Hey, this is the author speaking: I don't own the Teen Titans, sadly. I wish I did! D I love the cartoon, but I've never read the comic. Maybe one day I will. Chapter One is written in third person, but I intend to write first person through Tayla's perspective. I think it makes everything much more personal in first person. Sorry that this isn't based on either of the 2 original apprentices, but I wanted to put someone new into the mix. I loved the episodes with Terra as his apprentice, and I kind of always root for Slade, even though that is not good. I love bad boys. Hehe… I would love reviews, since this is my first fanfic. Any review would be greatly appreciated.

Chapter One: Just An Opening (nothing much, written in 3rd person for now)

Slade had an obsession with forcing teenage superheroes to be his apprentice. He knew he was a strong man, he could easily overpower any teenage that he wanted and make them bend to his will. He did it to Robin for a while, and he even did it to Terra. Each time, his beloved apprentice rebelled against him and escaped. Robin returned to the Teen Titans and was still hunting Slade with a passion. Terra, she went to her death to stop Slade, but he still returned. Now, he was living alone in his lair once again, and he was monitoring a new girl who he thought would be the perfect apprentice.

It was amazing that she hadn't been discovered by the Teen Titans earlier, she was so powerful and a fantastic fighter.

Her name was Tayla, but she went by Tay most of the time. She was 16 and originally from America, but her father needed to move to Japan for a couple years for his business. She wasn't excited about leaving her home, but she knew of the challenges in Japan and wondered if she could test her powers out there.

You see, she hadn't discovered her powers until the night of her thirteenth birthday, and she had been training herself to use them ever since. She had the ability to fly, create energy blasts in the palm of her hand, and she could read minds. Something that she just found she could do, but didn't like to use because of free will, was the ability to control a person's mind and body. She tried it out on her younger brother when he was sleeping or when he annoyed her, but she always pretended that she had nothing to do with his strange behavior.

And she had learned about the Teen Titans when arriving in Japan. The big T-shaped tower was kind of hard to miss, anyway. If she was lucky, maybe she could help them catch some bad guys and maybe they would help her train with all their fancy equipment and obstacle courses.

No one in her family knew that she had such amazing powers, and she was worried about letting anyone in America know because they might treat her different and even run scientific tests on her to find out where her powers came from. It was a question that she wanted to know the answer to, but was afraid to find out.

The story begins in Slade's lair. He is sitting in front of a wall of monitors, each of them filming a different area that Tayla usually went. School homeroom, her bedroom, the living room, and the back porch of her house where she spent at least an hour reading after school was over.

At this moment, she was not on any of his monitors. He pressed a button and they all shut off at once.

"Where are you, little girl?" he asked aloud. He lowered his head and wondered what she was doing at that exact moment. Her powers amazed him, and he saw no limits to how far she could go. If he was able to take her as his own, to make her his apprentice, he would have gained a teen who was closer to his equal than either of his past two attempts.

"Robin was just too stubborn. He was weak when it came to his friends, and he was nothing but a mistake. Terra, she had too much power and could not be trusted. She was too attached to that green freak and couldn't bear to kill. Tayla, she only has family here. She has no attachments yet. I need to strike now… before the Teen Titans reach her and before she forms emotions for this place."

He stood up from his metal chair and his grey eye lowered to a picture he held in his hand. It was a copy of her school picture, and in the top right corner he had written down her home address. She lived very close to the water, and she was a mere mile from Titan's Tower. He would have to be cautious not to attract their attention while he invaded her home and took her away.

The only things he worried about were whether she would put up a fight or not. If she struggled, he would have to do his best to subdue her. He knew he was strong enough to physically overpower her, but would she use her powers against him? How will he stand up against her if she uses her ability to control his mind and body? He knew her well enough to know that she hated forcing herself into other people's minds, but to protect herself she might do just anything.

How could he defend himself? He may be a great warrior, a true martial artist, but he didn't have the powers to defeat Tayla. If it came down to brute force alone, he would definitely win. But, if he allowed her to use her powers, he may well lose.

His brain hummed with ideas. He could give her a one-time challenge, or maybe an offer. He knew she wanted someone to train with, he could offer to be her personal trainer. Would she even want to train with someone who looked so evil as he did? Hmm. Maybe a challenge would work better. One battle. Hand-to-hand combat, no powers. Winner calls the shots. If Slade won, she would be forced to be his apprentice until her death, or until he was sick of her. If she won…? What would she ask from him if he lost? Would he lose? What's the worse thing that a teenager could ask of him? Would he even obey her if he lost? Probably not.

Slade grinned at his plan. He was confident enough that he wasn't going to let the perfect apprentice just slip out of his grip. Even if she beat him in combat, he wasn't going to let her win. Somehow, he would trap her and she would have no choice but to give in to him.

He let an evil chuckle escape his mouth. He was already planning the things he would force her to do once she was in his grasp. He knew, after long enough, she would willingly be his, and she would be eager to please him. He would hurt her at first, make her know who was the boss, but then she would enjoy being his. They would live together, train together, sleep together, eat together, and then they would destroy the Teen Titans together. Without the Teen Titans in the way, he would be able to take over all Japan, and soon enough the world.

He would make himself a king, and Tayla would be his queen.

"You will be mine, young one," he vowed before turning his monitors back on.