Gotham, a decrepit city full of crime, corruption and filth. A city of darkness that is protected by a hero almost as dark. The batman, a hero of the shadows, waging a war to save a city that doesn't want to be saved. This however is not the story of batman's beginning, this isn't even the story of his most trusted ally robin. This is the story of a young child whose life was about to be changed forever.
As Batman and Robin patrolled the city they were unknowingly being watched. A child no older than nine was silently watching them, taking photos when the chance presented itself. This youth was Tim Drake, and strangely enough this was a normal Saturday for him, but it wouldn't be for long. As he was preparing to leave for home he realized that he was not quite alone. In the shadows of the building he was standing on was a man dressed in full battle armor. "Who are you?" Asked Tim, " I am someone who is very curious as to how you were able to watch Batman without being seen." As he talked he began to walk closer to Tim, "And depending in the answer I may be someone who is also very interested in your future", when he was fully in the light Tim could see that he wore a mask with only one opening for an eye. "What are you talking about, I probably just got lucky" Tim said hoping to make the man leave him alone. "Yes, I suppose you might have gotten lucky once, or perhaps you were even lucky two nights ago when the very same occurrence happened but those were not the only times that Batman and his sidekick did not notice you. You have watched them many times without being noticed by them but not unnoticed by us." "How did you... I never even..."Tim couldn't even speak he was so shocked and worried. If someone knew he was watching then they might know about the photographs that could tie batman to Bruce Wayne. "I am a representative of a much larger organization that has ties in nearly every single market, if a man in Kubai wishes to know about a drug deal in Pakistan he comes to us, if a rebellion needs to overthrow a government they seek out aid, and if a child can watch the batman and not be discovered you can be assured that we know about it. We make it our business to seek out new potential and you have come across our radar many times, we have decided that it would be wise to ensure you reach your full potential."
Tim was floored, if he understood correctly this man was saying that he wanted to train Tim, as this thought went through his head he tried to think of the reasons why he would be of interest to the organization spoke of. While he was pondering this he realized the man had never actually introduced himself. "You told me about the group you represent but who are you?" " I'm glad you caught that" the man said "my name is Deathstroke and I shall be your new master." As Deathstroke said this Tim began to realize that they were not alone. They were surrounded by around ten to twenty people on the buildings around them. Tim now extremely nervous asked " and if I refuse to go with you?" "Oh your compliance was never needed, in fact we find that after the first few years most initiates don't even remember a life before the training. And if you think your parents will disagree, well I would just like to add that they don't like having to leave their archeological digs very much do they? Seems they would love to have the chance to send their child to a very special 'school' for gifted children, no questions asked." This Tim knew was quite likely the truth, his parents were inattentive at their best and quite easily forgot about him the rest of the time. "To tell the truth, you were going to come with us either way, this discussion was just to see how much control we would need over you". All of a sudden everything went dark as what felt like a bag went over Tim's face. It must have been airtight because Tim quickly began to lose consciousness. As he went under Deathstroke said one last thing. " You will be the end of the era of the hero" with this ominous statement Tim finally slipped into unconsciousness.
End chapter one.