JLU 2001 Fanfiction -The Birds of Prey Volume 2 #1

     Two months have past since the female team, the Birds of Prey, disassembled. I never wanted to rebuild my team, but with my role in the JLA being short, I need a new team.
     With the JLA, Titans, and I don’t know about Young Justice being busy fighting their own bad guys, I need some back up. I need the Teen Titans back. I used to be a member of the Suicide Squad, after the Joker ended my career as Batgirl. Now I’m Oracle, the eyes of all superheroes. I’m getting too old for this crap.
     I need my team back. I need The Birds of Prey...

Oracle

Living on the Edge

boplogo

Birds Reassembled:
The Bat, the Cat and the Silver Swan

Birds of Prey Volume 2 #1 February, Year 5 by Patrick Moore

Birds of Prey

Catwoman
Holly Robinson

Harley Quinn
Harlen Quinzel

Oracle

Barbara Gordon

     Odette Swanson woke up in the same room as her bed, but she hasn't been in her own bed since the accident. She could still feel the pain from the surgery. She sees her fingernails coated in some kind of the metal, and she could still feel the metal wings still on her back where her shattered spine was healed.

     A man in a white lab coat entered Odette's room. The nametag had the name 'Noah' on it. The man took out a needle, and stuck it into her arm. Dr. Noah smiled as Odette felt the pain go away.

     "Well, Odette, how's everything?" the doctor asked.

     "What did you do to me?" Odette asked. "You told me you can heal my shattered spine, but you turned me into a winged freak!"

     "That isn't my doing, Odette, it was Alice," replied Dr. Noah. "He wanted to help you and others like yourself."

     "By turning us into freaks?" Odette asked.

     "No, to help in making a better utopia," said a woman, who just entered the room. She looked at Odette and smirked. "My name is Carol Lewis, and I'm here to make you something, than nothing. If you help me, I can help you, Odette."

     Odette paused, as she thought what Carol just said about a new utopia. "What do I have to do?"

     Carol just smirked an evil smile. "Help me clean Gotham City."

     "What could have done this to him?" said Ethan Bennett, detective to the Gotham City Police, as he and his Asian female partner, Detective Ellen Yin, looked at what was left of a man who was sort of clawed to death.

     "Can't be Mr. Zaszas, he's dead," replied Yin. "Not his motive. Witnesses say that he was grabbed by a flying creature, and dropped to his death, after being slashed."

     "The only flying creature I know is Man-Bat," said the black detective. "Who is this guy anyway?"

     "His name was Carlos Benoit," said a voice coming from the shadows.

     Yin and Bennett turned to see a very familiar shaped bat come out, but it wasn't Batman. The bat shaped person was more female with long, red hair and a large red bat on her chest.

     "Who the hell are you?" snapped Bennett.

     "I'm the Batwoman, dumbass," she snapped back. "But that's not why I'm here. I heard that someone or something is killing some of Gotham's top gangsters, and Benoit was next on the killer's hit list."

     "Does Batman know about you?" Yin asked.

     "That's none of your business, lady," replied Batwoman.

     "Yin's right, what do we know about you?" Bennett asked.

     Batwoman looked at a nearby rooftop to see a cat shaped figure standing there, then vanish. She soon returned her attention to Bennett and Yin, who were waiting for her reply.

     "I've got to go," said Batwoman. "Tell Gordon that I'm on the case of who's killing the mobsters." Then she ran off.

     "What Gotham doesn't need is another Batman wannabe," said Bennett, as Yin agreed with him.

     Catwoman was still on the rooftop, as Batwoman spotted her. The female Dark Knight just glared at her, then frowned at her. "You fool, you almost got seen by the police," said Batwoman.

     "I'm not like the original Catwoman you know," said Holly Robinson. "It's been a few weeks since we joined this so-called Birds of Prey thing. Why can't this Oracle call on Batman or Robin on this case?"

     "Batman is with the JLA on business," replied Batwoman. "As for Robin..."

     "I'm just saying is that..." Catwoman began, before she was cut off.

     "Is that who it think it is?" Batwoman asked.

     "What are you talking about?" Catwoman asked.

     "Our killer," smirked Batwoman. "Let's move!"

     Batwoman glided down from the rooftop to a black and red type of cycle in the alley. She called it the Bat-Hammer, as she drove off. Catwoman just looked on, as she shrugged.

     "I'll take the rooftops, thank you," she said, as she ran from rooftop to rooftop.

     As the two heroines went off, two other figures loomed in the shadows; a blonde teenage girl who is blind, and an African American with ghost like powers.

     "Should we follow them?" Blind Alice asked the black woman.

     "Yes, but don't let them see us," replied the black woman. "I want to see if they've got the right stuff."

     Both women vanished like ghosts.

     Harley Quinn looked at herself in the mirror, as the newly redesigned Riddler walked behind her, tapping his question mark cane on her shoulder. Quinn turned to the Riddler to give him a stern, angered look.

     "I can see you, Eddie," said Harley. "You don't have to do that."

     "I was trying to get you attention, Quinn," said Riddler. "Alice has a mission for us."

     "So, what does the Joker impersonator want us to do?" Harley asked.

     "She wants you to take her pets out for a joyride," replied Riddler.

     "Those mutts better not do their business in my car," snapped Harley.

     "Not dogs, my dear," smirked Riddler, as his cane pointed to three large creatures that looked more beast than human in cages. The three are a vulture, a shark, and a fox.

     "They look like rejects from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," said Harley. "What does Alice want me to do with them?"

     Riddler smirked again. "To help find her little swan."

     Vincent Gelato was one of the oldest of Gotham's mobsters, until the new blood took over. Vincent lied on his soon to be deathbed, as various other mobsters surrounded him.

     "Mr. Gelato, someone is killing us one by one," said one mobster. "We need your help on how to stop this killer."

     "My children will take over my legacy soon," said Vincent, as he coughed up blood from months of a deadly cancer that made his body weak and unable to move. "I don't want a gang war, just kill this son of a bitch. That's why I called in the most dangerous assassin in the world to deal with this problem."

     "Your assassin is dead, Gelato," the mobsters turned to see what looked like an angel sent by God.

     "Who are you?" Vincent asked the angel. "Are you the Angel of Death?"

     The so-called angel opened her mouth, as she screamed a sonic wave at the mobsters. Blood came out of their ears and eyes as the scream continued. The angel walked towards Gelato, as she opened her metal like talons to scratch Vincent to death.

     Vincent just smiled as he prepared for death.

     Just then, a black whip wrapped around the angel's throat, as she was pulled to the ground. She turned to see that Catwoman was her attacker. "You know cats and birds are enemies, but you aren't my type," she said, as she continued to pull the angel down.

     "You idiot, you're going to ruin this for me," said the angel. "You can call me, Silver Swan."

     "Aren't you a Wonder Woman villain?" Catwoman asked. "I heard that the original Silver Swan reformed, but you are not like her."

     "You got that right, bitch," Silver Swan pulled the whip and Catwoman to the floor. "I make the first Swan look like an old maid."

     The Swan got up as she lunged at Catwoman, but a series of red bat-shaped blades sliced into her skin. Catwoman turned to see Batwoman come in to jump-kick Silver Swan in the chest.

     As the Silver Swan was about to use her sonic scream, Batwoman slammed her boot to Swan's throat to shut her up.

     "You stole that scream from Black Canary," said Batwoman.

     "What about Silver Banshee?" Catwoman asked Batwoman. "She has a sonic scream too."

     "She's a bad guy, while this so-called Silver Swan is just another impersonator," replied the female Dark Knight, as she took her boot off the knocked out Silver Swan. "That was easy."

     "Sure, if she was a grade A villain," said Catwoman, as she tied and gagged Silver Swan for the police.

     "Why was this Swan pretender killing mobsters?" Batwoman asked.

     "That's what Oracle wants to know, Batwoman," the two female heroes turned to see Blind Alice and her partner behind them.

     "Don't scare me like that, Ghost," said Batwoman.

     "It works for Batman," smirked Ghost. "Oracle wants us back to base for a briefing."

     "What for?" Catwoman asked.

     "Something tells me that this is only the beginning," replied Ghost, as she teleported the Birds away.

     Alice looked at her soon to be cabal, as the Riddler, Tremblor, and some vacant seats surrounded the round table. Alice smoked her cigar as she looked at the two men.

     "I just got word that Silver Swan just got captured by Catwoman and a female Batman," said Alice. "Where's Harley?"

     "You sent her to take your beasts for a little walk," replied Riddler.

     "Contact Quinn for new orders that I'm sending someone to handle these bimbos," said Alice, "and also tell her to send my babies to Commissioner Gordon as a little surprise for him." Alice just smirked.

To be Continued...

NEXT ISSUE: As the BoP prepare for their next mission; GCPD is under attack by new versions of some of Batman's old foes. Get ready for the return of... THE TERRIBLE TRIO!!! Plus, Alice prepares her major plans for Gotham City.

Author's Note: Welcome to the first issue of volume two of Birds of Prey. For those who don't know me, I've done stuff for M2K in the past, and did a short-lived trial run on Plastic Man here at JLU 2001. My first real run here was with my cancelled Harley and Ivy mini years back, I came back to JLU 2001 last year to do a Superman/Batman Halloween Special, that was originally going to be an Elseworld with Hellboy and Dracula. Why did I choose Birds? I'm a big fan of the DCAU like Batman, and Justice League Unlimited, and I'm also a fan to the bad ass girls who kick ass instead of being the damsels in distress. We know we have women heroes like Wonder Woman, Charlie's Angels, and the Powerpuff Girls for the kids, and Lara Croft for the guys. I never did like Smallville or the short lived live action version of BoP. To me, a good kick ass woman is good enough for me.

I'm also adding a bonus prologue Batwoman storyline with every issue starting with this issue. I hope you enjoy it. Now on with the bonus feature...

     I never knew dad had something made for me when we got back from the party, but I just smirked at what I saw. It was a female version of Batman's costume, but blacker with a red bat on the chest.

     "Why, Dad?" I spoke.

     "What I saw when you fought Veronica's brat was good enough for me," my father, Eric DuKane said. "I may not be Bruce Wayne, but I kicked ass in the Gulf War. I had a little crush on Batgirl when I was younger, and I wanted to make an homage to her."

     "This costume was meant for Batgirl?" I asked.

     "It's yours, sweetheart," my dad smiled, as I smiled with him.

     "This is for you, Mom."

Batwoman in...

BATWOMAN RISING
Part 1

     "This is Summer Gleason with a special Gotham Insider report," said an orange haired female in a light green outfit, standing in front of an orphanage.

     "Just yesterday, three of the orphans here at this Gotham City Orphanage had vanished without a trace. This is just one of many of a rash of missing children reports in Gotham. We will have more info as the events take place. This is Summer Gleason for GCN."

     "And cut!" spoke a cameraman.

     "Shit, I can't take this anymore," said Summer, as she took out a brown cigarette from a case, and lit it.

     "Damn, Summer, you said you quit," said Paul the cameraman. "Look what happened to Peter Jennings when he went back to smoking."

     "You're not my mother, Paul, I can smoke when I want," said Summer, as she took a few puffs from her cigarette.

     "I know you lost your son on 9/11, but that was years ago," replied Paul.

     "Stay out of my fucking business, Dini," snapped Summer, as she walked off.

     "When did the popular Summer Gleason become such a bitch?" said Kathy DuKane, as she walked by.

     "Summer has been in this state since her son died, and all this crap going on here in Gotham," said Paul. "Kids are disappearing into the woodwork, and this is pissing her off."

     "I know someone who can help," said Kathy.

     "Who?" asked Paul.

     "A little bat," smirked Kathy.

     It wasn't hard for Kathy to fit into the Batwoman costume, as she looked for clues for the whereabouts of the missing children. She wasn't Batman, but just started in the crime fighting business.

     She spotted Commissioner Gordon talking to the Dark Knight himself about the missing kids. Minutes later, Batman was gone as Gordon turned around to see him vanish like a ninja like in one of those bad karate movies.

     As Batwoman was about to leave, a dark figure was in front of her with a frown on his face. Kathy finally got to see the one person she didn't want to piss off right now.

     "What are you doing?" Batman spoke. "You're not one of my agents."

     "I don't have time for this," said Batwoman. "Kids are..."

     "I know about the missing children," continued Batman. "I could see you in the shadows, while I was talking to Gordon. Who are you?"

     "I'm Batwoman," she replied. "It's nice to finally meet the famous Ace of Detectives himself. I want to help find those kids, but I want to do it on my own."

     "You're just a novice," said Batman. "This isn't some stupid game. Go home."

     "I'm not some woman you can push around just to tell her to go home," said Batwoman. "Give me a chance to find them, and I'll show you who's a novice."

     "Don't be an idiot," snapped Batman. "Just go home, and live a normal life."

     "But..." as Batwoman turned back, Batman was gone. "Damn."

     Deep within the sewers of Gotham, a man who looked like Fagan from Oliver Twist walked towards rows and rows of cages filled with children dirty and crying for their parents.

     "SILENCE!" shouted the man. "You brats work for me now! If you want to go back to you damn mommies and daddies, you better shut up and do as I say!"

     The children were quiet, as they obeyed the man. The Sewer King just smiled, as he went to his so-called throne room to sit down.

     "Time to begin the training" he smirked.

To be Continued...

Author's Note Pt. 2: I had to come back to tell you why I chose Sewer King from Batman: TAS as the main villain in my Batwoman bonus story line. It's just that I like this original Batman villain that he's a cross between Fagan and Calisto from the X-Men comics, but rules his servants with an iron fist. Recently, the actor who played him passed away, and he also voiced George Liquor from Ren and Stimpy. He will be missed, and this bonus storyline is dedicated to him. Be sure to check out next issue for pt. 2 of "Batwoman Rising" for more of Batwoman's first venture into crime fighting.

Patrick Moore

6/29/2010