The Dark Rogue
Chapter 14
A deal with the Devil
Aldomea and Robin stood staring at a computer in the Titans tower however; Robin was in front of the computer growling and grumbling, while Aldomea was standing further back arms folded.
"I told you, you're not going to find anything" Aldomea sighed.
"That's impossible, I have to find something, there has to be something we missed" Robin growled.
"Trust me you didn't miss anything" Aldomea sighed again fruitlessly trying to convince Robin to stop his search for a clue to Shadow's and Blackfire's whereabouts.
"And how would you know that?" Robin asked.
"Remember Shadow has been the enemy of the Light Justice Society for several years, he's evaded capture and managed to kill several of our members in those several years, and I assure you we have a lot more resources to spend on searching for him than even you could muster, and we can't even find him at the best of times" Aldomea explained.
"I'm sorry Aldomea but I've never been able to not find someone before, and knowing the damage he can cause I'm even more determined to find him before he can cause any damage" Robin replied.
"I know it can be difficult Robin but as I said Shadow isn't an ordinary criminal he's intelligent, and Resourceful enough to know how to evade capture" Aldomea continued to explain.
"Yeah I remember, cause he's been and enemy of yours for years" Robin sighed.
"Yeah, and hey it won't do the team any good if you're starved or short on rest if and when we face him again" Aldomea said stepping closer to Robin. "Get some rest and or get something to eat"
"Fine" Robin sighed admitting defeat after several hours of searching and finding absolutely nothing.
Meanwhile in another part of Jump city
Shadow and Blackfire walked along a series of warehouses along one of the city's piers, Shadow quietly muttering to himself as he inspected the warehouses, and Blackfire looking absolutely bored.
"Shadow I don't mean to pry but how much longer are we gonna have to keep searching" Blackfire whined.
"It's barely been a couple of hours Blackfire" Shadow replied not taking his eyes off the rows of warehouses.
"Well forgive me if I'm bored out of my skull, and worried about being found any minute" Blackfire continued to whine.
Shadow just lightly chuckled at Blackfire's whining, I know it's not fun searching for the Underground Blackfire, but don't worry, I'm good at not leaving a trail to follow, so don't worry so much about being found, as long as you don't destroy anything" Shadow sighed sensing Blackfire was up to something.
Blackfire quickly dissipated a small purple star bolt she was beginning to charge up and aiming at one of the nearby trashcans. "Wouldn't even dream on it" Blackfire lied sheepishly.
"Good because I just found it" Shadow said stopping in front of one of the warehouses.
"Oh good" Blackfire sighed in relief.
Shadow and Blackfire approached the warehouse door. Blackfire noticed nothing unique about it that would have separated the door from any of the other warehouses. But she guessed that that's how the 'Underground' remains 'Underground', otherwise anyone could find it. However she did begin to wonder how Shadow was able to find the specific warehouse out of the possible hundreds of warehouses in the pier. The warehouse had a small business sign that hinted towards the fishing industry in some way, which didn't really surprise her, but the sign could have simply been a ruse, but something told her that that wasn't how Shadow found the location.
Shadow approached the door and knocked, no discernable pattern or anything, just a simple knock. After waiting several seconds someone opened the door, a large man dressed in fishing gear, rain proof overalls, a large grey beard, and with a pipe to complete the stereotype.
"What do you need stranger?" the man asked in a rather friendly tone.
"That depends" Shadow replied shrugging. "On how much you want to win?"
The man's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree as realization seemed to hit him.
"OH MY!" The man cried. "Shadow is that you?"
"Indeed it is Stoneman" shadow replied smiling, then before Blackfire could blink the man called Stoneman pulled Shadow in for a bear hug, or fish hug considering how the man reeked of fish.
"It's so good to see you" Stoneman said continuing to hug Shadow while almost coming to tears.
"Good to see you too, but having a hard time breathing here Stoneman" Shadow replied beginning to gasp for air.
"Oh sorry" Stoneman replied letting Shadow go.
"No, worries" Shadow replied gasping for air.
Blackfire only giggled in response to seeing Shadow actually double over from a rather intense hug.
"And who is this lovely young lady" Stoneman said taking a slight bow attempting to show some courtesy.
"My name is Blackfire" Blackfire replied.
"Are you Shadow's girlfriend?" Stoneman asked in a quick and carefree tone.
Blackfire immediately began to blush madly from the question turning almost bright red.
"No were not" Shadow replied finally seeming to catch his breath.
"Not yet you mean?" Stoneman asked again, obviously teasing, but Blackfire was too flustered to tell he was teasing.
"N-n-no, he just saved my life that's all" Blackfire replied fanning her face to try and get her face back to normal, why she was blushing so badly was at the moment beyond her, but all she knew is that she wanted to abandon the topic immediately.
"Alright that's enough Stoneman" Shadow said regaining his posture. "So how much do you want to win?"
"Well I've been needing to get my home refurbished, so, a lot" Stoneman replied with a wide grin.
"Good enough" Shadow replied as Stoneman turned and lead Shadow and Blackfire deeper into the warehouse.
"First time to the Underground sweetheart?" Stoneman asked.
"Yeah, it is" Blackfire replied finally getting her face back to its original color.
"I take it that you're not going to participate?" Stoneman asked.
"No she won't" Shadow replied.
"Participate in what?" Blackfire asked.
"You'll see" Shadow smiled.
The group approached a door which had an interesting dail knob on it, Stoneman took hold of the dail knob and turned in slightly one way, then the other way, then back the other way, then the other way again. Other than that Blackfire didn't see much at all. The knob made a small clicking sound and Stoneman pushed the door open.
As the door swung open Blackfire found them to be staring into a small hallway that seemed to be much like a small time hotel hallway, regular brown carpet, a lamp every ten feet on both sides of the hallway.
"Well come on" Stoneman said as he almost skipped into the hallway, and continued down the corridor.
Shadow and Blackfire followed suit minus the skipping, until they came to a double door entrance, Stoneman took one door while Shadow took another.
"Well young lady, we welcome you…" Stoneman began as he quickly began to push the door.
"To the Underground" Shadow finished as they opened the doors to an expansive cavern.
Blackfire was shocked to say the least, the Underground was full of people, mostly human like beings, all shuffling around a seemingly endless shopping mall. The cavern had several levels each with their own set of market specialties including outfits, tools, resources, and weapons. Blackfire quickly went to the edge of the level they were currently on, only to see that there were more levels down below, with a large oval shaped field of dirt at the bottom.
"Come on Blackfire" Shadow called as they set out deeper into the Underground cavern.
Back at the Titans Tower
"Uuuugggghhh" Robin groaned, his head laid out on the table.
"Bored to death?" Cyborg asked his eyes not leaving a small electronic like object he was tinkering with.
"Yes" Robin continued to groan.
"It's been awfully quiet even for the regular criminals, if this keeps up we may become redundant" Cyborg sighed.
"What do you mean?" Robin asked.
"Well if there are no criminals wouldn't it make sense if we got disbanded, I mean it's like having a police force when there are no crimes being commited" Cyborg explained.
"I guess" Robin sighed, his head not leaving the table.
"By the way didn't Aldomea even tell you to get some sleep?" Cyborg asked.
"Yeah" Robin replied.
Cyborg looked away from his gadget for the first time to look at Robin, Robin's eyes were seemingly lifeless, a small puddle of drool began to slowly build near where Robin's mouth was resting.
"Hey Robin, I heard Starfire was going to dump you and start dating Raven" Cyborg said.
"Ok" Robin sighed.
"Wow you really are out of it" Cyborg said setting his gadget down.
"Who's out of what?" Aldomea asked out loud as he entered the kitchen.
"Oh, Robin is" Cyborg answered.
"What? I told him to get some sleep" Aldomea sighed.
"Well, he may as well be, he didn't even respond when I told him Starfire was going lesbian with Raven" Cyborg said.
"Is she?" Aldomea asked almost sounding hopeful.
"No" Cyborg replied not noticing the way Aldomea asked the question.
"Well regardless I need to talk to Robin" Aldomea stated returning his attention to Robin's semi-concious form.
"Well good luck getting him up I tried my worst" Cyborg stated turning away and back to his gadget.
Aldomea stared at Robin for a second, then quickly thought of something. "Hey Robin, Shadow's in the other room kissing Starfire".
"WWHHAATT!?" Robin cried as he shot up from his slumped postion.
"Relax Robin, Shadow isn't here" Aldomea sighed as he gave Robin a moment to gain his bearings. "But I do need to talk to you"
"Fine" Robin growled as he turned to leave, continuing to pout obviously not happy about what Aldomea said.
"That was low dude" Cyborg said stifling a laugh.
"I don't really care" Aldomea sighed not concerned that he pulled something that low on Robin just to get him up. Aldomea quickly followed after Robin into an isolated room where no one else was able to hear them.
"What did you want to talk about Aldomea?" Robin asked weariness still evident in his eyes.
"It's about one of your team mates, I think her name is Raven?" Aldomea started.
"What about her?" Robin asked quickly waking himself up mentally, as he started to not like where this was possibly going.
"Before I start I want you to know that this is your team, and I am nothing more than a helper, a liason. It isn't my place to tell you what to do with your team in your place" Aldomea stated quickly.
"Ok good" Robin replied, his tone implying for Aldomea to go on.
"The only grievance I will voice is this question. How much do you trust her?" Aldomea asked.
"Raven is a valued member of this team, and I trust her with my life" Robin stated. Quietly a shadow shuffled in the darkness of one of the nearby hallways listening to Aldomea's and Robin's converstion.
"I understand that, and as I said I cannot and will not tell you what to do with your team. However I must voice my concern of her being a dark power user, and being half demon" Aldomea stated.
"How did you know she is half demon?" Robin asked.
"I could sense it in her, as well as her struggle to keep her demon side in control" Aldomea added.
"So does your 'concern' only stretch to her struggle to control her powers, or the fact that she's a dark power user who happens to be on our side?" Robin asked.
"A bit of both to be honest" Aldomea answered. "However she is not my enemy so I will not do anything to her, but as a man who's dealt with dark power users plenty of times, I only urge you to exercise caution" Aldomea finished.
"Noted" Robin sighed. "I'm going to bed"
"Have a good rest my friend" Aldomea called as he left the room.
Robin waited a few moments before calling out. "you can come out Raven".
Raven quietly walked into the room, her face bearing some sign of being emotionally hurt but keeping it largely under wraps.
"Thank-you, for defending me" Raven said quietly.
"It's not a problem Raven, but much like Aldomea I want you to refrain from picking any fights with him" Robin said hoping to avoid some serious infighting.
"Of course" Raven said as she turned to leave.
"This just got a whole lot harder" Robin sighed as he too left the room to go to bed, now more worried about what may happen between the Titans, the Justice League, and the Light Justice Society, if Raven were to suddenly become one of Aldomea's targets.
In the Underground
"A fighting ring?" Blackfire asked staring at a large metal fenced door at the end of a hallway leading to the large oval dirt base at the bottom of the cavern.
"Yup, here people can fight and earn money, lots of money depending on who you are and who you fight" Stoneman explained. "And if you're really good and someone sees it they can financially support you but since Shadow doesn't stay within the Underground or visit regularly he never receives any consistent flow of money"
"So that house you had that the Justice League attacked was your only one?" Blackfire asked.
"The Justice League attacked you?" Stoneman asked.
"Yeah after I saved her" Shadow answered gesturing towards Blackfire.
"Cool, that would make you now one of many that are currently hiding in the Underground that have crossed the justice league and or their affiliates, though there are far more who've crossed the Teen Titans here than people who've crossed the Justice League" Stoneman stated.
"Why are so many people who've crossed the Teen Titans here? Wouldn't that just draw them here?" Blackfire asked.
"Not really, they don't know of this place, this is merely a neutral zone, criminals can come here and do what they want as long as it's nothing criminal." Stoneman answered. "And because this is a safe haven any links to this place are destroyed, or exceptionally minimal".
"Well makes sense I guess" Blackfire said.
"Which reminds me, because you've now crossed the Justice League it means that your worth more" Stoneman said. "I've gotta go and update your board status" and at that Stoneman left.
"Oh yeah I also forgot to change my Board status from 'Absent' to 'Participating', oh well, I'm sure Stoneman will change that for me" Shadow sighed.
"Board status?" Blackfire asked.
"Yeah it's on the fifth level, near the 'Betting Counter', it's where people pay to fight, register, and collect their earnings" Shadow explained as he began to stretch.
"Does it cost anything to register?" Blackfire asked.
"No" Shadow answered.
"How does one earn money through fighting?" Blackfire asked.
"Well, the board shows who's available to fight and who isn't. If you want to fight someone you pay a 'Challengers fee', then during the fight, people take bets on who wins and who loses, after the fight the winner collects the 'Challengers fee' and any winnings that they'd get from the bets placed against them" Shadow explained.
"How much does one have to pay to fight someone?" Blackfire asked.
"Depends on who the person is" Shadow answered. "I've seen fees as low as ten dollars, and others as high as Fifty thousand"
Blackfire began to quickly drool over the thought of all that money, though she barely understood how valuable each dollar is. All she knew is that if she could get on that board and earn a lot she could get a lot of stuff she's wanted without having to steal it.
"Um how much are you worth fighting?" Blackfire asked.
"Why? Are you hoping to bet for me or against me?" Shadow joked.
"Neither just curious" Blackfire lied. She had no money so she couldn't bet, but if she could keep up with Shadow in some aspects maybe she could earn a lot of money by fighting.
"Last time I was here, I was worth roughly Five thousand a fight" Shadow answered.
Blackfire began to pout, that wasn't a lot of money a single fight wouldn't earn her that much, she'd have to fight several times just to have in her opinion a significant amount.
"But I've made plenty of rivals and enemies here, so I should get a large number of challengers" Shadow stated matter of factly.
"So the more people who don't like you and want to fight you and will pay to fight you?" Blackfire asked.
"Yeah that's the basic idea" Shadow answered.
Suddenly before Blackfire could ask how one gets enemies here without too much trouble. A loudspeaker boomed over the entire cavern.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I have a special announcement to make, the fight you've all been waiting for has finally come, the usually absent Shadow has returned to the Underground and is awaiting challenges. Note that some things have happened since his last visit thus the fee to fight him has gone up so if you really wish to fight him, head on over to the Betting Counter and pay up" The Announcer stated.
Blackfire could hear and increase of cheering, and buzzing in the upper floors though, since she couldn't see any of them she had to settle with the thought that there were a lot of people who want to either see this or fight him.
"And trust me on this Blackfire" Shadow said turning towards her. "You're better off not making as many enemies as I did down here".
Blackfire was a little shocked by that, she couldn't tell what Shadow meant by that but assumed that meant that her idea wasn't a very good one.
The fenced gate quickly opened to let Shadow enter the arena. Shadow only glanced back at Blackfire his eyes basically telling her not to do anything stupid in his absence. Shadow then turned and entered the arena, with the gate closing behind him.
"Ladies and Gentlemen we have our first challengers…" The announcer's voice trailed off as Blackfire began to quickly wonder how dangerous this fighting arena is if Shadow knew she was planning to earn money this way. She had by human standards, super strength, invulnerability, and energy blast abilities.
Shadow entered the arena, his heart more or less racing, he had some tough opponents here that he's fought before he only wondered who he would be fighting first. The gate on the opposing side opened and out came roughly twenty men.
"You guys look familiar" Shadow called a little more confused than anything else.
"You better remember us, you broke my nose last time" one of the men on the opposing sides replied rather vehemently.
"Oh yeah, I remember you guys, the seventh floor pansies." Shadow said quickly thumbing his nose at them.
"YOU!" The man cried obviously enraged by Shadow's taunt.
Shadow quickly readied himself as the twenty men charged him, Shadow quickly blocked a few punches as he quickly got surrounded. Ducking and weaving, Shadow with almost artistic grace danced around the men punching and kicking in retaliation knocking down a few here and a few there.
"He told you not to register didn't he" Blackfire spun around hearing Stoneman's voice.
"Yeah he did" Blackfire answered. "Why shouldn't I join?"
"The problem isn't your strength or your resilience, many of the people down here have no hesitation of killing or severely injuring others. Plus people here have powers as well that range from simple mind reading to elemental control to even energy control" Stoneman stated.
Blackfire quickly realized that it wasn't that shadow more or less feared for her safety she had absolutely no idea what she was getting into, up until this point she thought the vast majority of people here were regular people with no powers or anything.
Shadow knocked down two others as the remaining ten men tried fruitlessly to overwhelm him.
"There's also rules to this arena" Stoneman stated. This shocked Blackfire even more as she thought that this was a no rules arena.
"There are only a couple simple rules. First you must fight on even terms with the lesser abled opponent. Second all power usage must be kept within the arena. Thirdly only one challenger or one team of challengers at a time" Stoneman answered.
So basically she wouldn't be a good match against regular people so she'd have to fight power users, since Shadow's power doesn't make him inherently stronger or more durable, thus he's able to fight regular people, and fight power users.
Shadow quickly finished off the last guy, only to have the announcer quickly announce another fighter, only this time it was a power user. A young man leapt past the opened gate and immediately shot a small red energy bolt at Shadow who easily redirected it into the ground. Shadow quickly closed the distance between him and the other power user and started exchanging blows with the man.
Blackfire quickly looked at Shadow fighting and the floor with the floor with the registration desk. She was still seriously contemplating registering but if there is something else that she missed that she would be better off knowing then she should wait to see.
Shadow quickly blocked another energized punch from his new opponent, only for Shadow to wind up his free arm for a punch. The man quickly made and effort to block Shadow's ready arm, however from outside the man's attention area Shadow brought up his blocking hand and struck the man across the face, making the man stagger enough for Shadow to charge up with ready arm with his shadow powers, and struck the man squarely in the chest. The man hit the ground and didn't get back up.
"That's it, that's the second challenger, now on to the, hey, wait what the…Hey Shadow" The announcer was about to announce the next person but was interrupted and then someone new was talking on the speaker. "I sure hope you remember me, you nearly killed me last time"
"A mistake I won't make twice" Shadow whispered to himself obviously remembering the voice.
"I'm glad you do remember me cause this time I'm going to ensure that you don't survive" the voice cried over the microphone.
Everyone watched as the gates on the opposing side opened letting a hundred maybe even more people spill out onto the arena.
"That's not good" Stoneman said quietly. Blackfire suddenly made a decision and ran off. "Where is she going?" Stoneman wondered to himself turning back to Shadow.
"Well what are you all waiting for?" the voice on the speaker cried. "Get Him!"
The crowd charged Shadow, only Shadow charged right back at them. Like a game of football where two sides were about to clash only one side had one player. Shadow punched the first guy to come across him, ducking another strike, and dodging energy bolts fired from seemingly everywhere.
Shadow took a quick step back to see several more people rush him a variety of weapons drawn all aiming to take his life. Shadow only smiled sadistically as if he was beginning to enjoy this, two black blades stretched out from his wrists, and Shadow began his counter assault on the crowd of weapon users. Killing two and severely injuring a third Shadow then switched from wrist blades to two small dark orbs which he shot at the larger crowd of challengers.
The Orbs exploded in the crowd of challengers leaving plenty of time for Shadow do deal with a scattered group of challengers. Expertly dodging their weapons and attacks, Shadow erected his wrist blades once again and began slashing away. After dealing with the scattered group of challengers Shadow turned to see tens more challengers quickly descend on him. Bracing himself for the overwhelming number of challengers Shadow only could cross his arms and wait.
BOOM!
Something quickly dropped in the middle of the crowd and sent almost everyone flying. A purplish aura expanded and then faded as the effects of the powerful impact subsided. As the dust cleared Blackfire emerged from the small crater.
"I thought I told you not to get involved" Shadow called his face only showing mild surprise to Blackfire's actions.
"What? And let you have all the fun and the money, no way" Blackfire replied playfully.
"Well I hope you're ready for this then" Shadow said as he quickly ducked an attack and lashed back at the attacker.
"I'm good besides, since all the rules have been thrown out the window at this point I doubt we'll be earning anything" Blackfire replied punching two men at once taking her place near Shadow as they fought off the now dwindling horde of challengers.
Shadow knocked out a few and then stabbed a few others, Blackfire took out a few with star bolts while punching and kicking others away.
"What is this!?" a cry came from the opposing gate.
A young man with dark hair and yellow eyes, he seemed incredibly shocked as he walked onto the field. "You should be near death by now" the man cried pointing at Shadow.
"Yeah well luckily I had some back up this time" Shadow said gesturing to Blackfire.
"You" the man said growling at Blackfire. "I'll get you next" the man growled pointing at Blackfire.
"You should be worried about me first" Shadow said.
The man was in for a surprise as Shadow had immediately appeared behind him with one of his wrist blades already striking.
SLISH!
The man barely had time to react as Shadow's wrist blade pierced his heart, the man only grunted as he felt his lift quickly slipping away.
"I told you, that I won't make that same mistake twice" Shadow said as he pulled the blade out. The man dropped to the floor blood beginning to quickly pool around his body.
"Who was that?" Blackfire asked.
"A fool who thought he was going to make a name of himself by defeating me" Shadow said.
"And what were his powers?" Blackfire asked wondering if he even had any at all.
"He could only read minds, but he could only read one person's at a time, and they had to be within eye sight" Shadow answered.
"You get heckled by a bunch of weaklings like this a lot?" Blackfire asked.
"No not really" Shadow answered.
"Then why did this happen?" Blackfire asked.
"Cause the stronger fighters in the past placed a bounty on me to whoever is able to defeat me" Shadow answered again.
"Why?" Blackfire asked.
"Cause I made enemies" Shadow answered. Both Shadow and Blackfire turned to see the rest of the standing challengers staring fearfully at the two man team that Blackfire and Shadow now made up, the challengers then quickly looked at each other, then ran for their lives.
"So who put the bounty on you this time?" Blackfire asked.
"Probably one of my older rivals still bearing a grudge" Shadow thought.
"That would be incorrect Shadow" a dark metallic voice replied.
Shadow and Blackfire looked up to see a man in a mostly black suit with a Black and Orange mask with only one eye showing.
"As this would be the first time we have met, I am neither holding a grudge, nor a rival" the man said.
"And to what do I owe the pleasure of being targeted by the one and only Deathstroke?" Shadow asked in a slightly mocking tone coupled with a slight bow.
"Please don't pretend to respect me, or be lesser than me Shadow" Deathstroke replied. "As far as skills go you could probably over power me in seconds if not with your martial art skills then with your shadow powers"
"My question still stands, what does the world's famous Underworld assassin want with me?" Shadow asked.
"First you can refer to me as Slade while in Jump City" Slade began. "Second, I heard that you have crossed the Justice League and the Teen Titans and still managed to avoid capture while going toe to toe with both at the same time"
"You shouldn't believe everything you hear" Shadow replied suspicion evident in his voice causing Blackfire to take some shelter behind Shadow in case things got hot between the two.
"I believe I just saw you take out roughly two hundred challengers of varying abilities" Slade explained.
"But I needed help part way through" Shadow said, making Blackfire feel a little better about herself.
"There's no need to lie Shadow, even if Blackfire didn't come, you still would have been able to take out all those challengers" Slade countered.
"What makes you believe that?" Shadow challenged.
"I know of your powers, what your able to do and what you're not able to do at least for the most part. Cause I'm sure that there are secrets to your powers that not even I'm privy to." Slade began to explain. "But your able to become intangible for a short period of time, if not that, then your powers allow you to fly and or dash at incredible speeds, no matter how many of them there were you still would have out maneuvered them and been able to take them out. Albeit much more slowly than what actually happened, and to some great personal pain through Gaia's Effect"
"So you're aware of Gaia's Effect" Shadow said his suspicion only increasing.
"What's Gaia's Effect?" Blackfire asked.
"It's when Shadow's powers begin to strain his body to the point of doing damage to himself, if overdone it can shorten his life span, cause permanent or long lasting effects, or it can kill him" Slade explained to Blackfire. "But thankfully getting to any of those points is difficult to reach without the fight having already come to an end"
"Thank-you" Shadow exclaimed heatedly not happy about Slade just citing his powers double-edged sword concept to Blackfire and possibly the entire stadium. "Again what is it you want?"
"I have just recently earned myself a position in the crosshairs of a recently recovered Batman" Slade explained. "And since I'm consistently tracked and hunted by the Teen Titans as well, I figured we could come to a sort of alliance. I need a team to help me fend off the Teen Titans, and you need someone who's experienced with dealing with the Justice League and it's members. So I figured win-win"
"I get the feeling that there's more than what your telling me" Shadow stated.
"Yes, the Teen Titans have recently received a helper of the Light Justice Society, I believe you know whom they sent?" Slade asked.
"Aldomea" Shadow answered.
"Correct, which is why many of the villians who haunt the streets of Jump City have come here to seek shelter, and which is why it's been rather quiet around Jump City" Slade stated.
"And I assume Batman is going to be arriving in Jump City sooner or later, which is the core reason why you're coming to me with this alliance, cause you can't escape the Dark Knight this time and deal with the Teen Titans all at once, and with Aldomea now in the picture it just makes any operation rather impossible" Shadow said now beginning to understand why Slade was coming to him.
"Correct again, but even just you and me, and even if Blackfire were to join it wouldn't be enough" Slade added.
"So what do you suggest?" Shadow asked.
"I suggest we start our own little League of sorts" Slade suggested. "But for that we need a bigger team, and I know who to ask, and were to start"
"I'm starting to like where this is going, but understand that I'm not a lackey or a dog that barks when called, I'm willing to help but as long as it doesn't get in the way of my goals then we won't have any problems" Shadow said laying out his conditions.
"I would have expected no less from you" Slade said happily holding out his hand.
Shadow took Slade's hand and shook on their new found agreement. Slade then quickly turned to Blackfire.
"What about you?" Slade asked. "Will you join us as well?"
Blackfire quickly thought about this. Teaming up wasn't her style, in fact she almost avoided it cause she didn't get along well with others. But she knew she wouldn't be able to leave this planet without running straight into the waiting arms of the Light Justice Society, and she wouldn't be able to survive on Earth on her own without getting captured and then handed over the Light Justice Society, which only left her with one choice.
"I'll join, but I'll only follow Shadow" Blackfire said praying that she wasn't blushing or sending any misunderstandings. "Shadow saved my life and I owe him as much, and as such Shadow is the one I will follow and work with since I have no other goals on Earth"
"That's fine" Slade answered. "Then we are agreed"
Meanwhile at the Titans Tower
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE COMING TO JUMP CITY!?" Robin cried to the video monitor where Batman stood on the screen his stoic expressions not flinching in the least.
"I've been hunting Deathstroke for some time as he operated in Gotham but I have reason to believe he's now in Jump City, and with you guys trying to deal with the Dark Rogue and Blackfire I'm coming to lighten the load as it were" Batman explained.
"I don't have a say in this do I?" Robin asked bitterness evident in his voice.
"Sadly no, cause if Deathstroke seeks out the Dark Rogue, you're going to need me" Batman stated to a now shocked Robin.
CHAPTER END!
OMG! I haven't written in so long, so sorry if this chapter doesn't quite flow like it should, I tried my best XD. Anyway if anyone has any suggestions for the story don't hesitate to let me know, cause I'm suffering from writers block right now.
Other than that Please Review!