The people in the street were cowering under any shelter they could find. The rain was pouring down and torrents of water turned the narrow Tokyo alley into a shallow river. The market stalls were covered with tarpaulins of various colours, the owners still selling their produce underneath. The mixed smells occasionally managed to pierce the heavy rain, but the strongest smell was that of smoke. A small store had been torched further along the alley and the area was cordoned off. A lone police car sat just behind the cordon, the sole occupant was fast asleep.
A single blue and white umbrella approached the police cordon. The woman underneath stopped right in front of the yellow tape blocking the alley. Rain was flowing off her umbrella and splashing onto her long black raincoat that reached below her knees. She was tall at 6' 3" and a black wide-brimmed hat covered her ginger shoulder-length hair. She examined the burnt building with her deep green eyes, tinted with purple flecks.
The fire was long out, but not before completely engulfing the entire second story of the structure. The roof had collapsed, but the ground floor seemed mostly intact. A singed sign informed her that the building had been a brothel. Removing a small flashlight from the pocket on her raincoat, she shined it cautiously at the police car. Once she was satisfied the officer was asleep, she lifted the tape blocker her way and ducked underneath. She glanced up and down the street as she approached the front door, but there wasn't a single soul braving the weather to be able to see her. The front of the building had been modelled to look similar to traditional Japanese houses, even though the building itself was just a concrete square. She tried the door handle of the ornamental double door and found that the door swung open readily having been already busted open. Most likely from firefighters, she mused, before quietly stepping inside.
The inside hall was covered in peeling and waterlogged salmon pink wallpaper, revealing the bare brown concrete wall underneath. Broken vases and plastic plants lay scattered among an array of other debris. With no roof, water continued to pour through the ceiling and flooding the floor. The carpet sloshed underfoot as she walked carefully, heavy drops thudding against her umbrella. Looking though each room, she found her way to the stairs, a cascade of water flowing down them. There was a lot of rubble on the stairs from the collapse. She closed her umbrella and held it from the pointed end with her gloved hand. Using the hooked handle of the umbrella, she pulled rubble aside and pulled herself up. After several minutes and a few small landslides of rubble, she pulled herself up onto the second floor. The smell of smoke was strong and pungent, even now that she was exposed to the pouring rain. She opened her umbrella again as with no roof above her, her hat was not wide enough to shelter her from the driving rain.
There almost wasn't anything up here that wasn't black. With the added rain, the floor was covered in a layer of sloppy black mud. According to the news, there had been five people killed in what had been described as an apparent gas explosion. The bodies had already been removed, but it was the remains of a sixth that she was looking for. She spent twenty minutes searching the burnt rubble until she felt glass-like crunch under her heavy combat boots. Stepping back, she squatted down and began to feel in the thick soot-mud. She felt small hard pebbles underneath and pulled one out. She washed it under the steam of water flowing off her umbrella, revealing a beautiful orange and black pebble the size of a pea. Its edges were rough and aside from its colouring, it looked like an ordinary stone. She dropped it back into mud and stood, pulling a phone from her pocket. With a few quick button pushes, she was dialling.
A male voice answered. "Ivy?"
"I've found our guy," she said. "There's leftovers of his business all over the site."
The man on the phone grunted in reply. "Damn, that was quick. We only just got wind of him too. Is it bad?"
She looked around at the scene of destruction. "You can say he left with a bang alright. Five dead apparently and half the building gone."
"When was the explosion?"
"This afternoon."
"After an explosion like that, he'll be up within 24 hours. I've got a friend in the area, I'll give them a call and see if they'll help you out."
"I don't need the backup Ben," she said, frustrated.
"It's a Phoenix, Ivy. They don't go down like your usual critters."
"I can manage," she almost pleaded. "I've dealt with worse."
"Yeah," Ben scoffed. "You barely survive your solo stunts. One of these days there's going to be nothing left of you to bring back."
"Whatever," she retorted. "I don't want help."
"Too bad. They'll be there in a bit."
Sighing in frustration, she hung up the phone and put it back in her pocket. An idea came to her, and she knelt down and found a handful of the coloured pebbled. She placed them in a small plastic zip-lock bag and shoved it into her pocket. Suddenly, her stomach grumbled and she realised it had been a while since she last ate. She turned back to make her way back to the alley. Perhaps one of those market stalls were still open, she thought.
Ivory Nia Creed, 24 years old, worked for an organisation known as the Exodus Battalion. Founded in 2005 and based in England, it was composed of members commonly known as 'Hunters', operatives trained to deal with dangerous 'supernatural entities'. Hunters originally operated in splinter cells all over the globe, with little to no contact with other Hunters and no overhead management or organisation. Although the occupation has existed in the shadows for centuries, the emergence of metahumans in the last few decades flipped the world on its head. Hunters had originally tried to deal with these new individuals either by keeping them underground or, for particularly dangerous or violent ones, killing or imprisoning them. Hunters had long worked out of the public eye in an effort to maintain the 'sanity' of the world. However, when the likes of Superman and other prominent metahumans emerged, it became more difficult to keep the existence of the supernatural hidden as well. The world's eyes were open, and many Hunters began to operate more openly. Then a number of Hunters came together and formed an official organisation that is now known today as the Exodus Battalion.
Ivy had not been brought up with the family business. Raised in England, her mother was a baker and her father was a hunter from the United States. She spent most of her childhood in an English boarding school until she was expelled at seventeen. With her parents separated since she was 11, her mother wanting nothing to do with her and her father back in the US, she took off on her own. After a couple of years living on the streets in rough areas of London, her father tracked her down and took her under his wing, teaching her his trade. He took her back to the States and she spent a few years training. Her hot-headedness caused many clashes with her father, and eventually she left the States and returned to England. While clearing out a vampire nest in Scotland, she met a fellow Hunter who worked for the Battalion. They introduced her to the organisation and she hasn't looked back since.
A boom of thunder awoke Ivy. She sat up with a start, one hand holding the silver knife under her pillow. A flash of lightning illuminated her room through the hotel window, quickly followed by another clap of thunder. Wearing nothing but a white singlet and her black underwear, she got up and looked out the window at the Tokyo city lights shining through the gentle shower of rain. She glanced at the clock on the wall, read ten to six, and pulled the curtains closed. A knock at the door surprised her. Grabbing her pistol from the dresser, she approached the door cautiously.
"Who is it?" she called out, looking through the peephole.
The striking blonde woman on the other side, wearing a skin-tight black outfit covered by a black leather jacket, quietly called back. "Ben sent me. Said you needed some help with a fiery character,"
With a sigh and a cursing of Ben's name, she opened the door, keeping the pistol hidden behind her back. She was just about to spin an apology and decline the help when she got a full look at the woman. She had beautiful golden back-length hair and her leather uniform was strikingly familiar.
"I know you," Ivy stuttered, almost in shock.
The blonde smiled and held out a hand. "Dinah Drake. Ivy I believe?"
Ivy shook Black Canary's hand and nodded in disbelief. She had seen Black Canary on television a few times, but had never seen her outside the US. She recognised her familiar costume, but noticed that she had traded her usual fishnet stockings for black leather trousers.
"Can I come in?" Dinah asked.
Ivy snapped out of her shock. "Oh... yeah, of course," she said, moving aside.
Dinah stepped inside and Ivy shut the door behind her. Looking around the hotel room, Dinah inspected an armchair as if for quality, before sitting down. Ivy discreetly put the handgun on a nearby table and went to the bathroom to grab a robe.
"I see you Hunter's don't live the glamorous life,"
Ivy didn't reply until she was back from the bathroom, tying the robe cord around her waist. "It's not a glamorous job," she replied. "At least it's not on my dime."
Dinah chuckled, but didn't reply.
"So," Ivy started. "I didn't think Ben had friends in such high places."
"Oh, you mean Mr Prestin? I hardly know him, but the Exodus Battalion have done my team and I a few favours."
"Oh really?" Ivy was confused. The Battalion's relationship with metahumans wasn't exactly favourable. Many Hunters still attacked them on sight and the organisation had a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy when it came to missing metahumans. "I didn't think the Battalion were in the business of doing favours."
Black Canary's mood shifted slightly, becoming a little more intimidating. "And I'd probably agree with you, but they've changed their tune lately. They've helped the Birds of Prey with information and assets, which is a lot better than open firing on us like they have done in the past," her tone turning accusatory, looking at Ivy.
She put her hands up defensively. "Hey, I haven't tangled with one of yours yet, and I don't intend to unless they give me a reason to." And it was the truth. Ivy had made an effort to avoid the metahuman side of the job, despite the pressure from other more unscrupulous Hunters and the organisation.
Dinah relaxed a bit. "I'll take your word, though you seem harmless enough since you haven't tried to shoot me yet," she smiled. "So what nasty beast are we tangling with today?"
"A Phoenix," Ivy said, grabbing a notebook from her rucksack. Dinah's left eyebrow kicked up a few notches. "We've been tracking one for a few months now as they're pretty rare. There was an explosion at a brothel in area and there were some distinct phoenix remains."
"Remains? I thought it was still alive?"
"For some reason, it combusted itself, but a Phoenix doesn't go down so easy, they're basically immortal."
Dinah leaned forward with a hand on her chin in thought. "So," she pondered. "How are we going to take this thing out?"
"Incapacitate and capture," Ivy pulled a pair of handcuffs out of the rucksack.
"Kinky," Dinah mused.
Ivy chuckled. "Iron cuffs. A lot of things are weak to iron and a Phoenix can't use its powers with a pair of these on."
"Alright, so how long till this thing comes back?"
"Sometime today," Ivy said, looking at the clock on the wall again. "According to the lore, a Phoenix rises from the grave after a day."
"Well," Dinah stood from the chair. "Lets go get some breakfast and catch us a bird. Hey, maybe it can join the Birds of Prey," she said with a laugh.
Smiling, Ivy went to the bathroom to get dressed. It was going to be an interesting day.
The two songbirds spent the morning wandering the local streets of Tokyo, looking for their next breakfast. The rain continued to drizzle throughout the day. They eventually settled on steamed rice and miso soup at a local café and spent a few hours talking about their respective trades.
"So what brings you to Tokyo, Dinah?" Ivy said as she shoved a mouthful of rice in.
"A friend of ours asked for some help with some... umm... personal issues."
"Aren't you American, though?" she said, still chewing the mouthful of rice. Manners were never her strong suite.
"Oh, yes," she realised the point of the question. "My team, the Birds of Prey, operate all over the world. There's not much point in protecting the same territory as the Justice League, we'd just step on each other's toes."
"So you kinda went mercenary then?"
Black Canary though about this between sips of her Miso soup. "I suppose you could look at it like that, though we don't actually get paid by those we help, we're self funded."
"Who by?"
"Now that's getting a little more into the 'need-to-know' area," Dinah said with a smirk, continuing to sip her soup. "But speaking of which, who funds you?"
Ivy had never been asked that before, and while she wasn't ever told that it was secret, it seemed like a bad idea to tell a 'model of truth and justice' that she lived off fake credit cards and bouncing cheques. "I get by," she said as innocently as possible.
Dinah laughed. "Yeah, sure. There's no way you can convince me that the 'humble' Exodus Battalion funds its Hunters through hedge funds and fund-raisers." Ivy kept silent under the guise of shoving more rice in her mouth. "I won't deny they've done some good work," Dinah continued. "But their practises leave much to be desired. You're only going to get away with that legal loophole for so long, especially if you Hunters keep up with the metahuman killing."
"It's not that bad," Ivy tried to deflect. "Some get a bit carried away, but most of us accept that you guys aren't all bad."
Dinah's stare went cold. "A young boy with the power to control electricity was killed by a Hunter just a few months ago. He was only 15."
Ivy recalled that particular incident. It had been a messy scenario with people split down the middle. A Hunter in the area killed the boy when he got scared and started accidentally frying a few people. There was a lot of applause for the Hunter stepping in, but he had been attacked for using lethal force instead of just subduing the boy.
"Okay," Ivy urged, trying to defuse the situation. "I admit that there was probably a better way he could have handled the situation."
"Probably?" Dinah said sternly. "The boy could have been taught how to control his power. He was scared. Killing a scared kid doesn't make you hero."
"Okay, okay!" she raised her hands in surrender.
The next few minutes were silent as the two women finished their food and paid the bill. They set off and the began rain to fall heavier as the pair made their way to the torched brothel. There was no police car out the front of the building, instead replaced by a pair of white vans. Ivy and Black Canary climbed to the roof of the building opposite and watched. There were three people sifting through the rubble who seemed to be government officials of some sort. They kept out of sight, but watched the building for any sign of the Phoenix.
Black Canary was still in her traditional costume, though with the leather trousers covering her usual fishnet stockings. Ivy had changed into her combat apparel. Losing the black trench coat, she wore a kevlar corset and a thin yellow and black jacket that buckled around her with several black leather straps. A pair of yellow and black reinforced kevlar jeans with built in kneepads covered her legs down to her shin-high black combat boots. Her ginger hair blew freely in the light breeze, a pair of goggles resting on her head.
It was almost midday before anything happened. The pebbles Ivy had kept started to glow red hot, melting through the plastic bag which she had placed on the rooftop edge. As the pebbles started to glow brighter, they started to vibrate towards the brothel, as if drawn by a magnet.
Ivy noticed, and nudged Black Canary. "Heads up, I think it's time."
One of the workers noticed the mud starting to boil. She approached cautiously as the puddle of mud began to bubble and steam. As she got closer, the mud bulged and something began to emerge from the shallow mud, as if growing impossibly. The pebbles Ivy had on the ledge flew away sharply towards the growing figure, hitting it with a squelch and were absorbed. The woman backed away slowly in fear of the humanoid figure that emerged from the mud. It stood up straight, towering a full foot above the woman. It glowed red hot and the mud covering it began to dry into solid cakes before falling away. The creature's final form was that of a genderless human, standing over seven foot tall. It had glowing orange locks of hair that shimmered like fire and a pair of angel-like wings sprouted from its back, each feather was like a small timid flame. Its skin was pale, and its eyes glowed like fire. The rain turned to steam when it hit the creature. The woman fell back into the mud, too stunned to scream she started clambering backwards in the mud, her mouth agape. The Phoenix's wings flapped gently, allowing it to hover slightly above the mud. It began to float towards the woman, who finally managed to find her voice and scream. Reaching out it's hand to touch her, the Phoenix was just inches away, close enough for her to feel its glowing heat and her hair to begin to singe.
A gunshot rang out and the Phoenix flinched violently. It turned in the direction of the gunshot, the flames on its wings intensified. Ivy stood with one foot on the ledge of the roof, scoped rifle in hand, the barrel smoking as the rain cooled it.
"That got its attention," she grinned.
The Phoenix gained altitude, it's wings flapping heavier, billows of steam forming from them as more rain boiled. The swooped towards Ivy with incredible speed. Before it reached her, Black Canary jumped from behind Ivy. Ivy heard the sound of bones breaking as it flew full force into Black Canary's boot. The stunned Phoenix bounced backwards, falling to street level and crashing straight into the pavement, leaving a small crater. Black Canary dropped down towards the still stunned Phoenix as it tried to pick itself up. She landed square on its head, slamming it back into the ground. She kept one foot on its head as she called up to Ivy.
"Throw me the cuffs!"
Ivy grabbed the iron handcuffs out and was about to throw them to her when she saw what the Phoenix was doing. She tried to call out to but it was too late. Black Canary looked down just as the Phoenix erupted into a column of fire. The blast send her flying, crashing into the side of a building. The Phoenix's wings flapped strongly as it picked itself up from the crater and looked at Ivy standing on the ledge above. Black Canary was dazed and smoking from the blast, groggily trying to pick herself up.
With a pissed-off screech, the creature flew straight at Ivy. She rolled backwards just as it flew past, trying to grapple her. Pulling out her pistol, she righted herself and fired several custom iron bullets into the Phoenix. The wounds caused the creature a significant amount of pain, even if the bullets only passed through its fiery wings. It landed heavily upon the roof of the building, staggering slightly. Clip empty, Ivy grabbed her iron bat and poised it ready to strike. Striding towards her, face the embodiment of fiery rage, the Phoenix tried to grab her with it's fiery hand. Ivy dodged away from its grasp and swung her bat, connecting with its head. The creature clearly felt it, as its head snapped sideways from the impact before turning back angrily.
Unexpectedly, the Phoenix spun towards Ivy, wings outstretched. She was slapped full-force by the large wing, impacting her in the torso as she managed to raise her arms to protect her face. She was flung back several meters, her jacket smouldering. It was on her before she could recover, standing with one foot on her. She used the bat to hold it at bay as it tried to combust her with its touch. It was strong and heavy, and Ivy wasn't going to be able to keep it at bay much longer.
Suddenly, the Phoenix was flung sideways off her as Black Canary kicked it away. She had ditched her black trousers and her fishnet stockings had several burnt holes in them. Her legs were red with burn marks, but nothing more than superficial burns. Her blonde hair was slightly singed and matted, but she had a determined look in her eyes, only serving to make her look more intimidating. Black Canary helped Ivy to her feet.
"You alright," Dinah asked.
"Thanks for keeping away from turning into burnt toast," Ivy said jokingly.
"You're welcome," she said, turning to look at the Phoenix recovering from the surprise attack. "Lets end this quickly, I don't need any more tan."
With a mighty cry, the Phoenix lunged at the pair, wings and arms outstretched. Black Canary replied with a cry of her own, this one with her signature sonic power. The cry was more than enough to send the creature spiralling backwards and straight into the side of the next building. Large chunks of brickwork fell with it as it plummeted to the ground once again.
"Now Ivy!" Black Canary shouted as she leaped forward, gliding gracefully through the air.
Ivy grabbed the cuffs and sprinted towards the still dazed Phoenix. Black Canary got there first and landed on it once again, pinning it down. This time however, she stomped on its head several times, thrusting it repeatedly into the concrete. Ivy was quite the sprinter thanks to her light athletic frame and was next to Black Canary in mere moments. She slapped the cuffs on one of its arms, and pulled it behind its back. The chain wasn't long enough to reach its other arm, so Ivy had to grab it. Her hand burned when she touched its skin, the pain was extraordinary and she could feel her skin boiling. She was unfazed, however, and wrenched its arm back and placed it securely in the other side of the handcuff. The moment the cuffs were locked, they glinted magically and the Phoenix's fire started to dim. Its wings began to crumble to ash and its skin began to cool, returning to a much more normal skin tone. Finally, all that lay before them was a naked genderless human, its hair now black as coal. It was still conscious, but was barely moving.
"Well, that was a lot tougher than I expected," Dinah said. "Are you alright Ivy?"
Ivy looked at her hand. It was badly burned and it stung painfully. She rinsed it under a nearby drainpipe, cooling the still hot skin. "It hurts like a bitch, but I'll live."
Dinah chuckled just slightly. "So what do we do with this thing?"
Ivy got out her cellphone and rang a number. When the line was answered, she requested a subject pickup and gave her coordinates. "We'll just hang here for a little bit and a team will come in and pick it up," she told Dinah, before she was interrupted.
Two police officers knocked open a rooftop door, and guns drawn and aimed at the two women. They spoke in Japanese, which neither Ivy nor Black Canary understood. Dinah raised her hands, but Ivy instead made a clear, but slow motion that she was going for her pocket. The two officers were clearly not happy about this as they shouted further, but she continued slowly, pulling a notebook out and holding it up for them to see. She flicked it open and held it above her head. They scrutinised it from a distance and one officer came cautiously closer and took the notebook from her.
After a few suspenseful seconds of deliberation, the officer nodded and lowered his gun, the other following suit. He handed the notebook back to Ivy and nodded in a sort of apology. They radioed in and walked away.
"What was that about?" Dinah asked, breathing a sigh of relief.
Ivy snapped open the notebook again and showed her. It showed a mugshot of Ivy, clearly a few years old as her hair was much shorter in the picture. Below it was an array of personal details and contact information. A simple logo of a row of swords over an unusual pattern of blue and grey swirls dominated the opposite page. "Hunter's get-out-of-jail-free card," Ivy said.
"This works?"
Ivy shrugged. "It clears us for minor crimes. The only laws we probably broke was discharging a weapon and property damage," she nodded towards the Phoenix. "That thing isn't classified as a human, so shooting and kicking the shit out of it isn't illegal."
"Just like me then," Dinah trailed off, staring at the Phoenix.
Ivy didn't know how to answer her. After an awkward moment of silence in the rain, she went and sat down on the ledge near the Phoenix. She attended her burnt hand, bandaging it tightly. Dinah sat with her and they waited in silence, the rain beginning to subside.
After about an hour, a Chinook helicopter came and a small team secured the Phoenix in an iron coffin-like container. Ivy and Dinah helped them load and once it was secured, they offered Ivy a lift back to the cruiser anchored off the coast.
"Well," Ivy said, offering her hand to Dinah. "I guess I'll see you on TV or something."
Dinah laughed and shook her hand. "As long as I don't see you on there, we'll get along just fine."
"Thanks for the save by the way," she blushed slightly.
Black Canary just smiled. Ivy stepped inside the helicopter and gave her a light wave before taking a seat. Buckling herself in, she watched as Tokyo shrunk as the chopper took off. Eventually, the city disappeared underneath the low-lying clouds.
"Thirty minutes until we get back to the cruiser, Ivory," the pilot called back to her.
Enough time for a quick nap she thought. She lay back and let her eyes drift closed. It had been a long day.