Hey kiddies! Long time no see!
Can you believe we missed the deadline! Now I have to live another year with the pressure of up-coming SATs, because I haven't gotten them off my chest! MY LIFE SUCKS ROYALLY!!!!!!
Now, I've basically put together this chapter and the next few in fits and starts. That's mostly due to my studying and the pressure of SATs, but now that that's gone I'll try harder. I'm just warning you so that, if for any reason these next few chapters don't flow properly, you know why. Please alert me if you find any such NON-flow-ness so I can correct it.
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? AN INVITATION? DIVE ON IN!!!!!
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The Truth Hurts
As it turned out, Jinx was of absolutely no help to Slade. All she knew about Robin was the little she had learned about him in the last month or so. But there was also something else going around in the pink witch's cranium. After a month of living with heroes, the girl had developed something of a conscious. Not a large one, she'd certainly steal again, but enough of a conscious to not spill what she knew of the Titan leader. Slade asked her what she knew of Robin, Jinx replied, as the lying, conniving witch she was: "Nothing, ask the freak", and she pointed to Beast Boy.
But we're not starting with Slade's interrogation of Jinx the Witch. This chapter begins with the very end of the last one. Does that make sense? Well, deal with it!
Anyway…when Slade left that first day (or night), he shut off all the lights in the huge room the duo's cage was situated. With no form of visibility what so ever, the two teens had nothing else to do but silently arrange themselves for sleep. However, Beast Boy never did get any sleep that night.
Contrary to popular opinion, Beast Boy was not an absolute imbecile. He was not fool enough to believe that Slade was completely done with interrogating him. The changeling knew that Slade would be back in the morning, and when he was, Beast Boy would have to be ready. He couldn't let Robin's secret slip; he just…he just couldn't. So he needed a plan.
Beast Boy sighed. It was hard work being a hero; even if the guy you were saving didn't know he was being saved.
Unfortunately, before said Beast Boy could think of any plans his mind started to go foggy. You see, dear reader, as soon as the lights of the room went off (they were on a time-release thing, Slade didn't click them off), a gaseous substance was released from small pores in the concrete walls. This substance was similar to that of Sleeping Gas, but not quite as effective.
Whereas Sleeping Gas had a high probability of causing permanent brain-damage to the victim if used too often and was the same as if someone had been knocked out, this gas (a specialty of Slade's) was more natural to the body and one could actually dream while under its influence. Ever heard of Sleeping Pills, well this gas was the same thing except it was…well, you know…a gas.
Anyways…both strangely-colored teenagers slept. That is, they slept up until the moment the lights magically clicked back on and Slade re-entered the room. The time that happened: 5:00 a.m. precisely.
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Now, is everybody caught up? Are we all on the same page (figuratively, of course)? Yes? Good. Moving on.
Slade walked into the room as Jinx and Beast Boy sat up and blearily blinked up at him. "Enjoyed your rest? Fair dreams? Good." The last word left his masked mouth in a purring sound. It grated on Beast Boy's sensitive ears.
"I had the Sleeping Gas installed after you first arrived" the man went on. "That is the reason for your short-term in the titanium cell."
Both Jinx and Beast Boy simply snarled at his seemingly pleasant tone. And if it was a real pleasant tone…well, they were obviously snarling at him because he was so dang chirpy in the morning.
"Now, Miss Jinx" Slade continued after a pause of some minutes. "Will you be so kind as to tell me what you know of the Titan Robin. I am aware that you have been living with the Titans for some time." He paused. A smirk entered his tone as his dark eyes lingered on the black ribbon of energy that still held the sorceress and shapeshifter together. "Now I see why."
"He's a freakin' pain in the butt" Jinx snarled. "Ask the freak for anything specific" and she promptly swung away from the man to face in the opposite direction.
Once she had shifted the master-criminal's attention from herself to Beast Boy, Jinx relaxed. And why shouldn't she? Now all she had to do was keep up with what the blathering idiot was saying.
"What is Robin's weakness?" Slade queried to Beast Boy.
"Weakness" Beast Boy repeated, as slow as his babbling voice would allow. He hadn't done any thinking on his current problem before he had fallen asleep. All he could now was try to change the topic from Robin whenever it comes up. And, if nothing else, the changeling was excellent at changing things.
"That's an interesting way of putting it." Jinx watched as the shapeshifter tugged at his collar.
"I'd call it a strength" and then his whisper of a voice grew, in volume and speed. "And Robin's got lots of strengths, but not as many as me. I've got lots of strengths. For one, I can change my form, but you already know that one. Another one is: I have really strong senses. I can literally hear a pin drop in a busy mall."
The boy sighed quickly, if one can sigh quickly, and continued. "But with the good comes the bad. Even though I can hear a pin drop in a busy mall, all the noises of the city sometimes gets to me and I have to stop it. I gotta stop all the smells too, and vibrations, and other stuff."
He leaned on the bars in front of Slade. "Ya' wanna know what I do to make everything go away?" Without pausing, Beast Boy continued to tell both Slade and Jinx just that. "I meditate. Yep, I watched Raven do it, and I saw it calmed her down, so I tried it. And, well what'd ya' know! All my senses just…disappear. There's nothing left. It's like I'm in this big void of nuthin'. I'm blind, deaf, mute, paralyzed; can't feel a thing. I couldn't even smell Cyborg cookin' steak until I came out'a it."
"Hey!" the shapeshifter exclaimed. "That reminds me! Ya' know, I don't eat meat, but that doesn't mean I didn't not once eat meat. Yep, I ate meat at one point in my life, but that stopped when I got my powers. Yep, I wasn't born with my powers. No sir-ee."
"I got my powers in an accident. Ya' see I lived in Africa—that reminds me!"
Jinx stared at the green boy in amazement. He had just gone over about eight different subjects in the past three minutes. Since Slade hadn't spoken yet, Jinx guessed that he was in shock as well.
"Silence!" Speak of the devil.
Beast Boy squeaked in surprise, fell backwards onto his back, and shut his mouth with an audible snap.
"Tell me Robin's weakness." With the tone of his voice, there was no room for negotiating. Jinx started sweating. She prayed Beast Boy wouldn't say anything stupid.
"Tell, hey! That rhymes with well!"
Apparently, the pink witch had done something to upset the gods. There was no other reason that she could think as to why she deserved this. That is, besides the stealing, cheating, lying…okay, maybe she did deserve this.
"It also rhymes with Mel. And—that reminds me! I once had a friend who had a friend who had a cousin whose name was Mel. I also have an uncle who's name is Mel. It's really Melvin, but the one time I met him he told me to just call him Mel. And he's been Mel ever since."
"Uncle Mel lived in Canada" Beast Boy continued. "He was my dad's brother. My dad died when I was six. So did my mom, so I went to live with my guardian. My guardian wasn't Uncle Mel. My guardian was my mother's brother, my Uncle Nicholas."
"Uncle Nicholas lived in Britain, so I had to leave Africa, where it's always nice and warm, to go live in England, where it was damp and cold. I hated England. I hated the weather, all the hills, the people, but most of all, I hated Nicholas."
Jinx was now staring in open-awe at Beast Boy. She hadn't seen him take even one breath yet. He hadn't paused; just kept right on talking. She knew her mouth was hanging open, but she was simply too shocked to do anything about it.
"He wasn't the only person I hated while there though. I hated the butler too. Martin was always making me go to my room if I was too noisy. And even if I was being quiet and reading, he'd take away my book and give me one on chemistry or geology or algebra. And then he'd have Uncle Nicholas quiz me on it at dinner! I think I hated him even more than Uncle Nicholas himself. The guy was a menace!"
"Then, when I was eleven, I met—" But Slade had had enough.
"Tell me of Robin!" the man demanded. His normally controlled stance and tone were no longer so controlled. However, that was to be expected. He had just listened to a certain talkative changeling prattle on about trivial items for the past few hours.
Beast Boy was silent for one blessed moment. Then…
"I did a water color of Robin once. But it—"
But Slade wasn't listening anymore. The man gave a screech of rage and then stormed out of the Cage Room.
As soon as he was gone, Beast Boy collapsed to the floor. He laid on his back and stuffed his fist into his mouth, effectively shutting himself up.
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Sorry about Slade's little OOC (out-of-characterness) there at the end, but you guys better get used to it. HAHAHA!
Someone complained about short chapters. I hope this one will satisfy you for a while, at least until a get the next chapter up. And if it doesn't, well, I've got #27 coming up soon.
Thanks for all the reviews you guys sent for the last chapter! I LOVE YOU GUYS! YOU'RE THE BEST!!!!!
Now, since it's past nine at night, and tomorrow's a school day, I have to go. See ya' next chapter! Come back soon! Bye!!!!
JA