Art-Tigress sat on top of one of the benches in the training room of the Light base they were currently in. Before her the... accomplices, mere minions really, of the other Light members trained in their own way. Some sparring, others stretching or making use of the wide variety of gymnastics equipment.
The Light members, they always did this when they had a meeting. Left their henchmen in a designated room, like a playdate. It reminded her of what she really was to Deathstroke. As much as these days grounded her they still left a horribly bad taste in her mouth.
After what seemed like an eternity of her spiraling thoughts she was pulled out of them by the sound of someone entering the room. "The meeting is over. You may leave."
Huh, so the guard at the door(the nanny) was a Shadow this time. They seemed to be taking turns, a Bialyan soldier last meeting and Lex Luthor's loyal sidepiece Mercy the one before that.
No one ever paid her any mind at these playdates, they weren't trying to suck up to her like they were with Ra's prized Shadows or Queen Bee's most loyal soldiers. What would you do with the favor of a slug like Deathstroke? Ra's, Queen Bee and Lex Luthor came with the promise of power. Deathstroke was a gun for hire trying to slip into the ranks of the Light to stay afloat in the new world order.
She huffed to herself as she went to meet up with her dear mentor.
———————-
The ride back was quiet until Deathstroke spoke up. "They're bringing in villains from a different dimension. Thought you'd like to know."
The smugness in the mercenary's voice proved he knew he'd caught her attention. Things like this made her suspect he knew, but even if he did it was enough that he wasn't telling. She waited for him to continue, knowing he wouldn't. He wanted her to press, wanted her to out herself.
"Why?" She tried her best to sound as uninterested as possible. He must've been feeling especially generous today, or just wanted to drive her crazy with the info, because he actually started to tell her all he knew so far.
"A connection with a different world has been established earlier this week. The world is similar to ours with the heroes and villains it contains, with some bigger differences. For example, they do have a Justice League but instead of a covert ops team of the sidekicks they have an independent organization called the Teen Titans, if I remember correctly."
Artemis arched her brow as if to ask what about the villains you mentioned? and apparently Deathstroke understood because that was his next topic.
"I believe I heard about a Brother Blood, a Madame Rouge, their version of the Brain and someone that called themselves Slade; who I believe to be their version of myself. They said they wanted to keep the new arrivals scarce."
She narrowed her eyes. Another version of this man was the last thing she wanted to see right now. The mercenary continued.
"They also briefed us on these Teen Titans and told us that their leader was missing for a reason that would be more relevant later. We will be having the first interdimensional meeting next week. The henchmen are invited as well, to be 'acquainted with the newest Light members'. I think it's purely egotistical." Says ego personified.
"I wonder, Tigress, what will you do with this information?" Oh, he definitely knew.
———————-
Everything was as the mercenary told her. The new Light members, the henchmen being invited, Slade.
This Slade also had a small dark haired boy sitting next to him, wearing his colors. The domino mask on his face looked so sickeningly familiar that she wanted to look away. It couldn't be.
And then the man called him "Robin"(read as: purred out his name like a pleased tiger) and she suppressed a shudder. The other dimension travellers were looking at the boy with a sick satisfaction and it didn't take a genius to figure out that he was probably the leader of the Teen Titans Deathstroke mentioned. And then it had to be declared because not everyone had a boss that just told them everything straight up because he didn't give a fuck.
Boring interactions were made and Artemis tuned out because she didn't want to hear Queen Bee flirting with everyone, including the grey haired man in a robe that looked to be about a hundred. His age didn't seem to stop him from flirting back, though.
Sometime during the chatter someone pointed out that Slade and Deathstroke both had apprentices.
Then someone else(or was it the same person?) said that they wondered who's was better.
And now they've moved to a stadium-like room with a large fighting ring in the middle, with her staring down her opponent who honestly couldn't be older than 14. Maybe 15 on a good day. And she really didn't want to hit him.
Then someone said that Robin might have a problem with showing his full potential, basically not trying to beat Artemis into a bloody pulp, being a former hero and all. And damn it, supervillains were smart. So now they were both pulled back into seperate back rooms by their mentors for a little pep talk. She didn't know what Robin was getting but she definitely didn't expect to be subtly threatened with her little(big) secret if Deathstroke so much as though she wasn't giving it her all. "Don't embarrass me", he says...
———————-
She's back to staring into those wide white lenses as she gets into a fighting stance. She might not give him a no-holds-barred-beatdown but he is going down for sure.
The element of surprise is what she's going for as she suddenly lunges forward and the boy flips back, graceful as water. They're back to circling eachother when Robin is the one that lunges this time, landing a solid kick on the small of her back. She stumbles forward before catching herself and turning around to feint a left swing only to follow it up with a kick of her own.
Apparently the boy expected that and he feigns surprise before grabbing a hold of her leg and yanking. She's on the ground in an inescapable chokehold before she can blink.
She briefly looks up to see a very impressed Deathstroke, clapping appreciatively. The bastard.
Their crowd is clapping as well and honestly she's also just as impressed as the mercenary is.
Artemis briefly catches a glimpse of Slade in her peripheral; single eye locked on Robin, gleaming with pride and something else.
For the first time since she was a small child, she is completely and utterly terrified.
———————-
I don't claim to own anything.
How was this? Should I continue it? Also, this was my first attempt at a hand to hand combat scene. Is it any good?
I know I have an unfinished story laying around but I want to write one-shots I may or may not continue instead. I know, I suck. I'd be mad at myself if I were a fan of that story, but hey. Anyways, I hope this was a nice read and ugh I need more creepy!Slade sladin-in-the-not-so-subtle-subtext stories to make me squeal in frustration... I'm trash.
