Chapter 4 - Decision

"Uh...? A message?" Private Hive said, looking at the communicator he shared with his squad.
"Hello, Private. I am disappointed to hear you work with the Titans now. You are making things very messy for me."
"Who are you? What do you want?"
"Oh, I want Kerveria. I want the Titans. You have the gun. You know what to do."
"What if I refuse?"
"Oh, the soldier wants a taste? I can give you that..." the voice said and the image changed to the headquarters of the Hive Corps. The man pressed a button and the whole base blew up.
"There goes your base. Now, bring the Titans to me powerless by sunset tomorrow or I'll have to cut some throats."
"NO!"
"What can I say? You made our business messy, soldier, so I am not afraid to dirty my hands anymore."
Private Hive sighed. On one hand were his men, to whom he had promised not to fail ever again and he already had done it twice by letting them be captured and their base destroyed.
On the other hand, the Titans, that even though had been his enemies many times in the past, went to help him in his time of need. The man saw that indecision.
And laughed.
"Sunset tomorrow. It is up to you to decide whether I'll dirty my hands some more or not."
And the connection was lost before Private Hive could say anything else.
He looked again at the gun he stole. He had a decision to make.

"Well?"
"I sent him the message. It is up to him to make the right choice."
"He made it once. I would not be surprised if he betrayed those fools and became one of us once again."
"What can you say?" the leader asked to a man that had been on the corner, quiet the whole time.
The mysterious man smiled.
"Private Hive. Somewhat unpredictable. I have watched him ever since before he crossed the Titans... but as you know, I watch everything and everyone, which makes my knowledge vast but somewhat shallow. This 'men' thing of his? A ruse, and a clever one. In the end of the day, Private Hive cares only for himself."
"So we kill them all."
"No, not yet. He may cross us for being deceivers should he join our side and find out we killed them. And do not be fooled, the boy will be of use."
"I don't see that much use in him."
"Aww, do we hold a grudge? He did halt your plans once, but it was more because you betrayed him rather than because of what you were to do. The boy has few values, but the ones he has, he has them rockhard."
"You sound very interested in Private Hive. What if he opposes us? Will you cross us as well?"
"Now, now, I would not go so far. I told you my loyalty lies where it shall be best rewarded. And now, it is with you."
"It better be. No one ever crosses the Mastermind and lives."

"Time to go to Kerveria? You guys ready?"
"Let's do this. Herald."
He played the Horn and the three went in.
"I contacted Argent and Jericho. They'll come and help you guard the Tower until we get back."
"Don't worry, Rob. We got this."
And the three of them got in and went to Kerveria, falling right outside the Temple.
"Whoa!" Robin said and Beast Boy transformed into a monkey and hid behind Cyborg.
"It's cool!" Thunder said "It's Robin!"
"Oh, Robin!" Starfire said and hugged him, making him embarassed "I'm so glad you could make it! Are you okay?"
"We're fine. You?"
"We're alright. We caught a weapon from one of their soldiers, the one that affected powers. Private?"

"Private, give the weapon to Cyborg. He may be able to discover how to counter it."
He got the weapon, but instead of giving it to them, he pointed it at Beast Boy and prepared to shoot.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"I knew it was a trap!"
"Private, don't!"
"They called me last night... the Hive Corps. was destroyed... they said that if I do not bring the Titans to them, powerless, they'll kill my squad by sunset."
And the situation kept like that for a few moments, with every hero there prepared to strike him down should he fire.
But then he dropped the gun and fell on his knees.
"I'll fail them yet again, but... I can't do it. Even after all I had done against you... when I had nobody else to count on... you came to help me."
"Uh... don't worry... we'll find a way to take them down." Robin said, confused on how to act at the time and relieved the outcome did not go for the worse.
"First we must see how this thingie here works..." Cyborg said and got the gun from the ground, making a finger become a small screwdriver.
"You must not open that thing!" a voice said and a dark tentacle took the weapon. The cloaked figure came closer and the tentacle went back to him, going inside his cloak and right after that, he let out a burp that smelled most foul.
"Dude!"
"It'd explode leaving almost all of you powerless for good."
"How do you know that?"
"Because I see many things, yes, many things indeed."
"Who are you?"
"My name is Shade. I believe Doctor Light did the small favor I asked of him, did he not?"
"It didn't work, as you can see. We are here."
"Oh, Robin. So fierce and confident... yet so misguided. Seeing you all together here now shows that my plan is working perfectly. That is, unless that doubt of Private Hive reveals to be enough for you to mistrust him."
"You... talk about me, sir?" Private Hive said and his eyes looked up to Shade.
"Yes" he said and his hand came out of the cloak. He offered it to him and helped him get back up "we all have our moments of questioning, moments of truth, if I may say so... what matters is not the doubt, but really if we do make the right choice. And he did."
"What do you get by making us help him? Making Doctor Light halt us, eating that gun... you don't sound much like a hero to me!"
"I'm not, Cyborg. Consider me... a player. And what I get? Oh, amusement. You guys are interesting to watch. Now, if you do not mind, I must take my leave or my absence will be noticed. Cheerio."
And the man dove in his own shadow, leaving the old cloak behind.
"That was... odd."
"Wait, that guy ate the weapon and it didn't affect his powers?"
"This whole thing just gets weirder by the hour."
"So... I need to know now. Are you deserting me?"
"You kidding? With that deadline, you need us more than ever."
"And the Shade man was right. You did make the correct choice in the end."
"Never thought I'd say that, but... thanks, Titans."
"What's the plan?"
"Thunder, Lightning, you have been in the castle before. What can you tell us about it?"
"It's heavily guarded. They change rounds every four hours, and only one towers at a time."
"Wait. Let me see if he can help" Private Hive said and got his communicator "Your Highness, do you copy?"
"Private? Is that you? I thought you were..."
"No, I am still ready and able, sir, even if my team is not. I called to ask if you know any weak spots for infiltration at Kervenia Castle."
"Hm... I remember a service door the servants use. I liked to run through it to get to the city and meet people out of the princely life. And no guard ever got me."
"Got it, sir. Can you tell us a more precise location?"
"Oh, sure! It is on the northern wall, in a rare blind spot for the towers. But there is nowhere to hide, so you have to be quick."
"Thank you, sir. We shall proceed with the invasion."
"...We? Last I heard, your squad had been captured."
"They're still captive, sir. I called some..." some what? Former enemies? Heroes? None of that would sound very believable to the prince, so he just said "...old friends. We are rushing this operation for they'll be executed at sunset."
"That is awfully precise. How can you be so sure?"
"The enemy contacted me. They asked me to betray you and sell my friends to spare my men, sir. And I regret to admit that for a moment... I thought of taking the chance."
"That is very bad. I am dissappointed. Wait... are those behind you... Titans?"
"Yep. They're the old friends I told you 'bout. Sure we had our fights back then, but I left that life behind me."
"You're an ex-criminal! For the love of God, I can't believe I hired filth to save my kingdom! We're done, Hive! Forget your paycheck, everything! And don't you dare call me again, or I'll get my bodyguards to hunt you down!"
And he cut the connection.
"That was harsh." Jinx said, relating. As an ex-villain, she could relate to the pain of having others judging you for what you were rather than what you became.
"Tell me about it. So, we proceed with the plan of seizing the throne?" Robin asked.
"You asking me, sir? I thought you were the leader here."
"I'm not. Like it or not, you have dealt with them for longer than me."
"No. Change of plans. You help me rescue my squad and if the Brotherhood is indeed there, I help you take them down. An eye for an eye."
"What about the throne?"
"Ah, screw that. That arrogant twerp fired me, so let him get the throne himself, I couldn't care less."
Cyborg shrugged.
"Hey, we're about saving people, not entering in succession wars, am I right?"
"He does have a point. We should deal with getting the squad, taking down the creator of this nasty technology and leaving. It sure wouldn't be good for the team to have a whole country with a grudge."
"By the way, you got any spare batteries?"
"Whichever kind you need, man! What for?" Cyborg asked, revealing his stash. Private Hive examined before picking a couple of rather common ones and attaching them to a hidded compartiment of his shield.
"I updated this beauty here. Now, it's not only a boomerang-shield, but also a hoverboard."
"Not bad... but why did you need my batteries?"
"When things started to go awry for my squad, I gave them to a soldier so that he could power up his energy pistol. Needless to say, it wasn't of that much use."
"So, what's the plan?"