Oh-Lan, China

5 Years Ago…

Dressed in her martial arts uniform, Mari Jiwe arched her back and tightened her palms while she watched her opponent Carolyn Wu-San encircle the mat of the Shaolin temple. Situated on all four corners of the tiny stage, her boyfriend Ben Turner, her classmate Richard Drakunovski, best friend Dinah Lance, and her teacher Professor Otomo "O-Sensai" Wu-San observed the pair preparing to spar in front of them. It had been three months of intense training but the African woman had improved in her martial arts education rising close to the same fighting ranks of her peers. Now was time to finally put all that learning to the test.

Swiping at the tough Asian woman, Carolyn Wu-San blocked her first two attacks before Mari landed a successful kick to her side. The Ketsueki student dubbed "Shiva the Destroyer" by her colleagues flinched as the Zambesian born female knocked her down with an uppercut. Carolyn landed on the mat making a large thud on the floor before analyzing her competitor. Ready to immobilize her opponent, Mari clenched her fist and landed a punch to her Carolyn's face. The experienced Asian woman blocked the assault, swept her opponent's legs with her feet, and forced Mari to tumble to the ground. Next, she grasped Mari's wrists and tightened her hold on the young woman preventing Mari from continuing any further attacks. Helpless and struggling, the African student finally surrendered.

Carolyn released her grip on the young woman as O-Sensei applauded both students' efforts.

"Very good, kanji!" Professor Wu-San referred to Mari in a Japanese endearment closely resembling the word vixen. "You've done well but always anticipate your enemy's movements. It could mean life or death on the battlefield."

The African woman humbly bowed. "Thank you, O-Sensei." She returned to her position outside of the mat as her teacher signaled to Laurel to spar with her daughter next.

Laurel followed her instructor's orders and stood up in her matching combat robes to face the experienced fighter. Like her best friend, the reluctant college student needed some convincing in joining Professor Wu-San's cause after the man saved their lives back in Zambesi. After charismatic speech and some soul searching, the two women finally accepted his offer of joining his secretive group, The Ketsueki.

It was a bizarre story right out of the pulp fiction novels and comic book stories, O-Sensei had been born from a tragic love story involving starcrossed lovers. His mother had been the daughter of a notorious Japanese Yakuza crime boss and his father from a feared Chinese mafia. After his mother had been murdered by a rival clan, his father fled from his criminal ways and raised the boy in a Tibetan monastery where Otomo developed his intelligence as well as mastering the art of Shaolin kung-fu. When he became an adult, Otomo left the monastery traveling the world and training his body in various forms of the marital arts while increasing his cognitive skills by learning all about chemistry and medicine. Later he would meet his wife Ayumi and relocate to Tokyo where he had two daughters, Sandra and Carolyn, and begin his research in meta-genetics.

Passing his skills of martial arts and science to his daughters, Professor Wu-San enjoyed a happily life for a time until Ayumi passed away from cancer. Determined more than ever to discover the meta-gene in the human body and utilizing this knowledge to regenerate cells and cure physical ailments, he thought his experiments would be successful until his test subjects died during his research. Guilty for contributing to their deaths, Otomo relocated his daughters back to Tibet for some soul searching. Sadly even that continued to bring more tragedy. One night a criminal mercenary by the name of David Cain broke into the monastery, murdered several of the monks, and abducted his eldest daughter Sandra.

Otomo and his other daughter, Carolyn, searched the world looking for Cain and Sandra but even the older gentleman could not go against a criminal mastermind like David Cain alone. Recruiting other soldiers to his cause like Richard Drakunovski and Ben Turner, he trained his warriors to be capable fighters under the guise of London's international academic program to help fund the search for his missing daughter. Calling his covert group Ketsueki which loosely in Japanese means blood, the group has spent two years searching for Sandra. Now Laurel and Mari have become O-Sensei's newest students, gifted with superhuman abilities and wanted to prove themselves worthy of joining Ketsueki and the brown haired woman would start by defeating Carolyn Wu-San.

Tightening her fists and spreading her feet in a boxer's fighting stance, she anticipated the Asian woman's moves. Unlike Mari, Laurel's father had insisted she take self-defense courses back in Starling City. The blue eyed student had a bit of an advantage when it came to sparring.

"Okay, Dinah," smiled Carolyn. "Remember what we taught you. Don't hold back."

Laurel nodded. "I'm ready, Carolyn."

The Asian woman darted toward the brown haired girl. Flexing a fist, Carolyn shot her arm forward to make contact with Laurel's face. Blocking the punch, the brown haired female appeared please with herself with deflecting the attack. However, Carolyn was not finished. Slicing a palm through the air, the black haired beauty performed a Wushu move and struck the young woman's shoulder hard. Pain shot through her arm as Laurel attempted to back away. Her sparring partner was not down. Bending her knee, she struck her leg out and landed a strong kick to Laurel's chest. The blow surprised the fighter as she fell on to the mat.

"Hei sei kanaria!" O-Sensei shouted. Professor Wu-san loved to mixed Japanese and Chinese together. He constantly referred to her as his dark songbird. "Focus, Hei sei kanaria! Your enemy won't be so merciful."

Laurel agreed. Despite the pain on her shoulder, she stood up and fought through the throbbing agony. She was the Hei sei Kanaria. The dark songbird. And she needed to prove it.

Spinning around, Carolyn tried another aggressive punch toward the blue eyed female. Raising her hands, she blocked the assault and anticipated another attack of from her opponent. Her intuition was right. Carolyn performed a sneaky move and pushed a fist forward to punch her face but Laurel thwarted that move with her arms. However the Asian woman's legs proved to be much deadlier. Pulling her leg upward, she kicked at the young woman's thigh causing her to bend over in pain and landed another kick to Laurel's back. Now forced to kneel to the floor, Laurel felt the breeze of another kick coming across her spine before she lifted her hands and grabbed Carolyn's leg. Then she twisted her body, performed an amazing forward somersault and brought down O-Sensei's daughter with her to the ground.

Carolyn struck the mat hard as Laurel had her immobilized with her in grasp. With her fist curled, she struck a punch across the experienced fighter's face to which made Carolyn Wu-San nearly lose consciousness. The Asian woman tossed her hands up in the air.

"Okay! I yield! You win, Dinah!" Carolyn pleaded.

Releasing her sparring partner, Laurel bowed to Professor Wu-San who applauded the young woman's efforts.

"See, Father, she's ready," said his daughter. "And she didn't have to resort to her meta-skills to defeat me." Despite Carolyn's hard exterior, the two women had a mutual respect for each other. Laurel sympathized. O-Sensei's daughter had been through a lot from the loss of her mother, to the disgrace of her father, and to the abduction of her older sister. Even with all this, the young Asian woman managed to not allow these tragedies to overcome her. She believed in honor by promoting her father's ideals and willingly accepted her role as soldier and trainer sacrificing her own needs for O-Sensei. Laurel admired that.

"I can't agree more," grinned the old man. He turned toward Richard and Ben. "I think it's time we give them their presents."

The pair of male students of the Ketsueki left for a minute and returned with boxes which they offered to Laurel and Mari. Opening the two containers, Laurel pulled out a revealing leather black outfit, fishnets, and blonde wig while Mari lifted a plunging gold jumpsuit.

"Umm," said Laurel trying to feign a smile. "You really shouldn't have."

Carolyn peeked into the boxes and scowled. "Really, gentleman? Skanky wear? I should've done the shopping. No women in their right mind would wear those streetwalker's clothes!"

Richard and Ben snickered as O-Sensei glared at them with disapproval. Both men immediately shut their mouths.

"Forgive my male students for their raging teenage hormones!" Professor Wu-San apologized. "I'm sure my daughter, Carolyn, can find you more conservative, suitable attire."

"O-Sensei?" Mari asked the teacher. "Why do we need to mask ourselves?" She pulled a matching gold mask from the box.

"Anonymity," informed the older man. "These are dangerous people we will be facing and you will be making plenty of enemies. To protect you and your loved ones, it's better if all us to wear disguises to protect the ones we care about the most. That is why I assigned names to each of the members of the Ketsueki. Carolyn is Shiva the Destroyer, Ben is the Bronze Tiger, and Richard the Dragon. Mari, you are my Kanji, a vixen who is cunning and sneaky. Our enemies won't expect it." He then looked at Laurel. "Dinah, you are Hei sei kanaria, my dark songbird. That sonic resonance in your voice will be your greatest weapon if you need to use it."

Laurel had another question that was plaguing her. "O-Sensei, did you choose Mari and I by chance or was it deliberate?"

The older man exhaled a breath. "I will confess, Dinah, that your enrollment in my program was not by chance. When you submitted your application, part of the stipulation was for you to submit your medical records and blood work for the international program. I found a strange anomaly in both your blood work that made you likely candidates for the meta-human gene. That's why I personally selected you both. The reason why my experiments in Tokyo failed was because the serum used needed components of animal DNA to mutate your cells. My theory was correct. Hei sei kanaria, your genetic structure adapted well to the aviary components I injected you with. Mari was a different story."

"How so?" The African woman asked.

"Your meta-gene reacted well to the components comprised of several animal DNA," informed her teacher. "It's like it adapted, assimilated, and created various degrees of superhuman abilities inside you.. You have the strength of a rampaging elephant or of any reptile. The speed of a cheetah. The agility and swiftness of a monkey. The keen senses of any feline and the feral nature of every primal beast. This will be your greatest asset in combat, kanji."

"What would have happened if the serum didn't work?" Laurel wondered.

O-Sensei sighed. "Then you would have died. Your wounds were fatal from those gunshots back in Zambesi. We didn't have much a choice. It was either administer the drug or let you die from your bullet wounds. I make no regrets for my actions so if you are angered by my decision, then so be it. Let it be known, Dinah and Mari, that I do have your best interests at heart.

Laurel felt no anger for the man. He did what he needed to in order to save her and Mari's life. She was grateful to him for that.

"I bear no ill-will toward your decision, O-Sensei," said Laurel. "You had to do what was necessary."

"No do I," Mari agreed. "I will admit I'm a bit shocked by these meta-gene nonsense but I understand now that this is what fate had in store for me."

"Believe in the power of fate and destiny," advised the old man. "That path in life occurs for a reason. Now if you excuse me, I'll leave you two to try on your new uniforms. Carolyn will assist you with them. Richard and Ben have much to discuss for our mission tonight."

"What's going on tonight?" Laurel asked.

"We're going to stop David Cain and rescue my other daughter, Sandra." O-Sensei declared.


Mari and Laurel stared at the full length mirror at the new uniforms the boys purchased for them. Even though the outfits seemed to be a bit risqué for their tastes, they did seem to hug and flatter every curve of their bodies. The African woman donned a gold colored sleeveless jumpsuit with matching high heeled boots that complimented the ebony tone of her skin. Mari put on her black ivory tooth pendant and matching mask that concealed her identity. On the other side of the room, Laurel wore the tight corseted black leather zip-up and shorts that included the combat boots and fishnets. Straightening the blonde wig and domino feather mask, she took one look in the mirror and giggled.

"What do I feel like I need to be holding a whip or a riding crop?" She said to Mari.

Mari chuckled. "At least you don't look like an Oscar statuette."

Both women continued to laugh as Carolyn Wu-san entered the room carrying a bag of goodies.

"Sorry to interrupt but I thought I would give you both some extra accessories to wear tonight," the Asian woman smiled. Opening the bag, she dumped out a small set of blades.

Laurel's eyes widened. "Uh…Carolyn…you really shouldn't have."

Sensing both their concerns, Carolyn held one of the blades up. "This is only as a precaution. Look, this is serious. The people we will be infiltrating are highly dangerous. They will rape, torture, or kill without mercy. I want to make sure you ladies can protect yourselves. We taught you how to use a small knife. Only use it to defend yourself when necessary."

"Are…we killers?" Mari stuttered.

"No," sighed Carolyn. "You do everything you can not to kill unless when you have to. That's what part of being a soldier is about. You two are still inexperienced in these things compared to me, Richard or Ben. Sometimes you have to go to dark places in order to achieve your goals."

"Have…you ever killed anyone?" Laurel asked.

"Yes," replied the Asian woman directly. "But not in cold blood. That's what separates us from our enemies. Our humanity and compassion. Never lose sight of that. It's why we continue to fight and why need to protect. In any war, some losses do occur but you have to consider the reasons why you are fighting."

"There is time to back out now."

All eyes turned toward O-Sensei who came into the room.

"I don't expect you to understand our ideals, Kanji and Hei rei kanaria," said the older man. "The Ketsueki are not a cult. We don't force you to do things you're not comfortable with. There is still time to turn down our offer and return to your civilian lives."

"And what of David Cain and your daughter Sandra?" Laurel inquired.

"There are others we can recruit and teach to be warriors for our cause," informed O-Sensei. "Perhaps they have the meta-gene. Perhaps not. However, if they choose to fight with us for the greater good then it will be well worth it."

"You rescued us from the Okonkwo rebels," said Mari. "Are those the type of people the Ketsueki are trying to stop?"

"Hopefully," responded her teacher. "Right now we are only little fish in a small pond. Even our tiny group can't take on an entire rebellion. The Okonkwo have ties to our enemy David Cain. He helps supply weapons to the terrorist group."

"That explains the Okonkwo captain telling us that he was going to sell us to their allies," said Laurel.

"Cain has been known to traffic women around the world," Carolyn jumped in. "I hate to think what he's doing to my sister, Sandra. Dinah and Mari, due to political laws, people like David Cain or the Okonkwo are protected by legal loopholes so a group like the Ketsueki is needed to stop them. Foreign legions refuse to do anything and even a nation's police force are often corrupted by these bad men. If a small group of vigilantes like us did something, then maybe there's a chance that the people can rise up and stop this evil from happening in their own countries. That is why the Ketsueki stands. Safeguarding and protecting the common man."

Laurel and Mari comprehended the group's philosophies. Their means were just but their actions were dangerous. Even with their meta-human abilities, could these two women be worthy fighters for the cause?

The brown haired woman gulped. "I'm in."

Mari glanced at her friend nervously and found her confidence. "Me too. If it means saving a life, then I wish to help."

O-Sensei beamed. "Excellent, my new students. Richard and Ben have devised a plan for tonight. David Cain is hosting an illegal fighting match here in Oh-Lan and we're going to put a stop to it."

"Welcome to the Ketsueki!" Carolyn grinned. "You truly are worthy warriors."


Staring out the balcony of the monastery, Laurel Lance removed her mask and watched the sun go down over the horizon. Small footsteps came up behind her and she turned to see Richard Drakunovski walking toward her. His piercing blue eyes and brown hair sent a wave of butterflies inside her stomach and she faced the martial artist with a smile.

"I heard that O-Sensei and Carolyn gave you a pep talk?" He said with a grin. "I'm glad you decided to stay."

"It's a bit weird," she remarked. "All this spy acting stuff. I never pictured myself being some superhero."

He folded his hands, placed them on balcony's edge right next to Laurel's and stared over city. The view was breathtaking.

"We're warriors. Soldiers." Richard stated. "O-Sensei gave us something to believe in."

"What made you and Ben want to join his cause?" She asked him.

"Ben and I were partners in crime," replied the man. "I was a thief and Ben was a drug smuggler. We almost got caught by the Chinese police and sent to jail before O-Sensei found us and rescued us. He taught us to focus our criminal ways on something more constructive and positive and convinced us to do something good with our lives. Being part of the Ketsueki gave us a direction in life that become more meaningful in helping others. Since then, we've been loyal students to his cause. And you?"

"What about me?" Laurel inhaled. "I'm still new at this. I want to believe in doing good in the world and protecting the innocent. Yet, I'm not sure I'm the soldier that O-Sensei believes me to be."

"All students have doubts the first time," Richard reassured her. "But believe me, Dinah. O-Sensei has a good judge of character. He would not have chosen you for this program if he had any doubts of your abilities. You're to be a great warrior. All of us can sense it. You just need to believe in yourself."

Her blue eyes lowered to his feet. "I wish had the shared the same faith in myself as you all have of me."

"Believe me, we do," grinned the brown haired man.

Slipping her hand around her waist, he pulled her close and kissed her. The touch of lips felt wonderful. It had been a long time since Laurel felt the closeness of a man. Strong arms embraced and held her while the warm of his skin tingled. Laurel wanted to savor every moment. That was until her common sense took over. She pushed him away.

"I'm sorry, Richard! I can't!" Looking away, she let her back face him.

"Dinah, was it something I did?" Richard asked in concern.

Shaking her head, Laurel's blue eyes filled with tears. She shifted her body to look at the man. "No, it's me. I'm not ready to do this." She bit her lip while she felt the need to confess. "One of the main reasons why I enrolled in this program was because I needed to get away from home." Sniffing through her tears, Laurel held herself. "A year ago, I lost two people I cared about the most. My ex-boyfriend and my sister. Both died in a boating accident and since then I felt lost like…"

Richard wrapped his arms around her and refused to let go. "It wasn't your fault, Dinah. You've still haven't had closure. You're still hanging on to the past."

"My sister Sarah and my boyfriend were having an affair," she told him. "Then they were killed and I don't know whether to be angry or sad about the situation. I don't know what to feel…"

Placing his hands both sides of her face, the brown haired man leaned in. "What does Dinah want to feel?"

She sighed. "I…I want to be someone else tonight…someone who isn't me…wild and free…"

The young woman who once was Laurel refused to listen to her conscience. Instead, she allowed Dinah to take over and what the blonde Dinah wanted was Richard "The Dragon" Drakunovski. Slipping her hands around the striking martial artist's neck, she crushed her mouth on to his.

She finally now felt wild and free.


Moonlight rays illuminated through Richard's bedroom. Slipping on a shirt underneath his martial arts uniform, he saw Laurel struggling with her black leather jumpsuit and went over to zip her up. Lowering his head down, he pulled her close and kissed her with affection.

"Mmm," he growled. "I wish we had more time for me to explore those lips."

Laurel blushed. "Richard…about what just happened."

Sensing her dumping him, the man frowned. "I…don't regret any of it."

The brown haired woman corrected him. "I don't either. In fact, I needed it. Like you said, I required closure. It's time that I focus on directing all my energy on doing something more important."

"What could be more important than us?" He asked.

"Stopping David Cain and saving O-Sensei's daughter?" She answered.

"Oh!" Richard responded acknowledging the dose of a reality check he had just received. "Dinah, after we succeed in this mission, we're going to have to talk about this thing between us."

Laurel straightened her blonde wig and put on her mask. "That is if we succeed."

"We're the Ketsueki," stated Richard. "We're bad ass warriors. What could go wrong?"


Everything. That is what Oliver thought about observing the costumed wearing patrons that lined the behind the velvet rope of the night club Cain's. Guano Cravat had put out all the stops for this masquerade event. From the vapid decorations, over the top entertainment, and irritating music, the club patrons became lemmings ready to jump of the edge of a cliff since they mindlessly followed every trend spoon fed them by Cravat's media team. The line to get inside the club went around the block as a hoodie Ollie noticed another way to sneak in from the rooftop location of the adjacent building he was on.

Raising his bow, he shot a zip line arrow down to the roof of Cain's and slid down the cable toward the establishment. Landing on the top of the building, Oliver picked the locked of the door that led downstairs to the dancefloor. Pulling it open, the hooded vigilante blended into the masked crowd.

Passing the security guards along the way, disguised faces and hooded patrons surrounded him. Cravat's thugs were unable to determine who out to get him. Ollie was safe for now.