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"You look beautiful tonight, dear daughter. An outfit befitting of an assassin and no bat symbol in sight."
"And may I say you look stunning as well, Mother? An outfit from the Al Ghul collection?"
Kai-Li hated wearing her Orphan attire. She never thought the day would come when she'd dawn the outfit again. That being said, the fact Lady Shiva couldn't tell if she was joking or asking a serious question under the completely black mask gave the young Gotham Knight satisfaction. Brief satisfaction that might help through this sudden meeting.
"Speaking of bats ," Shiva's brows dipped, " none will be showing up, correct?"
"I told them I needed some air."
Shiva nodded, then her lips curled into a smirk. "Your little boyfriend ?"
"He's not—" Kai-Li calmed herself, realizing that Shiva was joshing her. "Catlad won't show up. I wouldn't have a way to contact him anyway."
"Well, at least that's one thing you didn't pick up from your mentor," Shiva scuffed the dirt with her heel. "I'm still curious about that cat boy's fighting style, and the fact that he was immune to jellyfish toxin reminds me of—"
"Just a reminder that the longer I am out, Batman will look for me." Kai-Li crossed her arms. She didn't appreciate lying to Bruce, even if it was a little white lie. Shiva, her mother , was two of the last people she wanted to see on Earth—the other being her bastard of a father David Cain.
"Then let me get to my point," said Shiva holding an apologetic hand. "That night where…Cain and I tried to ambush you at your Junior High Dance—"
"Tried to?" Kai-Li questioned.
Shiva ignored that tone and continued. "I noticed your skills have diminished…from the training that Cain put you through. Did that Bats—"
"A metahuman." Kai-Li uncrossed her arms. "I was on a mission to rescue a metahuman and they had telepathic powers. They saw that my brain was on a different frequency thanks to…Cain's training. They thought they would be doing me a favor by fixing it for me."
"And they ruined your skills as the second-strongest fighter on the planet."
"Which helped me learn what it means to be normal…and you are aware of Superman and Wonder Woman , right?"
"You were perfection, Cassandra," Shiva said, ignoring the question.
"Perfection isn't the only thing that matters. And I go by Kai-Li now." She noticed Shiva bite her lips.
"Let me help you Ca…" Shiva muttered a swear, "Kai-Li. Let me help you gain the skills you had and make you a warrior once again."
"I'm already a knight and a crusader," Kai-Li said.
"But The Batman won't teach you any lethal blows. That's why you and Catwoman's pet had to use sporting equipment to immobilize myself and Cain. It's disgraceful Cassan…Kai-Li."
Kai-Li crossed her arms once again. "The best warriors use anything they can find to aid themselves, do they not?"
Shiva waved her long black hair. "Basketballs, tennis balls, and gym rope?"
"Consider it making up for lost family time."
"Kai-Li…"
"And the one thing I don't understand is why you would work with Cain." Kai-Li breathed, knowing this was a heavy question. "What he did to your sister; what he did to you. There's no sugarcoating that he assaulted—"
"I willingly gave that man my body." Shiva held herself. "And in return, it opened my soul to see that I could become greater than I was. Working with him, and knowing that the Al Ghuls might request me to do it again is painful. However, the pain he thrust upon me made me a greater warrior than he thought himself to be. I know that wounded his pride."
"Another question," Kai-Li moved closer to Shiva, staring her in the eyes, "You've killed many warriors, but why not Cain? Why not after your skills surpassed his?"
Shiva held herself tighter and then turned her back to Kai-Li. " Honor …Cassandra. Maybe there's a gap in what honor means for our generations, but as much as I loathe Cain for soiling my body and taking Carolyn from this world, he gave me two things in return: perspective and you . Just as I said before."
Kai-Li stayed silent and turned her head away from Shiva. Then she spoke, "but you don't have to honor—"
"The man? I don't honor Cain only what he gave me. In the same way, you do not honor the name he bestowed upon you, despite it being based upon my own. I am not telling you to honor your birth name child, but you were born on Infinity Island, the homeland of the Al Ghul family. If anything you should honor them."
"Not if it means committing genocide on those they deem unworthy of the world," said Kai-Li.
"And Batman believes that everyone can be redeemed," Shiva said. "But I believe we got carried away from my initial question. Would you rather be perfect for a year or mediocre for a lifetime ?"
"Having been mediocre for the last couple of months," Kai-Li raised her voice with determination, "I'd say I'm fine with it."
Once again Shiva brushed her hair from behind, still not facing Kai-Li. "Well Cassandra , don't come crying to Mother when you end up broken like The Batman . You have Barbara Gordon and Tatsu Toro for that."
With the drop of a smoke bomb, Shiva vanished—leaving Kai-Li by herself. Except that in Gotham City, she knew she was never alone. She had the Bat-Family who accepted her whether she was mediocre or perfect.
And that was Shiva's weakness: believing in such a thing as absolute perfection.