The battle only grew more intense as Lady Shiva continued taunting her daughter, using everything she knew to agitate the young girl and goad her into fighting seriously.
However, Cassandra's swings grew faster and more precise the more Lady Shiva taunted. Her movement was immaculate as she danced around Lady Shiva, dodging and counter-attacking meticulously instead of charging carelessly.
Lady Shiva's smile, in turn, grew broader at the sight of her Cassandra fighting with an efficiency that reminded her of herself. "You really are the perfect weapon, my daughter..." She said, genuinely smiling as she felt her daughter was finally giving her all to the fight.
"Come then, let's settle this..." Lady Shiva said as she jumped and quickly brandished her saber to the side before charging Cassandra, who could only grunt in response and meet her halfway.
The edge of Lady Shiva's saver met Cassandra's tonfa, and the two locked eyes, to which the former immediately frowned upon noticing a slither of doubt and hesitation emerging in her daughter's expression.
"You better take this seriously, girl..." Lady Shiva remarked as she pushed against Cassandra's weapon, forcing her to take a step back. "If not, I will make my way for that theatre and reunite you with your friends once I've slit your throat..." She continued, her expression and tone turning icy.
All hesitation and doubt evaporated, and Cassandra angrily grunted as she pushed her mother away. Lady Shiva stepped back, quickly reaching behind her back and retrieving a small knife, which she threw in her daughter's direction.
Cassandra saw it coming and quickly deflected the knife with her tonfa, jumping to dodge up as her mother followed up with a swing of the saber aiming for Cassandra's ankle.
Spinning and twisting her body in the air, Cassandra brought her tonfa down on Lady Shiva's head, to which the latter quickly regained her balanced and raised the saber with both hands to block.
Cassandra grunted, almost miraculously maintaining her balance as she reached with her free hand for Lady Shiva's knife, which was still spinning in the air.
Lady Shiva's eyes widened as she realized her daughter's intentions, but her smile remained the same as she stepped back and let go of the saber, retrieving another small knife behind her back.
The mother and daughter swung their knives simultaneously, resulting in a loud metallic clang with enough force to send the two blades flying out of their hands.
They didn't hesitate and lunged at one another, using their bare hands to exchange a dozen blows before the knives even hit the ground, during which Lady Shiva kept taunting her daughter with promises of killing her friends.
Lady Shiva stepped away from her daughter as the knives fell within reach, expecting her to do the same. However, instead of reaching for the blades, Cassandra retrieved a jade hairpin from her hoody's pocket and lunged at her mother, taking her by surprise.
Her eyes widened as she realized what was happening and her inability to react, but her expression relaxed. Her ferocious, bloodthirsty smile turned serene as the hairpin stabbed into her chest.
"Well done..." Lady Shiva said as she fell to her knees before Cassandra and reached for her daughter's cheek. "You really are..." She added, blood spurting from her mouth as she coughed.
"My daughter...." Lady Shiva concluded, closing her eyes as she lost strength and collapsed to the ground, to which Cassandra could only grunt in confusion as she touched her cheek with a complicated expression.
...
"Damn, would you get over it already?" I muttered with a sigh, scratching my head as I looked down at the little feline clinging to my shirt with his teeth and claws as he growled at me.
The little critter knew he couldn't bite me without hurting himself since he tried it while I was sleeping and almost broke his tooth if I hadn't woken up in time and removed my arm.
Still, it didn't stop him from finding new ways to vent his aggression as any self-respecting demon cat would. He started biting at my clothes or going into my workroom and making a mess by dropping everything to the ground whenever he didn't get his way.
"Cats, man; Can't live with'em, can't live without'em..." I said, sighing as I shook my head and walked back to my workroom, putting everything back in place with telekinesis.
"Whelp, hang in there, little guy," I muttered, chuckling as I approached my gravity machine and prepared to resume working, only to stop as my phone rang and I received a text message.
I immediately frowned as I read through the message from Patrick, asking me to come to the theatre as soon as possible. "I wonder what's this about..." I muttered as I activated my personal computer power and accessed the cameras outside the theatre.
My expression immediately froze as I noticed bloodstains in front of the entrance with no one around to guard the place. "Shit," I said as I ran towards the hideout's exit without even bothering to remove Little Soot from my shirt.
...
I sighed as I landed in front of the theatre's exit, removing the energy shield I put on Little Soot to protect him from the winds before calmly walking inside.
I quickly realized that with the security measures I'd installed all over the theatre, it was almost impossible for anyone to attack the place without me knowing about it, so it wasn't a worst-case scenario, at least.
It didn't stop me from flying at my fastest speed to the theatre, but the realization calmed me down and allowed me to think more rationally and prepare for dealing with whatever was happening.
I walked into the theatre's reception area and still found no one, so I followed the bloodstains to the main hall, where I noticed a crowd gathered in the middle.
"What's going on?" I calmly asked as I stepped into the theatre's main hall, clearing my throat to get everyone's attention, and Patrick was the first to turn around and notice my presence.
"Oh, thank god, kid. You're just in time," Patrick said, smiling as he let out a sigh of relief and beckoned for me to come closer. "It's Cassandra. She's back," He added, to which my expression instantly sank as I rushed towards him.
The crowd split as everyone opened the way, revealing Cassandra's form as she sat next to a familiar, bloodied figure, much to my relief as I realized she was unharmed.
"Are you ok...?" I asked as I kneeled next to Cassandra, putting a hand on her shoulder, to which she finally noticed my presence and turned to me, helplessly grunting as she hugged me and buried her face into Little Soot's back.
I merely tabbed her back for a second, too stunned to speak, before I gathered my bearings. "What happened...?" I asked after I waited for Cassandra to calm down and let go of me, to which she replied with another grunt, wildly gesturing with her hands.
"Her mother attacked her, and this is the result..." Patrick said, to which I immediately shot him a weird look, causing his expression to shift as he realized what he'd done.
I could roughly understand Cassandra because of my many perks and abilities. But even then, it wasn't easy. It made no sense for Patrick to understand her grunts so casually.
"Or that's what I think..." Patrick went on shrugging his shoulders as he pretended nothing happened, and Cassandra nodded at his words. It wasn't the time or the place, so I let go as well.
"Well, she's alive, but she'll bleed out in a couple of minutes. I don't see any problem here," I said, shrugging my shoulders as I took Lady Shiva's wrist and checked her vitals with my energy.
"Good riddance," I said as I let go of Lady Shiva's wrist and got up, but Cassandra immediately held onto the hem of my shirt before letting out a barrage of wild grunts and gestures for an entire minute, causing me to frown.
I noticed Patrick intently observing her from the side, but again, not the time or place, so I let it go. "Let me get this straight..." I said as I rubbed my forehead in exasperation after listening to Cassandra's rant.
"She manipulated you again, suddenly attacked you with the intent to kill, threatened to kill everyone here..." I remarked, my gaze alternating between Cassandra and her mother as I spoke and raised three fingers.
"And now you're asking me to saver her life?" I asked, to which Cassandra merely nodded.
"No,"
...
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