Clockwork let out a tired sigh as he the screen he had been using to watch over the young halfa faded to black before a new image popped up of an equally aged Daniel that appeared happy and playing with a young black haired little girl in a park while a much older Sam Manson watched them from a bench, a smile on her face as she caressed her slightly protruding stomach. The image once again changed focusing once more on young Daniel as did many of the screens in the room as they changed between the various timelines that existed. It was times like this Clockwork felt the burden of his duty as timekeeper, to watch over all versions of the time streams with only a small handful having needed his direct or indirect interference. Thankfully there were only 1300 timelines that existed instead of the infinite amount some believed existed making his job infinitely easier.

His musing was stopped interrupted by clanking and banging. He knew what was happening and floated over to the thermos and reversed the time on it repairing the damage done to it by the entity inside. Eventually though, he knew the thermos would break eventually even with all of his power to prevent it and Danny would be forced to face himself once more. Though this time he knew when that time came Daniel would be prepared and strong enough to beat the monster he could have become once and for all.

Danny frowned as his eyes fluttered open as he awoke from his dreamless nap. The sun was still out and blazing brightly in the afternoon sky and deciding it was time to get a move on he got up adjusting his clothes and fixing his hair back into a ponytail before he stretched to remove the kinks out of his back.

Once he was all set Danny made for the gate that led to the front of the school. He didn't know what he was going to do yet as he walked down the busy street with no particular destination in mind. He slowed to a stop as he heard the distinct sound of a bank alarm and faded into invisibility and intangibility as he moved through the now panicked crowd of people trying to get away. He transformed into his alter ego and flew into the air as he saw a pink haired goth with pale gray skin launching what looked like a form of pink magic at the guards before she hollered over her shoulder, probably telling her partners to hurry it up but he wasn't sure. It was then that the inevitable happened when the Titans showed up preceded by a green star bolt that the goth just barely avoided only to be hit with the after effects of debris and launching her into the street where she was confronted by the team of super teen heroes.

He couldn't hear what was being said but he really didn't care as it was obvious that the Titans were busy making witty banter with the convict. It wasn't long until they were doing battle with a the girl's comrades, a hulking giant of a man with a long mane of hair and incredible strength and a small child with a ridiculous mechanical spider-legged backpack but the trio seemed to do well against the Titans for a time but eventually the Titans won out with their larger numbers and better team work. It was as the trio of was being round up that Daniel decided to take advantage of the situation and flew into the bank and proceeded to pick it clean of cash and anything of value before fleeing the bank to Slade's, no, it was his hideout now. He wondered briefly if the Titans would even bother checking the back afterwards but threw the thought from his mind as he didn't care. It wasn't like they would be able to track him. His previous thoughts of a legitimate income were no longer on his mind as a job would eventually only get in the way of his goals of reviving his sister. He couldn't let anything stop him from his goal. When he arrived back in the lair he was again greeted by Wintergreen.

"Sir." The older man greeted politely before motioning to the large sacks of gold, money and other things of value that Daniel had grabbed.

The halfa nodded back to the man and let the bags drop to the ground before he followed his master's mentor to a large room filled with computers and several screens. He glanced at the older man who only tilted his head at the throne that had once seated Slade and hesitated.

"Sir, with Master Slade gone it is only right you take his place as he would have wanted. It was what he trained you for."

With that final prod Daniel, still in his ghost form, nodded and made his way to the stone throne. He stopped just in front of it as he was reminded the last time he stood in a similar position. It wasn't exactly a pleasant memory but it wasn't awful either. He had been kneeling down before Slade requesting time to train in the Ghost Zone with the looming threat of punishment through his sister if he didn't return when promised.

"Master, I have learned so much from you but I can't help but feel I am lacking experience. If you were to allow me to put your training to use in live combat in the Ghost Zone I could grow even more." He had spoken confidently and without any hint of fear. To do so would guarantee that he would be denied and was yet another lesson Slade had taught him. Always be confident but not overly so or see yourself fail. Be assertive as to show fear would give your enemy ground. Be ruthless as mercy allowed your enemy to come back stronger. It was these rules that he had learned to follow or suffer the consequences. It didn't help that he was not allowed to use his ghost powers when he trained but after the first time he questioned and after a rather brutal sparring session he never asked again. Though he never had to ask again as Slade had, after beating him ruthlessly into the ground, told him.

"Do you see now, apprentice? By making you train your body and mind you grow stronger without needing your powers. Most supers, be they hero or otherwise, tend to grow complacent and rely on their powers to see them through. But what happens when you take those powers away? They become just like everyone else. Pathetic and weak! But now, should you ever find yourself unable to use your powers, you have the ability to continue fighting back. That is why I forbade your use of your powers while you train. Now get up! We still have an hour left of your punishment left. But I am willing to be lenient and allow you to remove 5 minutes for ever successful hit you land on me."

Of course Slade showed he was a man of his word and removed a full ten minutes off their sparring match.

Daniel took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He banished his hesitation and took a final steeling breath and opened his red eyes glowing with determination and proceeded to the throne and sat down with a fierce look. He glanced at the key pad on the arm and entered a key combination causing all of the screens in the hideout to flicker to life displaying various locations throughout Jump City. There were even a few that displayed inside of Titans Tower causing a menacing smirk to grace Daniel's face.

He leaned forward as he watched the Titan's in their lobby; Cyborg and Beast Boy were on the couch taking turns playing some kind of game on a rather large tv screen. The Tamaranean, Starfire he told himself, was devouring...Was that mustard?! Danny shook his head at that and a face of disgust and disbelief at the thought of devouring the condiment from the bottle. He shook his head a bit at that. He next saw their sorceress, Raven, sipping tea as she looked out the large windows that overlooked the city off in the corner. Then finally in the corner on the main computer was robin. He seemed completely focused on the screen before him and after switching to a different camera view he was able to see it was security footage from the bank that he had robbed while the titans had been busy fighting the villainous trio.

A pang of jealousy shot through him as he thought of how carefree they all seemed. They were the heroes. They knew the hardships of the world yet they were able to continue to march on, but then again they didn't have someone close to them to protect aside from each other that he was aware of. They were like a band of misfits who found common ground amoung one another. They didn't need family becuase they had one amoungst themselves. Though perhaps what bothered him the most about them was that they had what he didn't. But then isn't how it always went? People always wanting and envying what they dont have.

Danny sighed as he leaned back in his throne and like his master before him began to plot. He steepled his fingers in front of his face as he contemplated ways he could go about things. Should he don his master's uniform and psyche them out? No. Robin would notice any subtle differences and know he wasn't the real Slade... but doing so could buy him some time. Robin might also fly into a rage or panic at the sudden appearance of his arch nemesis still alive and well before calming down enough to realize he was a copycat. But then again, Robin wasn't Batman and Danny felt he was a decent actor. He had spent well over a year with Slade and felt he could imitate him well enough to throw Robin for a loop long enough to get what he needed to get done, done. A small part of it might also have been the slight childish fun loving Danny he used to be just wanted to don the mask that he had thought looked 'cool' and wanting to mess with the Titans. The idea also had far more merit than just going around robbing bank after bank, hospital after hospital leaving false clues and trails and was more likely to buy him more time before being exposed.

The halfa glanced at Wintergreen, his decision all but made.

"Wintergreen, prepare the commandos I have a mission for them." He said as he stood from the throne. The older man nodded briefly and made off to take care of the cybernetic minions.

Daniel however made his way towards Slade's personal armory in the base. It was easy to find and soon he came upon a large bulkhead door. He took a steadying breath as he removed the glove off his right hand and placed it upon the scanner and walked through the door after it opened with a hiss. Inside there was a multitude of weapons, ranging from simple small arms to ballistics on one wall and a wide range of melee weapons from a small dagger to a pole arm and everything in between, but they were not what he needed nor what he came for. Thus he made his way to a cylindrical display case that sat in the center of the room which held Slade's outfit sealed within. It was only one of many though as there were multiple spares in the drawers beneath the case. Once again he placed his bare hand upon a scanner and the case hissed open, the glass sliding upwards into the ceiling. He slowly pulled the helmet down off the mannequin and looked into the single empty eye hole. The smooth cold copper and black mask felt strange as he held it though far lighter than he expected, he closed his eyes as he set the mask down and proceeded to pull the bodysuit from the stand and slowly began to change into the tough and durable material, equipping the many silver armor pads until finally, when he was fully dressed he picked the mask up, his hands shaky as he did. Danny looked into the single eye and set the mask down so it was facing him and to give him a moment to clear his head. Though he felt as if the mask was calling to him and reached over and softly stroked the black portion of the mask that would leave him devoid of one eye, a sign of Slade's arrogance and skill to be able to function with only one eye and remain one of the best fighters and assassins in the world. He would need to modify the mask so that he had means to see out of the blind spot while retaining the mask's original look so as to not give himself away to quickly as he was not so arrogant to believe he could function with only one eye.

'I'll talk to Wintergreen and have him alter the mask later.' he thought as he picked the mask back up bringing the mask to eye level. He glanced at the inside of the helmet and with a a held breath pulled it towards his flaming head and felt the mask settle into place seamlessly with the suit. Danny felt a slight thrill at wearing his masters mask and outfit and smirked behind the mask though it fell when he remembered that he was only wearing it because Slade was dead, killed by Terra and the Titans. Clenching his fists he turned heel and left he armory and quickly tracked down Wintergreen who was busy preparing the robotic commandos in another large room.

"Good, the commandos are ready." Danny said causing the elderly man to jump due to Danny's silent approach.

Wintergreen quickly spun around to greet Danny, but his eyes widened at the sight of his dead student turned master instead, though he quickly realized that the man before him wasn't Slade but was in fact Daniel. Though at first glance it was easy to mistake the two as they both had similar builds and they both held themselves in the same way but there were subtle differences, small tells that Slade had that Daniel didn't and vice versa. It also didn't help that their voices, while both deep and menacing, were vastly different in their inflection and demeanor. Daniel's voice held an uncaring cold indifference to it while Slade's was calm, cool and calculated with a hint of an edge to it. It would be something they would have to rectify before 'Slade' made his return.

"Yes sir. They are all here and accounted for, ready for their orders." he answered with a nod and stepped aside so that Danny could over look the commandos, what remained after the failed take over of the city. Where as before the sixty commandos would have been but a mere handful amoungst hundreds, were all that remained of Slade's small army.

Danny peered out, slightly disoriented from the lack of depth perception and availability of only one eye and grimaced at the meager ammount of commandos. He could have more built but he first needed to gather more information on Slade's operations and how to act more like his former master in general. Thus he would have to wait before he made a public appearance

He closed his eyes and willed his head clear of the multiple thoughts in his head, before he once more glanced over the robotic servants and addressed them.

"Your goal is simple, a third of you will head out to the prison and free as many inmates as you can with out getting caught. Your main targets will be the Hive trio, Plasmus, Cinderblock and Overload. The second group, your goal is to set bombs throughout the city's sewer system. The final team, your job is to infiltrate Wayne Industries and download the latest blue prints. Above all that, you are to avoid capture by any and all means. If you can, avoid being spotted at all costs, if you are, take out the witnesses and if that fails, abort mission. That goes for all of you. Move out!"

With his orders given and received the Commandos vanished from the room to carry out their respective missions. Danny finally let out a sigh and desperately wanted to remove the mask from his face but forced himself to keep in on.

"Wintergreen, I need you to modify the masks so that I can utilize both my eyes but retain the mask's look."

"Of course, sir. I'll start on that right away." The elderly man replied and quickly left the room. Danny left the now empty room and made for Slade's... for his throne.

'This is going to take time getting used to.' he thought with a hint of annoyance as he relaxed in the stone chair that overlooked the many screens that lined the opposite wall and began to mimic his master in more ways than one as he mulled over his plans as he watched the Titans enjoying their downtime and each others company.