Chapter 5
The Golden Legend
The Titans awoke easily the next morning, extremely eager to start their new journey. Raven was the first to wake as she was the last one to stand watch during the night and got the most sleep. They had handed the masked assassin off to the police the night before and dropped the subject thereafter. Their breakfast consisted of small bowls of cereal and orange juice. They packed up their stuff and headed downstairs to the entrance hall. As they waited to depart Beast Boy went over a checklist of his stuff.
"Ok let's see; spare uniforms-check, picture of Ter-I mean Raven or whoever." He blushed internally and went back to going over his bag. The rest of team did the same, making sure they everything they needed. Out of her huge collection, Starfire packed only one picture; it had her and guess who. Cyborg walked in the room and hung up the phone.
"Alright yall, we're booked for a flight bound to Rome, Italy this afternoon."
"Are you sure its safe to use commercial transportation," asked Raven. "Couldn't we just use the T-Sub or retro fit it into a jet or something?" Cyborg shook his head.
"Well if anyone is after us they won't be dumb enough to try anything in public, plus there's strength in numbers. I also asked Speedy, Aqualad, and Bumble Bee to watch over things while we're gone, so they might need it."
"Did you thoroughly explain the situation with them," asked Starfire zipping up her bag.
"I told them enough, they don't need to know everything. Besides we barely know what's going on."
"Yeah that would have been a funny conversation," said Beast Boy and he put his hand up to head as if talking into a phone. "Hey Speedy, could you look after the world while we're out chasing Robin who actually a secret agent out of the run for God knows what."
"Point taken," said Lee. He readied his things and tucked his sword in his waist cord. Raven raised an eyebrow.
"Lee do you actually think they're going to let you bring a Japanese sword on the plane?"
"Once they realize our situation I'm sure they will be most accommodating," said Lee slinging his bag over his shoulder, he began walking out to the car. "Besides I'd like to see them try and take it from me." Cyborg and Beast Boy chuckled lightly and shook their heads. Lee just wouldn't be Lee if he didn't have that stubborn-ness about him. They gathered up their stuff and followed their samurai friend outside to the T-Car. They all climbed in; Cyborg behind the wheel (who else), Starfire took shot gun, while Beast Boy, Raven and Lee seated themselves in the back. Cyborg started the car and looked back.
"Alright before we go does everyone have everything, cause I'm not driving ¾ of the way there and all of sudden someone says they forgot something. Tough noogies." They all conducted mental inventories of their luggage and Starfire remembered she wanted to bring along a CD player. She got back in the car and smiled sheepishly. "Ok let's go." He shifted the car into drive and they were off in a flash.
JUMP CITY AIRPORT………………………….
The Titans walked down the hallways of the airport and passed numerous crowds of people coming and going. This was Starfire's first time flying in a commercial jet and doing business in an airport. She looked around with eager curiosity at the many terminals, security personnel, and the different shops. They walked past and gift store and Starfire veered off form the rest of the group. Beast Boy noticed this.
"Uhh dudes, I think Star's a little side tracked." They walked back over to the gift shop and saw Starfire happily picking stuff out. Cyborg walked over and put the souvenirs. A bit taken aback by this Starfire frowned in confusion as she was pulled out of the store.
"But Cyborg I wish to obtain a gift for Robin to present to him upon us finding him."
"Well find it someplace else, or you'll end up spending more money on a pack of gum then we did on the trip." She shrugged her shoulders and continued on with them. They moved along the hall and came to the security checkpoint. Raven and Beast Boy were the first to got through, then it Starfire set her bag anxiously on the conveyer for the X-ray. A security officer noticed Silkie and picked upthe small carrier.
"I'm not sure this falls within the range of acceptable taveling pets." Starfrie tookthe case from him and gave him a "Hmph!"
"Who decides such stimpulations anyway," she mumbled while walking over to Raven and Beast Boy
Lee passed through the metal detector and it went off. The man asked him to step forward and laid eyes on his weapon.
"Sir you can't bring a sword on the aircraft," he said pointing to the sword tucked beneath Lee's waist cord.
"Do you know who I am," asked Lee stepping forward. The officer hesitated somewhat.
"No."
"Well we'll let it go this time," he said smiling. He then left the baffled and confused security officer and joined the other three. Cyborg bent down a little to get through the detector and the man raised an eyebrow.
"Any keys or loose change," he asked holding out a small tray.
"Yeah that's real funny man," remarked Cyborg brushing past him. They finally made it on the plane and in no time were off in the sky. While they talked amongst each other and enjoyed the complimentary drinks a man watched them from down the aisle. They then spent the next thirteen hours either talking, reading, or sleeping.
THIRTEEN HOURS LATER…………………………
They landed in Rome a few minuets ahead of schedule and pretty fair weather. They exited and were completely taken in by the difference in look and culture. They all gazed around at the different places to lodge, shop, and eat. As they walked on by Cyborg spotted a restaurant and began to drool.
"Aw YEAH, here's my chance to get me a real Italian meat ball!"
"Sheesh Cy are you half robot or all barbarian," asked Beast Boy with a look of disgust. While Cyborg and Beast Boy argued on about the moral and immoralities of eating meat they searched around for their hotel.
"I think it would be wise to keep our reservation but stay under another name," suggested Lee.
"What for," asked Raven.
"Just to give us some leeway, we've been followed since we boarded the plane in America." Raven and Starfire both looked back at that moment but saw nothing out of the ordinary.
"You won't see them actually walking behind us but you can be sure they'll come by the hotel." That evening they checked in under the name "Jenkins". "Hey if it works for Rob," said Cyborg. Once they had established a place to stay each night they made their way to the Vatican and hopefully to Robin.
ELSEWHERE………………………
In a large dark room thirty to forty hooded men seated themselves around a dimly lit circular table. The table itself was basically a large open ring. They sat around it and left just one space open. They sat in complete silence for what seemed like at least an hour. After a while a lone hooded figure holding a black staff entered the room. He approached his place and all others rose.
"Order of Osiris Tribunal has now come to order." He hit the floor with the bottom of his staff.
"Hail to the Order," they all said in unison upon hearing the staff. They seated themselves while a servant came and took the arbiter's staff. He turned his hooded face toward another sitting on the other side of the table.
"Executor, rise and deliver your report." He did so and gulped behind his shroud.
"Grayson remains out of our reach, and his companions have arrived in the Vatican." Collective and eerie whispering broke out among the others. The arbiter put up his hand and silenced everyone. He put his hand down and took a deep breath. He had a soft and piercing voice. Though his eyes could not be seen, one could always tell when they were penetrating the soul.
"Grayson……..is an entirely different matter and will be dealt with soon. As for his friends, they should have been dead yesterday morning. You have allowed them to learn far too much and they still remain on the trail. Now Executor can you account for such failure." All hoods turned back in the Judicator's direction. Under his hood he was sweating bullets.
"Ar-Arbiter I swear I will eliminate them and obtain Grayson."
"Choose your words wisely, promises are expected to be kept. You're position in CIA grants you a noticeable advantage, however do not allow that to blind you to your status. You are on extremely thin ice my friend, and I shall be under it when it breaks."
"And I say to you it will stay whole, I have already contacted our man in Italy. Within twenty-four hours you will see the Titan's obituaries in the morning paper even if I need exterminate them with my bare hands."
"You exaggerate."
"The point I am trying to emphasize is clear though. Once they are out of the way there will be none left to stand between us and Grayson." There was a general murmur of agreement among the other members.
"And the map, what do you intend to do to obtain it?" He narrowed his tunnel like eyes at the member.
"I believe the Titans can be of some use before eliminated, should Grayson be inaccessible at the time."
"And you believe they will willingly or even truthfully assist you?" The member snickered lightly under his hood.
"Anyone will say anything after a wholesome re-education." The Arbiter thought about the matter for a moment then stood up, following suit the others did as well.
"Very well, as of now the matter is completely in your hands. Should you fail once more, don't bother returning to give us news that we already know. We will simply send someone out to meet you and deal with you accordingly." The hooded member gulped once more and bowed his head to accept the terms. The Arbiter hit the floor once more.
"Tribunal adjourned."
BACK IN ROME…………………………
The Titans returned to their hotel and fell down on the beds. They had been walking around all day and into the evening. They toured the entire Vatican three times over and found absolutely nothing; no clue, no marker, and no Robin. Raven left the room to get some ice and Cyborg turned on the TV. Starfire curled up on the bed and tried to sleep but simply couldn't. They traveled all this way to another country to find their friend and so far hadn't hide nor hair of him. All that she had of him so far was a picture and the letter and envelope he left her. She took Silkie out of his little carrier and held him close. She knew that the others missed Robin very much, but all of them put together just couldn't compete with her. Silkie wiggled out of her arms as she fell asleep from stress. She entered a realm of dreamless sleep, as her mind just couldn't come up with anything good or bad to show her. She felt as if she were falling, falling into an abyss that had no end. She tried to fly but found she couldn't summon her powers. She just kept falling and falling until…………she felt herself being shaken awake by Beast Boy. She blinked several times and rubbed her eyes.
"Beast Boy is there something wrong?"
"More like someone," he said and turned to the couch. There sitting with his hands bound was Dalton. She got up and stood with her friends who were watching over a very irritated Dalton.
"Why is he"-
"Raven found him on the second floor coordinating a surveillance team," said Cyborg. Dalton said nothing but simply sat there and kept to himself. Starfire pulled up a chair and sat down in front of him.
"I think it would be wise if you explain yourself," she said calmly. He parted his mouth but didn't speak.
"You heard the lady," said Cyborg. "Start talk'n!" Dalton looked around at each of the Titans and sighed.
"I'm looking for someone."
"Well that much is obvious," said Raven. "We know who your after, now why did you send that man to kill Starfire and probably us?" He looked confused for a moment.
"Kill you? Kill you? I didn't send that guy to kill your alien friend or any of you. If I wanted to get rid of any of you it would be done by now, hell I could do it for God's sake!"
"Then why are you here and why have you been spying on us," asked Lee stepping closer.
"Central Intelligence has discovered a leak, I'm trying to find out who it is."
"And you were under the impression we knew who it was?" Starfire crossed her arms. He shook his head.
"No, I had you followed because I knew whoever was on our tail was also on Mr. Grayson's and would lead me to the leak."
"But what does Robin have to do with any of this," asked Beast Boy throwing up his arms. Dalton hesitated somewhat and regretted the long story that couldn't be made short.
"Mr. Grayson is a NOC, our best in fact." Starfire racked her brains for a definition but needed help.
"And what is the NOC?"
"A NOC is a Non Official Contact; an agent who according to everyone else doesn't exist. With the training he would receive plus his present and impressive skills he would be quite the candidate."
"Candidate for what," asked Cyborg shortly.
"He wasn't just responsible for planting listening devices in Russian conference rooms. He had the duty of watching over our most closely guarded secret."
"Dude why secret this and secret that? Why do you always have to"-
"Shhhhh," Starfire hushed him abruptly, eager to hear more.
"It was 1943, China. During World War two Japan sought to rid China of all of it wealth but more specifically it's gold deposits. The largest mine was captured by a one General Yamashita, summing around one million dollars worth of pure gold." A few of the Titans looked at each other anxious want.
"Go on," said Raven. He cleared his throat.
"Yamashita held the gold for all of three days before it was captured by a small platoon of marines. Once they had secured the area, their orders were to deliver the gold to the Office of Strategic Services or OSS…………they never did."
"What happened," asked Beat Boy. They were listening to Dalton as though they were watching a scary movie. He had their complete attention and the slightest noise took it away from him. He shrugged his shoulders at Beast Boy's question.
"No one really knows for sure thought there are some theories. One is that Yamashita recaptured the gold and had them all executed. Others say the marines divided it amongst themselves and went their separate ways." A smile now spread across his face. "However there are some who say they re-buried it, because they found something else deep within the Yamashita's mine." Starfire's eyes were wide with interest.
"What? What did they find?" He shook his head.
"Oh, not even I know that. Mr. Grayson however does." They all looked at each other. "Whatever it is that they found they feared it. They feared what would happen should it fall into the wrong hands. So what they did was after burying the gold they hid it and hoped the rumor of the Yamashita's gold would distract others away from the find. They did however leave behind a map to its location, in hopes that one day man would be ready for it." Starfire looked back to her friends, now they were getting somewhere.
"And you are certain this map is real?" He laughed silently and nodded.
"Of course I am, we found it." The Titans mouths dropped to the floor. "It was hidden beneath the Iwo Gima flag memorial, but that's beside the point. Mr. Grayson's duty this whole time has been to guard the map should anyone try to discover the secret of Yamashita's gold. He discovered the leak just as we did and took off. When he vanished that night at the amusement park we tried to retrieve the map but found he had destroyed it." Lee suddenly remembered the old parchment he found burned to ashes in Robin's trashcan.
"The trashcan," he breathed. Dalton looked up at him and nodded.
"He destroyed the map but not before he made a carbon copy. Now I believe he left it with one of you," his eyes fell on Starfire. She pointed to herself and shook her head.
"But I do not have it."
"Yes you do, you just don't know it. Mr. Grayson is a clever young man; he left it with one of you. How and in what form is still a mystery." Starfire got up ad shook her head.
"No, none of this is making any sense. Robin is a good person and he does what is right."
"He does what he's told," retorted Dalton."If he doesn't want to be seen or found then he won't be. If you catch sight of him don't loose it, if you can't see him in front of you then forget it he's gone. He has no conscience and does what is necessary to get the job done."
"LIES! Robin would never do anything to hurt us or anyone else!"
"He's sworn an oath! If I tell him so he'll cap you right in the head and then go off to lunch. He's a killer! But that doesn't matter because he's disappeared." He looked around at all of them. They each had on looks of disbelief and uncertainty. "Don't you get it, don't any of you get it? Robin is dead! And whoever I'm looking for is sending us all on a wild goose chase." He finished and Starfire opened her mouth though no words came out. Finally she just shook her head.
"I refuse to believe such things." He stood up and moved against the wall.
"You believe what you want, but you should have stayed out of this!" he flicked off the lights and an assortment of shuffling and punching noises were heard. The room then lit up green from Starfire's hand. Cyborg turned on the light and they saw that Dalton was gone. Starfire powered down her hand and walked out the door.
"Yo Star where you going?"
"I-I need some time alone." She took her leave and the others were left to process what was just said.
OUTSIDE, DOWN THE STREET……………………….
Starfire walked along the road holding one of her arms. She could not believe what she just heard. All this time Robin was a guardian/assassin, and he had not said a word about to anyone or even her. If she felt like she barley knew him before, then he was a complete stranger by now. A chilly gust of wind blew and she held her arms trying to warm herself.
"Oh Robin, who are you?" She lowered her head and continued on alone. She knew she had feelings for him even before she knew his name. They day they met it was like a beacon of hope was lit in her heart. Now it was as if that light was abruptly extinguished. She had not gone far when she was suddenly pulled into a darkened room with a single lantern. Her mouth was being held shut by whoever pulled her in. He whispered in her ear.
"Shhhhh, quiet now." Starfire pulled away from him and her eyes lit up. She got into a defensive stance and readied herself.
"Who are you!?" He then stepped into the light. Starfire's hands fell to her sides in shock.
"Robin…………."
Now I know anyone with interest in this story will want to crucify me for stopping here, but its Christmas and I have stuff to do. You can be sure I'll update ASAP. Thanks for reading so far. Laters