Birds of Prey #3: The War of Wisdom

"There's signs that this place has been used," Zenobia griped as she climbed back up from the dusty basement, swiping cobwebs from her light brown hair. "But there's nothing here now. Not even the trap you expected." She stomped around in frustration as she called out to her partner one level up, and ignored the sirens in the distance. In a pit like Empire City, such noises were much too common.

"Oh, it's a trap alright," Onyx called back down from the emptied out second floor, as she stared through cracked boards and saw the flashing lights of local and state police cars. She picked out conspicuous unmarked sedans with polarized windows and government plates. "Just not the kind we expected."

Zenobia dashed up the stairs, two at a time and stood behind Onyx to take stock of the situation. "The law." She cracked her knuckles and continued to stare.

"I'm not fighting cops if i can help it," Onyx said. Her voice was flat, unemotional, but still carried across her determination. "I'm trying to get away from Claw's influence. Even if we escaped, this won't help my case at all."

"If we escaped?" Zenobia chuckled and put a hand on Onyx's shoulder. "We will fight as much as we need to, but I have no intention of being arrested either." She backed away from the window and headed up for the roof, with her companion only a few steps behind.

"Attention, this is Special Agent Kasiday of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and we have the area cordoned off with Massachusetts State Police," came a voice that echoed through the broken block of buildings. "You are under arrest, and are to drop all your weapons and come out through the front door, slowly and with your arms up!" The tall, dark-haired man stared up at the building as spotlights flickered to life and engulfed the abandoned shop in white. He glanced to his partner, a stockier man nearly the same height, but with bald head and a wicked scar at the base of his neck.

"They ain't surrendering," the scarred man said with a mean grin.

"Up there, Agent," said a uniformed police officer as he trained a spotlight to the roof and lit up Zenobia and Onyx. "Oh crap, that's that black Wonder Woman they had running around a couple of years back."

"How utterly impolitic," Kasiday said with a shake of his head at the officer. "Amazonian-African would be the correct term?" He and his bald-headed partner laughed at the words as he lifted a radio to his mouth. "Bring the copters in, we have a flier."

"Helicopters," Zenobia grumbled as two of the vehicles started to swoop into the area in response. "We're going to have to run, Onyx."

"Don't fly faster?"

"Not really, and I could go up above their altitude, but not with you," she explained. "We'll have to do this the fun way." She leaped over the street and landed hard on the far building as the officers below watched in awe.

Onyx grinned at the diversion and caught her partner's hand signal. She pivoted and dashed to the left, hurtled across the alley to roll across the next roof and into deep shadow. The chase was on, and everyone knew it.

"Keep both copters on the Amazon," Kasiday growled into the radio as the pair broke up. "Keep her grounded, it's our only chance."

The bald man waved to the police, and ordered, "Establish perimeters on the buildings, track her as best as you can. Kasiday and I are going up!" The two special agents ran into the alley and found the fire escape, clambering up the rusted metal as quickly as they could. "So they got the report right," he grumbled to his partner.

"So it seems, Randall my man," Kasiday replied in a jaunty voice. "That will make this all the more interesting, no doubt."

The pair of men finally vaulted onto the roof and got their bearings. A radio alert directed their attention to a building to their right, and they pursued Onyx, who had a big lead on them. The sounds of crunching gravel, heavy breathing and sirens mixed with the flashing blue lights and circling helicopters as the chase continued across Empire City's ragged skyline. Police in cars and on foot spread out to contain the chase as best as possible, and Onyx looked over her shoulder to see her two pursuers drawing closer. She spun around in the air, metal glinting in the air as two throwing stars hurtled at Kasiday and Randall. They managed to duck and weave, but Onyx didn't notice, didn't even care. She just finished her airborne spin and continued to run for the escarpment, her hands at her belt. She jammed a small grapnel into the concrete as she cartwheeled in mid-air over the side of the building, the decel cord clutched tightly in her gloved hands. By the time Kasiday and Randall had recovered from their hasty dodging, she was out of sight save for the small piece of metal holding her line secure.

"She's headed into the Rosewood Common," Kasiday relayed into his radio as Randall scrambled over the edge and down the line Onyx had left behind.

"Roger that, Agent Kasiday," responded one of the pilots. "We believe our target is headed there as well, we see it coming up ahead."

"Damn smart bitches," Kasiday snarled as he followed his partner down the rope and alerted Randall to the news.

The two agents stared at the park, each took a deep breath and then renewed their pursuit into the tree-lined night-time shadows. Police cars, unmarked vehicles, motorcycles, all pulled into a perimeter around the city park, with lights striking out at the darkness hiding their prey; the noise and lights cascaded across the dimly-lit cityscape and drew in increasing numbers of gawkers as well as word spread.

"Feeling better flapping around up there?" Jonni Thunder asked into her earpiece as she skirted the growing crowd, eyes searching out the shadowy park.

Hawkgirl swept in from the clouds above, staying above the helicopters and let her own sharp vision penetrate the gloom and leaf-cover. "Much better. This is bigger than we thought, I see FBI down there as well as Staties and local cops." She took a chance and dove down between the two aircraft for a closer look. "And lo and behold, there they are. I owe you a ten-spot, Jonni."

"Zenobia?"

"In the glamazon flesh," Kendra Saunders grumbled. "With some other person, and, with this kind of cordon, I'm going to take a stab and say Onyx."

"Of course Onyx." It was Jonni's turn to grumble now as she pushed herself as close as she could to the police barrier. "What now? Are we going to stick ourselves in between them and the cops?" A uniformed cop turned to look at her as she spoke, and she gave a flighty smile and girlish wave that deterred further concern.

"It's about to turn into a fight, the agents are close," Hawkgirl reported as she zipped around the copters, eyes focused on the figures in the dark. "I have no idea what Zeno's up to here, I say we let them get bagged and talk to them in lock-up. It's not like we can't bail them out with Mock's blue-sky card later. Whoa!"

"Whoa? What whoa? Whoa why?" Jonni asked as she leaned against the sawhorse in front of her.

"The FBI guys know some pretty fancy moves. Way too fancy."

Indeed, Onyx and Zenobia had managed to reconnect in the park and prepared to take out the two agents, when Kasiday neatly blocked the martial artist, and then did so again. Randall squared off with Zenobia, and quickly went on the defensive after a display of her strength. "Wolf pack tactics," Kasiday called to his partner as they decided to backpedal into the brush and trees. Zenobia crashed after them, a tree collapsed before her charge, as Onyx just stared at the retreating Kasiday.

"Krav maga," she muttered and followed Zenobia more slowly.

"Surrender, the park's surrounded, and we have warrants for your arrest, Onyx!" Randall called out from the shadows, and then lunged forward to attack. He connected with the back of her head, but she just used the force to roll forward away from him, then blocked his follow-up stomp.

"Zenobia, continue to aid the fugitive and we'll be forced to bring you in as well. Leave the area now, and you're free to go!" Kasiday called out, and then quickly backflipped from a sapling as it swung at him.

"The woman's on our side, idiot!" Zenobia declared as she tossed the makeshift weapon to the side, but the two men had again melted out of sight. "Let us explain and get after the real villain!"

"Zenobia, I don't think they're on our side," Onyx said as she reached her companion.

Noise and leaves cascaded from above as Hawkgirl alighted by the two women and Zenobia pivoted to face Kendra. "You! Here to help, or help them?"

"Don't tempt me, poseur," Hawkgirl growled as she coldly stared Zenobia in the eyes. She addressed Onyx as she and the Amazon didn't even blink at each other. In a harsh whisper, she said, "They're not fighting right. I've worked with the Bureau and--"

"And these guys are fighting with Israeli combat styles, among starters," Onyx finished with a nod of her head. "They're not Bureau, are they?"

"What?" Zenobia's fists clenched up tighter, as she looked at Onyx now.

"Plants?" Kendra asked for confirmation and saw the martial artist nod her head. "Give yourselves up, and maybe they can bring us to Red Claw." She turned back to Zenobia, mouth still clenched tight, but with a less confrontational tone. "The Birds are after her too. We've got your back."

"I don't like it when you make sense," Zenobia spat out and raised her arms, as did Onyx. "Very well, Hawkgirl! You win this round, we'll go quietly now!"

Hawkgirl walked behind them as Kasiday and Randall came out to confront them, cuffs and guns drawn now, another reason for the three warrior women to be suspicious. With Hawkgirl on the scene, Kasiday called for the police to move in and help secure the prisoners, and Jonni watched the response from the sidelines with concern. Did you tip our hand, Kendra?



They hadn’t let him out of their sight all night. From the moment they saw the mysterious man with the Red Claw tattoo, Halo and Cindy had been following him as subtly as possible. He was the kind of man who easily blended into the crowd – two or three times they had lost him, and Halo had needed to hover a few inches off the ground in order to find him again. With the help of Cindy’s illusions, they hoped they had stayed inconspicuous.

Finally, the two girls tailed the man outside, where he stepped into a waiting limo filled with dark shapes behind the tinted glass. They stood indecisively on the curb when the car had gone off, both still in the formal dresses that they had so lovingly picked out.

“We can’t just let them get away.” Cindy bit her lip and stared after, then jumped when she felt Halo’s arms closing around her waist from behind.

“Hold on,” Halo grinned, and lifted up off the air. Her aura shimmered around her, and Halo’s dress rippled from purple to a pale blue as she started to fly, carrying Cindy along with her. The added weight made Halo slower than usual, but only until she shifted her energies; a streak of red mingled into her light, and made her stronger, and Halo raced after the car.

After a short flight, they arrived at a small airfield, blocked off on all sides with wire fencing and signs. A private plane waited on the far end, the engine buzzing loudly. The limo stopped at the gate for the driver to show an ID, and then drove inside; Halo simply flew over the fencing closer to the plane and landed. Cindy had to brush a few insects off of her dress before they both crouched underneath the stairway attached to the door of the plane, waiting for the Red Claw agents.

“Don’t you worry, boy.” One of the voices floated down to them. “Red Claw’s waiting. Won’t be long now.”

“It had better not,” came the voice they recognized from stalking him. “I’m pretty tired of waiting around.”

One of the other men laughed. “Something’s wrong with you if you can get bored in Platinum Flats, buddy.”

Cindy watched carefully and darted out onto the steps when the men were aboard. “Come on, hurry! They shouldn’t see us…I hope.” Her power was never too big, but it would be enough to camouflage the two women while they kept on the trail.

The plane took off with two extra passengers, stowed safely in the back and yet close enough to keep their ears out during the flight. While Jonni, Kendra and Dawn had all meant to find leads to Red Claw, it was the two teenagers who were stuck with the best clue the Birds had found yet. Whatever lengths they had to go to, Halo and Cindy were not going to let the mission fail on their watch.



Dr. Walter Grable pushed through the door into his kitchen and let the computer bag thud gently onto the padded dining room chair. He gave a heavy sigh of relief to be home after another hard day at work, pulled his glasses from his face to wipe them, and glanced around at the empty room. "Kay? You home?" He shuffled over to the parlor entrance and saw a woman who was very much not his wife. "Who are you? Where's my wife?" he asked in a rattled voice.

"Sorry to scare you, Dr. Grable. I'm Manitou Dawn and your old friend Katie told me I should talk to you," the woman replied as she held her hand out. He took it tentatively, still unnerved. "I convinced your wife to go out with some friends of hers for the evening, because I think I'm not the only one coming here. I've seen signs and they're not good."

"This is about Jennifer, isn't it?" Walter asked, knowing the answer as he led Dawn back into the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of beer. He offered the heroine one and she shook her head. "I knew that coded protein crap was going to come back and bite us."

"What can you tell me?"

The two people sat at the dinner table and Walter took a long drink as he thought about his answer. "Officially, I can't tell you anything. I'm still under NDA and there's all sorts of classifications on the whole project now," he finally said as he ran his finger along the rim of the bottle's neck. "I can say that Jen was a brilliant theoretician, and that's where I come in. I put all of her theory to work. Figured out the process needed to put her ideas into practical application."

"Then Dr. Appel would only be half the puzzle," Dawn said softly. Walter nodded and began to speak but the heroine held her hand up to cut him off. A slim finger pressed against her lips to keep him quiet and she carefully stood up from her chair. When she had arrived, she had used spirit powders to set watch on the building and now they alerted her to people approaching. She moved between the scientist and the door to the kitchen and, as the wood splintered under a heavy boot, she flung her tomahawk. The blunt back of the ax-head cracked the intruder's nose and he staggered back as Dawn charged forward. I've seen Diana and Kendra do this a dozen times, she tried to encourage herself as she leaped forward and her foot caught the wounded man in the chest with all the force she could muster. She bounced off of his chestplate and landed on her shoulder back in the kitchen, as two grunts at the doorway revealed her success.

"Damn!" called a voice from further out in the dark. "This was a simple snatch and grab, no one said anything about masks being here!"

"She broke my doze!" the first attacker cried out as he clutched his face.

Dawn jumped back to her feet as her tomahawk spun back to her hand. It met her halfway as she raced back out the door, the leather of her sandals slapping on the linoleum, then off the back of the first attacker's head as she spun in the air. She let out a loud "Whooop!", a noise that alarmed the other two, and the second man, who had tried to get his balance back from his partner crashing into him, saw the spinning kick too late, her foot battered his cheek and he staggered off to the side. Keep moving, keep moving, that's what Kendra would say, don't slow down, doesn't matter how bad the form is, just keep working it! She had the words echo in her mind as she landed on the porch and struggled to stay standing.

The third man had turned and raced back to their car, and Dawn lined up to throw her tomahawk again, then paused. She reached into her pouch, and pulled out glittering gold dust that she tossed in an arc before her. "Follow, and lead me," she whispered into the air after the small hawk spirit streaked out into the dark, a golden trail in its wake. "But not before we get you two troublemakers tied up." She grabbed the man with the broken nose by the hairs at the scruff of his neck, while her other hand snatched the ear of the second attacker. When they began to attempt escape, she added, "Don't make me scalp you both!" She rolled her eyes up in her head as sadly, the threat from the "Indian savage" did the trick and quieted them back down.



Interlude One
Old and somber were the descriptions that came first to everyone who entered the hall, constructed from heavy beams and thick rafters. The rounded wood candlebeams had long since been converted to electric lights but that didn't change the feel of the place. The painted hides and blankets displayed the glorious history of the Native American peoples and each of the worn, faded figures, animal and person, seemed to glare down on the table at the center. People slowly entered this room, that seemed to drink in the sounds of walking, seats scraping, low voices, all of it. There would be nothing permitted by the room to violate its quietude and respect.

A dozen people settled down at the table and all stopped talking. The silence built up, as if everyone knew that what starting the discussion would also start something too large for these people to contain. They all stared at each other, eyes moving from one to another. They were all medicine men, wise women, and what most non-Indians called shamans. They were keepers of the mystic lore of the Amerindian people and this convocation in particular were appointed to watch over matters of magical importance for all the tribes, for the entirety of the continent.

"Dawn Makes Strong Move," said one wizened little man to one end of the table. "Also called Dawn Strong, or Dawn Makem, for the white people. Now also calling herself Manitou Dawn."

There was muttering from the other eleven at these words, and the wizened little man named Ernest Smoke Vision Waters tapped his pipe on the table to settle them back down. "Our Congress has asked this body to deliberate on her presence, her activities, to determine what, if anything, our representatives should say, or do, about this woman."

"She surprises me," a young, strong-looking man said, dark eyes flashing as he curled his hand into a fist. "We all can concede she's been a strong advocate for the First Nations. Her work on researching and restoring our history has been a cornerstone to rebuilding pride in our youth."

"She's pretty, can put three words together, and get the kids to buy her books, if that's what you mean," spoke a third voice, a middle-aged woman, round and red-faced with a bitter look on her face. "She seemed to have a brain in her head as well, which didn't hurt. So yes, we can concede that."

"The fundamental question around her now," said another woman, younger than the first, with a long face and large eyes, "revolves around if she's a plastic shaman."

"I can't believe she is a fraud," Ernest spoke up now. "But it is a concern, I'll agree. There is nothing unworthy in her crime-fighting duties. Indeed, one of our people in the Justice League is something to be proud of, I would like to think."

"Is she a wise woman?" said the older woman now, with her lips pursed in a sour mood. "Is she a medicine healer? She is an anthropologist, a historian. That doesn't make her medicine legitimate. She has fancy powers, but are they true medicine?"

"I agree with Ms. Miriam," the other woman said. "It's two questions here. Are the powers she's displayed true medicine, true magic of the First Nations, and if so, is she really this...this..."

"Yes, Wenonah Littlebird? This what?" Ernest asked with a strange grin, as the others all turned to look at the newest member of their council.

"Shaman supreme, to use a super-hero vulgarity," Wenonah practically spat out. "A grand healer for all the People. If she really believes this, and if so, what gives her such a claim?"

"The fact that she just stood up one day and said 'I'm the Manitou speaker' and the representative of all our cultures is troublesome, even from one that was esteemed in her scholastic activities," the burly athletic man added. "We must know the source of these claims and if she believes them."

The group muttered in approval, nodding heads and low murmurs stirring the air. "Very well. We must make this investigation," Ernest said as he reached down to his feet and pulled out a package carefully wrapped up brown leather and bound in tough cord. He passed it to the person on his left and nodded his head toward Wenonah. Slowly, the package passed along the hands until it sat before her. The young woman stared back at the council elder. "For this, we must have wisdom and clear vision in the murkiest of times. A sharpness of mind and spirit to cut through deceit and obfuscation. You, Wenonah Littlebird, will take this mantle and travel to Mackinac Island."

Wenonah looked at the package, then glanced back at Ernest. "The dance of the owl?"

"When you are the Owl Woman, you will return from your sojourn and then begin your great adventure on behalf of this council, its congress, and all the First Nations," Ernest answered with a mischievous grin.



Gypsy breathed a sigh of relief when the small plane touched down. She had no doubt that sneaking aboard and following the men was a good idea but she waited with bated breath each time one of them got up to wander into the back of the plane, worried they were headed into the tiny bathroom where she and Halo hid.

They had come aboard in formal gowns but Cindy had made herself easier to hide. Her illusion magic helped her find a facsimile of her own crimefighting costume, with more subtle colors and less likely to offer the criminals they pursued unwanted glimpses of herself. Gypsy just wished she could really make pants so she wasn't constrained by the dress's hem but there wasn't anything she could do about that now. She had offered the same service to Halo but the other girl had just smiled. “But I like this dress,” she said and Cindy let it go.

The girls found it much easier to sneak out of the plane, since they only had to wait for everyone else to leave first. Then Halo grabbed Cindy up into her arms, as Cindy used her power and they blended into the darkening sky as they flew off after the new car their quarry had gotten into. When the Red Claw agents finally pulled to a stop, it was in the middle of nowhere: a sandy, remote parking lot with a broken-down 18-wheeler stretched out inside. But Gypsy narrowed her eyes and looked closer. There was rust on the outside of the semi, and no driver in sight, but the wheels were in impeccable shape…and there was the barest buzzing noise coming from inside.

“It’s… I think it’s a base,” Gypsy murmured to Halo. “It’s not just empty in there.”

“Really?” Halo touched down on the side of the truck that the car wasn’t approaching. “I think you’re right…I feel something but it’s strange.”

Their suspicions were confirmed as soon as one of the men opened up the back of the truck. Inside was cramped and crowded, electronic equipment lining both sides, and two more men seated inside. The three who had boarded the plane walked in slowly, the one from the casino a step behind the others.

“Mr. Cavett, we got the guy.” One stepped forward, nodding his head in deference to the man at the back of the truck. Halo and Gypsy crept up as slowly and unnoticeably as they could to listen. As they moved, they heard the door of the truck close, and felt the engine rev up - the base was moving, headed toward another destination with the stowaways unable to escape.

“Good. Bring him.” Cavett stood up and looked over at the three men. "Our man in Plat Flats, making the money for us. How'd it go?" He stepped up close to the man in the middle now, as the girls watched breathlessly.

"Did okay, I think," the unnamed man replied with a shrug as he pulled out a thumb drive from his jacket pocket. He handed it over to Cavett, who passed it back to a tech.

"He's under by eight percent, sir," the technician said as he read over the figures that scrolled up on the monitor.

"Security was thick, I had to cut out before I could roll over the interest. You have a problem with the difference, bring it up with the Phantom's general manager," the stranger said before Cavett could speak.

"Nah, I don't think we will," Cavett answered with narrowed eyes. "See, you come here as our money man, the laundry guy, but we know better now. You're not the only one with inside men."

"Don't know what you're saying. I've put my time in for the Claw, made good money for your ops, and I deserve a push up the ladder, so stop stalling."

The squad leader pulled out a small metal disc and shook his head. "I don't think so. See, we got two guys who tumbled us onto you, Mr. Thomas Tresser…U.S. Government special agent." He slapped the disc against the man's cheek as the two guards grabbed his arms before he could move. The disc released a powerful jolt that disrupted the advanced flesh putty that hid Tom's true identity. It dripped off his face, over his jacket and to the floor as the blue eyes remained cool and collected. "I didn’t think Red Claw was so well-known as to get the attention of Nemesis."

"Kasiday and Randall?" Nemesis asked as he shook his head in order to move his blond locks from his vision.

"Pretty much, yeah. They found our actual guy and tipped us off. Who else could it have been but the master of disguise?" Cavett chuckled. "Kill him."

“No!”

The shout grabbed the attention of everyone in the truck – Halo stood framed against the closed doorway, a bright aura flaring from her body. The men whirled around, leaving Tresser enough of a chance to squirm out of their grips and race toward the newcomer.

Cavett gave her a single glance and grabbed a gun. “Who the hell are you?”

“I’m not going to let you kill him!” Halo replied, and lifted up off of the floor. The truck left little room to fly, but the shock of the sight was enough to get the reaction she’d hoped for; the agents gasped and began to panic and Cavett blasted a shot in Tresser’s direction. Tresser ducked down, though, and the shot flew wild past Halo’s shoulder. “Oooh….you shouldn’t use those things.” Halo set her face and dove.

From the middle of the fight, Gypsy was all but invisible. She silently prayed her thanks to the Justice League for giving her practice, the experience to watch as Tresser drew out his own gun, as Halo glowed an angry red and attacked Cavett, and to stay focused on her own small part of the job. Gypsy pressed herself against the sides of the truck until she found what she needed – a radio panel built into one of the computers. She had memorized the frequency on her first day as part of the Birds, in case she ever needed the help.

Gypsy tapped in the right signal and spoke as loud as she dared into the microphone. “Jonni? Jonni are you there? We need you!”

Far away, in a frantic place of her own, Jonni Thunder heard and turned up the small radio she always kept. “Gypsy, is that you?”

“Yes!” Gypsy replied in relief and looked around the trailer. Halo was showing surprising agility as she fought off the Claw agents but they were beginning to overwhelm her. “Me and Halo, we were out and we found this guy and we followed him and we found the Red Claw people and Jonni I think we need help!”

“Okay, hold tight and stay where you are!” Gypsy heard Jonni call out over her radio, sounding so much farther away, “Hawkgirl, I need you to watch me!”

Gypsy heard a deafening crackle and moved herself away from the radio. They had arranged this together but Gypsy hadn’t really registered what it would mean for Jonni to come and find her through the frequency. She couldn’t have until she saw it.

The radio crackled with static, started to shake, and then started to glow. Those who were fighting were too busy to notice, too entranced by Halo’s powers to see what was going on in the other corner. Cavett slipped himself out of the fight and Gypsy’s eyes met his. He gave her a predatory smile and started to move over to her but then the jumping, vibrating machine stopped him short in his tracks. Out from the speaker came a bolt of brilliant light, growing and shaping itself until Jonni Thunder stood there, blocking Cavett’s path in her electric form. She took one look around the situation, glared at him, and raised her fists as the air ionized around her.



Dawn had tailed the car for longer than she realized, focused only on the job and not on the time going by. She had to be close by now, she had to be near to finding Red Claw herself. After all this time, she wouldn’t rest until she did. They were in a base by now, a makeshift one perhaps, but maybe more grounded than she realized. She watched the car pull into a compound full of truck trailers piled together in rows, making a lonely, drab garden of rust and decay. She watched the car enter into the back of one such truck and vanish. Dawn then followed in as best she could.

She found herself in a small hallway, set apart from any other structures and feeling very cramped, the ceiling low and the way narrow. Dawn’s hand closed around her tomahawk when she heard a sniffling noise coming from a room at the end.

Dawn snuck toward the room, slowly pushed open the door, and gasped. Inside, the room was as small as the hallway and almost as bare. The only thing that caught Dawn’s eye was a metal table in the center and the woman strapped to it, sobbing quietly.

She stepped forward very slowly and looked the woman over. She seemed not to notice the footfalls, her eyes closed and her hair disheveled, matted and tangled with sweat. When the woman did hear something, as Dawn’s weapon clacked against the leg of the table by accident, she bit back a scream and looked around wildly. “I told you, I told you already, leave me alone…”

“Jenny?” Dawn knelt so that she could look the woman in the eyes. “Jenny, is that you?” She reached for the straps and started to untie them, and there was no real doubt in her mind. She was older, she was in great pain, but this was the woman who had been Jennifer Appel.

Jenny swallowed and stared blankly at her rescuer. Dawn could see what the pain had done to her, could see the marks all over her body where a sharp blade had dug itself into her skin. But more than that was the way the torture had hurt her mentally, taken the light out of her eyes.“What…”

“Hush,” Dawn put a soft finger to Jenny’s lips. “Don’t try to talk if it hurts. I’m going to get you out.”

“Red Claw,” Jenny said, her voice thin but gaining back some of its urgency. “The coded protein shell…she…knows….she knows so much.”

“What does she know?” Dawn was through the straps now, helping Jenny sit up and keeping an arm wrapped around her shoulders. “It’s okay, Jenny, what does she know?”

“Almost everything,” Jenny coughed and tried to recount what had happened, tried to let Dawn know what she was up against. She described her research, and its potential uses, as best as she could. “She knows…but not the formulas, not…I couldn’t remember….not with her…I couldn’t tell her, but everything else.”

“Okay. It’s alright.” Dawn smiled, and helped Jenny to stand. “Let’s go. She won’t find out.”

“I won’t find out what?” Dawn almost dropped her charge when she heard the soft voice. She turned to see Red Claw standing in the doorway. The woman was taller than Dawn had imagined and stronger by far. Dawn wasn’t weak but Red Claw’s muscled body dwarfed hers. And with Jenny to take care of, Dawn had to be more careful than she was used to while fighting.

“You’re caught.” Dawn glared at Red Claw as she held Jenny up and tried to take a fighting stance. “You won’t get away with what you’ve done to her and never what you’re trying to do!”

Red Claw laughed, low and cold, making Dawn’s skin prickle. “You wander into my den and call me caught? I don’t know who you are, girl, but you’re very much alone in here. And no one wants to be alone with me.” Then she lunged.

The attack sent Jenny crumpling back to the floor and crying out in pain, curling up under the metal table as she tried to hide. Red Claw’s sharp curved blade was in her hand before Dawn could see her draw it but she blocked the attack with the tomahawk. The thick clunk of metal on wood echoed in the sparse room.

Dawn was scrambling already. She wasn’t used to fighting alone – usually there were others around to take the brunt of the blows, or at least to distract the villains momentarily while she prepared her spells. But nothing would distract Red Claw. She didn’t even seem to hear Jenny’s cries, didn’t care that the woman was crawling toward the door to get out of the way. She only had eyes for Dawn. Those eyes were locked on the shaman, on the blunt weapon in her hand, on the swinging braid as it peeked around her waist, on the skin left exposed by her costume.

It was too much. She could tell before the first minute had gone by. Dawn was already backed up into the corner of the room and Red Claw’s blade was spinning cruelly, whistling through the air. Dawn blocked as best as she could but shouted when the knife bit into her shoulder. She threw her arm out hard and the haft of her own weapon crashed into Red Claw’s arm. Dawn ducked and rolled out from the corner but regained her feet to see that the blow had no effect. Red Claw was just too strong. The wood wouldn't be enough to make a dent.

“What is the girl to you anyway?” Red Claw asked, her voice still so quiet and commanding. She lunged again and Dawn darted out of the way barely in time. “Is she worth losing your life?”

“Of course she is,” Dawn answered, her words were heated with passion and truth. “Anyone is.”

But, no matter how brave Dawn’s words rang, she was overwhelmed in this fight and knew it. It was all she could do to avoid Red Claw’s blows. Dawn clutched the tomahawk and threw the blade toward her opponent now – its magic kept it from harming those who were innocent and ensured damage to those who weren’t. She felt the sharp stone connect with Red Claw’s hard muscles but, no matter how much it had to be hurting her, the woman’s cold face showed nothing. Dawn, however, had to bite her lip against Red Claw’s powerful strikes. A cut had opened up on the underside of Dawn’s arm and she could feel the blood trickling out.

The tomahawk fell out of Dawn’s hand and she watched it fall. Without her weapon, she had no chance at all. The tomahawk… “Hawk!” Dawn gasped. There was her chance. An off-chance, a wild flight of fancy, but the only shot she had.

Dawn leapt as far away as she could from Red Claw and pulled down a shelf, sending bits of equipment flying, giving her just a small barrier. There, behind the toppled shelf, Dawn started to pray. She closed her eyes and focused as hard as she could, calling to mind the spirit of the hawk as she had earlier that night. She could see it flying in her mind’s eye, hear the cry that crashed over the desert. She could summon its help, she had done so before with other totem animals, called on their strengths to guide her own. But Dawn needed more than extra strength. She looked past the hawk and her mind flew. So many who had been touched by that spirit, one way or another, their faces flashed in front of her eyes. And then she stopped – Kendra’s face looked back at her from the line. Hawkgirl. Brought to the totem for whatever reason of her own. She had taken its mantle, borrowed its form.

Dawn grit her teeth and prayed harder. Then the shelf was sundered and Dawn threw the glittering golden dust to the ground between her and Red Claw.

There was a rumble that only Dawn could hear and, when she opened her eyes, Hawkgirl was on the verge of losing her balance on the sudden uneven surface, having been plucked from Empire City. She whirled to look around at the scene and Dawn could see the limp body of Jonni Thunder clutched in Kendra's arms. Every face in the room, Jenny’s, Red Claw’s, Kendra’s own and even Dawn’s was shocked.

Hawkgirl stared from Dawn, to Red Claw, and back. “What in every hell did you even do?”



As the battle within the twisted steel maze of trailers began anew, the guards at the front gates dashed for cover as an eighteen-wheeler came barreling toward them. It tore through the heavy chain fence like paper, the driver struggling desperately to maintain control as the mobile command center he towed rocked wildly from its own conflict. When the heavy steel side tore open from a brilliant orange beam, it was the last straw. The driver lost control and the speeding mass of metal wobbled, groaned and crashed into the concrete in a shower of sparks and a chorus of pain. The guards watched and clutched their ears from the horrendous shriek of metal against pavement until the truck came to a stop. There was very little pause, however, for a massive blast of lightning ripped up through a large section of the trailer wall. Cavett came hurtling back down to the ground with a heavy thud, the steel plate clanging nearby.

"Threaten a teen-age girl like that, you bastard?" Jonni Thunder's voice crackled with rage as her electrical form landed next to Cavett after its explosive exit from the downed vehicle.

Halo was next to appear, blue-lit as she took to the sky, and saw more of the troopers starting to close with them. They began to raise their weapons. She dropped to the ground and let loose a brilliant flash of yellow light that staggered their senses and then began to throw bolts of red. "No more guns! I hate guns! I can't even remember why, but I know I don't want to see anymore of them!" she raged.

"That was a ride," Tom Tresser said as he vaulted up and out of the ragged hole and drew his firearm. "Glowing girl, electric chick, and I know I saw a third one, where did she go?"

"Right here, sir," Gypsy's voice came from his right side and he spun to see nothing at first, then a guard leveling a rifle at him some distance away.

"Duck then," Tom barked as he brought his gun up and fired. There was an "Eep!" near his knees now as the guard fell to the ground, clutching his neck. He noticed a young girl shimmering into sight and gave her a confident smile. "Agent Nemesis, miss. Thanks for the rescue, you and your friend." He pivoted around Gypsy and let off with two more shots as he covered her. Two more guards fell.

"Gypsy," Cynthia reciprocated with a blushing smile. "Halo, and Jonni Thunder," she pointed to the other two Birds of Prey that also fought more of the small army of mercenaries now responding to the battle.

There was another rip of rending metal off to a far side of the front lot and Hawkgirl bounced out into the yard. Her Nth metal wings absorbed the worst of being punched through a wall but she was still dazed, her helmet cracked as she tried to shake her head clear. Red Claw gave her no chance, however, as she charged out after her enemy, the wicked blade dripping blood.

"Hawkgirl? Wha--? How are you here? You didn't bring me here, did you?" Jonni cried out in shock, red sparks flickering in the ghostly eyes.

"Um, bring her? Isn't she here already?" Tom muttered to Gypsy as the pair moved toward the fallen feathered fury.

"Hard to explain," Gypsy answered and then saw Manitou Dawn creep out of the rent wall, carrying Jonni's comatose physical form while trying to give support to Jenny Apple. She pointed to the sight and Nemesis shrugged.

"Right, hard to explain, easy to offer help. Let's go," he said to the young teen, a hand on her back as he kept watch on their path.

"Wasn't my idea, Jonni," Hawkgirl said as she rolled away from Red Claw and shrugged a shoulder so the metallic wing connected with the side of Claw's face. "Trust me, not my idea at all."

"I'm going to pluck those feathers off your back and shove them back up your--"

"There are young girls here! Watch your language!" Jonni said as she released a blast of lightning that knocked the muscular woman away from Hawkgirl.

"Jonni!" Dawn cried out now as Gypsy reached around to help Jenny stagger away and Tom provided them cover, two more smoothly placed shots opening a passage for the group. "You have to wipe out her computer room! We can't let her keep Jenny's information!"

"On it!" Jonni said without hesitation, growing used to this application of her powers. She streaked into the ripped trailer. Her team-mates couldn't help but notice how her form was less brilliant than normal.

"No!" Red Claw leaped in the direction Jonni had raced and crashed into Nemesis instead. The pair grappled as they struck the pavement and tore up skin and cloth. "And you! Thinking you could worm yourself into my confidence!" Her feet came up into his stomach and she threw him into the air and, though he rolled through the worst of the bad landing, he fought to get air back into his lungs.

Through the gunfire rattling the air and bolts of energy sizzling against metal and hardened fabric, there was now a screeching sound, as a sedan neared the main gates.

"What the hell's happenin' here while we're gone?" Randall cursed as he tried to get a better look, already reaching for the gun in his jacket.

"Good question," Kasiday answered calmly as he maneuvered the car at high speed and aimed it for Dawn's group. "We'll answer it after we save the day."

"I think I'll have to put my foot down on that one," Zenobia said from the back seat. She flexed her arms and the manacles parted like water. One arm grabbed Onyx next to her and held her tight as she thrust a foot through the floor of the car and into the ground beneath them. Pavement and earth tore up around her leg as she grimaced in pain but she brought herself and her ally to a stop as the rear of the car tore itself apart from the front.

The remains of the car skidded forward as the rear wheels fell away and the back-end sparked and dragged them to a stop. Zenobia took the opportunity to break Onyx's manacles as well. "That was frickin' awesome!" Onyx exclaimed with wide eyes as she dropped to her feet and drew her nunchaku out. She immediately charged after Red Claw as the terrorist again closed with Hawkgirl. The winged warrior was kept at a distance by the skilled blade but the nunchuks spun into view and crashed into Red Claw's forearm, sending both weapons skittering away.

"My apprentice is back!" Red Claw turned her head to catch Onyx's eyes with her own, ice-blue daggers stealing into the younger woman's mind. Then she grunted as Hawkgirl landed a hard kick to the side of her head.

"I'm not a fan of being ignored, for the record," Kendra taunted the crimson-clad woman, zipping up into the air to avoid the Claw's counterattack. Red Claw snarled and expertly cartwheeled away as well. She snatched up a flash-bang grenade from a fallen trooper.

"Go take care of your friends while I deal with family!" Red Claw said as she casually tossed the explosive over one shoulder toward Dawn's group and sent Kendra zipping after the sphere. "Now then, you! Onyx! It's not too late. You know it. You feel it. I'm still with you and there's still a chance to come back to my side, be my heir apparent! Just give me the Wisdom Key!"

Onyx had skidded to a stop only a couple of feet from the woman that seemed to tower over her. The woman who trained her, gave her a purpose, and she realized that Claw was right. Something inside her did yearn to beg forgiveness. She reached into a pouch and drew out the coin Joshua had given her. Claw's hand snapped around Onyx's forearm as she gave a wicked grin at the sight. "That's it! Good girl, now I--" She narrowed her eyes and yelled, "That's a stupid slug! Not even a real coin, what does that matter to me? It's no key!"

By now, Zenobia had put down several of the troopers and given support to Halo and Nemesis. She leaped to Onyx's side when the words Wisdom Key had drifted into her ear over the din of battle, ringing in her brain. Her hand gripped Onyx's shoulder as she stood eye to eye with Red Claw. Zenobia recognized brainwashing, the conditioning that Claw had done to Onyx but there was something about the words Wisdom Key that sounded right in both of them.

Ancient Greek came out of Zenobia's mouth as she kept her eyes locked on Red Claw and Red Claw glared back, neither woman blinking in the center of the battlefield. <"The Key to Wisdom is to trust in yourself, to know yourself, apart from all other influences."> She squeezed Onyx's shoulder reassuringly, feeling something in the words just sound right. The amazon smiled not because of blood and battle and the fact that soon she'd be exchanging blows with Red Claw. She smiled because she began to fathom Athena's blessing. "You are Onyx."

Onyx felt the ancient Greek in her head, and ringing with the words from Tabitha Root half a year earlier that started this journey. Onyx looked back on the mother that tried to make her an orphan; the state that tried to make her a foster child; the street gang that tried to turn her into a violent animal; stared at the woman that tried to make her a killer. Her face went calm as she heard Zenobia's last three words and Red Claw never saw the kick that caught her square in the chest. Nor the second or even third kick that sent her staggering back, releasing Onyx in more ways then one.

"I hate metaphors!" Red Claw's face contorted in rage as she then leaped back from the pair some more. "Stronger, more skilled and with my killer instinct," she said in a more restrained voice, as she matched Zenobia's eyes again. "I know when I'm outmatched." She flipped open a small button on the inside of her black bracers and hit it with her thumb. "Keep her. I'll find a better apprentice and we'll do this again!"

Jonni streaked up from the maze of metallic trailers. "Info's wiped but she just set off about two miles of explosives!" Seconds later, the first of the explosions followed Jonni out of the hole and more rumbles shook the ground. As Gypsy and Tom kept Jonni's body and Jenny Apple safely hidden in a low ditch alongside the road, Hawkgirl, Dawn, Halo, Zenobia, Jonni and Onyx immediately started to grab who they could that lay unmoving in the carnage around them.

"I thought you didn't do the "idol of millions" thing?" Onyx teased Zenobia as they raced away with what troopers they could rescue, feeling the heat and metal shards rain against them. Onyx's face was wrenched up in pain and Zenobia's eyes were filled with admiration for the woman's pluck.

"Shut up." She laughed and grabbed Onyx up and flew off ahead of the next thundering blast.

As explosion after explosion tore through the metal maze and swept Red Claw from view, Nemesis just shook his head in disappointment. "Having a headquarters come crashing down around your head. Who hasn't escaped that one before?" Gypsy glanced up at him and the man just winked.



Interlude Two
They stood together in the moonlight clasping hands; three women united by their cause. They made a circle over the grass and let their namesake wash over them. One was tall and willowy with pale hair flowing down her pallid shoulders; another was strong and muscled, and her hair shone like fire in the light; the last was curvy and smooth as the moon rippled over her dark skin. They called themselves the Moondancers, and they were ready.

"We've done so well," the palest of them smiled at the others. "It's time for us to put our plan into action. We've trained and honed our powers, we've made sure that we are all dedicated to the cause. It's time we attack."

"Where?" The redhead asked eagerly. "I want to show people what we can do!"

"Harvest Moon, you can't be so eager," the first girl chided. "Ours is a desperate mission. We are the last hope of a dying world. It is nothing to celebrate."

"All the same, Crescent," the black woman, known as New Moon, smiled. "I know how she feels."

Harvest Moon broke the circle, starting to pace. They were in a clearing in the wooded area near Hudson University and Harvest leaned against one of the trees. "I say we make our stand here. This is our home, it should be our turf."

New Moon gazed toward the university buildings that loomed to the East. "I like that. This is a place of learning after all. Why not teach the right lessons?"

Crescent Moon smiled and nodded at her fellow dancers. "Then it is decided. Hudson University will be a place of peace," she declared. "We begin our reign at dawn. We eradicate any who resist our peaceful goals. All who object will be destroyed."

Crescent looked around at the other two, and gave them time to chime in. "And the sisters of the moon will prevail!"



Epilogue
The eight people relaxed on the spacious terrace, overlooking the garden-filled courtyard below, a peaceful enclosure away from the bustling Platinum Flats on the other side of the building. Conversations flowed along with the drinks as the events of the previous few days were replayed, and the various groups caught each other up on how each arrived at Red Claw's headquarters.

"I'm so sorry about exposing you to all that, Jonni," Dawn said once more as she sipped her iced coffee. "I had no idea."

"How could you?" Kendra leaned back next to her friend, a bandage around her calf and a heating pad on her shoulder, as she stretched out in shorts and sports bra, eyes closed as she soaked in the sun. "Not like any of us were keeping up with each other."

"I meant, I had no idea it would work," Dawn added with a chuckle as she watched Kendra's indulgence and caught Jonni's look as well. The two chuckled some more as Jonni sipped at her mimosa.

"Kendra's right though, don't worry about it," Jonni said to Dawn as she looked elegant in her blue silk blouse and black slacks, belted tunic-style at her trim waist. She felt just as relaxed as Kendra, just in her own fashionable way. She glanced over at Tom with a twinkle in her eyes and added, "Besides, we had a gallant knight to help us out this time. Didn't we?"

"Don't know about that, Jonni," Nemesis replied with a smirk on his fair-haired, tanned face. He wore a nicely-cut short-sleeved shirt with the top two buttons undone and, for the first time in a long time, felt quite relaxed as well, sipping on his own coffee as he watched the scene around him. "Just happy to see it work out. We knew the Bureau investigation had been compromised so we snatched their money man and I took his place, hoping I could get close enough to Claw to shut her down. Unfortunately, her moles caught my scent."

"Which sucks because you were totally that other guy," Cynthia said and blushed, darting her dark eyes away and pretending to smooth out her bright red skirt. "I had no clue."

"That's why I'm the master of disguise." He winked at her and everyone around but Halo gave smirks and laughs at Gypsy's deeper blush.

When the moment passed, Onyx turned to Tom with a much more serious look. "I suppose it's off to the clink with me, huh? It's okay, I understand."

Tom caught the look on Zenobia's face as she stared over her friend to focus on the agent. "Well, as long as your big buddy there doesn't take the credit for this, I'll tell you I talked to some people in the Justice Department and pulled a couple of strings. We've got a deal to offer. None of Red Claw's capital crimes, no murders or bombings, seem attributable to you. So, if say, some reputable, responsible types, like say former Justice Leaguers or a former Wonder Woman, were willing to speak up for you, Onyx, then the court would be willing to offer you a three year suspended sentence. Contingent on you staying with this...er, the..." He glanced back at Jonni, and asked, "Do you guys have a name or something?"

"Birds of Prey, Agent Nemesis. We're the Birds of Prey." Jonni settled back into her chair, crossed her legs and gave a wide grin. "And we'd be happy to have Onyx help us, wouldn't we, people?"

Onyx felt her own smile creep back out as she heard the cheers from the teens and the positive responses from the other women. She raised her glass to them and they toasted to their future.