Back in Gotham for another episode of “Birds of Prey” fanfiction! Black Canary tires of waiting for Batgirl and enters the mall after the Chechen.
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Black Canary slipped into the mall and found one of the few guards Batgirl hadn’t eliminated. She took him down and, after making sure they were alone so no one would shoot her in the back, interrogated him.
Now armed with the knowledge of the Chechen’s location within the building, Black Canary continued into the mall.
Arriving on the fourth floor, Canary realized she hadn’t heard from Batgirl in a while. She called the vigilante over their headsets.
“Kinda busy now, Canary,” Batgirl whispered over their connection.
“Where are you?” the Seattle vigilante asked.
“What were you trying to do with my bike?”
Canary stopped in her tracks. “What do you mean?”
“Antitheft notice went off. Either you left it and someone tried to take it, or you tried to start it. Both things are very bad.”
Canary continued her stealth move through the mall. “It’s okay,” she said. “Where are you?”
“About to leave. You’re still with the bike, right?”
Canary didn’t immediately answer. She was busy taking down the last two guards before she reached the office doors.
“Are you fighting? Batgirl asked over the headset.
Black Canary realized she hadn’t shut off her microphone. “These aren’t voice-activated or something?”
“No. You’re inside the mall, aren’t you?”
Canary heard the irritation in Batgirl’s voice.
“Did you learn anything from the Chechen?” Canary asked.
“I told you to stay with the bike,” Batgirl said. “Get back there and —”
Canary turned off her microphone. “I’ll take that as a no,” she said aloud.
Lashing out with her Canary Cry, Black Canary blew the doors (and part of the walls) off the entrance to the Chechen’s office. The shock and awe tactic took the Chechen and his men by surprise. Canary used their hesitation to assess the room.
Four men were too busy recovering from her explosive entrance to notice her.
There was another man at the head of a conference table. Grungy, sure of himself, with long black hair and a grizzled face. Black Canary took him as the Chechen.
Another man, same look but heavier, sat at the table with the Chechen.
The four men recovered. Black Canary charged at one of them. He was down before he knew Canary entered the room.
She dispatched the second man by the time two of the other men drew handguns.
Crossing the room with an acrobat’s grace, Canary took down the third man before he could get off a shot. The fourth man proved a bit more trouble. He had a clear shot at Canary even as she moved at him. He fired —
His gun jammed.
“Fists over firearms, I always say,” Canary said as she reared back her fist to throw a punch. The fourth man held up his hands as if to beg for mercy. She smiled at him and lowered her fist.
A Canary Cry sent him through the barely there wall behind him.
The Chechen clapped. Canary looked at him. The heavier man had moved behind his boss.
He aimed a mini-submachine gun at Canary.
“Impressive work,” the Chechen said, his accent Eastern European. “I thought that was an explosive you used on the door, but that was you, no? Some kind of… mutant or something?”
“Or something,” Canary said. “The Chechen, I presume.”
The seated man nodded. “You have me at a disadvantage. I don’t know you. But I don’t have to know you to have you killed.”
Canary heard growling. Two Doberman dogs appeared from behind the Chechen and made their way around to the front. Canary took a step back.
“You saw what I did to your man and the door,” she said. “I don’t want to hurt your dogs.”
“You don’t have to,” the Chechen said. He leaned back in his chair, propping his feet on the table. He was far more relaxed than he should have been. “You can walk back out that hole you made, and we can all pretend you were never here.”
Canary looked at the dogs. They snarled at her, eager to pounce.
“My dogs have not eaten tonight, and they like to play with their food.”
Canary looked back at the Chechen. “You won’t have any dogs if you don’t call them back right now,” she said.
With a devilish smile, she added, “Ask China White what I did to the ninjas she sent against me.”
The Chechen shouted a command. The dogs sat down, but their attention remained fixed on the Canary. With his feet on the floor, the Chechen leaned forward.
“What do you know of China White?” the Chechen asked.
Canary smiled. “I was gonna ask you the same thing.”
A small capsule fell from an air vent and shattered on the table. A plume of black smoke filled the room, its epicenter being the broken capsule. The Chechen fell away from the table, coughing as he did so.
Through the smoke, Canary saw a flash of yellow cape. She heard a thud she deciphered as a punch. The mini-submachine gun went off. Bullets tore up the wall to Black Canary’s right but were no threat.
They were the wasted shots of a man who got knocked out.
The dogs got to their feet and snarled.
Canary braced for their attack.
Bolas wrapped around one of the dogs’ legs, preventing a leap at Canary. With no similar constraint, the other dog leaped at Black Canary.
The vigilante sidestepped, and the animal shot past her. It collided with a wooden chair.
The force of contact sent both chair and dog over, the weight of the chair pinning the dog in place.
Batgirl emerged from the smoke and stood, to the Canary, and grabbed her arm. “What part of stay with the bike eluded you?”
“I was bored,” Canary said.
Batgirl rolled her eyes. “Bored can get you killed in Gotham,” she said as she pulled Canary out of the room.
Black Canary interrupted Batgirl’s recon trip. Did Batgirl learn anything that could lead to China White? And how will the Chechen retaliate against the vigilante’s intrusion? Come back for the next chapter and find out!
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!
