Again.. a small chapter.
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"No real significance? Maybe. But my gut says Kaitou Kid wouldn't waste a single line in his Notice. 'The swaying road to heaven' has to mean something specific. The question is, what?"
"This is the last piece. If I can crack it, I'll probably see Kaitou Kid's entire plan and ambush him on his only escape route. Yet I just can't pin it down…"
Tim racked his brain, but a heavy drowsiness kept intruding, snapping his thoughts in half.
He hadn't slept properly for days. Even though he had downed a cup of coffee half an hour ago, this was only natural.
Caffeine has its limits.
"Tim, tonight's patrol ends here. Go home and get some real sleep."
Barbara spoke the moment she saw his condition.
"With riddles like this, the harder you force it, the farther the answer slips away. Besides, we still have thirteen whole days."
"Yeah. The same goes for you."
Tim nodded and reminded her in return. "You've been digging nonstop too. You're not exactly well-rested yourself."
With that, Tim left the clock tower.
Easy to say. But when he got home, quietly slipped past his parents, and collapsed onto his bed, his thoughts still revolved around Kaitou Kid's Notice.
"The swaying road to heaven… Bifröst… crossing time and space… Kaitou Kid… how do they connect…?"
His consciousness slowly drifted away.
"Ti…m…"
Half-asleep, Tim heard a faint voice calling out to him.
"Who's there? Who's calling me?"
He asked from within the dream.
There was no reply.
Or rather, someone was calling him, but not answering his question.
The mysterious voice kept repeating his name, growing clearer each time.
"Tim. Tim Drake?"
As the sound sharpened, Tim sensed something was wrong.
It sounded familiar…
"Hey, wake up!"
The voice suddenly spiked, jolting him out of the dream.
His eyes flew open, and a thoroughly familiar figure stood right in front of him.
Height: 5'6
Weight: 192 lbs
Age: fifty-two
Female
Dressed in old-fashioned clothes, clutching a textbook.
Mrs. Holmes, the math teacher at Gotham High.
There was nothing suspicious about her identity. Tim knew her well.
The problem was, why was she here? Shouldn't he be in bed?
Wait..
Bed?
His bed at home was never this hard, and he wasn't lying down. He was sitting upright.
Could it be…?
A frightening guess surfaced.
He glanced left and right, his eyes widening in shock.
He was in a classroom!
When had he come to school? He had no memory of it at all.
All he remembered was thinking about the Notice as he drifted off to sleep. Then, in the blink of an eye, he was sitting at his desk, like a skipped frame in a film reel.
"Am I still dreaming?"
He wondered, pinching his thigh beneath the desk.
The sharp pain told him he was very much awake.
"Finally awake, Mr. Drake."
Mrs. Holmes spoke, her expression blank.
"Is my lecture so sleep-inducing?"
Honestly, yes.
A whole semester with her couldn't compare to a week of self-study.
Tim swallowed the retort. Now that he was awake, he knew better than to say it out loud.
"Sorry, Mrs. Holmes. I studied late last night."
"Hmph. This isn't your first offense."
She snorted coldly.
"I swear it's the last. It won't happen again."
Tim vowed.
Once she turned back to the blackboard, Tim glanced to his left.
Darren was grinning at his misery.
"Darren, why didn't you wake me when she came over?"
Tim whispered in complaint.
"I tried. You were out cold." Darren protested. "What did you do last night? You've looked like a zombie since the school gates opened."
"…Nothing. Studied too late, like I said."
Tim forced a laugh, unable to tell his best friend that he was Robin.
"Oh, really? Since when do you love studying that much?"
Darren eyed him suspiciously.
He already suspected Tim's exhaustion was partly his fault.
Their earlier conversation about Kaitou Kid's outfit had tipped Darren off that Tim was investigating him.
And no one knew better than Darren how thoroughly he had erased his own trail. The Bat-Family's only option was to check every face in the museum footage, an endless task.
Given their nocturnal habits, Tim clearly hadn't gotten a decent night's sleep in days.
Sending out a new Notice yesterday had only made things worse. If Tim were well-rested, that would have been the real surprise.
Thirteen days until the next move, long enough for Tim to recover. Odds are I'll be facing Robin directly this time, Darren thought.
I wonder how much of the Notice they've deciphered. Not that thirteen days will be enough to see the whole picture.
His confidence wasn't unfounded.
When he had drafted the Notice, Darren had slipped in a tiny trap: one line that could never be decoded correctly.
"Hey, that Vanafor Family memorial banquet in ten days is all anyone's talking about. Your dad's the CEO of Drake Enterprises. He must've gotten an invitation, right?"
Darren whispered.
"Yeah, I'll go with him. You were invited too, right?"
Tim looked at Darren.
"Me? Don't joke. I'm no socialite. Why would they invite me?"
Darren pointed at himself, incredulous.
"Cut it out. You're the Escape King's son and Gotham's rising magic star. Half the guests won't be as high-profile as you." Tim rolled his eyes.
"Who knows? Maybe they don't like magicians. No invitation came."
Darren shrugged.
"And you know me. Even if it had, I'd probably skip it anyway."