Renegade ducked under the punch and did a backflip and was forced to throw himself quickly to the side when his opponent charged him with superhuman speed.
Deathstroke The Terminator threw a combination of punches and kicks at him with superhuman speed and Renegade acting on pure instinct and with superhuman reflexes parried all the blows, his body moving automatically with smooth and precise movements.
The younger mercenary deflected his mentor's fist with one arm and attempted to kick him. The super-soldier grabbed his leg and violently flipped him to the ground. The Talon made no sound of pain and rolled under the legs of the world's deadliest mercenary and while still rolling threw a back kick, striking the back of his knee.
Renegade turned sharply just in time to see Deathstroke fall to the ground on his knees with a grunt and he leapt into the air, striking him violently in the back of the head. The blow with superhuman strength sent the former military man flying away and he fell to the ground with another painful grunt.
Deathstroke immediately got back up but was unable to dodge the right hook that snapped his head painfully to the side. The man staggered dazedly to the side, managed to block his apprentice's next punch and attempted to elbow him in the face.
Renegade let himself fall to the ground and as soon as his hands touched the floor he gave himself the momentum to perform a triple somersault in the air over his mentor's head. Slade managed to grab his leg but could do no more when Dick hit him full in the face with his other foot, causing him to lose his grip.
Deathstroke blocked the fist directed at his stomach and pulled him toward himself, causing him to lose his balance and he grabbed the Talon's head to crash violently straight into the wall, creating a hole. Once again the younger man made no sound of pain and merely slipped out of the man's grasp and then put his head back in place with a crunch of bone. Renegade ducked under his fist, grabbed Deathstroke's left arm and with one swift, smooth move broke it off.
A sickening sound of broken and cracked bones resounded in the room and Slade clenched his lips in pain from behind his mask, an involuntary grunt of pain escaping.
His left arm fell limply to his side and with his right hand Slade grabbed one of the two swords attached to his back and without wasting a millisecond he sprinted toward the younger man.
Renegade's lightning-fast and superhuman reflexes did not fail him and he managed to grab one of the two swords attached to his back just in time to block his father's blade, inches from his face.
Dick rolled to the side dodging the man's kick and performed several backflips. At one point he used the wall as a springboard and flew over the super soldier's head again, landing behind him and snapping to strike him.
Slade spun around and their blades collided once again. He was forced back a step because of the greater force exerted by his son who had an advantage since he had both hands wrapped firmly around the hilt of the sword unlike him who instead had only one arm at his disposal.
The two thus remained in a stalemate as they attempted to overpower each other until Deathstroke threw a violent headbutt at his apprentice who involuntarily staggered backward, black blood quickly flowing from his broken nose.
Slade quickly attempted a lunge with his sword but Renegade managed to block him with his blade. However, the super-soldier expected such a move and soon afterwards he launched a violent kick directed at his son's sword-holding hand.
Despite his total insensitivity to pain Dick still lost his grip on the sword, which fell with a clatter to the ground because his father had struck a precise nerve in his hand, rendering it numb for the moment. He was undeterred and spent the next few minutes perfectly dodging each of Slade's sword blows, occasionally trying (and sometimes succeeding) to strike the more experienced mercenary with his other hand and with kicks.
Renegade was forced to raise his left arm in a defensive position to prevent the sword from reaching his face, and he narrowed his gaze impassively as he felt his muscles being torn apart by the blade, black blood quickly flowing from his arm on which the sword had penetrated.
Dick launched a kick at the hilt of the sword at a precise angle such that the sword flew away, pulling out of his arm from which more dark blood spilled out, right toward his direction. In this way Renegade grabbed Slade's sword on the fly (the feeling in his right hand had recently returned) and tried with a very quick lunge.
Lunge that was blocked by Deathstroke's other sword, which the man managed to grab from his back just in time to avoid being pierced in the stomach. He tilted his head slightly, the only sign that he was impressed by the move.
Meanwhile, the gash on the Talon's left arm had already fully stitched itself up.
Dick smirked as the two continued to duel with swords. At one point in the fight the acrobat decided to throw Slade's sword that he had previously stolen to the ground and instead of grabbing the other sword that still remained attached to his back he raised his fists with a shark-like grin directed at his mentor.
Slade quickly charged him with a lunge of his sword.
Renegade blocked the blade with both palms placed with all his strength on both ends of the sword that remained in the air inches from his left eye. Slade growled, attempting to overwhelm his apprentice with brute force but Renegade did not let go of his grip on either end of the blade by a millimeter, his masked eyes fixed on the man's half-black half-orange mask.
Dick gritted his teeth in an attempt to push back the sword but met strong resistance from Slade who instead attempted to thrust the blade forward toward the younger man's left eye.
Dick and Slade never broke eye contact as they tried to overwhelm each other with the sheer brute force exerted on the sword of the world's deadliest mercenary, the muscles in their arms stretched to their utmost by the very intense and extreme physical exertion.
Finally after a very long minute of stalemate the electrum prevailed over the super serum and the hilt of the sword brutally struck Deathstroke's masked face, his face snapping painfully to the side. The more experienced mercenary staggered dazedly to the side, his vision blurred, and was immediately met first by a brutal punch to the stomach that knocked the air out of his lungs followed instantly by a violent uppercut that threw him backward a few feet with his legs in the air.
Slade Wilson fell to the ground with a thud, his mask flying a few feet away from him, and the next millisecond he felt a cold blade apply some pressure to his neck but make no cut.
With a pained grunt he looked up to see Richard Wilson towering menacingly over him with one foot resting on his armor, just above his heart, pointing his sword at his neck.
A heavy silence fell in the training room as understanding of what had just happened quickly blossomed.
Renegade had just beaten Deathstroke The Terminator in a real hand-to-hand combat in which everything was allowed.
Renegade had just beaten his mentor, demonstrating his real skills and abilities.
Richard Wilson had just beaten his father, the deadliest and most dangerous mercenary in the world with the most casualties to his name.
Dick had a huge grin plastered on his face and practically started vibrating on the spot. "I defeated you!" he shouted excitedly performing a backflip from sheer, unbridled joy.
Slade merely grunted but made no attempt to get up.
Dick stopped his celebration and stared confused and even a little worried at his father. "Everything okay over there, Slade?"
Slade emitted another grunt. "Give me a few seconds to pull myself together." Dick chuckled and tens of seconds later the super soldier was back on his feet and at the last restrained himself from shaking his head to avoid worsening the concussion he surely had. "Damn kiddo, your blows hurt like hell."
The acrobat's smirk expanded and he began to do what Slade considered a kind of victory dance. "I defeated you, Slade! For the first time ever!"
Slade gave a broad grin and rested his hands on his son's shoulders, squeezing them firmly. "You did. Today is the day Renegade took down Deathstroke in a fight without limits. Today is the day Renegade confirmed himself to be a better hand-to-hand fighter than Deathstroke and perfectly skilled and experienced as he is in mastering firearms, swords and any other weapon.
"Today is the day Renegade stops being known as Deathstroke's apprentice and the day he begins to be independent of him. Today is the day Renegade can begin to have a solo reputation to rival Deathstroke's."
Although over the years Dick had accepted more and more solo contracts he was still known as Deathstroke's apprentice, which irritated the acrobat very much. Renegade had meanwhile gained a reputation as an anti-hero mercenary since he had never accepted a contract on innocents and had killed only evil and irredeemable criminals.
It had already happened a few times that someone contacted Renegade to hire him to kill some hero but each time the mercenary not only refused the contract but also located the location of the client and then killed it.
But now that Dick had just taken down Slade in a fight without limits and rules, proving his real worth, Renegade would completely detach himself from his mentor and the only relationship he would have with Deathstroke in the eye of the outside world would be the fact that he was Deathstroke's former apprentice.
From then on Renegade will take flight and fly alone.
Renegade will begin to be regarded as a true mercenary without being overshadowed by Deathstroke's giant shadow.
And considering some of the rumors circulating about him in the criminal world, Dick was pretty sure it wouldn't take long.
Although the Justice League still had no confirmation of Renegade's existence but that was another matter.
Dick was moved by his father's words -only a deaf person would not have been able to understand the clear pride in Slade's voice- and he hugged him tightly. "Thank you. Thank you for everything, Dad."
Slade smiled sweetly, returning the hug just as firmly. "You're welcome, son."
The two remained wrapped in the embrace for a few minutes before they broke away. With the acrobat's confusion, his father walked away and he saw him open a locked cabinet, grab a suitcase and walk back toward him. He pointed to the suitcase. "What's in it?"
"Why don't you find out yourself?" retorted Slade with a small smile, handing it to his son.
Dick opened it and what he saw made his breath stop momentarily.
There was all-black armor with menacing blood-red details, along the arms were spikes that could be used both for defense -for example, deflecting or blocking swords- but also for attacking -they were similar to Batman's but these were much sharper, accentuating their offensive character- constructed of reinforced steel colored partially red that glowed menacingly, a large blood-red R there was in the center of the armor -much cooler and more menacing than the one present in his current armor, Dick absent-mindedly noted- and the utility belt is also mainly red with black details, the holsters, on the other hand, are black as are the attachments for the escrima sticks. The mask is blood red with menacing white slits. The armor also featured a collar that would partially protect Dick's only weakness, which was decapitation, although it protected the entire back of his neck and from the front only the lower part of his neck.
Completely shocked and amazed, in a state of still astonishment, Dick ran a hand over the armor and quickly realized that it was coated mainly with the same material as his current armor, that is mainly with Promethium chain mail -which makes it very strong and durable, capable of absorbing energy and taking hits even from big pieces like Superman- and in the minority it is also coated with Nth Metal which makes him stronger, faster, more agile and durable and even increases his healing factor.
"Renegade is no longer Deathstroke's apprentice." Slade's words brought Dick back to reality and he stared at his -now former- mentor. "Renegade no longer needs to wear Deathstroke's colors. It is right for him to wear his own colors and implement a renewal in that respect as well. You are now your own man and mercenary."
Slade grunted when Dick pulled him into another fierce hug and he returned it, patting him on the back a few times.
"Thank you, Slade. Thank you for everything." murmured Dick, his voice fully charged with emotion and gratitude.
"Thank you, kiddo."
The two broke away and the Talon sent him a radiant smile full of brightness to the point that it would have put the Sun itself to shame. Slade returned it slightly and looked at his son, losing himself in his own thoughts.
It was hard that about seven years had passed since he had welcomed Dick. And it was even harder to compare the child so tiny that didn't even reach the middle of his torso to the boy -almost man- he was now.
Now his son was shorter than him by about ten centimeters.
His son had recently turned seventeen.
It was only a year before his son would legally become a man.
But Slade knew that Dick had already been a man for years, especially mentally.
Because no one could survive what Dick had gone through, especially not a seven-year-old boy.
Yet there he was, the living proof.
Dick had managed to survive the atrocities of the Court of Owls.
And although it was literally impossible to completely overcome the trauma attached to those bastards, Dick was now able to avoid falling back into old habits.
He had not called Slade "Master" for about two years, just to mention one of his accomplishments.
Sure, the nightmares were still there but they had diminished slightly with the time and now he no longer woke up in the middle of each night with a scream of sheer terror. Indeed, Dick could now even have good dreams.
So yes: Slade was infinitely proud that his son had not only beaten him but also for partially overcoming his trauma just enough to keep him from continuing to live a life completely tied to the Court's trauma.
And frankly Slade was excited about how Renegade would begin to have a solo reputation and career.
Everyone would soon learn of Renegade's greatest accomplishments and kills and learn to respect and fear him.
Because Renegade, if he really wanted to, could be significantly more deadly, scary and dangerous than Deathstroke The Terminator himself.
And it was only a matter of time before the whole world would learn of it.
"So now I can accept the solo contracts in Gotham, right?"
Dick's voice roused him from his thoughts and the former military man stared at his son. "I still don't understand why you're so keen to accept solo contracts in the city that's a living hell, the same city where you suffered more than anyone else in the world."
"That's exactly why I want to do it." Dick replied darkly. "I don't want to be afraid of them anymore, to live by continuing to give them that satisfaction." a shit-eating smirk spread across his face and he unclenched his fists menacingly. "Besides, I have a score to settle with Batman."
Slade snorted in amusement and shook his head with a smirk. His gaze fell on the escrima sticks attached to Renegade's waist, next to the utility belt and holsters. "You're the best in the world with escrima, kiddo."
"I know." Dick strutted, his face bright. "I'm glad I added it into my fighting style two years ago. Escrima are really cool to handle."
"And the fact that they can reach an electrical charge of more than 100.000 volts makes them more lethal than they already are." nodded Slade with satisfaction.
"Indeed, doesn't it?"
The two fell silent and observed the condition of the training room filled with holes, blood both dark and deep red on the floor and walls and bullet holes in the walls.
"...The loser cleans everything completely by himself!"
"You're a bastard, kiddo."
"I know!"
NOTE: Welcome to the first chapter of the second part of the trilogy! This story will probably be one of the longest I'll write, so make yourselves comfortable because it will keep us busy for a long time! Enjoy the reading!