Long Live the King – Deathstroke's Forced Descent into Villainy
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Chapter 8: Stepping Out of the Darkest Corners
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The heroes fought Cinderblock with much gusto, but now they had preferred to fight each other…
The boys' "Sonic Boom" had been a death-defying flop; Robin stayed with his team, while Cyborg proclaimed angrily that "He'd quit."
Slade wondered about none of it. Cinderblock had secretly gotten away and had retrieved exactly what the mastermind had wanted; a subject held in high containment, known as Plasmus. Not a true knock off of the Batman's Clayface, yet he could be quite fearsome while awake. The man behind that pink, goopy body was just a meta. A man cursed with a power that Slade wanted to use to take over Jump a little further. So far, he'd done his damage, but the gash wasn't cut deep enough for Wilson's tastes.
The heroes were pushed back to their tower to regroup, or…what was left of them…
As for the masked villain and his other pursuits…
Getting back to what Slade's allies had said about an, heir…He was questioning it. And as far as Deathstroke Inc…He'd gotten together the paperwork for that day.
All he needed, was the rest of Jump city at his feet. And the Titans, wouldn't stand a chance. Not once had he put out of his mind that he wanted to destroy them…Though, Robin was no exception. If the Batman caught onto his secondary feelings of keeping the Titan standing, to watch his second home burn to the ground…Well…. that could have two endings or none for Slade. He had to move his pieces carefully for a while.
Well, there was time yet. There was always so much time to be had.
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Days went and came, and gone again. Slade worked like the dog he'd become out of circumstance and desire; his desire now, was clearly turning to an obsessive rule.
He had to get under the Titans' noses to have his plans put to the test, but what was stopping him?
Digging up some weather pattern data that was well to advance onto his city in the next week, he saw that a great deal of storm activity had been reported close to the west coast somewhere near Star City. They had plenty of action, so he went to check out the rest by train this time.
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The wind was picking up, and there was a warning playing over his head at the station on the big screen. As if saying "your funeral, kid."
Slade snorted and put his hands into his pockets, walking ahead into the dreary daylight covered in fog. Why was Star City dealing with low pressure this time of year?
"Global warming, again?" He sighed. Wondering if a big chill would stop what was to come. Science. Man's last hope, and least familiar ally in the fight to preserve life on Earth. And the galaxy, no doubt to that.
Slade heard something "ping" in his pocket. He shuffled to find better cover while he was incog on the streets.
~ Wilson. ~
Slade looked down at the screen, getting antsy. " William…" Slade drolled out.
~ Are you going to adjust that attitude with me, Slade? You've been investing time and energy into this…. human hunt! I warn you - normally only because I may care about your well – being as a friend, yet I heard about your run in with the Batman in Gotham –
"It's undecided, Will." Slade grumbled while he was still out in public. "I'm in a bad spot. Spotty reception, poor weather con –
~Slade! I'm warning you! Stay away from that –
The click ended the older male's rant. Slade still had work to do.
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As the thunder grew closer, Slade used a specially calibrated reader to measure the watts, amps. You name it.
Volts.
Superfluous! People pointed. Drivers shouted up at the bridge. Slade adjusted his false eye that was enhanced to pick up traces of more, human activity. Within the shroud of light and heated air molecules, clouds began to form, and laughter from that cloud had the citizens' fullest attention. Including the new and improved Deathstroke's undivided interest.
So far, he'd gotten all he needed from this little trip out westward.
"The start, and the end." Slade shook his head and came out of his briefest "aha" moment. " Agh, I wonder if Will would rather watch from a distance…" Slade chewed his lip. Could he? Could he pull down a thundercloud and have it come his way?
Only one way to find out. The prediction for Jump's weekly forecast called for storms and wherever thunder rolled in to high gear, so too did these figures of elemental madness.
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"You've been approved Mr…"
"Wade, Defarge." Slade used an old alias to play his cards just right. A fine estimation and a few stolen lab projects on the market later?
He had himself a way into the big world of those guys in stuffy suits. Like Wayne, he'd make a careful but successful splash in this new position. He was going to be a security guard for a corporation to learn its secrets. How fun…This was all to amount to something…
The company had a pretty device that screamed evil genius if you looked at it upside down. They'd kept the details choppy, unheard by the staff outside of the nano – program and sister site called " Ingenico" (From my Epilogue Story arc) by reputation. The company made equipment to help with everything Surgery. Doctor's bills could be lower, or they could make up for it with Universal healthcare, but there were over a billion people and not enough staff to go around. Anyway, this was all a part of the process.
So, the next step?
He had to get the night off, one-stormy night, to make his splash even bigger.
Of red- orange and coal black, he would decimate the heroes and only do his best to see them crumble into a nicely folded heap. All but one, and he wanted to see if his precognition ability was on the fritz, or was this all a part of a greater plan?
He needed to step over the Bat. He'd made the man a promise and he was willing to show that his oath had not been broken to the man's own code.
He was going after one more, very soon.
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The Hive called that same week, startling the man to jump into their faces but…. they had an offer.
And the Titans would love to finally be introduced, he imagined Robin most of all.
Slade met the bratty Hive Alpha team; a witch with a big thirteen over her eyes, a techno wiz who needed his mouth washed out, and a mammoth – dubbed as Mammoth. All three were accounted for, and the man sent them to do a bit of what they did best.
Like making waves all up in the Titans' own tower. A fun run in, but pointless since the Alpha duds were beaten anyway…As for the spoils? Slade had gotten his little message across. When he was alone with the Hive Headmistress a while later, she addressed him to ask about his plan. How this "message" would turn out and effectively grant Slade something more than what he was asking to take for granted.
"I had reason to think that you'd decided against training a future successor…" She smirked and let her face tell it all, as Slade calculated the rest from his new throne. Steel, yet beautiful. He was certainly finding his niche in this city.
"I admit, the thought was a tough one to decide on…but a challenge from the Batman himself had me to… reconsider my options." He answered to her, almost cryptically as his new guise would allow.
"Just know, we have your back with resources and as long as you still have a plan in place, the Hive is loyal to its outside aide."
"I wouldn't think anything less, Headmistress. For now… I will bid you a, good day." He let her go, alive and unsure of what Slade really had up his sleeve. He was changed, no longer a killer as much as before. Mostly willing to hide in the shadows and grab the closest victim.
He was doing this with an act. God, she'd just watch but never truly follow. After all, Deathstroke was ruthless. To get under the Bat's skin so simply…he had to be falling into the darkest places to have fallen and awoken with a jolt back to life.
Barely immortal, he was invincible in body and mind, just as his late enemies already saw in this mad mastermind's sternest glance.
And what that boy had said on the screen.
" Who is Slade?"
That question; her hunch in what was to come, all of it was just begging to end badly for someone.
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Well after that episode had ended, the right timing brought the worst out in his enemy's eyes again, and Slade was sure that these were just some punk kids he had to teach a lesson. Robin however, was interesting. He didn't act like a kid when he was all fired up, in fact; he tried to imitate his old mentor out of habit. Raven was as harmless as a fly when startled, but still her magic made him wary when provoked. She was still as dangerous as Starfire going on a…never mind. Cyborg had grown a bit to be less mouthy, he also liked to shout a cry "Booyah" as if he had such gall to do so. Starfire and the younger Beast boy; Ex- Doom Patrol member, were right now in an argument over silly things. Slade just focused on who was ready to burn first…
However, Starfire was still too kind to not be Slade's next target. He decided to stir up some trouble right away.
A shot from a vile laser; by using a device that resembled an old crank camera that could take apart buildings with a fine red beam, fired and hit a wall that toppled in one blow. He had threatened the heroes; to take out the alien princess right before an unlucky Beast boy's, bewildered green eyes? What a criminal thing to do... After that, the figures from before in Star City flocked to the wonderful old man and his "nifty" little device. The mastermind had tried to dress in what he believed to be culturally appropriate, to "appropriate" and to gain the two elements brother's trust upon their first meeting. Plus, the mask of an old soul was very fitting to this plan, indeed. Slade agreed, and he always got what he wanted when thinking in a more positive light.
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Going back to when Slade had first spotted the storm, he took to looking into an artifact to really seal the deal. Maybe take all the credit for said destruction?
No. He had a plan, but it was fun sometimes to improvise. In a book shop far into Little Tokyo in Jump City, he found out about an interesting trick. And also, a symbol that would later spark something revolutionary –
(Recall Trigon and Mark of Scath? I'm using those two. Hah!)
Slade got into buying as many books on the "will of the dark flame," and even learned to harness the power of an amulet that it came with. How did the book shop owner know his story? It could be a trick, or an even a better one. Slade however, was blinded by his want for an empire so it mattered little to him if this had been one foreboding coincidence.
Maybe he really was going to some "interdimensional heck – knows - where!"
All that being said, Slade returned himself now to our present. He'd just gotten the boys in blue and yellow; brothers, two, to do his dirty work.
What made fire that he could use to call out to this city's strongest, was now in the palm of his "wrinkled" hand.
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"Robin. We meet at last…"
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" Stop."
Wintergreen rewound the footage, seeing as Slade was still covering up some minor bruises from his fight with the kid crime fighter.
"There…Maybe…." Wilson, unmasked had his chin propped up in his palm, weighing his options.
"What have the Titans said about the case?" Will asked, trying to remain aware that what he was doing was aiding a madman headfirst into more madness.
Slade lifted his gaze to not glance long in Wintergreen's direction. "They're still processing the events of last night, give or take…. the boy wonder is looking concerned." He squinted at the kid; cameras. In Slade's line of word, spying was A- ok if it was done well. And he had to know just who he'd be getting to know into these coming months at a time.
"What do you think?" Slade turned to the screen again, fixated on what lay before the boy's riled up expression.
"About a successor?" Will started off, "Or your plan to "dismantle" the young heroes of Jump City." He deadpanned, last.
"Either way, we are keeping things hush for now for a reason." Slade told his companion softly. "Robin and his teammates are still unaware of my plans, and that's all fine for us…" He turned and got up, walking closer to the screens that soon displayed a boy wonder crammed in his room with a dozen images, newspaper clippings, and bits of tech… and?
The "S" emblem he'd dropped off during the fight with Thunder and Lightening.
"I think it's almost time to enlighten our little detective. Don't you, Will?" Slade turned with his hands behind his back to the elder in his grey suit. "If you say so, but I'm not going to think twice if your plans fall apart while ahead. Yet, too soon, you'll have to test them to see what trust might continue to support their group. And if the Batman's former partner is willing to search for an answer –
"We'll let that trail of breadcrumbs lead him right to what he seeks." Slade finished. "I'd forgotten how well you remembered the Bat's reputation, compared to my own –
"This may not always be about you, Wilson." Wintergreen reminded the brute. "The next person; be it hero or foe that you are to take on to follow in your footsteps as an eventual killer like yourself, they'll have to know enough about the real man behind the mask to ever trust what you intend to teach."
"That may be, given time it will become second nature. That, I intend to be sure of." Slade returned in a wider legged pose to the screens. To bed, the boy did know how to take care of himself at least…
"We'll start with the second phase. And as far as my empire is doing, my "successor" is only a side project to keep things lively around here."
Wintergreen stiffened. "Don't joke like that, bloody…. I trust you'll know what you must do, not what you simply want. These are still children. And being that –
"We'll discuss the past, maybe later." Slade lowered his gaze, feeling a need for a distraction; an impulse coming, just in time. "Get some rest, Will. We have a long month ahead of us." With that, they parted for the night. Time. And it was ever winding in this pit of a madman's broken dreams.
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