Chapter 7: Treason
"There. That's his base."
"Well, duh. It would only be more obvious if he had a sign saying 'Secret Lair' pointing to it."
"Doesn't this seem... too easy?" Robin asked, carried by Starfire.
"It is supposed to be" a voice said and a force field got them all.
"Seems like we're trapped yet again." Lightning said as the force field flew inside the base and they were dropped in the middle of a stage.
"Mammoth, where the hell are you?" Gizmo shouted from his communicator, angry.
"Busy. Quiet down, midget!" he replied and cut the call.
"Hello, my foes. So glad you could make it." the Mastermind said and rose his hand "now, Private. Show them your true colors. Kill the Titans and we will rule the world."
And Private Hive struggled with his hand reaching towards his holster... but instead he pressed a button on his belt.
"Sorry, Headmaster, you're not giving me any paychecks!"
"Headmaster?" Thunder asked.
"Brother Blood."
"Seems my disguise was revealed" he said, but didn't take off the robe "Kill each other."
"No can do! After our last fight, I built a sonic device that nulifies your mental powers. You lose."
"Oh, Cyborg, always so hasty. You really think a smart man such as myself does not have a backup plan. General Immortus, reveal our new army."
And the General pressed a button, which made several dozens of giant robots appear from trapdoors.
"Robots? We can take them."
"Wait, Robin. My sensors detect a high concentration of radioactive isotopes."
"Indeed. Nuclear bots. If you defeat one of them, a reaction is triggered causing a 1-Megaton nuclear explosion. We both know how damaging that would be."
"So, now you see? You can't defeat them, you can't let them leave this room and you can't outrun them forever. The vay I see it, it is the end for you Titans. But we have a shield that will let us live unharmed."
"But why Kerveria?"
"Why not? A small, but technologically advanced country with surprisingly big amounts of uranium to be explored."
"It is the perfect place to begin a nuclear powerplay and quite good for finishing the Titans and three students that turned out to be traitors. Even if you get your friend Herald here, it will be of no use. I only wished Bumblebee was here so I could destroy all those who betrayed me with one strike."
"I know someone who can stop the robots." the fourth character beside General Immortus said and took of his cloak, revealing himself as Shade.
"You're one of them?"
He ignored the question, instead saying:
"Killed by an army of nuclear robots that can't be defeated? That is no fun."
And every shadow in the place created tentacles and swallowed the robots until there was none left. Shade fell on the floor without strength to go on, drained.
"You betrayed me? You're going to pay for this!" Brother Blood shouted as he grabbed Shade by the collar, whom was too weak to react. But then a shield knocked off the force field and hit Brother Blood weakly, just calling his attention.
"Hey! That's my friend you're attacking! Release him!"
"TITANS, GO!"
"It seems my powers have returned me. Let me at them."
"It is best we retreat for now. I know when I am outnumbered. Until next time." Brother Blood replied and pressed a last button that warped them out of there and made the base started to explode.
"Man, he always does that!"
"Come on, Shade!"
"No. You will have to leave me here. Eating all those robots has rendered me unable to act and I am now too heavy for any of you to carry."
"We can't leave you here! You saved my men, me... and it was you that moved my shadow so that I pulled Mammoth away and got hit by that beam that didn't affect me, wasn't it."
"It was... no fun seeing Mammoth become crippled right at the beginning... Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You are a hero, aren't you? You do not admit it, yet you have saved us so many times and stopped such a big threat that you can't not be."
"A hero... that gets defeated in his first mission... kind of a lousy hero... now GO!"
"But you will die if you stay!"
"Dying is no fun... we'll meet again... eventually."
And then Raven enveloped them and they left right before the big explosion that made the whole place collapse.
"That was close. So, what now?"
"If we could get some rest, that'd be great!"
"No can do." Robin said "Herald just sent me a message. Seems they're having to defend Titans Tower from the Hive Five and... oh, here it says he accuses the Titans of kidnapping Mammoth."
"Aw, man! We have to go and clear that up."
"We'll be there as soon as we can."
And like instant, a portal opened close to them. They crossed one by one. Jinx and Kid Flash were the last ones.
"Private? Are you coming or not?"
"I'll stick around for a while longer. Thanks for the help."
She nodded and they both crossed the portal that closed right after.
Private Hive sighed as he saw a helicopter arrive at the palace and not because he'd have to deal with Randall again.
But rather because of what he'd have to do after that.