The night wasn't different than any other night that Cassandra went on patrol.
The cool wind billowed her cape as she stood on the roof of Wayne Enterprises.
The night was overall still from this height, of course everything seemed that way when you gazed over the city from God's perspective. Perhaps that's why some many hadn't found salvation. Everything when you look at it from so far away… seemed so peaceful and perfect.
The lights were the thing that gave the young heroine the biggest reality check. They twinkled calmly over the horizon and all around her, like a sick dream.
She leapt off the roof and released a jumpline, swinging to the next building over.
Whoosh.
Whoosh.
Whoosh.
Stories flew by her like chapters of a book. Almost like Gotham's personal story, a fairy tale.
Pulling the jumpline taut, she swung towards the ground. Landing silently and swiftly she slipped into the shadows to continue her patrol. The streets were full of businessmen and office workers, finishing their midnight shifts at whatever dreary job they slaved at. It was like a picture seeing them hustle by, on their phones with their wives or family. As she ducked into an old alleyway that reeked of trash and decay, she heard a faint cry for help. Breaking into a run she started after it.
A sick dream.
A realistic nightmare.
A goal that she would risk her life for.
It was all the same in Cassandra's eyes. Whirling around a corner she saw a couple being surrounded by a group of thugs, laughing and threatening the man that they would violate the girl if her didn't hand over his expensive coat and shoes. The girl sobbed as the obvious leader held a gun to her neck and said that if she shouted or cried anymore he would kill her then.
Sick, sick, bastards.
Cassandra leapt into the fight, the men didn't know what they were doing and within moments their unconscious bodies lay scattered on the dirty alley floor.
Picking up a purse she turned around to hand it to the woman, but she and her boyfriend had already disappeared into the night. Of course, people were afraid of power. That's the belied that Cassandra's father had brainwashed her with. Though he meant it in a darker form, she still found it to be her life's only truth.
With a small sigh she jumped back into the night, her element. As a foreshadow of her life, Batgirl's communicator beeped and she swiftly pulled it out, awaiting orders.
"Yes?" She asked into the small device.
Barbara's voice could soon be heard over the other line,
"I need you to check out a factory on the west side of town. There's a powerful heat signature coming from within and the buildings supposed to be abandoned," She paused a moment, typing could be heard over the line; "Also with the massive Arkham breakout it could be anyone. Stay alert." The line went dead and Batgirl slid the electronic into utility belt and went off towards the west side as quickly as she could.
(---)
As she arrived outside the factory, the outside seemed silent. It was almost to the point where she thought she could hear the smallest of sounds. Her senses went haywire as she listened for footsteps.
Nothing.
She crept closer to the building, trying to find a window she could peer through and find answers. It seemed like the entire building had been abandoned for decades. Where windows once were, there were shards of broken glass. The doors looked decrepit and made of mold. She lifted herself up and looked through one of these windows into the inside. There were about twenty or so armed men in there. Most were armed to the teeth with guns, grenades, and other types of weaponry.
She frowned, who would waste so much manpower the day after breaking out of Arkham…?
Her careful gaze scanned the room slowly. Until it fell on a large arch in the shadows, resting of the side of the room. A larger man wearing a dark blue ski mask stepped towards it and touched the side. The entire arch lit up and started to glow in the center.
It was a patrol of some sort. But who would need a patrol…?
She stepped away from the window and looked up at the roof, there had to be a way inside. Something she missed. Throwing a grapple hook she tugged on it to make sure it bit into the old roof. Pulling herself up she eventually stood up on the old factory roof. Sure enough there was an old ventilation duct sticking out of roof. Most buildings made during the 20th century had large enough vents for a person to slide down because they released so much waste into the air. Lucky for Cassandra, the factory had long been out of use and the vent was empty and safe for her to slide down. Attaching her grappling hook to the side of the vent, she hung on the rope and started to lower herself into the factory. It seemed like forever before she felt a flat, solid surface under her boots. Letting go of the rope, she slid onto her knees and started to crawl through the heating system, as she moved closer to the center of the factory, the vents got darker and darker. She quickly pulled out a small flashlight to guide her way. Insect shells, rats and cob webs seemed to have made the metal pipes their home. Still, she ignored these objects and focused on her main goal. Getting inside and figuring what the man in the mask was up to. Finally she reached a small beam of light, bursting through small cracks in the vent. Moving closer she found it was a metal cover. Pulling out a small tool set, she quickly unlatched the grate like object and pulled it inside the vet without a sound. Hanging onto the sides, she slid her head out and looked around. She was directly over the arch. It was almost too perfect for words.
Pulling herself back inside the vent she let her bottom half slide out of the vent first. Once she let go, she landed on the ground without a sound. The arch was glowing brighter then it previously had been.
Not a good sign. Ever.
Cassandra looked around anxiously. No one had noticed her, yet. She looked around for the man with the mask, finally her sharpened gaze located him standing on the side, reading over a piece of paper. She started towards him in a brisk run, careful to avert the attention of anyone who could spot her. Slipping into the shadows she crept towards the man. Out of the corner of her eyes she spotted something, something familiar. Something too familiar to her. A crest was burned into the side of a wooden box. A crest she'd seen too much in her life.
The League of Assassins.
She stared at it, dumbfounded a moment. Until reality hit her.
A man came up behind her as quietly as he could, but Cassandra's enhanced senses heard him and she whirled on her heel, and dug her elbow into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. As he fell to the ground, she kicked the side of his head and knocked him out. His friends had soon reacted and started towards her, guns ready and death written on their faces. She stood in a defensive fighting stance, a posture that dared them to come closer. As they prepared to fire, the man in the mask stood forward and held his hand in the air. Within seconds the men had lowered their weapons and looked to him for instruction.
"Cassandra…" He began in a low voice, "How nice to see you again."
He pulled his mask off and revealed himself to be someone Cassandra had hoped to never see again.
Ra's al Ghul.
Though she was shocked, she didn't show it. She knew better then to let people like him have that satisfaction. Everyone was an enemy, especially this man.
"What are you trying to do?" She demanded in a low, dark voice that she used to strike fear in her opponents.
He simply chuckled, "I don't see why I should ruin the surprise just now."
He nodded towards two men near her and they went towards her. Using their size and weight against them she threw them both to the ground and knocked the pair out within seconds. Ra's nodded, knowing full well the control and power she had been bred and trained with. He sent wave, after wave of men towards her, adding to the number each time. Batgirl didn't know where this man power was coming from and after a while it started to become tired some. The men she was fighting, were trained under the same man who had contributed to her development. They were loads harder than the average thug. She relished, however, the sound of defeat as she bashed through one enemy after another, Ra's watching amusedly off to the side.
"Enough!" He shouted in a commanding voice as Cassandra panted and struggled to catch her breath. She may have been born to be a weapon, but she still had certain limits.
He nodded to someone unseen and within seconds a large man came up behind her and held her arms to her sides. She struggled against the bond. There was no way to escape, the man was almost equivalent to Killer Croc's size, and definitely could not be human.
"I think we should test our new device… Don't you?" He asked the remaining men in the room. He was met with nods and chuckles from his loyal minions.
Batgirl stopped struggling and froze, Ra's was staring at her, then shifted his gaze to the arch.
He didn't mean to-
"Oh yes Cassandra. Since you were a failure of a bodyguard, perhaps you'll be a better guinea pig instead."
The man started to move her towards the arch and she tried everything in her power to break free of his grasp. She kicked, struggled clawed and punched but nothing seemed to work. Once she was face to face with the glowing aura that filled in the space within the arch. It was clear to Cassandra that she had a few options here. None of them pretty.
If Ra's had taken so much effort to set this up, it couldn't have been good.
If he was using her as a test, then he was afraid.
As the man started to throw Cassandra in she dropped a timed bomb by the device and activated it as she fell through the glowing light.
Where ever she ended up, it was better than letting that horrible man get there as well.