Once Upon National City

A/N: Thanks to all of you for your patience. Here's the last of the previously voted drabbles as by you guys and gals. I've always been a fan of ninjas and samurai, so this one in particular was a lot of fun to write. I was trying a thing here, something I don't usually do, so this drabble may not be up to par. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: The characters and the worlds I write in do not belong to me. The stories that I write are intended for entertainment purposes. I do not make any money from them.


Summary: Three brought together by tragedy. Three seeking justice. Three who found each other. AU. Alex, Kara & Maggie. Family/Friendship.


*** ~ Chance Upon the Midnight Sky – Part I ~ ***

Kara was dead. She was so dead!

When Alex found her, that is.

If her sister wasn't dead already.

Though, given it was Kara, in all likelihood, the blonde was without a doubt still alive and well. She was just missing. From home. Where she should have been at this late hour of the night, sleeping in her bed. But no, rather than behave like the Daimyo's daughter that she was, Kara was out wandering the streets.

A sigh.

Not that Alex really blamed her. Not really.

Stooping down at the edge of the rooftop, dressed head to toe in the black of her clan's colours, Alex peered up at the night sky, at the full moon overhead.

As mad as Alex wanted to be with her sister, she wasn't. Not on this night, the twenty fourth anniversary of the end of the Phantom War. It was during this war which Kara lost her country, her home, and her blood family. Alex could hardly believe twenty four years had passed since that horrible tragedy, yet here she was reminiscing about that very thing.

Standing up from her perch, Alex's gaze drifted to the west, to where she knew National City's local graveyard lay.

Ten years after being adopted into the Danvers family, National City's cemetery was where Kara always went on this day to mourn. With the ruined remains of Krypton being on the other side of the world, Jeremiah and Eliza placed a gravestone in the city's burial grounds to honor the fallen Zor-El bloodline, a small solace to the last remaining survivor of a country ravished by war. Unlike previous years however, this year none of them were able to make it to the graveyard today to pay their respects due to obligations of the upper court which took up the entire day. That was why Kara had snuck out of the house now no doubt, the youngest Danvers vowing to honor her family no matter what.

Had this been any other year, such a thing wouldn't have been a problem. But with the recent rise of the CADMUS clan, an extreme faction who openly opposed the elected Empress Marsden, the first woman ever to be elected as Empress in all of the country's history, evening strolls like this was essentially suicide. As one of the most prominent supporters of this new leadership alongside the Shogunate, the Danvers family was also one of the biggest targets of the CADMUS clan. And while the CADMUS clan would never, ever assassinate any member of their family in broad daylight, such was not the same during the nighttime.

Deeming the coast clear, at least for now from any patrolling samurai or otherwise, Alex silent leaped to the next rooftop over, making her way to the local graveyard, hoping she was not already too late.


She was going to bring them to justice. Maggie swore it.

The moment she escaped this madness, that is.

If she didn't kill them all in self-defense by the end of it, of course. Anything otherwise would be dishonorable.

Grunting, Maggie parried away the blade slashing at her face, quickly dashing passed her opponent, the grey clad assassin stumbling off to the side when Maggie punted him in the stomach with the pommel of her blade. As quickly as that one fell to the wayside, another assassin took his place opposite her.

Moving to National City three years ago was supposed to be a fresh start for Maggie. Born Margaret Ellen Sawyer, to lower class yet loving parents, Maggie's childhood was relatively normal for one of her caste. While at times food was scarce, she had a roof over her head and she grew up happy. Then days after her fourteenth birthday, her parents were brutally murdered in front of her eyes, the three of them caught in the crossfire between rivaling ninja clans on a walk back from the market. Nothing was ever the same again after that.

Fast forward thirteen years and living at her distant aunt's house well beyond the coming of age, against all traditions, Margaret – now only answering to Maggie – moved to National City as a hand for hire. Within a year, she caught the eye of a soon to be retired samurai of the Shogunate, the samurai soon after taking her under his wing as his student and successor. Such things were unheard of previously, but with the newly elected Empress, change was swift, and now all trades and professions were open to everyone, men and women alike. In spite of the initial opposition she received from the more traditionally minded, Maggie's skill with a blade could not be disputed. As such, she quickly moved up the ranks to become a fully fledged samurai, today being her first solo patrol as one of National City's newest defenders. Yet what should have been an easy walk through the city, quickly turned into madness.

Multiple sneers and leers.

Nearing the end of her patrol, a blur of colour caught Maggie's attention making her pause. Despite only catching a glimpse of the person before they rounded the corner into the darkened alleyway ahead, Maggie just made out a hint of an expensive, dark blue kimono with gold embroidery covered up by an equally expensive red, hooded cloak. While it wasn't unusual to see nobles from the Upper Court wandering the streets of National City's Middle District, what was usual was the hour such a noble was darting through the streets, alone no less.

About to brush off that train of thought and finish her rounds so she could head home (because really, what nobles did at night were really none of her business), Maggie's hand immediately reached for her katana the moment she spotted multiple blurs of dark grey zipping across the rooftops overhead, chasing behind the person in red and blue. Knowing no good would come of what was about to happen, Maggie gave chase behind them all, dashing into the darkened alleyway with utmost haste.

And now she was here. Standing protectively in front of the noble woman in blue and red.

Maggie glared at her opponents, her blade held up in front of her.

"In the name of the Empress, you are to cease these actions at once!"

Her response was met throaty laughter from all the assassins in dark grey, half of dozen of them (in view at least, there was bound to be others still in the shadows), which was not unexpected. Having gotten a better look at them up close, Maggie quickly identified them to be from the CADMUS ninja clan. Dark, grey garb with the insignia of a Kesho adorning their backs, the CADMUS clan was supposed to be a myth, monsters in stories told to children to scare them when they behaved badly. It wasn't until the election of the country's first Empress a year ago did they suddenly emerge, their appearance like the undead suddenly springing to life.

Self proclaiming purists of the true world, the CADMUS clan went after every supporter of the Empress, claiming the change she brought had no place in this country. Traditions were what this country was built on, and traditions were what was going to keep it from falling into ruin. Targeting everyone from the lowly folk of the poorer districts all the way up to the highest ranking officers in the Shogunate itself, CADMUS was ruthless in its extermination of any who did not hold their view, no matter the price. And Maggie hated them for it.

Monsters. All of them.

The same kind which laughed as her parents bled out in front of her when she was fourteen, when they happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time all those years ago.

Never again.

Glancing back at her charge for a moment, Maggie's attention was drawn forwards again at the minute shift of feet from the antagonists in front of her. All of them were armed with the typical implements: swords, daggers, bows and arrows. One even had their weapon wrapped in cloth and still sheathed on their back, but Maggie assumed it to be another sword of some sort. At a flash of light out of the corner of her eye, Maggie's blade swung upwards, splitting an arrow flying towards her face straight down the middle. The moment the cleaved shaft of the dart clattered to the ground noisily, all of the previous laughter stopped, a soft gasp sounding behind her.

"This is your answer?" Maggie questioned, noting how serious the CADMUS ninjas had gone now that they realized she wasn't all talk and bravado. Taking in the tighter grips on their weapons and lowering stances, she gritted her teeth doing the same.

"So be it."


She was in trouble. She was in so much trouble.

The moment Alex caught up to her, that is.

What started off as a quick and unaccompanied trip to the local graveyard quickly turned into something else. And not the nice kind.

Fists clenched at her sides, Kara watched helplessly as the woman samurai who came to her aid fought off all of her assassins all at once, all the while keeping her safe. While not a damsel in distress in any way, Kara versed in almost a dozen teachings of martial arts all throughout her childhood alongside her sister, Kara remained where she was, playing the helpless noble in need of saving.

Their enemies could never know. If they knew what she was truly capable of, more and highly skilled assassins would be sent after her, which meant innocent people would die when they got caught in the crossfire. That was why she acted like the weak, dress up doll in times like these. And it was for this same reason Alex donned their clan's colours at night. No one could ever know their secret, or there would be all out war and innocent civilians would pay the price in blood.

At the sound of a yelp, Kara shook herself out of her thoughts only for her eyes to widen in horror. The woman samurai was now collapsed down on one knee looking more than winded, three assassins charging at her prone form. Gritting her teeth, not willing to stand by and watch as someone was killed because of her recklessness, Kara flung off her cloak, at the same time lowering her stance ready to strike.

A flash of metal and a blur of black.

The three charging assassins slumped to the ground dead before they even reached halfway to their target, throwing knives sticking out the backs of their necks hilt deep.

Alex!

At the familiar feeling at her side, Kara turned her head towards the latecomer.

"Al-"

"Are you alright?" the black ninja quipped, her sister's brown eyes hard as they stared ahead at the momentarily stunned remaining assassins and woman samurai alike.

Kara nodded, the tension running through her frame quickly dissipating as she breathed in relief. With Alex here, things were about to get a lot better. Alex always made things better, no matter the circumstance.

Practically glowing in the moonlight, the silver eagle crest – the DEO's clan insignia – shone on Alex's back as she surveyed the scene ahead. Seemingly finding what she was looking for, or at least having finished sizing up her opponents, Alex reached into one of her hidden pouches and withdrew star shaped throwing implements and spread them in her hand like a hand of cards.

"Alex," Kara said, only loud enough for the two of them to hear. "I'm-"

"Later, Kara," her sister interrupted her, making Kara's heart sink. "I've already taken care of the ones in the shadows, but there could be more."

Her gaze moving downwards, Kara twisted her fingers in front of her, ashamed.

"I'm sorry," she said, softly.

A hand on her back.

"I know," Alex murmured quietly.

And then the ninja was off, her sister throwing herself without abandon into the fray, leaving a worried Kara behind to watch.

END OF PART I


A/N: And there you have it, my first ninja/samurai drabble! Part I at least. XD

This drabble was originally titled "Ninja of the Night", but as it expanded into something beyond my original idea, I deemed it best to change the title to something more fitting.

This drabble takes place in feudal National City (aka the equivalent to feudal Japan), where daimyo, samurai and ninjas exist. As I had to tweak history to fit with the Supergirl lore, amongst other things (such as women being allowed to become samurai), there's probably some historical errors to be found in this piece. Kindly ignore those. :P

National City is divided into three districts, that being the Poor, Middle, and Upper districts. Based on the names, I'm sure you all can guess how the social classes/castes/etc have been divided.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Japanese terms, I have explained them below.

Daimyo were feudal lords in Japan between the 10th and 19th centuries. To learn more about them, check out this link (replace commas with periods): en,wikipedia,org/wiki/Daimy%C5%8D

Shogun/Shogunate was the military ruler/head of Japan during the period of 1185 to 1868. To learn more about them, check out this link (replace commas with periods): en,wikipedia,org/wiki/Shogunate

Emperor/Empress (of Japan) is the head of the imperial family. For the purposes of this drabble, the Shogunate answers directly to the Emperor/Empress. To learn more about them, check out this link (replace commas with periods): en,wikipedia,org/wiki/Emperor_of_Japan

Samurai is a class of warriors who usually served as protection for the upper class. For this drabble, samurai answer to the Shogunate, whose duty is to protect the city and country. Think of them like the police or local law enforcement. To learn more about them, check out this link (replace commas with periods): en,wikipedia,org/wiki/Samurai

Ninjas, otherwise known as a Shinobis, are covert agents (aka spies) in feudal era of Japan. Most people refer to ninjas as assassins, thinking them to be synonymous, but they're really not. To learn more about them, check out this link (replace commas with periods): en,wikipedia,org/wiki/Ninja

A Katana is a traditionally made Japanese sword often used by the samurai of feudal Japan. To learn more about them, check out this link (replace commas with periods): en,wikipedia,org/wiki/Katana

Kesho is makeup Kabukis (theatre performers) use when performing. While it's not quite the same as a theatre mask used in the traditional sense, given that CADMUS, whenever they did those video announcements/threats in the show used a hollow eyed, talking white head, this was the closest thing I could think of which could match it from ancient Japan standards. To learn more about the Kabuki and Kesho, check out this link (replace commas with periods): en,wikipedia,org/wiki/Kabuki

In this piece, Krypton is a country and not a planet. 24 years has passed since Krypton's destruction (the same amount of time Kara spent in the Phantom Zone in the show). In the lore, as Krypton's destruction was not caused by some horrible war, I named the war which destroyed Kara's home country after the Phantom Zone. For the purposes of this drabble, Kara was roughly 3 years old when Krypton was destroyed by war.

In this drabble, Maggie is 30 years old. I derived this number from the time she first appeared in the Superman comics (Volume 2, #4 to be precise), which was in April 1987. Alex is 28 years old and Kara is 27 years old (minus the years trapped in the Phantom Zone), just like in the show.