Hello readers, it is good to have you back. It has been some time since I was able to work on this projects, during which the entire Teen Titans series ended in that holdover (what were they thinking?). Still, with a made-for-TV movie out later this year, there is something for Titans fans to hope for. As for the delay, I offer only two words: grad school. If this is your first reading of this little adventure featuring Raven, an enigmatic young lad by the name of Severing Strata, and a an even more enigmatic beast by the name of Raging Ragnarok, feel free to leap back one chapter and read the summary I have written that shall help get you "caught up" to our story this far. Thanks to all who have reviewed. We now return to our heroes where Strata has re-joined the Titans as they pursue Cinderblock following an alarm in the warehouse district after Strata and Raven have dueled and made peace following a rather stressful sunset. It is still raining…

The Bird, The Boy,. and The Mighty Beast

Chapter 16: Into the Darkness

Rain—the monotony of the precipitation's percussion on the roof of the T-Car was the only accent to the Severing Strata's present existence. The water drops fell from the sky as if rejected by the heavens, seeking to blend in the sounds of their descent with the din of the T-Car's wheels on the asphalt. Noises were few; the interior of the T-Car was eerily quiet. As Strata stared out the window from the backseat on the passenger's side, behind Robin, he caught a small shimmer of light from the full moon peeking out from behind a particularly black cloud just before the silver satellite was again obscured by the dark sheets in the atmosphere. Strata turned his gaze to his left and made eye contact with Raven in the seat adjacent to him; her eyes gave him a clear message, "Not a word." Strata needed no reminders though, for he had determined that at this time he had nothing worth saying.

Cyborg drove fast in the rain. Robin sat in the passenger's seat with Starfire between them. Behind her in the rear was Raven while Beast Boy sat behind Cyborg, trying to think of a joke.

It was Cyborg who broke the silence, "Robin, we could hit Cinderblock with the artillery cannon if we need to…oh, wait! We lost the artillery cannon fighting Ragnarok! We could borrow a laser from the T-Ship, but somebody went off and took it!" Cyborg shot a nasty glare into the rear-view mirror in Strata's general reflection. Strata, unmoved, continued staring into the sky.

"Not now, Cyborg," began Raven, but she stopped as Strata touched her right hand. "Don't, Raven," whispered Strata at a barely audible tone, "I'm not worth it." Raven opened her mouth to object but Strata had returned to his gazing.

Starfire opened her mouth to attempt to say something friendly, but a gentle touch from Robin on her knee made her resist. She looked at Robin, and the Boy Wonder shook his head.

The conversation reintroducing Strata to the Titans had been brief. The Titans had been surprised to see Raven emerge last from the Tower with Strata following behind her. Raven had simply walked up to Robin and stared into his eyes and said, "He's coming." Robin opened his mouth to protest, but Raven simply said, "I'll handle it."

There was a moment of stunned silence for a moment, until Starfire had flown towards Strata and given him a giant hug, "Welcome back, Friend Strata, where did you go?" Strata had simply looked into the princess' eyes and sheepishly answered, "Hi, Starfire, nice to see you to." They had then quickly filed into the T-Car and began driving towards the docks.

Now they were approaching their destination, which was not far from the Tower (which was good, lest Strata die from dirty looks). Beast Boy looked out at a few of the collapsed warehouses. The docks were away from the battle site where the Titans had waged their second melee with Ragnarok, but it had suffered some damage from Ragnarok's bombardment from the sky above. The irony of Strata being with them was not lost on anyone; it was near here that Ragnarok had first descended from the sky two years ago.

"It's good that it's raining, ya' know, Strata," said Beast Boy, flashing his friendliest smile. "It might put all the fires out."

"Hopefully, this city can begin to heal soon," said the newcomer.

"All these warehouses destroyed in the dark; it's kina creepy," said Beast Boy.

Strata smirked. "You know what's even worse; it reminds me of home." Strata felt a subtle squeeze of his hand—a show of support (he hoped)—from Raven.

"Does it rain a lot at your home, Strata?" asked Beast Boy, not sure what to say and not noticing Robin's hand motions to stop talking.

"Not anymore Beast Boy. The last time I saw it; it was on fire. Once we had trees and rivers and sunshine and music and people. I played piano before I became a soldier. I was the lead pianist at the River Club. I even played the Governor's Ball once. Alisha used to listen to me practice instead of doing her homework. But then, that all stopped when the war came, when the tyrant came—the day everything I loved died." Beast Boy did not know what to say after this. Strata gazed out at the warehouses as Cyborg and Robin scanned the rainy scenery for signs of Cinderblock. In a few seconds he remembered how it had all ended…

Strata reminisced in the T-Car. His memories faded back to a time before war and Ragnarok…

Strata remembered standing at a small airstrip on the outskirts of his old city. He was clad in dark gray with three red bars on his lapel and a dark purple "Z" on the left shoulder of his suit, his military uniform. He had risen the ranks quickly in the war as he had become one of the unit's best pilots. He had just been selected to be one of the pilots for the new class of stealth space fighters. The airstrip was very near his home, and he was talking with one of his colleagues about the ongoing struggle.

Strata remembered the conversation, "Gradius, how did the strike on the other side of the river go?"

His colleague Gradius, clad in the same uniform with the same rank as Strata responded, "We're in bad shape Severon; at last contact, most of everyone had been wiped out. No matter how hard we try to hit them; they just keep coming."

"We're outnumbered against him, Gradius. We've done well to hold out this long. This war has been going on for one year. Our land is dying."

"Severon, we soon may be all that is left of the strike team. It seems like they have taken the command post in the north woods. They did not even have to attack it; their fires are spreading so quickly that the entire forest is burning. How goes your end?"

"I've got the modifications to the lasers on the ship ready. The special parts were not easy to obtain." Thunder boomed in the distance. "Do you have the remote?"

"Yes," said Gradius, reaching into the lapel of his coat and removing a small gray square that resembled a PDA with buttons and a small screen on one side. On the back were strange markings and a distinctively purple "Z" that matched the emblems on their uniforms. "Be sure to test it first. What is the chance of this working?" He handed the device to Strata.

Strata took the device and placed it in a small metal box that was magnetized to his metal belt. "I'll put it in here for safekeeping. The ship is behind my house. I'll be honest, Gradius; I don't know if this will work."

Gradius smiled, "Come on; you're Severon Stratanum, 'The Severing Strata,' I'm sure you can handle it."

Strata smiled and gazed out towards in the west. Smoke was rising from the tops of them, and lava was pouring down the sides. He had climbed those mountains many times when he was young. The geologists in the army said that there was no chance that they were really volcanoes, yet when the war had began and the enemy had come, the once green mountains were now sourced of fire and ash that rained soot across the countryside. The enemy was on those mountains and camped at the bottom of them. " 'The Severing Strata?' You have not called me that in a long time, Gradius."

"Hey, I bet you are still as good as you were your swords back then. You always beat me in the energy weapon fights. But what's really bothering you?"

"Alisha, if I don't come back, there will be no one there to watch over her. I'm all she has left since mom and dad died a few months ago."

"Hey, Severon, I don't want to hear that kind of talk from you. You're a survivor if nothing else. I know if everything else here comes to an end; you'll still be going."

"Thanks, I think."

"But, just in case, what will you do if this does not work?"

"I've given that some thought. I may have to try to get help from the neighbors."

"Over the mountains? Do you really think you can get the ship over them safely? Do you think they can…or even will…help us?"

"With the new weapons on the stealth ship, I think I can make it there. As for that second part, who knows? Best to just win now."

"I hear you there, Severon. Go see Alisha and get the ship ready. We launch our final strike to whatever end in three hours."

"It's my final mission then," said Strata, "Is it true that the tyrant is using mind control over our soldiers?"

Gradius shook his head, "I think that's just a rumor. I wouldn't worry though; your mind's about as valuable to him as a rasin."

"Very funny, I'll try to not to remember that as I'm flying the heavily armed ship above you."

Gradius laughed, "I need to get ready, 'Severing Strata.' Tell Alisha I said, 'hi.'"

"I will," said Strata, "though I fear greetings are little comfort when you are only saying hello to your end."

Strata was jolted our of his reminiscing when the T-Car stopped. "We're near the warehouse where the alarm went off," said Cyborg.

"Beast Boy," said Robin, "Do you think you can track him?"

"No way, the rain will have washed away all the scent. All I would get is an extra cold and wet doggy-nose."

The Titans and Strata got out of the T-Car. The rain was still pouring down. There was a flash of lightning. "Great," said Raven, "Just as I was starting to dry."

"Let's split up and look around," said Robin. "We'll go in three groups. I'll go with…Starfire," said Robin, feeling a circulation-cutting squeeze on his hand from the princess. "Beast Boy, you go with Cyborg, and Raven…" Robin eyed Strata suspiciously, "Watch your back."

Robin and Starfire ran in one direction while Cyborg and Beast Boy took off in another. Strata glanced over at Raven as the rain continued its percussion across the landscape. The stranger smiled, "I'm getting the distinct feeling that your leader does not trust one of us."

Raven gave a tired glance toward Strata as she meditated on the current situation. "Gee, Strata, I hope it isn't me," muttered the dark maiden. "What really bothers me is that I think I was just appointed your official guardian. Let's go and find Cinderblock so I can go home and finish that meditation sequence that you interrupted. You are refreshingly dark in your own way, but your company is somewhat of an energy drain. Also, it's wet."

"Refreshingly dark? I don't know whether to feel complemented or bothered by that my dear little moonbeam. In any case, being with me is not all that bad." Strata flicked his wrist as his hand glowed light blue with energy. An energy column grew out from his shining fist and enveloped their heads above them. That oscillating blue energy focused and materialized into an oversized umbrella covering both Raven and Strata.

Raven smirked, "My you're more prepared than a Boy Scout aren't you? Just for that I think I won't rotate your organs for that 'moonbeam' line you just tried to sneak past me."

"Ah, Raven, can't you just show a little gratitude?"

"I'd be truly grateful if you'd made that umbrella before we stepped out into the rain and gotten soaked. As of now, you're just adequate to the job. Follow me and do try not to do anything overly suspicious lest I mistake you for Cinderblock." Raven allowed herself a wry smile as she tugged Strata down a row of shipping crates.

The dark corridors of the loading docks were briefly illuminated by lightning overhead. Raven and Strata walked side-by-side under Strata's large blue umbrella. The cacophony of the rain complemented the small splashes their feet made in the drenched environment.

"Fire everywhere last night, and now the city is drenched," murmured Raven, "I think the forces of the world seem to be in awry."

"I hope that's just the gloomy Raven talking," muttered Strata, "Still, fate seems to be having its way with us. Perhaps destiny thought we needed a bath."

"Strata, may I ask you something?"

"You've never asked permission to question me before."

"Shut up. I'm trying to be serious here, and I want you to try to be a little less mysterious in this cold dark dank night so I can concentrate."

"Aw, I'm honored that my presence distracts you so much." Strata then noticed a seal of dark energy was covering his mouth.

"You've got Ragnarok jailed up right now right?" Strata nodded, as no sound was coming from his mouth. "And he's going to get loose again?" Strata nodded once more. "What will you do when that happens?" Strata shrugged his shoulders, and he pointed an index finger at Raven. It was wet from the rain.

"I don't know what I did earlier, if I did anything. You've got the wrong girl if you're looking for some heroine to save your butt." Strata hung his head in desperation and tapped his finger against Raven's forehead.

"Is Ragnarok inside that ship of yours somehow? Is he trapped in it? Do you have something that binds him?" Strata was non-responsive.

The sky was briefly lit by another lightning bolt before darkness again covered the horizon. The rain fell, cascading down crates and boxes, until it met gravity's will on the rough pavement of the dock. All that noise was contrasted by the silence of two people staring into one another's eyes under a makeshift blue energy umbrella beneath an ebony sky. Raven gazed into Strata and remembered her own internal pain when her father's rage had consumed her only two hours earlier on the roof of Titans Tower. "Did Strata's past give him such lingering sorrow too?" she wondered. "Was he also haunted by a figure who destroyed what was close to him?" Raven drew closer under the umbrella to the mysterious red-haired arrival. Trying to create some trust between them, she gently placed her left hand on his right shoulder and looked up at him. With a flick of her right thumb, the dark band covering his mouth disappeared. Raven narrowed her eyes for a moment as if studying the contours of Strata's eyes. The newcomer was unmoving.

"Strata," said Raven, pausing to gather herself, "As I look at you now, I can't help but wonder if I have been asking you the wrong questions up until now." She stopped for a moment and gazed down as if struggling with her words. "What I mean is…I…my father…hurt a lot of people…my friends…my mother…he…he…"

"…hurt you?" finished Strata, in an almost voiceless whisper.

"Hurt me…" said Raven. "As I look at you, I can't help but see the same hurt in your eyes." Raven's jaw was actually quivering; she felt something in her head was bout to meet with her heart and that some deep truth would come flying down from the sky in the midst of the rain and land between the two figures. She squeezed his shoulder as she framed her next question, wiping her damp forehead with her right palm. "Strata," stammered the girl from Azarath, "What happened to Alisha? Did Ragnarok do something to her? Did you become his jailer because he hurt your sister?"

Strata's eyes grew wide for a moment before he clinched them shut as if they would betray some sudden vulnerability behind them. When he reopened his eyes, his vision laid out Raven's face before him but not with the look her face formerly had of annoyance, questioning, or simple tolerance, but of genuine concern and—what was that?…pity.

His gaze looked left and right but found no object that could give him comfort as he felt a swell of memory burst upon himself. "Raven," he said in a low, soft voice, "I remember when I last saw her. I was coming back from a meeting with my partner Gradius; we had become field commanders in the army due to mostly attrition. I was to fly that ship you saw, my plane, on a mission to provide air cover to our last chance offensive charge against the tyrant. We were losing the war badly by then. Lava was flowing from the once pristine mountains, and the air was thick with ash. Tar would come out of the ground from places one would never expect. And, I went back to my house to get the ship, and I saw my sister."

"Will you tell me?" asked Raven, trying to find what pain had made her think of hers.

"Don't we need to find Cinderblock?"

Raven squeezed his shoulder again. "Who?" she replied with a weak smile.

Strata began his tale.

"I was coming back from my meeting with Gradius. Arriving home, Alica greeted me at the door. The ship was out back…"

"Brother! You're home!" squealed Alicia as she ran to meet Strata. The setting of their home was simple, a gray dome covered with soot from the dirty winds. Partitions divided the small dwelling into different rooms.

Strata rubbed the green-haired girl's head. "Hey, Squirt, what's up with you?"

"You were gone for a long time," said Alicia, in an accusing tone.

"Gradius gets a little long winded in his reports, Alica. I have a mission today."

"A mission? I thought you said you would try to stay home with me. Mom and Dad are gone now, and they went on a mission and never came back."

Strata staggered. Alicia was more alert then he gave her young years credit for. "Listen, Alicia," said Strata. "There's a lot of bad stuff coming here. I'm not sure what; the stories make it sound really scary. Lots of people going to the front line are just disappearing. If I don't go, then we could be in even bigger trouble. I don't want to see you get hurt; you're all I got left kid." He rubbed Alicia's head again.

"You're all I got left too, brother," moaned Alicia, "What if you don't come back?"

"If I don't come back…" said Strata, certain of what doom would occur if this last assault failed, "Aw, don't worry, kid. They may be tough, but they haven't beaten ME yet, so they're in for a real surprise."

Alicia allowed herself a small grin, "You said that before you tried riding that horse last summer."

Strata smiled, "And I rode that horse, my dear."

Alicia looked at him, "But you also fell off and broke your arm."

Strata chuckled, "Hey, I was on it for a couple of seconds." They both laughed.

Alicia looked at him, "Promise that you come back! Promise me that I'll see you again, Severon!"

Strata looked at the ground, unsure of what to say. He then gazed at his little sister, "I'll come back, Alicia. Nothing will stop me from fixing all of this."

Alicia reached in her pocket and took out a picture. "Here," she said, "take this picture with you—it's me and you."

Strata looked at it. "Hey, this is us from last year."

Alicia giggled, "It's the day before you broke your arm."

"Must you keep bringing that up?" They laughed again.

Strata put the picture in the metal box on his belt. "I'll put it in here with the ship controller. Time to get going; this will be a rough flight."

Alicia suddenly hugged him, "Don't make me wait for you again, Severon."

Strata allowed one tear to roll down his cheek, "I'll ask the enemy to be quick." He got to his feet. "I'll see you soon, Alicia."

Alicia watched him walk out the door, "Goodbye, Severon."

Strata looked at Raven, "That was the last I ever saw of her. I got in my ship, and I flew it towards the front lines over Gradius who was leading the ground forces' charge on foot below the mountains."

Raven looked at him closely. She knew the pain; she knew what it meant to feel like one had let one's people down with no way to reconcile that fact. "You knew you would fail that mission…your final one." She put her right arm around his neck and lowered her left arm around his back until they were almost embracing. "But I still don't understand…"

Strata put his free hand under her chin. "That was not my final mission. When I meant that I failed my last mission, I did not mean that flight. That flight started something that no one could have predicted."

Raven looked at him closely, "What? What happened next?"

Strata looked down at her, "Raven, I told you two nights ago that I was a bad jailer."

"Yes, because you can't keep Ragnarok locked up."

"Well, what if I told you that I was a bad jailer because I was supposed to have two prisoners?"

Raven backed away from him, "Please don't tell me that Ragnarok has a clone somewhere."

Strata shook his head, "No, thank goodness. My other jail cell, though calling it mine is actually a bit of a stretch—it was more of a group effort, could not ever be maintained indefinitely; it was not designed for that. It was a postponement, a redirection of the apocalypse. It was too late by then though; my home was gone."

Raven looked at him, "Who was it for?"

Strata smiled wryly, "Ragnarok's jailmate."

"And who was that?"

Strata looked at her, "The one Ragnarok wants dead more than anyone else, the one it is searching for, the one who is its most bitter opposite and yet its most unrivaled comparison…"

"His enemy…the one he is was yelling for?"

"Yes, interesting that you call that monster 'he.'"

"I feel Ragnarok's pain as well. He suffers."

"Do you have pity for Ragnarok? After what that monster did to your city in its rage?"

"There's more to him than rage, and I think you know what it is! But first, what became of his enemy?"

"He was sealed in his cell, then escaped, and then was blown to oblivion trying to escape or something. He's not a problem anymore, but try getting Ragnarok to believe that."

"So Ragnarok's enemy is…"

"Unimportant now, absolutely of no consequence, and I have an empty cell somewhere."

"You're being vague again."

This time Strata gazed Raven in the eyes. He put his left hand on her right shoulder after brushing away a stray hair that fallen across her forehead. "Raven," asked Strata in a low whisper, "Do you know what it's like to be alone?"

Raven looked at Strata's eyes and feeling that her heart was beginning to flutter again. "I think you know the answer to that question. I was different since I was born, and I have been someone who fears my own birthday."

"And me…"

"You…" whispered Raven, putting her arm around his neck again, "said that you were the last of your people…"

"Alone, yes."

"They were killed by that tyrant…or Ragnarok…or both…or…"

"Alone, the pain we share is real."

"I can see why you don't like to tell this story anymore; it gets very painful from after you leave Alisha. I can sense that somehow leaving your sister was not even the worst. My father destroyed most of my homeland, and you likewise saw yours destroyed. And…somehow…you lived."

"Indeed."

"You lived…alone…"

"Yes…"

"Why did you come to me?"

"You are my hope in the rain. Do you ask yourself, "Why me?'"

"Everyday, every moment, every breath I draw hear with you. Why am I out here in the rain with you? Why are you the last of your kind?"

Strata hugged Raven, " 'Why me, indeed.'"

Far away from the bird and the boy, Cyborg and Beast Boy were less concerned with past apocalypses and flying ships (though Cyborg was still pretty steamed about the T-Ship being taken by Strata) and more on topic of finding Cinderblock.

"I don't get it, BB," said Cyborg, "What is Cinderblock doing in a place like this."

"I bet he got sick of the rain and went home," said BB, "every animal I can be is soaked! I have water in my fur, scales, feathers, and hairy hides!"

"Yeah, you do smell like a wet poodle when it rains."

"Funny, but what I don't get is why Cinderblock is roaming around out here. There's nothing but junk, abandoned junk mostly."

"And he's way too quiet," said Cyborg, "maybe this is just a pointless search. He could have left before we got here."

"Ooo! Ooo! I know! Maybe this a distraction from somewhere else!" said the green changeling.

"If something came up on the crime radar, we'd know. I'm about to call Robin and say that we should head back to the Tower. If Cinderblock was here, something would have crashed by now."

At that moment, the two Titans rounded a corner around a particularly tall stack of aluminum shipping crates, the size of rail cars. They were stacked quite high with the first column one crate higher than the others. Unknown to them as they rounded the corner, was that one crate was not stacked on the others but was being held up in the air. And when Cyborg and BB rounded the corner, Cinderblock crushed that large freight crate onto their heads.

Cyborg and Beast Boy crumpled onto the ground as their world went dark. The rain washed down the sides of their aluminum headstone.

That's Chapter 16 everybody! I hope everyone enjoyed that; I made a long one to make up for my absence. I will say that grad school has picked back up again now that the break I used to write this is over so further updates may be delayed until mid-July. So, what's going to happen to Cyborg and Beast Boy? Will Raven and Strata continue their rainy interlude? And what of Robin and Starfire? Why is Strata the last of his people and what happened on his flight into battle? Chapter 17 people! The next couple will be blockbusters! Please R I need some love for 4,400+ words (or hate).