Almighty, unbroken: Let Them Burn (Pat, Zell, Woof)

The illusion of power gave way to the sad truth. While likely effective on someone far weaker, Travis seemed to be above the paygrade for these bootleg items. Fields that could have repelled lesser metahumans and weapons he managed to find the weakness of. Not that they were useless by any means, just not effective by someone who worked like him. Seeing small weaknesses in objects, and acting on them far faster than what anyone could have conceived. An almost sad state of things, but he had more important things to think about then how screwed this whole place was now. Those two that spoke of strongely behind the field were now begging, crawling away from impending death with fear within their eyes. ”Really man?using the family as a shield to to protect yourselves. That’s like the most cliche thing ever.” He rolled dull grey eyes, scanning over the room with a casual glance.

Flash games and youtube videos took the place of what should have been surveillance footage. They were hardly looking over and even sounding alarms that would have released what he assumed would be metahuman guards. ”I mean, im not going to kill any of you so long as you don’t do something stupid like trying to attack me with my back turned. Now that would just be super rude.” Approaching one of the computers, he finished off what looked to be a level within a game and sent out a metan message to Lucius.

Good news is that these guys have a really bad budget for what they’re trying to do. Only ended up shooting me a little. Will reach your location in liiiiike...six seconds?[/i That’s when what could only be described as something being demolished could be heard before Travis crashed through a wall and into another.

”Okay, that didn’t work like I intended it to but here I am.” He said in an almost chipper fashion before realizing that he might have overshot the room with his allies by a few. ”I...should probably not do that.”

--

Ryan frowned slightly but seemed to accept the link being denied when eyes bleeding got involved. ”Okay, I don’t want my eyes to bleed.” He said with a nod as if that were something that were normal to say. Silus did question him about Jason and what he was up to now, something that Lucas gave somewhat of an answer to. ”Yeah, my da...Alpha asked jason if he wanted to be Beta anymore and he said no because he thought the job sucked. So I got it.  I coulda let you talk to him but...well I don’t want my eyes to bleed.” Thats when he realized something and furrowed his brows slightly.

”I do have his cellphone number if you want it.” He then offered while the bunch of them began approaching the place they were supposed to be infiltrating. To save the people of course. Ryan and Lucas descended through his own telekinetic abilities while the other got down the ways they wanted to and eventually landed softly. Things seemed to be mentioned about Silus being super powerful, Ryan nodding. ”I’m super powerful too, so I think we can do this.” He said, sounding oddly lacking in arrogance.

Is your friend strong Lucas? He sent the mental question to his brother along through the hive mind, more curious now than anything.[/i]

Silus was on his way to Gravitas opening. He had been a little while others did what they do. Unfortunately the older "Lucifer" in the group didn't quite seem to understand that by going to the opening Gravitas had made, he was intending to pursue Gravitas. Right after the powerful meta had ripped the top off of a large section in the underground facility. It was insulting honestly. This guy thought that what? Silus just showed up and started conversations while Lucius and his crew killed people? This guy was too eager, especially when working against someone as twitch-triggered as Gravitas and as calculated as Lucius. Silus grieved internally for those whom were inside. But the method of death, the residual ether had imprints of a power unlike either of the foes they were off to face.

The man felt as though somehow, somewhere someone died, so he charged off. Silus began to consider the possibilities of the powers this male might have, finally registering that he had to have a variation of True-sight, and could see the souls or life force. He didn't seem to realize that seeing wasn't always as effective as feeling. But he had to admit, the kid had more bravado than him. He was probably more effective too. A heavy clenching struck his abdomen and he began to cough, trying to remove a tickle from his throat. He was just glad that Jason was still alive.

"Totally! I'm gonna head them off... See you guys in there!" Silus smiled, giving Lucas a pat on the shoulder and looked back to the forced entry. He stepped over, though he seemed to vanish into nothingness, fading away as if he never existed.

***************************************************

Gravitas watched the events unfold. He'd yet to kill anyone, though he was oh so eager. The electrical charge was sent off and charred four men to a crisp, the smell of burnt flesh permeated the air as the decrepit and blackened corpses lay upon the ground, the electromancer laughing and talking to Lucius as if he had some form of desire to see him dead. Gravitas couldn't think of any real reason that an electrokinetic metahuman would desire the metahuman dictator and champion of meta-advancement to die. This challenger either had some form of personal grudge, or was simply foolish. Either way, it was not his day. Lucius took up a fighting stance, though Gravitas remained in his powerful and confident stance. He didn't respond to Lucius' mental communication, despising the fact that there was a voice within his head other than his own. He was willing to trust Lucius to be able to have such access to his mind, that did not mean he had to like it.

There was a moment of tense silence in the room as all avenues were sized up. The tension was broken by a loud crash and a blur of white and yellow. Gravitas growled and rolled his blinded eyes beneath his cowl, shaking his head. Well super durable metahuman-resistant walls were impervious to the massive-sized ego and imperviously thick skull that was Travis Masters. Note to self, Travis is now a portable battering ram and would be utilized as such as often as possible.

"We're wasting time. Lucius, go. Make sure your pet didn't hurt himself" Gravitas said, snapping his fingers. The electrokinetic would find that a small funnel around him would be vacuumed into the air by a minor singularity above him, rising ever upward into the ceiling. It wouldn't consume him, but it would try to maneuver him out of the way so that Lucius would have an opening to move. "Make sure your pet didn't hurt himself." Gravitas said, though he tried to be humorous, it was a rasped voice, as if he had been in the desert for months without water and he was gasping for air. Perhaps that was the true reason Gravitas hadn't spoken... For him it was normal by now, not worthy of note...but for Lucius, this would be the first time hearing him since his return.

"I doubt a reject like you would be able to stop me. Let alone stop Lucius." Gravitas said with a scoff. "So did he kidnap your girlfriend, or kill your family?"

***************************************

Silus appeared in nearly empty room, looking about as he brushed off his hoodie. His eyes closed as he tried to remember the words of wisdom given to him by someone who had been down this road before. He tried to keep himself clear of mind, to keep his mind on the goal of understanding Lucius here. This wasn't something he could get behind, mostly because he knew Lucius far too well. Lucius was an end-game planner. So if he were now freeing methumans, he was obviously looking for something to have an edge over. Was this a political power grab? A rallying call? Silus didn't want to believe this, but the evidence...the cold hard facts began to gnaw at his heart's desire to entertain the idea that there was a goodness to Lucius' actions.

With a little grunt he opened his eyes and rubbed his hair, wondering to himself why he always ended up here, violently tugging t his hair, the pain jolting through his head to snap his attention back. A few strands of hair fell to the floor, dissipating into ash before they ever reached it. They weren't anything he'd miss, but they were still part of him. He was startled, his little heart racing a thousand beats a minute as a loud crash caused an unfortunately familiar face to arrive in the room. The metahuman seemed uphased by the fact he just busted through several walls and fixated on the fact he over-shot his original destination.

"Oh-uhm...Hi?" Silus asked, though he began to internally argue with himself. Was he being too friendly? Probably. He puffed his chest out a little as he took a deep breath in and narrowed his eyes just a little, fixating a more serious look than a jovial one. He cleared his throat and blinked before trying his hand again. "Hold it there, Alpha. I don't know what RISE is up to, but I've stopped you once before and I'm gonna do it again if you try anything underhanded." He said, trying to be more forceful. Remembering to himself that the advice he got was to indulge both sides of who he was. He needed to be factual, logical and stern in this moment. Perhaps it would work? Perhaps not... it would take only moments to tell...

"Alpha can handle himself. This is personal," Lucius said to the surprisingly raspy Gravitas, smirking under his mask. He had not expected to meet Ryan's evil brother so soon. "Isn't that right, Eric?"

It was like a bonus price. Not only did Rise get to execute their newest plan, but in the process Red got to dish out a long overdue beating. Now, Eric hadn't hurt Isalia, but Lucius was certain he would have given the chance. Oddly enough, this was the crazy brother of the triplets. Hard to believe given Ryan's recent turn to insanity, but it was sadly true. Regardless, the dictator was tired of that face, tired of the revenge quest, and tired of the continual bellowing about a long dead ant. This game had cost him enough, and he was about to put an end to it all.

Gravitas made the first move, apparently trying to drive Eric upward. A fine tactic, but Lucius knew it would be moot. These brothers weren't all that durable, but they were slippery. A different approach other than sheer force was required. That fact was made apparent by Eric simply evaporating into the air.

Activate Soul Sync Protocol. Initiate spirit lock. I want to know where every particle is, and I don't care what you're doing right now, Sven. Lucius was quick to get into contact with his AI. Despite the fact he was on his own mission, Sven had the speed to run Lucius' tech at the same time. If he didn't argue about it, that is.

Fine. Whatever. Done. The AI's response was in the usual bitter tone. Lucius paid it no mind. Sven's lack of cooperation was not the most pressing matter at the moment.

With the scanning locked on in a fraction of a second, Lucius could see where Eric was traveling in several dozen different ways. Even if he didn't travel through the air and simply teleported from one set of atoms to another, Lucius would be able to identify the particles that were reshaping his body nanoseconds before the teen fully formed. Combined with Red's natural processing speed and reaction time, his response was almost automatic. Lucius raised his hand just in time to defend against a blast of lightning with his own blast of chaotic Red Energy.

Eric had appeared behind him, predictably, and now their two incredibly powerful abilities were clashing. The very air spat and sputtered as it was ignited. The flashes of yellow and red reflected off the shiny walls in a way that might have blinded those without protections against such things. It was a fantastic show of power, no doubt, but it didn't last long.

Eric once again evaporated, but this time into a bolt of lightning. It was a wicked fast form no doubt, but once again the scanners were able to figure out what the teen was doing before the ability was fully put into motion. The second a bit of Eric's body turned into an element, or vice versa, Lucius knew, and that meant he was already on the move.

Lucius rolled out of the way of Eric's electrical dash, then immediately shot a blast of red energy at where Eric began to reform, again told to him by Soul Sync. As soon as the God Boy manifested, the energy was already on top of him. It hit him in the chest, sending him flying backwards.

"Ahh! Gggod! That... That fucking huurts!" Eric yelled out in agony, having been knocked onto his back. He grasped his chest in pain and gritted his teeth as his skin continued to sear. Lucius hadn't held back, and you could tell. A layer of flesh on Eric's chest had been completely corroded away, exposing blood, vain, and muscle.  The boy's writhing and shrieking might have done something to sway a warmer heart, but Lucius was as cold as the ice that had killed his daughter in this moment. He walked forward, pulling his mask off as he stood up from his tumble of evasion.

"The off-brand tech in this facility limits the range of your transportation abilities, Eric. My original design might have shut it down completely, but I don't think that's necessary for our purposes. So long as you're close, I can see exactly where you're going to reappear," Lucius said, feeling the need to explain how he so easily defeated the electrokinetic. The wonderful thing about Eric and his brother was that despite their elemental power, one well placed attack could take them out of the fight.

"Despite all your vigor, all your power, and all your crazed tenacity, I will always win. You can kill my family, my friends, and my colleagues, but I'm not going anywhere," Lucius said, reaching Eric. He stood over the boy, who struggled to use his abilities. The pain, technological hampering, and the fact he hadn't used them in so long prevented him from getting away. Lucius took advantage of this, kneeling down and taking Eric's mask off. He looked at the eyes that had taken his daughter's life squarely, not showing even one hint of mercy.

"I should kill you. I should decapitate you and send your head to Ryan. It would make me feel so much better." The dictator clinched his fists as he spoke, crimson light enveloping them. The energy was at full intensity. Usually Lucius weakened it. The stuff was so destructive it cut through solid titanium like butter, and that's why it often had to be mitigated. Today, though? No, not today.

The first punch was a simple jab. Eric let out a scream. The second was a downward haymaker at the boy who laid below him. Again, Eric yelled out as his flesh was burnt by the acidic light. Lucius pulled his left arm back again, switching to repeatedly using his main hand instead of using both.

Smack. Smack. Crack. Smack. Smack. The brutal sounds were punctuated by groans and cries, but Lucius didn't stop. He even went so far as to calculate what strikes would kill the boy, just to draw it out.

"You'd get to see Mommy again. Now wouldn't that be nice? This world is cruel. Men like me are here. Oh, don't you want to go to Heaven, son?" Lucius said, standing up from his kneeling position. Eric looked relieved. He was bloody, and probably disfigured, but he was relieved. He thought it was over.

Turns out, Lucius' hand was just getting tired. The dictator delivered a vicious, Red Energy emanating kick to the chin. He then circled around Eric, who had been knocked flat onto the ground from his sitting position, and stomped on his head.

"P-please! S-stop! I-I'm sorry!" Eric pleaded, choking on his own blood. Lucius shook his head, keeping his boot on the boy's head as he spoke.

"I will, child, I will. This is over, you see. I'm finished with this game of revenge. I lashed out at the world when She died, and it brought nothing but pain. I'm not going down that path like you and your brother have. I've already seen every inch of it." Lucius didn't even look at Eric even as he ground his head into the ground. His stale, cold eyes looked at the walls of the hallway as if they were infinitely more interesting than what was taking place beneath his foot.

"If you want to continue to pursue this soul destroying loop, that's your choice. But know that this is over for me. I won't come for you, your brothers, or those close to the three of you for purely personal reasons. I won't attempt to balance some arbitrary blood ledger, and I will not interfere in your lives so long as you don't interfere in mine. The cycle ends here," Lucius said, removing his boot from Eric's head. The dictator then took a few steps away from the boy, who was still whining in his own pool of agony.

"Just remember, Eric, if you or your brothers come trying to restart this loop, and if any of you even vaguely approach the proximity of my remaining children, I'll show you more than a beating. I'll show you Hell."


"W-wait! Where are you all go- Darn it!" Lucas said as first Jake stormed off than Silus. Apparently they thought it a good idea to leave the slowest members of the group behind for the sake of getting into this operation quicker. He had told them they were taking it slow, for crying out loud!

But oh well, looks like they would have to catch up with their little legs. He was sure Ryan was able to do some sort of TK mumbo jumbo to keep up, but honestly Lucas just wanted to stick to the plan. He instead lead his brother down the other side of the fork in the hallway, away from Lucius and Gravitas. He was sure they could find a way to get around them without running into too much trouble. Maybe they would even find what his Dad was looking for along the way. Lucas was sure it was files, some item, or some person of interest. The only matter was figuring out which of those it was. After that, they just needed to find it!

Yeh. He's like, I don't know, an angel or something. Hasn't really explained it to me, but then again I haven't explained exactly what I am to him either. It didn't really come up when we were hanging out in that arcade. Lucas hoped that response was enough to satiate his brother for the time being. The little guy's curiosity often made Lucas confront questions he himself had, but ones that he was ignoring. It could set off a lot of anxiety in Lucas sometimes, but if he gave Ryan a decent answer, he usually didn't ask another question for awhile.

A few guards rounded the corner, apparently not anticipating to find children in the facility.

"What are you kids doing here? Where are your parents?" One asked, tranquilizer gun lowered.

"You dumbass! They're metas! They must have gotten loose. Take em'," another said, apparently the leader of the group of three. They all raised their guns at his order, then they fired.

Jake winced as he bounced off a wall onto the ground, and from the ground onto another wall, hands and feet moving to catch himself and then push off the surface of whichever platform he used to shoot himself towards the three. But the wince wasn't for how a jutting rock might push on his skin or how his method of moving would strain a normal body. Those things didn't bother his skin, they didn't bother him.

He winced, for the smaller life. Watching how one of the two. Gravity or Red, beat the boy over and over again. Gravity man had his name for a reason, Jake surmised. Control of gravity. It was literally, the only thing that made sense for such a basic and simple name. Red however, had that red energy, and he had proved to use it physically the last time they had met, a long, long time ago that was. Maybe not long enough.

He only hoped that the boy had some form of regeneration. That kind of beating, with that kind of acidic energy... It had made Jake wince, and he had had all his limbs broken in a instant. That had hurt, but what he was watching... It was akin to torture. It made Jake want to use his power to get their quicker, and he had considered it, with every connection of a fist or a foot to the boy. But refrained. Over and over he had refrained and all it did was annoy him, and his focus of that annoyance, would be on these two.

And any facility guard that got in his way. A small amount, considering, but every, single one that had encountered Jake, now lay on the floor, a simple smack atop the head dealt with them. Which in itself was risky, he barely avoided a bullet or two that some of them had gotten off before he reached them, considering where he was, they had to be effective, even on him, certainly were for the edges of his shirt. It focused him, the danger, using his strength as lightly as possible, also gave him time to think as he got closer, but also allowed the kid to suffer so much more.

Yet as the avalanche of rock and metal caved and crashed, filling his future path with a problem he could not quickly solve, the boy felt his heart fall. Because as he arrived at the wall that stopped him from meeting the three, the red life that signaled the boy, was dim. There, but not. And the man that had been beating him stepped away. The other one had left, gone towards two more lights. Small and tall. The other, moved towards somewhere else, leaving Jake to make a choice. First, he would have to bust though this damned wall.

Travis brushed off the minute amount of dust that clung to his clothing, noting the small fragments of wall that had begun to clutter the floor. He was doing more damage than intended, which Lucius usually did not like happening on his tightly coordinated missions. Not that he expected this place to be left standing once they saved all the people that needed to be saved. That was the intention right? Despite not having much information, he had begun to gain an understanding of the plight that metahumans went through. Him and his own people hid for the exact reason that these people were locked up for. Humans feared that which was different than them, meaning that there had to be a certain level of caution. This thought process was pretty advanced he had to admit for what many would call a babbling intellect that was more interested in amusement.

That was when someone entered his field, small like a child. They were around Ryan’s height if not a little smaller, which meant there was a kid here. ”I wonder what that means.” He muttered to himself as the question answered itself. A small child spoke out his little fake name, saying that he had stopped him before and would do so again. The telekinetic blinked a couple times, considering Silus with genuine curiosity. ”Oh, hi there little human. I just wanted to help the people trapped here, save them or whatever. Lucius made it seem like some kind of noble thing. Sorry if I don’t remember you, apparently I can’t heal up memories after getting the ole noodle splattered.” It started off as a greeting and then Travis rambling about something that likely meant nothing.

”Unless that makes you one of those heroes that wants to stop me because i’m bad or whatever. Because I don’t want to fight a kid, feels a little wrong ya know.” He hummed for a second. ”Let’s just call this a draw and you can find Lucius...” he pointed in the direction of the dictator. ”That way. I’ve got someone I might be looking for here.” With a small wave he walked off, seemingly letting Silus do what he wanted. Whether that be follow Lucius or try to stop him.

-

Ryan was confused, looking more lost than ever before. HIs eyes narrowed as Silus disappeared and that Jake person went on ahead to leave the two wondering what they should do. He looked to Lucas for guidance who seemed to have a better idea of what they wanted from things. Despite likely being able to keep up, the youngest masters wanted to stay beside his sibling who seemed to be going through the most frustration here. The thought of leaving Lucas without any means to defend himself against potential metahuman powers was more than enough of an incentive. The two moved around the hallway that had their dad and Gravitas, Beta not knowing how dangerous the gravity metahuman was but knowing that gravity was something that should not be messed with.

If he could do anything like Alpha, that meant that they were scary. Just thinking about that filled his heart with a sort of sheer terror that came with being a child. An angel? Like those things from the weird books about floods, dragons and an angry god? He asked, trying to best explain what he meant without actually remembering the title itself. With just that alone it sounded like something Tolkien would have written rather than a religious text. That was when a few guards came around the corner, raising their guns after a few questions and firing. His eyes widened in surprise, the whole world slowing down while his mental processes sped up.

They were sharp tipped, with small little containers of sloshing fluid. With a thought he willed them stop, and his telekinetic powers reached out to grab the rounds. They paused, leaving the guards confused and somewhat fearful of the child that had stopped them so easily. ”Oh, I know what these do.” They turned around and found their mark in the necks of the guards, seemingly quickly reducing them to an unconscious state. ”So, what exactly are we lookin for?”

Was he dismissing him? Was he just waving him off like he was no one to be listened to? That seemed to be the case. Silus had only a second to process his thoughts. But in the end he only felt empty.

Of course they ignore you… you’re nobody. You’re nothing to them. They only understand what they are. Nothing more. The internal doubt was there. But there was something else. In his mind he thought of the friends he’s lost. He thought of why he lost them. The wedge Travis drove between him and Jason. The way Travis treated people and took advantage of his power over their situation. Silus felt something else there...and he hadn’t ever felt this before. Not like this…


Silus began to emanate a faint light. His eyes began to glow as the third way to Epica activated, the power listing things to the air and pulling the selected ones closer. In this case, unless something was done about it, Travis would find himself the victim of a gentle telekinesis that lifted him up, turned him around and gracefully pulled him towards the child. The shadow was the only indication that anything was wrong to be honest, the ragged and flayed wing like appendages visible within them, then if close enough, finally perceptible to the human eye. Regardless, the child’s naturally jovial eyes didn’t have the same indigo glow to match the childlike smile. Instead it was a deep maroon, the color of blood in the water.