The task ahead of me had my heart pounding and hands shaking. Pulling one over on Slade was no easy feat. It was like he knew what you were going to do the second you thought of it.

Except, I had an advantage others didn't, I knew his schedule. I knew his habits and tricks. All I had to do was get past his defenses.

Slade sat across from me at the dinner table, eating the dinner I made. It was my turn after all.

That was his first mistake.

He folded his hands together. "Any new leads?" I shook my head, avoiding eye contact. "Madolyn, look at me when I'm speaking to you"

I did as he said, had to keep up appearances after all. "No sir, though I have a program running on my laptop that scans all news sites, if Gray pops up, I'll know about it." I didn't. It was near impossible to do that. I was actually getting desperate to find them, starting from scratch was irritating enough.

"It is curious, this person appears out of thin air, stealing my business and terrifying people into submission." He leaned back thoughtfully. "Maybe when I do find them, I'll force them into my employ, they could teach you a thing or two."

I bit my tongue, comeback on the tip of it. Now wasn't the time. "You're tracking them too?" If he actually went over my findings, he'd realize they were all just a bunch of crap. Stuff I'd conjured up over time to cover my tracks.

"You really think I'd let you hunt down an apparently formidable opponent on your own." He scoffed, though wasn't that the point of giving me this assignment? "You have shown that you are a worthy heir but this Charlie person has proven themselves intelligent enough to keep well hidden. Finally an adversary worthy of my time."

I could see it now, it was the beginnings of an obsession, almost exactly how he acted when he discovered how smart really Robin was. It made me nervous.

We continued eating in silence before Slade started breathing heavily. He shook his head as if trying to clear it. I patiently finished the few bites I had on my plate. He finally looked up, surprise in his eye. I tilted my head as if curious.

"You- did this to me" He tried to get up but promptly fell to the floor, clipping his shoulder against the corner of the table. Slade desperately scratched at his throat. I'd given him enough of a sedative to kill a horse.

Huh.

Didn't think the monster was capable of desperation.

I walked toward him slowly, pulling a narrow but long and wickedly sharp knife out of its sheath. "I've spent the last two years waiting for this moment." He weakly tried to bat me away from him. "Planning. Letting you sculpt me into your perfect apprentice. But what good story doesn't end with the student overcoming the master."

Instead of stabbing him in the eye like I'd originally planned, I instead brought the handle down at his temple, knocking any fight he might have left away.

Due to his fast metabolism, I'd have to be quick. Running toward our makeshift medbay, I grabbed an IV with a bag attached before slipping into my room to grab the liquid form of the drugs I'd used. Filling the bag had gone slower and it was less than I'd hoped, but until I could signal my team to get here, it was going to have to work.

By the time I'd made it back to the kitchen, Slade was gone, a small amount of blood left where his head had been.

Fear began twisting in my gut. This wasn't good. He was somewhere in the compound, probably beyond pissed.

Great.

Attaching the bag to my belt, I tucked the needle in such a way that it'd be safe and I wouldn't be stabbed. I drew my sword, mentally taking stock of what I had on me.

"This is an old game" I called out, making my way toward the throne room. I kept my steps light and strained my ears for even a hint of sound, well aware that my back could be facing him. "Let's finish it shall we?" I cupped my hands against the side of my mouth. "That's why you wanted an apprentice isn't it? To replace me because you didn't think I was adequate enough."

"I wanted to replace you because you were a useless bastard child" Slade's voice echoed around me. "I never loved your mother, she was only a means to an end. Then she dumps you on my lap and overdoses herself"

I spun around, trying to find the source in the shadows. "Well then come on you coward, if I'm really so useless, then get rid of me."

"Gladly" I barely turned in time to block a blow from Slade, though it wasn't as strong as it could have been.

Good.

That meant he was still trying to fight off the drugs.

"Clever, putting whatever it was in my food, I never expected that from you apprentice" he tried to slice at me but I managed a parry, carefully drawing him into a more open space.

He was trained to fight in close quarters and I'd never quite mastered it.

I pressed the distress signal on my belt, signaling my soldiers to storm the compound. They'd been waiting for days, camped out in surrounding apartment buildings.

Hopefully we wouldn't draw a Bat's attention, the last thing I needed right now was for Tim or Bruce to come storming in half-cocked and ruin my plan.

Slade cut my arm while I'd been distracted, in return I hit his blade away. "You're about to lose for the first time in your miserable life" I grinned as windows shattered. Slade's movements were still sluggish and slow, he wasn't expecting tranquilizer darts to come shooting at him from all angles.

I dropped to the ground, not particularly wanting the dosage he was getting.

He tried to raise his sword at me as they took effect but his hand quickly dropped as well as the rest of him. I took the bag off my belt, rolling up his sleeve and inserting the needle without much care if I'd hurt him.

We got him.