Cassie - Thursday, November 30, 2000, 8:56 PM
---------------------------------------------

Where has the young amazon wanna-be been, since that fateful day? Since that horrible night when she was forced to choose between two people, two souls, two directions. As difficult as it was to choose neither one, it was even more difficult to note just -who- exactly it is that her team mates have become. War. Pestilence. Death. Three horsemen from the Apocalypse, the end of the world. A horrific event that has transgressed through the entire planet. Cassie felt there was only one place that would not have been touched, one place that would not have been brushed with the destruction - the one place young Cassandra had hoped to find .. herself within. Paradise Island, Themyscria, the home of the Amazons, and focal point to Gods that most have forgotten, or don't believe exist; all that is, save the Amazons, and the new Wonder Girl. It was there that she flew her mother, there that she placed her in the safe care of the Amazons, and prayed that Diana would be there .. prayed that she'd find the answer to so many questions.. upon the ancient island.

Unfortunately, young Cassandra did not find Wonder Woman upon that isle; instead she found a new direction, and a new focal point, a new place to be. The amazons accepted her as one of their own, Zeus granted her with powers right before their very eyes years ago, she was blessed by the Gods, and even though Diana was not around, Cassie was still accepted, and given a royal treatment. She could have stayed, she could have fought for them, when or if the powers of darkness drove to the secluded island, hidden within the seas, where no mortal man could traverse upon, and only an amazon could find. (Well, and a few ever so chance encounters, naturally.)

However, after a good deal of soul searching, and even more prayers to statues that offered nothing more than blank stares; the new Wonder Girl bid her 'sisters' and mother, farewell, promising she would be back if they need, and she would find Wonder Woman.. In the mean time, set with a new found courage, accepting the fate her team mates, friends, and loved ones had, vowing that if they could not be changed, then she -would- do what is necessary to end their own torment.. Wonder Girl returned to a place she once called a second home. (Not even her mom's was as close.)

Silently, only the soft russle of her jacket whisping through the wind can be heard, as the teen amazon wanna-be lands within the Habitat.. Soft, silken ringlets of platinum bound about her sharply pointed face, as eyes of blue shift towards the location of the sound. Quietly, hovering in the air so not to make a sound, she advances towards the room, set upon getting there .. and seeing just who - or what - is around.

And where's Pestilence been? What's the Horseman been up to? Well, for starters, he hit LA and upped the airborne toxins, causing millions to die of hideous lung diseases; he hit New Orleans, spreading billions of bugs and rats and the classic plagues that tend to travel with them - imagine the surprise of scientists when they discovered that the Black Plague had hit the Big Easy. He was apparently annoyed with Australia, since the outbreak of smallpox there was...well, smallpox was wiped out, before; it -had- to be him. And of course, a day ago, he tag-teamed with War and hit Smallville, the hometown of Green Lantern's alter ego, Clark Kent. For some reason, it was enough to draw Superman, though; War seemed to expect it, and so did Lois, but it took Pesti by surprise. So as War and Superman duked it out, the young avatar of plague and vermin painted the town red, causing misery and death everywhere and nearly making Batman ralph. That part, though, wasn't as sick, apparently, as what happened afterwards - when Superman ripped off Lois' head. Sure, Lois was already dead, but still. That was an awfully nasty sounding 'plop' as bits of her brain hit the dusty sidewalk.

The problem with Smallville, though, was that there was this big steel girder guy who committed suicide, and then his shadow came to life, and started smacking around Bart's shad-- Pestilence's shadow, and managed to hold him down via his shadow - talk about shadowboxing gone hideously wrong. Or right, depending on your point of view. At any rate, it's awfully lucky War was there, because the SHade Guy was inches away from killing Pesti - it just goes to show how badly he was beaten that the young speedster's not even conscious yet, nevermind healed. But - yes. Unconscious and beginning to stir, a total mess, bruised and with blood caked all over, broken bones, costume torn to shreds...vulnerable, and lying on his bed. It seems that War had places to ruin and people to kill.

The door quietly, at first, creaaaaaaaaaaaaaks open, slowly, inch by careful inch, just enough until a bright blue eye can peak itself in, casing the joint with a swift view. Left. Right. Left. Right again, Cassie's gaze flickers about the room, only upon her final sweep does she confirm that at least there are no -present- traps awaiting her. The door opens the rest of the way up, allowing the outside corridor lights to filter into the room itself, revealing the unconscious form; swollen, bruised, hurt, broken and looking nothing like the youth she knew. Or knows. As she stands in the doorway, left to gawk at Bart's body, there are three choices she must make, three options that must be done, right now, before the others return, and before Bart awakens....

A voice inside her head screams out; kill him, kill him right -now-, do not hesitate, do not stop, do not think, do what you've been taught, do what you've been told, without all four of the horsement, perhaps the end of the world will not exist, with only three, perhaps in some small manor, Cassie will have done her duty, her job, and put a huge chink in the plans of the monster, or monsters that did this to her friends. Cassie swears the voice sounds like Artemis, it's the first thing there, and the first thing to come to her mind as her fist rises upwards, gloved hand balling tightly together, form advancing, death written in her gaze. Kill him. Kill him. Don't let him live, don't let him kill another, the next could be Cissie, a hero, Diana, Donna, your mother. KILL HIM. The voice in her head screams out for vengeance against all that have died, the voice DEMANDS vengeance. A life for a -LIFE-. The teen advances further, taking two steps in one, fist drawing upwards, forget your own life, kill him! DO IT....

Pestilence just lies there, not moving much, only to startle every now and then - or is it flinch? He's got to be in a lot of pain, even though his sleep...which isn't even really sleep, but is undoubtedly approaching it slowly. He looks so - so broken. And there aren't any bugs in here - not one. The room looks as spotless as ever; the air smells mostly clean, but for the faint scent of old blood and grit, likely all present on the boy himself.

And - it's not so much that he doesn't look anything like the youth Cassie knew so well. He looks like he was beaten within an inch of his life, but his jaw's the same - his forehead. His hair. His hands...and the ring on his finger. But the symbol on the ring is wrong; it's no lightningbolt. It's an L within a circle, with a star to the right of the letter..

He stirs again, a soft moan of pain escaping his cracked and swollen lips. Some strange, foreign sounding words follow, mumbled, and then - quite unmistakeably, "...Cassie..."

Artemis' voice, the sound that drums in her brain, again, and again, the yelling rhythm that demands justice be served, that if you don't kill him now, if you don't get rid of him now, more death will happen, more lives will be lost - and the next one could be one closer to you, than an innocent on the street. Tears stream down Cassie's cheeks, she's been taught by a Warrior Amazon what to do, her training has consisted solely of that, for Diana has been off doing her own thing, and doesn't give a damn about Cassie.. Why should the new Wonder Girl worry about Wonder Woman's voice then? Still, as that fist draws up, knowing just where to move, just where to hit, just where to go *crack* and put Bart.. permanently out of his misery.. Just when she's psyched herself up, knowing she's doing this for the good of the planet, doing this like an Amazon should.. her fist beginning its downward strike ... That voice.. more than voice, the name, the mumbled out words that come out ... jerks the teen out of mid-swing, as her arm jerks backwards, form stumbling a few steps away..

What the hell was she just going to do? What the hell was she thinking? She doesn't know anymore, she doesn't trust anything anymore .. she doesn't know who she wants to be, or what. Is she in this to be a hero.. or is this just some kind of fantasy that she's living, and she is nothing more than a fangirl living out that dream?

"Oh Bart.." The words are whispered through her lips, as Cassie drops down to rest at the bed, kneeling down before the youth, head bowed down.. unsure what to do, what to say .. what to think. "Great Hera, give me strength, Zeus.. give me knowledge, wisdom.. what do I do?" ... It's as though two sides war within her, Artemis screaming that she's weak.. and Diana speaking sense, proclaiming there will always be a way around.. That the way to peace is not through a fist.. Which side is Cassie though?

It looks like Cassie's either going to have to make up her mind soon or have it made for her, because Bart's starting to come around with increasing speed. It's quite possible the obscene amounts of speed force energy that've been coursing through his body were concentrating, for the past day, on mending his broken bones and face; he still looks like hell and likely feels that way, but it seems he can move without waking up screaming, so...well.

A quiet sob, then a gulp and a pained, conscious expression - and the eye that isn't completely swollen shut opens a little ways, as...Pestilence takes a deep breath, then exhales in a long sigh. And then he freezes, catching the shape blocking the light from the hall. There's a very, very hushed "Oh --" and the older teen collapses back against the bed, relaxing completely. He's not...trying to escape? He's not calling out the bugs? The germs? Anything?

"...Cassie - love - why haven't you killed me yet?" he whispers. "I would never have known - do it now, do it..." While you still have a chance. While he's still as weak as a baby. While he has enough of himself in there to ask you to, instead of trying to kill you. Slowly, he moves his arm - the one attached to the hand with the ring on - toward the edge of the bed. He's holding his hand out, but not moving to touch her. "...please, Cass..."

Her prayers are not answered, her pleading questions are perhaps even, not heard. For why would even the giver of such power desire to assist a mere mortal? Or even listen to her, for that matter. With her head bowed, focus on the inside, rather than what's going on around her, she doesn't initially notice the difference in breathing, nor the swollen eye parting open so suddenly..

Instead, her eyes stare at the ground, as her form kneels there, resting before the bed. Ringlets of light blonde brush against her cheeks, mixing into the droplets of salty water that continue to roll down. What does she do? Give him over to the others? Kill him? Cure him? Let him be? Lie, say you haven't seen him? Leave now? So many questions .. no good answers forthcoming.. none that is .. until the voice jerks Cassie back into reality.

With a twist of her body backwards, Cassie's gaze flickers upwards at the voice, form instinctly drawing away .. almost recoiling from the youth, her ashen face staring into his, voice caught in her throat. Her mouth parts, then closes, parts, then closes again, as she sits there, staring long and hard at the one damn person that has turned her world utterly upside down. Her answer...?

"/Screw/ that, Bart." Licking her lips, Cassie isn't going to tell him.. well.. what she was thinking before, is she? She isn't Artemis, and she isn't Diana .. she's /Cassandra/.. "Whatever is going on, whatever has happened, we can work through it, we can stop it, we can.. we can .. I can't kill you, Bart, I can't, I can't do it. Don't you think that thought wasn't there when I first saw you? Don't you think that wasn't present? But I can't, I'm not Artemis, and and.. I can't do it.. " Her voice stutters, before a hand runs through platinum curls. "Manohmanohmanohmanohmanohman. GodohGodohGod.. I'd.. I'd.. I can't hurt you, Bart, not now, not ever, not even after everything thats happened, but I can't let you get out of this room.. You'll.. You'll just have to kill me."

"No I won't," whispers Bart sadly, bringing his hand back in. He knows - what his weak spot is. He thinks Cassie does, too. Slowly, achingly, he picks himself up and sits so that his back is against the wall and his feet are over the side of the bed. His breathing is still labored, but it's getting better with every breath. "You know I can get out of here. You know how fast-- no, you don't know how fast I am. You have no idea. I'm faster than Wally, Cass. Faster than the fastest man alive, and I -still- don't blow things up when I vibrate through them." His voice - it's changing again, changing back to that Bart-but-not-Bart tone, the one with the ice behind it, just below the surface. The dead voice that sounds like it could be alive, but isn't.

There's a flicker of light, a sudden suffusion of Speed Force energy through him like a jolt of electricity, making him glow cold and brilliant for a moment. All of a sudden, he doesn't look nearly as bad as he did before - it's that Horseman magic for you. All the same, though, he still sits there, watching Cassie. "You should have done it when you had the chance, because I'm going after Keystone now." Voice cold and disdainful, he finally stands. "I hope you're satisfied, Wonder Chick. You could've ended Pestilence, but you let Bart get in the way."

There are so many emotions that sink through Cassie right now, so many things that she feels; guilt, pain, loss, confusion and yes.. even fear, hatred, bitterness.. She isn't SUPPOSE to angst. She's a HERO. Heroes don't suffer! They should never suffer, they should never have to be put into a position where they're forced to chooose between life and death, suffering and freedom, tragedy and triumph. They're just suppose to go beat up bad guys, save the day, and in the end, everyone live 'happily every after'. Yeah, okay, Cassie's not quite -that- innocent, she knows that life is never that easy, but in her fantasy, in her world, in her damn life so far, it has ALWAYS been that way. Good wins, bad loses. Talking about a slap in the face at the reality of it all.

At the sudden suffusion of .. of.. energy around Bart, Cassie's form trips backwards, landing on her rump with a sudden *thwump*. Her face contorts with the emotions, bitterness riding through her features. "YES! _Yes_, yes I /AM/ satisfied. I will not give up, I will NEVER give up. I saw a weakness in you, I saw -BART-, whatever you are, whatever happened to you, the person I knew is still THERE. He's still present, and a part of -YOU-, some where in there. Cause if he wasn't, I'd be dead, and I'm not. I'm still here, I'm still breathing, I'm still living. I'M STILL UNHARMED. If Bart is gone, then why am I still around? Please.. Please Bart, listen to me, you can't do this, you can't.. You.. You.. DON'T MAKE ME SOUND LIKE LUKE SKYWALKER!" Rising upwards to stand, Cassie's hands ball into fists, tears once again streaming down her cheeks. "I'll warn Flash, Bart, I'll tell him where this place is, I'll tell him where you are.. You might be faster than him, but he'll know, the entire JLA will know."

"He -knows- where this place is, Cassie," says Pestilence patiently, straightening his jacket and checking his hair in the mirror. "Remember, he and the Sandman flooded it? It doesn't matter anyway, I'm not staying." Apparently satisfied with his wiry mop of wavy weirdness, he pulls his gloves on a little tighter and crosses his arms. "Honestly, chica, who's to say I didn't give you a miserable creeping cancer? The kind that'll make you die really slow, in painful little steps, making you crazy as you go? Who says people have to die right away?" He grins, raising his eyebrows. "In fact, I think I'll have another go at Wally...and maybe that dick Nightwing, who tried to angst me into staying at home that time we all lost our powers. He could use a bit of a talking-to. Or maybe I'll just go wipe out a couple of fishing villages somewhere, or take Dolph- I mean, Death's sloppy seconds over in New York. Got a lot to do today. Thanks for helping!" This is delivered so cheerfully, so cruelly.

"And trust me, your voice is too sweet to sound like Mark Hamill's..."

With these as his parting words, he's literally gone. Thin air. Faster than even the Flash could see, leaving a bit of a breeze. But he definitely said Keystone next - definitely.

It takes her only a second to note he's gone, as her stomach churns at his warning. So be it then. Because of her, Keystone is lost. Because of -HER-, lives will be destroyed. BECAUSE OF HER ... heroes will be put in harms way.. Because of -her-. Cassandra Sandsmark. Her foolishness, her stupidity, her hesitance, and /her/ foolish emotions.. Bart is lost forever, Pestilence is in its place. Swift to draw towards the phone.. Cassie does the very last thing as Wonder Girl.. she pages.. The Flash.. "Please pick up, Wally.. Please pick up.." Even as she speaks, her free hand is pulling off the jacket.. and her clothes.. She doesn't deserve to /BE/ a hero.

You paged (The Flash, Pestilence, Donna Troy) with 'Just so you know; Wally - if there is a way to contact you, Cassie's doing it, beeper, pager, whatever way would be best. The message would be a hysterical Cassie simply saying; Bart's coming.. to Keystone, after you, and then Nightwing.. but he's going to Keystone.. Said he's going to Keystone.. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.. Or something equally upset, distraught. Mnmn, and then is gone, uniform on floor of the Habitat. ;) No more Wonder Girl! ;/ ;)'.