233 Laid To Rest #233

"After everything she did, there's absolutely reason to save her life," I firmly said, shaking my head, to which Cassandra's grip over my shirt tightened, and she kept grunting urgently.

"Don't be selfish..." I said as I turned to Cassandra, raising an eyebrow at her insistence. "You're not the only one Lady Shiva harmed here," I added, giving her a blank look.

"Just because you're willing to forgive her doesn't mean everyone else has to do the same," I went on, crossing my arms, to which Cassandra winced but kept tugging on my shirt and grunting.

Cassandra might have been Lady Shiva's target and the one to suffer the most for her mother's actions, but Patrick and the others suffered their own fair share because of her.

If I were to save Lady Shiva now, who is to say she wouldn't go after Patrick and the others again to get to Cassandra? Who is to say she wouldn't go through with the threats she made about killing them?

"No, I don't care that she's troubled," I said with a frown, to which Cassandra's grunts grew louder in protest. "So what if she has a death wish? That's all the more reason to let her--" I said, stopping halfway through my sentence as someone interrupted me.

"I appreciate what you're trying to do, kid," Patrick said from the side as he approached me and put a hand over my shoulders. "But we're just a bunch of homeless geezers. You shouldn't worry about us," He continued, shrugging his shoulders as he noticed my frown.

"Little Cassandra, on the other hand, is still too young..." Patrick went on, firmly shaking his head. "The burden of taking a life, her mother's of all people... It's too heavy for anyone to live with, especially her," He concluded, to which I frowned as I looked around and saw no one objecting to his words.

"You're out of your minds... each and every one of you," I said, sighing in frustration as I rubbed my forehead after briefly looking around. "Fine..." I shrugged my shoulders in resignation as I kneeled next to Lady Shiva, taking her wrist.

I quickly channeled my energy into her wounds, closing them in front of everyone's eyes before I took out a blood bag from my inventory and activated my instant surgery power.

Lady Shiva's pale face instantly gained color, and her uneven breathing settled. "She'll live," I said as I got up and picked up Lady Shiva, putting her over my shoulder.

"Thank you, kid," Patrick said, nodding as Cassandra grunted in relief and smiled at me radiantly. "What will you do with Lady Shiva?" He asked, giving me a curious look as he turned to Lady Shiva.

"Nothing much. I'm just going to have a few words with her," I blankly replied as I turned to walk away without waiting for a reply before anyone could even object or try to stop me.

"Don't overdo it, kid," Patrick said with a sigh that I could hear all the way from the main hall's exit, to which I merely shrugged and kept walking without giving him a reply.

...

Slowly opening her eyes, Lady Shiva felt lightheaded as she looked around and immediately froze as she noticed Grayson sitting on a rusty metallic chair in front of her, looking her straight in the eye.

"Since you're here, I suppose this is not hell..." Lady Shiva calmly said as she gathered her bearings. "I assume you saved my life?" She asked with a frown, not sounding grateful or upset.

"On Cassandra's request. If it were up to me, I'd happily watch you bleed out on the ground," Grayson blankly replied, shaking his head as he leaned into his chair.

"And what is this exactly?" Lady Shiva asked, her tone amused. "Perhaps you expect me to promise I'd leave Cassandra alone in exchange?" She went on with a scoff.

"If you know what's good for you, you will," Grayson replied, still calm as he crossed his arms, speaking in a matter-of-fact tone that didn't impress the martial artist.

"Or what, Richard's student?" Lady Shiva asked with a scoff. "You would kill me? I'm not afraid of death," She went as she chuckled in amusement, shaking her head.

"No. Death should be the last of your concerns," Grayson said, his tone growing cold as he suddenly moved, gripping Lady Shiva's head and channeling his energy directly into her mind.

Suddenly her vision turned black, and she found herself sitting in a well-lit room with a view over a luscious garden. Confused, Lady Shiva tried to get up but failed, her eyes uncousously turning to look down.

Her expression instantly turned horrified as she realized she was sitting in a wheelchair and noticed her skinny, weathered hands that could barely move from her lap as she raised them to her face.

She slowly turned to the side upon spotting a mirror on the wall, and her expression turned even worse as she stared into an old weathered face that barely looked similar to hers.

"No... what is this?! No!" Lady Shiva tried to scream in frustration, but her mouth wouldn't open. She tried to get up again, only for her legs to fail, and she could only shake helplessly in the wheelchair.

She kept thrashing in her chair to no avail. She could silently scream in her mind, unable to stand or even muster the strength to bite her own tongue.

Eventually she fell to the ground, and doctors immediatly burst into the room, picking her up and putting her on a bed. Her vision darkened again, and once she opened them, she found herself on the same wheelchair.

She lived like this for over a hundred days inside her heads, but a moment had barely passed in the real world.

Suddenly her vision turned black again, and she opened her eyes and found herself staring at Grayson again. She immediately turned to her arms and couldn't help but scream as she realized their feeble, shriveled state.

"This... this is what you need to worry about," Grayson said as he caught her wrists, his hand glowing and warm to the touch as he restored Lady Shiva's arms.

"Stay away from Cassandra and my friends," Grayson said, his presence suddenly changing as his eyes glowed red and the shadows seemed to coalesce around him, painting a terrifying image that even Lady Shiva in silence.

"There won't be a second time," He concluded, suddenly turning back to his usual self as he turned to walk away, leaving a stunned Lady Shiva alone as she wordlessly watched him depart.

...

"Hopefully, that would make Shiva think twice before she tries anything else," I muttered as I landed in an open patch of grass in the middle of Gotham city park.

Lady Shiva had a death wish, pretty much like her daughter. She didn't value her life and wasn't afraid of physical pain, so nothing will come out of threatening her with murder and torture.

She valued her martial skills and strength above everything else, so I threatened her with the only thing she held dear, and I'd say it worked based on her reaction since I read her mind.

But you never know with people like her, so I was more than ready to fulfill my promise and turn her into an old cripple if she changed her mind and tried something else again, though I hoped it wouldn't come to that.

I didn't bother turning her in since she would escape in a day at most, so I spared myself the trouble and Deborah the headache by leaving her in that abandoned building.

And speaking of which, I said Deborah because Gordon retired after the trial, and Debroah took his position without the need for my interference, surprisingly enough.

Naturally, I went out of my way to try and get her the promotion, but Gordon had already done my job for me, putting in a good word for Deborah and convincing the higher-ups to assign her as the new commissioner.

Honestly, Deborah deserved the promotion even if I had to give her a push or two to get her where she was right now. She was doing a great job as the new commissioner, slowly but surely untangling the mess that was Gotham city's police force.

In time, I'm sure she would turn the GCPD into a competent, cohesive law enforcement unit, and I'd be there to help her whenever she needed a hand, but that's for the future.

For now, I had a dead mercenary in my inventory I needed to put to rest. I never had the chance to give KGbeast a proper burial since I was busy, but better now than never, I suppose.

I channeled my energy, materializing four transparent shovels that started working promptly, digging a six-foot hole in less than a minute. Nodding in satisfaction, I retrieved several wood blanks and fashioned a decent-looking coffin before putting Kgbeast's body inside.

I gave Kgbeast a brief look before letting out a sigh as I closed the coffin and moved into the grave. I wanted to say something, but nothing nice or flattering came to mind, causing me to shake my head as I covered the grave in the dirt.

I looked around and spotted a large rock in the distance and hesitated for a second before I used my energy to fly it over the grave. I took another look before scribbling a few words over the boulder.

In memory of Anatoli Knyazev, a formidable mercenary, and an expert in all lethal weapons

Misguided in life, he now rests safe and at peace.