Prompt: Lord Renegade trying to overthrow Slade, but failing horribly.

Dick never thought he would fight for the title of Emperor. Eventually he knew that it was a position he would one day inherit, but why wait?

He confronted Slade in the throne room, without any of the clones to back him up.

Both of them pushed against each other with the Force, the energy building up between them at an alarming rate. His muscles strained against Slade's Force push. After struggling for a few seconds, Slade let out a surge of energy that flung Dick violently backwards. He skidded across the metal floor.

"You don't know the Force as well as you think you do," Slade said. "Do you really want to continue?"

This wasn't like the fight at Mustafar, which had been fueled by hate. Never, at any point during that duel, had he felt like he was fighting for his life. He couldn't, not with Bruce.

The lava at Mustafar had proved a difficult battleground, but instead of lava lightning crackled around them. Though Dick couldn't control the lightning well, he could at least aim it now.

"Do you know why you're failing, Dick?" Slade asked. "It's because you're holding yourself back. You haven't completely fallen to the Dark Side."

Slade hadn't even taken out his lightsaber. Dick couldn't get near enough to use his, and even if he could then what? Slade was so powerful that he didn't need to get close to Dick.

Well, if Dick couldn't use the Force well, then he would have to invite Slade to a proper duel. He took out his lightsaber.

"Come on, boy," Slade said. "End this. Now."

They circled each other warily, the red light of their lightsabers casting a hellish glow on their faces. Dick lunged at Slade, going on the offensive, trying to reach the high ground.

Slade knocked the lightsaber out of Dick's hand and used the Force to grab it from the air. An unseen force slammed Dick against the wall, and when he opened his bleary eyes he found both lightsabers crossed under his throat. He felt their humming rumbling through him, and the heat prickled his skin. If he swallowed he would get burnt.

"I could kill you now," Slade whispered. "I should kill you."

Slade pressed the lightsabers closer, and, after a long moment, stepped back. Before Dick could take a breath of relief, he was suddenly flung down the stairs. He threw up his hands, scrambling for a hold on the Force, but lost his concentration as Slade pushed him again.

It seemed as though the Force was pulling at him from all directions, jerking him and slamming him against the walls. He felt as though the Force would draw and quarter him, pull his limbs apart, and he would have no control, not even with his current mastery of the Force. After an eternity, the spinning stopped, and he found himself sprawled on the floor.

"You could have defeated Wayne at Mustafar if you had truly embraced the Dark Side," Slade said. He tossed Dick's lightsaber to the side. Dick reached out for it with the Force, but he couldn't do anything, couldn't concentrate, couldn't use the Force at all in his terror. "A pity. Try again when you're not so pathetic."