The Universe's Mixer

Having retrieved a police scanner from the Clock Tower, Dinah spent the next day wiring it to her bike and adding various improvements. The motorcycle was nowhere near as great as the motorcycle she'd built by hand at home. Dinah thought longingly of that particular bike, which had taken years to finish, piece by piece, with her own hands. But all the same, this bike would do the trick and a new project to tinker with was a relief. It was also a nice distraction from putting together all the pieces of the City.

A Batman who didn't quite seem like the Batman from her specific time, people being pulled in from all realities and time periods and yet, not a single one of her teammates from any of her teams, a wizard and a green-skinned empathic demon, and a boy who could turn into a dragon and was really a spirit, changing streets... Her mind was almost constantly spinning as she tried to put together the puzzle that seemed to have ever changing pieces, but when her hands were busy with greasy motorcycle parts, everything else just faded away for the time.

After Dinah finished for the day, she washed up and then decided it was time to test drive her newly improved bike. She changed into her Black Canary outfit, just in case she was needed, and flipped on the police scanner before peeling out of the driveway.

The sun had set about an hour previously and the streets were bathed in the glow of manufactured city lighting. Dinah took a few spins around the City and wondered if she needed to leave a bread crumb trail to ensure she would find the Sherwood Florist again. Then again, since the streets liked to change-a bread crumb trail would most likely be fruitless anyway.

A scream ripped through the air, barely audible over the sound of her bike. Dinah maneuvered her way to the side of the street and parked, listening. The scream came again.

She pressed a button to activate the bike's security system, pocketed the key, and then took off in the direction of the scream.

She followed the sound down an alley and stopped, surveying the situation. Three men crowded around one girl who looked to be about 19 or 20. She was cornered against a wall, a terrified expression on her face.

"Hey," Dinah shouted. "When a lady says no, that means that you back off."

The three turned, and a grin worked its way onto Dinah's face. This she could handle. This was what she did.

The smile froze as she caught sight of distorted features, yellow eyes, and feral grins to reveal mouths full of teeth that couldn't be human.

All the same, Dinah didn't hesitate and threw herself into the fight.

"Get out of here," she instructed the girl as she flipped the first of the attackers who came at her. She whirled and kicked the second in the solar plexus.

After she was sure that the girl was gone and they were alone in the alley, Dinah let loose a canary cry that would have knocked out any normal human attacker.

The three men were knocked backwards, but the cry only stunned them momentarily. Dinah blinked as all three got back to their feet and descended again.

"Damnit," she muttered.

Dinah fell into a pattern, defending herself against attacks and doling out attacks of her own. Nothing seemed to do more than phase the men, for lack of a better word, for a few minutes. She couldn't keep this up all night she knew. Her limbs were starting to grow tired and her reflexes slowed as she faced the possibility that this was one fight she didn't know how to win.

One misplaced punch and one of the thugs grabbed her and something sharp pierced through her neck. Unbidden, a scream escaped from Dinah's lips as sharp pain coursed through her.

Once he'd woken up, and left a message on Dinah's shop's answering machine about finding his place, Harry had found only one thing out of place in his apartment. It was a small, black device that looked like a cell phone. As a matter of course, Harry didn't touch it. Not until he started wondering who had left it. Everyone close to him knew that cell phones wouldn't work around him. Even standing near him was enough to scramble the reception of even the best cellular service. The devices themselves generally shorted out within half an hour - less if there was any magic going around. Hell's bells, Murphy and Thomas made it a point to leave their phones at home if they knew they would be working with Harry.

No one else could have left it here. Not with the wards in place. His curiosity reached the point that he picked it up and flipped the cover open.

There was enough time to see the screen flash HARRY DRESDEN - WIZARD before the device let out a squeal of noise and winked off.

Harry sighed. "Typical."

Well, at least it gave him something to do. Look for some way to fix the thing and see if there was something important on it. Harry glanced at his dog. "Want to go exploring?"

Mouse went to the door, picked up his leather lead in his teeth, and looked back at Harry, tail wagging. Harry got into his duster, grabbed his staff, and clipped the leash to Mouse's collar. It was mostly unnecessary, since Mouse wasn't going to be running away from him, but Chicago leash laws aside, Mouse seemed to think people were more likely to approach such a large dog if he seemed to be 'properly restrained'.

It was worth noting that Mouse had better people skills than Harry did.

Harry lowered the wards, and exited the house. The wards automatically raised again once he was past the threshold. "Repair shop," he muttered to himself. Mouse looked up at him, head tilted slightly, then looked out at the street. Harry followed his gaze, and saw a battered, multicolored Volkswagon Bug. His car. Dubbed The Blue Beetle. Harry gave the car a wistful look, then shook his head. If this City could bring back his apartment, his duster, his staff, his dog, it certainly could bring back his car. The question Harry was wondering was, what would be the cost of all this?

"Not this time," Harry said. "We'll just walk it." He didn't feel the urge to drive just yet, not when this blasted City kept changing. And not when he didn't have Mike around to keep the Beetle running. "But look for a repair shop."

The dog huffed and started walking. Harry followed along, paying attention to how the streets changed. He had no luck in working out any kind of pattern, but at least Mouse was doing his job. The dog stopped outside a place that seemed reasonable. Harry looked up, shrugged, and went inside.