Ragnarök (CANCELLED)

Ragnarök

Raven

Aether and I make our way through a sea of rickety chairs and tables to the back of the cafe. A lone waitress leans against the bar scribbling on a pad of paper and turns as we walked by. She does a double take when she sees Aether, her eyes widening in surprise and her mouth moving into the shape of an "o". She stands up straighter and disappears through a door labeled "kitchen". My brother way be tall and have a six-pack but he isn't what I call gorgeous. Girls these days. Aether is a 6 out of 10 at most.

I roll my eyes as Aether and I sit in a booth. The seat is cracked with age and the stuffing is falling out. I trail my finger across the rough table, sliding my finger through all the groves and holes. That man in the alley, Loki. I know I'd heard that name before, but where? He acted like he was above everyone else. What a jerk.

"Raven?"

I jerk my head up, "Yes, what?"

"The waitress wants to know your order" Aether says.

"Oh", I look up at the waitress. Her makeup is touched up, her blond hair in a tight ponytail down her back and her black shirt showing a bit too much cleavage. According to her white tag, her name is Stephanie. I flip through her mind out of curiosity and shift through her memories. Orphaned at the age of nine and tossed between foster families. Currently working three jobs to pay off her college debts. "I'll have a cup of tea, please" I say. Her eyes flick back and forth between Aether and I. Her eyes burn with jealousy. She writes down my order, pockets the pad in her apron pocket and disappears back into the kitchen.

I smile to myself. She really thinks Aether and I are together. "What are you thinking about?" Aether asks.

"Oh" I laugh, "Just that the waitress thinks that you and I are together. I mean I have standards and no offense Aether, but you don't meet them"

He gives me a look as bad as Stephanie's. My, my, they would get along perfectly. "I meant what were you thinking about when you totally spaced out? Was it something in the alley you're not telling me about?"

Damn. I thought he wouldn't notice that lie. "I thought I recognized a person in the alley but I was mistaken" I lie smoothly. Why am I lying to my own brother? I should tell him the truth. Nah, he would just over react. Become protective of the youngest sibling.

Stephanie walks up to our booth with a tray of drinks balancing precariously on the palm of her hand. She sets a cup of steaming coffee in front of Aether and rather forcibly sets a tea in front of me. "Will that be all?" she asks in a sickening sweet voice to Aether.

"Yes, thank you" he replies curtly not looking at her. Stephanie's smile slips a little and she retreats back to the kitchen.

"Oh come on Aether, the girl likes you, at least be nice to her" I say.

"Raven, I didn't invite you here so you could criticize me about how I should be nice to some girl. There is a far more pressing matter" he growls.

"I know" I sigh, big brothers can be so exasperating "Ragnarök. What the Asgardians believe is a sequence of events that lead to the end of the world"

"Raven, I think it's starting"

"But how? Surely someone would have noticed by now"

"People are noticing but they have no idea of what's really happening" He takes a scrap of newspaper out of his pocket and slides it across the table. The title reads: Natural Disasters Grip the World. "The first stage of Ragnarök is happening. The tornado and tsunami warnings are everywhere. Hurricanes are turning up all the time in the Caribbean and Oceania. There's droughts and freak rain storms. I've even spoken to Tesseractia, she says that it is the same in all the other realms"

"Oh my god" I whisper.

"Raven, do you remember all the stages of Ragnarök?"

"Yeah, there's the disasters and the m-" I stare straight into his dark eyes. "No, you can't be serious"

"Yes, the army of monsters and the Midgardian Serpent, Jormundar. That's why I need your help. You are the best fighter amongst the three of us and you have to find and tell the Avengers what's happening"

"Where should I start?"

"Find Thor first. He is Asgardian and will know of Ragnarök. He defeated his brother, Loki in the battle of New York and the dark elf, Malekith even when he was using my power"

"Wait a second. Loki...is...Thor's brother?"

"Isn't that what I just said? Focus Raven!" He snaps his fingers in front of my face. Grr, I hate when he does that.

I can't believe the man in the alley is the one who invaded New York. I should have killed him right away. Oh, how stupid can I get?! But if he was defeated, how the hell is he free on Earth? "Raven?" Aether says.

"Yes?" I reply.

"I need you on a plane to London as soon as possible. Thor is currently living there with a scientist named Jane Foster. I'll meet you there in a couple days" he says. I get up from the booth and give him a quick hug. "Good luck Raven"

I give him a small smile, "Bye Aether"

I see the waitress, Stephanie exit through the door and I hurry after her. "Stephanie wait!" I yell. She stops and turns to face me.

"What do you want and how do you know my name?" She asks.

"Your name was on your shirt. Anyway, I just want to give you two things" I say. I fish around my pocket for my cheque book and a pen while Stephanie regards me with a look of suspicion. I rip a page out of my cheque book and write Aether's phone number on it. "Here" I say giving the paper to her.

"What's this?" she says.

"My brother's phone number. Yeah, I'm not his girlfriend"

Her cheeks redden,"Oh, I sorry"

"It's quite alright and I also have to give you this" I tear another sheet out of the book and fill out the cheque. I pass it to her and watch as her eyes widen at the amount of zeros. "Go pay off your college debts, you deserve it"

"But, how. Why?"

"Just, because"

She throws her arms around me and says thank you over and over. I softly push her away from me, tears of happiness roll down her cheeks. "Now go home, it's been a long night" I watch her stumble down the sidewalk murmuring thank you and clutching onto the cheque. I smile at her disappearing form and start walking in the opposite direction.

Now to find Thor.