Back in Gotham for another episode of “Birds of Prey” fanfiction! Black Canary tires of waiting on Batgirl and enters the mall after the Chechen.

Want to read from the beginning? CLICK HERE!

Black Canary had slipped into the mall and taken out the Chechen’s guards. Interrogating one of the guards gave her their leader’s location within the building. She made the rest of the way through a few more guards.

Arriving on the fourth floor, Canary realized she hadn’t heard from Batgirl in a while. She called to 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. Are you inside the mall?”

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. Using the shock and awe moment, she quickly assessed the room.

Four men were too busy recovering from her explosive entrance to notice her.

There was another man in front of a desk, with one more seated behind it. Canary figured the seated man to be the Chechen. She’d deal with him last.

The four men started to recover. Black Canary charged at one of them. He was down before he knew Canary had 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 man behind the desk clapped. Canary looked at him. The man who once stood in front of the desk had moved behind his boss.

He aimed a mini submachine gun at Canary.

“Impressive work,” the man behind the desk said, his accent definitely 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 desk 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, far more relaxed than he should be. “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, seemingly eager to pounce.

“My dogs have not eaten tonight, and they like to play with their food.”

Canary looked back at the Chechen. “And I warn you. 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 leaned forward in his chair and shouted a command. The dogs sat down, but their attention remained fixed on the Canary.

“What do you know of China White?” the Chechen asked.

Canary smiled. “I was gonna ask you the same thing.”

A small capsule shattered on the desk from above. A plume of black smoke filled the room, its epicenter the broken capsule. The Chechen fell away from the desk.

Canary saw Batgirl drop down from the air shaft opening in the ceiling. Her yellow boot lashed out at the Chechen’s man, kicking him squarely in the face.

The man slammed back against the wall, sliding down it into unconsciousness.

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.

The other dog leaped at Black Canary. The vigilante sidestepped, and the animal shot past her. It collided into a wooden chair.

The force of contact sent both chair and dog over, the weight of the chair pinning the dog in place.

Batgirl landed next to Canary and grabbed her arm. “What part of stay with the bike eluded you?”

“I was bored,” Canary said, not believing her words any more than Batgirl did.

Batgirl shook her head. “Bored in Gotham can get you killed,” 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 tomorrow and find out!

Need to catch up on the story? Start from the beginning! – Birds of Prey part 1

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!