"So, where do we begin?"
"We need to see the bigger plots. Call all Titans and ask them who are they chasing and what do they know about them."
"Good luck with that" Private Hive said "I need some rest. Fighting inner demons took much out of me."
"I will see if I can find anything on my own" Nightshade said, but before he lurked into the shadows, Private Hive threw something to him.
It was a small communicator.
"Hey. In case things get awry."
"Whatever" Nightshade said and disappeared in the darkness.
"Ugh. That guy gives me the chills."
"He invaded my room once. I threw him through the window."
"Don't you mean 'out the window'?"
"No, Cyborg. That would imply the window was open."
"Oh. Got it."
Private Hive then lied down on the sofa and fell asleep instantly.
"Why can't you be more like your brother? Why must you cause so much trouble?"
"He's not even my real brother! He cam from space, I know that!"
"Well, sometimes it feels like he's the only son we've ever wanted!"
It haunted him again. The past he had been able to ignore for so long... it was coming back, full force against him.
"I'm sorry for your loss" he heard a person say to his mother at the graveyard. He went there every once in a while to take care of his grave. She hadn't arrived at it yet, but when she did, she let out a scream and he smiled from afar.
Because he had left a single white tulip, her favorite flower, at the grave.
"It'll be harder to erase me, mother" he said to himself "you can't hope to bury an empty coffin and be done with it."
"You never talked much about your past... I wonder why."
"My past is mine only, Jinx. And that is not an area you should mess with."
"Sheesh. Just trying to know you better, blockhead."
And she left. He felt like such a jerk that day that for he could not focus in class and almost lost an arm during combat practice.
"Sir... go on. I'll hold them as long as I can." the last of his squad said right before throwing a smoke bomb. Private Hive wanted to stay and fight... but his legs did not obey him. He ran to an old fort and as soon as he stopped running and sitted down, he got a small communicator, hoping that thing would still work.
"Guys...? This is Private Hive. I need help! They're going to kill my friends! I'm at a fort on the western coast of Kerveria! Please, I need your help!"
And he waited until he passed out from the tiring run.
Two days had passed. And yet nothing. So much for villain loyalty.
He got his communicator again and hesitated for a moment. Calling them? After all they had done to him?
...That was not for him. It was for his squad.
So he swallowed his pride and sent a new message.
"I... I'm not sure I should be calling you, but... I have no one else to go to... they... they caught my squad! They're going to kill all of them! I'm in an old fort on the western coast of Kerveria! Please, help me!"
No names. It was easier for them to send help if they did not know it was him. He could explain it when they got there... if they ever did.
"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.
"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.
"You see, that, don't you? When you were a villain, you were certain of everything. As anything else... you can't trust yourself. Admit it. You are supposed to be evil, Private Hive. So stop fooling yourself into thinking you can be anything else... because evil is what we do best."
And he woke up startled.
"Oh, good, you're up! Bumblebee tells us there is some kind of mind-wiping device being built in his location. Seems Mad Mod is at his tricks again."
"Uh..." he said, still confused with what the darker self said in his dream. He wanted to be more... but could he really, after all he had already done?
"What's that got to do with the Brotherhood?"
"He says he saw Monsieur Mallah talk to Mad Mod directly several times."
"Worth checking out, it seems. Any news from Shade?"
"Nothing."
"Hm... he should be back by now. Red Star, do you mind staying to keep the city safe?"
"Not really. Safe travel, comrades!"
"Thank you" Starfire said and smiled, which made Robin a little bit jealous. Then Raven engulfed them in darkness and warped out of there.
"Hey, Sparky! You took your sweet time!" Bumblebee said as soon as they arrived.
"Sorry we were busy talking to everyone because you are not the only one with a problem!"
"Well, Bee. Long time no see."
She instantly got her stingers and threw a jolt against him and he fell. And before anyone could say anything, she quickly jumped over him and pointed her weapon right to his face.
"Just give me one reason, Private, not to shoot you now."
"Ah, quirky as always, huh? Good to see some stuff never changes, Bee. Well, some of it does and part of it is that I am an ally of yours."
"He's kidding, right? ...Right?"
"What? I wasn't so bad!"
"How could I know? You talked so little about yourself that the only one more mysterious was Kyd Wykkyd and that's because he never said a word."
"Well... let's just say my past is something better locked away..."
"So, what's the status?"
"This is probably the biggest hypnosis device I have ever seen. They are building an antenna and if my information is correct, when ready, it'll turn all televisions in the west into hypno screens."
"You were right. This reeks of Brotherhood all over."
And like an act of unholy providence, their communicators started to ring like crazy.
"Bushido needs reinforcements."
"So does Argent."
"And Aqualad."
"And Hot Shot. Seems we have to divide ourselves."
"Starfire, go for Argent. Beast Boy, help Aqualad. Raven, go for Hot Shot. And Cyborg, you -"
"He stays. Sparky's probably our best chance to destroy that thing."
"I agree. Robin, go and help Bushido. We'll figure it out."
"...Fine. But if you need anything, we're just a call away."
And with a little help from Raven, they left, which made Private Hive check his own communicator to see if Shade had sent a message, but nothing yet.
"So, Hive, what made you change sides?"
"Oh, Bee, you never learned that a man's past is his own?"
"That theory hasn't gotten you so far until now."
"Fine, I guess I can share a little. It was the same thing that made me evil in the first place. My brother."
"And who's this big shot brother of yours?"
"You probably know him as Purge."
"You're kiddin, right? Purge is your bro?"
"Yeah, yeah, my brother is the perfect hero..." he said "and I ended up like this, judge away."
"I had no idea."
"Yep, I'm the brother of perfection incarnated. Sure made it hell enough back home. How do we strike that whole thing down?"
"Whoa, whoa, dontcha dare change the subject! I finally squeeze something out of you and you think you can get away with it?"
"I'm done. Stop asking questions."
"No man tells me what to do!" she said.
"You see" the darker him said, leaning on his shoulder "why do you think they ask about you? Because they want to be your friends? Don't make me laugh. They only wish to learn how to take you down when you betray them!"
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" he yelled and tried to slap the other him, but he wasn't really there.
"Chill, man! Jeez, if you're that troubled, I'll leave you alone!"
"N-no, not... my head is kind of... acking."
"Dude..."
"I'll be fine... any plans about that thing?"
"It's guarded by his robots. I took one of them after his de-revolution and studied it, so I know how to take them down."
"I think I can shrink, get inside the antenna and do some nasty damage while I'm at it."
"What about me?"
"Private, you take down the boss of the hour."
"Well, he'll never see what hit him."
And they split up.
Cyborg found the robots. Showtime. threw a steel box against one of them.
"Hey! Big, square and dumb! Looking for me?"
And the robots ran after him, but this time around he was ready.
He quickly punched the first one with such strength that the robot was simply pierced and then the second one came with a gun, but he knew what to do even then. In a very cartoonish style, he placed his cannon in the rifle and activated, causing a chain reaction that blew everything up.
"Seems like you'll need a mechanic!" he said, but then a third shot him from the back, throwing him against a wall.
And when he turned Cyborg to give a finishing punch, he was suddenly blown up by which later was revealed to be a hidden cannon on the man's foot.
"Boo-ya! Who's next?"
An entrance. That was all it took.
She was in and ready to ruin that thing from inside. But when she tried to zap a bunch of wires, they merely absorbed the energy ans she found out it would be a little harder than that.
"Okay, then, it'll have to be the good old-fashioned way!"
Bumblebee placed one of her zappers back on her belt and clicked a point on the other, making a part of it shaped like a knife go separate. She rarely used that function, but it was useful whenever she had to cut wires or when Mas y Menos had dirtied every other knife in the house making one of their mile-long multiple-creamed sandwiches.
It gave her the creeps just to think of that.
'You're not the only one with tricks, Sparky.' she thought as she followed the cords to a central system and held the knife ready to cut some wires.
"Come on, you can do better than that!" Mad Mod yelled at the robots from atop his tower as he watched Cyborg easily get rid of them.
"Am I interrupting something, sir?" Private Hive asked gently as he got in.
"Nah, I'm just... who are you, twit?"
"The name's Private Hive. We were allies during the last stand at Paris, remember?"
"Oh... right, right..." he said, pretending to do so "and what's a young duckie like you doing here?"
"I bring a message for you."
"'Bout them? No worries, I'll take care of those little twerps in no time."
"I would not be so sure" Private Hive said and punched Mad Mod, quickly taking his cane as he was knocked back with both the punch and the surprise.
"A cane? How... elderly."
"Hey! Give that back! I thought you were one of us!"
Private Hive smiled and broke the cane.
"Oops. Betrayal, champ!"
And he used a device to tie Mad Mod with an odd energy net while breaking the window.
"Great you're a bad one! Breaking my cane will make that whole thing blow up! I don't think your buzzing friend can get out in time!"
"How do I stop this? Tell me now!"
"Oh, you have a heart now, matey? Or is that little buzzer actually your girlfriend?"
"TELL ME NOW!" he said and pressed a button that made the net give the villain a shock.
"There is no way, brat! What's done is done! Now watch as the antenna succumbs and so does she!" Mad Mod said and laughed in a sick delight "You can never hope to stop him! He sees it all, he knows it all!"
"Who is he?"
"Why don't you ask your friend Shade? His answer will be rather amusing, kiddo."
"What the hell is going on? Bee?!" Cyborg started to yell as he saw the machine starting to collapse and yet no sign of her "Come on, Bee, get out of there!"
"Oh, now I get it, he's the lover boy! Think he'll try to kill you when he finds out it is all your fault?"
Private Hive had no answer for that. He only stared at the collapsing antenna and hoped Bumblebee could get out of there in time...
And for a moment, the machine's burstings slowed down... and then the girl got out and grew back to her normal size, sweating. Private Hive got the net that held Mad Mod and jumped out the window to meet them and the antenna finally destroyed itself completely.
"It was strange... I thought I was done for... but that thing almost stopped blowing up for a moment... that's why I escaped."
"That was weird. Just glad you're fine, Bee."
"Don't go fallin' for me, Sparky, I haven't got the time for this now!"
"W-whaat?! Who said anything about fallin'? I have a girlfriend, y'know?"
"Oh, really? What's her name, Sparky? Nancy I-Don't-Exist?"
"GAH! You are enfuriating!"
And in the back, he smiled that there, everything had ended up okay... wait, had it? Mad Mod had been awfully silent since they went out the window.
He looked at the criminal and saw the same empty eyes as he saw on Chang.
"Guys?" he called their attention "It happened again."
"What happened?"
"He was brainwashed. Like Chang."
"You got anything from him?"
"He said that his leader 'sees it all and knows it all'... and that Shade knew who he was."
"Who's Shade?"
"The guy that saved us all back in Kerveria. He's like a mystery wrapped in an enigma. He's more misterious than Raven and Kyd Wykkyd together."
"Has he contacted you yet?"
"Nothing. I don't know if he betrayed me or if he's really in danger. Either way, there's no message."
"Too bad Doctor Light wasn't nice enough to join us." he said "I had to develop the light prison you are in by myself. Took a long time."
"Sure sure" Shade said, playing War Badges 5.
"But now that you are arrested, there are no other real threats to my plan! I shall be victorious!"
"Whatever you say, sweetie" Shade said, without taking his eyes out of the screen.
"Are you going to keep ignoring me?!"
"I know all I have to know. Who you really are, what you want and who can thwart your plot. But I don't know yet why Revnar Kingdom decided to conquer Gerovia, so I have to keep playing to find out."
The man tried to take away the game, but the same cage that kept Shade arrested kept him from doing anything against him.
"You should have thought of that better, 'Blood'. If I can really call you that."
"No matter. That silly game's batteries can't last forever. And neither can your friends."