What up my readers! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Too much schoolwork and finals can really make a person busy. Anyway, here's the twenty-third chapter. I hope y'all like!

Chapter 23: Tricked

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"So, what's your guys' answer?" Deathstroke asked, her arms crossed over her chest. Shadow looked at Mar'i, his dark eyes fixed with her light green ones.

Mar'i sighed. "Well, I've given it much thought," she said.

"And," Deathstroke asked, waiting for Mar'i's answer.

"Well, we've decided . . . that we're gonna go with your offer. The sooner we get rid of these powers, the better," she stated.

"Score! And Deathstroke takes the gold!" Deathstroke thought to herself.

Deathstroke smiled. "Alrighty then, let's get to my place and we'll get rid of those powers as soon as possible. Teleport us, please," she said, glancing at Shadow.

Shadow nodded his head and wrapped his arms around Mar'i and Deathstroke, teleporting them where they needed to go.

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Shadow, Mar'i, and Deathstroke ended up at the abandoned Pier 41, inside a deserted crate storage room.

"Dad! I'm here!" Deathstroke called out, removing her orange and black bandana, revealing her face.

Shadow gasped in amazement, his dark green eyes growing wide. (A/N: Yes, I know I've called them violet before, but I got a little mixed up. Sorry.) He gazed at Deathstroke's face, her skin a smooth and elegant tan color with beautiful, chocolate brown eyes; her hair a shiny and luminous jet black that reached down to her shoulders. He felt his face growing hot.

"Oh my God," he thought. "Without her masked bandana, Deathstroke looks so . . . nice and, pretty and . . . beautiful."

He shook his head hard.

"No! No! No! No! What's wrong with me?"

Mar'i noticed Shadow shaking his head and his face changing a bright crimson. "Shadow," she said. "You okay?"

Shadow turned his attention towards Mar'i and gave her a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine Mar'i. Nothing to worry about," he told her. Mar'i looked at him unsure but then decided to drop it.

"So, since you don't have your bandana that hides your secret identity on, I'm guessing you're really serious about this and are trusting us," Mar'i said, looking at Deathstroke.

Deathstroke turned and smiled. "Well, yeah. You guys are helping me out, so I figured I'd show you my identity. I'm, uh . . . Samantha Ridgers, nice to meet you," she lied, reaching out her left hand for Mar'i and Shadow to shake. They did, one by one and gave her a smile.

"So, I've seen Shadow underneath that hood of his," she said, looking at Shadow and then turning her attention towards Mar'i. "but will I ever get to see the girl behind the mask?" she asked.

Mar'i gave Deathstroke a smile and took off her father's black eye mask, revealing her light green, Tamaranean eyes.

Deathstroke smiled and motioned Mar'i and Shadow to keep following her to a different room. She opened up the door and walked in, the lights turned off and nothing filling the dark room with light but the screens that revealed the people of Jump City heading to work or school as the seven o'clock am sun came up.

"Ah, you're finally here young daughter," a mysterious voice said throughout the room. Mar'i and Shadow looked around them, searching for the mysterious voice until a dark figure walked towards them, coming from out of the shadows and revealing his face.

He was a rather built man dressed in an attire that was rather similar to Deathstroke's, except, instead of an orange and black bandana, he wore an orange and black mask with only his left eye showing through the mask.

"Mar'i, Shadow, this is my father. Mr. Ridgers," she introduced. Slade looked down at her and raised his eyebrow in confusion at the name his daughter picked, but then ignored it and looked back up at Mar'i and Shadow.

"It's very nice to meet you sir," Mar'i said, giving a bow. Shadow did the same.

"It's very nice to meet you two also," Slade said, also giving them a bow. "I hear you two have extraordinary powers that my daughter has been dying to have. Is that true?" he asked.

"Yes sir," Mar'i nodded. "Oh, forgive my manners. My name is Mar'i. Daughter of Starfire and Ro—I mean, Nightwing," she said, not giving her last name as she shook Slade's hand.

"And my name is Shadow. Son of Raven and Beast Boy," he stated, shaking Slade's hand.

"Shadow? That's an unusual name for a young man," Slade said, looking down at him.

"Well, tell that to my mom," he said, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Okay, so let's get this show on the road," Deathstroke said, clasping her hands together.

"Alright," Slade nodded, looking over at his daughter and then turning towards Shadow and Mar'i. "If you two please will follow me, I'll show you how this is going to work."

Shadow and Mar'i nodded their heads and followed Slade and Deathstroke to a certain part of the room they were in. Slade then pushed a button that was on his sleeve, which made part of the floor open up, a large, square-like machine popping up from the ground.

"This, is called the DNA Scrambler," he said, showing them the machine.

"What does it do?" Shadow asked, looking at the machine.

"It's a machine that'll scramble your DNA," he said.

"Well, that really defines it," Mar'i said, folding her arms.

"This machine has two doors. One that'll absorb the DNA of the person who's in it and transfer the DNA to the person that's in the door to the right. And that's exactly what this little machine is going to do to you. It'll absorb the DNA that you two have, which will be transported to my little—Samantha," he explained.

"Will it hurt?" Mar'i asked, looking at the machine.

Slade gave a small chuckle. "No my young dear. You will feel a small bit of discomfort during the process, but once we're through, you'll feel like a new person," he told her. Mar'i smiled and looked over at Shadow.

"Well, let's get this show on the road," she said, climbing into the first door of the machine. Deathstroke nodded her and got into the door on the left, climbing in while Shadow went into the door on the left with Mar'i.

"Alright, start up the machine Daddy," Deathstroke said with a smile.

Slade nodded his head and went towards the machine, pushing a few buttons and pulling a few levers until the machine started to beep a few times.

Mar'i gulped nervously as she started to hear the beeps of the machine starting but felt a hand wrap around her right one. She looked down at her hand and saw that the hand that was holding her own was attached to an arm that belonged to none other than Shadow.

"I'll be alright Mar'i," he told her, giving her smile while squeezing her hand gently. Mar'i smiled and took in a deep breath as the machine door they were behind started to glow luminously, their DNA already being absorbed from their bodies, making them wince a little.

The DNA was then transported to the next machine which was the one that Deathstroke was in, filling her body with Shadow and Mar'i's DNA, also making her wince in pain, but feeling stronger and stronger by the minute.

After a few seconds went by, the light from the machine doors then started to drain slowly as they opened up, smoke coming from out of them.

Slade looked at the two doors, Mar'i and Shadow stepping out of their door first, breathing a little heavy at the loss of part of their DNA. They both looked at each other and then looked down at themselves before they looked at each other.

They turned and gave each other a hug.

"They're gone," Mar'i cried.

"Our powers are finally gone." Shadow smiled, still hugging Mar'i.

Just then, Mar'i and Shadow got hit by what felt like a Starbolt. They both fell to the ground, and looked up to see who it was that attacked them.

"Aww, isn't that just the cutest little scene you've ever seen?" Deathstroke asked, her body floating above Shadow and Mar'i, who looked up at her in shock. Deathstroke looked at her hands, which were glowing a bright green and then looked down at Shadow and Mar'i, who had looks of shock on their faces.

"It was all a trick!" Mar'i yelled, clenching her fist.

Deathstroke smirked, putting her bandana back on. "Oh, what's the matter Mar'i? You mad because you made a stupid mistake, just like your idiot father use to make all the time when he was a Titan?" she asked.

Mar'i quickly got up. "Don't you ever talk about my father that way!" she yelled.

"Or what? You'll blast me with your powers?" she asked. "Oh wait, that's right. You don't have your powers anymore," she smirked, throwing another light green Starbolt at Mar'i, making her fall to the ground.

"Mar'i!" Shadow called out, running to Mar'i's side, but was hit in the back by what felt like a Starbolt. He fell to the ground, looking up at Deathstroke, thinking she was the one that hit him.

Deathstroke shrugged her shoulders. "Wasn't me." She smiled, pointing her index finger to her right. Shadow turned and saw that it was Slade who hit him with the Starbolt.

"How did you—"

Slade's hands then began to glow a bright, light blue before Shadow could finish his sentence.

Slade looked down at his glowing hands and smirked behind his mask. "It's funny how much power young Kariand'r possesses. The same with young Stevie."

Shadow's eyes grew wide. "What did you do to Stevie!" he yelled, getting up from the ground.

"Nothing really," he said, still examining his hands. "I do feel pity for the two young dears. They did all they could to try and escape, but I'm afraid, they failed."

Shadow clenched his fist tightly and yelled out in anger. "Azarath! Metrion! Zinthos!" he yelled, hoping for a powerful, dark ray to shoot out from his palms but remembered that his powers were just taken away.

He looked down at his hand and then looked back up at Slade, who was chuckling his taunting chuckle.

"I'm afraid my dear boy, you and your little friends have lost this round," he said, changing into a Aida Hwedo—a rainbow serpent—showing his sharp teeth at Shadow before he slammed his tail on the ground, making the floor beneath Shadow's feet rise up and surround him in a barricade.

Slade then changed back into his human form, walking towards Shadow, looking down at him.

Shadow glared up at Slade. "You're not going to get away with this!" he yelled.

"Dear child, I already have," he said.

And with that said, Slade raised his fist, which was glowing a bright, light blue and punched Shadow in the back of the head, knocking him unconscious.

Deathstroke saw this while thrusting the already unconscious Mar'i over her shoulder, feeling her stomach turn when she saw Shadow's head fall back and his eyes close.

"Dad . . . was that—was that really necessary?" she asked, looking up at her father.

Slade turned towards his daughter, looking down at her.

Deathstroke then began to stutter. "Uh—I mean, c-couldn't we have just taken him to where Kariand'r and Stevie are—without . . . hurting him?" she asked.

"I'm sorry my apprentice, but I believe we're talking about the target here. Shadow and Mar'i are nothing put our power sources and nothing else. We drain their power and take it. That's it," he said, looking at his daughter. Deathstroke looked down, avoiding eye contact with her father. "Or have you developed feelings for young Shadow?"

Deathstroke gasped, looking up at her father, putting on a look that showed he was crazy and began to laugh. "That's funny Father. (Laugh) That's very funny. (Laugh) Of course I haven't developed feelings for Shadow. That's ridiculous. (Laugh)"

Slade looked down at his daughter with an unsure look on his face from behind his orange and black mask. "Good," he said. "Now take them away," he ordered, walking out of the room.

Deathstroke watched as her father left the room and then looked down at Shadow, who was still unconscious. "I'm sorry Shadow," she said, resting her left hand on his cheek. "I'm not lying, but watching you getting hurt like this—is also hurting me. I know what I'm doing is wrong, but what can I do? The only reason I'm doing all of this is for my father. I don't want to rule the world like he wants to. But I've got no other choice," she told him, her voice beginning to break as tears started to stream down her face. "He's all I've got."

It didn't take long before Deathstroke started to breakdown crying, her hand moving away from Shadow's cheek and coming towards her face, wiping away her tears.

"Trust me," she said, trying to calm herself down. "Sometimes . . . I wish I were a Titan."

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Ahh, Deathstroke just admitted she doesn't want to work for her dad and wants to be a Titan. What do you think will happen in the next chappie? Only way is to read and find out. I hope you liked this chapter and are ready for the next one. Catch ya later! Peace!