Hello again, it is good to be back with a new chapter. I again thank all my reviewers, and I hope that you all enjoy the replies I send. Writing this story and interacting with all of you has been a joy to me this past several months. To my new readers for whom this is your first taste of this story, I am thrilled to have you join this tale. For timing purposes with the series now completed (boo!), this story takes place between seasons 4 and 5 (after Trigon, before BoE, mainly because I need Jinx to still be evil as she still was when I started this tale).

As several of you may remember, I dislike long introductions; however, I am going to step back from the story for a moment like I did in Chapter 6 and give a quick summary here in Chapter 15 of what has been happening so far, particularly for new readers. This does not mean that anyone should no go back and read the previous chapters for in doing so one would miss a great deal, and I am only going to cover the finest surface with this summary of the characters:

The Raging Ragnarok: "The Mighty Beast" is the mysterious hulking entity that has now twice struck Jump City, some years apart from each strike with mysterious malice. Ragnarok always seems to be yelling for some unknown enemy and strikes down all that attempt to oppose his rage. Consumed by an unexplainable rage, which masks a deeper and even more mysterious sorrow, the behemoth is 20 feet tall and clad in dark purple armor with red trim. In his spherical helmet is the only opening: two eye-like dots of flame on a slit of blackness. Powers include phenomenal strength, flight, heat-beam vision, and the ability to form a giant sword that sends out massive shockwaves. The full degree of Ragnarok's intelligence is unknown as is his past. Most recently destroyed large sections of the east side of Jump City in Chapters 12-14.

Ragnarok has twice fled the city after conversations with Raven in which his rage breaks down and the sorrow emerges. Reasons for this are unknown. What else is "known" about Ragnarok is anecdotal from Strata, who may not be the most truthful source. Strata claims to be Ragnarok's jailer and is able to "sense" Ragnarok's second appearance years after the first. Strata claims Ragnarok was one of three survivors of a war that destroyed Strata's home but that Ragnarok was on neither side of the war. This is perplexing because in his last encounter with Ravem; Ragnarok did not recognize Strata's name.

The Severing Strata: This enigmatic, red-haired young man appeared in town after helping the Titans battle the HIVE 5 and helping Starfire battle Punk Rocket. Strata is gifted with powers that allow him to form simple objects using an internal blue energy (weapons, tools, miscellaneous objects). The objects are only solid in his hands and disappear when his breaks contact or is forced to let go. The objects are not indestructible—both Jinx and Punk Rocket have created forces powerful enough to break them. Strata cannot create objects much larger than himself, nor can he make complex machines. Strata can "fire" objects from his palm but only when they are tethered to his hand by a cord, string, or chain that he forms. He wears a black jacket with black pants and a red T-shirt. On his metal belt, he carries a small metal box magnetized to his belt which contains three objects—only of which has been identified—a photograph of Strata and a young girl who he says is his dead sister Alisha. He wandered into town with a green backpack.

Strata is very close-lipped about his past and has avoided giving details and is surrounded by his unconfirmed rumors. He claims to be the last surviving member of his homeland (location unknown) where he fought in a war against an evil tyrant—a war tha the says ended in a stalemate. Strata claimed to Raven to have failed his last mission in that war. Strata claims to be Ragnarok's "jailer", a statement he has not elaborated on except that no one else could do it. He claims that he can track Ragnarok's power and when his anger peaks, that his jail cannot contain him.

The reasons Strata came to the Titans is somewhat vague. Strata has claimed to have no purpose for coming to the city, yet he has told Raven that he was coming to see her because she was his "hope" against Ragnarok as she had survived an encounter with him once before. He said that this was "a fool's hope", with little chance of succeeding. Strata has been missing for some time since suddenly leaving the Titans hours before Ragnarok returned. He was last confirmed collapsing in an alley after a second battle with the HIVE 5 right before Ragnarok descended. He is the prime suspect in the theft of the T-Ship.

Raven: The darkest Titan has twice made Ragnarok fly away by talking to him. She seems to be a key against him, but there are no available reasons for this.

HIVE 5: Juvenile criminals who have twice encountered Strata. Jinx, in particular, hates Strata. They were last seen fleeing Ragnarok.

Punk Rocket: Criminal who used sound waves to fight. He was defeated by Starfire and Strata.

Alisha: Green-haired young girl in Strata's photograph who he says his deceased younger sister.

Evil tyrant: Unnamed enemy who Strata claims was responsible for destroying his home and is the third claimed survivor of that war. This person has not made an appearance in the story at all, but I list him because Strata brings him up a few times. Or, as I posted earlier: "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."

So, we continue on with the story as the Titans have returned to the Tower after surviving their second battle with Ragnarok. Large parts of the city are still on fire, the bridge is demolished, and the T-ship has been stolen from the hangar with Strata as main suspect. The sun is rising…

"The Bird, The Boy, and The Mighty Beast"

Chapter 15: At Least We're Already Wet

All the Titans slept in late. Morning training sessions were cancelled by Robin, as no practice sessions on the rocks at the base of the Tower could equal the beating that the team had taken from Ragnarok hours earlier. Their dreams varied. Starfire dreamed about Robin and dancing and puppies and a Tamaranian dance called the "kupquick" which involved throwing the shorter partner high onto a balcony ledge and landing in gravy. It was good that Robin never found out about this dream lest he be in anymore pain then what Ragnarok inflicted on him hours earlier.

Cyborg's dreams were somewhat more of a paradox. Half of his dream was spent imagining beating Beast Boy at a round of Stankball, and the other half of his dream was occupied by binary code—sequences of ones and zeroes—which probably added up to the score of the Stankball game that he had been dreaming about. Beast Boy's dreams are somewhat too fragmented to describe, but a moped was involved in every segment.

Raven's dream as somewhat more troubling for the female Titan. Her dream was a nightmare, and she saw Azarath burning with her father standing over the ruins laughing. Flames scorched the sky, and she could see her mother Arella cowering as people fled the wrath of the demon lord. Suddenly, her vision changed and the flames were burning Jump City. The Titans' city was alit in mighty pillars of flame and burning sulphur. The Tower was charred skeleton. Her father was there, and the citizens of the city were statues. Then suddenly, the form of her father changed into a large purple-clad figure, the Raging Ragnarok. Screaming for his enemy, the mammoth figure burned another building with his eye-beams and pointed his enormous cutlass at Raven and roared so that the city shook. Raven felt a hand on her shoulder in her dream and turned to see Strata standing next to her. He extended his hand towards her and brushed a stray hair on her forehead back as he had done when they had talked for so long on the rooftop. "Don't worry, Raven," said Strata, "I'm sure a smart girl from Azarath like you could figure it out." Her vision was then obscured by flames, separating her from Strata as she saw the T-Ship fly away towards the starts. Her wanderings in the world of dreams then ended, and she awoke.

For the curious, Robin dreamed about Starfire, but he'd be angry if that was told.

Cyborg was the first to awake, needing the least amount of time for him to "recharge", about 11:00 that morning. Robin was the next awake. Both of them had a quick breakfast/lunch and proceeded to work repairing damage in the T-Ship hangar from the night before. Starfire was the next awake followed shortly by Raven while Beast Boy finally awoke. Beast Boy passed on his usual meal of non-dairy waffles as he discovered he had eaten his pillow in the form of a pit bull the night before.

"Good morning, Friend Beast Boy," said Starfire, totally ignorant of the fact it was practically noon, "Did you rest the good sleep?"

"Yeah, Star, I had this great dream about…err…can't quite remember…let's see…umm…anyway, there was this killer moped!"

"I am glad," said the princess, "Raven did you dream the good dream?"

"No mopeds here," said Raven, sipping herbal tea. "Just my usual wonderful nightmares."

"I am happy for you," said Starfire, completely missing Raven's entire message, "I danced the kupquick all night long."

"The cupwhat?" asked Beast Boy, "How does that go?"

Starfire, too dangerously giddy to describe her "experience" with her dreamed Boy Wonder, was all too happy to explain. She grabbed Beast Boy by the arms and began spinning around the room with him flailing though the air, "It is a dance of great passion and GRAVY! It goes like this!" And with that, she threw Beast Boy into the air until the youngest Titans crashed into the ceiling and fell to the ground in the thud. "There was, however, no ceiling in my dream, and no one got hurt. I've noticed your Earth dances are very high on safety."

"Urrrrr…" was all the response Beast Boy could supply, the experience having reminded him of Ragnarok throwing him around as a whale the night before.

"Raven, would you like to try the kupquik?" asked Starfire.

"No thank you Starfire, I already have enough bruises after last night. Why don't you show it to Robin?" Raven paused for a moment having not until now realizing the damage this suggestion could cause, but now it was to late.

"Oh yes, Friend Raven, Robin did like the dance a lot in my…I mean, he might find it most enjoyable!" Starfire floated off to find Robin.

"Urrr…" groaned the green Titan from the floor, "What truck just hit me?"

"I believe that was the kupquick delivery van; you ordered take out. Good news though, it was meat-free."

Beast Boy groaned, "I think I'll skip dessert. You up for Stankball?"

This time Raven groaned. "I need to meditate." She heard something hit the floor below her hard, "And Robin will need an aspirin," she added. With that, she levitated up through the ceiling.

For Raven, it was customary for her to meditate in her room. Therein, she was most able to avoid disruptions associated with living in the Tower such as Stankball, loud music, and Starfire's always all-encompassing hugs. However, today Raven levitated into her room and continued upwards through the ceiling until she was on the roof of the Tower. Today, she wanted to meditate upon the destruction of the city.

Raven gazed eastward into the city. She could still see smoldering pillars of smoke rising from the city's eastward age. The fire department would be very busy putting out Ragnarok's flames today. The smell of the city had changed. Everything smelled of smoke, and a sizeable part of the city was covered in ash and cinders. Flames still dotted a few features of the Jump City skyline. Many buildings had devolved into charred skeletons. The early afternoon sun was bright, and it was an insult to Raven's eyes for there was nothing out there that she wanted to see clearly.

The fires were too familiar to Raven. They reminded her of home before she had been sent here to Earth. Most of Azarath had burned during her father's tyrannical rule over her home city. Only shadows of the city's once magnificent pre-Trigon glory were visible and those who had survived her father were now too melancholic and despondent to care. As Raven stared towards the smoldering piles of buildings, she resolved not to let the same fate befall her new home. Jump City was bruised; that was clear, but most of it was still standing tall. It would survive, and lift would continue here. But what if…no, when…Ragnarok came back? How could they stop him when they still were not sure how they…no, she…had somehow stopped him before?

There was much for Raven to brood on. She steeled her senses and reclined into a low levitation and separated herself from her physical surroundings. She would need extensive time to ponder today. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos…Azarath Metrion Zinthos," she began to chant.

In her deep meditation, Raven lost her sense of time. She meditated for hours until the afternoon began to wane. As such, she mused on the south side of the Tower totally unaware that the T-Ship had landed on the roof of a building a few blocks north.

Out of the ship, stepped a figure clad in black pants, red T-shirt, and a black jacket. His red hair glistened with the sun, which was falling to the west. He wore metal belt to which a small metal box was attached to by a magnet on his right side. On his feet were black hiking boots. On his back, the stranger wore a large green backpack. The figure reached into the metal box and withdrew a small photograph, showing him laughing with a small green-haired girl on his back. "Alisha," he said, addressing the picture, "it looks like it's time for the Severing Strata to make a comeback." With that, he replaced the picture and gazed southward toward the Tower. "Time for a reunion with my hopeful moonbeam," smiled Strata.

The mysterious newcomer stepped away from the T-Ship and walked towards the edge of the roof on which he was perched. Extending his right arm upwards, a small bar of blue energy emitted upward out of his hand for a short length. Energy then emitted out of the tip of that blue extension in either direction. With an instinctive focus, Strata turned the upwards extension into a solid blue bar coming out of his palm. The top energy perpendicular to the bar then narrowed and formed two blades bolted loosely to the bar. Strata then manipulated the blades to spin rapidly, and the stranger rose off the rooftop by his own improvised personal helicopter rotor. When he had gained enough altitude to be taller than the Tower, Strata then began flying slowly towards the Tower, his helicopter blades rotating rapidly above his head. "Not a lot of speed like this," thought Strata, "but it is far less conspicuous than flying that ship back."

On the Titans' rooftop, Raven continued her meditations. She felt time and space become irrelevant in her surroundings. Slowly, she quieted her emotions inside of her and tried to bring her mind, body, and life into proper perspective. Something was nagging inside her though; there was a disturbance. Raven felt her concentration slipping; there was a problem with her tranquility. Her state was not yet totally serene. She felt something within…no, it was from outside her self bothering her. It was a noise…what was it? And why had the wind suddenly picked up? Was that not a helicopter? Raven opened her eyes in time to see Strata descending onto the Tower roof on the far side away from her. She stood up, her hood still being down, and walked with considerable force into the pavement towards the enigmatic stranger.

"Lost, Strata?" said Raven with a smile that doubled as a sneer, "Because I know you wouldn't dare show your face here again on purpose less than 24 hours after you walked out of here on me!"

"Ah, Raven, you're glad to see me back then? How wonderful! I am very glad too see you too—alive no less! That I was not suspecting! You did it! I am coming by to offer my deepest congrats on handling Ragnarok and…"

Strata was interrupted by a rather irate Azarathian maid, "Where is the T-Ship, thief? I'm sure you took it."

"The T-Ship?" Strata was knocked off his train of thought, "Let's see…let's see…oh yes, the flying orange thing in the garage! Now, I remember. But surely Raven, you don't think I would steal from you and then come right back to the scene of the crime would you?"

"Yes."

"Oh, ok," Strata seemed a but puzzled as if he had been expecting that to go differently, "In that case, it's on the roof of the tallest building three blocks north."

"So you did take it?"

"Ah…err…yes, yes, I did take it. Please note: I did bring it back. It was necessary."

"Necessary for you to flee until the danger was passed, hmm?"

"Now, now, don't go accusing me of such nasty tactics. Let's just say it was needed, and you weren't using it at the time."

"Why did you take it, Strata?" Raven glowered at the mystery teenager.

"Hmm…well, let's see…oh, yes…that's it!"

"Spill it!"

Strata paused for a moment looking thoughtful, "I'm not going to tell you."

Black energy danced around Rave's clinched right fence, "Oh, I think you are. Where's Ragnarok?"

"In an inquisitive mood are you, Raven? Planning to fight me?"

"Yes, I must admit that despite all my meditations up here; the happiest place I can think of right now is having my hands around your neck for deserting me at the door last night."

"I must admit I have had a nasty streak of making young women extremely angry with me lately. But, what shall we fight for?"

"When I beat you, you will tell me all you know."

"That will be a short conversation, Raven, but what happens when I win?"

"You will tell me all you know."

"No, no, I need some sort of incentive to bring out my best stuff. :Let's see…" Strata paused for a moment and stared at his toes in thought, "When I win, you have to say something nice about me."

"That'll be an even shorter conversation."

A crate covered in black energy flew up from behind Raven and headed straight for Strata. The teen ran straight towards the crate, and blue energy began to form in his right hand. The blue trickles of energy quickly formed a large sledgehammer which Strata swung at the crate, breaking it in mid-air. Strata ran at Raven and swung his hammer. Raven held up her hand and a black sheet of energy received the blow, and she stepped backward. Strata re-swung his hammer, and Raven blocked it with another layer of black energy. The hammer shrunk into another form of blue energy and reformed along Strata's forearm as a large rotating drill bit. Strata's left hand glowed as well, and his arm on that side became a blue drill bit as well. Strata launched a series of jabs at Raven with his spinning appendages, but Raven continues to block his every assault.

Strata laughed, "Going to call your friends for help?"

Raven was steaming, "No, you're mine!" She disappeared with a flash of black as Strata jabbed again. Connecting with nothing but air, the boy was confused for a moment until Raven rose from the ground behind him. She yelled and through her arm forward, and a stream of black energy darted from her hand sending Strata straight to the ground. The impact made him release his drills and they disappeared.

Strata rolled on the ground, dodging two dark energy enveloped crates that came crashing down from the sky. He darted towards his feet and charged Raven, with a newly formed blue piston enveloping his left arm. The piston lurched forward at Raven who dodged right. Strata had been waiting for that and formed a boxing glove on his right hand and tried to right hook Raven. The girl through up another black shield breaking his punch, then another to dodge a second piston volley. Strata then raised his boxing glove, and it fired at Raven like a projectile from Strata's fist, connected back to his hand by a thin cord of energy. The projectile glove slammed into Raven's right cheek, and the blue-robed Titan went flying backwards.

"That's my sucker punch," bragged Strata.

"Here's my sucker explosion," said Raven, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" The ground exploded under Strata's feet in a bevy of dark energy, and the wanderer was sent hurdling backwards. Both combatants looked at each other from their respective collapsed positions on the Tower rooftop.

Strata grinned, "You know the only reason you're mad at me is because I was right."

"What was that?" shouted Raven, bounding up to her feet.

"You heard me." Strata got up to his feet. "I was right about you, my little moon."

"Do you never stop? Where is Ragnarok?"

"Ah, you have to beat me, remember, for that piece of info? And I'm still smiling." Strata gave Raven a very wide toothy grin.

"You know what I like about Ragnarok more than you? At least the raging monster goes away when I talk to him, you just can't seem to quit. Time to end this!" Raven levitated several feet into the air. She held her arms outward, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" A black beam of her dark energy fired out at Strata below.

Strata covered the beam, creating a large blue shield to receive the powerful force. The shield blocked the dark energy, though it showed a few cracks from the effort, and Strata has to step back to handle it. "If that's the best you got, Raven, I can feel that insincere complement on its way right now."

"Insufferable pest! I hope you enjoy defeat!" growled Raven.

"Knowing me, I just might," retorted Strata. "Why don't we be friends, and you come down here and give me a hug?"

"I don't give h…" Raven stopped mid-sentence before a mischievous grin appeared on her face. "You know, I have a hug for you right here! Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

Whatever Strara thought might happen, he guessed that it probably would not be pleasant. He was very right as a large band of dark energy appeared around him and enveloped his torso. With a flick of her wrist, she raised Strata, bound by the energy into the air across from her. "Time to give up, Strata," said Raven.

Strata looked around the skyline, "That's a pretty sunset. Purple used to be by favorite color, until Ragnarok came—the purple armor, it doesn't work for me anymore. That purple and red sunset reminds me of home. Clouds coming in; looks like rain."

Raven just sighed, "I'm starting to think you're attention-deficit disordered, Strata. Have you not noticed that you're suspended in mid-air and in my powers?"

Strata glanced toward Raven and smiled, "Raven, do you like jewelry?"

Raven glared at him, "Sure, I'm covered in diamonds here; will you just give up so I can interrogate you and get some dinner?"

Strata paid little notice to Raven, "You see, back home, before everybody died in the war, I used to give the girls jewelry. I can make the nicest jewelry, Raven. The problem was that I can only afford my own jewelry that I made myself, and when you give a girl an ankle bracelet of friendship or love made out of blue energy, and it disappears the moment you move your hand away—you really lose the beneficial effect of jewelry. It turns out that my diamonds aren't forever—HA! Would you like an ankle bracelet of friendship, Raven?"

"No."

"Ooo…love, then?"

"No."

"That's tough because I worked really hard on that one that you're wearing."

Raven looked down and felt very silly. A faint cord of energy was running from one of Strata's hands and leading to Raven's feet. The cord was attached to a ring which as wrapped around Raven's ankles and binding her feet together. Raven realized that Strata had subtly and slowly created this during his rambling about the sun and jewelry while she was too preoccupied with him to notice the cord coming from his right hand from under her energy bindings.

Strata wiggled his fingers and ropes of energy shot out of the ankle binding and blue ropes wrapped themselves around Raven until she bound in a net of blue energy. This forced her hands to her sides, and she let go in surprise of her mental hold on Strata. The black energy vanished, and Strata landed on the tower's rooftop still holding his cord. He began recoiling the cord into his palm by retracting his own energy, and Raven was pulled out of the sky.

Strata began rotating his body while holding his clasped hands out while cluthcing the cord. He spun Raven, still wrapped in the net, around in circles like a moon orbiting a planet, with Raven being a very blue satellite. Raven yelped an uncharacteristic shriek as Strata released the cord, the net and her ankle binding disappeared and she was launched into a pile of wooden crates.

"You see, Raven," said Strata, walking towards the crates from under which Raven was buried. "You're just mad because I was right about you. You are special, and you are filled with hope deep down. I'd never desert you; I just had to go run some errands. Believe me; it's better that way. You are my hope, Raven, and I now see that I was very right to come here after you." There was no response from the pile of boxes. "Raven, I hope you're thinking up a good complement under there. For this, you better say something really good." There was no response, and darkness was setting in. "Hey, you down there?" Strata formed two blue swords in both his hands. "If you're going to pop up behind me, I'm ready this time."

The crates rustled and then went flying through the air in every direction as a black shadow emerged from the pile and towered over them and Strata. Clad in a dark blue cloak, the shadow was pitch blackness from which nothing could be seen. At the top of the shadow was the thing outline of Raven's mouth and four pointed eyes the color of fire. "So, you like to play rough do you Strata?" emitted the mouth, with a voice hollow and violent, "Why don't you come over here, and I'll see what presents I have for you." Two dark shadow-like tentacles came out from the dark void and wormed their way towards Strata.

Strata eyes were so big that it was remarkable that his head could contain them. He backed away with terror on his face. "So, Raven," he murmured in a very low voice, "I see that there is something dark and violent inside you." The tentacles shot toward him, and Strata raised his swords and severed them both. The remainders vanished in a puff of smoke, and the clouds boomed from impending thunder. "Raven, don't be like this! There are better things inside you! Don't let rage and hatred take you over!"

The shadow hissed from its raised position and the eyes narrowed, "What's the matter, Strata? Didn't you want to see me?" Two large shadow hands with claw-like fingers projected from the shadowy monster and came at Strata. Strata rolled out of the way, and he fired one of his swords at the extensions. Attached to his hand by a chain, the sword cut through both extensions, and the hands disappeared.

"I see our projections have a similar weakness. Try this!" Strata launched the other sword at the shadowy void, tethered to his hand by a chain. The shadowy figured laugh and the sword vaporized on contact with the void.

"You do not have the power to fight me, stranger," remarked the voice from inside. It echoed though there was no surface to echo from.

"Maybe not, but I do have the machine!" called Strata. He reached into his small metal box on his belt, and he took out his second object—a small gray square with strange markings on the back that resembled a PDA—the only recognizable one a bright purple "Z" in the center along with a small antenna on the side of the device. On the side Strata was holding was an array of buttons and a very small display screen. Strata hit a few keys on this device. The shadow launched two more tentacles, but Strata paused long enough to chop them down with a tethered boomerang.

As Strata hit his final buttons on the object, a whooshing noise was heard as a large black object came rising up from the sky behind him until it was eye-level with the shadowy monster. It was a solid black triangle, though the back line was in a zigzag pattern, with no visible markings or openings except a few vents from which it could apparently use to hover and fly. The was about thirty feet wide and twenty feet long and ten feet in height. Strata punched a button on his gray device and two powerful pink energy beams fired from small openings on the forward point of the hovering triangle (isosceles). The beams crashed into the shadow and sent the beast toppling towards the ground. Strata pressed a few buttons, and the triangle landed on top of the tower.

Strata ran toward the collapsed blue figure, "Raven," he said, turning her on her back his hands so he could see her face, "Are you there?"

The blue-clad Titan emitted a slow moan, "Strata…you stopped the rage."

"Are you okay?"

Raven looked up again, "Thanks to you; you're a good shot."

"Thanks, I'll take that as my victory complement."

"What is that thing?"

Strata looked toward the triangle, which was about the size of the T-Ship, "That, my dear Raven, is my spaceship. It's my personal fighter from the war back home. I can remote control it with this," he showed her the gray device before putting it back in his metal box. Raven groaned again.

"You sure you're okay?"

"I'll be fine; I can heal myself tonight, thanks to you. It's funny; you've saved Cyborg and Starfire, and I still want to pummel you."

"I'll just write that off as lingering inner-shadow monster…those eyes."

"The products of bad parenting…"

"…Your father…"

"Yes, help me up."

Strata helped Raven up to her feet. The rain began to fall. Raven spoke next, "This may help put out all the fires."

"You know I didn't want those, Raven. I would have done anything to stop them. I came here to bet on you; that you could be a key to stopping them. I was right. If not for your presence, this whole city would be in flames along with more cities right now."

"How did I stop Ragnarok?"

"I didn't know until a few minutes ago. Much like Ragnarok you struggle with something inside of you…hatred…rage…perhaps that means something to him."

"You mean he thinks I'm his kindred spirit…thanks…that's just great."

It began to rain hard. Soon both Raven and Strata were soaked.

Strata spoke next, "I don't think it's like that. I think you're special, Raven, and I think something about you struggling to contain your rage…to do what Ragnarok cannot…that may be a power that he cannot comprehend."

Raven lowered her head, "I'm…I'm…sorry about tonight Strata…being who I am is very hard."

Strata smiled and raised her chin up so her eyes met his with his finger, "That's ok; I know what it means to be from a place of fire. Sadly, this burning city reminds me of home." He brushed a raindrop from her cheek.

"Where is Ragnarok, Strata?"

"Your contact with him put him back in prison. He's back in my jail, still as angry and sorrowful as ever."

"Will he get out again?"

"Yes, he will; that's unavoidable now. His rage is too strong. It will not be a long absence like before; he will come soon."

"Are you going to leave again when he does?"

Strata looked down at the city, "I don't know what to do anymore. You are still my best hope, but I left because I did not want to put you in anymore danger. You're special, Raven; I can see that now. You're too special to have to deal with both your inner rage and Ragnarok's. I took your T-Ship to get my spaceship. It's been in the bottom of the bay since I got here."

Raven suddenly realized something, "The mysterious object no one could find when Ragnarok first fell from the sky—that was your ship?"

"Yes, it's been at the bottom of the bay. It was designed as a stealth ship, and it's hard to find. I needed the T-Ship to go underwater to two it up—my controller's signal won't work underwater. I've been wandering the planet all this time because I did not have it. When Cyborg said the T-Ship doubled as a sub, I knew I needed it to get my own ship back."

"So you weren't in it when it fell in the water?"

"No, I got here…another way…"

"Mysterious again?"

"Yes."

The night rain continued to poor. Strata looked down at Raven and brushed a stray wet hair from her face. "You're wet, my little moon."

"So are you, mysterious stranger."

"What shall I do now, Raven?"

"Raven looked at him squarely. I've come to a decision about that. I came to this planet to help people before my father came…to do good before this planet joined Azarath in the flames. We saved this planet when it needed us; we even saved it from my father. Now you need help Strata, and like I was, you are plagued with coming flames that you have no hope to stop. So, I am going to help you however I can. The Titans will help you. This is your function now; you're staying with us until we can stop Ragnarok—however we might do that."

"Ah, so I'm your prisoner. Are you going to chain me toward something."

"Goodness go, I'm going to keep you busy putting ankle bracelets on Beast Boy."

Strata laughed, "Raven, whatever happened to your father? How did you destroy him?"

Raven looked melancholy again, "I…I…don't think I destroyed him. I closed the portal—me that he came through and sent him back through. My father was in a sort of prison before he came here. He needed me to fulfill the prophecy that let him out. I put him back in; I could not destroy him; I'm not sure anything can."

"So he could still come after you?"

Raven seemed crestfallen, "I don't know how long that prison would hold him; it held him for a number of years before he came here. He's like Ragnarok like that."

Strata smirked and a shadow fell over his face, "Your father is still alive in his prison…there are far too many monsters in our lives," he whispered.

"Too much rage," agreed Raven.

Strata looked at her again as the rain continued to soak them. "How will you get the others to let me stay?"

"I'll make them understand; don't leave me…us, again."

"Don't worry; from now on, I'm like your second shadow."

"Great," said Raven, "Another one."

The Tower alarm went off, and Raven's communicator beeped.

"Maybe somebody finally noticed I'm here," said Strata.

Raven answered her communicator to hear Robin's voice, "Raven! Cinderblock has been spotted in the warehouse district near the docks. Meet us out front!"

"On our way," said Raven. She closed the communications link before Robin could ask about the plural.

"Am I coming?" said Strata.

"It's going to take more than Cinderblock for you to escape again, Strata; I hope those hammers hit hard."

Strata smiled, "At least, we're already wet."

To Be Continued...

Ah, it feels so nice to update again. I hope all of you found Raven and Strata's latest escapade enjoyable. I must thank all my regular reviewers...PhoenixClaw, greatcreator, whitedarkness, it' s been great having you all along with all my other reviewers to whom I am obscenely greatful.

So, what's next. What is Strata's third object in the box? Where is he from anyway? What does an encounter with Cinderblock hold? Can Raven really find a way to defeat Raganarok for good? Is Strata still hiding anything? And what's the whole story behind that strange black ship that Strata can control? How will the other Titans respond to Strata's reappearance. Chapter 16 people! Chapter 16! Review this one; please--this update is 6,000+ words. I could use the feedback right now!