Josefov, Prague
June 29, 17:37
Standing behind the dashboard in the Zephyr, I reviewed the results of the scans and readied my rifle.
Lady Shiva, with means I was yet to determine, had caught wind of the League of Assassins' disbandment and wisened up. She'd packed up in a haste and retreated to this gated mansion with a sizable force.
Over fifty able bodied men, all trained from the looks of it and armed with quality armor and weapons, roamed about the grounds, the bulk of them concentrated in the mansion.
I eyed the security room the scans had unveiled, and a way into their systems became my first goal. Quickly rolling things back, I searched the mansion exterior for any cameras and located one.
Hoisting the rifle onto my shoulder, I dismissed the hologram and went to where the hatch was located, opening it. Confident in the Zephyr's improved cloaking abilities, I brought the rifle back down and took aim through the open hole.
In my new visor, I watched the camera enlarge in stages until it became a closeup image. A thought triggered the ammo cycling systems in the gun and switched the one in the chamber to a subversion variant.
I pulled the trigger and the bullet flew free, the tiny gyrojet constituting its bulk guiding it home. It struck and did its job, giving me access to the mansion's network in moments.
Bringing it into submission without alerting those supposed to prevent this exact scenario came easily, and that was my green light to act.
Still aiming from my invisible perch, I tagged every guard that was currently outside with the rifle's targeting systems and switched the rounds to incapacitation.
A quick pull of the trigger sent a small deluge of tiny projectiles flying, each curving and breaking from the pack to find those they'd been assigned to.
Silent and quick, the rounds brought the guards low, their electrical payloads turning them into confused, spasming and then unconscious messes. Meanwhile, I jumped down and slid toward the mansion, overlaying the real-time scan of the building with the feed in my visor.
Unlike the exterior, the interior of the mansion wouldn't be cleared as easily. I would have to engage the guards in close quarters, but that didn't mean it couldn't be on my terms.
I could've gassed the building and been done with it, but there was a kid in there. Besides, if I did that, wearing my Snake Eyes suit would've been for nothing. The bad guys needed to see it and attribute the events here to someone else and not Spider-Man.
I entered the building through an open window on the topmost floor. There were three guys in the room, seated around a table covered in cards and chips, guns resting by their sides.
Just like their friends outside, I hastily tagged them and pulled the trigger once. Waltzing past their writhing forms, I remained cloaked and opened the door, moving to the next room on the floor.
It and the one that followed were cleared just as easily and I moved on to the floor below. The guards on the second floor posed no problem and I finally arrived on the first one.
The guards here weren't patrolling like the colleagues outside nor were they relaxed like the ones upstairs. They were somewhere in between, meaning taking them out wouldn't be a silent affair, so I decided to go loud.
A few flash grenades left a pouch on my belt and flew one after another with precise flicks. They landed in separate locations on the floor, the small silver spheres making nary a sound as they rolled into sight before blinding the unlucky ones to catch sight of them.
I stepped into the chaos, protected from the intense lumens and decibels. There was a round for each disoriented guard and they got it. They joined their buddies in unconsciousness, leaving just Shiva and the ones in the security room.
Between the two parties, I chose Shiva first. Mainly because I didn't want to underestimate her nor give her any time to mount meaningful resistance or even escape again.
So I went to the training room where the spar with her daughter had been interrupted by my actions. I kicked in the doors upon arriving, and the twin wooden constructions flew open with a bang.
Inside, I found a little asian girl, seven years old if my memory served me right, with facial scars and a messy bob cut, a slight sheen of perspiration on her exposed skin and her mother nowhere in sight.
We made eye contact for less than a second before I took a swift step to the left. A descending blade sliced through where I'd just been and Shiva dropped into a crouch from the ceiling, using the generated tension from the fall to launch herself at me like spring.
Hands still on my rifle, I executed more swift movements, expertly weaving my body out of the path of her relentless strikes. Her blade sang like it wanted blood, and I knew I wasn't far off from the truth.
Sandra Wu San was a bloodthirsty woman. An anime style battle junkie that reminded me too much of Yujiro Hanma.
Sadly for her, her title as this DC's greatest martial artist—if that was the case in this reality—didn't mean jack shit before the almighty equalizer; the gun.
Her sword had been tagged and the bullets were begging to be fired, so I gave them what they wanted. Four intelligent rocket-propelled rounds flew from the muzzle and struck her weapon at separate points.
They shocked her through it and removed it from her grip, leaving her wide open to my baby's shotgun mode. The gun kicked lightly and with barely a sound.
The electric rounds hit Shiva in the belly with the force of a sledgehammer, lifting her off her feet and launching her backward into a rack of weapons.
BANG! CRASH!
Without giving her a chance to recover, the rounds worked their magic on her and I turned around to find Cassandra, only to end up with a sword tip in my face.
Both hands came up slowly and the gun went over my shoulder and onto my back, a subtle click going off as the magnet there kept it in place. Still in a surrendering stance, I looked down at myself and waved up and down, hoping she'd get my meaning.
The sword lowered and she began to move around me in her mother's direction, eyes not leaving me for even a second. Instead of helping the woman up like I expected, she raised her sword up high, tip pointed straight down.
She held it up there for a bit, her young face a rictus of rage if I'd ever seen one. The seconds ticked by and her conviction bar filled up, leading her to plunge the sword down.
This little amount of distance between us vanished and I grabbed her small hands, the sword tip poking her mother's chest area and drawing blood.
She looked at me with indignation and rage, gritting her teeth and fighting my grip. I shook my head and pried the sword away, pointing at Shiva and then at her, hoping that she'd pick up on the "she's not worth it. She's not worth your rage and innocence."
If you wanted to know if someone could scream without a voice, I was here to tell you… it was possible.
Cassandra, who thankfully got my meaning, jerked her arms back and began to throw them around, her eyes widening, chest heaving, fists clenched, and arms trembling. All that was missing was the open mouthed scream and the sound, but even then, I could hear it.
With an open palm, I did my best to convey "it's okay, you're free" numerous times and it seemed to work. Her outburst slowly came to a stop and the heaving of her chest began to slow.
I expected her clenched fist and trembling arms to follow. They did, but only after she punched her mother in the face, breaking her nose and her own hand.
"Fair enough," I nodded and threw both arms up to convey and picked up the deplorable excuse of a mother, waving at her daughter to follow. Spider Sense triggered and I unhooked my pistol, aiming at the open door way.
The three guards from the security room came rushing in and I dropped them with a bullet each. Choosing not to holster the gun, I waved at Cassandra again and walked over the guards, leaving the scene.
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Providence
June 29, 22:16
"She's asleep sir," Mike informed.
Seated on the porch of the beach house constructed for me and mine, I breathed in the cold, salty air, the trilling of insects and sweeps of chilly wind oddly enjoyable.
Indulging in the pleasant and stress melting sensations, I stared at the night sky, my thoughts a dark contrast to the beauty on display. Huffing like my lungs contained all the world's air, I shot to my feet and summoned the Soulsword.
The bright glow of the blade shed some light on the surroundings and it left my hand, floating on its own. With a look over my shoulder, I said to my friend, "I'm going to see her mother. It shouldn't take long."
The sword, no longer in the shape it came in, had become a rectangular board that hovered near my feet, waiting idly for me. I jumped on it and used what I'd learned about it in the past few days to shift its shape further.
Two bands rose from the board and clamped my feet to it, completing the preparations for the journey I was about to undertake.
"Sir," Mike said, "Please don't do anything you'll regret."
The urge to nudge the sword and speed off gnawed at me, but I fought it and said this first. "I know. That's why I'm taking the long route."
After that, the world shifted, becoming a blur of images and sharp winds. The hoversword cut through the distance like the knife it was, and continued to pick up speed, bringing me closer and closer to my destination.
A quick glance at my watch told me I was just shy of reaching Mach one, so I stopped accelerating and maintaining my current speed.
All that time sitting and waiting for Cassandra to fall asleep hadn't only been spent going over her test results.
Some of it had been used to determine how long it would take me to arrive at the secret prison on the island.
Ten minutes at my current speed. Ten minutes where I couldn't think about anything else but the story Cassandra's test results told and what the dark part of me wanted to do to her mother.
Choosing what to do with the young girl after I rescued her had been a problem I didn't foresee. Did I bring it to the League? Did I keep her secret and cater for her myself? Did I tell Felicity and risk our relationship when it had just gotten off the ground?
The indecision nearly crippled me, but I managed to circle back when I focused on Cassandra.
Everything became easy from there. Because I realised this wasn't about me, it was about her. It was about doing right by her, giving her the best of what she needed and a life that wasn't what her mother had envisioned.
Proceeding from that point, I called in Dr. Spence from the lab we'd bought for her and our team of scientists in Star City. She was leading the group on a project to acquaint themselves with every single medical breakthrough from the Cyberpunk data pad.
There were many conditions and illnesses our realities shared that had become curable over there. Not to mention the discoveries regarding healthcare in general and various treatments that vastly improve the quality of life of millions of people.
I wanted nothing more than to just disseminate them on the internet and let the world figure it out. But that indiscriminate action had the potential to cause damages that were easily identifiable and ones that were not.
What if there was a difference between humans here and humans in Cyberpunk that caused some treatments to react negatively and produce undesirable results? Preventing something like that was why I held off and gave the doctor a lab and an army of scientists.
Naturally, this army at her beck and call meant she could leave things for a few hours and attend me when I needed it. Well, not me Cassandra. I handed the task of conducting the tests and checks on the girl's physical health to her.
And the results made my blood boil.
The scars on Cassandra's face didn't end there. They extended to her whole body, covering over thirty five percent of her skin. Her bones showed evidence of multiple, repeated fractures and even a few breaks that had occurred in the short seven years she'd been alive.
Her vocal cords… what the doc discovered somehow even made things worse. Shiva hadn't waited at all in enacting her "super warrior" plan. She performed what amounted to 19th century surgery on her own daughter while she was still an infant.
A part of me always thought my distaste for The Light and villains in general was a bit exaggerated. Especially because they had done nothing personally to me. Needless to say, this event had caused that part of me to die a quick and sorry death.
I didn't hate these people enough.
One minute more and I'd reach the prison. Instead of letting the winds carry away my rage, I was tempted to do the opposite, to let them fuel it.
Maintaining course and closing my eyes, I stood upright and let my arms rest by my sides. My chest grew as I inhaled. I imagined my anger as a flame gathering in my chest and exhaled, expelling it all.
The heat within me calmed a bit and I reopened my eyes, using the only piece of good news among the test results. Cassandra had no health problems apart from her… obvious mutilation. She was in good physical condition, perhaps a bit too good.
The doctor's words, not mine.
Anyways, I arrived at my destination. A lake surrounded my towering trees on all sides. I plunged into it without hesitation, the forcefield I'd long deployed keeping me dry.
Deeper and deeper and I went until I reached an underwater cave. Having been here only once, the route had been burned in my mind so I breached the cave and maneuvered the complex system of more of them.
The confusing mess of interconnected caverns didn't hinder me in the slightest. I breezed past them and arrived at my destination, a large cavern the size of three football fields.
Smack dab in the center, a construction aptly described as a giant metal box sat shimmered into existence when I approached. Carrying myself forward, I stopped a few inches from the box and ordered my thoughts and emotions a certain way.
My watch vibrated and I dismissed the Soulsword, taking a step forward. The wall of the box posed no hindrance and I walked through it, entering the prison proper.
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