Slaying A Demon.
Things has not gotten any better. Last night, Cassandra snuck inside a Sable Compound to speak to Standish and hopefully gain some useful information out him. She learned Li had something planned for Grand Central, but before she could get the information she needed, Peter showed up and scared Standish to the point he fell and hit his head. After that, just about the whole compound knew there were intruders inside, so the two heroes were forced to leave before being caught. And Cassandra was beyond angry at her new partner. She was so close to finding out what Li was planing, and it could've helped them foil Li completely. But something had to go wrong again, so she snapped at Peter and made it clear she would be working alone from now on.
After getting back to MJ's place, Cassandra jus gave her camera back and went to get some sleep. She was so tired she practically passed out. When she woke up, it was already passed morning and Cassandra quickly got out of bed and went to tell MJ that she was heading back out. But as soon as she did, she saw food on the table and MJ was waiting for her.
"Sit" MJ ordered.
"Sorry MJ, I need to head out and-" Cassandra began but MJ silenced her.
"I said, sit. You are not going anywhere until you've gotten some food in your belly" MJ ordered again, her tone final.
Cassandra sighed before taking a seat and began to eat. MJ sat down in front of her. There was a silence for several moments as Cassandra tried to eat her food as quickly as she could. MJ sighed, she had a feeling Cassandra would't be the one to start an conversation, but MJ couldn't deal with this tense silence.
"Cassandra... I know what happened" MJ said, making Cassandra look at her in confusion "I know what happened between you and Peter last night. You had an argument and now you are not speaking to each other".
Cassandra was silent for a moment before she sighed "It just... everything has been going wrong these past days. When I went after Standish, everything was going right, I got to him without trouble, and I was about to get the information we need to finally put an end to all this...".
"And then Peter barged in and ruined the whole thing" MJ finished for her.
"Yes, I'm just so frustrated that just as something was about to go right, it was ruined. And what made it worse was the fact that Peter didn't even seem to trust me enough to handle it. Guess I was kind of used to having allies that trusted me enough to let me handle stuff without help. I know this sounds childish, it's just..." Casandra said before going quiet again.
"You prefer to do the saving, rather than being the one in need of saving" MJ finished, earning a nod from Cassandra "I am very familiar with that feeling. In fact it was the reason me and Peter broke up".
Cassandra looks at her "What exactly happened? I only know small parts of it. Mainly that you had, what Peter said, a fight to end all fights. And you both ended up heartbroken from it".
"Yeah, that is the short version. We broke up because he wouldn't stop treating me like a baby. Don't do this MJ. Don't do that MJ. That's too dangerous MJ. I may not have super spider powers, but I'm not made out of glass. In the end I just couldn't take it anymore, so it lead to a big argument and we broke up. Yeah, I am sure both our hearts were completely broken after that" MJ said, looking sad at the memory.
Cassandra took a moment to find the right words "MJ, please don't get mad at me for saying this. But I don't think Peter wanting to protect someone he loves is something to get angry about" She held up her hand to stop MJ from speaking "Let me finish. I know you are not helpless, you are an adult so of course you can take care of yourself. But please MJ, look me in the eyes and tell me you could handle a situation that would be dangerous even for Peter, who has powers. Tell me that you could make it out of a situation like that without any help at all".
MJ opened and closed her mouth several times before sighed in frustration "Damn it... you are right. There are so many times that I would've died if he hadn't been there to pull my stubborn ass out of the fire. Guess that was part of why I was like that. I was tired of being saved, and wanted to do the saving".
Cassandra took her hand "Sorry, MJ. I didn't mean to make you feel bad. But some situations are to dangerous for even me, and even Peter to handle without help... And now I yelled at him just because he cared about me... now I feel like an ass".
MJ chuckled "You and me both. Peter was trying to help, and look at how we repaid him. So... will you speak to him?".
"I will, but later. He is likely focusing on keeping the Devil's Breath safe" Cassandra said.
"Right" MJ said before standing up "Finish your food before you head out".
Cassandra began eating again and MJ turned on her TV, which showed more news about Jeff, as a Reporter spoke "Tributes continue to pour in for Officer Jefferson Davis, the hero killed in the City Hall bombing, as reports emerge that he used his own body to shield others in his last moments of life. Davis is survived by his wife Rio and son Miles, as well as a brother, Aaron. In addition to the praise and condolences from heads of state and celebrities, his fellow officers say Davis's heroic actions were typical of him. Captain Yuriko Watanabe called him, quote, "a true hero," the epitome of what every police officer should aspire to be, and one of the finest men I've ever had the honor to work with. Jefferson Davis was a seventeen year veteran of the force, and was awarded several commendations in that time. Most recently when he saved innocent bystanders from being run down by an armored vehicle carrying illegal weapons stolen by the notorious Demon gang".
Cassandra watched the news with a tear in her eye she then got up and looked at MJ "I will not allow this to happen again, MJ. Never again".
MJ nods in agreement "You're damn right. Peter told me you learned that Li is looking for something at Grand Central".
"Yes, don't know what it is, but I need to head over there and find out. Before Li does" Cassandra said.
"Wait, before you head over there, you need these" MJ said as she held up some Cassandra's new civilian clothing "I don't doubt your stealth skills, but Grand Central will likely be packed with people by the time you get there. So if you want to blend in, you will need to look normal".
"Smart thinking MJ" Cassandra said as she put on the civilian clothing and was about to head out "Oh and MJ? Never think you are useless, you've saved more lives than you can imagine. You are a hero in my book".
MJ smiled warmly as Cassandra headed out.
It took a little while for Cassandra to arrive at Grand Central, and like MJ told her, it was a lot of people there. Yeah, Batgirl would not be able to sneak around among all of them. But with her normal clothing, Cassandra Cain could blend in without any problems. She was wearing he civilian clothing, but also carried a back pack with her suit in it. Now she had look for clues on what Li could be after. Once she's done, she would call Peter and inform him of everything, and she hoped he had everything covered on his end. It's not that she didn't want to tell him anything, she just didn't have any information to share with him yet.
She walked over to an Oscorp Display and pressed something "Oscorp's research and development team are hard at work on a radical new form of battery that recharges itself from sound waves. In a few short months you will be able to buy a phone that will never have to be plugged in".
That was certainly nice, but nothing Li would be interested in so she kept looking around until she found some kind of device. Curious, she walked over and activated the Oscorp Display voice "Try it for yourself, and see how Oscorp is making your world better each and every day. This Gaia Microbe Dispersal Device releases specially formulated microbes into the atmosphere, and in turn leaves our oceans and rivers cleaner than when man first walked the earth".
'That's it! Devil's Breath is some kind of bio weapon, and this device could spread it over the entire city! I need to tell Peter, quickly' Cassandra thought to herself and was about to contact Peter, until an all to familiar voice was heard.
"Cassandra..." Said girl turned around and saw the one man who had been making these past few days feel like hell.
"Li..." She said silently "Why are you here?".
"You shouldn't have gotten involved Cassandra. I hoped to spare you from all this. Just another one of Norman's crimes" Li said calmly.
"What are you planing Li?" Cassandra asked, she already knew of course, but she couldn't risk giving away that she was Batgirl.
"I am going to expose Osborn for the monster he is" Li answered, until gun shots were heard.
Cassandra looked around and saw several demons entering the room and forcing the people together. Li was going to use them as hostages! This was getting more and more insane by the moment. Cassandra looked back at Li with a pleading look.
"Don't do this Li. Whatever Osborn did, it isn't worth destroying all the good you have done" Cassandra begged.
Li looked sad for a moment before he spoke "I'm sorry Cassandra. It's to late to go back now".
He motions to a Demon, who grabbed Cassandra and began dragging her away. Cassandra allowed this to happen until they were out of sight. The moment it was more safe she broke free from the Demon's grip before hitting several of his pressure points, knocking him out right away. She then quickly contacted Peter.
"Peter. Li is at Grand Central, and he is going to use some kind of device to unleash Devil's Breath. You need to hurry, but be careful, he has hostages" Cassandra said.
"I'm on my way! I am almost there now. Anything else I need to look out for?" Peter asked.
Cassandra checked around the corner "Many guards. And drones. I think they are prepared for you".
"Alright, I'm almost there. But if he is going to release Devil's Breath, you need to get out of there" Peter said.
"He could've done so by now... but I think he wants Osborn to come here first" Cassandra said.
"Wait… this must have been Li's plan all along. Make Norman responsible by forcing him to release the Devil's Breath himself" Peter realized.
"I don't trust Norman enough for him to show up. We need to stop this now" Cassandra said, making sure to keep herself out of sight.
"Okay, I'm here. Coming into the terminal now" Peter said and after a few moments he spoke again "I'm in the ventilation system. Can you see a safe exit point?".
Cassandra looked around carefully "Southwest corner".
"On my way. If I get any closer, the drones will spot me" Peter said.
"I will see if I can find a way to shut them down. Give me a minute" Cassandra said as she did another look around and saw tablet. That must be controlling the drones. If Barbara was here she could've hacked it without having to get close. But Cassandra wasn't as much of a tech whiz as Barbara was "Alright Peter, I see a tablet that must be controlling the drones. But if I try to approach it now, the guards will see me. I need a distraction".
"Got it, tell me when you're ready" Peter said.
"Now" Cassandra said, and Peter shot some webs on the large clock in the room.
With the Guards distracted by the sound, Cassandra managed to dash past them without being seen and grabbed the tablet before using it to turn of the drones. So far so good, but she noticed a man was about to get up so she quickly pulled him back down.
"Don't move. Help has arrived, we just need to remain calm" Cassandra whispered.
"You!" A demon said before pulling Cassandra of the floor "What are you doing here!? I saw you get taken away!".
Cassandra mentally cursed and started acting scared "D-Don't hurt me!".
"You will wish for hurt! You are coming with me!" The Demon said sharply as he began pushing Cassandra away.
'It's up to you now Peter' Cassandra thought to herself, hoping Peter would do the right thing and focus on the hostages and Devil's Breath.
Cassandra used the same trick as last time. Waiting for the guard to bring her somewhere more private, and then stopped. The Demon jammed his gun in to her back, but she quickly spun around and disarmed him, then quickly hit the pressure point in his neck. She then opened her back pack and quickly changed in to her bat suit. She trusted Peter to handle the hostages and Devil's Breath, she needed to find Li before he escapes again. He couldn't be allowed to get away again, if he did, they may never find him again before he hurts someone else... and She found him.
He stood by a train, ready to leave, with some demons around him. Cassandra narrowed her eyes and used stealth to take down as many Demons as she could. Soon only two remained, the ones next to Li. Said man noticed the rest of his men were no longer there and looked around.
"I know you are here, show yourself" Li said and Cassandra walked out of the shadows "Batgirl, was it? Brave of you to come after me without Spider-Man to help you. Or have you finally seen my vision? After our last encounter".
"I saw your hate, all your darkness. And I am going to make sure you never do it to anyone ever again" Cassandra declared.
"Why are you defending Osborn? After everything that monster did?" Li demanded.
"I don't care about Osborn. And you are in no position to call anyone else a monster. After everything you did, everything you are planing to do... people trusted you! How could you throw everything away just to hurt Osborn?" Cassandra demanded.
Li glares at her "You understand nothing. You haven't suffered like I have! You don't know what Osborn did!".
"I have suffered! And if Osborn is as bad as you say, then turn yourself in and maybe you can help expose him" Cassandra said.
"So he can weasel his way out of it? No! He must suffer! And then, he will die!" Li said before draining the dark energy from his guards "And if you insist on getting in my way, you will die first!".
Cassandra gasped as she jumped to the side to avoid a blast from Li's power "You had your chance, Martin Li. Now I am going to stop you, once and for all!".
Li said nothing as he unleashed another blast. Cassandra avoided it and rushed forward. When she got close she had to avoid a punch from Li. She then delivered several speedy strikes to his pressure points, but the dark aura surrounding him made her strikes useless. Li goes for another attack, but Cassandra blocks his punch and starts to punch him multiple times but Li blocks her last punch and punched her into the face and then in the gut, making her stumble back and coughed up some saliva. He hit hard, she had to be careful, if she takes to many hits like that, she's toast. They both once again clash with each other but Cassandra punches Li in the face and back flips behind him and kicks him in the neck, making him stumble and fell on his knees, but he recovered quickly. Li then stands and walks towards Cassandra as he growls, she tries to kick him, but Li grabs her leg and smashes her down but Cassandra kicks his face, making him let got. She gets up before she rushed towards Li as she kicks and knees him but Li punches her and then kicks her in to a wall.
Cassandra felt like she had been hit by a truck as she falls to the floor in pain. Li walked up to her before grabbing her by her collar and lifted her up, his deathly white eyes looking at her.
"You served me once. You will obey me again" Li said as he raised his free hand to corrupt her again.
"No... Never again!" Cassandra yelled as she pulled out a batarang and stabbed it through the hand Li was going to corrupt her with.
He yelled in pain, allowing Cassandra to kick him back. She noticed a large chandelier above him, and throws her batarang at it, causing it to fall down on Li. He had to use his powers to break free, and Cassandra could see he was finally starting to weaken. Cassandra noticed one of the strange grenades on one of the Demons. She grabbed it and threw it towards Li, before quickly throwing another Batarang, causing it to explode on him. This finally knocked him out of his protective aura, and he finally became vulnerable. But he was not ready to admit defeat yet, as he attacked again when Cassandra got close.
But he wasn't nearly as strong as he was before, so Cassandra delivered two punches before kicking him in to a wall. Li slowly looked up, just in time for Cassandra to uppercut him in the jaw before delivering powerful spin kick to his head, finally knocking him out cold.
Cassandra was breathing hard before collapsing to her knees, holding her ribs in pain. She has reached her limits, had her last attacks failed, she would've lost... she almost lost... she got real lucky.
"Cass!" Came the voice of Peter as he rushed in to the room "Is he...?".
"I did it... I beat him" Cassandra managed to get out "What about the hostages? And Devil's Breath?".
"Everyone are safe, and Devil's Breath has been taken care of. We did it, Cass. The nightmare is over" Peter said.
Cassandra sighed in relief "I... I'm sorry about last night... I was out of line".
Peter put a hand on her shoulder "It's ok, you are under a lot of pressure. But you can finally rest now".
Cassandra smiled "Thank you... Partner".
Peter smiled behind his mask. Later Li was arrested and was transported to The Raft Prison. Devil's Breath was secured and other than some damaged ribs, Cassandra wasn't to badly hurt, mainly because her suit did it's job and absorbed the worst of the blows. Still she would need a long rest after such an ordeal, and MJ was more than happy to let Cassandra use her bed again. Cassandra passed out on the bed, and now she could finally sleep peacefully, knowing that Martin Li wouldn't hurt anyone again.
Finally... it was over.
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Mr Negative is finally defeated, and Cassandra was finally able to defeat the man who shattered her trust. Did my best to show that Li is easily the more powerful of the two. His abilities makes him stronger and tougher than Cassandra. But Cassandra is no stranger to fighting people that are physically superior to her, and of course it terms of martial skills, Li wasn't even in Cassandra's league. But her superior skills wouldn't save her if she couldn't even hurt him, so like any member of the Bat Family, she had to use her mind to find a way to get through Li's aura.
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Tell me what you think.