoner.”
Werner glanced to the side, away from the armed men taking him, to hear the familiar voice of the Warden. A man he considered a friend and a reliable ally, should it come to it.
“ARGUS procures whoever may be useful to us.” another voice said. A female voice, but a deep one. “Completely legally. We want Count Vertigo for our own reasons, and will handle him appropriately. Get him the help he needs, too.”
“He has a psychiatrist here.”
“We’ve got a better one.”
So ARGUS was taking him? What was ARGUS, exactly? Some sort of military group, judging by the soldiers it was employing?
Werner allowed himself to be led down the hall by the men, soon enough being loaded into a truck. He sat himself down on one side.
But the truck wasn’t moving.
A few minutes later, light entered the truck once again as a large woman entered. “Count Werner Vertigo.”
Vertigo recognized the voice. This was the woman who had been talking to the Warden. “That is the name I go by, yes. Who are you?”
“Amanda Waller. Head of ARGUS.” Waller said, sitting down across from him. She held a file out in front of her.
“What’s that?”
Waller flipped it open. It showed various areas Werner would NEVER forget - Vlatava. Among the photos was a picture of a man wearing a Guy Fawkes mask, a young girl in her teens peering longingly out a window, and hundreds of soldiers all across the town keeping it under control.
“Three years ago, you were exiled from Vlatava. The country you were supposed to rule. Yes?”
Werner stammered. Vlatava, Perdita - what had happened to his family and home?! “Y-Yes.” Vertigo replied. “My title of Count isn’t self-granted…”
“Terrorists called the Forsaken took over Vlatava by force.” Waller pushed a photo forward of the fighting. “Killed the last ruler, took over, turned it into a police state. Then they exiled you. Am I right?”
“Yes.”
“And so, you turned to the Ninth Circle to get your way back into the country at the cost of doing their dirty work.” Waller closed the file. “Correct?”
“I tried to make them a means to an end.” Vertigo sighed. “But… somewhere along the line, I started… LIKING it. The whole drug dealing business, the flow of the cash, the product…”
“So why’d you take a job as a psychiatrist?”
“It was cover and a steady flow of cash.” Werner replied simply. “Crazy that the man who needed psychiatric help the most was giving others that help…”
“Oh?”
“I-” Werner took a deep breath. “I’m bipolar. I’ll say it plainly. When I’m at my best, I feel like I’m on top of the world, like I can do anything. When I’m doing bad things, I feel like I just want to crawl into a hole and hide away, but I keep going anyways. When I’m at my worst, God help us all. I’m nearly at the point I want to end it all to rid the world of me, but…”
“Perdita.”
“Yes.”
“Perdita Vertigo, your niece. Mother died in childbirth, father was assassinated by the Forsaken. The one directly after you in line for the throne.” Waller said. “But you don’t want her to be.”
“I don’t want her to have to bear that burden.” Vertigo replied. “I saw what my father went through, ruling the country. It’s too much for her. She’s still so young and innocent, and couldn’t fight the Forsaken if she tried. She NEEDS me.”
Waller nodded. “Well…”
She took out another file, holding it forward. “I’d like to offer you a deal, Count Werner Vertigo.”
“And that is?” Werner took the file, barely managing to open it with his handcuffs. Within it were pictures of various people.
“ARGUS will get you back to Vlatava. But first, you work for us.”

ONE DAY LATER

Werner reached a hand to the back of his neck, holding it tightly. It was better than the collar… to a degree. It FELT better, but he knew the chip now in his neck was a hell of a lot more dangerous.
“Hey, she wasn’t lying. We’ve got someone new here!”
Count Vertigo glanced to the side to see a man walking over to him he recognized from the folder. Floyd Lawton, aka Deadshot. He wasn’t the one who had spoken, however. That was Digger Harkness, aka Captain Boomerang.
“Welcome to the Suicide Squad.” Floyd said, offering a hand.
“I thought this was Task Force X.” Werner replied, shaking it.
“No difference.”
The feminine voice belonged to Harleen Quinzel, aka Harley Quinn. Looking around the room, Werner recognized most of the faces he saw. Waylon Jones, aka Killer Croc. Chato Santana, aka El Diablo. June Moone, aka Enchantress. But there was one missing person…
“Where’s Rick Flag?” Vertigo asked. “I expected the leader of the Task Force to be here.”
“Permanently retired, from what I hear.” Lawton said. This shocked Vertigo. “Good riddance. Bastard got what he deserved.”
“So there’s no field leader?”
“There is now.” Waller’s voice boomed over the speakers. “Gentlemen, Vertigo’s name alone is more valuable than all of you combined, so I expect you to ensure he survives these missions. And that means you’d better not step out of line either, Werner. That bomb’s there for a reason. And as for your statement about a field leader… Floyd Lawton is the new leader of Task Force X, effective immediately. Prepare for a mission soon.”
“Me?” Floyd seemed as shocked at this as Werner had been at the words directed towards him. “The leader?”
“Someone’s got to do it since Flag’s off in some resort. And off the Task Force.” Waller replied. It seemed a bit contradictory. Was Flag dead or wasn’t he? Was Waller trying to cover it up? Lawton seemed to think so.
The audio cut out, as Waller finished her discussion. Werner looked back over at Lawton.
“We’ll catch you up soon enough.” Floyd replied. “But it’s time for introductions now. And I mean REAL introductions, not just reading each other’s files. We gotta be a squad, after all.”
The Count took a deep breath, thoughts racing through his head once again.
This guy’s a criminal. A murderer. Can’t trust him.
But I’m also a criminal. Can’t judge a book by its cover.
With a nod, Vertigo walked over to join the others.

“My name is Count Werner Vertigo. The newest member of the Suicide Squad.”