Slade's Tale

Alexnandru Van Gordon

Hello again, folks! I'm back with your favorite villain here today and I decided that's it about time we take a teeny tiny look into his past in this chapter along with the next episode. I also had a lot of people talk to me about the Apprentice and Masks episodes, hoping that they will be worth their weight in gold. I assure you—I'm going to put so much effort into those that I just might satisfy your taste buds. It all depends on how much you enjoy reading my style of writing because I really don't know how to write in any other way.

Besides that, let's get on with the show…err…story.

DISCLAIMER: The Titans own their tower, Slade owns a lot, and I—with absolute honesty—own nothing but the idea for this story.

CHAPTER THREE: Who to choose…

Slade was never really like this in the beginning and one would suppose that it is quite important to know a man's history before insanity claimed his mind. Besides, it wouldn't really be fair to the man if you were to only know his darker side.

Where to begin on that subject…? To start, I guess one would have to say he was a little crazy on his own. After all, he did his lie about his age to join the army. For those of you who didn't quite believe what was just said, here's a repeat: he did lie about his age to join the army. Nod your head if you think that's a little odd, I know I am. To tip the scale on that part, he worked in the Peace division once. Which one sounds weirder to you? The fact that he lied to get into the army or that the malevolent villain we love to hate actually worked in the Peace division. Now that starts a migraine…

Oh well. While good old Slade was training in a guerrilla warfare session, he met a woman who actually matched his spirit and fighting skills. Adeline Kane…Nice name, but not everything ends nicely. She gave him two sons, Grant and then Joe…but that's something for you to hear in the future. However, it would be rude to leave you hanging with just that little bit of information, so here's a little something to keep you quite—

Adeline is the reason he sees every just and unjust action through his one cold eye. One bullet was all it took and it was delivered with the sweet goodbyes of his ex-wife, Adeline…

Who said every story had to end in the sappy Disney parade of smiley faces we're so used to?

His family haunted his mind at times when he didn't keep himself busy, and that is why he made haste to set up another plan. Open to new ideas, he decided to try a more magical approach to his testing of the Titans. He was a man with big entrances and slippery escapes, but he looked to the heaven then-and-again in search for an answer.

That was when it dawned on him.

Doing research (and what else, do you suppose, he would be doing if not that), he came across something ancient and new at the exact same time. It was a set of old texts that popped up on his screen after a little slipping around in some highly guarded files. Thunder and Lightning…What an entrance that would be to use something like that.

Checking the cameras he placed all over Jump City, he did a quick scan of the areas and sighed. It was really annoying to see all those happy people going on with their lives as if life itself was carefree. It made him sick at times, and that's why he decided bringing in a little thunder storm to wash away all their happiness wasn't such a bad idea. But it wouldn't end them.

He was going to let them burn.

Looking into the scripts further, he took note of everything he needed to know and set out to prepare the summoning of the two brothers.

-break-

The ceremony didn't take that long and all he had to do was sit back and relax as the night rolled in. He began to grin when he saw the storm cloud that came with it. Sure enough, Lightning and Thunder couldn't resist the chance at creating a display at the bridge, and Slade wondered if they even knew who summoned them—or if they had be summoned at all. They just started their fun and so the Titans came along.

Routine.

There was something he noticed near the end of the battle when the two ancient brothers slipped from battle and left the Titans to clean up the disaster they created. He was able to note a few moves each Titan displayed, but when he came around to the green changeling and the alien girl…more arguments. First with Cyborg and Robin, and then with Starfire and Beast Boy? Now this was worth watching…

The Titans split up, and, as much as he wanted to see the outcome of the quarrel. He had to move as well. Disguising himself as an old man from the orient, he picked up an east dialect and made his way to find the brothers. I wasn't too hard to find them either. The Titans gave him a helping hand with that part, and they were none other than the transformer and the redhead.

Another grin played on his face and he pulled out one of his little inventions. It appeared to the unknowing eye as an old-fashioned camera, but you were warned not to look too closely at the lenses—but you were more than welcomed to smile. He'd just wipe it off your face in a flash. He he…

Aiming, he stood for a moment in the silence of the shadows as he decided which of the two Titans he wanted to kill. Which one's death would affect the team to his advantage…? Hmmm…? The green changeling wasn't much of anything, but it seemed that Boy Wonder had a thing going for the alien girl. He was a fool for not casting aside his crush to keep her safe, and even more of a fool for not gathering his guts to tell her he loved her before they were separated for good.

If it twisted Robin's stomach—goodbye, Starfire.

She didn't see the blast until it was too late and he was sure her body would be recovered sooner or later. He knew the changeling beast transformed at the last moment, but his aim was really only to kill the girl. If Beast Boy failed to impress him, he would dispose of him another time.

Finally revealing himself as a harmless old man to the brothers, he told them what the younger brother wanted to hear and gave them the offer of more fun. Lightning had no worries, but Slade worried for a second when Thunder took the green boy's words into consideration. That mentally disorder, shape-shifting freak actually had an impact on someone's conscience? What a joke.

All in all, Lightning convinced his brother to come along and so Slade led them to a field he set up earlier. All the signs were made, the chants said, and now all he needed was the powers of the Storm Brothers to awaken Fire. Without knowing, they played into his hand quite nicely and it was too late for them to undo what they did when Fire rose from the ground. The mountain of flames stomped off toward Jump City and that meant trouble for the Titans. Slade knew they weren't going to stop it before at least half of the city was burned down, and that made him laugh as he took off into the night to watch from higher grounds just as the Titans showed up to do their job.

What a surprise he had when he discovered Robin was chasing him. He didn't know he had been spotted until he gave a look around and almost jumped when he saw Robin running after him in the forest. He didn't see the fellow and that was impressive, much like Slade when he wasn't seen unless he wanted to be seen.

He was starting to like this kid.

Being a nice guy, he whipped out his Bo-staff and gave the boy a show. Robin continued to surprise him from there when he blocked with only his arms. Slade knew he was hitting pretty hard (and still not as hard as he could hit) and the boy continued to block with his arms. Either he didn't have his staff with him or he was acting like a fool again. Slade could kill him now if he wanted to. All it would take was a well-placed crack over his head with the Bo-staff and he'd be out like a light…permanently.

The opportunity presented itself to Slade, but something held him back. Whether it was the memory of his two sons who took up fighting jobs on their own or that fact that the boy displayed the young heart Slade once had. Robin was determined and knew he could die…then why did the boy hold back.

The battle ended after Slade decided not to kill the boy. Something told him not to and he didn't know whether to consider it lucky or unfortunate that half of his human mask tore and revealed the orange side of his usually one. Somehow Robin figure out everything rather quickly, especially when he inspected the 'S' at the end of Slade's staff.

"Slade…"

Ooooh, such venom. It was like a miniature temper tantrum and he laughed to himself at the sight. What else did he expect? Robin was a kid after all.

He wanted to continue but Robin was the leader of his team and his duty was to them. Once more he abandoned the opportunity to discover Slade's true identity to aid his friends, and Slade wanted to grab him by his throat and beat the living daylights out of him. Friends? Friends! All friends ever did was ruin your personal agenda. If Robin would have ignored them, maybe he wouldn't be so weak to give up on a fight so easily.

How disappointing…

But…also…informing.

That was Robin weakness: his team—his friends. He'd put them first when it came to his list and that was such a dangerous weakness too.

Well done, Robin. Perhaps you do shine above the rest…

-A-

Argh! Another short one, well—at least Masks will be longer because we'll get another peek into Boy Wonder's head throughout the show. I have to do that both to make it longer and to also explain things properly. Don't worry. I'll be putting my heart and soul into Masks and the Apprentices, and I hope you like it. Just bear with me for a while, because Not Again suddenly attracted a few new reviews and I have to go and work on the next chapter. I hate waiting long for updates—so I can only imagine how you guys feel.

Bowing farewell

Alexnandru Van Gordon