My “Birds of Prey” fanfiction is back! Kano and his ninjas trap Dinah Lance in a Seattle alley! Can her friend Detective Sonya Blade get to her in time?

Want to read from the beginning? CLICK HERE!

Dinah’s mother was the original Black Canary.

During her adventures, the vigilante gained an arch-nemesis in the assassin Lady Shiva.

For reasons unknown, Dinah’s mother abandoned an eight-year-old Dinah, leaving her with Shiva. Her mother then disappeared.

Lady Shiva insisted young Dinah earn her keep or be abandoned again. Earning meant training in the martial arts so that she, too, may one day become an assassin.

Part of that training was sparring with ninjas.

Over the eleven years, Dinah was with Shiva, she had seen enough of ninjas.

Shiva had called each encounter a training exercise. She left out the part about how failing the exercise meant she’d die. Shiva was a hard taskmaster, but her training had prepared Dinah for precisely this moment.

If Dinah failed here, she would die.

At the least, she had to stay alive long enough to wipe that smug smile from Kano’s face.

Smarter than the average thug, the ninjas had a plan of attack. Kano and his ninjas stepped to the sides of the alley as the bowmen opposite them fired at Dinah.

Their brethren had a lot of faith in their ability to hit their target.

Of course, Dinah didn’t want to get hit. She charged the firing ninja, blasting them with her Canary Cry as she went.

Two of the bowmen flinched; their shots went wide, arrows embedding in the alley walls.

One bowman got lucky, his arrow slashing Dinah’s arm. She fought through the pain and continued her run toward the five ninjas.

Dinah soon stood before them, her proximity to the group, neutralizing the bowmen’s weapons.

Then Dinah felt woozy.

Her condition didn’t stop the two swordsmen from attacking her.

Dinah parried their blows and got in one of her own, but it was weaker than she intended. Dinah stumbled back.

The swordsmen pressed their attack but did no better than before.

The vigilante rock star performed a roundhouse kick that knocked one of the ninjas to the ground.

Dinah very nearly fell to the ground herself.

Something was wrong with her. She looked to the wound on her arm and had a sinking feeling what that something was.

Poison.

“What’s a matter, Canary?” Dinah heard Kano yell from down the alley. “You’re looking a bit outta sorts there.”

The three bow-wielding ninjas had dropped their weapons in favor of ninja-to swords.

Glancing back at the ninjas with Kano, two swordsmen stood with the red-eyed criminal. The bowmen slowly approached Dinah’s position, waiting for the opportunity to strike.

Shiva had warned Dinah about tactics like this. Though Shiva would let the ninjas in their exercises kill Dinah with their weapons, her sensei would always step in to block against poisons or other dishonorable attacks.

Unfortunately, Shiva wasn’t here now.

Sonya raced on foot through Belltown traffic. She could see the smoke in the air from the detonated bomb a few blocks away. Police and first responders had cordoned off the area, preventing even foot traffic from getting in.

Approaching the barricades, Sonya reached for her badge, ready to flash it to whoever was brave enough to try and stop her from getting into the scene.

She wouldn’t have to go that far.

A loud screaming sound coming from a few blocks south. It wasn’t a typical scream; it sounded amplified, but not through technological means.

People around Sonya heard it too but didn’t know what to make of it. Sonya did, as she’d heard it many times before.

The Canary Cry.

Sonya quickly headed for her friend.

The two swordsmen charged at Dinah. She leaped past them; pressing off the wall with her feet, she vaulted through the air sailing over the bowmen. Upon landing, she stumbled to one knee.

One of the former bowmen tracked the move. He slashed at Dinah at her new position, but even in her poisoned state, Dinah avoided the attack.

She hated having to run from a fight with punks like these, but Dinah needed to deal with the poison coursing through her system.

She couldn’t do that while fighting, nor could she do it here.

The closest hospital was fifteen blocks away. Dinah wondered if she’d make it that far. She wouldn’t make it on foot.

Forcing herself to her get moving, Dinah stumbled toward the mouth of the alley. She’d grab one of those scooters that were all the rage nowadays if she had to.

The swordsman advanced on her and swung his blade. Dinah got out of the blade’s way but just barely avoided his attack.

Too bad she couldn’t do that with that damned arrow earlier.

Two more ninjas advanced. The other two swordsmen remaining from the original five moved on Dinah.

Two gunshots stopped them.

To be continued next Tuesday!

For an added treat, I’m publishing three episodes a week starting next Tuesday. Stories will run on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. This way, it won’t take all year to finish the story.

So far, I’ve got enough to make it into February. Probably reach the end by late February/ early March.

And then I can bring you new fanfiction! I’ve got plenty of mashups in mind.

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!