Six months have passed since Dick Grayson - A.K.A. Nightwing - gave his life to save an unlikely ally. An ally who was unlikely to have been worthy of Dick's sacrifice. Nevertheless, the selfless, heroic actions of Nightwing that night inspired Slade Wilson - the hired gun formerly known as Deathstroke the Terminator - to become a better man. To follow in Nightwing's footsteps, taking up his mantle to put an end to senseless crime in Gotham permanently, in a way Batman and Nightwing never could.
"No more work for hire. From today, I'll decide who needs to die."
Obviously, Slade would need a new suit before he could begin his first night as Nightwing. He decided on a more lightweight one than his usual get-up, but a more armored one than Dick's. Can't be weighed down. Also can't die the same way Nightwing did. The armored suit looked fundamentally the same as Dick's (aside from the mask, which featured no right eyehole and was black on the right side - he wasn't afraid to show his "weakness."); bird symbol on the front, extending to stripes all the way down his arms to his fingers. Of course, beating a mugger to death with electrified escrima sticks or a bo staff composed of said escrima sticks isn't the best way to crack down on crime, literally or figuratively, so additions like leg holsters and knife sheaths only make sense.
After suiting up and making sure all of his ammunition and arsenal was in order, the new Nightwing set out on his mission. Climbing out of the window of his penthouse apartment, Slade began scanning the city for any criminal activity to intercept.
"How the hell do the Bat Family do this every night? How did the original Nightwing do it?"
It was just after Slade said this that he heard a woman's shrill cry for help in Crime Alley. Using a grappling hook, he swiftly scaled the side of the suite and sped towards Crime Alley on his motorcycle, conveniently placed in between the building where he stayed and the one adjacent to it. Leaping from his still-moving vehicle, he saw a man attempting to rob a family of three. The mugger turned around, caught off guard just long enough to see a storm of bullets riddle his body. The family simply stared at the new Nightwing in awe as the aggressor choked on his own blood, fighting to no avail for his life.
"You're safe now, thanks to Nightwing: Gotham's lethal protector. Now get out of here, go home."
Slade turned to leave. Instead, he found himself face to mask with the Red Hood.