A Familiar Face [Slade]

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

For the last couple of days, Dick's mind had been racing with questions and trying to seek the answers for himself. For too long, he had not heard word of the one man who now seemed to be taunting his mind of late. Could the word on the streets be correct or was it someone's idea of a sick joke?

For years, he had tried to get away from this man. Or at least put an end to him. And every so often the guy just seemed to surface out of no where. Dick would know the sound of the guy from any where. After the near death battles along side his friends and those who had fallen victim to this guy, Dick knew his calling card. It was the kind of thing you wouldn't forget. Just as he had never forgotten the man who took his parents' lives away from him.

The name sat distastefully on his tongue. A name he wish he could just get rid of. Slade Wilson, aka. Deathstroke. This man had gone over the line one too many times in the past. And continued to dance about it just playing it all out. Like some sick and twisted chess match. He would always set up one plan and leave you waiting for his next move. Sometimes leaving just to create more frustration and confusion for those trying to follow, trying to solve the case. One minute you think you have all the answers, and Slade pulls another trick to throw you down another road with more twist and turns.

The problem for Dick was that Slade knew him too well at this point. He knew how he thought and who he was. Dick wished he could say the same to bring this guy down. It would drive him almost to the point of obsession over figuring out Slade's next plan. Like the reason for trying to shot Bruce, that seemed to purely be to prove that even the wealthiest men could still fall to the likes of the criminals.

So, now here sat Dick Grayson as Nightwing perched on some rooftop on a stakeout. Waiting to move in on this possible attack. If word was right, some gang boss was to show up and Slade was going to make his move. Dick knew better than to just expect Slade to not notice him in the surrounding.

Either Slade was going to try and take down his target and try to make a quick get away or he expected someone to step in on his plans. So, Nightwing was blending in with the night for now. It was just a matter of whether or not the hint had been true and not just some gossip going around.

Dick looked out down at the streets below and the alley way below him. The traffic was stead and dying down as the night went on. The sky was over cast and the moon and stars were becoming harder to see through the many clouds covering them from the city below.

Nightwing stood up from his perch. He didn't know how much longer he was just going to sit around. He had been moving and surveying the area for some time now. Moving around from rooftop to alley way to make it to where he was positioned now. Not a sign of any low lives about at the moment. And not a sign of Deathstroke. He stepped away from the edge and turned.

[revan]

"Its been awhile, Grayson, hasn't it?" Sitting on one of the ventilation shafts that criss-crossed the roof, Slade grinned beneath his mask as Nightwing turned around and faced him. It had been quite some time indeed since the World's Deadliest Mercenary had met with the former Boy Wonder. Back during his run with the Teen Titans. Back during the fiasco with Terra. A while indeed.

It had been nothing personal of course. Just good business. Slade was, after all, a mercenary. He was loyal to a contract, so long as he either believed in it, or it payed well. In the case of the Titans, the pay was outrageous. Just to take down a couple of kids. Mind you, in the end, it had become obvious why the contract had been so high paying.. those 'kids' actually had talent. In a few years, given the right instruction, they might be able to do something with their lives.

Any observer would likely wonder why exactly Slade Wilson was in Gotham City, and, more so, why Slade Wilson had taken the time to find Nightwing. Well, that was simple. He was in Gotham because he had been notified that several groups in the area were looking for assistance in their dealings. Naturally, the heroes would converge on him, as his was not a particularly loved name. The one person he knew, however, that would be at the head of the convergance was Richard Grayson, Nightwing.

Slade had heard of the rumors that surrounded his appeance in Gotham City, and so had decided to fuel the fire with rumors of his own. Eventually, he had decided that he would need to actually discuss a few things with Nightwing. Namely, negotiate some terms. Most of what he was doing in the city wasn't exactly bad, such as the killing and apprehension of gang leaders. Such as the one he was supposed to be hunting tonight.

It was a farce though, of course, the time and location having been leaked to Nightwing's sources by Slade himself. The real gang leader had already been killed, along with his entire inner circle. In fact, by the end of the week, Slade was certain the Gotham City Police Department would notice the lack of activity from that certain group. And people said the Deathstroke never did anything good.

The entire purpose of leaking the information was to get Nightwing here. To get Grayson to come looking for him. Slade knew the kid well, and knew he wouldn't be able to resist what amounted to an invitation to rain on Slade's parade. Slade had arrived at the scene a good hour before he figured Grayson would arrive, just to be on the safeside. Then, he had spent that entire extra hour just waiting for the kid to finally make his appearance. When he finally did, Slade simply smiled and watched him as he went about his stake out, toying with various ideas on how to announce his presence.

Needless to say, he went with the always fun, cliche, turn-around-and-spot-the-enemy entrance.

"I heard you were interested in my wherabouts, so I decided to do the polite thing and come to you." Slade knew full well this would likely result in Grayson attacking him. It was what the kid did. That had been the major reason he had shown up fully armed. The other reason had been incase the Bat decided to show rather than his trusty former sidekick. That would have been a bad outcome.

A really bad outcome.

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

"Slade," Dick said through gritted teeth. His eyes narrowed as soon as the man on the roof had made himself known now. He was still up to his old ways as usual. Dick should have seen this coming. Slade had probably been expecting him this whole time, planning it all out from the start. It must have been some kind of set up, which meant that Nightwing was too late and Slade had carried through with his work.

He glared at the man that sat on the ventilation system not too far off, his face covered by a mask that was half red and black. Dick had come to hate seeing that mask. After the years with the Titans, that voice and mask had been etched into his mind. He knew Slade was probably hiding a stupid grin beneath that mask. Slade had successfully snuck up on Nightwing without him knowing of his presences.

At Slade's next comment, Dick mumbled under his breath, "I almost wish you hadn't." This was not out of fear, but more so out of hatred for what had gone on in the past. This man was brutal, he worked for the money and nothing more. This man didn't have true allies, he had interests. People paid him to kill and if the money was good, Slade would do just that and maybe even more so.

Slade's criminal record had only grown over time. This practice becoming more of an art in his work. One minute his victim could be standing and before you could save them, they were dead on the floor. Dick had gone through this too much to bare at times. But that was the price for being a hero at times. Sometime you had to lose some to win the war. Though it was something Dick could never get used to.

There was so much anger built within Dick from the past events that had gone on. Slade seemed to be out to get him one way or another. If it wasn't a threat against his life, it was on one of his loved ones. His teammates, his friends, and most recent of all his family. And now stood Slade before him.

"You've got some nerve showing up around here when you're not wanted," Dick said in a sharp distasteful tone. Dick charged straight for him. He wasn't going to let Slade taunt him like that. Just showing up and enjoying watching Dick's frustration over his presences. As soon as Dick got within range, he pulled out both his Escrime sticks and swung at him with both. Dick's anger was getting the best of him at the moment. He didn't want to talk. If Slade was going to just show up and think he can try and bring this town to its knees, Dick wasn't going to give him a welcoming greeting.

[revan]

Predictable. Charge right into the problem, head first, no questions asked. Slade almost sighed. A new outfit, new weapons and gear, but Grayson still had the same old attitude. A pity that. Slade was hoping that Grayson might have changed a little bit more since he had last seen him, if only to provide himself with a tougher fight than usual. Of course, with the aggression that seemed to flow from the kid, the fight might actually be a bit of a challenge.

Slade grinned. Challenges were fun.

He pushed himself off the ventilation system and sidestepped Grayson. Taking a few steps back, Slade drew his blade from his sheath, and set it tip first on the ground. Leaning on it, he smiled beneath his mask at his adversary. "But I am wanted, Grayson. In fact, I was invited. Sure, not by our mutual friend Batman, but still, I was invited. I've been doing good work lately, nothing thats harmed anyone innocent. I'm surprised you have yet to hear about any of that. You should pay attention to the news more, kid."

For instance, that thing with Wayne. Bruce Wayne was a corrupt man, as far as Slade could tell. Lording over his minions and never really doing anything for anyone but himself. Saving the rainforest was just another one of his half-baked attempts at appealing to the masses, and showing that the man behind the curtain was a 'good' guy. It had been a double positive, that hit. End a bit of corruption, AND show that Gotham's resident band of super hero's couldn't help the people.

His humiliation of Super Girl had been particularly satisfying. He had performed that hit mere feet from one of the city's heroes, and then proceeded to fight her in one on one combat, and had come away victorious. Even if Bruce hadn't been killed, the fact that someone had managed to infiltrate that gathering and attempt it, and get away free, was sure to bring hints of doubt to the public.

Which had been what the hit had been about in the first place. Some rogue element in the Police department had paid Slade to do the hit to show that the vigilantes in the city couldn't be trusted to be there. Of course, part of the deal was that Gotham's finest was supposed to capture those responsible for supposedly hiring Slade, and so he had planted the evidence in the headquarters of yet another one of the city's gangs.

Sure enough, the GCP had found it and taken the entire gang down.

Of course, Nightwing wouldn't see it that way. In the kid's eyes, Slade was sure it was just another thing to add to the list of crimes the merc had commited. So be it.

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

Dick knew his first attack would prove little success to start with. He was more interested in going after Slade than having a conversation. If Slade wanted to talk, he'd give him the chance during the fight. This was more of the welcome he deserved.

As soon as he hit nothing but air, he spun quickly to once again face Slade. And of course, there once again he stood taunting him. He gave him a moment to explain further as to the reason he had come. Even if he didn't say flat out. Dick knew exactly what he was talking about. He had heard of gangs just disappearing in activity in the criminal world. And he knew all too well of the whole taking a shot at Bruce.

It's one thing to go after scumbags like the many gang leaders in Gotham. But when you went after Dick's family, that was another thing. Dick did though disagree with Slade's idea of helping drop the crime rates in Gotham. Sure he didn't disagree that the low lives didn't deserve to live, but it wasn't their right to serve the death penalty to these guys.

Sure, Dick probably wasn't on Bruce's good side lately, but that didn't make a difference when someone threats his life. Dick had missed that event, but knew all about it. He sometimes regretted not even showing up. He could have done something to stop it. They were all lucky Bruce really hadn't been hit and just faked it. And it was a good thing Supergirl had been there as well.

It didn't make a difference to Dick, Slade had over stepped the line this time. "You may think you are doing good, but you have blood on your hands," Dick spat out in disapproval. "It's not you're right to bring that kind of justice down upon them." Dick knew Slade would probably just laugh at his view on justice. But that was how Dick saw it. Sure you were helping to lower the rate of the criminals, but you were only creating more bloodshed. Not only on yourself, but those that try to do the same thing in away that justice may have the chance.

"I know of some of your recent activity," Dick said. He hated that smug look of relaxation Slade was pulling off by leaning on his sword. Dick went running toward him again ready to strike with his right fist, still holding a escrima stick. As soon as he was within striking distance he pulled it off trying to hit him. He shifted his weight while doing so, ready to take a swing at him with a kick from his left leg, expecting Slade to avoid his fists. Dick was well aware of the sword Slade now held.

"When you take on criminals, that's one thing. But to go after anyone trying to help the city by ways of business," Dick said while he struck. This was the usual fight between the two. Dick had Slade on the run avoid him, while the man played it smart. This was how a lot of their conversations took place between the two. "Either way, in so means are you helping. You're just creating more problems."

[revan]

Slade chuckled slightly at Grayson's words. Too damn naive. Wasn't his right? Maybe not, but it wasn't their right to do what they did either. So it had been a tradeoff. A wrong for a wrong. Slade had based much of his career on that philosophy. If a man killed another man, he was a viable target. Slade didn't hire himself out to those seeking to ruin the lives of people who hadn't wronged them. An offer of a million dollars to murder a pregnant woman who hadn't harmed a fly in her life would have been turned down. A thousand dollar offer to kill the man who put the hit on her, however, he'd take.

Just rooting out the corrupt ones.

He only assasinated scumbags and high profile targets. A mayor, a governor, a Congressman. People in places of power who didn't deserve it. He killed those people. But apparently, death wasn't a suitable punishment for these people, according to Grayson. No, they needed to go through the justice system. The thought almost made him laugh. His employers told him to kill these people because they would get through the justice system. Money could buy anyone.

Even Grayson, despite the kid not knowing it.

"Don't be naive, kid. I did the world a favor by taking those guys out. As for someone trying to better the city, you mean Wayne? Really kid? Don't be ridiculous. That man didn't stay rich just off of profitable business practices. He had something on the side, no doubt about it. Every millionaire does." Take Slade, for example. He was almost as wealthy as Wayne was, but only because he had been taking government level contracts for years.

He blocked the fist with his hand, batting the blow to the side. The kick that came with it, however, made contact with the mercenary, though to little effect. Having been fighting Dick for years now, Slade knew enough to anticipate a surprise strike from a kick, or a second blow, and had noticed the slight shift in the kid's body weight. Given this slight headsup, he had braced his side for the kick, his augmented strength making the otherwise powerful blow feel like a small tap.

The kid had alot more power than when Slade had seen him last. That was impressive, to say the least. No wonder Grayson had gone off and started doing his own thing. He didn't need the Bat for backup anymore. Good for him. His little enemy was growing up.

Slade took several steps back, his eye on Grayson the entire time. Sword held loosely, pointed downwards, he faced his adversary calmly, before speaking again. "Thats funny. My contact in the Gotham Police Department was rather adamant that what I was doing was going to better the future of the city. Especially the part about Wayne. How strange. It seems I have been mistaken this entire time." He said this obviously sarcastically. Not helping. Please. Killing the idiots who went against the law in this damn city was the only way to help anyone at all.

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

"Have you ever stopped to ask yourself the same questions? Maybe you need to look around a bit more. Not everyone has a side business they are hiding," Dick commented back in return over discussion including Bruce as the topic. Dick knew Bruce almost better than anyone else, except Alfred of course. Dick knew the true reasons behind Bruce's success. Though, he wasn't about to spill it all out. To Nightwing, Bruce was another civilian to protect. To Dick, Bruce was like family. And Dick knew better than to let his guard down and spill any information of Bruce's involvement as the Batman.

"I've met a lot of people that have reached their success the hard way, through their own blood and sweat," he replied coldly. "Not everyone is corrupt as you think they are." He knew that Slade would be able to easily side step his attacks with his defense. After landing the kick, Dick could feel through the contact against his side that Slade had been expecting it. Guess he would just had to try to keep his transitions on the down low.

That was the one thing about fighting against Slade, no matter how fast you struck, he could always block you. This guy made it look effortless. Though, Dick had manage quite a few times to make it a close fight before something abruptly ends their fights. This time Dick was ready, trying to get Slade to make an attack back. Once against, just standing there blocking and taking the hits only reinforced to Dick the mocking of his skills.

"Well, it sounds to me like you're hitting the corrupt systems of the police department. Whoever was desperate enough to hire you to hit someone, must be able to get that money from somewhere. And I'm not talking about saving their hard earned money," Dick commented back. Not this was starting to raise some red flags in Dick's mind. Who in the Gotham Police Department would be out to get Bruce. Sure there were probably a number of people out there, but Dick couldn't come up with a reason for someone on the GCPD to try and place a hit on Bruce if that was what he was getting at.

Dick gave Slade the chance to back up before he was going to try and make another attack. He wasn't about to cheat his way through this match. He wasn't going to pull out any gadgets out to fight him unless it came down to life or death. But he wasn't going to even to let that thought cross his mind. Dick would rather stick to the hand to hand combat what worked best with the allowance on his escrima sticks and maybe if needed the wingding. It there was one thing he knew, Slade probably had his share of weapons on him from his sword to maybe some throwing stars.

"You didn't think you could just come waltzing on into this city without the welcoming committee kicking your butt did you," he said with a slight smirk on his face. He then took a running start toward Slade again, but this time rather than striking right away, he jumped over to Slade with ease. Landing on his feet behind Slade, he ducked down as he turned and swiped with his left leg trying to trip Slade. Knowing every well that Slade would avoid this trick. He spring up and was ready to give him a right hook coming upward.

[revan]

"Every single day kid. And my answers are always the same. Your faith in humanity is missplaced. There are good people out there, but trust me, not everyone is who they say they are." Take Batman, for instance. There was no denying that something was wrong with him. He claimed to be this crusader against crime, but Slade knew something was up about that guy. The likes of Superman, fine. Superman was a good guy. The Flash? Good guy. Green Lantern? Part of a freaking intergalactic peace keeping unit. He was a good guy too.

But something about Batman was different.

"I'm sure you have Grayson. I have as well. But just because one man earned his fortune the right way does not mean every single man with cash is a hardworker. You're being naive."

He chuckled when Grayson mentioned that he was working for obviously corrupt parts of the Police system. Of course he was. No one else would hire him. "I'm well aware of that. You think I couldn't be? They are the only ones going to give me a job. As for where he gets his money, I don't care. I'm helping take down criminals. Doesn't matter if I'm getting hired by them. In the end, its results, and I'm getting them."

"Kicking my butt? Please, kid. Let me see you try." The minute the kid started running towards him, Slade saw his form. He was a good fighter, and concealed his moves well.. but a combat master like Slade didn't let shit like the way he held himself get by him. When the kid jumped over him, Slade spun around and sheathed his sword, in time to meet the kid's sweep. He took a step back, avoiding it, only for the kid to spring up with a right hook.

Smart. He was changing it up.

Slade let the kid hit him, taking the blow on his left shoulder. The moment Grayson connected, Slade through a straight punch at the kid's face, with quite a bit of power behind it.

He wasn't here for the fight. But Grayson needed to realize that it was pointless even trying.

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

Dick should have seen that one coming. Even after managing to hit Slade. Right away, with one blow the tides had turned. Slade always had a way to charge a fights course. At least now, he had actually struck back at him this time. Dick had been trying to get him to. Instead of avoiding him.

When the punched made contact more toward his right eye, the force of the blow was enough to knock Dick off his feet and to the ground in one hit. Dick fell, landing on his back. The wind was knocked out of him as he landed hard on the roof top. He could feel the burning pain of where the punch had landed,

He was probably going to feel that in the morning. It would most likely just swell for now. But not enough to deter him from going to attack again. After he gathered himself together. Dick shifted to get up and winced a bit as he shoulders had taken the harder hit of the landing. Boy, he had almost forgotten how hard a hit Slade could punch. Though something told him that wasn't the best he had. He knew Slade was strong. But he didn't care how much strength the guy had. It wasn't enough to stop Dick from going after him.

It did not take Dick long to spring himself back up onto his feet. He couldn't give in to that and let it look like the hit had really done all that much damage. Though it really did in turn with that being the first blow Slade had finally landed that night. "It's about time," Dick smirked, in response to finally get Slade to strike him. "Is that all you've got?" He challenge him again. If Slade thought one hit was going to keep him down, boy he really must now remember all the past fights.

Dick came at him again. Even though rattled a bit by that punch. He threw another right at him, expecting Slade to either dodge it or just block it. And Dick was ready to shift his weight right away and try and land a kick with his left leg to Slade's stomach.

[revan]

Slade smiled as he connected with Grayson's face. Kid should have thought about it before trying to fight him. He was lucky Slade hadn't put his full power into that blow... otherwise, it could have cracked the kids skull. And he hadn't thrown that punch to actually inflict a wound to the kid... instead, he was trying to drop him. Still, judging from the way the kid forced himself off the ground, Slade's punch had hurt pretty damn bad. Good. Might make this easier.

He sighed as the kid got up, a stupid look of smugness plastered across Grayson's face. The kid actually was pleased he had made his enemy react with a strike of his own. Slade shook his head in annoyance. Now the kid was trying to goad him further. "Seriously Grayson." If he wanted Slade to react further, than guess what, he was going to.

The kid came at him again, again starting with a right hook. This, Slade blocked by simply moving his arm in front of the blow, so that Grayson's strike was deflected away from him. The second blow, the kick that was apparently aimed for his stomach, was off center enough that Slade was able to take a large step to the side, avoiding the kick entirely. Slade smiled, noticing the opening that he was being given.

Even as Grayson's foot sailed through the air that had once been where he had been standing, Slade brought down his elbow over the kid's leg, aiming for near his knee. He made sure to not bring it down hard enough to actually shatter the kid's leg if it made contact, instead attempting to just bring him down again.

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

Just as he had thought, Slade had taken it and blocked it rather than avoiding it. This gave him a better chance to strike Slade. As quickly has Slade had blocked, Dick took his chance to try and make a hit, But instead of being able to land a hit or anything, Slade had just side stepped out of the way like Dick have been moving way too slow and allowed him the chance.

And before Dick had had a chance to react to Slade avoiding his attack, just as quickly has he had moved, Slade brought down his elbow, driving in into his upper leg just above the knee. Dick withheld his reacting to yell out in pain after that blow.

The hit had driven him off course and Dick tried to recover, only to land on his left leg and lose his balance a bit. Which brought him down on the bad knee, He could feel the pain shooting through his leg as his knee seemed to start to throb.

Slade was still withing striking distance, and Dick ignored the intense pain of his leg as he leaned forward onto his hands and swiped out with his right leg. There was little hope that that would work, but it was worth a show. Slade was definitely better at reading Dick's moves than he had thought. Though, he took his chance in hopes to at least build some space between them.

Trying to attempt to trip up Slade was only putting more weight and pressure on his now injured let. This was just great. There was no way he was going to let this fall to like old times. Dick had been able to keep up so far, but Slade had always been able to turn his attacks against him.

[revan]

Slade watched as the kid went down for a second time, sighing when he hit the ground. Grayson wasn't stupid, he was far from it. Sooner or later, he was going to have to realize that Slade was intending on doing nothing other than power hits to the kid. Which meant the kid was going to have to start fighting quicker, or just back out, like Slade was trying to get him to do. The fighting wasn't neccessary, even if Slade had to admit he was taking pleasure in knocking the kid around a little.

Wasn't Slade's fault the kid couldn't let go of the grudges his former teammates had already dealt with.

The sweep took him by surprise, for once, which in itself also took him by surprise. Grayson had remarkable willpower to force himself to make that kick so soon after getting his knee nearly crushed. The kid's leg hit Slade at the shins, sweeping the merc's feet out from under him. However, Slade wasn't about to let Grayson get in a lucky shot, and so reacted quickly in order to turn it to an advantage, if even a slight one.

The moment the kid's shins had connected, Slade reflexivly shifted his weight forward. This sent him nose first into the ground. However, instead of face planting at the former Titan's feet, Slade extended his arm, planting his hand on the ground. He shoved off, performing a one handed somersault, before landing behind and to the right of Grayson.

As soon as his feet hit the ground, Slade spun and faced Grayson. "Come on, Grayson, you got to do better than that."

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

Dick could see by the way Slade reacted that he had caught him a bit off guard with his attack. Though, he knew it wouldn't last long. As soon as he had managed to hit Slade's shins, Dick pulled his leg closer to his body. He was now crouching down, with most of his weight on his right leg. He only had the chance to watch Slade quickly manage to recover from his attack. Only to make it look like he had allowed the trip up, even though Dick knew otherwise.

Slade's reaction time was that many times quicker than the average human that he could easily manage to make things looking he had allowed them to happen. Well, Dick had been able to make one successful hit for sure that night out of this fight, but it was going to take a lot more speed and agility to be able to perform more stunts like that.

At which this point, Dick was in no condition to be pulling anything too crazy and was now lacking the means to be able to fight with the speed and quickness he needed, now being on one leg practically. Dick turned his head as Slade had pulled off a somersault and landed to the right behind him.

Dick was going to have to support himself mainly by his lands and his good leg. It wasn't like he had never fought when he was injured. There were many times he had not followed orders for rest when it came down to his work as Nightwing. His old teammates knew that and so did his friends. Dick was starting to get a hold of what Slade might be trying to do. And if Dick wanted to avoid the power hits, he was going to have to find away to avoid him. And at this point, things were starting to get tougher.

As Slade spoke, Dick turned a bit to face him straight on. He stayed low though. There wasn't much of a chance for him to spring up with much force if he was standing. "What not challenging enough for you? Really by that last attack I'd say your the one who needs to step it up a bit," Dick replied back.

With the lack of using both legs, Dick pushed off the ground with as much force as he could to spring himself up and flipped to before a back hand spring somersault. With using both hands, he quickly pushed off the ground and got enough air to be able to flip over Slade and land behind him. The landing was a bit difficult since Dick tried to stay off his left leg. But he managed to get the landing to work when he landed and used his hands to balance his landing. Quickly pivoting on his right foot to jump up and pull out his escrima sticks. He tried to land a spinning kick with his right foot to Slade's face. Quickly maneuvering into a spin after the first strike.

Even if the first blow missed, he had readied another attack with the spin to allow him the chance to strike with the escrima sticks. He would swing out with left first then the right. Even with the difficult at which he was performing, he would easily be able to regain his landing on his right leg using his hands to stick the landing.

If Slade wanted to see better, Dick was going to continue to attack until he couldn't manage to. Dick knew this fight was going in Slade's favor, but he was still going to put up a fight for a while longer. The only thing that would probably be able to stop him would probably being knocked out or having a sword against his throats. Even if he and Bruce weren't on good terms, he wasn't going to just walk away from a man who had threatened him. Even if he didn't end up winning this fight, there were other ways to try and stop him.

[revan]

Slade had to give it to the kid. He was doing a pretty decent job at staying up even though his leg was injured. However, it didn't matter how defiant Grayson got. Slade wasn't going to let him win. He was going to force the kid to conceed and make him actually listen, rather than sit here fighting the entire night. "Me, step it up? I don't plan on it. In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not trying to kill you."

Thats when Grayson decieded he wanted to attempt some acrobatics, even with his leg the way it was. Again, had to give it to the kid. Still going with it even though he was battered. Slade spun to face the kid, just as Grayson's foot came at his face. He swatted the kick to the side, the same way as Grayson was spinning. This helped him avoid the next strike, which he simply sidestepped a tad to dodge. The second swing from the kids escrima sticks he took on the arm, blocking it. He grunted softly upon the impact however. The kids strength really was improving.

Good. Grayson needed that.

Slade jumped back the soonest he could after Grayson's strikes, putting a bit of distance between the two. At this point, he was debating pulling his sword out again, to deal with the damnable sticks, however, he figured that in this case, it wouldn't exactly be good. After all, if Bats decided, "Oh hey, lets drop in." it would look a hell of alot worse than it did now, with a blade being pulled on his former partner.

Even if the rumors that Batman and Grayson were having issues were true.

Speaking of which...

"So, Richard, I hear you and the almighty Batman have been having issues lately. What did you do to get that one? Let me guess, Batman doesn't want you back because of you decided to go abandon him, huh?" He smiled beneath the mask.

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

"I kind of figured that one out already," Dick replied to Slade's comment on him not being there to kill him. Dick knew that if Slade would have been out to get him, he would avoiding him so much. After Slade had avoided his attacks, Dick was getting a bit annoyed that he wasn't landing any hard blows and Slade was acting like these were basic attacks.

Even with making a bit to Slade with his escrima stick, Slade had still be able to read his movement and block the attack. And he even jumped away from him. Leaving Dick to catch his balance at the lost force that he had landed the hit on in the first place.

After watching his for a moment, Dick could see that Slade had been debating on whether or not to go for his sword. If he did that, Dick would have even more trouble avoiding Slade.

Then, Slade just had to open his month on the next subject. Dick's eyes widened a bit in surprise that even Slade had heard about the fall out between Batman and him. Though it was probably becoming more noticeable when they tried to fight along side of each other. It wasn't like they ever planned for it.

He glared back at Slade in annoyance. "Who said we had issues? And besides, don't you crooks every have anything better to do than talk about the lives of the vigilantes," Dick spat back. Slade was getting on a very touchy subject. The crooks were almost as bad as the police trying to figure out the vigilantes in this town at times. "And who said I wanted to go back," he said.

Slade was just adding to the fire. Dick was getting annoyed with Slade not only taunting him, but now trying to play mind games with him. Dick was getting enraged with this talk. He lunged forward and performed another back flip this time aiming his good leg for Slade's chest. "It's really none of your business," Dick commented. If Slade was trying to made Dick lose his focus, it was starting to work. But as soon as he was getting close he turned and proceeded to with a right hook with the escrima stick in his hand. He was ready for any avoidance. In fact, he expected Slade to dodge out on his. He was ready to land and strike again right away.