Okay, I have to majorly appologize here. First off, I thought I had updated before this, but I guess I didn't, so I'm sorry for that. Secondly, I'm sorry this update took so long but my computer was being super screwy and had to be fixed. Thank you for still hanging in there! I would love to thank Harleen Quinzell, Heathen Requiem and Bert the Nomad for being my best reviewers and friends. I love you guys, and welcome to Controlled Part 2 Pt 1! Man that's a mouthful!
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A week had passed, and Terrance was getting stronger. His muscles had definitely never looked better, and he had become more evil than ever, even in that short time. He wore an old pair of shorts in his free time or during training, and had gotten used to the remarks Slade would throw at him. He listened to his music all the time, sometimes bringing his iPod with him on patrols just so then he wouldn't get too bored. Slade knew and didn't care as long as he still listened to his orders at the same time. Now it was Saturday morning, the beginning of his second week, and he was getting ready for the attack. He stood alone in the shadowy room, his shorts looking darker than they already were. He cracked his knuckled threateningly as he heard the beeping go off, and he looked around for his opponents. Then he saw them pounce out of the shadows.
Terrance tensed up as he counted them: ten masked men, each one of them looking worse than the other. Terrance clenched his fists and sprang forward, punching the closest one's head off with a single shot. He crushed the head in between his palms and looked back as the others ran forward, not caring about their fallen teammate.
Terrance grabbed onto one's shoulders and flipped backwards over him, kicking the one behind him in the chest. His grip still strong on the one, he flipped him over his own shoulders and tossed him into the ground. He ran at the next one, holding onto his upper arm and spinning himself around, knocking another one back. He touched back down, pulling off the guy's arm as he did, and tossed it roughly at another approaching one. The arm went right through him, killing him on the spot.
Terrance jumped back a few feet as two ganged up on him, swinging away at his head in an attempt to badly hurt him, but he wasn't worried. He hopped down to his feet and took the two out, knocking out their knees. They fell and Terrance worked quickly, not giving them a chance to get up. He jumped down on one, his hand pressed so hard on his chest that he broke the surface, and with his other hand he pulled out his trusty pocketknife. He quickly slit the guy's throat before jumping onto the other who had just rose to his feet.
He clung to his legs, the guy staggering on the spot. Terrance pulled his knife from between his clenched teeth and stabbed the guy in the leg before he fell. Groaning, Terrance stabbed the guy's back a few times before rising to his feet. The last two had been watching him, taking in his moves, and he knew that this would be a challenge.
They circled around each other for a moment before Terrance jumped forward, aiming the knife at the closer one's heart. He let out a yell as he got closer and to his surprise the second one got a hold of his wrist. Terrance fell and the guy twisted his wrist at such a degree that he was forced to let go of the knife which the other guy picked up. Terrance struggled to get free as the holder guy grabbed his other hand and pulled him into a tight lock as the knife guy came forward with his weapon. Terrance looked around for a way to get free but found nothing. The guy was close now, too close.
With an amount of extreme strain Terrance stepped forward until he had enough room to slide down. The knife guy stabbed as quickly as he could, only to miss Terrance by a millimeter and get his teammate in the stomach instead. The holder guy let go of him and he dropped down completely, those hands still clinging to his wrist. The knife guy stabbed repeatedly, hoping that one shot would actually hit the right target as Terrance maneuvered this way and that until the guy put his foot down right between the holder's arms, stopping Terrance dead in his tracks. He fell back onto his behind as the guy raised his arm to strike, and Terrance grinned his cruelest smile yet.
With a groaning yell he leaned on his back and raised his feet high until they were the right height. He shot his shoes forward and hard into the guy's stomach, knocking the torso and up clean off. Terrance got back to his feet as he ripped his wrists free. He rubbed them as he walked over to the top half of his former opponent and wrenched his knife free, cleaning it off on the bottom of his shorts. He got ready to put it away when he heard the bell go off again and he turned with a sour grin to find ten more guys rushing at him. He let out a yell as he attacked, and Slade saw that his determination was now never-ending. He watched his apprentice kill off another ten of his commando robots, each one taking rather a beating, and he wondered what it would be like if he sent in real people next.
Terrance had done well from the start he knew, but seeing as he lasted longer than a day and was a better fighter than Robin himself he now considered Terrance to be his best apprentice yet. There was no way that he could fail him now, especially with his only real threat destroyed. Today was going to be like any other day, but with one exception, and he was going to reveal it to Terrance as soon as his finished off the batch, which he did quickly by stabbing the last one and ripping him open.
Terrance stood in the middle of the training room, his body sweating slightly from the workout despite how cold it was in there. He put his knife away when the bell didn't ring for a third time and was about to walk to the bathroom for shower when he heard footsteps of a single person coming from the robot entryway. It was still dark so Terrance did not see who it was until he stepped into the light, and he saw with great surprise that it was Slade himself, ready to fight.
Terrance threw the knife towards the exit, not wanting to stab his master or himself by accident, and readied himself for the third time. Terrance was never allowed to use his powers in the training room, seeing as the entire lair was underground and made of rock, with no exception to this room. Sometimes it bothered him, especially when there was so much for him to use, but he was strictly told to his fists, knife, and any other way he could think of without using his powers. And at this very moment he wished that he had more than just his fists.
Slade took a few more calm steps toward him before stopping, and he bowed. Terrance had never fought Slade in training before, and did not know what to expect, but this seemed to be the way to properly start off a battle to him, so he leaned forward and bowed. As soon as his guard was let down Slade sprang forward, grabbing him by the arm and pushing him into the ground. Terrance felt his knees buckle and he fell, looking up as Slade brought his foot down. Terrance rolled away just as Slade's foot crashed into the place where his head had been, and he rose to his feet as fast as he could, looking out for any pattern Slade might have. He backed away, his eyes watching every move Slade made as he charged forward, and ducked just in time to miss being punched in the face. Slade tried to kick out his knees as Terrance ducked, and watched in satisfaction as he jumped above his foot and kicked Slade instead. It was then the master decided to try and weaken the apprentice.
'You know you're much better than your sister,' he said as Terrance aimed a punch at him which he dodged easily. 'Better at fighting, better at this job and even better in bed.' Terrance ignored the last statement, even though he knew it was true. Slade had already told him about being with Terra before.
'Thanks for the compliment,' he replied as Slade forced him to go down and leap away before his fist made contact with his back.
'I remember when you lived with the Titans North while undercover. If Beast Babe were still alive would you still want to do her?' Terrance laughed and punched Slade's gut, send his master back a little.
'Sometimes but I bet she wouldn't be as good as you.' Slade and Terrance came at each other, their hands entwined together in a dead hope to break free and aim a hard punch to the head. Terrance struggled for a moment before he let Slade push him back. He smirked as Slade fell forward and he leaned back onto his hands, kicking Slade over him and him onto the floor. Terrance leaped back to his feet and turned to attack when Slade's fist came out of nowhere and made direct contact with his face. He stumbled and finally fell, his cheek burning like it was on fire. He looked up angrily as Slade stepped up to him with something in his hand: his knife. 'Not again,' he groaned, and jumped back before the blade came close to hitting him for the tenth time. He saw Slade, the knife, and the timer tick away at its endless seconds and decided to end this session before me missed his patrol. Holding his breath, Terrance raced forward, his eyes fixed on the enemy, and threw a flying kick at it, knocking the knife out of Slade's hand and back into the corner. He landed on his feet, soon to fall forward to his hands and knees and a small state of weakness. But he wouldn't give up. He stood and faced Slade, his body shaking slightly after the half-hour workout.
'I'm proud of you Apprentice. You've done very well this past week. And, since you've managed to last longer than any other, I'm sure that your real reward is to be deserved.' Terrance rolled his eyes. Like he hasn't already received it this week? But what Slade meant sent him into the deepest pit of surprise. 'Tonight after your patrol I'll show you your sister. Tonight, you'll get to see Terra,' Slade told him, and Terrance's mind went blank. Was he really going to see Terra? At last, after all his work Slade was really going to keep his promise? While he stared into space Slade ran around behind him and punched him in the back, forcing him down. Terrance rolled onto his throbbing back and looked into the eye of his master as he placed his foot on his chest in a sign of victory before helping him up.
'I – uh I'm –?' he stuttered, and Slade showed him off to get dressed for patrol.
'Yes Terrance you're going to meet your sister. But the more time you waste ignoring my orders and daydreaming the less time you'll have tonight,' he reminded him, and Terrance ran off, collecting his knife as he did.
'Yes sir. I'll be ready in a moment. Are the robots already moving?' he asked from the doorway, and Slade clicked a small button hidden in his palm. The walls filled with screens to show about a hundred or two of Slade's robots walking around Edge City with even larger ones as backup incase of an 'attack' from any nearby hero. The screens answering his question, Terrance dashed to his room and shut the door to dress back in his apprentice uniform. He quickly pulled on his shirt and pants after hurriedly removing the shorts and attached the belt before he tripped over it. He had never been so excited in his life. Never had he actually wanted to go on patrol, even with his music to speed it up, but today he just wanted to float around town, thinking about how he would finally get to see Terra. What would he say to her? Would she recognize him? Would – he immediately scolded himself for the stupidest question of all time. Of course she would recognize him they were twins after all! 'I can't wait to see you Terra, after all these years,' he murmured to himself as he placed the last bit of armour on and, but not before grabbing his iPod, he left, not knowing the danger that awaited him in the empty outside world.
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Next up if the first fight, and it took a while to write this part alone, so I can't wait for it. I hope someone enjoyed this, and until I update sooner this time, Farewell! Wow, two chapters in one day...
Tiff
