Cassandra Cain || Black Bat

[CASSANDRA CAIN]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=valign, top][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style, border: 10px solid #f1e3b4; width: 450px; background-color: #f6f7f1;] PERSONAL FILE HIGHLY CLASSIFIED AND CONFIDENTIAL GENERAL INFORMATION NAME: Cassandra Cain ALIAS: Black Bat formerly Batgirl GENDER: Female AGE: 19 OCCUPATION: Crime-fighter; Master Assassin ALIGNMENT: Good AFFILIATION(S): Titans East; League of Assassins; Batman Family; Justice League Elite; Young Justice PHYSICAL PROFILE HEIGHT: 5'5” WEIGHT: 115 lbs EYES: Brown HAIR: Black CLASSIFICATION: Human UNUSUAL FEATURES: Scars left all over her body from her training with her father. She has a form of dyslexia that makes it difficult for her to read and write. She was never taught how to speak and instead was trained vigorously on how to read other people's movements and body language and predict their next move with almost a supernatural accuracy. Due to learning how to speak later on in life, Cassandra has a speech impediment. BEHAVIOR PROFILE Batgirl can now speak and understand speech, but this isn't natural to her. Her grammar is mostly correct, but she prefers very short sentences ("Explain" , "Be careful", "This way") or simple gestures and nods if she can avoid speaking. If she has to say something more complex, she usually hesitates while trying to find her words and goes for the simplest, shortest, most common words. She tends to touch people she likes to express her trust, instead of using words -- unfailingly leaving Batman very embarrassed when she briefly strokes his face to tell him she cares for him. Much like Batman, Batgirl is deeply haunted by her childhood trauma - she didn't lose her parents under terrible circumstances (she didn't even really realize she must have had parents before Barbara Gordon mentioned it), but she murdered a man when she was eight years old. She desperately wants to atone for this, and the Batman's example showed her it could be done by saving as many lives she can. Her obsessive drive in this regard matches Batman's own, and he's the only one to understand how bad the girl's inner demons are and how they can ever be put to rest. For a long time, her desire to atone was so strong it gave her a death wish -- she had no doubt Shiva would kill her, and that was the perfect way to accomplish that wish. Oracle is pretty much Batgirl's surrogate mother. Their relationship is a bit awkward - Cass is not very verbal, and has trouble understanding many aspects of normal life, while Barbara wasn't expecting to have a 17 years old to raise and worries a lot about her, wanting to give her a chance at a normal life instead of letting her become solely a creature of the night. Barb, being a responsible and sensible woman, has trouble understanding how obsessive the new Batgirl really is -- but her own past allowed her to understand a part of her drive to dress as a bat and hit the streets. Batgirl also considers Batman a bit like her new father -- they understand each other's mental state on an instinctual level, and he's steadily giving her the discipline and sense of purpose she needs to be sane. Bruce knows exactly how a confused, traumatized kid lost in the world can gain control again and force things to make sense - and they both fluently speak violencese. They also share comparable, regular nightmares and nocturnal flashbacks. For the longest time, Batman was in denial she was a killer, and convinced himself Cain had faked the videos ; likewise Cassandra practically worshiped him. Batgirl still let herself be largely defined by her fighting skill - she obsessively trains despite already being perfect, and obsessively refuses to lose a fight or not to be the best (at one point, she even very lamely sucker-punched Shiva so she wouldn't have to admit she had actually lost the fight). Due to her previous education, she feels horrible, alone and unloved whenever she is anything less than a perfect combat machine. She also dearly wants to please by being a good little soldier. Batgirl's version of seeking justice is mostly centered on preventing deaths and protecting innocents - not catching criminals like the Batman, or making a difference like Nightwing. At first, she thought she wanted to be just like the Batman -- but after apprehending a man who had killed somebody she had befriended, she realized she didn't feel any better. Not only does she atone a tiny bit with every life saved, but she also wholly refuses her killer instincts -- going as far as to charge into gunfire and being badly wounded by several bullets to shield some crook who was about to be killed by friendly fire. She also reacts with obvious, silent sadness whenever she happens on a recent corpse or a dying person. When for a minute she thought she had killed the Shadow Thief, she was in tears and crying for help. With the exception of Oracle and the Batman, Batgirl is a loner -- she prefers to keep her own company. She has very little in common with the vast majority of humanity, does not like to talk and justifiably feels too different from everybody else. She also usually comes across as very aloof and superior. When she likes somebody she smiles a lot, say a few things and touch the person from time to time, but will inevitably vanish back in the night once her task is done -- she has a mission. Oracle, occasionally had trouble stopping her being Batgirl 24/7 and remedied it by dragging her outside to enjoy the sun and just live like normal people. Cassandra has relaxed a bit since her fight with Shiva, though. Childish: While Cassandra is by no means a brat, her life and emotional development effectively halted at age eight. While she's done a great deal of growing up lately under her adopted family's care, she retains a few odd mannerisms, a blind enthusiasm to what she sees as the most noble task she could possess, and an acute shyness around people she doesn't know, especially in large groups. Compassionate: Cassandra is a genuinely kind person when she's not trying to cave your skull in, and wishes for the happiness and safety of her friends, family, and people in general, which was itself a major factor in her taking the mantle of Batgirl, even if her guilt played a part. Whenever possible, she will do whatever she can to help someone, whether they need someone to keep them from getting shot, or just need someone to tell their problems to whom they know won't go blabbing it around. Cunning: What Cassandra lacks in 'book smarts', she more than makes up for with a nigh supernatural ability to work out the best way through a situation on little more than instinct and intuition, rather than simply knowing everything about everything. Heroic: To Cassandra the protection and preservation of innocent life is one of the most important things in the world, and she will often go to great and rather ridiculous lengths to save a life in danger, with little thought of the danger involved, feeling that the mission she received when she joined the Batman's family to be the only way to make up for her past sins in some fashion. While admirable in its way, it does get her into trouble from time to time, throwing her up against someone out of her league, or into a situation she's not fully equipped to handle, and has gotten her into trouble of a more personal nature in the past for disobeying Batman's rules. For the most part she can resist the urge to do this impulsively, and control herself when more is at stake than just her own life along with the victim's, but if one of her friends is in danger, caution pretty much goes out the window. Honest: Her obligation to lie on many occasions is something that has always bothered Cassandra in some fashion. Though she fully understands and agrees that it is necessary, she simply doesn't like speaking untruths. Among trusted friends and loved ones, it is incredibly rare for her to lie to them about anything, the closest she usually ever comes being a somewhat clumsy attempt to dodge the subject. This gets to the point at times, when the term 'honest to a fault' can apply to her, since she usually doesn't think to spare someone's feelings on smaller matters. If you ask her what she thinks of your hair after you shave it all off save for two pigtails, she will /tell/ you what she thinks. She won't be /mean/ about it, but... Loyal: Cassandra's loyalty to the Batman, the Oracle, and their collected family is nigh unshakable. In her mind they saved her from a useless life of hiding amongst filth while wallowing in her guilt, and gave her a purpose and, more importantly, a home. She would do just about anything for her new family if they asked, assuming it isn't violently against her moral code. Naive: While she's no stranger to the darker elements of life in the world, her view on everything is mostly black and white, rather than shades of gray as it is most of the time. Villains, to her, are usually little more than vile filth that needs cleaning up in a manner that is preferably violent in nature, and her adopted family is trustworthy in every single respect, and could never do any wrong of their own free will. This can make her seem rather innocent at times, which is likely why her relationship with her father so confuses her, and why she can't quite let go of her guilt. Obsessive: To Batgirl, the patrol and protection of life is the only job she really can do and /should/ do with her life, the relative triviality of 'normal life' taking a complete back-seat to her duties. She honestly has no idea what she would do if her mantle were to be taken away from her, and lives with a constant nagging worry that she might displease or outright fail her comrades badly enough that the Batman would do just that. Protective: Her family is everything to her, her gratitude to them absolutely immeasurable, and she would do anything in her power, up to and including risking and giving her life to keep them from serious harm. Responsible: Cassandra's entire life has been either a brutal training session of one form or another, or a struggle merely to stay alive in the back alleys of Gotham. She is not, as a result, one who has learned to enjoy simply lounging about and procrastinating on doing what needs to be done. Joining the Bat-family has heaped a great deal of duties and responsibilities upon her, and she is all too willing to fulfill them all. Not to say, however, that she doesn't enjoy a bit of peace and calm on the rare occasions when life allows it. Secretive: Like the vast majority of the people in her life, she has found herself with a great many secrets that must be kept at all costs, lest she or her family come to harm. This is a bit hard on her, but not for the same reasons it might be on the others, as she herself doesn't have much of a 'normal life' with which this could interfere... but it does require her to lie a lot more often than she's comfortable with. She's not particularly happy that distorting and outright evading the truth is something she's getting a knack for. Silent: Cassandra grew up without ever hearing a single spoken word for the first eight or nine years of her life, her training as such that the part of her brain that is usually occupied with thinking and communicating was replaced with an almost animal-like wordless intuition. This was put to an abrupt stop however, when a grateful metahuman unwittingly removed the block, and gave her the ability to think and speak like a normal person, though this led to a great deal of trouble. Even with her new-found ability, however, the language of the body is the first one she ever learned, and English is something she struggles with, though she's improved greatly recently. Regardless, it's unlikely that she'll ever truly be comfortable speaking out loud about everything that comes to mind, and more often than not she will simply attempt to use simple gestures to communicate whenever possible, and is usually the least vocal in any group of conversation. DOCUMENTED HISTORY The daughter of David Cain and Sandra Wu-San (Lady Shiva), Cassandra Cain was conceived and trained from birth with the intention of creating the perfect bodyguard for Ra's al Ghul. After many unsuccessful attempts to train children from birth in martial arts to make them inculcate it like a native language (the most successful being The Mad Dog), David Cain, then a member of Ra's League of Assassins, decided the right genes were necessary to create this "One Who Is All". With Ra's go ahead Cain searched for the perfect mother for this child, finding her in the Wu-San sisters of Detroit, who practiced martial arts with each other nearly every moment of their childhood in a type of sister's language. Cain sympathized with the younger sister, Sandra, when he noticed that she held back out of love for Carolyn. To "help" Sandra reach her full potential, Cain murdered Carolyn, then lured Sandra into an ambush by the League of Assassins, where he defeated her. Cain spared Sandra from death on the condition that she bear his child, and leave her for him to raise. Awed by the potential heights she could reach in her physical talents now that Carolyn was gone, Sandra agreed to Cain's bargain in order that she might go on to become the unstoppable force of nature known as Lady Shiva: creator and destroyer. Shiva's hope for her child was that she might one day grow to be the one force that could stop her reign of destruction. Trained by her father to be the ultimate weapon, Cassandra was not taught to speak. Instead, the parts of her brain normally used for speech were trained so she could read other people's movements and body language and predict, with uncanny accuracy, their next move. This also caused her brain to develop learning functions different from most, a form of dyslexia that hampers her ability to read and write. When she was 8 years old, Cain decided his experiment had progressed far enough for him to test Cassandra's abilities in the real world, and took her to a hit; the target being Faizul, a 'book man' in Macau. At the time Cassandra had no idea what she was doing and believed it was only a game. After striking a deathblow, she "read" the target as he died, and saw death as he saw it. In addition to scarring her emotionally, she realized murder, like her father's profession, was wrong, and she ran away from her father. Cassandra spent the next nine years homeless, beating herself up mentally over what she'd done as she traveled the world. Entering Gotham City at 17 Cassandra came to be one of Oracle's agents in the No Man's Land of Gotham City. After saving Commissioner Gordon's life from her assassin father, she was given the Batgirl costume with the approval of both Batman and Oracle. She became Barbara's ward and in a sense, the Batman's adoptive daughter. As the No Man's Land wore on, the new Batgirl was introduced to the rest of the Bat-clan with varying levels of acceptance. Usually going out under the Batman's watchful eye she was finally allowed to go on a solo mission when a petrol station needed guarding against a local gang. Near the end of No Man's Land, Batman noticed her death wish and forced her to make a decision between suicidal actions and self preservation. She opted for self preservation. Despite her notable handicap of being unable to talk, read or write, Cassandra did remarkably well. Capable of understanding others' intentions due to her ability to read body language she was a more than capable listener, even if she couldn't reply. It was this trait that made her one of the Batman's most loyal and trusted followers and helped her to survive when the Bat-clan became hunted by the Blood Hawks. Although the fact that she couldn't talk frustrated Barbara Gordon, she proved herself useful in other ways during a team up with the spectral vigilante Ghost in hunting down disappearing corpses. The running successes and final understanding of her mission as Batgirl allowed Batman to give her the privilege of running solo in Gotham City on the condition that she faced no 'costumed criminals' (Joker, Bane, Two Face, Penguin, etc) From going undercover in Madras with Batman to saving local heroes from the mob, Cassandra continued to impress as the new Batgirl. Especially when, despite Batman's warnings, she went face to face with a meta-human and won. She even managed to, despite her restriction to Gotham City, make it on the reserve member list of Young Justice. But Cassandra's career was not the only thing that was growing. In the background a rift between Oracle and Batman was slowly emerging, as was the growing image of Batman as a father figure in Cassandra's eyes but the major development was David Cain's growing longing to have his daughter back. Batman learned about Cassandra's past when Cain transmitted a tape he had made of Faizul's death to the Batcave. Nevertheless, Batman continued to accept Cassandra. Things became more strained when a run-away psychic altered Cassandra's mind so that she could understand words. As an after effect she lost her ability to read body language and thus, her ability to fight. After she almost died while trying to protect the psychic from assassins, Batman took away her costume but began re-training her. The training remained ineffective perhaps due to Cassandra's dwelling on her lost ability instead of focusing on accumulating more knowledge, and she wanted to roam the streets, with or without the costume. It was during one of these 'unauthorized' vigilante outings that she encountered her mother. Lady Shiva noted Cassandra's missing skills and offered to train in a way that will allow her to possess them again but in exchange they will fight in one year. A death duel. Cassandra accepted. Cassandra began training immediately; going after every talented fighter she came across in order to gain more skills. After hearing how notorious the Joker was with the Bat family, she freed him in order to apprehended him again in order to gauge just how good he was. Batman and Oracle deduced that Cassandra had not given up her death wish and that it was due to guilt over her murdering Faizul. They began looking into what had brought the death wish back. Her reckless training was interrupted when an Officer Down was called over the frequencies. Batman's longtime ally and friend, Commissioner Gordon had been shot in cold blood. It was during yet another training session in the Batcave that Cassandra first met her future friend Stephanie Brown (The Spoiler). It wasn't long until Batman gave her a cave of her own to operate from and her training crusade continued as she found even more powerful opponents like Bizzaro, Supergirl and Shadow Thief during the Joker's Last Laugh, as well as numerous female villains during the aftermath of Our Worlds at War. These activities had not gone unnoticed by Batman and Oracle; Despite Oracle's protests Batman allowed Cassandra to continue until the fateful day arrived that Cassandra fought Shiva on the building tops of Gotham City. Shiva won the battle fairly easily, killing Cassandra with a shot to a nerve cluster near the heart. After the battle, within a temple devoted to her, Shiva brought Cassandra back to life and requested another fight. This time, with her death wish satisfied, Cassandra Cain won and became the first to defeat Lady Shiva in martial combat. Unfortunately, the victory would be short lived; Bruce Wayne was in jail under suspicion of murder. Cassandra arrived back at the cave in time to see Batman leave. It was during an investigation into the murder that Cassandra discovered that Batman and Bruce Wayne were in fact the same person. Later she, along with Spoiler and Nightwing, discovered critical clues that pointed to Bruce Wayne's innocence and eventually, incriminating evidence to the real culprit: David Cain. Her father safely behind bars and no battle-to-the-death with Shiva to train for, Cassandra focused on her crime fighting career. Batman regarded Cassandra very highly. During War Games, he relied heavily on her to help control the violence of the gang war in Gotham City. Following War Games, the Gotham City Police Department declared all costumed heroes illegal. Because of this and Nightwing being injured during the War Games, Batman suggested that he and Batgirl move to Blüdhaven, as well as financially supporting the two. There, she quickly made a name for herself by defeating the Society of Evil. Deathstroke later took on a contract from the Penguin to kill Batgirl and decided to let his daughter Rose Wilson (the current Ravager) do the job instead. Cassandra beat Rose by critically wounding her and giving Deathstroke no choice but to get her medical attention. It was during fathers' day that Cassandra became infatuated with knowing who her mother was. Interrogating all the contacts she had (including Batman and her father, David Cain) she eventually found her mother to be Lady Shiva. Cassandra joined the Justice League Elite, masquerading as an assassin named Kasumi to monitor the team for Batman and participated in several missions with them. Ultimately, she helped them save the world from the Worlogog and a psychic impression of Manchester Black that had taken over the team's leader, Vera Black. She revealed herself to her teammate Coldcast to tell him that he was not a bad person before he was accused of murder due to the death of a target on a mission, and stood by him in clearing his name. Returning to Gotham City, Cassandra discovered that not only had her adoptive family left on a year-long training trip without her, but that Batman had left a recently cured Two-Face to protect Gotham in his stead. Despite this Cassandra still retained the Batgirl persona and patrolled Gotham while staying at Wayne Manor under Alfred's care. Due to Alfred's influence, Cassandra would gradually learn to read and write due to her attending ESL classes between her nightly activities. It was during one of these patrols however that Deathstroke managed to not only inject her with a controlled dose of his serum but influence her enough to join him in a plan to form an army involving David Cain's 'daughters'. While under Slade's influence, Cassandra gained control of a part of the League of Assassins, assassinating Nyssa al Gul in the process, and became a member of his Titan's East. As leader of the League of Assassins she also, again under Slade's control, attempted to kill Kara Zor-el and masterminded the escape of David Cain from prison. She would eventually be freed from the serum's influence when Timothy Drake injected her with an antiserum during a confrontation between the Teen East and the Teen Titans, however, suffering residual effects of the drug, she briefly worked for David Cain in attaining the drug Pheno before fully coming to her senses and returning to the Bat Family. Feeling partially responsible for what happened to her Batman allowed her to return after a strict detoxification program and had her under strict curfew. Nightwing however was not so accepting, regarding her with open hostility and suspicion. When Cassandra began seeking vengeance upon her father and Slade for drugging her she had to do it secretly due to their mistrust but eventually she was found out, resulting in her clashing with Nightwing and stealing a Batwing from the Batcave. The ordeal however resulted in Cassandra being cleared from the suspicion of Slade and her father’s influence and being officially adopted as Bruce Wayne's daughter. With Batman's invitation Cassandra began working in the Outsiders team and, despite some mistrust from some members due to her recent activities under Slade, she was accepted as part of the team. However, when Batman suddenly disappeared without word or warning and Cassandra took it upon herself to lead, the team fractured from an attack by the Black Glove and a shunned Cassandra was left to return to a demolished Batcave. With the absence, and now suspected death, of Batman Cassandra created the Network as a countermeasure to his absence. This action was not well received by Nightwing who was having trouble coming to grips with his step-father’s possible death. The two would eventually sort out their conflict after Alfred intervened on a fight between the two. Cassandra handed over further creation of the Network to Nightwing. When the third crisis hit Cassandra was among the heroes responding to an Article X draft to combat the rise of Darkseid. Cassandra has also been seen assisting Power Girl and Wonder Woman fight an incarnation of the villainous Chang Tzu. Following the Battle for Batman's cowl, Cassandra began to feel emotional about her adoptive father's death, becoming disillusioned and passing her costume onto Stephanie Brown who becomes the new Batgirl. Cassandra leaves via the Gotham Airport, warning Stephanie not to follow her. After Batman's return, it was revealed that Cassandra had handed over her Batgirl mantle to Stephanie, acting under her mentor's order in the event of his death or disappearance and because giving over the role would help Stephanie become a stronger hero. Drake had been in regularly contact with her, implying that she's been working as an anonymous agent in Batman's plans. Shortly thereafter, Red Robin visited her in person at Hong Kong to exchange information on cases they were working with, on the crime boss and possible undercover cop Lynx and a mysterious assassin known as Cricket that Cassandra was searching for. Aside from the minor aid they offered each other, Tim had brought her a new costume with a Bat on it to replace the plain black costume she had been wearing even since she gave her Batgirl uniform and name to Stephanie, telling her that it didn't matter if she called herself Bat-Chick, Knightbat, or Black Robin, she had a family. She thanked him but said that family is not always home as she left, giving no sign she'd use the new costume but taking it with her regardless. Drake noted that despite her not wanting to be Batgirl any more, there was no sign she was being anything but true to herself and who she had wanted to become. Cassandra later becomes an operative of Batman Incorporated protecting Hong Kong, using the suit given to her by Tim and calling herself Blackbat. Bruce Wayne had her take down a neo-heroin smuggling operation. There was a new supervillain that called himself the Architect who had managed to destroy three Gotham bridges with the help of explosives smuggled from Hong Kong, resulting in the deaths of dozens of civilians. Feeling guilty over her failure to stop the explosives from leaving China, Cassandra returned to Gotham and partnered with Red Robin, Dick Grayson, and Damian Wayne (the newest Robin) to bring the Architect to justice. During a stakeout at Oswald Cobblepot's night club, Cassandra was mocked and berated by Damian, who told her that he was a better hero and that Bruce likely sent her to Hong Kong as a demotion. Despite Damian's hostility toward her, Cassandra ultimately saved his life after pulling him out of the club mere seconds before it is destroyed by a bomb. Afterwards, Dick discovered that the Architect planned to flood Gotham and kill thousands of civilians, Cassandra and Damian worked together to dispose of the explosives that were supposed to sink the city. Once the Architect is defeated and captured, Cassandra implied that she intended to stay in Gotham rather than return to Hong Kong. Black Bat travelled to Paris following a homing signal to Red Robin to the final site in a tournament of assassins, saving him from being raped by Daughter of Acheron, Ra's Al-Ghul's half sister, and defeated the vigilante Promise while freeing Drake. Cassandra then proceeded to take a sword and impaled Tim in the chest, triggering confirmation that she had won the tournament, being only the eight in history to do so, and activating a system that would 'immortalize' her, by killing her with a laser. Red Robin saved her from the beam, and the two revealed they had faked Red Robin's death, using a trick sword, blood packets, and a stopped heart to fool the temple's automated systems. They attempted to examine the base, but although Tim conversed with the assassin tournament's creator, a previously unknown centuries old immortal, the base self destructed before they could learn any close as to his location. Red Robin and Black Bat both traveled to Hong Kong in order to catch Cricket, a 10-year old assassin, but they were easily defeated by the superhumanly fast assassin, badly injuring Tim including having an arm and several ribs broken, and Cricket promised to fight Cassandra 'For real' next time before they both went unconscious. After they had woken up, both went back to Gotham to pick up the pieces. POWERS AND ABILITIES KNOWN POWERS: None KNOWN ABILITIES: Assassin Knowledge: Cassandra spent her waking hours training to be the perfect killer since she could walk under her father's watch, and though her understanding of the world in general has suffered for it, her understanding of other warriors, specifically those whose profession is to kill, is actually somewhat disconcerting, as she will often find herself more comfortable in such a person's presence than she will around your average citizen... even if she does consider that person to be an enemy... who may or may not be trying to kill her at any given time. Athlete: Since she could walk, Cassandra has been trained up to the peak up human capability, and her athletic prowess reflects this. She is easily Olympic caliber, and indeed could likely outperform many gold medalists in that regard. While she's not quite up to, say, Catwoman's level, she still leaves most athletes in the dust. Although, in the Bat-family, this is practically a job requirement. Body Reading: At the cost of her ability to speak (and when that was regained, a fight with the ungodly deadly Lady Shiva) Cassandra was given the extraordinary ability to read people's body language to the point where she can not only tell the general mood, disposition of a person and even tell whether they're lying depending on how good they are at hiding themselves, but she can almost always tell what an opponent is going to do before they do it through mere skill and intuition. This ability leads most who fight her to think she is some kind of meta-human, which is of course not at all true. She doesn't read their minds, so much as she reads their intentions through their body-language on a level that only her father, Lady Shiva, and, to a lesser extent, Batman can manage. However this ability only lends itself so far as that she can tell what her opponent is going to do. Whether she's fast enough or skilled enough compared to her opponent that she can actually -avoid- the attack she sees coming is another matter entirely. Luckily for her, there aren't many who can match her physical abilities, and two of the people who can aren't particularly inclined to kill her. Escape Artist: While not quite at Batman's level, she has learned many of the tricks to escaping a great many of the objects with which you could be bound with skill that rivals most professionals, though not blatantly exceeding the,, be it simply slipping out of hand-cuffs, escaping a straight-jacket or even rope or chain bindings, and picking various kinds of locks with the aid of a few small tools hidden in her gloves. Infiltration: With the aid of some handy tools from her utility belt and several lessons in the fine art of violating the privacy of others from the Bat himself, Batgirl has become highly skilled at slipping past even the most impressive security systems, once making it as far as the entrance to the Batcave itself before her presence was detected, and breaking the lock of most doors, using automated key-code breaking devices when the old fashioned way doesn't cut it. Intimidation: Let's face it, no matter how pretty you may be, if you wear -that- mask and use the particular dry scratchy voice she uses when in full-on Batgirl mode, you'll be hard pressed to find someone who isn't at least a little creeped out by you. Batman has taught her the importance of intimidation in their fight against crime, and she's taken in to heart quite readily, having developed a heartless, haunted persona, even adopting a way of moving, of -standing- that just seems... unnatural, giving her the general effect of a murderous possessed mannequin. Add to that some lessons in the finely-honed art of scaring the living hell out of people by way of dangling them off of high places and... well, you get the idea. Martial Arts: Cassandra received lessons from one of the greatest hand-to-hand fighters alive - her father, who had briefly trained Batman himself - since the day she could walk straight, and it shows. Her fighting prowess is almost unmatched, putting her among the most deadly hand-to-hand combatants alive along with Batman, Lady Shiva, and her own father, Cain. Combined with her impressive athletic prowess, and you have someone no street thug - and many hardened villains, for that matter - couldn't hope to defeat - let alone kill - with anything other than luck. However she's used to opponents made of normal bone and meat parts, since that's all she was trained to fight, and thus far that's mostly all she's fought. Metahumans tend to be a ways out of what she expects from an opponent, which puts her at something of a disadvantage. No amount of skill in reading body language tells you that someone going to spit fire at you, after all. All the same, most humans would be better off seeking more wholesome lines of work than cross her path. Ranged Combat: Among her various fighting talents is a great skill in hurling objects, specifically batarangs, with great accuracy and velocity at opponents, to the point where she can disarm them or even knock them out with one throw, and have it come back to her, retrieving the weapon before it even hits the ground. Stealth: If you want to hang out with Batman's crowd, you have to be able to move silently and unseen, and Cassandra's no exception. Even before falling under Batman and the Oracle's collective wing, her father taught her well in the nuances of stealth, even making something of a game out of staying unseen until you could surprise and attack an opponent... or sensing if someone else is trying to get the drop on her. Her time with Batman and his adopted family has only strengthened this ability, and you'd be hard pressed to see her coming if she doesn't want you to. This allows her to gleefully pull the time-honored trick of completely disappearing the second someone so much as glances away from you. She never gets tired of that. Survival (Urban): Cassandra spent the better part of her life, starting at age nine or so, living in the back alleys of Gotham City. Alone. As such, you can imagine that growing up in such an unbelievably harsh environment, surrounded by some of the worst Gotham has to offer without any serious injuries to show for it, has left her with pretty much any skill she'd conceivably need to survive without any kind of aid in pretty much any city - outside of the morally abhorrent. Weapons: Thanks to her father's training more than Batman's, Cassandra is well versed in the art of fighting with many different kinds of weapon with great skill. Unfortunately, as with the martial-arts training she's had to soften, very few of those abilities can be applied to a battle in which the user would really rather not kill their opponent. That and the fact that she honestly prefers using her fists and legs in a fight leads to this skill collecting dust, however should the need ever arise she will likely be able to use any hand-to-hand weapon adeptly, and can more easily anticipate the movements of a weapon-wielding enemy as a result. STRENGTH LEVEL: While not peak human, she is very strong for her size; capable of lifting over 250 lbs. WEAKNESSES: Human: Being only human, protected by mere gadgets, Cassandra is still vulnerable and susceptible to all forms of assault that can drastically harm a human. Normal items and weaponry such as knives, poisonous gases, or flash bombs or projectile weapons can prove to be a challenge to Batgirl every now and then. Cassandra also tires after continued exertion. Illiterate: Cassandra was brought up without anything resembling an education in the english language, her first language being one of the body. Therefore, although she was given the ability to speak, reading was completely alien to her. This is arguably her greatest limitation, and Batman has sought to rectify this by assigning Sparrow as her reading tutor. She has improved, but only to the extent that she has memorized the alphabet and can put simple sentences together with little problems. Sasha's untimely demise has slowed her progress significantly, not taking into account the grief she feels for her friend's death, but she presses on regardless. She currently has trouble reading anything more complicated than a children's book, and the subtleties and puzzles built with words such the Riddler uses are completely beyond her. Speaking: For the longest time Cassandra was almost completely unable to speak, and although she's overcome this and improved significantly over the past years, she is still mostly stuck with giving short halting phrases, and isn't always completely sure of the correct word to use at any given time, so it can be kind of a pain to speak with her at times, since there aren't many people fluent in body language, especially if you happen to be impatient or don't know her that well. Guilt: Even if she does a good job suppressing it lately, Batgirl hasn't been able to completely free herself of the immense guilt brought upon her from the murder she committed some ten years ago. She is prone to nightmares, and the memory of it keeps her from fighting to her full potential, for fear that she may take another life completely by accident. It is one of the driving forces of her zeal for the Batman's crusade, and her desire to redeem herself for what she feels was an irredeemable act sometimes leads her to be severely reckless in her attempts to preserve life in Gotham. Enemies: Cassandra has made a number of enemies during her relatively short time as Batgirl, most of them merely from her association with Batman. However none aim at her quite as personally as Lady Shiva, who generally isn't someone you want out for your head. Even so, Cassandra was surprised to find herself somewhat saddened by the news of her demise. Regardless, Batgirl has enough on her plate with Batman's collected rogue's gallery, and the countless delinquents she thrashes on a nightly basis. Secret Identity: Cassandra has a fairly major secret to keep, that of her secret identity as Batgirl, and the hidden identities of most of the people in her life. She has a lesser chance than most of being discovered, however if an enemy who was inclined to use the information ever found out about her, the affects would be devastating, especially now that she is one of Bruce Wayne's wards, and the connection isn't too hard to make. Seeking Justice: Because of her murder at a young age, she tries everything she can to bring justice and save innocent lives. She will put herself in harms way, even mortal harms way, in order to save lives. PARAPHERNALIA EQUIPMENT: Bat Costume: This adds a layer of protection against all types of weapons. It also is a nice protection against flames. It increases her ability to hide and allows her to see in the dark. It also contains a communication link. Utility Belt: Although seemingly unremarkable in appearance, the utility belt remains as one of the most important tools in fighting crime. Composed of a leather strap and a solid steel buckle, the utility belt houses ten cylinder cartridges, which vertically clip onto the outside of the belt. The buckle itself contains a miniature camera and two-way radio. A secondary compartment behind the length of the belt houses a supply of collapsible batarangs. Each of the ten cylinders contains various tools integral to war on crime. The following list is a sample of some of the items that can regularly be found in the utility belt, but does not represent the complete definitive arsenal of the equipment. Infrared flashlight Smoke capsules Forensic analysis kit First aid kit Lockpicking tools Tear gas pellets Microprocessor power source Micro-recorder (updated regularly) Batline spool + grappling gun Miniature Laser torch Bat-shaped handcuffs Various incendiary capsules (including plastique and thermite) Rebreather and gas mask TRANSPORTATION: Batcycle WEAPONS: Hand to Hand Combat Versed in weapons but most could end up killing someone so avoids it often times EXAMINATION RECORD Brown eyes scanned over the small apartment, looking over the small desk by the window. Mentally she went over everything that had been inside to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything, she hadn't. Perhaps it was nostalgia that kept her boot clad feet firmly at door, ready to leave, yet able and willing to make the move to do so and not. The ship rocked and tilted with each roll of the waves into its side. It was an older boat, but the Captain had allowed her on board, he was going to let her stow away on his ship as they went to America. She could have taken a plane, but this voyage offered her time to get over her nervousness of returning home, Dick's reaction to the incident with Slade had her apprehensive, she wanted things between them to be better, to get fixed. And then there was how she’d left things with Tim and how she’d left without a word to Barbra or Bruce. It was as though she hadn’t wanted to see them, but did really want to see their disappointment, to know she’d failed again? She didn’t want to hear the disappointment in Batman’s voice and how she was sure he’d no longer want to consider her family, would he turn his back on her thus meaning they would all follow suit, she didn’t want to be alone, not in the true sense of the word. Her eyes stung and she dropped her chin to rest on the back of her hands her hair falling down to shield her face as her eyes took in the ocean waves, and the storm cloud they may or may not it, a storm was coming it was just a matter of when. "It will...get better"

[/i] she thought to herself as she turned her body, her back against the main railing at the side of the boat, the wind catching her loose black hair and playing with it as she took a breath of the fresh salt filled air. Her brown eyes keeping a keen eye on those that did varies work on the ships main deck.

The voyage was long and she couldn’t bring herself to sleep long only ten to twenty minutes every so often, she was too uneasy to sleep, and the constant rocking of the ship made her stomach roll a little bit. She knew she could defend herself, but she hadn't felt safe.

She was returning to help, not much more could be done from a far. The news had reached even here, the attacks and capture of the alien race of teenage heroes worldwide, most internet videos had been of poor quality, but that Tim had spruced them up and sent them to her.

The attacks she'd studied before she left. Having thought over the tapes had allowed her mind to come up with possible places to hold them could be with the help of a world map. She had found nothing on her own. The information she'd gotten from several underground criminals wasn't much, but it was somewhere to start. She'd only gotten a few names, a few places to check out, all when she wore no costume, nothing to affiliate herself with Batman. It was safer that way for them all.

————

Cassandra cast a look around the room they were in, she couldn't very well say that much had changed; it looked very much the same as she remembered, but it didn't feel the same. The space between them seemed to be more than just the simply, yet expensive dark oak desk. She took a small almost nonexistent breath of air as she waited her dark eyes watching her every movement. Oracle was ignoring her, making her wait, that much she knew to be true and she couldn’t blame her, the typing of her fingers on the keyboard and the words she spoke to the man on the other end, she recognized the voice it was Nightwing, and her body tensed up a bit at the easy going tone he used with her. Her hands curled into small fists at her side. She was in her new costume and had taken up the name Black Bat, but none of these protected her from the deep seeded silence. It was cutting a lot deeper then she realized it would. Her mask was in her lap and her long black hair swept back, but that didn’t stop a few of the pesky strands from getting in her eyes and framing her face.

Not yet. We need to fix what is broken…[/i]

She moved her body standing and her fingers moving over the desk to rest along the slender fingers of Barbara’s stilling her typing as her index finger moved over her lips in the gesture for silence. Her brown eyes pleading as she slowly moved to sit back in the chair. Dick couldn’t know she was here, at least not yet. She wanted to be the one to tell him, to try and fix where their relationship had abruptly halted. They were family and she wanted to be that with him again, perhaps it was childish, but it was what she wanted. She also wanted to see what could be found with the few names she'd been given, she wanted to go to Bruce with more than just names, she wanted to give him something solid, information that was accurate and helpfully.

"No. I want...to...tell him. Will you...see...if he will…come here?"

Her words came softly, so as it would be hard for him discover who was speaking, if he had been able to pick up her words at all. She leaned forward in her chair, reaching down to pick up her mask that had fallen to the wood floors to help Barbara get around better in her wheel chair. She looked to the ground, her eyes not quite meeting Oracles as she kept her mouth shut and wondered what she would do. She stroked the ears of the mask in her hand and kept still and silent, her ears poised to try and catch what Grayson said on the other end of the communication.

Cassandra's body tensed up slightly catching the sense of someone coming before the sound of the foot falls from behind her in the hallway reached her ears. Her mask slipping over her head, so her identity was safe. She was on her feet in less than a second, her lips pressed together in a thin line as she put her body, as a sort of wall between Oracle and the person whom had entered the room. Her hands up curled into fists, her body ready to use the chair as leverage to get some air and vault over the top and bring the side of her foot along the lower jaw of the intruders face. The movements would still not allow him to have a clear shot at Barbra unless he went through her. Her brown eyes gave nothing away as she stared at the person across the threshold, as she watched the subtle movements of their body.
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subject examined by Doctor Cyber

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C A S S A N D R A C A I N

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[Doctor Cyber]

[STYLE=font-family: georgia; font-size: 25px; line-height: 20px; border-bottom: #303030 dashed 1px; width: 300px;]Welcome to Clash of the Finest![/style] [STYLE=font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma; text-align: justify; width: 300px;] Thank you so much for choosing Clash of the Finest, we look forward to your contributions to our rapidly growing writing community!

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