In this week’s installment of Mark Wooden’s “Birds of Prey” fanfiction, Batgirl makes a truce with Gamble’s men to defend against the unknown Aussie’s threat.
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Gamble’s four men surrounded Batgirl with their guns trained on the masked vigilante. They were smart enough to stay at a distance so she couldn’t immediately get at them.
Now they moved so they wouldn’t shoot each other should they have to act. Batgirl continued talking.
“The Chechen has plans to take this place out,” she said. “I’d guess you have under five minutes to get clear.”
When the men didn’t react, she added, “How is it gonna look if your patrons get shot to pieces? Think anybody’s gonna sign up when you reopen? If the Chechen lets you reopen, anyway.”
Looking at each of Gamble’s men, Batgirl saw doubt creep into their hardened expressions. One man eventually lowered his gun.
“Since when do you capes give a shit what happens to us?” the man asked.
Her hands still raised, Batgirl replied, “Since we don’t want unnecessary bloodshed in our city. Especially civilian bloodshed. Kind of our thing.”
“Or maybe you just want a look inside, see how to bust us up,” another man, his gun still trained on Batgirl, said.
Batgirl lowered her head. “Look, guys, clock is ticking. Now you can argue with me, or you can argue with the big guy. And I doubt he’ll be as talkative.”
The men looked at one another. They knew by “the big guy” that Batgirl meant Batman. Batgirl enjoyed her autonomy, but she didn’t strike the same fear in criminals that Batman did.
All of Gamble’s men lowered their weapons but kept them out in case something happened. The man who had initially addressed Batgirl approached her. “Name’s Pope. What do you know?” he asked.
Lowering her hands, Batgirl said, “I heard the Chechen’s lieutenant Abram talking to an Aussie. Definitely out-of-town muscle. I doubt the Chechens will help in the attack. Plausible deniability. But who knows what the Aussie will do, or what he’s capable of.”
“So, we mount up a defense,” Pope said.
“No,” Batgirl shot back. “You get those civilians out of there. I assume there’s a way out besides these doors,” she said, motioning to the doors with the lock-less chains.
Pope started to speak, but Batgirl waved him off. “I don’t need to know. Just get in there and get everyone out. I’ll keep a lookout for the Aussie and his team, buy you some time.”
Gamble’s man slowly nodded, both an acknowledgement of the plan and respect for Batgirl not prying into their business. Pope signaled to his men to gather around. He pointed at two of them. “You guys stay here and help Batgirl —”
“Thanks, but I have help coming,” Batgirl said. “You all concentrate on getting everyone out.”
Pope swallowed. He must be thinking about “the big guy.” He turned back to his men. “All right. Let’s get inside, use the escape route.”
To Batgirl, he said, “We’ll lock up once we’re inside. Good luck out here. We’ll be sure to tell Gamble —”
Batgirl held up a hand to silence him. “Don’t get confused, Pope,” she said. “I’m thinking of the civilians and stopping a gang war. This doesn’t mean I won’t bust you all one day.”
Pope shrugged. “Fair enough.”
With that, Pope motioned for his men to follow him as he headed back inside. Batgirl waited long enough to hear several locks click into place on the other side of the door.
Batgirl then pulled out her grapple gun to go back to the rooftops for a better view.
She’d soon learn the out-of-town muscle had the same idea.
Who are the out-of-town muscle and his accomplices? You probably know but find out for sure 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!
