Hey all, sorry I'm a bit behind. There's just been a ton of personal stuff that's come up, and I just haven't had the strength of like even the right mind set to write anything. Honestly 2024... is just not doing so well atm.

Also I know Star180 has asked, I don't have any update schedule, I just update when I can.

I do still aime to end this baby by the end of the year and tie everything up. But ya know life. But guys we are almost at the end. Anyways...

ON WITH THE STORY!

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The next morning was eventful. Slade had called him in to restart his training. The desert would bring Richard new knowledge and skills, Berlin would see him use them and now Metropolis would see him being pushed beyond his limits. Slade wanted an apprentice, an heir. Someone who could take on the world if need be. Someone who would eventually take his place as one of the five of the Society. One would think that after all he had been through, Slade would be satisfied. But if Richard had learned anything, it's that there is no pleasing this man. Although even he had to admit, ever since he took up the role of being Slade's apprentice, and being under the man's tutelage, he has noticed that his moves were quicker, and his punches landed a little harder. He had improved within a short period. He knew as well that he would never have been able to achieve anything close to this level if he was still with the Titans or with Bruce. And that small amount of strength he had earned was well worth the pain he endured.

So he accepted Slade's training. He accepted the sparring and the verbal jabs. One would almost think they had known each other for a much longer period of time, with the way they chatted during sparring sessions. It was so commonplace for them now. The idea of being enemies was so long forgotten it almost seemed as if it were a fever dream.

"I heard you found some team members?"

Slade went to throw his fist to give Robin a good punch in the ribs, but the boy dodged just in time by leaping out of the man's way, only to find himself behind him. Taking the opportunity presented to him, Robin dropped to kick at the man's legs, to knock over his opponent, only for Slade to outmaneuver him. The mastermind took another swing, but Robin did a backflip and dodged yet another of the man's attacks.

"Yeah, not many, but-" Robin dodged another punch. "But there were quite a few interviews, not a lot of potential. However-" Robin himself threw a fist at the man which Slade caught only for the boy to use the man as leverage as he used Slade's own body as footing and then performed a black flip which aided in gaining his freedom. "I did manage to get some interesting candidates," he said after he landed perfectly a few feet away from his master.

Slade took another stance. "Who?"

Robin followed suit. "Some guy named Tank, and a girl named Discord. Sound familiar?"

"Tank holds promise. Discord is a dangerous subject. She is lethal, but would be most useful against our particular foe."

"Asif said something like that too, fighting fire with fire."

"It's a dangerous tactic, fighting fire with fire. You must be sure that all that is at risk has no foreseeable way of being jeopardized and that all of your cards are worth playing. But remember that you can prepare all your cards, go over every little detail, and still fail."

Robin smirked. "Like the time you failed to get me to be your apprentice the first time around."

Slade smirked in return. "I still won."

Robin shook his head. "Not the first time."

"In the long run." Robin playfully frowned. Of course, Slade had to have the last say.

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William Wintergreen had come for a visit, seeing as his old friend would not make his way back to the island any time soon. And Chloe pretty much had that place under control. She really didn't need his help. The woman herself was a one-man army when it came to organization. She had a way of keeping everything and everyone in order, like it was nobody's business. Still, he missed the warm weather, but if this was where Slade needed him, then this is where he would be.

The older man watched them both from above. The training rooms all had an upper deck for any sort of spectator. It was here that he had a chance meeting with one of Slade's colonels.

"The kid is impressive, isn't he?" he approached from behind Will. The older man shook his head before he turned around. "Daniel, is this where he has you now?" The younger man, who was possibly in his mid-forties, smiled at his old friend. "For a while now." Will shook his head before turning his attention back to the fight below. "You know, I didn't think that it would stick myself. Thought that the two would be enemies forever, and this game they played would be an ongoing event every other year or so."

The colonel chuckled. "Seems times have changed."

"Finally," Will waved his hand. "Slade would not let it go. And apparently, neither did Robin. Glad the two finally found a standing ground between them." The two watched the match from above. "Watching them fight like this," Will began, "I know why he picked the kid. He's too damn good for his age."

"While their fighting styles are different. Slade is more tactical and has a lot of brute force to back him up. Robin is also cunning but much more agile. He fights on his feet, always looking for the next advantage. However, they are also surprisingly similar. In many ways, they fight alike, both determined, neither letting anything stand in their way. Robin is how old? 17? He's very good for his age." He smiled. "Better than any teenager I've ever seen. I'm pretty sure even Slade could learn something from Robin." Will laughed at the colonel's comment. "I think he already has." The two chuckled at the thought.

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The two spectators watched as the match ended and Will thought it was time to go say "Hi" as it were and let Slade know he got here relatively safe. He said his goodbyes to the Colonel and made his way downstairs. He watched the two come out of the training room. Both were bickering at one another about some nonsense.

"Technically, the idea of the bipedal tank comes from things like Video Games and Anime. Same with rail guns, but we don't have the technology to even come close to something that would resemble a proper rail gun. The US military just kinda stole the name from Gundam."

"Gundam?"

"Giant Robots."

Slade was about to ask another question when Will interrupted. "What the hell are you two going on about?"

The mastermind flashed a smile at his old friend. "Will, you got here safely, I see."

Robin stood off to the side and watched the two men interact, a smirk plastered on his face. "Relatively yes, and already I miss the sunshine." Slade only scoffed at his friend. "I thought you hated the heat, and now that I bring you to a cooler city, you complain?"

Winter chuckled. "Gotta keep you on your toes."

"I think I'm going to go have a shower. Nice to have you around again Mr. Wintergreen." it was the only thing Robin said before he gave Will a nod and he slipped away leaving the two men the open space to talk. "I hear the kid is building a team?" Slade could only nod in return.

"You think that's wise?" Slade knew that Wintergreen would only push the subject with Robin's safety in mind, but the mastermind only shrugged off his friend's regard. "It was his idea. He led the Titans, with success, I might add."

"True, but this isn't Jump City."

"Very true, but he's come a long way. Regardless, I will be around if he ever needs me. It's not like I won't have any say in his unit, Will. He and his team will be monitored."

Will crossed his arms. "I thought you trusted him?" And Slade could only shake his head. "I do. It's them I do not trust. They will all be monitored until I am confident enough that he has something solid." Wintergreen only gave his friend a shrug. "Fair enough."

It was silent between the two for a moment before Will broke it. "I'm sorry about Jillian. She was a good woman. She didn't deserve... that." Slade shook his head. "No, no one does. The only thing we can do now is push forward." Will could only nod in return. "I saw what Luthor did."

"Looks like he was able to dig far more into the Legacy than we ever could."

"That's what a bigger team gets you."

"Which is why I've brought in everyone I could that has some sort of background in decoding. Sariel gave Robin a secondary piece of the Legacy. We have our people on it now. So far, it's promising."

"How's Robin doing, with the whole returned from the dead thing?"

"Perplexed, like we all were. However, in the files of the Legacy, she left us a video. It seems there is more to Jillian's granddaughter than what meets the eye."

Will sighed. "Nothing is ever normal, is it?"

Slade patted his friends' should with a chuckle. "Never."

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It was still very early in the morning, Slade woke him up at around five in the morning, asking him to be in the gym by six. And it had already been a couple of hours since. The boy quickly returned to his room and took a quick shower before sliding into a pair of combat pants and a black tee shirt. And then, as quickly as he could, he met up with Asif. He was going to have the first meeting with his new team this morning.

"Oh good, you're early."

"I would have been earlier." Robin countered, "But Slade wanted to catch up on some training." Asif could only frown. "Is this going to be an everyday thing?" Robin walked past his friend to grab the tablet with all of his team's info on it. He shrugged before swiping in a shape to open it. "Knowing Slade, probably."

"So, should I start calling you Renegade now?"

"Yea. Might as well."

A knock came from the room's only entrance. The two looked over to find Ksenia standing at the entry. "I guess I'm a bit early." She strode in before leaning against one of the tables. Robin shook his head with a smile. "No, you're fine."

It wasn't long before the others arrived, however he didn't expect Discord and Tank to already have some kind of history with one another.

"You brought her on the team? She's dangerous!"

Discord narrowed her eyes. "Only dangerous to my enemies."

"And you make everyone your enemy!" Tank countered.

"Fuck off! I do not!"

"Oh? Tell that to Clara. You know when you tossed her to the back of the goddamn warehouse, shattering everything around her?"

"She lived." The woman crossed her arms. "She shouldn't of pried. It was not her right to ask such things."

With a sigh, Robin was about to get involved until Ksenia separated the two. "ENOUGH! You want to be on this team, then we work together, get over your fucking differences." Discord could only sigh. "Fine," she grumbled, while giving Tank a menacing look. Tank crossed his arms and looked at Robin. "Serious?" The former hero nodded. "I'm going to go over a few things with you all today. As you all know, lately there has been a lot of mystery and hush hush going on regarding certain events. Everyone's been talking about what happened in Lex Luthor's building that night. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of info I can give you right away. But what I can give you today will change or alter your mind. You may not even believe it. But Asif and Ksenia here have had firsthand encounters with them." Tank himself looked to Ksenia. Robin knew then that she had her hand in getting him to apply. "Deathstroke gave me permission to create a small yet elite unit for one purpose only. To defeat an illuminati like competitor of a Secret Society. And to do so, we have to think and act on their level."

"Is this related to what's been going on with the massive intel team that's been coming in from other bases?" Tank crossed his arms. Robin noted that the man was observant, more so than he probably let on. It must have been easier for him to let everyone think he was the muscle bound jock. No one paid attention to you then. Robin could only nod. "Yes, it is."

Robin and Asif then continued to go over everything they could, without giving too much away, keeping to only sharing the basics of what they knew. Even if they decided to withdrawal from the team, the knowledge he shared would be common soon. They were all technically part of Slade's military. And if anything, Slade would make sure every inch of his forces would be well equipped and prepared, ready to strike at any given time.

"Well... that was intense." Tank frowned, but stayed in his chair. Discord didn't even seemed phased by the information. She sat there silently before she asked a question. "So, when do we get deployed?"

"We got time, and we need to start working together as a team before we can become effective." Robin would have rolled his eyes. These two obviously didn't trust one another, and that was something he was going to have to work around. He could only hope he was able to pull it off. If he could make the team a success, then perhaps others would join. While all of Slade's forces would now be targeting the ben Elohim, it would be Robin's unit that would take on the most important assignments. Five was a good number, but in this game, he could always use more. Now was the time to prove himself as Slade's apprentice and as a leader. Making this unit a success would show others he was truly worthy of the mantle. Ane others would see his success, which would bring others looking for their own opportunities.

They all sat in that room for a few hours, talking about what could be done, their future assignments, the importance of their progress and their victories. The future of this team was uncertain. Robin could not say for sure if there would be a lot of successful triumphs. The future of this team was going to be rough, this wasn't for someone faint of heart. The new members would either come back on top or it would break them.

"When do we begin?"

"I have training myself in the morning, but we begin as a team tomorrow morning at 8:30 am." Discord gave him a nod. "Are we dismissed?"

"Until tomorrow, yes. Although I ask that no one here tells anyone else of the information we had shared with you today. Regardless, that it would be commonplace soon enough." The two agreed and left. Ksenia had also said her goodbyes before mentioning she was going to grab some lunch, leaving behind Robin and Asif.

Robin let out a deep sigh, as if he had been holding it in the entire meeting. "That was..."

"Something?" Asif completed his sentence. Robin shook his head. "So Renegade." Robin jerked a bit at the new name. It was still a little too new, but he got his new team calling him that instead of Robin. "Lunch?" The former hero signed again and looked at his friend. "I think that might be a good idea."

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Stay safe out there guys!

-Fangy