Chapter three!
I have some things to clear up first.
Slade does not know about NW's past as Robin. And, just so you know later, Batman does not know that Slade is Deathstroke.
Deathstroke came before Slade. Slade does not operate as Deathstroke any more. He's just Slade.
Hope that helped.
As the Titans raced to the warehouse, Nightwing flashed back to the night when Slade had informed him of his intentions.
It was a quiet night, and Nightwing had just finished talking to Zatanna. He had gotten a bit upset over something she said but managed to hold it in until he hung up. Then he calmly got up, left the Tower, and went to look for someone to beat up.
He had any number of victims available. For some reason, minor Jump criminals seemed to think that fighting during the night was smart. 'Wing might have been fighting in the sun these days, but he had been working with Batman for much longer. Night was his element. You would think that the name would tip some of them off.
He finished with his rounds and was resting on top of the tallest building in Jump, perched on the very edge of the building, looking out at his city. Another Bat-habit. He had been happy, or as close to happy he could be these days.
Then, Slade stepped out of the shadows.
He informed him about his plan to make Nightwing his apprentice once more, and when Nightwing asked why Slade was warning him instead of turning him in circles to disguise his true intentions, Slade smirked behind his mask. Nightwing knew he was smirking anyway.
"I though I would see how you would respond if you knew what was going on. Think of it as a training exercise, for both you and me. What will you do differently, now that you know what's really going on? Besides, it's much more interesting this way."
Then he vanished, swallowed up once again by the shadows.
Almost at the warehouse, Nightwing took a moment to fume. Slade was saying that his life was nothing more than a training exercise, a way to test his limits. He wondered if this warehouse thing had anything to do with it.
At the same time, he had a deeper understanding of why Slade had acted as he had on that rooftop. The second apprenticeship had helped him understand more.
Finally, the Titans arrived at the warehouse. Immediately, they were attacked, but Nightwing noticed something strange. The robots only seemed to be trying to hold them back, not really defeat them. And his whole team was around him, within eyesight. The robots hadn't even tried to separate them. As they fought towards the warehouse, he saw that they weren't even trying that hard to hold them back. Sounds of a fight came from within the warehouse, but none of the Titans were inside.
What was going on?
Finally, the Titans fought their way through to the warehouse. At this point they were still mostly unharmed, although BB had sustained a hard blow to the arm and there had been a small cracking sound, and most of the others were covered in scrapes and bruises. Strangely, all the robots had gone easy on Nightwing. He didn't have a scratch on him.
OK, maybe it wasn't so strange, given the circumstances.
In any case, they managed to make their way into the main warehouse area. What they found there stopped Nightwing cold. He just stood there for a moment, mouth agape, before managing to hide his shock. A numb feeling spread through him.
It was his team.
Why was that so shocking?
Let me rephrase. It was his original team.
Young Justice.
Dun dun duuuuuuuhhhhhhhhh
Then again, you all knew it was coming. So never mind.
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