Chapter Nine: Unravelling.
Jinx paused momentarily to mop sweat from her brow, and gazed forwards. Although the hill was as heavily forested as the rest of the jungle, she could see flashes of flat grey through the trees, and the sight gave her hope and disquieted her in equal measure. Sure, the sight meant that they were close to their goal, finally, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something here was fundamentally wrong, something so basic that she was subconsciously ignoring it.
Her mind wandered back to last night. She'd explained as best she could, and Beast Boy had delivered a stern lecture about how any green animals were bad news, but Jinx hadn't really been listening, having been more concerned with keeping the contents of her stomach. She was hungry enough, without decorating the undergrowth with her last meal (more cherry oranges, and some kind of figs). Beast Boy hadn't recognised the animal that had rescued her, and she hadn't expected him to.
Jinx shook her head. This jungle was creepy. She turned back to Beast Boy, who was walking a few metres behind her. Suddenly, a thought struck her.
"Roads."
Beast Boy responded with a quizzical look.
"That's what's missing. Roads. How do people get into this place? It's the middle of the jungle, there's no transportation, there isn't even a clearing around this place" she crested the hill, and the building stood before her, rendering her speechless.
"What the fuck is wrong with this place?" For a few seconds, at least. "This looks like some kind of- of castle. And look at that, huge wooden doors, opening onto jungle. What's the point of that, Beast Boy? Beast Boy?" When he didn't respond, she turned around.
Beast Boy looked like he'd seen a ghost. His eyes bulged, his legs quaked, and he raised an unsteady hand to point at the edifice.
"No... no, no, no this is all wrong." He sounded like he was trying to reason with someone, or something. "This wasn't here, it was never here. This is wrong, damnit!" He snapped into sudden, impotent anger. "We were never here! This was in France!" With that his knees gave out, and he dropped to the ground, stunned. "...This is impossible..."
Jinx strode over to Beast Boy, who was still gibbering incoherently.
"Alright, greenie, what's got you so spooked?"
Beast Boy looked up at her, pleading with her. "You don't understand. This wasn't here. We were in the Alps. In France."
Clearly, Beast Boy was Not At Home at the moment. Time for a little on the job therapy, Jinx style.
"Beast Boy, get a grip or I'll hex your face off."
Bizarrely, the half-hearted threat seemed to work, and Beast Boy seemed to actually see her for the first time since clearing the hill.
"We are not in Africa."
--
Robin stood in front of the other Titans, a hastily constructed slide show idling behind him.
"Alright, this is all the information I have been able to gather on the Quiz's last known associates, the Brotherhood of Evil. We'll go through each one in turn, and see if any useful information comes up. Any questions?"
Three heads shook.
"Alright then." A slide clicked, showing a wizened old man. "General Immortus. A tactical genius through sheer experience, Immortus had fought in every major conflict from the time of Ancient Egypt. Not a "true" immortal, he retained his longevity through frequently drinking an elixir, probably a derivative of the Lazarus Pit. He brought to the Brotherhood the expertise to mastermind any kind of warfare, as well as a highly trained private army." Another slide flicked, showing ranks of grey-clad henchmen with assault rifles. Behind them were several tanks.
"He was the first of the Brotherhood to be defeated. Not fully trusting the other members, Immortus maintained his own base outside of Brotherhood headquarters, which the Doom Patrol were able to cut off and infiltrate.
"Once he was taken down, Immortus was placed in jail, awaiting trial. However, without his elixir prolonging his life, he died before reaching trial."
--
Jinx looked around. "Looks like Africa to me."
"It's not," Beast Boy retorted, with an intensity that frightened her. "I don't know where we are, but it's not Africa."
Jinx's brain whirred, and threw up a card. "But what about that butterfly? That proved we're in Africa, right?"
Beast Boy shook his head. "The chateau."
Jinx waved her hand at the castle. "People could have built it. You haven't been here for a while, right?" She was desperate, and she knew it. But she really didn't want to consider the possibility that they weren't in Africa, because then she'd have to consider where they actually were.
"Not this castle. Not this one."
"Right. I've had it with this place. Now come on, I want to go home." With that, she turned and heaved on one of the huge oak doors, which yielded slowly.
Beast Boy was less than enthusiastic. "No way. I am not going in there. No. You can't make me. I'm not going."
Jinx saw that she was in danger of losing Beast Boy again.
"Oh no, you're not going all mystic-crazy on me. Head in the game. Now come on." With that, she wrenched Beast Boy by the wrist, jolting him out of his la-la reverie and towards the open door.
"No!" Beast Boy jerked backwards and away from her. He looked ready to run.
"Look, I am not spending another night out here, alright? I want to go home. Now, I can't very well go in there and call your little friends, can I? So move."
Beast Boy took a great, shuddering breath, and rubbed his hand over his eyes.
"Alright. Let's get this over with."
With that, the two walked into the castle, neither noticing that the door shut noiselessly behind them.
