Chapter 3

The Sun and the Moon

Starfire put the letter down and looked backup at her friends in confusion. Cyborg shook his head and blinked several times. "OOOOkay, what was that last part again?" They all thought hard then Lee opened his mouth in comprehension.

"It's a riddle." Raven turned her head.

"Are you sure, he could've just been drunk or something when he wrote it."

"Quite sure, read it it's too well organized," Lee took the letter from Starfire and read over again. Cyborg and Beast Boy peered over his shoulder and re-read the passage.

"Well don't ask me for any help, I'm no good with riddles," said Beast Boy.

"No kidding none of this doesn't seem to make any sense," said Cyborg scratching his head.

"Please friends, what exactly is a riddle," implored Starfire.

"You've never seen a riddle?" Raven gave her a funny look.

"It's never come to my attention," stated Starfire. They all shrugged and Raven took the floor.

"It's basically an encryption made up of poetic lines which hold some sort of special meaning."

"Such as?"

"Well they could refer to a certain person, place, thing, or even time." It was then that something hit Raven. Robin's riddle contained every single one of those things. She zipped back over to Lee and snatched the paper from him.

"You're welcome," said Lee sarcastically. Raven read it over and over then turned back to her teammates.

"We might as well start figuring this out. Starfire, you and I will work on the first line. Cyborg and Beast Boy, you've got the second line. Lee take the third."

"You got it Rae," said Cyborg. They wrote down their lines and went off to their rooms for some quiet. Starfire and Raven had adjourned to Raven's room, mostly because Raven just couldn't take the cheeriness of Star's room. They sat on Raven's bed and took to working out their line.

"Alright, now 'when it rains it pours'. When it rains it pours," she repeated thoughtfully. "That would refer to something either really big or really important, what do you think Starfire?" Starfire sat just staring off into space. "Starfire?" Raven snapped her fingers in front of her and Starfire blinked back to reality.

"Forgive me Raven, yes I am sure you hypothesis is going in the proper direction." She said and went back to staring at the floor. Raven set down the paper and got Star's attention again.

"We need our complete focus and attention on this." She pointed to the riddle. "Now what's wrong?" Starfire shifted herself so that she faced Raven.

"I thought I knew Robin, I thought I knew just who he was. But now I see that he wasn't just someone else, he was three other people," sniffled Star as she thought back to the shocking passports. "Robin has told me numerous times that he would never lie to me, and now I see that he has been lying to all of us for who knows how long." Raven bit her lip and set the paper aside.

"If anything Starfire, he has been protecting you?" Starfire gave her a confused look.

"Have you completely forgotten what happened in that alley? Some random guy came out of nowhere and demanded something you don't have. Though you were his first target since he found out you were associated with Robin. He's been protecting all of us form his enemies, however many he's made."

"So, he has not been lying to me." Raven shook her head.

"Far from it." Starfire allowed a small smile and picked up the paper.

"Then I believe we should get back to the work." With that the two got into a huddle and analyzed their line.

LATER THAT NIGHT………………………..

The Titans gathered in the living room and hoped that the other group would have something. They decided to go with Raven and Starfire first.

"Raven and I believe what Robin is trying to tell us about is something big and important in the middle of the city." Raven levitated a dry erase board with their line written on it. "When it rains it pours means if something is going to happen, it's going to happen really extravagantly. Since there are no important events happening in the city for quite some time, we have deduced that the line is referring to some thing, which is in the middle of the city's citadel."

"You mean the museum," asked Beast Boy. Raven nodded her head.

"Exactly, whatever it is we're looking for it's in the city museum. Now what about you guys?" Cyborg and Beast Boy looked at each other and stood up.

"Until you guys gave your speech we weren't really sure what it was that the line said, but I think we'll go with our last idea." He gave the floor to Beast Boy who looked as if he wanted to be the one to say it.

"Robin's talking about a clock," he said while nodding. "But not just any clock, the one Warp tried to steal." Their mouths dropped. "Yep, the Clock of Eternity."

"And you came to this conclusion how?" Asked Raven.

"Be glad to Rae," said Cyborg obviously enjoying Raven's disbelief. "It says 'The timely shadow is cast about for all to see. The clock is in the museum were everyone can see it." Raven nodded in acknowledgement.

"Wonderful Cyborg," clapped Starfire. "Thanks to you and Beast Boy we are but one line away form deciphering the riddle!" Everyone's head now turned to Lee. He cleared his throat.

"It's going to take all six of us to do something with the clock," said Lee. He set his line on the couch and circled the word six. "As you can see Robin-San spelled the word six with the number 6. Plus I think it may also have something to do with the sixth hour on the clock." Cyborg slapped his knee with his hand and stood up.

"Alright yall, we have to get to the museum and get that clock before anyone else does."

"And tell them what?" Asked Raven getting up as well. "That they need to just hand it over because our friend who's a black ops agent on the run told us to get it."

"Well when you put it like that," said Beast Boy rolling his eyes.

"But Raven-San has a point, they won't be too willing to give it to us at first glance," said Lee.

"And by the time they look back it could be long gone," returned Cyborg. They all thought in silence trying to come up with a solution. Starfire scratched her head and then her face lit up.

"Weee, might try to temporarily relieve them of it without being discovered," she suggested brightly. Each of the other Titans looked at her as though she'd sprouted an extra head.

"By that you mean steal it," asked Lee. Starfire played with her hands.

"Well, what I meant was………..I would not go so far as to say………….ohhhh, yes, I mean obtain it illegally." Raven shook her head.

"Starfire, we fight crime we don't commit it." Starfire nodded her head disappointingly.

"Forgive me, it was merely a suggestion."

"Hold on a sec," said Beast Boy.

"Beast Boy," said Raven scolding.

"No Rae I think Star has a point. We can't just wait around for someone else to get a hold of it. Someone has bound to have found out about the clock by now."

"Beast Boy, we're the only one's with the letter," Said Raven holding it up.

"Yeah? You willing to bet this whole thing on that?" Beast Boy gave her a serious look. Raven gripped the letter and engaged in a serious battle within herself. Finally she let the paper fall back to the couch and nodded her head.

"Alright, Lee you and Raven are the stealthiest ones here so you two go get the clock. We'll be on stand by so if you get run into any trouble we're just a phone call away." Raven gave each of them a final nod and left to her room for some things. The others began to leave as well. Lee stood in the middle of the room.

"You know I never heard of the Titans stealing anything." He sanctimoniously scolded. Cyborg poked his head back through the door.

"Yeah well whoever heard of an American samurai with a Chinese name," he said with a crooked smile.

"Oohhh You think your sooooo funny you smart ass," said an irritated Lee as he went off to his room.

AT THE MUSEUM……………………..

Raven phased herself and Lee through the wall of the museum. They took a look around and swiftly made their way down the darkened hallways. They rounded a corner but jumped back as a guard came walking by. He pointed his flashlight around in various corners and doorways. Once he was satisfied he turned and walked down another corridor. The two Titans breathed out sighs of relief; Raven then tapped Lee on the shoulder.

"Alright, when Starfire got the clock back from warp it was moved to this museum and to a more secure location. We don't exactly know where in the building it is so we'll have to split up."

"Understood. Careful though, it would be foolish to assume that we are the only one's here tonight."

"I'll keep that in mind," said Raven floating off in another direction. Lee watched her leave and went his own way. He made his way down he corridors as though floating on air. He quickly rounded a corner and came face to face with a guard. The guard reached for his radio but never got the chance to call anyone. Lee pulled a sedative pin from his wristband and stuck it in the guard's neck. He slid the man to the floor and propped him up against the wall.

"Be still," he said patting the man's shoulder.

Raven looked around the corner and saw that no one was there. She looked up at the exhibit label which read; "Rare finds and Antiquities". Figuring this was best place to start looking. She moved along the many pedestals and hangers that held all sorts of valuable artifacts. She was about to give up on the room when she spotted a lone pedestal in the corner among some Chinese pottery. There incased in a thin sheet of glass was the Clock of eternity. Raven looked it over from every angle; she glanced down at the number six and spotted a symbol underneath it. She quickly took out Robin's letter and held it next to the symbol. Under the number six on the clock was the astrological sun just like the drawing on the paper, though the moon was next to the number twelve. It was indeed a smaller version of the symbol but it was there nonetheless. Raven reached out to removed the glass but stopped.

"Just one moment," she whispered to herself. She took out her communicator and flipped it open. She pressed a few buttons inside, held it up to glass and watched as numerous red lines appeared around the clock. "Tsk, and you thought it was going to be easy." She closed her eyes and softly chanted her famous words. A small black portal formed on the glass and Raven stuck her hand through it. She grasped the clock and pulled it out as the portal shrank back to nothingness. She slipped the clock into her robes and telepathically told Lee to meet her outside.

Raven walked around the outside of the museum looking for Lee. As she walked she heard a faint noise behind her. She quickly turned with her eyes lit up, nothing. She calmed herself and narrowed her eyes at the untrustworthy dark of night. She turned and gasped out loud when she saw a man right in front of her. He wore a long coat and a hood covered his head and face.

"Who are you," asked Raven backing up.

"I want it," he said softly with a strange accent.

"Want what?"

"You 'ave ze clock in your robe," he nodded at her. She closed up her cape and back away yet again. "I do want to be 'ere all night. Give me ze clock now!" He produced a small pistol with a silencer and pointed it straight at her head. His finger pressed on the trigger when he suddenly felt a cold steel blade at his throat. He dropped the weapon and slowly turned. Lee stood behind him with a small smile.

"Is that any way to speak to a lady?"

"You people can't run forever, we know everything you know. And soon we will find Mr. Grayson." Lee's locked onto the man who suddenly fell to the ground clutching the sides of his head. Lee sheathed his sword and the two looked down at him for a moment.

"You really like that little physic blast thing don't you," said Raven in a monotone. Lee shrugged and they headed back to the tower.

TITANS TOWER, LIVIGN ROOM……………………

Raven and Lee returned to the tower around three in the morning. For at least two hours they tried to figure out all that they could with the clock. They tried moving the hands to the number six, which did nothing. They thought maybe the six came off to reveal a secret compartment; which turned out to be wrong also. Finally they decided to give it a rest and went off to bed. Starfire however elected to remain awake until she found the significance behind the clock. She sat at the table and just stared at the clock. She looked back and forth from it to the poem, hoping to find some hidden meaning. She just kept staring and thinking; soon she felt herself nodding off uncontrollably. She looked outside and saw the sun coming up.

"Goodness, it is far past the time for sleep." Her eye suddenly popped open. She swiftly turned back to the window and out at the rising sun. She then looked over at the wall clock and saw it was 5:56 am. She read the second line of the riddle out loud to herself.

"The timely shadow is cast about for all to see. The timely shadow." She said to herself. She then looked at the sun symbol below the six and breathed with excitement. "Robin, you are most brilliant!" She dashed over to the window, set the clock on the floor in the sunlight and stepped back. She watched the wall clock as it now read 6:00 am. She watched as the six o'clock shadow cast out over the clock. The hands slowly began to move, the hour hand stopped on the six and minuet hands on the twelve. When it did so the base of the clock rotated counterclockwise six times. Finally it stopped and made a clicking sound, and then it opened up to reveal a small compartment. Starfire eagerly reached inside and hoped whatever she found would lead her to Robin.

Okay I have to end it there cause it's getting late and I'm very tired. Hope you enjoyed it so far and I'll update again soon. R&R please.