"We have arrived! Russia!"
"You have" someone said and almost punched Shade.
"Whoa, what's up?"
"Starfire filled me on what you are about to do and villain or not, I cannot allow you to kill him!"
"Easy, sir!" Private Hive said and rose his shield to block Red Star's punches.
"Oh, this unpleasant greeting is becoming a pattern for us, is it not?"
"We're not here to kill Chang!"
"No? Then why is it that you are here?"
"To get him to tell us the rest. Where are Brother Blood and his new alliance. You do not kill a pawn when doing so can make you lose a chance to get the King."
"I thought you were a mercenary of sorts."
"I was. It grew tedious. Now I'm going for revenge."
"I see. And who's your underdressed friend?"
"You may call me Shade, Mr. Red Star. Though we had a little bit of an unpleasant start, it is delightful to finally meet you."
"Thank you. It is a pleasure to meet you as well. So, you seek to stop the people that almost killed your comrades? A noble cause, I can relate to it. And I think I will help you."
"Are you sure?"
"This Professor Chang of yours has built a gun with the xynothium. You got one of his men, but the others brought to him more than enough. He is building a chlimmotron tower that if activated, shall cause a global coldening - not as bad as an ice age, but enough to render millions as immigrants for their homes will be too cold. I tried to stop them, but alone I was defeated. But together, we might be able to stop them."
"Could you not call other Titans?"
"Titans North are scattered. Argent is too busy dealing with a surge of robberies made by Billy Numerous - the guy can literally be at..."
"I know. I worked with him for some time."
"Oh. Right. You were -"
"Yeah. Not nearly as glamorous as advertised and way hard to get out, but I did. And Shade here is... well..."
"I'm a man seeking amusement. And for it, I shall be hero or villain, pariah or paragon... I mean, who cares what others think if I'm having a blast?"
"What about the 'right thing'?"
"In my opinion, 'right thing' is what satisfies me. And if that hurts others, well, tough cookies. Lucky for you, one of the few principles I have is helping friends in need. Even because solving your troubles and making you happy makes me happy. So much for a villain."
"Well... it is good to have your help, non-villain and non-heroes."
"So... Titans North are scattered?"
"Yes. There are too many villains around... it is almost like -"
"The Brotherhood is coming with a bigger plot. They are separating the Titans again."
"With a bunch of foils and small plots to hide a bigger one. But it won't be that easy for them this time. No. 'Cause not only I am on the other side of the war, I'm also armed with a whole new set of props."
"Chang won't see what hit him. Oh, wait, he will. We have some questions for him."
"Ladies and gentlemen, last call to the Necrotrain! Next stop, Chang's laboratory!"
He was relieved he had been able to use his teletransportation. That witch had almost got him.
But he had no time to rest because a green tiger ran in his direction.
He tried the teletransportation again, but the device had to cool down before he could use it again. There was something wrong. They seemed fiercer... not only that, they also seemed able to predict his every move.
He threw an X that would glue Beast Boy to the floor, but instead the titan turned into a hawk and kept chasing him.
Red X turned a left in the middle of that warehouse filled with boxes fast, but it did not go as well as he planned, for BB only went ahead for two seconds before going back and taking the turn. And soon it became worse, for he found out the corridor of boxes he was following was a dead end. Beast Boy charged as a rhino, but Red X jumped at the last second and threw an X that shocked BB. He than ran away from the warehouse hoping it was the last he saw of any Teen Titan for the day...
But when he thought he could rest, a starbolt called his attention. He was barely able to dodge it.
"You are not going anywhere!"
"Sorry, sweetie" Red X said "I have places to go. How about you give me your number and we leave it be?"
An eye beam answered his question the worst way. He threw one of his X's that was supposed to tie Starfire up, but she threw a starbolt that blew it up.
"You'll have to do better than that!"
Then he heard a small click and grinned.
"Send Robin my regards" he said and threw an X that blew up in a flash, blinding her for a moment and then he was gone...
...right to Cyborg's hands, whom he barely escaped before throwing an X that exploded in smaller X-shurilens and made the hero have to resort to his sonic beam and when he had destroyed them all, the bandit was long gone.
Red X felt relieved for an instant. Just one, because then he thought... four. He had escaped from Raven, Beast Boy, Starfire and Cyborg, which meant...
"Looking for me?" Robin asked and threw one of his projectiles against the bandit.
"Well, well, the boy wonder shows up."
"There is no escaping, X! Should have noticed that by now!"
And as he ran, he wondered how could they know where he'd be before he got there. And then he remembered.
The man at the labs.
He did not fight him, but he must have done something, rigged him somehow.
So he set the teleporter to take him to Russia - that's where Chang was and if he guessed correctly, the brat should be there as well. That would spend a lot of his fuel at once but there were somethings that just had to be done.
"No one outsmarts Red X, kid. Payback is coming."
And he was gone.
"That's the base. Pretty heavily guarded, too. I don't know if there is a way to get in there without being noticed, but if there is, I fail to see it."
"Hold my hand."
"Er... what now?"
"Hold it." he said and saw that Private Hive was already holding the man's hand.
Red Star sighed. And held Shade's hand.
And they disappeared inside the shadows.
He was close to the base, but he had to calculate how to get in and attack. He had almost done so, but the two that tricked him and a Teen Titan that was with them simply melted into a shadow.
'That guy... wasn't he a villain? I wonder what he's doing, trying to stop Chang...'
And knew he could not use his suit's powers much, since his xynothium was running low. He had to do this the old fashioned way. It wouldn't be easy, but he had done it many times before.
'It was how I got this suit to begin with...'
And quickly got a small gun and shot to the right, then running to the left. While two of the guards ran to find out what was that noise, he slid behind them sneakily and got through a window before the tower's guards could even realise he was there.
'And Chang has xynothium. This might work out great for me.'
"Look at that, he came for us" Shade said "just like you predicted."
"I was a bandit for a long time. I know how one thinks."
Red X grabbed Private Hive by the collar. He did nothing to stop him, though.
"You placed a tracking device on me and then gave the tracker to them, didn't you?"
"I had to call your attention" Private Hive said with an amused tone "and you weren't exactly in talking mood back there."
"Remove this thing from me or you'll pay."
"Now, now, let us not be hasty. We can make a deal here."
"Shade, aren't you forgetting... he is a thief. We should be stopping him. We must stop him."
"Red Star... we never kill off an NPC when we can use him to help us strike down the true enemy."
"What the hell is he talking about?"
He smiled and took out of his belt a GameStationPortable.
"War Badge 5! Just the most awesome strategy game ever!" he said with a cheerful smile.
"I did not know that side of yours."
"Try it, Shade. You'll see what I mean" he replied and threw the GameStationPortable to the other, that got it and put in his pocket for the time being.
"What do I win by not killing you now, brat?"
"Let me see... I deactivate the tracking device... and you can probably steal one or two cases of xynothium after we are done."
"You will let me escape with it?"
"I am not a villain, yet I am no hero. So as long as you're not teamed up with the guys that I wish to take down, we've got no problems."
"I already told you I only work for myself."
"Then everything will be just okay between us. By the way, I am Private Hive, ex-villain and ex-mercenary. This is Red Star, a Teen Titan that acts mostly around these parts and this one here is Nightshade. He's... weird."
"Whatever. Let's just get done with this and part ways."
"You're not... very friendly, are you?"
"Today we meet as allies... tomorrow it may be as enemies. Why would I make the mistake of letting silly stuff such as friendship cloud my judgement?"
"Deal with stuff as you wish, man" Private Hive said and shrugged.
"Actually, stealing the xynothium is the best thing he can do" Shade said "I heard Chang talking. Seems that since we stole back one of the crates, he has barely enough for the machine" and then his shadow showed a tentacle with a small vial of xynothium.
"It is not enough for you to sustain that thing for long, but it might just be the right amount to help you get there."
"And the chip?"
"We'll talk about that after we have Chang."
Red X let go of Private Hive and ran off to the supplies.
"You really think it is safe to trust him?"
"I do not, Red Star, but I've got a backup plan should he betray us. But let us cross that bridge when we come to it. And I do know that at least a little part of you is wondering if I won't betray you and lock you up while me and Red X collect the spoils of war."
"I never..."
"Those days are behind me. Being a villain is not so much of a kick when you've got enough cash to live fine without doing it. I thought I'd do it just for the kick... but that would be not only wrong, but I'd also hate myself for it."
"But you are willing to stop us from catching Red X?" Red Star asked and punched a scientist that was nearby and about to sound an alarm.
"Me? I've got a deal with him for now. After that, he's all yours." he said and shrugged "I may even help you catch him."
"I thought you were no hero."
"No. Yet, my plans put me up against what seems to be the rebirthing of a villain corporation, so it's best I'm in good terms with the good guys, heh?"
"Shut up."
"Shade, we're just -"
"Shut up. He's up there, at the controllers. Chang."
"Can you shadow take him?"
"I don't think so. He might try to react to arrest and do something with the robots in me."
"Oh. Then we do this the old-fashioned way, huh?"
Chang was laughing and pressed a button. Then he got angry and started to curse and boss around.
"Red X did his job."
"I did" he said "now get that tracker off me or I'll force you to."
"Very well" Private Hive said and crushed a controller, but then Red X was zapped and lost consciousness.
"Oops" he said as Shade enveloped the man in shadows and left him bounded.
"Now, a trade. You help me get Chang and Red X is all yours."
And smiled right before dropping his shield and jumping over it, making it become a hoverboard and activating some more of his gadgets. Shade simply melted into a nearby shadow and disappeared.
"Well, he won't be distracted forever" Red Star said to himself and flew to the direction opposite to that of Private, quickly knocking down three scientists, but the fourth used a plastic glue gun that glued him to the floor and then another came with an electric cane, ready to attack the immobilized hero. Private Hive saw that as he dispatched the last scientist on his side with an upward hoverboard bash and also saw that Professor Chang escaped with a jetpack.
'Crap, what do I do? Hell, I can't believe I'm actually doing this!' he thought as he jumped and attacked the scientists, taking the electric cane, using it to quickly knock out the rest of them and then used a small laser that came from his indicator to cut Red Star out of the mess.
"Thanks, comrade. I thought they'd go at me. But your mark... it seems he escaped."
"I'll get him another time, sir. Just good to see you're okay."
"And that is now" Shade said, appearing out of another shadow and holding Professor Chang, that was as bound as Red X had been.
"Professor Chang."
"W-who are you?! What do you want?"
"I want answers! Brother Blood! Where is he hiding?" Private Hive asked and held him by the collar.
"I-I..." he started, but then his eyes glew red for a moment and he started to drool after that.
"What happened? What did you do?"
"I did nothing. Someone wiped his mind... and if they did, they might know about us."
"Private... don't tell me..."
"I know not for sure what I shall do after this is all over... but it seems that for now, I'll have to be a hero" he said and sighed "such an outcome. Shade, can you get us to Titans Tower?"
"Where there's a shadow, there's a way! Last call for the necrotrain!" he said as Private Hive quickly got off his shield/hoverboard and tied it on his back right before getting the now drooling Professor Chang and Red Star did the same to the unconscious Red X.
And when Shade held their hands, they melted into shadow.