In this episode of Birds of Prey fanfiction, Seattle vigilante Black Canary plays hero, only to land herself in a trap.

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Over at the Crocodile Bar in Belltown, Dinah Lance belted out a song with her band, Ashes on Sunday. They were rehearsing for the night’s gig, but Dinah always gave her all when she sang.

Her idol Alison Blair, a.k.a. Dazzler wouldn’t hold back, so neither would she.

Whereas Dazzler’s mutant powers turned sound into light, Dinah’s power allowed her to generate a blast of sonic force. The skill required to do so enhanced her singing ability.

Bringing her voice to the edge of her Canary Cry without blasting the audience with a burst of sonic energy challenged Dinah’s skill.

She loved the challenge.

Suddenly, one by one, the band members stopped playing. Dinah often sang with her eyes closed. When she realized she sang a cappella she opened her eyes to see a portly man in his sixties who dresses as if grunge were still a thing frantically trying to get her attention.

“What’s up, Owen?” she asked the man, owner of the bar.

“There was an explosion down the street!” Owen said.

While the rest of the band gasped and voiced concern, Dinah went into hero mode. “How far away?”

“A few blocks,” Owen said. “People are running everywhere. I’m going to let people in early as a safe haven.”

Dinah put her mic back on the stand. “Good idea.” To the band, she said, “Play something. Keep the people occupied so they don’t panic.” She dropped from the stage, but turned back and said, “Not our usual punk rock stuff. Something calming.”

“Where are you going?” Lord Byron, the drummer, said.

Dinah hesitated. She knew that if the bomb went off nearby, the terrorist could still be in the area. However, the band didn’t know about her nocturnal activities as the Black Canary.

Hell, they didn’t even know her real name, or that she was a mutant, something she also kept under wraps thanks to Lex Luthor working to make mutants a threat again.

“I’m going to shepherd people in here,” Dinah said. She then ran to the door so she wouldn’t have to answer any more questions. Thankfully, the band’s response was for their goth keyboardist Paloma Terrific to start a calming riff.

Several blocks down, Dinah found chaos.

Traffic ground to a halt. People ran northward on the streets. Some remained in place, looking south.

Following their gaze, Dinah saw a building with its fifth of five floors on fire. Debris littered the street below it.

From her time in Belltown, Dinah knew that building housed several condos. Members of the LBGTQ community also frequented a rec area on the first floor.

Was this a hate crime?

To find out, Dinah needed to get closer. Weaving through both auto and foot traffic, she forced her way in that direction.

A police cruiser parked in the area. Two uniformed officers worked to control the scene, keeping people at bay the best they could. Sirens hinted at more police and fire trucks on the way.

People flooded out of the damaged building, some carrying belongings. Others shuffled young ones along. All were in various states of dress as their immediate need was to get away from the building.

Then Dinah noticed something else.

A late-model sedan would disappear into this neighborhood, as it teemed with them. Belltown, in the shadow of the Space Needle, prided itself on being hip and swank, but not everyone here drove sports cars. The anti-establishment hipsters in Belltown resisted capitalist extravagance.

However, two Chinese men occupied this sedan. They looked nonplussed by the surrounding chaos. Sensing the police could handle the more significant problems, Dinah slowly moved toward the sedan.

When she was within two car lengths of the sedan, the men got out of the vehicle. Within one car length, they turned and ran.

A Canary Cry could take them down, but Dinah wasn’t in costume, nor did she have her mask.

Unless she wanted to face possible arrest as the vigilante Black Canary or Luthor’s goons berating her for being a mutant, she’d have to contain the men without her power.

The two men headed for an alley. Dinah pursued. She could have caught up with the men; they had trouble navigating through the terrified crowds.

Instead, she allowed them the false security of slipping into the alley.

The men were halfway down the alley when Dinah called out, “That’s far enough, boys. And tell your men on the roof they can come down and join us.”

Dinah’s quarry stopped and turned to face her. They possessed some muscles on them but didn’t move like trained fighters. They were meathead muscles, if even that.

Up on the roof, two men looked down at her. Both brandished rifles.

Dinah now understood that the explosion wasn’t a hate crime.

Somehow, someone figured out that she was the Black Canary. The disgusting explosion was a scheme to lure her out.

The thought that these men — whoever they worked for — would endanger so many lives just to get to her angered Dinah.

To the misfortune of the four men, she let them lure her to a place where she didn’t have to hold back.

Before we see the Canary’s fate, let’s swing back to Sonya and see if she can escape China White’s lair to help her vigilante friend! Read on, true believers!

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!