"Well, where do I begin? I must take down someone small, but whose help is quite needed for them... oh, of course."
And when he opened the door, someone appeared behind him and he quickly kicked the person back, instinctively.
"I know, I should have sent some kind of letter or something, but that seems like an overreaction, Private Hive."
"So you are really alive... Nightshade."
And he helped the odd gentleman get up.
"I told you dying was no fun. And I have watched over my new friends, though you are the second one to find out I live."
"Who was the first?"
"Raven. Big mistake trying to watch her from the shadows. She almost banished me to some sort of interdimensional limbo before she recognized me."
"And when she did?"
"She threw me through a window. It was super."
"You mean 'out the window'?"
"No, through it. It was closed."
"Ouch. Remind me to never cross her. But why did you come here? And why now?"
Shade shrugged.
"To help you with your revenge. I want to take them down, they took something from me as well."
"Really? You seem fine to me."
"I'm not so good. Going all Deus Ex Machina and swallowing those robots took more out of me than I thought. I am not completely powerless, but... the dimension of my gifts was very shortened. Besides... I don't have any friends besides the odd team we saw back at Kerveria and... well, out of my buddies, you need my help most of all."
"Well, good to have you in with me" Private Hive said and gave Shade a smile.
Shade could not help himself but smile back.
"Uh... do you have any idea of where to go now?"
"There will be a theft of xynothium tonight" Shade said "I overheard Professor Chang planning it."
"Then lets get to it!"
"History repeats itself..." Shade said to himself.
"What is the problem, Robin? You seem... angry."
"It's a theft. Xynothium."
"You don't think..."
"Red X is back" Robin said "and this time, I'll stop him."
"As you say, man."
"They have already been deactivated. I'd wager our thief is already in."
"Well, he's not getting out. Not until I'm done with him."
"I have my accounts to settle as well. After you."
And they both ran in, not knowing the mess they were getting into.
"The security cameras are busted, their lights are off. Probably a loop of sorts."
And they just ran following the trail of security destruction and heavy steps.
"I'm getting closer to him. He'll pay!"
But then they got to a corridor so filled with lasers that even a mouse could have problems going through it, imagine a huge muscular guy.
"Hold my hand, Private Hive."
"What? This is not the time to -"
But then Shade got his hand and before he could react and they both became a shadow that serpented through the lasers with ease. When they were done, they emerged on solid form again.
"That was wild!"
"Yes. Now let us - oh."
"Not who I was expecting." Red X said.
"You working for Chang?"
"I only work for myself, brat. Now step aside or I'll have to force you to."
And oddly, they did.
"What? No battle?"
"I'm not here to be a hero. I'm here to get Chang."
"Good luck."
"To you as well" Private Hive said and as Red X dissappeared in thin air, he was able to let a small spy glued to his leg.
"That guy is sneaky."
"Not enough. The tracking device should be in his skin by now. That spy was just the injector."
"You did that for the Titans, didn't you?"
"I did that for I may need to see that man again soon."
"Very well. Oh, look what the cat's dragging in, it's one of Chang's scientists."
"More like one of Chang's grunts, if you ask me."
The man found Private Hive and tried to run back, but right behind him Shade appeared.
"I'll be taking this, thank you" Shade said as he grabbed the xynothium and swallowed it inside his shadow.
"Now go" he said after sneakily placing a spy on the man's shoulder that injected the tracking device and pressuring the man's arms just enough so that he could not feel the small prick.
And the man left running desperately.
"I did not expect to see you again. Not like this" someone said and they turned this time to find Robin.
"So, back to the criminal life? You know what this means."
"I actually can-" Private Hive started, but he could not end the sentence because he was too busy stopping a kick from Robin of hitting his face.
"Hey, wait up, Boy Wonder" Shade said "there is a reasonable explanation for this all."
"I believed you had changed. I really did. Yet here you are, in a crime scene. There is not much to explain here, is there?"
"Would you just stop being such a blockhead and listen?" Shade said and a tentacle of shadow binded Robin up.
"Let him go or you're in for a world of pain!" Cyborg said and prepared his sonic cannon.
"Now the whole gang is here! Fun!" Shade said, filled with sarcasm.
"It's not like we can flee, man! Can we talk before you start trying to smack our asses off?"
"Fine. Go."
"We came here to find Chang. Seems he's interested in this stuff again. We instead got one of his scientists and placed a tracking device on him and let him go."
"Without his cargo, of course." Shade said and handed it to Starfire "an odd gift to a lovely lady."
"Thank you. I thought you were dead."
"Actually, dude... we all did."
"I told you. Dying is no fun, kid. I had enough juice for one last tot. Shadowmorphing. I merely became a shadow and bam! Nothing there could harm me."
"So... Red X wasn't here."
"He was. I never fought with him, though, he was not my target."
"You let his escape?"
Private Hive gave a smile.
"Not completely. ...I placed a tracking device on him, like I did with the scientist" he said "if you want to find him this bad, just go and use this, it will show you where to go. As for me..." he said, taking another one "oh, looks like I have a plane to catch."
"Plane? You don't need a plane when you've got the necrotrain!" Shade said and with a poof, his clothes changed to those of a machinist "all aboard the Necrotrain! Next stop, Russia!"
"So long, Titans!"
"Wait. Why are you after Chang?"
"He was the technology creator in the Kerveria war. He was one of them. And I am taking them down."
"Ditto."
"You are not going to kill them, right?"
"I cannot assure you we shall not, but I cannot tell for sure if that shall be done as well. Cheerio."
And they both vanished in a shadow before anyone could stop them.
"So, what do we do?"
"Call Red Star and ask him to keep an eye on Private Hive. Then... we get to the X."