Continuing Mark Wooden’s Birds of Prey fanfiction: Black Canary and Sonya Blade move deeper into the boat where international criminal Kano hides.
Want to read from the beginning? CLICK HERE!
Black Canary looked at the cargo ship and shouted Kano’s name. She then ran up the gangplank.
Up top on the ship, three guards stepped into her path. A Canary Cry knocked all three men off their feet and onto the deck unconscious. Canary raced past the fallen men and onto the ship.
Canary now stood on the stern deck. It was an open space with a sealed hole that allowed the massive dock cranes to lower goods into the hold.
To her left was the building-like structure that housed the bridge and other administrative areas. The other side of that was the ship’s bow. The dock’s crane hovered over that area.
Her partner-in-hiding Sonya Blade could use the crane to sneak aboard. Or maybe she’d surprise her and find another way in. If she made it in without blasting anyone, Canary would be satisfied.
She looked up three stories in the bridge area where two more guards armed with assault rifles took up shooter positions on the walkway. Part of the ship’s safety wall provided cover for them.
Bullets peppered the ground behind Black Canary. She dashed for cover behind the waist-high railing wall that boxed off the closed section of the deck.
If she stuck her head up for a Canary cry, one of the sets of gunmen would cut her down.
She’d have to finesse this.
Using the wall as cover, Canary maneuvered toward the gunmen to her right. She came out of hiding too soon, giving the men a target. Their shots went wild (thankfully).
Already exposed, Canary opted to take the fight to the gunmen. She moved in for the kill with well-honed martial arts. The men were down before they could put up a defense.
Thankfully, the other guards up high weren’t anxious to shoot at their teammates.
Canary ducked back down behind a crate on deck, then checked her assailants’ position. One of them remained up high. The other maneuvered down the stairs to deck level. Using boxes and the guard wall for cover, Canary made her way to intercept.
She made it to the area just as the man reached the bottom steps. Canary charged him, landing a kick that took the man down.
Suddenly, the engine for the crane started up.
Sonya heard the Canary’s cry where she was, all the way down the other end of the cargo ship. She put the danger Dinah was in out of her mind. She was about to enter a world of risk herself.
There was a massive gantry crane positioned over the cargo ship’s bow. Sonya made her way there.
Thankfully, a neglectful dockhand had left shore power going. Sonya took the elevator up to the operator’s cabin. After a brief study of the control panel, Sonya soon found what she was looking for.
Pressing a button, she started up the hydraulics that moved the crane. Sonya then sent the spreader back over the cargo ship.
Once in position, she lowered it to the deck via its cabling. Sonya then broke all safety protocols by climbing out of the cabin and onto the crane proper.
A few moments of tricky balancing later, Sonya moved across the crane arm extending over the cargo ship. As she reached the cable leading down to the spreader, two gunmen appeared on her side of the bridge structure.
They aimed at Sonya.
The detective got off a couple of shots before the men fired, but her shots missed the mark. The gunmen’s bullets ricocheted off the crane but missed Sonya.
The detective fired again, this time bagging both of her targets. “See, Dinah?” she said aloud. “Self-defense.”
Holstering her weapon, Sonya slipped underneath the crane arm and descended the cable to the spreader on deck. Halfway down, more gunmen emerged.
Keeping a tight grasp on the cable, Sonya fired first, taking down two more men. She slid the rest of the way to the ground.
The element of surprise had long since gone out the window. Kano would know they’re coming now, but the only way off the boat had always been in sight. Unless he’d suddenly become a ninja, he was still on board the boat.
Sonya meant to find him. She headed for the bridge.
To be continued next Thursday…
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!
