I Listen (Red & Pinnacle)

Israel nodded, regaining some of his original demeanor slowly over time, it seemed. "Ah, yes. Belarus. A country that even according to you, yourself, was run by a dictator before you even got there and improved because of your arrival. It wasn't your philosophy towards violence that improved the already violent country. It was your science and the power it brought to a violent nation, and the peaceful embassy you opened with the United States and others most of all. You brought an era of prosperity by bringing violence, you claim. No. You brought prosperity by being a better leader than the last because you don't seek power for yourself, but as a vehicle of said improvement. It was not the cutting down of civilians that accomplished your improvements. From your standpoint, at best, it is evidence that neither of us can use in support of our ideals. At worst, It is evidence, not of making things worse to make things better, but of immediately making things better by being an immediately better person than the last; the very pattern of my own argument. Israel said in an even tone.

"I do not site examples from history to support my claims because I know that you are a smart man who knows these examples already, and knows that they outnumber your own examples by far. But you ignore them because you aren't looking for the rule, but for the exception. Your entire claims are built upon this exceptionalism, and you are too proud to admit this to yourself." Israel said, sounding exhausted.

"A crystal ball, you say? Only the past holds any answers for the future? We're in the Temple of Fate! The very nexus of past, present, and future! Yet, if I were to somehow utilize its energies to show you a future where your path was different, can you honestly tell me that you wouldn't just brush it to the side as you did with the previous vision?" He said, more emotionally now, and he paused for a moment.

"... I can still hear them, Lucius. You may have left the visions behind as illusions. But I'm still there... I am simultaneously every single one of those thousands of people gazing at the ruins around them. I couldn't forget them if I wanted to. I know that these visions effected you... But rather than acknowledge your own hand in their suffering you would deny their pain, reducing it to being a necessary sacrifice for you to achieve your vision of a future with arbitrary gains compared to the longer path of peace to the same end. Yes. It will take longer to reach your kind of world without you pushing for it, causing so much suffering along the way... But less people will suffer. The very same goal you seek to attain is therefore unattainable by your philosophies, as it causes the very thing you profess to be against. It does not begin with less suffering. It does not continue on with less suffering, and it does not end with less suffering." Israel said.

"I hope you will live up to your word, because I've a feeling that we will see where these two paths shall end... And I hope that you'll ask yourself why this temple would show you such horrible consequences of your actions if the end result of them is really the best path..."

"Ha.... Hahaha! Exceptionalism? You think i don't see the broader picture? Just because you're a good person, Israel, doesn't mean others are. This is a pessimist's world. Bad things are the mainstay, with sprinkles of being content. The black death, the holocaust, massacres, war war war and look, MORE WAR! While the elite play their geopolitical chess game, people are left to rot because they don't even have the pieces to play. You're the one looking at exceptions, but even if you aren't and most poeple are good, they aren't the ones in power," Lucius said, now standing up as his words got more intense. For the first time, he looked Israel directly in the eyes. The dictator even grabbed his mask and threw it aside, pulling his hood down.

"You think Russia would be playing nice with the United States if they didn't have nukes? You think the allies could have protested by starving themselves to stop the Holocaust? You think wars will end by willing them away or by ignoring them in favor of focusing on bags of food we give to the poor? Most importantly, do you think i could have brought my technology and better government to Belarus simply by asking for the keys to the country? FORCE must be met with FORCE, or you will be trampled upon. You can't think pulling a Gandhi is the solution to the infinite pain in the world. You don't stop a gunman from killing you by pleading, you don't stop a villain by asking nicely for them to stop, and you don't end suffering by being optimistic. This is the world we live in," Lucius said. You could see the slight sparks of red in his eyes as he ranted on. You could tell he was getting emotional, if only because the previous room.

"Yes, what i do will add to the pain, but how else do we take control? Even Christians and Jews, those that claim peace as their biggest goal, have used violence in defense of that goal. Good may come from good, just like it did when i was working with Isabella in New York, but then the bad sets in. The cruel nature of the world decided i had not felt it's sting enough..... I couldn't have prayed Nacrodium away. Even the heroes realized that....... No, absolute good doesn't come from bad, if it does, that is an exception. But, often it is necessary to walk through hell to get to heaven," Lucius said. His heart beat was quickened, and his breathing was slightly heavy. He turned to the audience, or whatever these silhouettes were, and sneered.

"What is this, anyway? This game you're playing. Is that all we are, entertainment? I'll walk through your trials, no matter how gruesome they get, just to prove i can..... But just know i see through you. This isn't some spiritual awakening.... This is just a play thing for you........ I will say nothing more, i made my point. If Isreal wishes to respond, then that's fine, but after that, decide." Lucius said, returning to his sitting position in the center of the room. He would listen to Scion, let him continue to make his idealistic arguments, but he wouldn't be responding. He had said all he could.

Israel sighed, still feeling the urge to breathe heavily due to the mental exhaustion of the whole experience.

For a moment, he simply walked over and sat down on the floor next to Lucius.

He sighed as he sat, and for a short while just sat there... Staring ahead... And the congregation of lights looked back at him with a sort of intensity. Waiting for him to speak.

"Lucius... I know that force is sometimes necessary... Newton's Laws of Motion tend to apply to men in social settings as well in that way..." He said, pausing for a second. "But accepting your plan as the only acceptable one for you based on this and the other premises you mentioned..." He sighed again... Then chuckled to himself quietly.

"Well... You're not the only one who's stubborn. He said with a weak smile, his face half-turned to Lucius for a second, then he gazed ahead again for a moment or two.

"You know... Not all Fatewriters are cruel... Can't speak for this one though. He said, looking up, as if gazing far beyond the temple walls...

"You know, it's funny... My Father used to say things like: 'A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still' and 'Sometimes, to convince a man of something, you have to allow him to convince himself.'" He said, before inhaling a meditative breath, holding it for a second before exhaling again, almost symbolically, looking down.

"For the record, I don't agree with your methods, but if I can't convince you to think of things differently, there is another way that I can ensure that things go as right as possible..." He continued. "I can stay with you, and protect those in harms way."

The lights all stared at Israel. One in particular spoke out: "What kind of plan is that? You aren't even going to try and stop him?"

"I don't recall asking for your opinion." Israel said, sounding tired of all of this. "But sometimes, little light, the best we can do is agree to disagree."

The lights murmured amongst themselves at that, and Israel glanced sideways at Lucius before speaking to him again.

"You know, I came to this world in such a weakened state... The Proscenium Primordium changed me. Placed limiters on me. I'm still working to remove them to get back to the way I was there. I've made some good progress..." Israel said, his clothing shifting to become Red's suit, then his own that he wore when speaking with him in New York.

"But I told you the truth then when I said that it was carbon nano-weave. Back then, it was. I had not yet removed the limiter placed upon my autokinesis, and so was forced to wear that suit. Had I been in possession of this ability back then..." Israel said, changing his suit into a tuxedo. "Well, it was a black tie event, was it not?" He said with a small chuckle before shifting his clothes back to his normal attire, then gazed back at the ceiling, and seemingly through it as well.

"I'm a little like Rozmer in that way. A normal man of science, before I was written to be the man I am today by one of the fates..." He trailed off.

"It's not just Isabella's words to me or the flickering embers of good that I see in you that give me hope and make me so stubbornly want to convince you against this plan of yours..." Israel continued. "No... Where I'm from... We're friends... Where I'm from... You took another path... And you know what? It worked. You're happy there... Though a bit depressed at times." He said.

"Ofcourse, your name and suit are a bit different. The multiverse can be wibbly wobbly that way. We're not always bearing exactly the same names and jobs everywhere." Israel sighed after revealing this part of his history.

"I'm not telling you this to convince you... But maybe now you'll understand why I'm not going to just let this go." He said, looking back down at the lights seated before them.

"And i wish myself in that universe good fortune, not that i could have any effect on him, or he I," Lucius said, getting to his feet once again. He looked around the room, making sure to make visual contact with almost all of the lights that gazed at them. He looked down at Scion, the dictator's brow furrowing.

"And suppose I, a humble man of science, was rewritten how i am now. Maybe that's why i can't accept any real change.... But, what i can accept is an agreement of disagreement..... For now," Lucius said, outstretching his hand to help Scion up. Afterwards, he would give the hand a shake, as one does after some sporting event or chess game.

"I don't know what gave you the impression we aren't friends here....." Lucius said, releasing Israel's hand from his firm grip. The Rise Head then turned back to the lights within the forum, a look on his face that asked 'well?'

There were mermers, chatter, really. A discussion less audible but just as intense raged on between these judges, until eventually they had made their conclusion. What was the result of this little argument?

"Though we simply don't understand it, we can accept this agreement as proof that humanity's most passionate can indeed compromise, for better or worse. Well done," the voice said. Then, just like before, the lights dimmed until there was nothing in sight but blackness, the temple shifting, bringing them to the next level of the pyramid.

--------

And so, the room would eventually alight once again, but the two men would quickly see it was hardly a room anymore. What they saw was the galaxy. Yes, they were in the middle of space, in the center of a beautiful swirl of stars and systems. In the distance, a fresh supernova raged, too far away to effect the men but staring at them in all it's glory nonetheless. They both stood on a platform, and were at least fifty feet apart.

Quickly, the two men would realize that though they were still conscious in their own bodies, they could not control their own actions. Instead, they controlled the actions of the other man. As confusing as that might have seemed at first, the purpose of this would quickly become apparant. Platform after platform with it's own hazards and obstacles would appear as a path through the space, ending with a magnificent portal in the distance. Each man would have to guide the other through jumps, acrobatic tests, flying balls of energy, traps, and even enemies along this path. It was a test of co-dependence.

"If the other man dies, you will be brought to the end of this trial, victorious. Alternatively, you can both help each other to the end, each guiding the other like a puppeteer. Choose wisely," the booming voice of the Fatewriter said. Lucius sighed. Yet another test, yet another game.

Israel looked over towards himself.

What an odd sensation, indeed. He said, the words coming from Lucius' mouth.

Lucius jumped in place a couple times a tiny distance into the air... Then did a standing backflip, still facing in the direction of Israel, himself, as he did so.

"You're pretty fit." Israel said. "Anyhow, let's do this thing, shall we? He said through Lucius, not bothering to explain or formulate a plan.

It was so simple. It would be an insult to his intelligence to think it was necessary to tell him to watch the body he was moving, while Israel did likewise. Both of their minds were adept at calculating and critical thinking. Unless something unexpected was thrown at them, which, ironically, was entirely expected by Israel, this trial would be simple as watching the one that you were moving.

The coordination would come in when the surprises did as well...

With that, he simply waited for Lucius to tell Israel through his own mouth when to head into it.

Coordinating something like this was highly difficult and disorienting. You had to look across this space, fifty feet, to see the body you were actually moving. And your own body? Under the control of another person, mouth and vacal cords and all. To put it lightly, this was........ Weird.

"I try to be... Not having strength or speed enhancement, i have to keep on top of it, " Lucius said, oddly from Israel's mouth. Fitness and the weird situation aside, there was a trial to be had, and they had to get through this to continue. Lucius began by moving Israel's body to the next platform by leaping and flipping forward.

At that point, Lucius saw it. This platform, unlile the one's ahead, had no apparent obstacles on it. However, just because you can't see something doesn't mean it isn't there. The metallic floor quickly produced spikes from itself, and not little ones. In seconds the entire floor would be covered in two foot long spears of metal. However, Lucius did not intend to let Scion be impaled.

Lucius, watching from a long distance away, deduced it must have something to do with the floor before the spikes even went up. To confirm that, he say them, but with his reflexes it was like watching them in slow motion. It helped that this was the prediction he had that was most likely to happen.

Scion's body got a little momentum, spinning into an acrobatic flip to the next platform before the spikes could even puncture his boots. Behind him was a platform he would have been easily killed by had his body not moved.

One Lucius' side, or rather, Scion's, the next platform would include some projectiles to avoid. As long as Lucius was standing on the second platform, stars would seem to be plucked from the sky, coming at the man like small balls of fire. Even being hit by one of these would cause excruciating pain, and maybe death. Scion just had to deduce that Lucius standing on the platform was the traps activation.

More than ever, Israel was reminded that simplicy and ease were two different things. The most disorienting part of all of this was when your eyes didn't look where you wanted them too.

And it was a little disconcerting when Lucius, using his body, performed a flip to the next platform, causing Israel's view to spin, but he was glad to see that when the world ceased to orbit his eyes, he was not impaled on the spikes that rose up to greet his body 50 some odd feet away. (Closer to 56.3957214 feet away, to be precise.)

As soon as he stood upon it, however, Israel noticed that several stars twinkled in response, growing steadily closer to Lucius' body... The one Israel was piloting.

Noticing that they were flying in a straight path, he plotted his course through them, laughing a bit in a nervous way at the spectacle of watching himself, through the use of a body not his own, jumping and weaving beneath glowing energy balls sparking this way and that, the orbs almost touching Lucius' body a couple of times, and he had to utilize Red's infamous red energy to partially deflect and divert these closer orbs...

... Until he reached the next platform causing the previous platform on Lucius' end, or in other words, where Israel's body once was, to begin to rotate as if on invisible hinges, rotating around to impale and crush Israel's body from behind like the closing of a book with him inside.

"Your turn. He said via Lucius, looking back at his own body that for the first time in a long time was not under his control. "You know, if it weren't for the looming danger of a possible painful death. I might really enjoy this. It's kind of like a third person video game. Like a not so family friendly Virtual Mario Party." He continued, trying to be positive under the circumstances, as he sent more of the red energy in the direction of Israel's body, eliminating its corrosive properties and instead utilizing it to envelop himself before causing an explosion of sorts diagonally behind him, throwing his body upwards in the opposite direction, hopefully giving himself enough of a boost to avoid the spears of the last platform whilst they closed together. With any luck, Israel's body, with the mind of Lucius, would land safely on the next platform. Meanwhile, both of the platforms they would be standing on next, began to fill with the forms of men that appeared to be made of solid black smoke, wielding weapons of the same material.

Following this, in a more serious tone, Israel added: "Don't worry; I'm not about to check how many lives we have in this death game." As he prepared to defend himself, or rather, the body of Lucius.

The next platform Scion's body landed on was just as unfriendly as the last. It tried to enclose him in spikes, like the closing of a book. To be honest, he could have probably done something to get out of it, but Scion decided to give himself some help with Red Energy. He displayed a decent grasp of how the energy worked, using it to essentially push his body from the enclosure with micro explosions. Lucius did something similar to pick up objects in his energy, but it was far more streamlined. That said, that was an advanced use that Scion shouldn't have been able to perform so quickly, yet he did.

"Impressive," Lucius said as Scion's body landed on the next platform. However, he barely had time to finish speaking before a light silhouette, much like those in the forum, came at him. This one seemed a bit less inclined for debate, however.

The light man had a blade of some sort, and used it to slice at Scion's body. Though Lucius, watching from afar, was not really concerned. His reflexes were far superior. He commanded Scion's body quickly, making him grab the silhouette's head and slam it into it's own blade, which dispersed it.

From there, a few more showed up, but just like before, there was no worry. Scion's body, controlled by Lucius, dispatched them in quick succession. Flip kick off the platform here, trip there, a few brutal flurries sprinkled in. Scion would find himself on the next platform in no time, which seemed to be a simple parkour course of sorts.

On the other side, a similar set up would confront Lucius' body once he left the platform with the star projectiles. He would be faced with a half dozen of these silhouettes coming at him. Pretty easy to deal with, no doubt.

After that, Lucius would similarly get an extended parkour platform. There was a spike here and there, but the real problem was the fact the platform would disappear behind him, slowly but steadily. It made sure they went through the course quickly.

Lucius was frankly getting fed up with this game, as much as Scion seemed to enjoy it.

"I've always been a fast learner." Israel said, once more through Lucius "I can't take full credit though, I'm afraid. Seeing a man's past as if it were your own tends to allow you pick up on things." He added, as the translucent foes before him drew blades of various lengths, and a couple even drew firearms.

Israel/Lucius drew Cora Zen, admiring the craftsmanship of the blade before easily turning aside blow after blow, even deflecting the occasional bullet fired at him. It seemed that the suit itself, designed as it was, almost took care of everything for him. That said, Lucius' reflexes were far above par as well, and Israel found that he had no trouble dealing with the enemies at hand, removing ethereal arms and heads with ease before leaping to the next platform.

"This suit you designed is rather remarkable." he said as he began to run along the course, performing a tack, then a monkey leap, looping himself around and upwards through bars and other tight corners and spaces, before finding himself on a climbing segment of the course.

"I'm particularly impressed with the sword." He added, getting to the top and jumping down the wall into a roll, then running along a thin segment before making a running leap onto the next platform and finding himself standing before a maze, the previous platform vanishing behind him after a bit of time.

Having seen its top when Lucius, acting as his eyes (as he literally possessed them at the moment) had been launched into the air previously, Israel knew that he could walk through the maze blind, but the issue was that in so doing, he would blind Lucius to anything but the view of the maze.

"I guess here is where that cooperation comes in." Israel said. "But heck. I kind of want to try just going over it."

As heartwarming as Scion's compliments were, Lucius didn't pay them much attention. When you've been told how amazing your creations are countless times, it gets a little dry. That wasn't anything against Scion, who was no doubt well meaning, but Lucius really didn't skip a beat.

After quickly traversing the parkour course with Scion, Lucius ran into a maze. Yes, a maze. It looked overly complicated and would need to be solved with nothing but trial and error. It would take hours, at least, and would prove practically impossible with their senses impaired like this. How were they even supposed to see each other in this? Lucius was starting to consider taking a third option, so to speak.

He remembered before that he did try to activate his teleporter in the throne room trial, but it didn't work. He couldn't properly lock down coordinates because it was as if they were in constant flux, like the whole building was moving at the speed of light in random directions. Perhaps it really was, but what mattered was figuring out how to sync up with that movement so they could teleport. It was tricky, and ridiculously risky, but Lucius was no stranger to risk. If it couldn't be done simply, this was the better plan.

"Sven...... Analyze the shifts in coordinates as deep as you can. Take all the time you need. They seem to be random, but nothing is truly random. There has to be some sort of pattern it follows, no matter how complicated and subtle it is. Find that pattern, then account for it, and get us to the gateway," Lucius yelled through Scion. The AI was about to object, but he decided just to do it. He had no desire to spend hours in a maze just as the two men did. He analyzed, and analyzed, and analyzed, then figured that Lucius, once again, was correct.

The shifts were ridiculously complicated and difficult to decipher. We're talking about classical encryption going into numbers that exceeded the atoms in the universe. But, even for a less advanced conputer these calculations were not too difficult, and they were chump change for Sven.

In a moment, the teleporter was synchronized, and Lucius was tunneled first to Scion, then to the gate in the blink of an eye.

Lucius felt a bit weird looking at hinself, and so kind of prioritized getting through the gate to the next trial. He simply walked Scion's body through without another word, hoping Israel would do the same.

It seemed that Lucius, the man behind the face that Israel currently wore, had a similar plan to the one that Israel had proposed, and the advanced AI within his high tech suit proved to be perfectly capable of making this possible, as they were both soon brought to the end of the trial.

Israel spared time for no more than an appreciative nod before walking through the end beacon with Lucius.

Once again, the room went dark, and when it was illuminated once more, Israel was happy to be in his own body again.

"No offense to your physical aptitude, but I'm quite glad to be in my own skin again, as it were. I'm sure you feel the same." He said, looking around. "What's next I wonder?"

The room went dark, and Lucius could already feel the return of his body to him. He never, ever wanted to do something like that again. Scion also seemed to have a bit of disdain for the whole ordeal, and Red understood why. Regardless, the Rise Head was just glad it was over........ Not that the trials were even beginning. They were only on the forth one, after all.

"Welcome to the Arena of Sin. You both have proven to be great warriors. I am not sure i can even think of something together you might not overcome. But, that isn't the point of this..... It's time to fight the sins of the past." The voice boomed out into the room again, which was revealed to be an ancient arena of some kind. The light silhouettes cheered and watched from above, waiting for the fun to start. Lucius chuckled. After seeing the pair of them dispatch the physical threats thrown at them in an almost bored fashion, this "Fatewriter" still wanted them to fight something. Trial four was already over.

That of course wasn't true. See, this wasn't what Lucius thought it was. It wasn't going to be Scion and him fighting some giant monster or hordes of enemies. No, Lucius was about to see himself at his worst. He was about to relive what he did after his life spiraled out of control. And Scion, Scion was going to see Lucius for who he was. At least, that was the plan.

A faint heat built up behind Lucius' eyes. His mask, having returned to him at the start of the trial, was removed so he could rub them. The heat built up slowly, but steadily, until Lucius dropped to his knees, his eyes burning.

The heat spread into his entire head, then his chest, arms, and legs. He couldn't begin to understand what was happening, only that he was in pain, and he was face down in the sand, and then he screamed. It wasn't due to agony however, it was due to the fact Lucius finally recognized the feeling after a few moments. The acidic burn of always having his energy at full power, having it control him through his grief. And the rage....... It was unimaginable. He gritted his teeth, finally turning back to Scion. The dictator's usually calculated, storm cloud colored eyes were a blazing red.

".....Don't take me dead on..... You'll..... YOU'LL LOSE! .....Make it a dance, look for a mistake. I'll make one soon enough," Lucius said, his pitch rising and falling. The man then fell back into the sand, the rage, despair, and grief of his past engulfing him. It was as if Isabella had died yesterday, as if his friend tried to exploit his pain for his own gain only today, and like he had no one else to care for. In that moment, she was gone, Lucas was gone, Ryan was gone, Isalia, Daniel, Travis, Rozmer, Zell, Sven.... They didn't matter, because they weren't there. He had no one else to love but himself.

The man that stood up was not the same man that fell down. His armor looked thrown together and rough, his face looked nearly seven years younger, and the maturity constant emotional training had given him was all but gone. He smirked, then put his mask on once again—not the same one he had torn off.

"You did this...... You brought me here, lead me here with your deceitful words....... You wanted to kill me? Or, maybe you wanted to show me the error of my ways..... Either way, it ends NOW!" Lucius said, his voice deeply dehumanized by the older mask. He stepped forward, his pace even and with purpose. It was an advance that would not be slowed, and was unrelenting.

Once in range, maybe thirty feet, Lucius began to pour energy from himself. The speed of his barrage gave no time to think. One ball of energy after another, and a large wave sprinkled in here and there. He would keep advancing, keep throwing his energy out until what he wanted was gotten. The Silver Scion would die today.

Israel glanced around at the arena before him as the Arbiter of the Temple spoke of battle and of facing and presumably conquering the sins of the past.

A moment or two after the Judge of the Temple of Fate had finished speaking to the two men that were currently subjected to his will... Something came over Lucius...

Through his expanded perception of the electromagnetic spectrum, Israel saw that the energy inside of Lucius was writhing and expanding; growing in its intensity and breaking out of any semblance of order imposed upon it by its master... His energy was spiraling out of his control, and he roared as the primal energy within him was escaping his body through his voice.

Israel knew that this must be the next trial; that he would be forced to face Lucius in combat, and he watched helplessly as the man before him fell to his knees, assailed by his own energy and from the power of the dispassionate guardian of the Temple wherein they had entered.

"You did this...... You brought me here, lead me here with your deceitful words....... You wanted to kill me? Or, maybe you wanted to show me the error of my ways..... Either way, it ends NOW!" He yelled, speaking in an inhuman voice, his face younger and his mask and armor younger as well, being presumably the first models of their kind or close to it.

This was not the first time that Israel had been forced to fight with his friends. No, in another life, where he bore a different name, he had been placed in a similar situation. Ofcourse, that place was known as the Hall of Champions, and its warden: The Lord of Battles. It was a more forgiving place than here, he expected, as when one of them died there... They would awake unscathed on the world where they had first entered that nexus.

Not so here, he presumed. Here, the Arbiter would likely just watch as they killed each other. There had to be another way though... And Israel intended to find it.

Israel didn't bother attempting to phase as the man charged at him, a primal rage in his eyes behind the mask. This Temple had placed too much on his mind. It was too much and too quickly and too recently for Israel to focus with the kind of precision it took to change the personal reality of each and every submolecular particle of his body. The screams in his mind were too fresh... The pain...

Teleportation was out as well, and for the same reasons. He also doubted that in this mentally exhausted state that he could resist the effects of the Red Energy... So for now... It was a game of avoidance.

Israel would have to float away from the charging man before him... The man who was both Lucius... And not.

As he did this, he would be examining this newer (or rather older) version of the armor, determining if it was still resistant to, or entirely immune to electricity. If it was not, it would be possible to incapacitate the man using his bioelectricity... But this was a long shot considering the durability afforded to him by the Red Energy...

Assuming that this younger Red was not altogether much faster than his older self, Israel kept well away from him in the air, expecting that this would be a temporary solution. After all, the man before him was angry, not stupid. He would think of a way to attack Israel soon, but for now, Israel had to analyze and plan, hoping that he would be able to come up with a solution that would bring the least harm to them both...

"I'm sorry that you feel that way... That you think that I planned for any of this..."

"So many of you....... Foolish creatures. People who say they are a friend to me, yet only want to better themselves. Jealousy...... Deception....I won't stand for it anymore!" Lucius said. He of course wasn't as tactically inclined at the moment, but he could still think, and Scion was in the air. He only had one way to get into the air.

He teleported right above Israel, intending to essentially tackle him to the ground. As he did this, he would release Red Energy from his body and potentially into Scion's. Unless Israel somehow saw the teleport and it's location coming, he wouldn't be able to avoid this.

"....People like you.... You've taken EVERYTHING from me, yet sit on your self righteous high ground like you're better. As if the one that taunts the snake is not to blame...." Lucius spoke with a harsh intensity as they likely plummeted to the ground. The energy that he released wasn't intended to kill however, only be to be extremely painful and to cause injury. Eventually though, they would probably hit the ground, not that that would cause any damage in either of them.

Israel's processing of information wasn't just impressive, it was literally instantaneous... So when the newer, angrier Lucius teleported out of view and the subtle sound of air rushing out of the way to accomodate a body's mass of his size came from above him, he flew backwards away from the sound immediately.

Unfortunately, Lucius appeared practically on top of Israel, and had already (presumably) gotten a hold of him.

While Israel's flight capability was normally more than enough to keep them both in the air, Lucius was making things difficult with the release of copious amounts of destructive Red Energy, however, Israel was releived to feel that Lucius was going easy... Or at least, he wasn't going all out; the energy directed at Israel's body was not delivered with the intensity or the intent to kill. Whether this was a gesture of mercy or cruelty was unclear, but he presumed that the latter must be the case, considering the enraged state that Lucius was in, and Israel's emulation of the man's resistance to his own energy was currently sufficient to protect him from the effects. In Israel, however, he had purposefully deactivated only the genes specifically responsible for Red Energy production, making him a dry sponge for the stuff.

"....People like you.... You've taken EVERYTHING from me, yet sit on your self righteous high ground like you're better. As if the one that taunts the snake is not to blame...."

Yep. Definitely the latter. He thought.

Considering the tech of the older model suit and the knowledge he possessed of his own genetics, (now Red's genetics somewhat,) He knew that if he made it sufficiently cold, he may be able to get the upper hand. The problem with that plan, ofcourse, was that he needed to have those genetics to survive the Red Energy... And those genetics gave him the same weakness to the cold.

It was all so very inconvenient.

Still, to get out of the current midair struggle, Israel had at least one trick up his sleeve: His amorphous autokinesis.

Israel's body was fully fluid and under his complete mental control... And at this point in time, it seemed like a good moment to use this to his advantage.

Unless Lucius had a means of somehow stopping Israel from doing so, he would send out a few of the "cloth" bands at his side snaking into any opening in his armor, even the tinest of crevices, in liquid form, coating his body extremely quickly in a thin film genetically identical to his own skin.

If phase one was successful, and he did indeed get inside, this film would begin absorbing the heat from his body where it was contacting him, quickly making him colder and colder while sumultaneously hardening itself into a denser more durable state. It would also mean he would have to apologize for its inasiveness after this trial was over...

Through this, Israel hoped to first, weaken his Red Energy output, second, immobilize him somewhat, and third, harmlessly end the fight while mitigating any real risk to himself or Lucius.

If Lucius amped up his energy output, Israel would completely enter the suit in this state, expanding outward from within it to reinforce the durability of what part of himself he had sent in and further locking Lucius down.

Finally, if phase one was not successful, he would still do everything else the same, only he would do so on the outside of the suit instead.

Any absorbed heat or Red Energy would be repurposed into chi energy which would be utilized to further amplify his durability against the Red Energy, which, in his current state, he should be able to absorb harmlessly or near-harmlessly as they fell to the Earth together.

This seemed to be the most logical course of action and the swiftest way to end the trial without hurting Lucius.

Hopefully, his speed, element of surprise, Lucius' downgraded tech, and his enraged state, would all combine to equal a decisive end to this terrible trial; it was his trump card, so to speak.

If not... Israel wasn't sure that he could succeed at all...

Lucius found himself entangled with Scion in the air, yet it wasn't going exactly how he expected. See, he thought the pain inflicted by his energy would make it difficult for Scion to react in a meaningful way, but that proved to be a miscalculation. After only a moment, this man seemed to gain a decent resistance to the corrosive power of the Red Energy, meaning something odd was going on. Lucius, however, was a bit too angry to care.

That said, he did react to himself getting colder. This wasn't an unnoticeable temperature decrease, it was chilling. He knew now that Scion was likely causing it, probably through contact or close proximity, meaning he needed the man away from him. The energy wasn't having a great effect anyway.

Red activated his Repulsive Field. It was a bubble that almost instantly appeared around him which was designed to throw things off of him and meet attacks with the same force they exerted. Now, Scion wasn't really exerting himself, but mere contact would still be enough to launch him back, especially while flying through the air and with the element of surprise.

Finally, Lucius would reach the ground, but he didn't make contact. His tech would stop him before he impacted, then gently lower him down regardless of Scion's location. He still felt the cold, but it was weaker now, spread thin. The prospect that this man was trying to use his weaknesses against him just angered the already enraged Lucius further, though.

"No more tricks...." Lucius said, stepping toward Scion, or not if he was already in range. From there the dictator would remove a sphere from his bandoleer, which opened in an instant and released a crackling, high pitched wave of sonic energy. This was enough to kill a normal human in minutes by overloading their senses, so it would indeed have at least a small effect. The real attack came after, however.

Lucius threw a few micro pellets toward Scion, which would explode with the force of a grenade despite their size on contact.