He was very young... it was his birthday, the last one he had celebrated, the last one before running away from home forever. And he didn't comment to anyone, but in his present, his birthday would be the next day.
He saw himself having fun with his friends and his brother.
'I am sorry, brother. It was never your fault, really...' he thought and saw his parents approaching him. The adult him.
'It was you. Comparing me to him was the most disgusting thing you could have ever done.'
"I am sorry, I have to go to the bathroom. Excuse me" he said as soon as they arrived to talk to him. And thought, trying to learn what to get from there that was important...
And then he saw that small toy soldier.
He called that one Harper.
And remembered how he was confused when he found out that one of the men of his batallion was missing. That was it.
The cycle completed itself.
He got the soldier and thought he was done with that part, not seeing that the younger him looked at the older him confused.
But the kid blinked, and the man was gone.
"What is this odd object?"
"It's a toy soldier. I remembered I had lost it at my birthday and I had because I stole it."
"Good to see you solved a mystery of your past. Hm... the next item is not so good. It has to be something from one of the saddest memories you ever had."
"...I'll have to face it, won't I?"
"That or you'll remain here until you give up and cross the gates for another life completely different in another land."
"Fine. I'll go there" he thought as he jumped into the gates once more.
He saw himself running away, crying. Running from his parents in the rain.
'Why does it always have to rain in these sad moments? So cliché.'
The young him was twelve and had few things with him. He needed help and he did not know it yet. Brandon followed the young boy from afar so that the kid wouldn't see him.
And then the kid fell, too tired to keep running. He lost consciousness.
'I can't leave him in the rain like this.' he thought, getting closer until he grabbed the kid and carried him to an abandoned building.
"Chin up, kid. You'll do just fine" he said, messing his younger unconscious self's hair and then taking one of the kid's shoes, because he remembered waking up without it.
He thought he was done and prepared to get out of there, but this time around something stopped him.
His darker self punched him and used that distraction to steal the shoe and then ran, laughing.
"We're dead, kiddo! In death, there is no hope!"
"I am not giving up, yet!" he said and ran after the man.
"How can you be here?"
"I am stronger in your spirit! Since your body is dead and what you have now is merely a construct, I became strong enough to have a construct as well! All I have to do now is kill you and finish the rites for myself!"
And shot Private, but this time, he looked at the bullet before it hit him and the thing fell on the floor before piercing him.
"What the hell is that?!"
"My turn" he said and focused himself on the darker self... and he kind of warped to right in front of the guy and they both fell when the shock came.
"How did you do that?"
He smiled and punched the dark one on the heart.
"Magic."
And that guy vanished... for now.
At the next moment, so did he.
"Took you longer this time around."
"Really?"
"Wouldn't really know, time does not flow here."
"Huh... I'm kind of tired... what's the next item?"
"Something from a moment that changed your life completely."
"This one I know very well..." he thought and jumped through the gates.
Shade felt a chill... but it was a good chill. And smiled.
Maybe his friend's death had been exaggerated.
"Why are you smiling?" Starfire asked, confused.
"Oh, got to the final chapter!" he said, still playing War Badge 5. With that many nuclear energy within him, he could sustain that game forever, he thought as he looked for a moment at a little shadow tentacle of his fitting the power outlet of the device.
He saw himself with someone else in the background. And this time, it was his grown-up self. And he calmly heard they talk.
"You again?"
"Hello, Your Highness." Private Hive said.
"I already paid you. We're done."
"I'm not here for that. I'm here to pay my respects as well. I almost had to bury twelve good men... and could not even do so for the one that saved them. Is that your father?"
"Oh. No. It's my uncle. I hated him so much for taking the throne, but... it was never him. I'm here to ask for his forgiveness."
"He must have already granted you. Death... it makes us see how much petty some of the things we fight about are."
He smiled. The fights he had with his brother and sometimes back at the Hive Academy seemed pretty unimportant now.
"You are wise. I am sorry I misjudged you."
"The doubt is not what matters, sir. It is the decision that comes from it that does."
"Those were beautiful words."
"A friend said them to me once, sir. I misjudged him as you did with me, yet in the end he saved us all..."
"I see... I should leave, Private, the castle is still in quite a turmoil. Are you coming?"
"Not yet. I want to be here for a while longer."
"Suit yourself" the prince said and left.
And Private Hive closed his eyes and hummed...
Which gave Brandon the chance to steal the nulifier weapon he had holstered.
"HEY!" Private Hive from the past yelled, but it was too late, his future self was already gone.
"Next!"
Then Leon placed his pale hand on Private Hive's head and something started to shine and as he warped, he heard the voice dictate:
"Something from the first time you almost died..."
14-year old Brandon. ran in a marketplace in the middle-east. The man that he robbed ran right behind him with a gun. He was generally able to steal without being seen. Then again, he usually stole from commoners rather than from a member of a terrorist organization.
The man yelled at him, but he couldn't understand what the man said.
And even though he usually knew how to move around pretty well... maybe the adrenaline rush made him not think as clearly or the fear, but he arrived at a dead end.
"Now you die, brat. You can't challenge us and live."
And he was about to shoot when some sort of projectile knocked him out. The thing flew back to a person that hid in the shadows.
"Go" he said "go far away or they'll be back for you."
He then went to the man, that was trying to get up. Then he stole the gun and kicked the man down, putting his foot on the man's chest.
"You'll pay for this! You won't escape from us!"
"You can never catch me" he said and shot the man's ally that came from behind him on the heart without ever turning.
"What the hell are you?"
"I'm the future" he said, looked at the weapon and disappeared with it.
"There are a lot of guns in your past."
"You live by the sword, you die by the sword. Or something like that."
"Yeah... You are quick on your feet."
"Had to survive on my won for quite a long time. And I find the slips in the time rather than having to create them."
"A man who plays with paradoxes. Remarkable."
"He is very much like us."
"Next!"
"Oh, this will be odd. Something from someone you love."
"L-love?! But I-I don't love anyone?"
"Stuck in romantic love. So young. There are other kinds of love. Is there no one else you love?"
"Hm... there is someone."
"Then cross the gates and go to them."
And for the fourth time, he did.
"Brother? Is that you?" the young man asked. He wore a simple spandex uniform that was gold and white with a light symbol on the middle of the chest. He also wore a golden mask that did not cover his golden hair or his square sculpted chin. He was smiling when he turned and saw who it was.
"Hey, there, Purge."
"Don't call me that" he said "I feel like you are far away when you call me by my hero name. I should have been more patient with you, but... I hope you don't hate me."
Brandon hugged his brother, which surprised him.
"I don't hate you, Dave. You did nothing wrong."
"Thank you, brother... tell me, what are you doing here, so far away from home?"
"We're far?" Brandon joked, knowing tha truth. They weren't on Earth, actually. The sky was dark-pink rather than blue.
"We're very far. This is Tamaran."
"Oooh, so this is Starfire's planet! Pretty neat."
"I'm taking a break. Flying around is pretty tiring. So, you here to see the sunset?"
"I need a favor, brother. I wanted to come to you for better reasons, but right now... I really need you to do something for me."
"You are not completely here, are you? I felt your hug was odd, but now... I am certain."
"You are right. I am not completely here. And to revert that... I need something from you."
But then a third presence appeared in the middle of them and knocked them both back.
"You again!"
"Oh, fool... you don't even understand me! How do you hope to ever defeat me?"
And Purge threw an electromagnetic blast against the dark Private, but he merely absorbed it and threw it back doubled.
"You have no chance against me! There is only one that can defeat me and he is too weak to do so!" the dark Private said looking at Brandon and laughing. And then he used a blast against Brandon.
"Brother!"
"Give me something of yours! Now!" Brandon said and Dave threw him a keychain that got him shocked when he got it.
"You carried it even today?"
"I did. But now you need it more than me" he said and when the dark self was about to strike the normal self from behind, they both suddenly dissapeared.
He exhaled deeply, relieved when he found himself in the white world again and his devil self wasn't there. That guy was getting more and more powerful and relentless... how could he best him?
"Please tell me we're done."
"Not really... we need one last thing."
"What is it? A memento from my first kiss? Something from when I broke a bone for the first time? A lock of hair from my worst enemy?"
"Calm down... we need your body. So we can out you two back together again."
"Oooh... well, that will be hard."
"I'll join you" Leon said with a calm tone and both Ewen and Vince came as well.
"Wait... they're coming to?"
"Me and him and him are actually one. We merged our minds and souls in an odd ritual to gain more power. Now we're brothers-of-body-and-mind-and-soul and as such, do mostly everything together."
"Okay, then..." he replied, pretending to understand "so, we should go."
And together, the four jumped the gates.
"Think they'll be back?"
"Benji, they're the Sages. What I wonder is how many casualties will happen there while they're at it."
"So, how do we... whoa!" he said as a light that pointed forward started to show from his chest.
"That way" Leon said, bored and they followed the direction that his chest light pointed to. A robot surprised them, but before it could do anything, Vince rose his hand and a powerful fireblast reduced the machine to cinders.
"After you, Brandon" he then said calmly and the shocked man proceeded looking at the light.
"Oh, what do you vant, metal creature?" Madame Rouge asked when the door opened, but it was them.
"Madame Rouge."
"You look familiar, boy. Are you perchance a traitor? I vant the practice!"
And she lashed at him with alongated fingers, but he dodged and shot her... but she merely bended her body to miss it.
"You think you cand defeat me?"
"Yeah" Ewen said and howled before his nails grew and he lashed out against her, but she evaded his claws and gave him a poweful uppercut that threw him back.
"Next" she said and Vince charged, but the woman was prepared and threw Ewen against him and they both were knocked against a wall.
And then she grabbed Brandon and started to squeeze him.
"What will you do now, little brat? I have your friends."
"NO ONE HURTS THEM..." he said, with a sinister angry voice.
"Oh, for the Sages, Leon's going evil drive!"
And he started to fume and looked at her with pure hate... and their surroundings began to change from a somewhat futuristic lair to a desolated realm of nightmare.
"YOU HAVE AWOKEN ME, MORTAL. NOW FACE MY WRATH!" he said and when she looked, he was no longer the young adult she had seen, but rather a death lord, with a lot of claw hands and a skin so pale it looked bleached and eyes that gleamed red.
And the claws reached for her and she dropped Private Hive, trying to run.
"THERE IS NOWHERE TO GO EXCEPT DARKNESS!"
And she ran from him...
It was really odd for Private Hive to watch Madame Rouge run and flinch on the floor without really moving. Ewen and Vince smiled as they saw Leon looking at her with an evil smile.
"What did you do?"
"A nightmare. The incantation will last long enough for us to proceed. Now we go...?"
"Left."
And they opened the door to find his body on its way to carbonization with General Immortus supervising the service.
"Goodbye, bastard. Oh, how I've waited for that."
And the flames went down. And so did the lights.
"Fire and Darkness."
"What we do best."
"I got the body, let's go!" Ewen said and as they left, the room, started to burst into flames with the blasts of flamethrowers.
"The last ingredient. Now to prepare for the ritual. Time to take off his clothes."
"WHAT?"
"We're making a merger. Clothes can make the process messy and even do irreversible damage. So either we see you and your body there nude or the ritual will go awry."
"Fine" he said and took off everything as Theron and Solon did the same to his corpse.
"Now what?!" he asked, angry and embarassed.
"Go into the center of the circle and lie down over your body. We'll merge you using the anchors as the matter connections."
And so he did... and he felt odd as he went back to his body and the whirlwind of tests started. His pores exuded toxins, he sweated, punched, kicked, his hair and beard grew slightly and many other things that are better left untold.
When he stood up again, he smelled foul. But he was alive.
"Any clothing suggestion?"
"What you had given me was good. But with darker colors."
And one of them snapped his fingers and he was clean and with all the clothing he wore as an undead, but the shirt was dark-blue this time around. He then put on the shades.
"Private Hive is no more. Now I'm just Brandon. And that guy, more than ever, is going down."
And they heard a DING!
"Finally, our friends got a way around that thing!" they said "Nice meeting you, Brandon!"
And the seven jumped into the gates all at once. They remained open for him. He crossed them back to his own reality, where revenge still waited for him.