Gotham was very different from Midway. The buildings were gothic. It smelled like smoke and dust, which tickled Hawkgirl's nose. Even the sky was darker. Such a contrast to the bright city of Midway. Hawkgirl flew past the tallest buildings, all adorned with gargoyles, surveying the skies for any unusual birds like the ones she had encountered back home. No, not home…Midway City. Even though Hawkgirl was almost certain she was not going home anytime soon, she still thought of herself as a visitor to this planet.
Hawkgirl had flown in from Midway in the late evening, dropped off her supplies at a hotel, and had flown off to search the city. So far, she had little luck. Even the darn birds were different. Not a lot of pigeons—not even around the park area. "This is impossible…I've got to try a different approach…"
She heard a crash below her. There was some sort of robbery going on below her. A couple of men in dark clothing were rushing out of a small business and into a car. "Well, might as well stop them…" Hawkgirl tucked her wings and rushed down, spiraling towards the small dark car. Good grief, even the cars are different. What is with this town?
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The man on the passenger seat had a small machine gun and was trying to bring Hawkgirl down with it. She swung her mace in front of her, using it as a shield. Her arms shook as the bullets hit the head of the mace. "This is crazy!"
What luck—the roof of the car was made of cloth, not metal. Hawkgirl screamed and tore it open with her mace. The driver lost control—namely because Hawkgirl had her fingers digging into his throat—and crashed though the window of another store. Everyone found themselves thrown from the car and landing in the dark building. Hawkgirl crashed into some soup cans.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
"The fight starts now!" Hawkgirl powered up her mace. It crackled and lit up, sending sparks into the store's shelves as she ran toward the three men.
They looked scared.
Good for them.
Hawkgirl leaped over a pile of fruit and swung her mace at the closest burglar. It hit him square on the chest and he fell backwards, knocking over a magazine rack. "Ha! One down!" She ducked as one of the men began shooting and leaped on him, clawing at his face. The third man, a giant compared to the other two, rammed Hawkgirl into the windshield of the getaway car. She landed in the driver's seat. "Ouch!"
The third thief raised his fist up, aiming at Hawkgirl's head. "'Night, birdie!"
Hawkgirl managed to dodge the punch. The robber howled as his fist went through to the trunk. Hawkgirl didn't waste a moment. With his arm stuck next to her, she kicked and punched until the mammoth fell backwards, unconscious like the others. Hawkgirl grinned and brushed the dust from her hands. "Well, that was easy—"
There was a fainting cooing from the back of car, now audible with a few extra holes. Hawkgirl turned to look at the car. "It can't be…" She ripped the back door open. There were a few dozen chicken-wire cages, all filled with live pigeons. They all turned and looked at her. "Well, this is getting interesting…fast."
Now that the fighting was done, it was time for Hawkgirl to be the detective. Shayera went back inside the car front. It could fit three people in the front, and had a small door where someone could check on the trunk area. There were a few pieces of ammo for the gun in the glove box and some cash in the passenger's mirror, but nothing else. She began to check the bodies, looking for anything of any importance. More ammo, some cigarettes, and more cash. Hawkgirl put two and two together quickly. Someone was hired to steal…birds. Well, I wanted a challenge. Can't be picky.
It was when Shayera was checking the third body that she heard something farther back in store, hidden by the shadows. It was probably nothing. Still, her feathers tensed up, and she scrambled to hurry and check the pockets. She found what she was looking for. There was a hidden pocket in the inside of his jacket, and it contained a case with three small vials filled with liquid—in all likelihood, the psycho-manipulative serum that was injected in the other birds. Great, now I can head back to the hotel and crash—I'm so tired.
SWISH!
Hawkgirl cried out as a thin cord with two weights tied themselves around her torso. Her arms and wings were pinned to her sides. She dropped the vials with the serum—and her mace. "What's going on here?"
The vials rolled toward the back of the store, covered in shadows. Hawkgirl spotted a dark hand reaching for them. "I'll take these off your hands, if you don't mind, miss."
"Seven Hells, over my dead body." Hawkgirl may have been restrained, but that's when a bird's most dangerous. Her legs still worked. A few hops and Hawkgirl was right in front of voice.
WHAM!
Hawkgirl butted her head against the intruder's, forcing him to drop the vials. She jumped and used both legs to kick into he chest. The man backed up, eyes narrowing in anger. Hawkgirl fell to the floor. Her nails dug deep into the cords binding her, until she felt them loosen around her waist. "Finally free!"
Both of them raced towards the vials. Hawkgirl was close enough to grab them when she felt a muscular arm grab her around the neck. She was caught. The man used his other hand to grab the vials and placed them in his belt. "How much were you paid, pigeon?"
Pigeon? He called me what? Hawkgirl used her free hand to grab at his—mask? Seven hells, what's going on? He must be a partner to the other thugs. "No one's paying me anything, freak. Just doing my duty."
"Which is?"
Hawkgirl answered buy twisting her back and shoving the man against a wall. It was tough keeping him there—for a human, he was pretty tough. She pulled the vials from his belt and placed them in her own. "Keeping these safe. Now, I've got to leave you. Here's a little something to remember Hawkgirl by." And with that, Hawkgirl slammed an uppercut into the jerk's nose. She left quickly, only stopping to grab her mace before taking to the air.
Meanwhile, the man in the shadows got on his radio. "Nightwing? There's someone coming your way…you'll like this one…"
* * *
Hawkgirl was panting—something she only did when she was flat-out exhausted. The flight from Midway…scanning Gotham's skies…it was all too much for her. She needed to rest. Flapping lazily, she made her way to her hotel. Her concentration was so poor she didn't noticed the thick cord hanging between two skyscrapers until she ran into it. "Ah!" Hawkgirl found herself falling, her wings too weak to fly. There was a faint whistling sound as a thin cord ran past her ear. "What?"
Someone grabbed her around the waist and was pulling her towards a building top. Hawkgirl looked up. It was a young man, with long hair tied back, wearing black with some sort of…bird emblem on him. "Who the hell are you?"
The man grinned. "Just another bird. Nightwing, to be exact. I think you have something that a friend of mine wants."
"Nightwing, eh? Well frankly, I don't need some featherless boy giving me flying lessons." Hawkgirl slammed her elbow into Nightwing's gut; forcing him to let her go so he could stay on his wire. "Tell your friend to stop chasing me, alright?"
Hawkgirl landed on the rooftop. Her wings were throbbing. To bed, to bed, to bed! How much longer was this chasing going to go on?
Nightwing was following and managed to kick Hawkgirl in the back, forcing her on the ground. She was amazed. He was obviously human—a completely normal human. He had no superpowers. And yet, with the grace and power of an athletic, he had given her a run for her money. This worried Hawkgirl.
They fought on the rooftop, Nightwing and Hawkgirl. Neither knew who the other was, but they each had blood in their eyes. Hawkgirl swung her mace this way and that. The hours were taking their toll on her. At least it made his kicks less painful. But Hawkgirl had more training in brute force. Nightwing was agile, but no one can take a heavy mace being slammed in their calf very well. In twenty-five minutes, both were bleeding from a dozen different spots, clothing was torn, and Hawkgirl swore she had chipped a tooth. When was this going to end?
One more hit from her mace brought Nightwing on his knees. He was tired too. Hawkgirl limped over to where he was and raised her mace, preparing to knock him out…at best.
"No you don't!" Hawkgirl recognized the voice right away as the man that fought her in the store. He pushed her out of way, the force of his tackle dragging both to the edge of the roof. Hawkgirl clung to her mace, more out of habit than anything else. She craned her head back to see the face of her attacker—and was too shocked to say anything.
She had never seen a picture of him but knew exactly who had his fingers on her neck, trying to stop her breathing. The top half of his head was covered to a cowl that was attached to a long black cape. Two pointy 'ears' on top of the skull, and two very angry looking eyes looking into hers. Batman! "Bat—Bat—"
Nightwing got up and dusted himself off. "I was handling it!"
Batman ignored him. "Now let me ask you again…who hired you?"
He loosened his grip enough for her to talk. Just enough. "No one did. I'm just trying to find out why the Midway Museum was robbed."
Hawkgirl could tell Nightwing was surprised. And that he might have made a mistake in attacking her. "Midway? Batman…"
Batman didn't say anything, but loosened his grip further. Hawkgirl took that as a sign to continue. "Someone drugged up some birds and they managed to make off with some jewelry on loan to the Midway Museum. I protect that city." Batman let go of Hawkgirl's neck, and the two stood on the roof.
It was only then that Hawkgirl realized that there was dried blood coming from Batman's nose. On the one hand, she felt bad, but on the other hand…she made Batman bleed. "You said your name was…Hawkgirl? And you protect the city of Midway?"
"Yes." No one spoke.
Batman looked down. Then he looked back at Hawkgirl and spoke. "Give me the vials, and then go back to Midway."
"What?" Hawkgirl was not amused.
"You did a good job with those crooks. But you're not needed here."
Hawkgirl was fuming. "'Not needed'? Seven hells, I came here to figure out why some stupid pigeons broke into a bank security room and made off with several million dollars worth of jewels. I haven't slept in two days. I've flown all day, only to fight a posse of lousy thieves in a convenience store. I've got shreds of glass in my wings. Then, I get in a fight with some vigilante that all the world fears and his charming young protégée. And now, you want me to fork over the evidence I collected so the World's Greatest Detective can solve this mystery?" Hawkgirl pulled herself up to her full height and armed herself with the mace. "Come and get your evidence."
Again, no emotion from Batman—wait, there was a faint smile on his lips…or a smirk. "I wouldn't presume to do so…Hawkgirl. You plan on staying here in Gotham for a while?"
"Until this case is solved, yes, I plan on staying here."
Batman looked back towards downtown Gotham. "The police station is in that direction. Tomorrow evening you'll see a giant light coming from it. The Bat-signal. Head towards it."
Hawkgirl crossed her arms. "I'm use to working in the daytime."
"Oh, I'm sure you are in Midway. But Gotham…Gotham's crime lives in the dark. And so do I."