We're going to be really lonely for a hundred thousand years until some men show up. 
- — Cheshire
Birds of Prey #6 is an issue of the series Birds of Prey (Volume 1) with a cover date of June, 1999.
Synopsis for "Time's Rainbow"
The unknown persons spying on Oracle--Batman with assistance from Alfred Pennyworth--decide among themselves that the time has come to end their surveillance. Batman tells Alfred that he only wanted to make sure Barbara was "stable" in her role as Oracle, and since she is he can pull the plug. As soon as he does, Oracle's voice is heard in the Batcave chastising "Big Brother" Batman for setting up the cameras, which she knew about the entire time. Finished yelling at the Batman, she turns back to her computer to talk to Black Canary diving at Lake Mackachitahoo, Minnesota and watching a Kobra Submarine make it's way to the Soviet Satellite she just recently discovered.
Stuck in the past, the Ravens--Cheshire, Pistolera, and Vicious--begin to bicker among themselves. Cheshire decides to dive back to where the satellite was in the hope that it has a "time exempt" space around it and they can somehow be sent back to their real time where Cheshire intends to make Kobra Prime pay.
In his Submarine, Kobra Prime explains that the satellite they're looking for is "Solaris II," shot into space by the Soviet's two decades ago and forgotten about, but controlled by Kobra, who brought it "home" when they learned it had trapped a large number of neutrinos. A botched reentry placed it in Minnesota, but Kobra Prime intends to take it to take control of the world "from the distant past".
Black Canary aims a video transmitter at the Kobra soldiers as they work towards floating the satellite and begins looking up the craft online when a sudden harpoon pierces a diver. The Ravens, successfully transported back to the present, engage Kobra while Black Canary hides and Oracle looks up their insignia and puts Black Canary on hold to tend to a sound at her window.
Major Van Lewton leads his team crashing through a window to find their "phantom hacker", finding Roland Desmond who proceeds to decimate the soldiers. Taking one of their headsets, he relays a message to their commanders that since they have seem to have no warrants, and he doesn't know why they would wish to break in on him, he will let it go as a mistake if they do.
In Gotham, Oracle finds and releases a bird before returning to the computer. Black Canary has begun fighting the other ladies, while Oracle relays Cheshire's name and bad history. After the Ravens take off, Oracle tells her to stay with the satellite, and Black Canary notes seeing the Monster as "the Calvary".
The Monster rushes the submarine, tearing a hole in the side. Kobra Prime flees in an escape pod while Black Canary cheers the monster. On the shore, Kobra soldiers are arrested and a S.T.A.R. Labs crew arrives to take the Satellite. Since the monster survives the attack on the submarine, Gary and his uncle make a billboard to draw tourists.
The Ravens and a number of Kobra soldiers, however, are sent back into the past again. The time is unspecified, but a group of "natives" row at them from out of the fog.
Prologue
A woman named Syb working for Humanity International enters her office to find a man in a coat, hat, and mask standing there. He asks her is her organization "frees prisoners", then tells her that he has a prisoner he wants freed not through the groups usual tactics, but by having her relay information to someone who is to call her soon.
Appearing in "Time's Rainbow"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Gary
- Batman
- Alfred Pennyworth
- James Gordon (In a photograph only)
- Roland Desmond
Locations:
- Gotham City
- Lake Mackachitahoo, Minnesota
Items:
- Solaris II
Vehicles:
- Kobra Submarine
Notes
- The tagline for this issue is "Exposing the Lair of"
Trivia
- Oracle's bean bag Batgirl doll is featured on the cover.
- Oracle calling Batman "Big Brother" is a reference to Nineteen Eighty-Four
See Also