Chapter 6: Orange Juice and Psychopaths
When the Titans had returned to the Tower with they're newest Raptor aquaintence in toe they were still in a state of shock. All Lieutenant Ryan could talk of was the look on the face of this one Mutant he killed. He also described many of the terrorists who on the blimp's deaths. All in great and lengthy detail. From the moment he saw the Mutant to end of the confrontation where he fell dead. Ryan's eye for such things was as impressive as it was disturbing. Robin himself wanted Recon to explain what kind of sick joke this was. How could someone who was so obviously demented be in the army. This Raptor was dangerous and he wanted to know all he could. He needed to be sure his team would be safe. After what happened with Raven he was already in doubt that they were. Raven in the meantime was trying to go over exactly what had happened. She had locked on Ryan's life energy no doubt but unlike most of the time she coudln't disengage once she had sensed his presence. Something went wrong and she deduced that it had something to do with that Raptor and his mind. Two seconds within the door and Ryan was already over at the kitchen's small refrigerator rumaging around. When he emerged he brought up a jug of Orange Juice with him, then he began to drink straight from it like a disobident house guest. He only stopped to take a small breath and look at the Titans. The fact that he was drinking a fruit beverage was what concerned them. All of them pretty much knew that Raptors were carnivorous dinosaurs.
"Its mine!" The Raptor screamed hugging the jug "Anyone touches it and I'll kill you in your sleep!" Ryan continued to slurp down the orange beverage muttering phrases such as "Sweet nectar of the gods, blessed gift of heaven, only the immortals would bestow upon earth such a delicious fruit."
"This person has by far the worst table manners I hav eever seen." thought Raven "And I've seen Beastboy eat."
When Ryan ran out and relaized there was no more he looked at the Titans like they were fools for not buying more than one jug and dug around in baggy shorts for several oranges he already had with him. Thumbling around in the cupboards Ryan finally emerged with a juicer and began to cut and squeeze his oranges one by one.
"Gotta have more," he said "need to refuel!"
By this point the Titans realized that asking the question of why he was treating a fruit like a drug would be a bad idea. So they simply backed off. Leading them all into the path of the Turagut brothers.
"I see you guys met the Lieutenant." Said Rack
"You know him?" Robin asked rather astonished
"Yeah," answered Roger "its funny story actually you see-"
"We usually get stuck on missions with him." said Rack cutting off Roger
"At least when he's on site you know things are going to explode." said Reige "Makes the whole thing way more exciting."
It almost as if they were obvious to the fact that Ryan wasnh't all there
"Did you ever notice he was a little off?" Robin asked
"Do we look blind?" Reige asked
"No Reige you don't." Roger answered
"That was a rethorical question you idiot." Reige shouted back
Snipe finally stepped in front of Reige cutting him off
"Yes, we know he is insane." said Snipe "It's hard not to notice. It better if the Captain explained."
"I was going to ask him myself." Said Robin "Where is he?"
"He was speaking with Rash last time I saw him" Said Rack looking around and then spotting the Captain coming through a nearby door. "There he is."
Robin immediately went over to Recon
"We need to talk." He insisted
"Obviously you've met Ryan." Said Recon "Fine come with me."
Recon led the Titans over to the usual spot in the living room area. Ryan was too busy with his Orange Juice to care about what they were talking about.
"First things first Recon," Robin began "who the heck is this guy?"
"Ryan is one of Raptoria's most accomplished soldiers." Recon responded "He's gone on more missions and gone to more places then many of us have in our whole lives. And he belongs to Raptorian Special Forces. He is one of the few members of our Commando division."
"How many are there?" Robin asked in a low tone with his eyes squinting
"Counting him, two."
"So where's the other one?" asked Cyborg
"On another mission somewhere I believe, its classified."
"Okay and whats with this one and orange juice?" Asked Beastboy
"Its his favourite drink." Recon explained "He's probably the only Raptor who drinks fruit beverages. I've never seen him drink anything else."
"Please," Starfire said lifting up a hand "may I ask the question we have all wanted answers of?" The others nodded and gave Star the go ahead "Friend Recon, are all your Commandos, as Robin would put it, missing a few of the slices of loaved bread?"
Recon perched an eyebrow
"He showed you his card didn't he?" He asked
"Yes" The Titans all responded
"Let me explain," Recon began "Ryan's mental state is not an act. He is legally insane by psychiatric terms."
"Ya think?" Said Beastboy "I believe the chainsaw he lugs around was a big give away."
"Earl."
"Huh?" asked Beastboy looking at the Raptor with a confused face
"The Chainsaw's name is Earl." Recon told him
"He named his chainsaw?" Raven asked in bewilderment
"Its basically his best friend." Recon answered
"If his insanity isn't fake," Robin began "how come he's still in the army?"
"Its a complicated case." Recon explained "You see Ryan never had a good life. Its better if he tells you his story, but basically the army isn't much different from his civilian life. Killing is really all he knows. The only difference is with the military he feels respected and we can somewhat control who or what he kills. His insanity is a rather unique form, it includes frequent mood swings and certain forms of psychosis and schizophrenia, his condition also seems to make him a better soldier and not a worse one so there is no reason to get rid of him. And because he can still distinguish from right and wrong it means that in Raptoria's book he's perfectly suited for combat duty."
"Raptoria maybe, but not here." Robin explained "That Raptor is not mentally sound in any case and therefore he's a liability. I'm not going to work with him."
"In war Robin you have to put aside your anger displeasure towards others." Recon explained "If you don't you won't get very far."
"The blimp is gone," Robin elaborated "he can go. We don't need him."
"While I may rank higher then him I can't tell him to leave." Recon explained "He takes his deployment order from headquarters. He'll only leave when command tells him to leave."
Robin stepped up to the Captain and looked him in the eye
"Fine, we'll play it your way." He said stepping back "But that doesn't mean I have to like it."
"Fine by me." said Recon
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
All of Robin's questions and so were many of the Titan's questions. But Raven still had no answer to the question that was bugging her. She needed to know what those voices in her head meant. She had an idea but she needed to be sure. She decided to ask Rack the question as she passed by him.
"Rack," She asked "how many people has Ryan...killed?"
"Hard to say," He said "you'd need to be specific."
"How many really important people has he killed recently?"
"We'll he has been taking on a lot of solo missions across the globe," Rack explained "the usual anti-terrorist stuff. A drug lord there, a military coup leader here, an African Dictator, a couple of Guerilla fighters and I think one real nasty fella who was a very religious cult leader. Ryan said something about that one cursing his soul or something."
The next few words seemed to form out of no where from Raven's mouth.
"Kill me and your soul will be as cursed as mine." She said, quietly repeating the last voice she had heard.
"Huh?" Asked Rack
"Nothing," She said coming out of her daze "Thanks Rack, you helped me figure out something." She trudged off leaving the Raptor to scratch his head
"Pft, girls" He said shrugging it off
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"So you now know what happened out there because of this?" Robin asked Raven who had stopped both him and Beastboy in the hall and explained what Rack had told her
"Precisely," She explained "when I lock onto to a person's life essence I pick up a little bit of their brainwaves as well. So I inevitably hear their thoughts. When I did it with Ryan I picked up a layer of his mind that was going over all the people he has apparently killed. And the last words they spoke before Ryan killed them."
"Nasty." said Beastboy
"But we already know he likes killing people." Robin reminded her
"It didn't sound like he was thinking over their deaths because he liked it," Raven told him "the more primary train of thought was that they deserved it. That he wiped them from the face of the earth to teach them a lesson. It was satisfying to him not because he liked killing them but he liked showing them how it felt. He kills out of revenge Robin, out of hatred, not out of bloodlust."
"Well, that's good." Said Beastboy before curiously adding "Right?"
"Actually," Raven elaborated "that hate of the enemies he killed stems from a past trauma. Something he expierenced over and over again. You heard Recon, he didn't have a good life, killing is all he knows. And the more people he kills the more deterioated his mind becomes."
"Are you sure?" Robin asked
"He's not well Robin," she told him "he's sick. There is something inside of him he is trying to fight, something evil that wants to get out. And it stems from that past trauma that he's holding onto."
"You picked up all that from sensing his mind and hearing a couple of dead guys talk to you inside your head and all within a couple of seconds?" Beastboy asked
"It wasn't all clear to me at the time, but after I figured out what the voices were it was simple to decifer."
"So what's our time table?" Robin asked
"Yeah, how long till OJ drinker snaps his twig?" Asked Beastboy
"I don't know for sure," Raven said rubbing her forehead "a month, a decade, tommorow, it could be at anytime. More the reason I think we should help him."
"Help him?" Robin asked
"Yes, help him. I need to go inside his mind and try to fix whatever damage there is. Then I can-"
"No." said Robin sternly
"What?" Raven wondered
"Absolutely no," Robin repeated "the last time you contacted his mind you got hurt. If you go inside who knows what might happen."
"But Rob, what if she's right?" Beastboy asked "What if he looses it and goes on a freaking rampage?"
"That's a risk I'm willing to take. If the situation arises we'll be able to handle it." Robin told them "I'm not letting anyone endanger themselves by playing around in someone elses' head."
"I know what to expect now I'll be fine." said Raven
"The answer is no!" Robin stated "You will not go into his mind. Not only could you hurt yourself but you could also damage his brain even more. You'll stay out of it, that's an order."
There was now no way of contradicting Robin, not after that. Once he ordered something arguements were futile.
"Fine." Raven said lowering her head with a sigh
Robin walked away leaving Beastboy and Raven alone.
"I think this whole military thing is making him more and more Robinish by the second." said Beastboy
Raven looked at him with her monotone face
"Robinish is not a word." She told him
"You know what I mean."
"He's as stubborn as usual thats for sure."
"Well he does have a point about you hurting yourself in there." Beastboy explained "I mean this Ryan guy is crazy. Who knows what you might find. Why do you want to help him anyway?"
"I know what its like to have inner demons Beastboy, no one should have to go through what I have."
"Well maybe you should just put that whole brain exploration thing on hold," Beastboy suggested "you know at least until we know more about the guy."
"I suppose that makes sense." Raven replied "I'll need to look over several books to prepare for the proccedure. That and we'll have to study the subject more carefully."
"This doesn't mean we have to spend more time with him right?" Beastboy asked
"Think of it as Jane Goodall and the chimps." Raven told him
Beastboy didn't really consider that a good comparrison.
"Goodall never had to worry about the chimps slicing her head off with a chainsaw."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Although Starfire was warry of her new guest she decided that it would be best if Ryan at least had some form of a meal before he had to do battle again. So after making a fresh batch of Glorck she was hoping to recieve the same rave reviews from Ryan as the Turagut brothers. Instead she was pulled into the weirdest conversation of her life.
"Please Friend, try the Glorck. Your fellow Raptors love it so."
"Is it bathed in the blood of my enemies?" Ryan asked
"Uh, I am not sure." Starfire replied "Would you like it to be?"
"Hell no, it would spoil the Orange juice I'm about to pour on it!" Ryan did just that as he tipped pitcher of orange juice on the alien meal "Oh yes, freshly squeezed from Florida itself. How I love you sunshine state."
"Yes, I suppose it is." Stafire said politely trying to avoid eye contact "Please tell me why you drink the juice of oranges so much. Recon was not one to elaborate fully on the subject."
"Becasue oranges are the gift from god himself!" He told her
"I was not aware of this."
"Of course you aren't. No one else is. They're uninformed. Its like they are blind to fact that this fruit is from Jesus himself. Its like I exist here so that oranges may give their substance and life force up to me."
"I see." Starfire was trying to be polite but the fact that Ryan was now talking to the orange was not helping it
"What's that little fruit of life, you wish for me to slice your belly open and drink from your insides? Very well!" Ryan placed the orange on the ground and took up his Chainsaw from the bottom of his seat and reved it. Ryan then cut the orange in half and placed both the halves on the table. Then he positioned the chainsaw into the seat beside him. "Alien girl, EARL, EARL, Alien Girl."
Starfire was definetly confused, for she was positvely certain that chainsaws did not talk. But she did not know if the case was different with this one. So she tried her best to be friendly.
"Um, hello friend EARL...you are looking...well today."
EARL just sat there and said nothing, as a regular chainsaw should. Ryan however seemed to speak chainsaw.
"Yes EARL, shes cute and everything but she's taken I think...all the good ones are taken...whatever man, your funeral...why do you want me to ask? Oh so because I'm clinically insane and you're just a figment of my imagination I have to talk for you all the time...Fine, I will!" Ryan turned to Stafire "EARL wants to know if you're single."
Starfire was by now even more confused
"Um, yes EARL." She said to the chainsaw "But I am afraid common Earthly construction tools are not really my type, as the saying goes I believe."
"Told you it wouldn't work." Ryan said to the Chainsaw as he now began to stuff his face with the Glorck. "Hm, this stuff is good. Especially with the orange juice I added. Hey EARL you going to eat your slice?...Big baby, fine! I'll eat it because you're so freakin depressed now." Ryan began to suck the juices out of the orange half that was in front EARL.
The Chainsaw still said nothing and Ryan was too busy talking to himself, the Chainsaw and Stafire back and forth in that order to recieve Starfire's thanks. If this kept up Starfire was going to go as insane as Ryan. So she quietly floated away. Ryan didn't seem to notice Starfire was gone at all, even when he looked at the spot where she had been. Apparently Ryan did not even need Starfire in the room to carry a conversation with her because a few minutes later Starfire swore she saw Ryan look at the place she was standing before in the kitchen and said
"Its pronouced shopping mall, not mall of shopping. Geez you aliens."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recon in the meantime was examining possible hideouts for Karvisko and his top aides. Thanks to Robin and his team he had identified two of three of them. The first was the Mutant strongman that Starfire and Cyborg had encountered, Sergey, who was obviously a wrestler in his spare time. The bloodsucking mad colonel known as Vlad Alexsander who had the strange habit for sucking the blood of his enemies. The one terrorist who was unrecognized was the one who had called himself the Cockroach. An apparent nod to bug he shared his DNA pattern with. Although he was unable to put a face to Mutant he was able to bring up a file on him. He was Karvisko's most trusted operative and apparently trained in the more elite ranks of his Division. No one really knew his name, only his alias. The question of who he really was exactly could only be answered by him Karvisko. At least Recon knew that wherever Cockroach was Karvisko would be close by. It was getting close to sunset now and the city had succesfully be quarintined. Meaning the Mutants were trapped inside the very City they had invaded and with the attack on stadium eliminating most of their supplies they would need to think of another strategy. One thing was for sure the Mutants would get more desperate now and that was never a good thing. Recon eventually found a place where Karvisko might be hiding, the mall. According to patrol teams nearby, a small convoy of Mutants was headed towards the mall. One of them on foot looked like a giant Cockroach as described by one Raptor. Recon now believed the mall was where Karvisko was hiding. So he made the nessecary preparations for an assault.
Arriving just outside in the main parking lot of the mall were several APCs. A few of them carrying the Titans, Ryan, Recon and the Turagut brothers. All prepared for the fight that was to come ahead.
"Okay everyone this mission is simple," Recon began "we have team that are going simultaneously breach from all entrances. We have the place surrounded. The objective is to neutralize the enemy presence. And if my hunch is correct find and Karvisko and take him down."
It was at this time that Ryan lumbered out of the APC and to the breifing area Recon and the Titans were centered in.
"Okay sir," he said "I'm locked, loaded and EARL's chain has been lubricated for maximum carnage. Who do I have to kill?"
"Just do your regular thing okay, but no theatrics okay." Recon ordered "This city has suffered enough."
Robin bent over to Recon's side and whispered to him
"I want someone to go with him. I don't trust him enough to be on his own."
"Ryan tends to work alone." Recon explained
"He get a chaperone. Now."
Recon turned to Ryan.
"Lieutenant, you'll need to be accompanied by someone."
"Say what?" The commando grumbled
"One of the Titans will be escorting you. They probably know the area better then you."
"I can find my way around just fine." Ryan told him "I just need to look at the big glowing light map stand thing."
"Me and Beastboy will with him." Raven said raising her hand
"Us?" Squeeked Beastboy hoping it was a cruel joke
"Yes us." Raven repeated "I think it would best if we both escorted him."
"Three man fire team," said Recon "makes sense. Alright Ryan you're with Raven and Beastboy."
"Oh." The commando whined "No fair." He sharply turned his head to the two Titans "Just stay the hell out of my way got it?"
"Yeah, got it, sure." Beastboy said frantically
"Come friends," Starfire chirpped "let us liberate the Mall of Shopping from our vile enemy."
As Beastboy and Raven followed Ryan to their designated entry point, Beastboy decided to ask Raven something about their present situation.
"Why did you sign us up to team up with the insane one again?"
Raven just looked at him
"It will give us a chance to observe him more throughly."
"I thought you were just going to watch a dinosaur special on the learning channel or talk to him over a cup of tea." Said Beastboy "I didn't think you were going to suggest talking to him when he's in kill mode."
"Ryan's mental state is at its weakest when he is fighting. I can learn more about if I observe him while he is in it."
"Would you too shut up back there!" Ryan yelled back to them "Not that I care what you're talking about but I'm trying to hear myself think."
"I'd hate to know exactly what he's thinking of." Beastboy said quietly
"Isn't that why we're here?" Asked Raven
Next time, the action packed scene in the mall, Karvisko's appearance finally revealed and Ryan's battle mode sadism side of his personality gone into more detail. Should be interesting.