Birds of Prey Vol 3 #13

The Birds of Prey are recovering from Poison Ivy's deadly toxins, and must remain in isolation. Katana volunteers to make a food-run, but she fails to return for hours, having come under attack by a gang of ninja, who overwhelm her and steal her sword. Finally, Tatsu returns to their hideout, broken. She explains that the sword - the sword which contained the living soul of her dead husband - has been stolen by her enemies, the Dagger Clan. Though the others try to dissuade her, in their weekend condition, from pursuing the thieves, she will not be deterred.

In Japan, Condor spies on the Dagger Clan's operations, as they collect a shipment. He is unconcerned about what the cargo is, so long as he will have the opportunity to sabotage their plans. Unafraid to let his quarry fall to their deaths, he uses his flight suit to disorient them and knock them from the roofs of buildings, all to steal away their cargo. When he sees what it is, however, he is underwhelmed.

Elsewhere, Tatsu arrives in Japan to parlay with the Dagger Clan, thinking that if they wanted her dead, they would have killed her in Gotham City. Presumably, they stole the sword because they wish to negotiate. Her liaison responds that she is incorrect in that assumption. She is drugged, blindfolded, and tasered.

Two hours later, Tatsu wakes, tied by her wrists to the ceiling of a great warehouse. The Dagger Clan's leader explains that the sword was stolen because they knew she would follow it. They had merely wanted to save themselves the trouble of transporting her across international borders against her will. They want to punish her for dishonouring the clan, by carving into her body until she is near death, and then, the last sight she sees will be her sword being melted down. Meanwhile, in less than fourteen hours, a deadly bomb will poison her homeland for generations.

Suddenly, an explosion sends the Dagger Clan reeling, as the Birds of Prey crash in on the gathering, ready to rescue their companion. They had secretly placed a tracking device on Tatsu's clothing despite their poor physical condition, knowing that eventually, they would have to come to her aid. Black Canary cuts her free, and unleashes a sonic scream that incapacitates a most of the Dagger Clan - except for all of those who fall, several more come back in their place. The team is outnumbered by nearly one hundred to one, and Black Canary suggests that they pull back - partly for their own safety, and partly because she felt a strange, familiar sensation when she made her cry that unsettled her. Tatsu refuses to leave without her sword, so Starling decides that they should capture one man for questioning before making an escape.

Despite Tatsu's insistence that a member of the Dagger Clan will never talk, Starling is just as insistent that her techniques will work. Away from the eyes of her teammates, she tells her prey of how she will remove his eye from his socket, carefully leaving the optic nerve intact, so that she can turn it around so he can look at his own face. Rather than be subjected to that torture, the victim screams that the Condor took it. Pleased, Starling asks to know more about this Condor.

Starling steps outside, and explains that a man in a bird-suit has the sword, and insists that there was so much detail given that the prisoner couldn't have been lying. Despite that belief, the man grins to himself, knowing he has duped them.

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