THE MARK OF CAIN
Chapter 1 (of 10): Legacy, Part I
Ten years ago, Gotham City was destroyed.
A massive earthquake struck the city and brought down nearly every building. Those who survived and chose not to leave had to continue without access to basic amenities in what was called No Man's Land. Cast off from the United States, the city almost instantly became a battleground. Those who were strong, brave, or simply lucky enough to survive No Man's Land came out of Gotham stronger and braver. Those who were weak or unlucky came out in body bags, if they came out at all.
Cassandra Cain was only 17 years old. She had no family, or at least nobody she cared for. Her fight was initially for survival alone. Unable to read, write, or speak, she wandered the streets of the broken city, searching for food and shelter. Her only languages were survival and combat, and she instinctively knew that it was far too dangerous to settle down in one place in the middle of a war zone. Walls that were safe for the moment could be destroyed and covered in blood by the next day. That all changed when she met Barbara Gordon.
Barbara was Cassandra's complete opposite. Though once a strong fighter, she was confined to a wheelchair, denied the use of her legs after taking a bullet to the spine from the Joker. She continued to live in Gotham after the earthquake, surviving with nothing but her brains and sheer willpower. They met by chance, Cassandra stumbling upon Barbara's home when looking for a place to hide the food she had obtained from the wreckage left after a battle. The former Batgirl discovered her hiding and brought her in, and the two quickly became friends (from Barbara's point of view) or allies (from Cassandra's.) Whatever their relationship was called, it was a special one.
Five years ago, Batman died.
Cassandra knew that Bruce might choose to sacrifice himself in such a monumental crisis, but that knowledge did not dull the pain. Bruce was one of the few people she trusted unconditionally, and by a cruel twist of fate, he was gone. For only the second time in her life, she grieved for a lost mentor, a lost ally, a lost friend. But even then, at her most vulnerable, she did not give up. She could never give up, not when the world needed heroes more than ever. There was work to be done, and she intended to do as much as she could.
She called for help, asking everyone she knew in an ultimately fruitless attempt to keep the city under control in Batman's absence. Although many of them distrusted her and refused to help, the few that did helped slow down, but not stop, the chaos that was overtaking Gotham. After a month-long struggle for control, encompassing the entirety of Gotham and beyond, things were back to normal, or as close to normal as it ever was. Gotham City had changed with the times as much as any other city. This would prove to be just another change. Though Bruce was gone and Tim had already left, Cassandra knew Gotham would be safe with Dick and Damian.
She told Barbara of the mission she had been left, knowing it was potentially the hardest mission of her life. Although the two disagreed on whether to implement Bruce's emergency plans, they both understood that there was little need for Cassandra to stay in Gotham. She left the city and the Batgirl suit behind, not looking back as she moved on, knowing that her adopted home was in safe hands.
Today, Cassandra is happy.
She has settled into life in Hong Kong, where she is a martial arts teacher by day and the Black Bat by night. She is one of the most feared vigilantes in the world, most people considering her almost as dangerous as Batman himself. She prides herself in her work, having stopped countless gang wars, smuggling operations, and general villainy over the entirety of Asia. Her most common opponent, unsurprisingly, is the League of Assassins, the very organization she was once a part of for a brief time. Assassin activity has risen dramatically as the political climate grows worse, creating a struggle for power and an opportunity for Ra's al Ghul to take advantage and seize control.
Cassandra and Ra's have met only once since she started her one-woman war, when the League hired the infamous Ghost Fox Killer to kill Cassandra. Their encounter ended with Ra's requiring another visit to a Lazarus Pit, after which he has settled for indirect attempts on Cassandra's life. He has sent over a hundred of his best assassins to do what he himself couldn't; every single one of them either came back defeated or never came back at all. One problem Cassandra can't fix, however, is the high number of civilian casualties caused by the ongoing war, with everyone looking to gain an advantage from the fighting.
She visits Gotham every few months to check in with the rest of the Batfamily, though she spends most of her time with Barbara, her first friend and most trusted ally. Barbara has been out of her wheelchair for three years now, wearing Batgirl's cape and cowl once more, though, at the age of 34, she's considering changing her name to Batwoman sometime soon. Neither Barbara nor Cassandra will ever forget the past, however, even as time goes by. Their friendship has gone through many phases, from teacher and student to fighting side by side. Regardless of the situation, they remember the beginning, and how a true friendship is formed.
Thanks for reading. This story is part of a much larger universe that I will be writing over the next year or so called "Blonde Justice." It will feature many of the forgotten characters in the DC Universe, and bringing many parts of the expansive multiverse into play. There will be ten chapters to this story, each focusing on Cassandra's relationship with other characters:
Next up: Cassandra and Stephanie Brown! Don't forget to favorite, follow, and review if you liked it!