This is the third section of a three chapter update. Regular readers following from update to update should begin at chapter 12 before moving here. Trust me; there's some nice sequences in there with some humor thrown in. There might even be a secret recipe for Starfire's waffles! (Ok, there isn't; I can't be the cause of food poisoning all my readers.) So without further delay, we continue our story as Ragnarok has cut off Robin and Cyborg and races back toward the city towards a weakened trio of Raven, Starfire, and Beast Boy…
The Bird, The Boy, and The Mighty Beast
Chapter 14: Fool's Hope
Starfire, Beast Boy, and Raven had descended from the sky and landed on the ground in the midst from where the T-Car had first driven away some time ago. They had been a little shaky, Raven in particular who had ended up needing to be helped down from the sky by Starfire some. Beast Boy had just begun a tirade on how people should have more respect for whales in mid-air when Robin's call came in. Alarmed by the news that Robin and Cyborg's plan to lead Ragnarok out of the city had failed, the trio was even more alarmed when the behemoth raced into view where they were and landed some twenty yards from them.
"WHERE IS MY ENEMY?" roared the monstrosity. Ragnarok sliced the air with his sword and the resulting shock wave threw the Titan trio backwards and into various piles of dirt. Ragnarok leaped in the air and dropped with both feet on the ground with a huge thud, sending shock waves all around him, toppling some already weakened real estate. The trio was rolled about on the ground by the mini-earthquake.
It was Raven who forced herself to her feet first, an act that took most of her remaining strength. "Who do you want?" she called out at Raganrok.
Ragnarok yelled again, "WHERE IS MY ENEMY?"
Raven limped towards Ragnarok, "Why do you this?" she cried out to her enemy.
"Raven, no!" yelled Beast Boy, "Flee!"
Raven, perhaps too exhausted, frustrated, or tired to listen to rare words of wisdom from Beast Boy, raised her hand and focused her powers. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos," she said. Dark energy appeared around Ragnarok's helmet and Raven used that energy to slap Ragnarok in the face. The beast's head turned with her strike. Raven slapped his head back in the other direction. Ragnarok's head was turned in that direction. Totally spent, Raven fell again to her knees.
"Friend Raven!" yelled Starfire. The Tamaranian charged at Raven to grab her, but Raganrok reached down with his left hand and batted Starfire away. The young princess was sent sprawling onto the street.
Ragnarok reached down and picked up Raven with his left hand, dangling her by her cape. He fired a shot of heat beams in front of Beast Boy, discouraging the suddenly turned green rhinoceros from charging. He lifted Raven's head up to eye-level with his own. With his right hand, Ragnarok raised its sword holding its point dangerously close to the dark Titan. "WHERE IS MY ENEMY?" roared the beast.
"Am I your enemy Ragnarok?" asked Raven in more of a whisper than a real, energy-filled voice. "Am I your enemy? If so, then just finish it now. If I'm not, then what are you doing?"
"I…RAGE."
"Yes, believe me; I can feel it. Your rage bombards my senses but I feel your sorrow too. It's growing now. You're in pain. Why are you crying inside, Ragnarok?"
"I RAGE!"
"No, it's not that. You hide the pain with that; I can feel it. Who hurt you? Has someone hurt you? Has Strata hurt you? Is the Severing Strata your enemy?"
"I…SORROW."
"Yes, I know you do."
"YOU…KNOW?" The Titans were surprised; Ragnarok's seemingly unbreakable mantras were deviating.
"Someone I know said that you were a prisoner. Is that true? Have you been in a war Ragnarok?"
"I…RAGE…I…AM WAR."
"We've met Ragnarok. Do you remember me?"
"RAVEN AZARATH."
"You do remember. Do you still want me to help you?"
"RAVEN AZARATH…HELP RAGNAROK…HELP RAGNAROK, RAVEN AZARATH," the monster's voice was hollow, but no longer bitter.
"When you rage, you destroy. What do you do when you sorrow?"
"I DON'T KNOW. WHEN SORROW, I SLEEP."
"Who is the Severing Strata?"
"WHERE IS MY ENEMY?" the anger had returned to Ragnarok's voice.
"Is Strata your enemy Ragnarok?"
"ENEMY?"
Raven grew stern for a moment, "Listen to me Ragnarok. I need to know how a person named the Severing Strata knows you. Is he your jailer?"
Ragnarok turned his head and looked up at the moon. A moan seemed to come from somewhere within him.
"WHO IS THE SEVERING STRATA?"
This stunned the trio. Strata had predicted the coming of Ragnarok, how he would attacks, and had seemingly been linked in some way to Ragnarok's appearance and now the beast claimed to not know the stranger?
Raven focused, "How can you not know the Severing Strata. He says he knows you well. He knew you were coming."
Ragnarok looked at wreckage, "I RAGE…I WAR…I DID THIS?"
Raven sighed, "Yes, Ragnarok, you did this."
Ragnarok lowered his sword, he put Raven on the ground gently, and he stared up at the sky. "WHERE IS MY ENEMY? WHERE IS MY END? WHERE IS MY WAR?"
"Who is your enemy?" said Raven, "Tell me!"
"IT IS NOT YOU RAVEN AZARATH. I DID ALL OF THIS?" Ragnarok pointed at the city.
"Yes, you did this."
"HELP RAGNAROK…RAVEN AZARATH…"
"How can I help you?"
"IT MUST NOT BE LIKE THIS!"
"What can I do?"
"NOTHING. NOTHING, RAVEN AZARATH. NOTHING TO DO; NOTHING TO BE DONE. I…RAGE…I…SORROW."
"Is there no hope?"
"THERE IS NEVER ANY HOPE."
With that Ragnarok focused on his sword and it vanished in flash of purple light, the monster gazed towards the heavens and rose into the sky. Then, quickly as can be, Ragnarok sailed into the clouds, headed west and disappeared in the sky.
Starfire walked towards the hunched over Raven, "Did he hurt you, Raven?"
"Not then Starfire. How could he not know who Strata was? I sensed the sorrow in him suddenly grew when I mentioned his grief and war. There are still too many mysteries here, and the east side of the city is in ruins."
Beast Boy approached. "Ragnarok was wrong about one thing though, Raven."
Raven feared a bad pun coming on, "Ok, Beast Boy, what is it?"
Beast Boy smiled, "He said there wasn't any hope. But he was wrong. That's twice now he should have killed us all, but you stopped him…somehow. That's a lot of hope for me, and that's way more than fool's hope…unless of course you count that it's me who's hoping!" Beast Boy chuckled, "I think Strata was right that you're filled with hope, Raven."
"Thanks, Beast Boy." Raven gave Starfire and Beast Boy a hug.
Starfire spoke next, "Come friends; we must find Robin and Cyborg."
After sometime of searching and meeting up with Robin and Cyborg on the other side of the town, the Titans returned to the Tower in the still drivable (a minor miracle at that) T-Car.
"So, he just flew off?" said Robin as they were all in the car.
"Yes, Friend Raven, had a talk with the scary Ragnarok and then he left like before," said Starfire.
"And he didn't know who Strata was?" queried Cyborg.
"No," said Raven, "There are a few things not right about that. Strata is clearly connected with the beast but how…"
"Perhaps Ragnarok is lying," said Beast Boy.
"Why would he do that?" asked Cyborg.
"I don't know," said Raven, "This mystery is only deepening, along with our bruises."
The T-Car pulled into the Titans' garage. "I have another mystery," said Cyborg.
"What's that Friend Cyborg?" asked Starfire.
"Why is there a huge hole in the side of the garage?" moaned Cyborg.
He was right. In the side of the Titans' garage was a large hole, about seven feet high and the garage door had been blasted open.
"Someone has stolen the T-Ship," said Cyborg. "They came in through that hole, and they used the T-Ship's blasters to blow away the door."
"This was not here when we left, and the battle was nowhere near the Tower," said Robin, "While we were fighting Ragnarok, someone stole the T-Ship."
"Who would do such a thing?" asked Starfire.
"The HIVE 5?" submitted Beast Boy?
"Maybe," said Robin, "But I doubt they'd have the guts to after being thrashed by Ragnarok…"
"Strata," said Raven with a very tired sigh, "When he left he was mumbling that we should take the T-Ship and flee the planet. He was surprised when he first saw it in the hangar following the battle with Punk Rocket right before he passed out. Only he knew that Ragnarok was coming, and he disappeared from where the HIVE 5 said he had been right about the time Ragnarok came. Strata has taken the T-Ship and likely fled the planet."
"Are you…" began Starfire.
"I'm sure Starfire," said Raven.
"Then," said Robin, "Ragnarok has flown away again, our only contact to the mystery is gone and probably stolen our T-Ship. What do we do?"
"Strata must be found," said Raven. . .
"I have questions for that stranger."
To be continued…That's the end of this 3-chapter update. I did not know my fingers could be this tired. These updates range over 7,000 words and push this story well over the 40,000 word mark, and there's more story to come! Did Strata really steal the T-Ship? What were his reasons behind that? Why did Ragnarok not recognize Strata? Where is Strata and all his accompanying mysteries anyway? Why is Ragnarok so angry and so sorrowful? Chapter 15 people! Please consider an update to this set of chapters—that's more than 7,000 words—show me some love/hate here!