It was an early afternoon in Midway City, and everything was running as normal. Traffic was long and loud, car horns practically the only thing you could hear. Pedestrians were tightly packed along the streets, like a nest of ants from up above, some carrying their coffee over their handbags. People were seated outside, talking to friends or enjoying their food or drink or maybe listening to music with their laptop out, doing some work.
*BOOM*
Three explosions, all going off simultaneously, creating just one eruption of sound, on separate rooftops. Glass shattered and fell to the ground as civilians rushed away.
All electronics in Midway City turned to static, and a familiar face and voice replaced the static. "Guess who? It's me!" Sophist exclaimed, arms spread wide, the smoke from one of his explosions rising in the background. "I know it was boring without me, but don't worry, I have something very entertaining for you all!" Emergency alerts appeared on everyone's phones, warning them Sophist had returned and telling them to evacuate immediately.
"A warning for any uninvited guests thinking of crashing our little party: I've set up 100 bombs across all of Michigan! If I see anyone help Hawkgirl in any way or if someone tries to even attempt to catch me, I'll set all of them off. So take a seat, grab some popcorn, and enjoy the show!"
Before she could see the explosions, Hawkgirl heard them and felt their gust of wind across her hair. She turned around and looked at the havoc as she launched herself in the air and flew towards the smoke.
As Hawkgirl started to reach altitude, around a mile ahead she could see 3 silhouettes appear from the clouds. 3 anthropomorphic falcons, each one with lightweight armor plating on each of their backs, a rabbit partner tightly harnessed, and a plasma rifle.
"Are you ready, boys?!" yelled one of the rabbits in a strong Irish accent. "Give her hell!"
"Aye, give her steel!" one of them replied.
The 2 pairs were tightly packed in formation before, like trained fighter jets. They split apart from each other.
"What the hell?" Hawkgirl muttered. Then the rabbits started to fire, arcs of plasma raining onto Hawkgirl. "SHIT!" she yelled before diving, the plasma bullets following her path.
The falcons moved fast, making razor-sharp turns after Hawkgirl; plasma fire stitched the sky.
"Fucking get her!" the rabbits yelled at each other.
"Go left! Go left!"
"She's getting further away!"
Hawkgirl dived between skyscrapers; the plasma bullets shattered the glass behind her before banking around the towers.
Plasma fire disappeared against her armor, and with her mace, any bullets that would have landed against her skin were blocked. One of the falcons drew close, and with a quick change in her direction, she was able to get close enough to slam it with a swing of her mace. It let out a loud screech as it was sent falling before smashing through a billboard.
Hawkgirl felt a fleeting moment of relief before she could see the falcon already flying from behind the billboard, plasma firing from its back.
"Shit, I need to reload!" screamed one of the rabbits, its falcon preparing to distance itself from Hawkgirl. She took this opportunity to chase after them. "She's catching up! Go faster!" the rabbit yelled, throwing the empty mag away.
Hawkgirl drifted just above the rabbit, and as it lifted its gun, now fully reloaded, Hawkgirl snatched it away, throwing it hundreds of feet to the ground.
"Now!" yelled the rabbit. In a quick motion, the falcon turned, its claws swiping across, drawing blood from Hawkgirl's arm. With a quick motion, she drove her mace into the Falcon's chest, its armor creaking and denting, sending him crashing into an HVAC unit on a nearby rooftop. Unconscious.
Now only two remained.
"The bastard took out Brigsby!" yelled a rabbit.
"I'll suppress fire; you flank the bitch!" the other called out.
The rain of plasma continued to chase after Hawkgirl, the other pair flying behind the buildings, out of Hawkgirl's vision.
People below, in their panic, started to crash their cars into one another, trying to escape the best they could, some even ditching their cars to get away as glass flowed down on the streets.
Plasma rained onto Hawkgirl, a stray bullet landing on her torso, a scorching burn mark that left a searing pain. She had no choice but to continue forward, her wings straining from all the plasma fire and flight, pain flaring down her spine.
From above, diving down from the cloud, the flanking falcon with its talons grabbed onto her shoulders, drawing blood. The falcon continued to push her down, grinding her against the rooftop, her torso scraping with blood. The falcon let go, the momentum sending her rolling into an HVAC unit.
Lying flat against the floor, Shayera placed her hands on the surface and pulled herself to one knee. She surrounded herself with her wings, like a shield, as plasma fire rained down on her, the other falcon circling around her in the air. With her wings still used as a shield, she rushed towards the edge of the building before jumping off, rushing downwards before taking flight again.
From each side, a falcon flew close, the plasma fire raking across both sides of her body, her exposed skin burning with small strands of smoke emitted from her new wounds.
Hawkgirl lets out a large shriek, not in fear or pain but in fury.
She still fights, leaning towards one of the falcons, grabbing him and spinning around rapidly. The harness holding the rabbit in place snaps from the force, sending him flying into a radio tower.
The falcon tries to claw her face, his talons screeching across her helmet before Hawkgirl headbutts him. The force creates a small gap between them and with a swing, she sends her mace crashing towards the falcon's skull, the falcon flying across the sky
Unconscious, with maybe slight permanent brain damage, the falcon continued to drop from the sky, leaving only one.
"How's this, you slag!" roared the last rabbit from Hawkgirl's back before leaping off and parachuting away as the other falcon pulled away.
A ring of roiling translucent blue energy radiated outward from the source with a booming thrum. Hawkgirl started to descend; she tried to fly, but no matter what she tried, she couldn't. Whatever that rabbit placed on her back, it stopped her ability to fly.
She plummets, spiraling past rooftops, then balconies and fire escapes before slamming through a fabric awning. She hits the pavement hard, a shockwave cracking the asphalt and creating a small cloud of dust.
All she can hear is ringing; her head feels like it is being constantly shaken and her body felt almost numb She tried to get back up, but when almost there, her leg collapsed. She tried again as she stumbled around, eventually leaning against the wall of the nearby building, using it as support. She held her head, the ringing and shaking slowly fading. She could feel blood trickling down from inside her helmet.
Civilians that were running away—some stopped to look on in horror, some started to film, while others began to cry.
"And she's down! What a play by the fierce little rabbit. Let's do a quick replay of that. What a maneuver! However, Hawkgirl still stands, but she's clearly disoriented. Will she be able to recover in time? Let's see, shall we?" Sophist commented, his voice echoing through the entire city.
Hawkgirl's arms trembled as her mace flew back into her hand, her breathing ragged; she looked upward towards the sky.
Not afraid but angry. "Come and fight me yourself, you masked bastard," she whispers.