Continuing Mark Wooden’s “Birds of Prey” fanfiction, it’s Batgirl versus ninjas on the rooftops of Crime Alley!
Want to read from the beginning? CLICK HERE!
Batgirl’s grappling line brought her to the roof of the building across the street from the Monarch Theater’s rear entrance. Usually, she was the sole runner on the rooftops.
This time, though, she wasn’t alone.
Three men stood in the shadows, thinking they were being stealthy. They were good, but not good enough.
Taking up a fighter’s attack stance, Batgirl said, “Come out, or I’ll drag you out!”
The three men did as commanded. They wore white ninja yoroi and brandished ninja-to swords. The ninjas held the swords as if they knew how to use them.
Presumably, these ninjas worked for the Aussie. Were others hidden in the area waiting for the command to hit the theater? How did she miss them?
The three ninjas before her suddenly advanced into striking range. Batgirl feinted to one side. All three ninjas fell for the maneuver.
Batgirl came back with a solid kick that leveled one ninja. She then fought the two remaining ninjas. She parried their swords against her Kevlar-reinforced gauntlets, then lashed out with punches that forced her opponents off guard.
The masked vigilante then disarmed one ninja. He adjusted to unarmed attacks. His blows landed with thuds against Batgirl’s Kevlar-lined armor, which prevented any actual damage to her person.
The vigilante caught the remaining sword between the hooks on her gauntlets. With a twist, she snapped the blade in half, rendering it useless.
Taken aback, the two ninjas stepped away from Batgirl, reassessing their opponent.
“Why stop now, fellas?” Batgirl asked.
Then Batgirl noticed the fallen ninja. His costume lay on the ground, but his body had turned to ash. She didn’t get to look for long. The other ninjas moved in.
One ninja got in a lucky blow, firmly putting a boot against the side of her cowl. The blow spun Batgirl, sending her to the ground. She barely rolled out of the way when the other ninja tried to stomp on her.
The ninja came in again at Batgirl, who came up on one knee. She caught the ninja’s foot and twisted it, spinning him away from her.
The other ninja charged at her. Batgirl dodged his attack. She then punched the ninja in his solar plexus. She heard the reassuring whoosh of his breath rushing from his lungs.
The ninja went down and stayed there.
Batgirl looked at the ninja with the twisted leg. He hobbled up on his uninjured foot. Batgirl stood too.
“Stop this!” Batgirl demanded. “I doubt you want to be ash any more than I feel like wasting my time with you!”
The ninja pulled a second blade, a dagger.
He then used it to slash his throat.
Batgirl turned away from the spray of blood. When she looked back, the ninja was already turning to ash.
She then noticed something metal in the pile of ash and fabric — a headset. With a “this is gross” look on her face, Batgirl dug through ninja ash and fished it out.
Holding the headset to her ear, she heard the Aussie yelling for one of his teams to report in. He got angry when one of them didn’t.
Batgirl guessed she’d just eliminated that team.
The Aussie called out two teams before this one. Were that all there was, or was there more?
Pressing a button on her cowl slid infrared lenses over her already protected eyes. Scanning the rooftops, Batgirl detected at least two other teams up here. She did not know if there were more on the ground.
Over the headset, the Aussie told the other teams to get eyes on the missing group. Batgirl quickly found a shadow to hide in. If Batgirl were to stop the Aussie, she couldn’t hide for long.
“I took down your team,” Batgirl said into the headset.
“Who the ‘ell is this?” the Aussie asked.
“If you’re going to do crime in Gotham, you should know it’s protected,” Batgirl said.
The Aussie laughed over the radio. “I’d heard about some bloke dressed as a bat, likes to beat up thugs and costumed twats,” he said. “Didn’t know a girlie played too.”
Batgirl frowned at the sexist insult. “This girlie just beat the ash out of three of your ninjas. Who uses ninjas nowadays anyway? I bet you’re wearing pastel colors too, getting that whole eighties vibe.”
“Only pastel color you’re gonna see,” the Aussie began, “is the blood leakin’ from your gut when I find ya.”
As long as you’re focused on me and not the theaters, Batgirl thought. “You know where your men were,” she said into the headset. “Come and get me.”
Batgirl throws down her gauntlet to this unknown Aussie — who you should know as Kano.
How’s this fight gonna go? And what about the innocent gamblers? Will the ninjas get to them before Batgirl and her backup can save them? Find out in the next chapter!
While writing this fanfiction, I used Green Ronin’s Mutants and Masterminds, 3rd Edition RPG, to leave some things to chance. Check it out!
Like this Birds of Prey fanfiction? Check out Mark’s original “Shadowdance” saga books!
