Titan Life: Setting up Shop.

A few of Slade's henchman had gone ahead in advance to secure a second base of operations within the city limits. They'd absorbed the powers and resources of several smaller gangs and crime lords, and had now made their master's Gotham base ready for his arrival.

When the arrival of a new force makes Gotham's already ludicrous crime rate soar to new heights, you can be sure people are going to take notice.

The Merc leaders were here now, awaitin the arrival of Slade, their employee, and Sindri, their master.

((I'm back after a long delay.))

Bruce Wayne, a billionaire playboy of Gotham City, had just woken from his short sleep. He never got that much sleep. He was used to stay up all night and do what he did best. What he had sworn to do for the rest of his life. He was awakened by his trusted Butler, Alfred Pennyworth, who had breakfast ready for him along with the morning news paper.

Last night had been a rough night. Kicking Joker back into Arkham Asylum. It was always rough with the Joker around. That loon was his arch nemesis. His worst enemy. So how was it possible for someone like Bruce Wayne to defeat someone as The Joker. Simple. Bruce Wayne is The Batman. The fearless hero without superpowers to assist him. Only skill and techniques he had learned from world traveling. He was undefeated. Never had he been defeated by a single villain who had opposed Gotham City. His city.

Little did he know that a worse villain than the Joker was on his way to Gotham, while he was eating his breakfast and reading them morning paper. Of course he was on the front page. As always when he had caught Joker and brought him back to Arkham, where he belonged.

Three banks in Gotham would be receiving a shipment today via an armored car. This delivery would not at all be what it seemed. Passed off as a locked box deposited by a Government official, they were not allowed to look inside. These three boxes were stowed in three separate banks. Each one was a very powerful bomb.

At exactly 3:00 pm, each of the three bombs was triggered remotely, decimating the banks that contained them.

This would grab the attention of everyone for sure.

At 3:00 PM it happened and Bruce Wayne, who was attending to his work at Wayne Enterprises could see the smoke and almost hear the explosion from his office. He rose to his feet and looked outside the window and squinted his eyes. Something bad had happened. In open daylight. He wasn't used to pull on his Batman suit during the day time but he would do some exceptions some times. Times like this. He called his trusted butler, Alfred and told him he needed his suit and to be picked up. He left his office calmly and slowly. He didn't overreact. He never did. He could never overreact or else people would figure out who he was and that would mean bad tidings for Bruce Wayne. When he saw his car arrive he got inside and said, "Get me as close to the fires as possible Alfred."

The old butler knew who Bruce Wayne was at night and did everything he could to support Bruce. Hearing the order he just nodded and drove his Master as close to the crime scene as possible. "Would you like me to notify Miss Gordon, sir?"

He was dressed up by now and was just about to leave the car and investigate the explosions when he heard Alfred ask if he should call for backup. "Do that Alfred." With those words said he left the car and was soon gone from the ground and up on a roof top over watching the city he had sworn to protect with his life.
Who was his backup? Barbara Gordon. Commissioner James Gordon's daughter. A good friend and partner in fighting crime. Barbara Gordon was Batgirl and right now he would need all the help he could get. You could already hear firetrucks drive all through the city toward the burning banks to wash out the fires that had caught on. Who would ignite banks and burn the money? Someone crazy. Someone bad. Not even the Joker was that crazy. Well yes, but Joker would steal the money first and then ignite everything in fire. And three banks at the same time? Not Joker's motive at all. Not Two Face either, even if Two Face was a fan of chaos and fire. But banks wouldn't be a place to set on fire. More like churches and orphanages with innocent helpless people. He came to wonder: Who had done this?

Standing in an alley way near the largest of the banks was a solitary figure. He was carrying a special device on loan from the mercenaries that allowed him to stand invisible, hiding in plain sight. He was awaiting the arrival of either Batman or Batgirl. Or both. He knew that eventually one of them would stop by.

All part of his plan, he would send them an ultimatum before moving out with his operations. Meanwhile, Sindri, his partner in crime, would keep the Titans busy with his... considerable capacity. But where was Slade?

Nowhere else but the very man in the cloaking device. He had longed for the opportunity to test the man behind the legend of The Batman.

Barbara Gordon was at school, studying hard as always when she suddenly received a message by Alfred through a private device she had. Hearing that Batman needed her, she excused herself somehow and ran outside. She'd need Alfred to come pick her up and give her time to change. She loved working with Batman, he had taught her so much. She knew one thing, she loved being in the hero world.

Alfred went to Barbara's school with her uniform ready so she could change in the car. Picking her up he said, "He's waiting at the national Bank Miss Gordon."

Batman didn't really have time to wait so he would walk into whatever danger there was to meet. Batgirl could trace his whereabouts and get to him when she was ready. He would start finding out who had done this so he swung himself off the roof he was standing on and swung himself toward the ground and the great National Bank in Gotham, which was now on fire. He helped out where he could to get innocent people out of there. Both hurt and unhurt people. They couldn't be sure this was the only explosions there would be for now. He would find clues and he would bring the villain who had done this down.

The man in the shadows waited for Batman to continue his work with the innocents before stepping out. Broad daylight wasn't his style normally, but of course, this plan was nothing at all like his previous ones. All the ones in the past had involved trying to get the Titans on his side before executing his plot, but he was done with that. The three most remarkable Titans were lost to him for good.

Robin never joined him willingly, no matter how much he enjoyed the physical thrill.

Raven wasn't likely to be broken, especially not after all she'd been through. He supposed he had some respect for how strong she really was, despite his hatred for them all.

And of course there was Terra, his greatest failure of all. He didn't know if she was dead or just missing, but he hated her above all beings in this world. He had never come closer to victory then his alliance with her, and had never fallen harder than when she betrayed him.

The thought of her primed him for a fight, heightening his adrenaline. He stepped out of the alley, deactivating his cloaking device as he went.

"Ah, what a timely arrival. The great Batman. I'd say Robin sends his regards, but frankly I'm not sure he cares anymore."

Batman had just sent off the last ones to the hospital when he heard a voice he didn't recognize so he turned around to see a man masked up and well hidden. Batman didn't lower his guards for one split second. He knew if he did that he would be doomed. Only as Bruce Wayne he would be allowed to relax once in a while.

As that new man spoke of his old sidekick he had an idea this wasn't a good guy. He never knew if Robin cared or not. Frankly at the moment that was his least concern. Three major banks in Gotham was on fire. Giving this man his famous cold blank stare he prepared himself for a fight. He had a feeling that one was coming. And pretty soon as well.

Batman stepped one careful but none afraid step toward the just arrived man and spoke in his cold unforgiving voice. "Slade Wilson." Oh yes... Batman knew who he was. It was his job to know such things. He had heard about the several attacks in Jump City, Slade had put on the Titans. Many times he had thought about going there but he never did. But bringing the battle to Gotham made him a part of it. And he wouldn't stay out of it until he knew his city was safe once more.

Barbara quickly changed into her Batgirl uniform and upon hearing Alfred's words, she nodded, "Thanks Alfred." Once they arrived at a dark ally, she jumped out of the car and made her way as quickly as she could to where her mentor was located. Upon reaching his location, she saw him staring down a villain she had never seen before. Deciding to stay out of sight and on top of the roof, she waited, watched from above, ready to provide backup if needed. Besides, she doubted this villain knew she was here, an element of surprise could be just the thing they would need if things should turn against one of the greatest hero's of all time.

Slade was surprised for the first time in a long time. Batman knew what Robin had toiled over for so many years. Oh yes, this was simply delectable. He'd make sure to tell that one to Robin the next time they met. Slade moved a little closer to Batman before raising his gravelly voice once again.

"Well, well, well, you know me. I must say, that is impressive, Batman. I hope you fight as well as you snoop," Slade said with venom. He knew there was no intimidating this man, so he simply clicked a button held on his belt.

A blue field of energy surrounded a small area around the two. Slade could pass through it as the trigger device emitted a disrupter signal that would nullify it, but Batman would be trapped unless he held something similar.

Either way, this was only a test. The real fun would come later.

"Well, shall we dance?" Slade spoke as he stepped into a basic stance to prepare for the fight.

Batman just stood there when some kind of forcefield emitted around him and the villain. He was not the least impressed of the villains way to approach him. Slade Wilson. Well he had read the background papers about this guy. Not a pretty story. Got his eye shot out by his wife when one of his sons lost his ability to speak, after getting his tongue cut out. Slade Wilson. Also a past soldier of the US Army. Slade had abilities that were worth respecting. That was Batman's up side. He respected his enemies and that way he could stay cool and take them down easily. He had never failed and trusted he wouldn't this time either.

Hearing Slade's taunting words he slowly reached for a Batarang from his utility belt underneath his large black cloak. He never took the first punch unless really necessary. But he knew from Jump City News that Slade was one to take things slowly and painfully. He had read how Slade had 'danced' around with his old sidekick Robin. How Robin had easily let his guards down in front of Slade. Even become Slade's sidekick for a short time. He was disappointed in his old sidekick. Robin knew better than that when he was still in Gotham. Perhaps he wasn't that good of a leader of his teenage team in Jump City. Teenagers... in one group. It was bound to fail someone as strong and determined as Slade Wilson.

Batman finally spoke up with his harsh cold voice he always used to handle villains. Especially the Joker. "I don't dance." He was waiting. Patiently he was waiting. Robin would go straight for the main guy and lose. That boy had no patience in his life. At some points Robin and Batman were so alike and yet they were so different. Batman was able to keep his head cool at all times while Robin could hardly sleep when someone was threatening his city. Not a way to go when you led a team. Batman was kind of a part of a team, but not fully. He wasn't really in the team spirit.

Slade could see that Batman wasn't going to make the first move. Oh well, it made little difference. Despite the loss of the power Trigon had given him, Slade was more then capable of being a little more.. hands on then he'd been in the past. Besides, he'd done his research on Batman as well, whatever there was to be found about him. He would have to be careful, but he was confident in his abilities.

Slade Slowly started walking forward to close the distance between them. The walk soon became faster, moving into a jog, and finally into a full sprint toward Batman. He was keeping his hands in a guarding position, ready for any surprise gadgets Batman would pull out of his belt.

The moment Slade made his first move, Batman put his hand around his batarang and when Slade began to run toward him he quickly pulled out his batarang and threw it toward Slade, knowing it would inpact and do it's purpose, which was to make a cloud of smoke to make Slade lose vision. Batman didn't mind loosing vision. He was trained to fight in rough situations and he wanted the advantage in this case. He had never been defeated before and never would be. He was The Batman. He was legendary, but so was Slade Wilson of his deeds against the Titans. Though Batman was certain that he could defeat Slade in this battle and bring peace to his city once more.

As the batarang impacted on the ground a great cloud of smoke appeared and surrounded the two. Batman let his heat seeking 'glasses' appear in front of his eyes and made it look like he had red eyes. Now he could easily follow Slade's every move.

Slade deactivated the shield he placed around them as soon as the smoke erupted from the Batarang. He quickly moved out of the cloud as best as he could, jumping up and out of the concealing screen of smog. Slade in turn tossed a few gadgets of his own into the sky. A new advent of his, these propelled themselves upwards before showering out dozens of tiny cluster bombs. The bombs would easily cover the are of the smoke.

However, Slade figured this wouldn't phase Batman. He needed to get up close and personal where his chemically enhanced strength could be used to its fullest benefit. He cared little for this exchange of fancy gadgets.

Batman wasn't slowed down one bit and jumped at Slade and threw the first punch toward Slade's masked face. He wanted this villain taken down. Also he knew Batgirl should be around soon for backup and with the shield down she could easily interfere and make this battle uneven for Slade. In a fight like this there was no such thing as a fair fight at all.

The moment Batman's hand slammed against Slade's metal mask he saw nothing much happened and knew he had to hit much harder than he was used to with the common crooks in this city. Fine. He flipped backwards and would see how his punch had affected Slade and wondered what was taking Batgirl so long to get here.

The moment she saw the shield come down, she knew she could strike anytime she wanted. But that was the hard part, when would be the best time to jump in? Seeing the two tango for a while, she knew that this would be a very difficult fight. Wanting to give her mentor an edge, she quietly jumped down from her roof and landed behind Slade and hoped that a surprise kick to his legs would knock him off his feet. So, that was exactly what she did, as she landed quietly behind Slade, she struck out with her leg right for the back of his knee caps. She just hoped her little 'surprise attack' would work.

Slade saw Batman coming and was too late to react to the force of his punch. The metal of his mask absorbed the blow for the most part, and he merely leaned his head back in reflex to the blow, then lifted it once more to stare at Batman. He chuckled a little bit before preparing to move again.

"Much better," he said as he made his way to approach. However it was at that moment that he just barely made out a sound coming directly behind him. He jumped backward, flipping over the now appeared form of Batgirl. Slade cursed in his mind, as this would only complicate things. He in turn landed behind her, delivering a straight kick aimed to the middle of her back.

Batman saw Batgirl enter the scene and seeing how her assault didn't work and how Slade's mind was fixed on her instead of him he took advantage of the situation and threw one of his Bat-bolas and threw them at Slade's leg to prevent Slade from kicking Batgirl in the back. Meanwhile, waiting for it to fly and do it's purpose, Batman jumped forward to make a flying punch at Slade's face again.

Slade's leg was caught by the bola, wrapping itself around his legs. He was about to lose balance, but he threw himself backwards, catching himself on his hands. Using the momentum, he threw a kick at Batman using his bound legs as he did a backwards handspring. He landed a few feet away after the counter kick, taking a laser tool to slash through the bola and unbind his legs.

After this, he stood still, his guard up, staring down the the two bat-themed heroes.

Batman let out a groan when Slade made a counter kick with his bound legs but Batman didn't get out of balance once. He just flipped back as well and when he was clear of his cape he squinted his eyes at this villain and kept his hand out as a sign for Batgirl not to do anything right now. He knew Slade was good. Real good and he wouldn't fall easily. He took out one of his batarangs and threw it right over Slade's head into the brick wall behind Slade and waited patiently. There was a point in hitting above Slade with the batarang. That batarang wasn't one of his normal ones. That one was a small bomb. And it set off before a second had passed and made the brick wall explode into smaller bricks that should fall over Slade and give him and Batgirl sort of an advantage to bring this madman down.

Batgirl quietly cursed when she saw that her attack this villain didn't work. She had expected it to work, but it didn't and that bothered her. As the villain flipped over her and tried to take her down with a sharp kick to the back, she tried to get out of the way in time, but she knew if it hadn't been for Batman's interference, she would be on the ground, moaning in pain. Seeing her mentor fight this guy, this Slade, she tried to think of a clever way to take him down. Batgirl was about to attack him once again when she saw the signal not to do anything. Knowing he knew best, she stood her ground and just watched as large amount of bricks came tumbling down from above Slade's head. Not expecting this attack to keep Slade down for long, she went into a fighting position and was ready for anything he might throw.

Slade heard the batarang as it beeped, and on instinct dove forward, rolling into a crouching position. He then closed his eyes as he pulled out a new gadget. He threw it out in front of him a little, and in seconds it let out a blinding white light, with the intensity of a flash bang grenade.

Closing his eyes head helped a little, he know rushed around, dodging around Batgirl and aiming his own punch towards Batman's face.

When the flash grenade ignited he pulled his cape in front of his face and covered his protegé as well. But he soon pushed his cape out only to receive a punch straight in the face. But not long after he kicked out for Slade's back, while grabbing Slade's arm, getting sure this would hit the villain. Again he stood in front of Batgirl and was ready for more. He could go for days without sleep and pushing him past the limit. He was trained for this.

Batgirl was silently thankful that Batman had covered not only himself but her as well from the flash grenade. she was slightly blinded from the brief moment she had been exposed by the intense light and was unable to do anything for several minutes. But as her eyes readjusted and her head stopped throbbing, she saw that Slade and Batman were going at it again. Determined to give her mentor the upper hand, she quickly pulled out her bo-staff. She wasn't the best hand to hand combat fighter, her game was more hacking, finding information that no one else could. Her best weapon was her brains, not her fists.