"Gah!" he said as he found himself in an empty room inside the fort. He looked around and saw that there was a single door out.
He looked at the briefcase which strap was resting on his left shoulder and got the knife that Leon gave him. It felt odd on his hand.
"Rifter Knife" he said, without knowing how he knew its name.
He got out of that room to find a guard right beside him.
"Who are you? Why are you here?"
"I am the Agent, boy" he said with an angry voice "you question me? Madame Rouge is not here. I want you to find her and report to me when you do, understood?"
"Yes, sir!" the soldier said, scared and ran.
"Heh."
And he ran through the corridors to find where that man had locked up his friends.
A blade ran through the door and it fell.
"Hello, Titans!" Brandon said with a smile.
"Who are you?"
"Come on, is it that easy to forget me? I came back from the dead for this reception?"
"Private... Hive?" Raven asked.
"Call me Brandon, sweetie! I'm back!"
"But how?"
"I went to this odd place that was whole white except for some gates and met some wizards there. They brought me back to life and gave me this cool blade that cuts like everything."
"Great. Can you cut me free?" Shade asked from his light ball.
"Not yet. I need answers from you, mister. Who's the chief here?"
"Thro'hur. He is Purge's birth father and wants his son back."
"And why can't I defeat my shadow? The darker self that always comes for me?"
"Because you are taking the wrong approach. I thought you would have gotten it by now. And another thing... you have some time magic in you. Yep, there's power in there."
"But the nulifier..."
"You got it after. Let us say that when you fell unconscious questioning Chang, I gave you a blue drink... y'know, a warding. But it was the wrong blue drink and bipitty-bopitty-boo! You have magic. That's how you slowed down the antenna and stopped Trigon's son's flames."
"So instead of being dead, I am back with new props AND magic? Awesome!"
"We don't have time to cheer" Robin said "I got a signal... your brother is here."
"Crapnuggets, we gotta move! Are you all okay?"
"We could use some sleep."
"Then sleep. It's an order. I'll handle this" he said, looked at Raven and they both nodded. And before any one could question, Raven threw a small incantation that put them all asleep.
Private Hive then focused and snapped his fingers as Leon always did and the Titans glowed blue for a moment and then woke up.
"Ah, I feel refreshed! What is this sorcery you have done?"
"Raven put you to sleep and I sped up. It feels like a full night, yet only a minute passed."
"You are awfully good at a gift you just learned you had."
"It took forever to get back from the all-white realm to here. I read a book Leon gave me on the way over."
And he showed 'Time Magic for Dummies'.
"That guy is surprisingly insightful."
"Leon. I think I read that name in one of my books. Nah, I'll think about it later. We must stop Thro'hur before he gets your brother."
"Yes. I was wrong again and that mistake cost me my brother for a long time. I won't let him take Purge away from me."
"Take him away from you? I won't let you go, kid. You're all mine!" his darker self said and this time, they all saw him.
"What is that?"
"He is back" Brandon said and quickly cut through Shade's light cage "go and save Purge. I'll be with you as soon as I stop this guy."
"Are you sure?"
"GO!" he said and Shade held the five Titans closely before melting into his own shadow.
"I have to thank you for coming so far. Death and rebirth gave me a body of my own" he said and threw an energy blast that knocked Brandon to a wall and he fell.
"Now all I have to do is kill you and I'll be free. I don't have to hold anything back this time."
And another energy blast made Brandon weak.
"You disgust me. You are a worthless little brat that only got so far because he always had others to sustain him! Now you are all alone. Nobody cares for you. And since they don't, nobody will ever miss you."
He shot a plasma gun that he got from his briefcase to make the Dark One fall back.
Because he finally knew how to defeat him.
It was never about violence.
It was about recovery.
And the crying kid - him.
He jumped over the Dark Self and gave him a headbutt that threw him back to the world of red where the child cried alone.
"You... have been here alone this whole time, haven't you?" he asked gently and the boy looked at him, his eyes wet. He gently picked the kid up and two evil eyes appeared over them.
"THIS IS MY REALM! YOU CAN'T DEFEAT ME!"
"He... is too powerful..." the kid said "I'll be... here forever..."
"No, you won't. He haunts you because he knows of your strength." the grown-up Brandon said "he diminishes you because he fears your power."
And hugged the boy.
"He sepparated us because he knows that together, we can defeat him."
"No... no one ever wanted me! I am always alone!"
"Are you?" he asked and gave the boy the toy soldier Harper "I watched for you when you needed me. I saved you back at the marketplace. I gave you a shelter when you ran away. Because you are worthy, kid. And beyond this world, Purge needs us."
"NO! I HATE HIM!"
"He suffered more than us all. To be so mighty, he could never make any mistakes. He has the pressure of the world on his shoulders... and to be better, we must help him with that burden rather then making ourselves another thing for him to worry about."
"I..."
"You can do this. I believe in you."
And he hugged the boy again, that started to shine...
He woke up back in the room, alone. He felt great.
After all that time, he had made peace with his demons.
And now it was time to save his brother from another.