"S-sorry, Slade," Terra panted. "I just . . . "
Slade didn't blink. "Do not use your powers again."
Terra nodded and took another fighting stance. Slade rushed her, and the pair continued their fight. Their training lasted another hour until Terra collapsed in complete exhaustion.
Slade relaxed his stance, not even having broken a sweat during their training. All things considered, she had lasted longer than he'd expected. Her hand-to-hand combat techniques were poor, but she would learn.
"Slade," Terra said, "I think I need new clothes."
Slade glanced over at his apprentice. Until she'd pointed it out, he hadn't even noticed that her clothes had steadily become torn to shreds due to all their training. He nodded. "During your next shower, leave your clothes outside. I will copy them and return them to you."
"Whoa, you can do that?" Terra asked.
Slade, finding that no response was needed, walked out of the room. Terra followed him.
"I'll take a shower now, then," Terra said.
Slade said nothing, but once Terra disappeared and he heard the shower running, he retrieved her clothes from outside the bathroom. Due to Slade's own intense training, several months back he'd made a machine which allowed him to copy any fabric placed inside. The machine took color, texture, and even original size and shape into account. That way, he didn't have to bother with clothes in general and could simply focus his attention on more important things.
Placing Terra's clothing into the machine, an exact replica was produced, though slight modifications were made. On Terra's shirt now rested Slade's own emblem, signifying his ownership of her. Satisfied with the results of the cloning, Slade returned her clothes to the hallway outside the bathroom, discarding her other, ragged clothes.
Half an hour later, Slade heard a squeal from the bathroom as Terra bounded out, her eyes wide. He was vaguely aware that Terra's clothes were tighter on her than before; that was simply due to the machine's taking the stretching ability of certain types of clothing into account. He was also satisfied to see his emblem across her chest. He owned her.
"Wow, Slade, I love it!" Terra said, hugging herself and jumping once into the air.
Slade turned back to his laptop which he worked on, already halfway through hacking into a government security system.
" So . . . do you like it?" Terra asked.
Slade didn't have to glance her way to know what she was hinting at. "It suits you."
Terra laughed once, then quickly left the room. When she returned in her pajamas a few minutes later, Slade couldn't help a small smile. Hardly seeming to realize it herself, Terra stretched and sat down next to him, leaning against his shoulder but not saying anything.
Slade hardly paid her any attention as he continued his work, but when her breathing meter changed, Slade glanced over and was amused to find that she had fallen asleep. After successfully accessing the system, Slade shut his laptop, picked Terra up, and carried her to her bedroom. Soon after, Slade retired to his own room, laughing to himself as he laid down on his own bed. She was his apprentice. His willing apprentice.