Titans: Rise of Talon

Unexpected

A/N: You didn't think I'd leave our dear friend Slade out of this story, did you?
.....

18:02 PDT
November 29th
San Francisco, California

It had been just a little over a month since the Titans had taken down the Brotherhood of Evil and subsequently froze the majority of the villains that used to give them trouble. However, their greatest nemesis had been strangely absent from the whole affair.

    Deathstroke, the world's most expensive mercenary and most ruthless assassin, was feared by all who knew his name. But to the heroes of Jump City, and Robin most specifically, he was known simply as Slade, a manipulative mastermind that could cause the Titans more grief after one encounter than the other laughable excuses that dared called themselves villains in the same city.

    After the defeat of Trigon, an inter-dimensional demon Slade utterly despised, the mercenary had taken some time off from his dealings in Jump and decided to use his thinned schedule to focus on the rest of his organization. He could thank his butler and close friend, William Wintergreen, for the constant reminders.

But at the moment, Slade was taking a rare chance to relax in his San Francisco safe house, a luxury apartment with a fantastic view of the city. And they said crime never pays...

Still donned in his uniform, he had removed his helmet, gloves, and boots in order to get more comfortable. With his socked feet propped up on the glass coffee table, the mercenary leaned back on the couch and pulled out a silver laptop. It had been a while since he'd heard any news of Jump, and he was curious as to what the teens were doing in his absence, Robin in particular. And if Will ever asked, he could easily reply that he was checking the monitors he'd scattered throughout the city.

   The first few minutes were spent simply scrolling through the different cameras, head resting in the palm of his free hand in obvious boredom. He was almost willing to give up and hunt down the coffee stash Will had hidden before his single grey-blue eye came across something of interest—seven men cornering two kids. Slade scoffed.

"Well, that's hardly fair," a gruff voice hummed from behind him.

"Life isn't fair," he retorted sharply, his attention fixed on the screen to see if anyone would intervene.

The scumbags were coming closer to the frightened pair, only a few yards away, but a dark shadow fell between the attackers and the victims. An all too familiar teen stood to his full height, bo staff extended for the inevitable engagement.

"Where are the other teens?" Will asked. Slade waved a hand behind him dismissively. This just got far more interesting.

  "You picked the wrong day to cause trouble. I'm giving you to the count of three to surrender."

    "Someone's not in a good mood," the mercenary commented.

    "I wonder what's got his cape in a twist," Will added with a twitch of his mustache.

     Robin counted to three, a deadly smirk crossing his features before everything became a blur of movement. Slade's solitary eye widened. The boy wonder had never exhibited such speed and strength in their little matchups, and he knew for a fact the boy always gave it his all when it came to his greatest enemy. He was dealing heavier damage to the hilariously unprepared men with such lethal brutality he had never seen before, nor should it be possible for anyone alive—let alone a kid his size.

   "That's not a fight," Will breathed, "It's a fit of rage."

    The quote unquote battle was over in less than five minutes with Robin, former protégé of the Batman, holding a gun to a man begging for mercy.

        "Please! Please don't kill me!"

   "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't," Robin snarled, and for a split second Slade thought he'd actually pull the trigger.

   The event ended with the quivering waste of oxygen out cold and Robin, ever the hero, leading the kids away from the scene.

   Slade frowned. He was missing pieces of the puzzle, and things weren't adding up. Zooming in on the face of his former apprentice, he could see the obvious signs of sickness and fatigue. He wasn't feeling 100%, and yet the boy took on seven grown men by himself anyway. That fact begged the question of what his "oh so precious" teammates were off doing while he was fighting crime alone.

    "No human boy should have been able to do that," Will stated aloud, "The only person I've ever seen strike that hard that fast was you."

   That was true, Slade realized. Robin was able to slice a moving bullet in half with one of his throwing contraptions from close range. What exactly had happened to the bird in his absence? Had someone decided to recreate the experiment that made him what he was and decided to use the teen as a test subject? It was unlikely, seeing as he had destroyed everyone connected to the project. So what else could it be? That was the million dollar question, and he had a few theories forming in the back of his mind.

    While Will believed only he could fight that way, Slade knew there were others of similar talents in the shadowy places of the world. But he hadn't heard a whisper of them in a long time, and he had made it a point to have as little to do with them as possible. Not out fear, but because he wasn't one to be controlled. He wouldn't be a pawn, a rook, or even a knight in someone else's game.

    "It definitely is something worth looking into," Slade mused aloud, pressing his fingertips together in deep thought, "I think a little investigation is in order. I'd like to see into this new development personally."

              "When do we leave?"

   "Tomorrow morning," he replied curtly, closing his computer before standing up, "My little work tour is over, and I must say I've missed the old haunt."

     The old butler shook his head with a knowing look, "Crazy fool," he muttered, thinking about how his friend would most likely have another go at making the poor boy his apprentice.

    "Senile old man," Slade shot back and disappeared down the hall.

    I've missed our little chats, Robin. We have much to talk about the next time we meet.

......

A/N: Next up, we're back at the Tower with Dick, Roy, and Wally! As always, don't forget to review!

And yes, I just had to add Slade. It wouldn't be the same without him.

Finally, I'm sorry this chap was kinda short. I just wanted something from Slade's POV to sort of introduce him into the story. Be kinda weird if he just popped up outta nowhere...