Chapter Twenty-Six
"Hello, Nightwing… What a pleasure to see you again…" Slade said in his usual slow, controlled tone. Nightwing's eyes went wide. Slade had hacked into their computer again.
"You can't protect your tower from me. I have the most brilliant team in existence on my side. We can hack into any system. But that's not why I'm here. I know how much you hate me, but I wonder if you can put your own feelings aside once more to work toward a common goal?" Slade asked.
Nightwing's frown deepened.
"Trigon." The young leader of the Titans said. Slade's eye narrowed, almost as if he was smirking.
"Precisely." Slade said, his voice still flat, not showing the slightest bit of emotion.
"I believe we can work together on this. Then, we can go back to being the worst of enemies…"
"And why should we work with you?"
"Because you have what I need, and I have what you need. You have a large network of loyal allies while I have the power, and the knowledge to use it. I see that you have become much more proficient with your abilities, Nightwing. You must have been training a great deal. Your time dilation chamber has been quite useful, no?"
"How did you know about that!" Nightwing demanded. Slade laughed, a slow, grating sound.
"I know everything about you. Your bioenhancement pills, the fact that you've enhanced the entirety of the Teen Titans Network, the enhancements that you used your Biological Manipulation to give to your team, your relationship with Rachel Roth, and Garfield's revived relationship with Terra. You have done exactly what I expected you to do.
"I never give someone something without expecting something in return. Whether service, intelligence or money, I always take my due in the end, and you're already well on your way to repaying my gift to you. Now, I've come to insist on your assistance on the next step. I have a team of powerful allies… Villains, yes. But under my complete command." Slade said. Nightwing growled. Slade had a point. They would stand a much better chance against Trigon if they worked together.
The Titans had managed to defeat him alone the first time. But that was with the element of surprise, and Raven being able to overwhelm him, again by surprising him. There was no guarantee that anything they did would surprise Trigon this time.
"I can see we've reached an accord. Meet me under the bridge you believed I put a bomb under. Bring everyone if you must, but meet me at 11:00 tonight." Slade said. Nightwing grimaced, but agreed.
"Everyone! We're meeting Slade tonight! I want you to be prepared to fight if we have to." Nightwing said. The rest of the team nodded, getting weapons and making preparations. Nightwing retreated to his lab and began putting together some alchemical serums including several that would react with air and hamper regeneration, several antiviral serums. All of the serums he made reacted with air so that he could throw them like bombs.
He also made several that simply made clouds of smoke or light shows that could serve as a distraction. Finally, after what seemed like a very long six hours, they gathered and headed to talk to Slade, not sure whether they were walking into an ambush or whether he really did mean to just talk.
"Hello, Nightwing… Titans… I am glad you decided to come. There is no need for such hostility. You can put your weapons away. My allies will not attack you so long as you do not attack us." Slade said. Nightwing looked at the former members of the Brotherhood of Evil. He didn't trust them as far as he could throw them. Slade had obviously worked on them. General Immortus looked like he was barely over thirty.
Of all of them, Beast Boy seemed the most incensed about seeing Slade again.
"Why should we trust you!" Beast Boy demanded furiously, still seeing red about Slade's turning Terra against them. Intellectually, he knew that Terra had chosen to follow Slade. She had made her own mistakes. It was just so much easier to blame Slade, the Big Bad Guy, the monster, the sociopath, the villain. It was so easy to blame him.
"I think we both know it wasn't my fault Terra sought help outside the Titans. You simply weren't able to help her in the way she needed to be helped. Sometimes a firm hand is all someone needs, and you were willing to be her friends, her allies her companions. But you wouldn't be her master. Do not blame me for your shortcomings." Slade said with a look of smug satisfaction.
"Beast Boy, stand down." Nightwing said.
"We're working with him for now. That doesn't mean he's our friend. You don't have to like him, you don't have to trust him."
"Dear Nightwing, I don't think even my own children trust me. Why should I expect any of you to trust me? It's simply not practical. However, I do expect you to work with me. Who knows? Maybe you'll learn something." Slade said. Nightwing's eyes narrowed.
"How did you know about the time I thought you put a bomb under a bridge? You were dead at the time."
"You're still working on the assumption that I was actually dead. Do you know that I was? Just because I wasn't actually a threat to you at that exact moment doesn't mean I was dead. As it happens, I was… Well, partially alive and planning my work for Trigon at the moment. Your obsession with me was quite amusing, though." Slade said. Nightwing scowled.
"So why did you call us here? Surely we could have planned over the computer. You seem to have no trouble hacking it." Nightwing demanded. Slade laughed.
"Well… I suppose we could have. But that seemed to lack a certain personal touch. I want you to connect me to Raven's connection to Trigon. That way, my team and yours will constantly be aware of Trigon's progress.
"We cannot risk allowing Trigon to succeed. If you are certain he is coming back, and I am certain as well, we must be prepared to take him down for good this time. I've been practicing certain amounts of magic since I was released from Trigon's service the last time, and I believe that with a small amount of help from Raven and perhaps from you, Nightwing, we can either destroy him or at least weaken him enough that he will be unable to return for a long while." Slade said.
Of all the Titans, Raven seemed the most skeptical of Slade's claim.
"You can't destroy Trigon any more than you could destroy pure Evil. Trigon is the personification of Evil in its truest form. To destroy my father, you would have to destroy the very heart of Evil, and that would be impossible unless you were able to destroy all sentient beings in the Universe." Raven said. Slade just stared levelly at Raven, walking over to her.
"I appreciate your fatalistic outlook, Rachel… But the minute that the Azarathians coalesced their evil thoughts into flesh, Trigon became nothing more than an exceptionally powerful Demon. The only reason that Evil cannot be destroyed is because it has no physical form. Trigon is a physical being, and as soon as he takes a step into this dimension, he becomes vulnerable. It is possible, if exceptionally difficult to destroy Trigon. But I will need all of your assistance to do it." Slade said.
"Why did you bring the Brotherhood of Evil back? Do you really believe that they'll stay loyal to you?" Beast Boy demanded. Slade sighed.
"Normally, they wouldn't. But I proved my superiority to them by fighting all of them at once and defeating them. If they betrayed me, I could destroy them from inside their brains.
"I promised that I would not use mind control nodes on them. But a tiny node of biomass inside their brains will destroy it at my command if they betray me. I have learned from past mistakes with you and Terra. I will never allow any of my allies to escape my grasp again." Slade said. "It was a bit heavier handed than I wanted, but it's effective if nothing else."
"Good… I'll have Raven teach me some magic as well. That way you have another ally to help with whatever magic you plan to use on Trigon." Nightwing said. Slade nodded.
"That will work well. But I can give you the knowledge right now." He said. "You must evolve the ability to use magic for yourself. But here is the knowledge you need." Slade said, putting his hand on Nightwing's head, passing on the abilities that he had gained.
"I told you, Nightwing… I never do anything without expecting something in return. I expect that you will assist me to the best of your ability in defeating Trigon. Am I clear?" Slade demanded. Nightwing nodded. It was a lot of magical knowledge that Slade passed on to him, much more than just summoning and banishing, fighting Demons and preventing them from coming back. There were spells in the arsenal that Slade had given Nightwing that could do serious damage even to a being like Trigon, probably.
"Is that all you needed?" Nightwing asked. Slade's eyes narrowed.
"Yes. I think it is best that we go our separate ways for now. Garfield seems ready to attack me and Terra seems similarly poised to fight." Slade said, throwing some dust on the ground. As it cleared, it was obvious that they were gone. Only a letter was left over.
Hello, Nightwing,
It was good to meet with you tonight. I expect you to train with your magic as extensively as you do with your physical and psychic abilities. If you are to fight by my side, I expect no less than your best. Even in the face of the world ending, I do not suffer fools or incompetents. Give the knowledge to Rachel if you must. But I expect that you will be ready for the end.
Slade
