Alongside rivers of filth and past remnants of a city that was, Cassandra and Merlyn made their way to a strange citadel of sorts. Blazing torches and shadow warriors with slung rifles and sheathed swords greeted them as they made their way to the king under the city. Bane was not alone in his center of operations, as such would not be the only one welcoming her.
"I had hoped to greet you in the shadow, but then I heard you were with the Tiger. I guess it's too much to expect you would come around to being what I brought you into this world to be." Speaks a woman beside Bane. Her long black hair hangs freely, its silky smoothness a flickering reflection of the fires illuminating her. Her form is clad in a long overcoat, in her left hand a sheathed katana that she turns to present her,"I'm assuming this is what you think to walk out of here with, or am I mistaken about your intent in turning yourself over to our man there?" demands Lady Shiva.
Cassandra doesn't reply, but Merlyn places a palm meaningfully to the middle of her back to encourage her forward. This was her discussion to have. Bane silently stands by, his gigantic form towering over the Lady Shiva but noone present was under the illusion he was in charge at the moment. Cassandra took another step forward, her gaze steady at the mother she had searched for.
When she doesn't answer her, Lady Shiva continues,"The Tiger was a worthy asset, though his mind lacked the strength of his body and spirit. Have you inheritted this trait through your training under him? We will see. Cheshire, you and yours will test her."
Cassandra spoke up as the woman in green who was addressed moves as commanded,"No. I take Bane. I take him, then you." Her eyes are narrowed as she speaks. This moment that she had built towards was at hand, she'd come here freely and she wasn't going hand over control now.
Lady Shiva's gaze widens in surprise at this. Off in the shadows stood her passive rival, Talia, and even she drew breath at this unexpected objection. Both women wondered if she was up to this, and what the ramifications would be however which way this went. Bane stepped forward, folding his arms as he declared in his uniquely ominous tone,"I accept."
Noone could ever tell what went through Bane's mind. His loyalty to the League was beyond reproach, but his methods had always been mysterious even to those who guided him. Whether he was impressed with her audacity or annoyed by it was the mystery now.
"Very well. As you wish, Cassandra. Your test of worth will be Bane, if your desire outstrips your reach then it shall be your undoing. If you fail, your fate will be that of your mentor's." Intones the Lady Shiva with finality as she gestures with her sword to the room that would be their arena.
Iron grating and concrete made three sides and the floor of the makeshift ring. The fourth was a river of sewer water. This was in old times a service access location, but the pipes that ran here had long since been shut off and only the power conduits remained in use as they had been spliced and tapped for the League's purposes in this underground command site.
Bane stood by the entrance as it was shut, Cassandra stood with her back to the river. The fluorescent lighting was activated for the purposes of all, it would make for a better show than a match by torchlight. Deception and shadowplay would not be a part of this.
"I commend your bravado," begins the giant,"Your success here would be memorable. Unfortunately you are not the first. If your worth does not impress me, I will offer you the same that I offered your adoptive father. Your broken body may yet persuade your mother not to do to you what was done to Mr. Turner."
Cassandra could not find it in herself to be intimidated by his words. She untucks her longsleeve shirt and removes her belt, she would need to be mobile to prevail here. She wraps the belt around her strong left arm to create a makeshift bracer and knuckle, gripping the leather straps firmly before kicking off her shoes for certainty on the swept concrete floor. The big man facing her merely doffs his jacket to reveal the imposing masses of muscle that make up his body. The fluidity of his movements fails to escape Cassandra's watchful gaze, this would be no simple match. She was well aware that she faced the man who had once broken the Bat.
The massive man strides forth with confidence, the mask of his a demonic image in the dim light as his gaze watches her unblinkingly. Cassandra remains with her feet planted as he approaches until he's halfway across the room, then she darts forth into action. The seven foot plus man isn't slow, though compared to her he may as well be as he finds himself being circled.
Bane raises his fists, his gaze following her as she maneuvers in circular patterns around him. Unlike her predecessor, she wasn't so brazen as to engage him directly. He would show her that this strategy isn't quite so novel as she'd like to believe as he broadens his defensive posture and swings a fist into her path with a speed scarcely believable for his size.
Cassandra isn't confident. She doesn't feel enough at this moment to be afraid either. She's merely in this moment aware. His incoming fist might have taken her off guard in another scenario, but at this time she's perfectly capable of reacting to it as if she'd planned for it in advance. Vaulting over it in a no handed cartwheel, she twists in mid air to plant a pair of heels successively across his face before bracing for his reprisal.
Bane takes the blows as if he didn't feel them at all. Indeed, he may not have as he comes at her swinging and finding naught but air as she maneuvers behind him yet again. This time, he deals with this with a backwards kick like a mule, though the force behind it may well kill one.
Cassandra once again deftly avoids the full onslaught, he simply can't compete with her speed and grace though she's well aware of the folly of getting cocky. She drops down when she sees his kick coming, literally as soon as shifted his girth in the split second preparation to deliver it. Rolling forward alongside his projected leg, she plants her palms on the ground and swings out with both her legs to sweep his one out from underneath him in an expertly executed gymnastics maneuver.
Bane finds himself face planting, his leering mask thunking against the floor. He feels something approaching frustration as he admits candidly,"You're better than Mr. Wayne, I must confess. He foolishly thought he could stand before me, you've not made that mistake. I applaud you." He pushes himself up effortlessly, and though he could have been to his feet faster than most men in any kind of shape he wasn't to be afforded leave to do so. No sooner than he gets his feet beneath him and he finishes his spoken piece does Cassandra lash out once more at his head with a full force crocodile kick, her shin colliding with the side of his head and knocking him back to the floor to pick himself up again.
Bane pops to his feet this time, rolling his head and shoulders as he compliments her yet again,"Struck me down before I rose, well done. Let us continue."
By his movements, she couldn't tell what progress she had made, but she was patient. She would pick him apart. She could see the subtle swelling of his cheek beneath his glaring eye, she had injured him.
She slid into a loose fighting stance once more, then began her movements around him once more. He turned to keep his steady gaze upon her, whether her elusive movements were beginning to frustrate him she couldn't tell but she held true to her strategy all the same. He would not get ahold of her.
Outside the ring, Talia and Shiva watched with curiosity. Cassandra continued to wage her hit and run war on the giant, pecking away at him with blindingly fast in and out strikes and occasionally knocking him down when he lashed out to no avail."I would not believe she could do so well," comments Talia.
"She is my daughter. We may be witnessing the final fall of our giant," replies Shiva in a conversational reply.
"What of Bruce, are the steps under way?" inquires Talia, an uncertainty betrayed in her tone. She was having second thoughts after all , or so it would seem.
"Fear not for your lover. His death will be her test of loyalty." She replies with a narrow gaze on the al Ghul woman.
Talia bristles at Shiva's needle. Glaring down at the fight underway in time to see Cassandra kicking a floored Bane in the face yet again before running up on him. Cassie finally overplayed herself, for this time he catches her leg and slings her like a doll across the arena.
Rising to his feet once more, he utters,"Oooh, little Bat you've let your patience slip and now your fate is drawing nigh."
Cassandra flips to her feet, having taken harder though scarcely more dramatic shots in her time. She replies darkly, for the first time since the fight started,"The bat is not my totem, it has merely adopted me."
This has everyone's gaze on her. She's been circle fighting Bane the whole time, and now she opts to change her strategy without warning as she darts directly at him. Scrambling up his form from knee to hip, she hammers him in the throat with a knuckle strike from her belt bound hand that staggers him instantly before springing off of him.
A hand raises to his neck as he gags, struggling for breath that doesn't come and Cassie marches up to him with eyes void of mercy or remorse. Striding around the fumbling man, she delivers a kick from the hip to the back of a knee dropping him low before circling around to his side and hammering with her bound fist directly to a collar bone before following up with a strike to the side of his head. When the man falls over on his side clutching his injuries, she moves in for the finish with all eyes fixed on her in a mixture of shock and uncertainty.
She throws herself forward into a no handed flip, her knees tucking beneath her. Clutching her right knee with her unbound hand, she lands on the exposed side of the big man. Her knee crunches ribs beneath her weight, she's certain she felt his solar plexus give way beneath her as he utters a groan of pain. This was the first time any of them had seen him genuinely crushed before them. It was certainly a more dramatic finish than her counterpart had dealt him. Rising to her feet off of him, she shoves him over onto his back and looks up at Shiva.
"He's finished. Fight me now."
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