Sonya Blade captured by ninjas! It’s Black Canary to the rescue, but she’ll need help. Could this be the beginnings of the Birds of Prey?
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The ninjas pushed Sonya through a regular door to the side of the moving wall. Once inside the maintenance building, Sonya saw the Chechen’s vehicles parked next to a rail car stationed for repairs. The side door was open, but from this angle, Sonya couldn’t see inside.
An Eastern European man with shoulder-length slick black hair stood just outside the open rail car. He held the leashes of two Rottweilers. They stood up on all fours and growled as the ninjas brought Sonya over.
Three other Eastern European men stood near the man with the dogs. All dressed in jeans, dark shirts, and beat-up jackets perfect for covering shoulder holsters.
“Very clever with your story at the gate,” the man with the dogs said in a deep accent. Sonya guessed he was the Chechen. She wished she’d met with Detective Montoya before getting here. She could have looked at the files on the Gotham mobsters and known the players.
The Chechen continued with, “But not very clever racing in here alone, Miss Police Officer.”
Sonya threw up a brief prayer that these men didn’t know Black Canary was also on the grounds.
She hoped Dinah wouldn’t do something stupid like barge in here to save her. They could still catch the Chechen and White’s emissary, O-Ren Ishii, with all the evidence.
Observing the Chechen’s caravan entering the building in the middle of his Gotham underworld power play would hopefully serve as probable cause.
“It was also not clever of you to let a Seattle detective tail you, Chechen,” came a hushed female voice from inside the train car.
As the ninjas brought Sonya around, she could see a demure Asian woman in a white and black kimono standing in the railcar’s open doorway. Two White Fang ninjas flanked her.
Sonya instantly recognized her as O-Ren Ishii.
O-Ren was half Japanese and half Chinese, but people who valued their lives never broached that point. Her adversaries often underestimated her because of her unimposing demeanor.
According to police reports in Japan, O-Ren used her opponents’ unwariness toward her to her advantage. She began with the murder of the yakuza boss who had murdered her parents.
O-Ren accomplished that feat at the ripe old age of eleven.
She kept working as an assassin, and White eventually noticed her. The Asian crime lady took the young O-Ren under her wing and groomed her for the position she now held.
That she’d trusted O-Ren to manage the Gotham expansion said much for O-Ren’s abilities.
The ninjas forced Sonya to her knees in front of O-Ren. The Chechen’s dogs were close enough that Sonya could count their teeth.
“She is also a Seattle detective who doesn’t know when she should quit,” O-Ren said.
“Could say the same of your boss,” Sonya said. “The GCPD knows I’m here. If I don’t turn up, they’ll come crashing through the Chechen’s door. How long before that kind of heat comes at you, O-Ren?”
“What if you turn up dead?” the Chechen asked.
“Silence!” O-Ren said in an aggressive tone that took even the Chechen aback.
O-Ren looked to each of the Chechen’s men, confirming she had their attention. She didn’t need to check her men; they knew better than to defy her. All this authority and O-Ren didn’t even step out of the railcar.
Focusing on the Chechen, O-Ren said, “We will complete our business here. We will go our separate ways.”
Now O-Ren focused on Sonya. “I will bring Detective Blade’s head back to Mistress White.”
One ninja at Sonya’s side drew their ninja-to sword, kneeled, and reverently extended the sword’s hilt to O-ren Ishii.
Getting over the fence wasn’t an issue for Black Canary’s athleticism. Using the shadows and the rail cars to conceal her approach, the Seattle vigilante had almost reached the rail cars closest to the maintenance building.
A person in black and yellow dropped in front of her. Canary stepped back and assumed a defensive stance.
“Save your fight for the ninja,” the black and yellow form said.
Batgirl.
“Should have guessed you’d be here,” Black Canary said as she relaxed.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t be,” Batgirl said.
“Feel the love.”
Batgirl shook her head. “It’s nothing personal, Di — uh, Canary. It’s just that you complicate the situation.”
Pointing at the maintenance building, Canary said, “My friend is in there, held by your Eurotrash mobster and whatever China White sent to Gotham.”
“I know.”
Black Canary noted Batgirl’s anxiety. The Gotham vigilante softened her tone.
“Look, I know you want to help Detective Blade,” Batgirl said. “But we have to do this together. My way.”
“Your way?” Canary asked, incredulous.
“My town, my rules. And you’ve broken them once, which is why your friend is in danger.”
Canary stewed on this. Eventually, she said, “So, what’s the play?”
Batgirl reached into two different pouches on her yellow utility belt. She pulled out the headset she’d given to Black Canary earlier. She also held a pill. Batgirl handed them both to Canary.
“You know about the headset,” Batgirl said. “The pill is in case the ninjas fight dirty with their poison again.”
Canary threw the pill into her mouth and dry-swallowed it. “Good looking out,” she said.
Batgirl looked back at the guard shack. “Now let’s go blind the Chechen.”
Oh, snap! Next week, Black Canary and Batgirl team up to rescue Sonya from the clutches of O-Ren Ishii and the Chechen! It’s the “Birds of Prey” fanfiction finale you won’t want to miss! (I mean, you’ve gotten this far, right?)
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!
