Deathstroke War Games - Chapter 1: Prologue, a dc superheroes fanfic

Deathstroke: War Games – Arc One

This is a mash of the post address to Rose rejoining the Titans, only for something else to take their attention away in a blink – our heroes are growing up, Nightwing agrees that Slade has always had a dark side that he can't treat and Rose somehow stops trying to talk to the man. Jericho watches from afar and even has a girlfriend until, well, Slade is getting too old to keep his hands from that fact. In the comics?

He wakes up in this and THINKS he is in Arkham, and so it goes outside the cell that the heroes and Rose are actively getting their lives together, all but Will and Insight, the rest will be presented and then, comes the real pisser. Rose was –

Slade drank for the death of his homeliness. He drank for the death of fatherhood only once a year. On the original date of Grant's no longer valid death, he drank to tell the world off. Had that night in particular not been so hazy he would have seen it, that he wasn't in his lodge or his safe house someplace away from the loud noises.

For all he could hear, were screams as soon as he woke.

To the smell of antiseptic and urine stains in his bedding.

To the feeling of a drug coursing through his body that he could barely place.

Slade groaned and rolled over. The room was, quiet to him…

~ IT could be, yet Deathstroke knows far better. ~

Slade looked to the side was a single eye glossed over.

"Will…. how long was this going on? And why are you so young?"

]

~ You have to escape. Period. ~ The hologram - like William Wintergreen with a full set of locks in brown, turned his frown to the other. ~ This place will kill any chance you have. Rose is still –

"Rose betrayed us both."

~ Rose is hiding a secret. The reason why you're here is because of her. ~

(Changing it!! This is more fun!)

Slade gripped his scalp of white hair. Thinking back, she had a slight sadistic streak whenever he fought her team and they were alone together. Something didn't match. "She's not crazy, is that what you're saying? Well, you are just a fabrication of my thoughts." Sighed the merc. "Anyway, what's the damage? Did they raid the compound and throw a collar around my neck?" Smirking, it sounded like the work of armatures. ~No, I'm afraid the drug inside you in nullifying the effects of your strength to a degree. Your mind as well. ~

"Not as well as it should. It'll be out of my system in a few hours. Nothing but a reagent to see you. Someone pulled Scarecrows tactics right from his playbook."

~That may be –

"Med time!"

Slade's arm shot up as the light that filtered through nearly blinded his last remaining pupil. Will just leaned back and watched, false or not. "Time for treatment, Slade."

"My name is –

"Yeah? What, Joker? Batman?" Snickered the male nurse – as long as they trusted no woman like Harley could ever –

"Can you tell me please what day it is?" Slade suddenly blurted out a sheer curiosity. "I'm here, but I can't remember for how long. Surely no boss of yours will blow up in your face on such tiny –

"Ah, I'm not in interest to guess, but it might me February…. right into…." The man scratched his head and that was when Slade saw it, the man had been given a lobotomy. Not by the staff. Because he was no nurse.

Rattling keys and key cards flipped up as the staff opened the door to see a nearly dead lobotomized patient on his belly below the feet of a one-eyed wonder boy.

"He did it."

Slade was dragged in special cuffs to a room that looked, virtual enough. He was told to sit in one seat while a helmet was offered over his head. He let the virtual reality trick work its magic as they sat. A set of chairs and a person, only one in charge. No need for guards and they were probably injecting him with more of that crap as he sat helpless.

"We're all here for more than one reason, but this session will remain confidential –

"Can we skip the preamble?"

Slade noted a bald gent with fish eyes. His sharp features looked positively gaunt and yet his forehead was wide enough to land a jet onto. "Nygma. This is, and I'll advise –

"Who's advising whom? Hum? Riddle me this."

"Not this again…." A few of the inmates groaned; heads tipping back, eyes rolling and chests heaving similar sighs. Slade had to chuckle at the sight of so many psychos in one space. He wasn't going to feel like a monkey in the middle here. One looking in on the outside, maybe.

"Ah, so we have a new group member joining today!"

Shit. Too soon a thought?

Slade dipped his head, mask up as he tried to stay charming. Hell, that was a dead give away to kick his ass in the mess hall. "Hi, I'm Slade –

"We don't care, why are you in the slammer?"

"I, honestly have no clue." So many faces twisted up, shushed hushing whispers had Slade's ego a bit stroked.

Gross…

"I woke up in handcuffs with a fog over me, and god damn if I want to ask." He turned to the man with the clipboard, his face buried into it. A fresh pack of fodder to chew up. Fun, was what his dark side wanted to think.

"Ah, well…. ehem…Slade is working with us in the meantime. Just like all of you. And, we'll get there so….so, let's go over some guidelines. Shall we?"

Pill popped and dog tired, he ended up in his cot. The rest was Will berating him to never get a wink.

~ You can take a beating, but this place is not the place to let yourself BE beaten! You must escape it. Very soon, before –

No idea, no idea how long. He was fed, pilled and plopped down onto that group session seat until his virtual buns ached. Shit, even though the cot had a broken spring. Was this a new age camp? The kind that whittled you down to sheer nothingness?

"Will."

Slade looked up at the ceiling as the figure of William appeared once more.

"Let's get the hell out of Alcatraz. I'm dying to eat an effing cheeseburger enough to kill the next man who blinks."

~Say no more. ~

He was sure the vents were no go for someone so large, but he did blackmail one person. A rather doubtful soul while Joey had no idea of their relationship. As she'd said. He was a puppy in bed, and she needed a wolf. (Changing it to her cheating on Joey with his dad. OK?)

~ Sending file. ~

"Thought so, the Ikon suit is on." Slade looked at his skin. "A long, ugly dream. Have to wake up."

The training Ra's had given and Slade's super powered mind had him at an advantage. He could overcome illusions, he could. Slade concentrated until his arm had something akin to a control panel on it. "Great, now my weapons…or even…"

The next people to come after Slade would not be so lucky. He stayed quiet, the best of their attempts was met with confusion as the nurses saw no Deathstroke.

Only death, as it struck them to escape through the doors as sirens, broke the silence of the hall.

Slade took off, his weapon a gun and a grenade or two at his hip. He turned as the arms coming out at him caved in with the whole world, the doors bolted with armed guards. He suddenly got a rush now that the mask was officially back on. With the serum given a boost over the decade, he felt twenty-five again.

(Another change is that the serum he had originally was further given a boost to keep Slade from needing any more apprentices when he finally got fed up with thinking he'd expire. Due to this, Rose got pissed and sent him to Arkham under false charges where she's got him on the worst meds and THOSE are just making him high on the thrill until he can crash in his own safe house again. Will delve into this later.)

The trick was to blend in, yet he kept seeing alien lizard people walking around and that…Slade knocked out the thought as he got into a new costume. Paramedics. He could save lives too. It wasn't that difficult as he stripped and threw the scrubs over his now cloaked suit.

He was good, saving the EMT a dozen as he was far enough away to get away in the scramble of a –

Slade ignored the alien invasion and let it fade as white noise. "Will? Take us home."

He had a stolen cell in hand as the real Will wearily yawned until Slade chuckled into the speaker. "Shocker to you, yet?"

"You escaped a maximum –

"Joe, I was set up." Slade placed while Joey's girlfriend twirled a wavy strand beside her aloof boyfriend, even if she knew he was the cute and silent type. Joey signed rapidly, his mind all over the idea that they'd end up targets. "By your many admirers?? Who would go to such lengths? Are you sure?"

"I have one guess." Slade looked out the window holding a fresh cup of coffee. "Will is coming around this week. He has my lawyers set up to escape persecution." Slade grunted. "The rest, is tracking down your sister."

Rose's run with the heroes in Cali had become more strained the more her old self peaked its ugly head out to deal some "justice." Dick finally as Nightwing, decided to train the teen since she was slow to age like her father, in another location with a new identity. "Raven wanted me to be benched! So did you –

"Well, you're out of control."

"You're wrong. This crook –

"Rose." Dick crossed his arms at her, the former assassin huffing an finally, moving on to leave them. It wasn't until Slade saw her shadowing the heroes because the thrill was hot in her mind. He tried to confront her, talk some sense into her skull, yet she shielded everything. Beastboy was the only one she cryptically gave info to. That, and it could be a crush.

Instead, she had a boyfriend and had become quite the tease. She didn't talk about him much, only that he could hack into the World Bank's network and ruin them all in a single afternoon. Was what the rumors were, yet was he to blame for Will and the Ikon suit?

The last scare came when Rose had told Slade with distant eyes that she had new jobs, more to do. That he was to stay as far away from her or pay for it. Was she being watched? Was this to keep her in line, or…was this an old tale he'd never been told.

Rose dropped the keys to her convertible onto along table, while at the end of it inside a cool manor was a man with more ambition to take than to give to his enemies any mercy. With a fox's wit, she slipped her arms around his neck and faked her tears. "Now, now. I didn't teach you that." He put an arm to hers as Rose huffed, the tears stopping. "I'm tired of this." She told the shadowy figure. "He's bound to figure out my extracurricular activities. Dick – head never didn't. He's just waiting for an ambush." As she gritted her teeth, the past of a fight club in her home country had Rose bury her nose into his dark hair. "I don't want to tell them, but they'll know. What do we do?"

"My dear child." The man put a calloused hand to her cheek as she sniffled and looked at him through light blue eyes. "You're getting stronger, better than you know. Keeping them in the dark was a part of the deal we wanted addressed, but now it's time to face the music. Slade will come for us both. Nightwing was your teacher and lost the knack. While you stayed." He nodded and rose, the girl coming along as if he held the secret to eternal happiness. "Slade would kill you, but he'd try to stick me in the ribs with his messed up logic." Rose leaned into a side wall as the man hummed in thought. "Yes, but you try and yet, how do you understand an egocentric fool like that? We work on his mind first, and see whether keeping him from the truth suffices."

Rose smiled, wiping at a few drying streaks against her soft face. "You gave me the crown before, but how do I get that back?"

"You have your victory, and relish in his defeat if it comes." The man told her, wisely speaking from experience. "What wounds a warrior but his own pride, his mistakes?"

"Not Slade." Rose huffed. "He's only a waking nightmare when it comes to being a stubborn old goat that just…won't die."

"We want him to see how far you've come, let's see what happens." The man put a hand over her shoulder as she put her arms around the strangely enigmatic adult. "Thanks, daddy…"

"Anything for my joy, Rose." He held her softly, his grin a toothy result of taking, never giving in turn. "As long as you stay my daughter, nothing will change for the both of us…"

"Jackal?" Rose sniffed and looked up at the man. "When will Slade be showing up?"

Dick Grayson had Haley to watch at his apartment. After turning nineteen, yet again finding a way to grab a space for his operations, and going against Bruce…he had adopted a three legged mini pit - puppy with an even bigger head on her shoulders than Ace. Tim had called Haley a Bite Wing to remember, while Jason visited far too often, despite it only being to raid Dick's fridge.

Slipping the key through the lock, silence was no greeting as the window let in a gust of air. The draped curtain or bedsheet in his case, was covering a shape as Dick put down his Thai take out and Haley's puppy chow. The dog was in Dick's room under the bed, whimpering at something so big that she had to run and hide. He smelled like a strange odor she'd smelled on her daddy before, and it worried her. "Hales?"

Dick called out as she whimpered and tried to walk over on the three legs she could. "Hales, are you ok baby girl?? What's gotten you so –

Dick turned, the drapes moving and something WAS on the other side of them. "Daring to move? You picked a real shit hole to turn to fighting crime in, boy wonder."

"Not my name." Dick moved as his baton or escrima was right by the rug, hidden in a cushion on the nearby sofa. "Not a great time to chat, Slade. What are you doing back."

"I'm not in Your city." Smiled the man smugly. "Your dog is too cautious, can't blame her for playing it safe."

"She's a puppy." Dick snorted. " We're adults here, so let's settle –

"Not a plan, Grayson." Slade put up a palm. "I need your help. Locating the whereabouts of my missing daughter."

"You know that's classified."

"You have no idea, do you."

Dick lowered his arm, his other set of fingers to his temple. "Look, you barged in and didn't blow anything up this time. Is this, this isn't really about –

"It is, and I was not going to kill your puppy." Slade took to his mask as he pulled Deathstroke's cloth off of his face. "It's about something else. She had me arrested on false claims of insanity. A week ago, Arkham."

"What?"

"It was all hush hush." Slade moved to the kitchen, once again a critic to Dick's shock. "You ran out of everything, kid."

"I don't shop much."

"You have money."

"I go to – Slade, stop it. I know what you're getting at." Dick halted the man. "I'm not helping you."

"Rose is being manipulated. And I have proof."

"Ah – huh." Dick raised a dark brow at the older man. "How can you be certain she doesn't just hate you?"

"Because." Slade pulled out a piece of folded paper from a pouch on his belt. "This would be a bit too much, but being a fly on the wall has its perks."

"You…." Dick squinted and walked closer to the –

"You traced her calls?? How??"

"Tower. I didn't have to be there, but this is ongoing since the HIVE incident. Grant's been Awol. I think he must have joined them."

"You were watching us for years…how…" Slade could do it, but they had better tech than the Y2k era. This was far too close as Haley went to her dad and patted his leg with her baby paw. "I'm not putting my life on the line for a selfish backstabber. Not after how you came after my pupil."

"She's not a kid, she only looks like one for whatever reason…."

Slade rubbed his chin and opened the fridge. "Expired milk. Really, Grayson?"

"No cats on my balcony." The hero shut out the retort. "So, you think that she's been dosed with the same of what you got to keep from needing a protégé ever again?"

"How news travels." Slade shut the door with a jut. Annoyed, possibly. "My business with my daughter is that she's going in deep with some operative that knows my past. My one weakness. I think he or they are using Rose to –

"You always think!" Dick threw up his arms as Haley cocked her head to the side. "You never learn and, in the end, they run away. It's a damn wonder Joe hasn't found out that –

"You can stop right there."

"Raven saw it. The last meeting, he was connected to his girlfriend and her memories flooded right into Raven's mind. She saw you with –

"I didn't come to be tattled on by a teenager!" The man barked and stormed over to the hero's face. His body readying to retrieve his escrima with a snarl. "She's safe, and I don't want you hurting that one chance she has at a life for herself –

"With that techie she had a crush on?? She surely didn't say she cheated on him with Mr. Logan, now did she. Detective?"

Dick's mouth fell, open before he wanted so desperately to wipe that smirk from Slade's face for good.

He'd never get a shot at it.

"What, you think you've won?"

"Don't flatter yourself, kid." The man moved past him, the face of a strategist never gone for a long time since their earlier years. "How time can change a person. When I thought you'd never be like the bat, I didn't think that your angst would follow you to this place." Slade smoothly spoke. "Rose could be experimented on, turned into a weapon. I think she's being trained to trust no one and that." Slade pulled out the paper once more, its height a scare to the hero as he let down his arms to bite his tongue. "I can't get what you want, I can't even invade her privacy like that."

"Security before didn't seem to care with Bruce's identity being paraded online to the general public." Slade reminisced. "You remember who I am, and we can't hold anything. No incentives, no mercy here. I only ask that you take a look at this list." He thrust it into Dick's chest. "Your detective skill might benefit, Grayson."

"I'm not a private eye."

Slade breathed down his back as Dick tried to find some light in his tiny dwelling.

"It….wow….it was months ago….how long?"

"After she had her first villain to taunt. It stuck; I hated my own children pushing me away. Addie is gone now, that last…" He sighed inwards. "Grant hasn't shown his face in years, maybe longer."

"You only had Joe. He doesn't know what you did. You should break it off before you lose more of them."

"It wasn't my lay."

"Huh."

Dick kept skimming the page. "Vegas?" He stammered. "Has…. has she been spending her money on slots?? What?"

"Clients out there will pay big." Slade told the hero. "My kid is like her papa. Wise to the dollar bill." He ssmirked out of the corner of Dick's eye and that bothered him enough to shut the page for a second. "She needs help, not to keep going down a path that was never what she had wanted. She did things for others, but not for herself. She's like Terra. Unstable but upset at herself. Enough to –

"Enough to lock her own father up at Arkham." Slade muttered. "Pumped full of intoxicating matter AND I was stuck believing aliens had taken over the city. I did amputations. In scrubs, just to get out."

Dick stopped. "Wait…you broke out?"

"Will is handling my legal case. They already found me sane and the rest is process –

"You broke out of jail, and no one stopped you?"

So, that is the prologue! Dick and Slade, together again! Find out. Chapter two it

'll be. When the Titans are alerted, the rest gets ugly and an old face comes crawling back to make amends. Next chapter!