My deepest thanks to all of my reviewers for your suggestions and comments. You all make writing very worthwhile. There have perhaps not been as many of you as I initially hoped for at this point, but I'm not going to do one of those "I'm not updating until I get 30 reviews threats" that I see on this site. That's really not in the spirit of good storytelling I think. I'd like to think that I could keep going with no readers, solely because I enjoy writing and keep writing for the person who eventually might read it (don't get any ideas guys, I might keep writing but reviews keep me motivated to update quickly).
I am moving away from my norm here and having a slightly longer author introduction than usual. While I usually don't like these longer author introductions that I see on some stories that take up half the update (this one won't), reader comments have led me to think that story, being published serially, could use a short "recap" for new readers and slightly confused ones as Chapter 5 covered a lot of info. Readers should still read the preceding chapters as they're worth it, but a quick, bare bones summary might help:
Chapter 1: Taking place a year or two before the rest of the story, Robin remembers the unsolved attack of the Raging Ragnarok, a mysterious monster/warrior, on the docks. In their apparent moment of defeat, the Titans are saved when Raven somehow affects the beast.
Chapter 2: A mysterious stranger who can make physical objects using energy tries to stop the HIVE 5 from looting a store.
Chapter 3: The stranger reveals himself to be the Severing Strata and teams up with the Titans to drive the HIVE 5 away, saving Cyborg in the process.
Chapter 4: The Strata eats lunch with the Titans and reveals small clues to his past. Raven is incredibly suspicious when Strata won't elaborate on his background.
Chapter 5: Strata encounters Raven late at night and tells her some clues to his past, though she's not sure how honest he's being.
The main characters (summary):
The Raging Ragnarok: The mighty warrior unexplainably appeared above Jump City without warning one day and nearly smashed the city and the Titans to pieces. He flew away after an interlude with Raven and has not been seen again. Anything else said about Ragnarok has been an unverified claim from Strata. Strata claimed to Raven that he has to have a history with the beast, though this has not been confirmed. Strata claims that Ragnarok was a survivor of the war in his home country but was not directly allied with either side. Strata also claims that Ragnarok is his "prisoner" and will soon break free, unavoidably, from his prison.
The Severing Strata: An older teenager with the ability to form simple tools and weapons from his hands using blue energy. The weapons he makes are solid until he stops touching them, and they subsequently disappear. He can fire these weapons as projectiles as long as he uses energy to tether them back to his hand. If he is forced to let go or the tether is cut, the weapon disappears. So far, Strata has made swords, drills, shields, ladders, pistons, and has launched hooks and boxing gloves attached to his hands with chains and cords. His largest object has been a wrecking ball which he slowly enlarged as he was swinging it. The energy itself is not indestructible—Jinx's powers were able to break it.
Strata's past is a mystery. He definitely seems to be more than he appears. He claims to be from a country that was destroyed in a war with an unnamed evil tyrant. Strata says that he is one of the three survivors from that war, the others being the tyrant and Ragnarok. He claims that he is "unlucky" being the survivor and that he is alive because he "failed his last mission." He also says he is guarding Ragnarok because he was the last one left who could. Strata has also claimed to be an "aimless wanderer" in Chapter 4 but his statements in Chapter 5 to Raven seem to contradict. Also, he may have lied about not knowing where Raven was from. He says his homeland is no more, but he helped slow down the tyrant from completely destroying its neighbors.
Strata wears a box to his belt attached by a magnet. The narrator has said it contains three objects. The only one the story has shown is a photograph of Strata and a young girl, who he told Raven was his sister Alisha, who Strata says died in the late stages of the war.
Alisha: A green-haired girl who Strata says is his sister who died in the war in his former home. Strata carries a picture of her.
Raven: The taciturn Titan is the most suspicious of Strata. Strata claims she's his "last, one-in-a- million, probably-screwed-anyway hope." It's not sure how sincere he is about this.
Robin: The Titans leader is mildly suspicious of Strata; Robin has the Ragnarok case file. He feels somewhat indebted to Strata due to Strata's aid that he provided.
Starfire, Cyborg, and Beast Boy: They seem to trust Strata.
HIVE 5: Teenage criminals to whom Strata gave a really bad day. Will they be back? Jinx's powers can pierce Strata's weapons. Mammoth sleepwalks, but that's probably nothing.
Evil tyrant: He's evil. He's tyrannical. Strata claims he exists. We don't know where he is, or if he "is." Really not sure why I even listed him.
But the read the early chapters, if you have not. This gives only the most essential info and not the tension, the mystery, and the drama.
So let's rejoin our story. I'll put all this intro in my profile sometime later. When we last left the story, Strata had left more bombshell revelations on Raven's lap then Beast Boy in a stankball tournament. As the night conference gave way to morning, we join the Titans in the early morning…
"The Bird, the Boy, and the Mighty Beast"
Chapter 6: Breakfast the Tamaranian Way
As the sun arose signaling the end of Raven and Strata's marathon war of mystery, the light shone in off the bay and into the windows of the Titan's rooms. The seagulls stirred from the moving barges. Deep in his room, Beast Boy snored loudly, shaking his bed. Cyborg was finishing his re-charge cycle. Robin was dreaming of kicking Slade's butt.
But it was a great morning to be a Tamaranian princess.
There are ten different Tamaranian words for sunlight. The light that fades as the sun sets in the west is called "hisperee." The light above one's head at midday is "squealleet." But as Starfire woke up from a dream involving curtains, pink foxes, and dances with Robin under the moonlight, the early morning light that awoke the birds, made the flowers bloom, and started a new day of possibilities was "freefroo," the Tamaranian word that spoke of light as cheery as the word's own syllables.
Starfire was the first in the Titans' main room. She descended down the stairs with a smile on her face that would have made Raven cringe and eyes so bright that the freefroo almost had competition. Floating effortlessly to the kitchen she had only one goal: to make breakfast for her beloved friends. Starfire was 100 sure that this lovely morning with lovely light and glorious morning dew would only naturally produce glorious food. She was, sadly, out of her favorite Zorka berries that she liked to mix in with her creations. She could have sworn that she had had another vat in the fridge.
(In reality, Cyborg and Beast Boy, fearful of whatever damage their bodies might sustain from further ingestion of Zorka berries had poured that vat into the bay where it was promptly eaten by a group of fishes. The berries caused the fish to gain incredible intelligence and powers of speech. The fish's intelligence was so advanced that they instantly discovered the cure for cancer, the common cold, and in-grown toenails, which was particularly miraculous because fish have no nails whatsoever. However, they then quickly developed taste buds seconds later. Upon tasting the Zorka berries the fish were so horrified that such a substance should exist AND be in their mouths that they committed mass suicide by leaping onto the rocks and drying out in the freefroo. And so, the cures for cancer, the common cold, and in-grown toenails were discovered and lost in the span of 2 minutes.)
Starfire decided to make waffles this morning. She had witnessed Cyborg perform this task so many times that she was sure she could do it without turning Raven orange like she had when she tried to make French toast. So, Starfire worked on the waffles gathering all the required ingredients: waffle mix, eggs, milk, oil, waffle iron, and (unfortunately confusing the procedure with her recipe for Gordanian Hash) ketchup, string beans, soy sauce, and cooking sherry. All these she somehow turned into a waffle-looking substance. She taste tested one and proclaimed it a perfect Earth waffle with just the right amount of Tamaranian flavor. She remembered that Beast Boy wouldn't east the waffle with milk and eggs in it so she made a batch using soda and yams instead.
As they were cooking, Robin entered the main room, "Hey Star," he said, "You're up early." Starfire usually spent most of the early morning waxing Silkie.
"Oh, yes, Robin, I have good news!" she proclaimed with the most joyous smile that has ever been smiled in the entire galaxy.
Robin fell for that bait quickly, "What's that?"
"I have made everyone waffles! Here! Try some with the juice of oranges!" Starfire shoved a plate of browner-than-usual waffles in front of Robin.
Robin looked like he had just been ordered to serve life in prison. "Maybe we should wait for the others…" he said sheepishly, which was totally unnoticed by the jubilant Tamaranian.
"Yes! We must get the others!" exclaimed Starfire, excited that the others would join in on her "creation." She boomed her Tamaranian voice across the Tower, "Friends! Come join Friend Robin and me in a harmonious breakfast!"
Cyborg was the first to appear. "Yo, guys, Raven never woke me up for guard duty last night! What's going on?"
Starfire exclaimed, "Cyborg! I have made us breakfast! Come join Robin and me!"
Cyborg was really hoping the crime alarm would go off that instant. He was disappointed, "Sure, Star, wouldn't miss it for the world," he replied hoping that his digestive engine wouldn't implode again.
Strata, having completed his nightly sojourn with Raven, entered the main room upon hearing Starfire, totally ignorant of the horror that was awaiting him. "Good morning, everyone," said the newcomer.
"Hey, Strata," said Cyborg, "sleep well?"
"Rough night for me," said Strata, "had a bad dream, went for a walk, Raven kept me company."
"She did?" said Robin, surprised at the idea of Raven's suspicions going so far as to keep Strata socially occupied for a whole night.
"Yeah, she seems nice enough, a little cheery—in a very dark and brooding sort of way."
"That's our Raven," said Cyborg, totally not understanding Strata's paradoxical description of her.
"Strata! You must try one of my waffles once everyone gets here!" said Starfire, totally confident that culinary history was about to be made. "My waffles have what the man on TV calls them—BAM!" She said this was such vigor and pounding her fist on the table that it broke in two. "These Earth tables are very peculiar," she said, "they break so easily."
"Waffles? Wow, thanks. You guys are really treating me!" said Strata, as chipper as Starfire.
"Don't worry, Robin," whispered Cyborg, "I have more tables downstairs."
"I'm more worried about 'BAM,'" returned Robin.
It was at this point that Raven phased into the room by descending from the ceiling. She took one look at the boys, Starfire, the waffles, and then Starfire's big grin and realized that disaster was upon her person.
"Good morning, Friend Raven," said Starfire with all the excitability of a squirrel, which really grinded on Raven's nerves in the morning, "It is waffle day!"
"Joyous," stated Raven with all the emotion of a rock.
"Did you sleep well?" asked Starfire, totally not remembering Strata's comment 90 seconds earlier.
"Oh no, Raven did not sleep at all, did she?" said Cyborg, teasing Raven for not following up on her guard duty. "Did you and Strata have a nice night alone together? Was it a special night for you two?"
Raven shot Cyborg a glance that silently delivered one simple message: DIE! "No, he rambled about the moon for two hours."
"It was a very hopeful moon," smiled Strata. Raven grimaced.
"And a glorious morning!" proclaimed Starfire.
"My thoughts exactly," said the newcomer.
There was a bumping noise as Beast Boy came down the stairs, struggling to put his last shoe on. "I'm hungry, what's for breakfast?"
"Waffles!" proclaimed Starfire, "I have made breakfast for my dear teammates and new friend Severing Strata! Beast Boy, I made you waffles without eggs or dairy," Starfire pointed to a stack of waffles that seemed to be…fizzing. "I know my friends will love them. Now that we are all here, let us eat!"
The non-cooks sat on the stools at the kitchen counter as the table was demolished (Raven and Beast Boy needing no explanation as to why.) Starfire did not notice as each person drenched their waffles in syrup. "Is mine FIZZING?" thought Beast Boy.
"Let us eat!" shouted Starfire as if she was about to open a birthday present.
Each Titan and Strata took a bite of a waffle. At first there was no reaction but moments later…
Raven felt her entire body begin to cry out as all of her inner selves from Happy to Hatred screamed, "NO!" in unison as her psyche was shattered from the waffle assault. "Excuse me," she stammered and vanished in a flash of dark energy.
Beast Boy suddenly fell backwards, "Oh no! I think I just lost an entire animal family in my DNA!" He began involuntarily morphing, cycling through the aardvark family.
Cyborg paused for a moment, "Ah, calm it Beast Boy, this isn't so bad…" His words were cut short as his head shot up three feet from his body attached to a spring—a safety measure to separate his throat from his stomach. "Oh great," he said as his left arm fell off, rejecting the contaminated body it once called home.
Robin was banging his head on the counter in pain. Starfire saw this as the Tamaranian head banging of joy. "Well, Robin, do you think I am a pretty good cook?" She failed to notice Strata doubled over on the floor next to Beast Boy screaming, "The pain! The pain! Oh, the torture!"
Robin could not put his feelings into words, "You're…pretty…something."
Starfire of course took this completely different from its intent, "You think I'm PRETTY? Oh Robin!" Absolutely elated, she embraced Robin with a Tamaranian hug that would have crippled a polar bear. "I ALWAYS like to be pretty for you, Robin! I was never sure how you felt but, oh, Robin!"
Robin was not sure how to deal with what was happening. The world was spinning so quickly and he was getting low on oxygen. Also, he was now fairly sure that a rib had broken. He noticed the open fridge and was surprised to see that several items were missing that he was sure were there last night like soy sauce, cooking sherry, etc. "Say, Starfire, I notice we're getting low on food. Why don't you go to the store and get us restocked while we sit here and enjoy your waffles?"
Starfire would have moved a mountain had Robin asked her at that moment. "Oh yes, Robin, but who will go with me? Last time, Cyborg was upset that I only brought mustard home. Will you go with me?"
Robin needed a quick excuse to avoid a perilous shopping trip with Starfire, and he realized he was going to need a lot of time in the restroom very quickly, "Gee, Star, I'd love to but I need to work on the R-Cycle, can any of you guys go?" He gazed around the room. Cyborg's head was still half-way up the wall, and Beast Boy's morphing had progressed to the sloth family.
Strata shot up in pain, totally unaware of what was happening, "Aaaaaah! The horror! The horror!"
"Oh, Strata says he will go with me! This will be fun! I get to shop with someone new today!" exclaimed Starfire.
"What? What's going on?" said Strata, totally unaware of this new threat.
"Let's go!" yelled Starfire, grabbing Strata by the hand and flying, holding him while doing so, out an open window. "We will have such fun!"
"Aaaah!" yelled Strata, suddenly finding himself 60+ feet in the air.
"Yes! Let's yell!" shouted Starfire, "Wheeeee!"
"Aaaah!" screamed Strata, as Starfire did a cartwheel in mid-air. She loosened her grip and he almost plummeted to the ground but caught her ankle. Starfire raced towards the city with Strata holding onto her ankle, wishing that he'd never heard of waffles.
"Well, that's over," said Cyborg, as they flew out of sight. "Will someone get me my arm?"
Cyborg's traitorous left arm radiated dark energy and floated into his right palm as Raven floated up from the floor and back into the main room. "Thanks, Rae," said Cyborg.
"Don't mention it," said Raven with a very vacant look on her face. "As soon as Beast Boy stops changing into squirrels we need to talk about Strata."
Strata had forgotten how long it had been since had touched the ground. He thought he might have lost his sense of time in the last barrel roll that Starfire did on their way to the supermarket. Still tightly clinching her ankle, he wondered whether or not he was going to have to use his powers to form a parachute in the next few minutes.
Starfire was so happy that Strata had volunteered to come to the market with her. She hoped he was recognizing the "joy of flight" with her. It was so good to make new friends though. This one did seem to scream a lot though, especially when they had flown by that helicopter. She wanted to impress Strata by showing him how close she could fly by the helicopter blades. It was a pity that Robin had stopped flying with her citing "perilous conditions," whatever that meant. She rode on the back of the R-cycle with him all the time; why would he never let her fly him around the city? "Friend Strata are you experiencing the joy of flight?"
"I'm definitely experiencing something," shrieked Strata as a flock of geese flew past him. "Say, how far is this market?"
"Oh we passed it several times," smiled Starfire, "I have been flying in circles so we could have more fun."
Strata was not quite sure how to take that new piece of information. "Shouldn't we get going?"
"Okay, Strata, we shall go do 'the shopping,'" answered his pilot with a giggle that would have made stoics jump off of bridges.
Starfire landed outside the market. Strata felt his chest to make sure that his heart was still there, "That was quite a ride," he said.
"Yes, we shall go extra fast on the way back," said Starfire, "let's get going."
They entered the Jump City market, known simply as "JumpMart." The store was busy with shoppers getting various foodstuffs for their families. Starfire got a shopping cart and began scanning the produce with Strata following alongside, simply glad to have discovered that gravity still existed.
Starfire picked up an apple, "Oh, look," she said, "it is the little red fruit with the good middle. What are they called—marshmallows?"
Strata barely restrained himself from rolling on the floor in laughter, "No, those are apples," he said, deciding to not mention that the cores were the inedible part.
"Oh, we must get some," said Starfire. "Robin says that he likes these. I put the middles in his food all the time." She moved on and picked up a banana, "I love the skin of these," she said, "And Beast Boy likes the middles, especially when he's a monkey.—which reminds me, he's taken to eaten dog food lately…."
"Yeah bananas are pretty basic," he laughed to himself, "so what about mustard?"
"The drinks are a few aisles down," said Starfire with utter sincerity. "We will get there after getting the peanut butter—it's good between toes."
Strata was still taking in that new piece of data about Starfire in (all of it was really starting to hurt his head, though that still could be remnants from waffle poisoning) when the JumpMart intercom, which had been announcing a 3 for 2 sale on squash-flavored pretzels, spoken by a lady who was clearly very bored and overworked, was interrupted in a flurry of static by a man with a very strange drawl who screamed every sentence:
"Attention JumpMart shoppers! You're regularly scheduled announcements of squash sales and elevator music have been interrupted for some rockin' good robbin' by none other than yours truly, Punk Rocket! Now if the lowly teens at the checkout counter would please open the register's and send all the money inside this way, we can cut this show off early! Any trouble and you guys get a benefit concert from yours truly, got that?"
To be continued…I originally wrote the chapter to keep going here, but it got too long so I cut it in half and made the rest chapter 7. Punk Rocket (from the Teen Titans' lost episode at Postopia's website) is robbing the market and only Strata and Starfire can stop him! What will occur in the battle? And what of the other Titans who are discussing Strata's revelations to Raven? Keep reading people! This is only part of this special 2-chapter update! Please R&R people this is a 3,700 word update with a 1,500 word intro! That's worth at least a flame! And consider putting an alert on this story if you like it, I promise to make it worth your reading.