Headline: Brave Broad, Black Canary, Baffles Bad Guys

[looker]

VictoriaVale: "I'm here live at the Gotham Benefit Concert for the Hungry Hounds Organization. This concert provides animal shelters in Gotham with resources for the finest canines Gotham has ever seen! Ninety percent of ticket sales go to fund this furry organization and it's worth every ticket! Bands like: Paramore, Blink 182, Beck, and many many more will be playing throughout the weekend! All furry friends are welcome!" "Commercial break!" "Finally. I've been on the damn air for 13 minutes. It's way too quiet of a news weekend in Gotham." Vicki walked and talked--mostly to herself. Her crew had ran off to join the crowds near the stage. She leaned against her personal concession table and furiously began peeling a banana. No Batman this weekend so far. Where was the suspense and glory Gotham needed on air? "Hey there." A small scruffy-looking terrier made its way to her chair. He sat while Vicki stared at his wagging tail. "Are you hungry?" Vicki reached into one of her advertising bags and pulled out a wrapped dog treat labeled with her show's name. It took her a while to unwrap it. By the time she opened the treat the dog was gone. "Yeah. I wouldn't want to stick around me either."

[Black Canary]

After having her Saturday morning classes, the blonde sensei turned on the tv in her office and let the news drone on, in the background while she wiped down the mats. She had only been in Gotham for a couple of months, but already she could make out the false cheer of the reporter who got 'stuck' covering the benefit concert for the animal shelter. She continued to clean up her dojo while listening to the music which would be teleivised all day. After awhile she heard the community spots, which featured different animals from the shelter, and one caught her ear. "Rufus?!" she echoed as she hurried into her office to see the oversized rottweiler. He was a dog she had rescued from a dog fighting ring, it was also the one time she had gotten a chance to fight back to back with the caped crusader himself. The building had gotten torched by one of the thugs to help cover their tracks, but Rufus had been the victim of a beefed up doberman and had a torn up leg and wasn't able to make it out on his own. The dog was nearly as big as the blonde, but she had dragged the frightened and angry animal out of the buring building, before she had to make herself scarace. She found him the following week looking for scraps in garbage cans, too angry from the years of abuse he had gotten from the lowlifes who wanted him a psychotic half wild beast, to angry for anyone to catch him. It had taken her another couple of weeks of feeding Rufus at night while doing her nightly patrols to get him to trust her enough to pet him while he ate. and another week before she could check that bad leg of his. He was a good dog, he just needed to be shown that. Dinah had tried to keep him at her apartment above the dojo, but he was just too big, he needed an actual yard. It broke the tough fighter's heart when she had to leave him at the shelter, hearing him whimper as she left. She knew far too well from her own experience that second chances didn't come everyday. And Rufus needed that chance. And here he was, being shown as the good dog, she knew he was. Even though he dwarfed any normal rottweiler. she smiled and thought about the festival. What the hell, she might as well go and check it out. Between the case of finding missing meta-humans last month and trying to keep her neighborhood free from toughs offering protection rackets, she rarely got to do anything fun. A couple hours later a blonde with a blue jean duffle backpack and matching cut off shorts was mingling in the crowd of the concert. Trying hard to not look for pickpockets. Dinah made her way to the media area set up off to one side, she let herself into the back, deftly slipping past security to check out the row of kennels, of the dogs which had made it there that day. The blonde came across a scruffy terrier, but didn't see Rufus, she must have missed him.

[looker]

"And we're live in three, two..." "Good morning, Gothamites! This is Victoria Vale reporting live at the Hungry Hound Benefit Concert! As you can see from the crowds we have we're all wagging our tails to see who's next on the band line-up!" Vicki wrinkled her nose after smelling something pungent. What reeked of alley waste? "Oh look! And here's one of our biggest fans." A nearly horse-sized mangy-looking Rottweiler made his way into the shot. "Hey there, buddy. Are you having a good time?" Her hand picked out the previously opened treat for the corroding canine. The dog barked merrily in response despite his matted fur. "Well, there you have it folks. Come on down and meet me at the VIP room! We're providing food and drink for furry friends too!" As soon as the broadcast went off air she noticed the dog run away. Vicki wasn't exactly a pet person, but dogs always got the best of her. Cats were just...thieving animals. Dogs reminded her of Bruce. They were the kind of animals that never gave up a fight; they stayed loyal through thick and thin. "Alright everyone. One more interview and we're off the air till five. I'll text you when I find what I'm looking for." Anything to break away from backstage. Being in the limelight of a camera for all the wrong reasons never rubbed Vicki the right way.

[Black Canary]

As Dinah walked further backstage, she could hear the reporter voice echo through the makeshift studio. And then she heard it 'biggest fans'... could it be...? she made her way to the offstage to the left of the camera. Sure enough a very excited and eager oversized Rottweiler was greeting the hostess. He was plowing through the treat Vicky had given him as if it was a marshmallow. The blonde couldn't help but pause and smile watching the oversized puppy ate. Rufus suddenly looked up cocking his head as he sniffed, he gave an excited bark and charged off the stage, unfortunately right through Vicky, bowling her over. Rufus bounded over and jumped up on Dinah. Knowing the Rottweiler so well, she had braced herself and caught him, so she wasn't knocked over too. She couldn't help but laugh as he licked her face. "Hehehe, hey buddy, it's been awhile hasn't it? Still haven't found a home yet? Maybe one will notice you on the show." Rufus started to sniff at the pockets of her jean shorts. "Hey watch it! Hehe. I don't have any treats for you!" she gently shoved him off her and held up her hand. The dog eagerly sat down for her. Dinah roughly rubbed his muzzle then scratched behind his ears. Her voice came out warm and low as she talked in that silly exaggerated manner people do with dogs. "Youuu're a gooodd boooyy aren'tcha?" she smiled.

Little did Dinah know, but she wasn't the only one who noticed Rufus on TV. Watching on a live feed on a projected big screen on the festival's main stage were a couple of toughs who stood out the revelers at the festival, mostly because they were head and shoulders above most people there and were dressed not for a hot day out side, but more to fit in with the greasy dives they seemed to frequent.
"That's definitely the dog Earl. No doubts. He should have sizzled up in that fire like a sausage."
His buddy hissed at him to quiet down. "Shaddup. What are ya doin' Mac? Tryin' to broadcast why we're here? We don't need anyone tyin' us to anything. Let's just adopt him so we can get out of here." They made their way towards Vicky's stage, knocking their way through people as if they ran the show.

[looker]

"No no no no--" Vicki rolled back into her own display case. It was surely a sight for the camera. The red-head pressed her thighs together attempting to keep her composure and pencil skirt in line. "Well folks, this is Victoria Vale..." Her name sounded more like a threat than a goodbye, "I'm signing off for now. Goodnight Gotham!" The camera man snickered after taking the shot offline. The canine must have been tracking something. He had raced into the crowd which was now being parted by two suspicious characters. "Take a shot of that." "What?" "Take. A. Shot." "But we're offline Ms. Vale--" "I don't care. I want this recorded!" The camera man staggered around with his camera. Useless. All of these men were useless. "Give me that!" She took the camera right out of his hands as though he had stolen it right out of her pocket. Vicki filmed the audience looking for the suspicious figures with a 2x framed lens. She was able to track their path through the murmurs of the crowd. "What do we have here?" Her hopes had gently crept silently into her thoughts. Maybe Bruce would return. One of the bats. Anything to have them on camera. Anything to have him close to her again. "Ms. Vale, you're going to fall off the stage!"

[Black Canary]

Dinah looked up as she heard the tv hostess started to speak, noticing her getting up. Hearing that icy tone in her voice, feeling sheepish for inadvertently getting such a big dog who was still a puppy at heart all excited, and interrupting her show. As the surly reporter ended her show Rufus gave a low growl and was off again! "Wait..." The blonde reached for the dog, but he was already diving off the platform which made the stage. As her eyes traced the dog who had taken off like a missile, she noticed his target... two men who stood out among the people having fun. Crap... they looked like some of the low-lifes she had seen during that dogfight raid... If Rufus got ahold of them... or if they reacted... it could get bad. The blonde quickly slid deeper into the shadows off stage from Vicki. Last thing she needed was getting attention from her... Fortunately the hostess was more excited about what she saw going on with Rufus. Dinah whipped off her denim bag and did a quick change as she raced to get behind the portable soundstage. Jean shorts were replaced with fishnets and black bottoms, tangerine tank top was gone with a black bustier in it’s place. Cross-trainers for heeled boots. To top off the look a black domino mask.


Behind the portable studio Black Canary was running across a retaining wall making her way to the Main Stage, soon she could be seen by Vicki and her crew as she leapt to the audio booth. The black bedecked heroine was seen speaking with the sound tech, before she jumped up onto the back wall of the booth facing the crowd. The music suddenly cut out, surprising the confused performers, as her voice came across the speakers. “Rufus! Here boy! Come to Black Canary!”

Confusion milled in the crowd as their show was interrupted. But there were gasps in the crowd as a big dog turned abruptly and started charging through them towards the blonde. Earl said something which made the elderly woman near him cover her ears. The thugs had almost gotten Rufus, who had spared them a lot of work by running to them, then that blonde… that blonde fighter who had broke up their dog fighting ring! She was here! And she was calling that dumb mutt! They almost had them! Mac pulled out his gun as they chased after the dog, eliciting many surprised shrieks as people ran to give him a path. He was going to get that dog and meddling blonde.

[looker]

Vicki didn't care if she was going to break a leg over this story. This was drama. This was action. This was news. She felt like herself again. Her heartbeat was racing faster than the mutt that ran. "Wait." Her camera focused on the crowd. Were those thugs after that dog? No way that some sort of mutt could be that important to a bunch of low-lifes. "I need you guys to get the Gotham PD on the scene. I think we're about to get the biggest scoop this week." Finally she put down the camera and ran into the madness. Vicki was getting pushed and pulled by people who were now booing within the massive pool of bodies. Her head shot to the performer's stage. The band had caught notice of some of the action in the crowd and signaled a few spotlights. "That'll just make it worse!" By now, portions of the crowd were simply blinded and pushed aside by the big boys. "Where are you, you stupid mutt! Here boy!" She pulled out another treat hoping to lure the dog to her and away from the stalkers. Anything to keep their paws off the dog. "Has anyone seen a dog around here?" "No lady! Now get out of my view!" Suddenly the crowed awed. That stupid mutt had gotten himself onto the center stage. Was he dancing? This story just got weirder and weirder. "Hey guys, looks like we let in a wild groupie!" The band laughed and played on. Little did they know what a scene this would all turn into.