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

Belarus, The Talons, Sin.. For all the challenges I have overcome, none showcases more of what is at the core of Rise then this.

Lucius stood, hooded longcoat billowing in the wind, in a field of long, dead weeds. It was quiet out here. It was silent enough that the thoughts he now recorded felt like all there was in the world. He couldn't hear himself breathe, he couldn't hear his heartbeat, and he couldn't hear the sound the loose dirt made as the three men's shoes impacted the ground. He was tuning it all out. All he was focused on was the narrative of this moment.

"No, this is not a flashy power grab. This is not a triumph over a representation of an outdated ideal. This isn't even me overcoming yet another sin of my past. No, this is a declaration. Not a revolution or uprising, but a call to the chained to become unbound.

They were alone out here. The Rise Heads were in all their glory, side by side. There was no game to be played, no hiding, and no theatrics. This is what they were, and each step had purpose. There was no giant scheme to take this facility, and no army to invade it. There was no bombing runs or other people doing their dirty work. There was no Rise here, only a devil, a perfect boy, and a tortured experiment slowing walking toward a site only a half dozen people on the outside knew about. It had been a difficult place to find, but they had done it.

Poetic, Isn't it? The act that symbolizes the core of the cause more then any other is personally done by the three men that started this. I can think of no other leaders so willing.

The three men had been technologically cloaked, and they simply planned to walk through the front door. There was no fancy strategy here. Go in, free the prisoners, gather as much evidence as possible for use later, and eliminate the horrid animals. This was simple, easy. The hard part would come later.

The Rise heads made there way to the building steadily. They were three of the most powerful beings on the planet, yet they walked so calmly. They were a coming storm, and they had their victims in their sight.


"Well they're being rather dramatic, don't you think? They didn't even come in a car!" Lucas said. The boy had followed the Rise Heads using similar methods to how he concealed himself from Lucius in Chicago. There was still a possibility that they knew, but Red hadn't stopped them yet, so Lucas wasn't stopping.

Jake and Ryan were with him. Lucas had brought them along in order to stop his Dad's plan. See, Lucas had reason to believe this wasn't just about freeing the metahumans from oppression. There was something more sinister going on here if he knew his Dad. The guy was dramatic as hell. There was no way Lucius would just do this and shut his mouth about it. No, he was doing this to provoke attention and gather people to his side. If he had evidence to back up his narrative, Lucius could radicalize thousands at a time, and perhaps even get the sympathy of the general public.

Yeah, what was going on in that facility was bad, but the Pandora's Box that Lucius could potentially open could have vast consequences, and could get people killed. Lucas, his brother, and Jake were all here to minimize that.

"We need to wait maybe thirty seconds after they go in. After that, we can get a feel for how to enter unseen. Maybe I can talk my Dads down, but the other guy might actually try to hurt us," Lucas said, twiddling his thumbs as he waited for the right moment. He was open to any ideas the other two guys might have had.

Tired. That was a train of thought Jake could get behind. He felt tired. So very tired. It wasn't physical. He got plenty of sleep. Always did. But he wasn't sure if it was mental, or if he just felt tired. Leaving that train of thought behind, he slung his old red hoodie over his shoulder, the one given to him by Lucas all that while ago, his eyes glowing red and watching in the far distance, a large number of red lights. Lives. Living beings. And from Lucas's words, the three teens were here for, were just outside, about to move in.

Assuming those three were going to be at their best. Jake frowned back at the other two. Small. From all Jake knew, Lucas just had his smarts. Maybe he had some form of that acid energy that Red had... But he hadn't used it yet. Jake didn't want to see it used. He could remember the feeling of the burn. But he was happy that the kid had called for him to come. He wasn't sure about this other kid yet, but Lucas most likely called him for another reason then. Well. Smarts.

"We have some distance to make from this far. And I can't exactly tell where they will be if they get into a crowd. But otherwise. I have eyes on them at all times. If we go though the roof or a window along the wall above them, as long as these jumpers keep us off any of their senses... We'll get the drop on them.. But... Hmm.. Nah. That's all." Jake said as he continued to frown, staring in the direction of the three dangerous men.

He got the jist from Lucas. This facility did things, these three were going to take it down, only. They'd do it their way, and their way, was far too dangerous. But Lucas was right on in thinking their was something more. Red could have left this to anyone. But from what he had been told, these three. These three were far more dangerous then a lot of things. And Jake had faced a number of dangerous things. If this was a simple take down, he could have sent someone else to do it. To come himself, meant there was something more, and that he wanted to have this take down succeed. For something more.

The only major problem Jake had with this, was that he wasn't exactly happy with this facility himself. It was his reason for his but. But he didn't voice any concern. He was here for his friend. He'd have to wait to see what happened when they were inside. Besides. He had to give Red something back for when he first met the dictator. A man who was suppose to be, kinda is a symbol of meta kind. Perhaps even was for Jake back when he thought himself a lowly meta. But the small reminder on the palm of his hand simply meant he wanted to give one back to the man.

Alpha stood with Lucius and Gravitas, three titans within their own right with plans that weren’t intended to shake up the world. Not like the grab at Belarus, but something else entirely; freeing a few metahuman prisoners. The pace was slow, steady steps towards the building while his mind worked over little plans that were quickly thrown away. It was hard to keep himself focused on anything for an extended period of time, but Lucius manged to do so with that weird charisma he had going on. Maybe he had some superpower that just made people focus on him? That was very possible, and he liked to believe that was thw case.

What was Oliver doing now? Chris said he always had that serious look about him but Travis felt like he was probably more fun when not dealing with the test tube family. Why was he even thinking about that right now? They were supposed to be doing important Rise things that involved rescuing metahumans from some facility. ”Wonder what abomination of science will be here to kick our asses this time around.” Travis speculated outloud, recalling the last few times that they went out and similar things happened then. Would it be another of his kind, with greater ability, an ai twisting a poor metahumaman into their weapon or something else entirely? All of these felt possible and yet he had a feeling things might not go as one sided as they did beforehand.

Despite his statement, Alpha walked along with the other two as if silently considering what they would be doing.

–

Ryan fiddled with his hoodie, trailing a few steps behind Lucas while he postulated about their father being dramatic. Despite what he knew about his dad and his guilt behind certain deaths, the concept of walking forward like that was almost cool. Lucas had brought one of his friends, a strange older boy that he only knew by the name Jake. He would have assumed they had another name like their dads tended to have but no such luck. He had an idea what was happening in this facility, and he to a degree understood why they were doing this. ”Dad’s always been this dramatic.” Ryan spoke, biting off a small piece of what looked to be a chocolate bar. ”Though I did hear dad say something about that Gravy Man guy being scary so we should be careful around him. I don’t think we can sneak up on dad either, he has that weird thing where he knows if anyone's sneaking up on him.” Not really a plan but a warning.

Gravitas took to the ground easily enough. It was good to walk again, even if his gait was a bit unsteady. His one foot shuffled behind slightly. But the first person to mention it, after what he had gone through, would die. He made sure that was apparent. He had no fear of anyone. He had no concerns and despite being like a wounded animal, he wouldn't show any more weakness than his physical capabilities would allow. He still puffed out his chest and he still spoke nothing of what he had experienced. It was as if he had somehow been unchanged.

As they approached the base, his mind recalled the events that happened earlier in the day. It gave him a sense of power. A motivation. Despite his odd gait, his powers were able to lighten his body as he shuffled, and pulled him forward at a steady pace. No eight on the wounded leg, and a constant speed pulling him forward. A large black cloak with a dark purple velvet trim and gold lacing blew in the wind as a the sphere hung from his neck in a bone setting, though there was no glow.

Spoiler:

Yet he was still here. His life, was his own. He had made the correct decision it would seem. He walked, his powers causing an itch within him. His true power wasn't in his manipulation of gravity...it was calming gravity down. But his control of doing so was a bit off. Whatever he faced today, he almost felt bad for.

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To watch mortals in their strife, in their conflict. It was something he had never thought of in this way. He was looking differently at the picture now. Having seen his father, The Archon and his countless atrocities. How he was unapologetic, even to Silus, about the ending of hundreds of thousands of realities without even a second thought. To have actually had the opportunity to see the man his father really was. He was no better than Ouroboros, whom would have used him only to consume his power. Though it was true, Zell was a far better father and truly loved his children...to see one whom would do such a horrible thing and claim that it was required. To justify his actions to himself in hopes to remedy the pain.

Since his "faux-death" and his meeting with that mysterious figure. Since the visions and wisdom he was granted. He couldn't look at anyone the same. There were an elect few he could genuinely see as good people. But even now, those thoughts faded. Ryan was one such person, but in cold blood he killed an innocent girl, despite the warnings. Now he would feel the weight of his sin. Just as Lucius was feeling his. But could Lucius change? Was he truly changed? This brought us to the next person, someone Silus saw as truly good.

Lucas Alba. Sure enough they had met before. Might even have become friends, but at this moment....feelings were not the same. Silus felt... nothing. Perhaps only a pang of worry as he realized that people he once would have run to and squeezed in his arms with a jovial, child-like mentality, he now only looked upon as if another piece on the board. Part of him screamed out, saying to go to his friend, to be a good friend and help him. Save him...

But that was the problem, wasn't it? Saving people. Perhaps he should go, but then he had to question. Who was the other one with him? He identified one of them as being one of Travis', he'd seen enough of them to know certain similarities...and Travis himself being off in the distance seemed...different. It was almost inspiring, as something stirred within Silus, though with little to stir... it made little difference.

Silus allowed himself to drop, walking quietly with the skills of a ninja. If the ninja walked in street clothes and didn't care whom he alerted. Silus would smile as he looked to Lucas and cleared his throat a little, trying to figure out what to say as he burried his hands in his oversized brown hoodie pouch.

"It's hard to say. This is uncharted territory. We don't know what we'll be facing in there, but this operation depends on our victory, and we can't afford to lollygag. Get in, get the prisoners and evidence, and get out," Lucius said as they approached the entrance. It was a rather unassuming building, really, but judging by Lucius' prior research, it was anything but. Underneath this standard grey military building was a massive prison designed to hold the most powerful of Inhumans. Gaining their loyalty would be a plus, but that was not the goal today. Today was about making a statement, and Lucius intended to proclaim it loud and clear.

Lucius motioned with his hand as it crackled with red energy. As if he were simply dismissing the matter from existence, a large part of the wall corroded away in an instant. Behind it was what you would expect: an abandoned, run down work area with a single ladder to access the base below. Not a sound could be heard still. No alarm, and no indication of them being detected. The Rise Heads had been successful so far.

"Vast power or not, that's a choke point. They'll be able to see us coming, and that will put the whole place on alert. I don't feel like falling into their preparations. Care to make us a new entrance?" Lucius asked, to nobody in particular. Both Gravitas and Alpha were capable of doing something of that sort, so it didn't really matter. Lucius himself was as well, but he didn't feel like gassing himself so early in the conflict, especially without Cora Zen.

"We're walking into a potential hornet's nest. Though i have no doubt that we will prevail, let's try to be cautious. I wouldn't want this to be more inconvenient then it needs to be."


Lucas rubbed his cheek quizzically as he considered what Jake and Ryan said. Admittedly, Lucas didn't have a lot of information to work with. He knew from Sven having a big mouth that this was very important to Rise, but other then that, details were sparse. They would have to play it by ear, as much as Lucas wanted to come up with a solid plan.

"We won't have to get the jump on them. We aren't here to fight. All he have to do is stop whatever scheme our Dads have cooked up. They probably want something or someone from this place, so if we get it first, it's over. Also...... Yeah, don't try to sneak up on the Alpha," Lucas said, half smile on his face. it was probably not a good idea to sneak up on any of them, but Travis especially was practically impossible to ambush.

Lucas watched as the three Rise Head's made their own entrance inside, and he was about to get everyone moving, but that's when he saw a familiar face pop out of seemingly nowhere. It wasn't someone he had spent a whole lot of time with, but Lucas was still very fond of him.

On top of that, up until recently, Lucas thought Silus was dead. Lucius eventually told his son what had happened when they encountered each other in Chicago, but that didn't make the memories go away. The boy had been heartbroken, hurt, and made resentful by what he perceived as his father's fault. But, now he only felt relief. The Devil on Earth had told the truth after all.

Lucas, with joyful light in his eyes, ran up to Slius. He wrapped his arms around his friend and squeezed tightly, tears welling up quickly. Sure, he had been told Silus was alright previously, but seeing him in the flesh was still overwhelming.

"It's true! You're ok! I didn't know what to do after I saw what my Dad did to you and Orpheus, so I just ran... I-I'm so glad your back!" Lucas was full blown crying now, yet he still wore a smile as he pulled away from Silus. Lucas still held him by the shoulders, though.

"Whadda doing here dude?! Crazy gangsta' ninja jumping out at me like that..."

The mutt frowned to himself as he stared at the facility in heed to the boys words. Both of them. Seems the two kids were sons to Red and one of the other two. Whoever wasn't 'gravy' man, but called Alpha. What was with these villains and somehow ruining their relationships with their sons? Not that Jake asked how Lucas dealt with his father back when the boy had left the younger boy at his request... But still.

The information given to him at most, meant that the three of these men breaking into the facility were more dangerous then he had already thought. And in fact, fighting them would not be benefiting for anyone. For starting, Lucas at what Jake considered the most, could not fight. And he wasn't sure still about the other kid. But if they were to somehow stop Red's plan, then they might get into that kind of scuffle. And considering the three grown men... It wouldn't be fair, easy or fun. Nothing new.

But what got to him still was under this facility. All the people, all the lives he could see. And being so far, it was hard to see where they were exactly, but they weren't moving all that much from what he could see, and that didn't seem all too great. "Well they're moving in now, so we better be quic-" Jake had begun, but paused when a alien sound outside from what he had grown use to came. A simple clearing of one's throat, but enough to make him spin in place and lower himself to the ground with speed and ease. His eyes landing on... Another small one.

Glowing, red eyes scrutinized the new kid. Who was he, was he a threat? Did the boy need to waste his energy here and now... No. He rose from his lowered stance as Lucas ran up to the boy, with what could be called. A whole lot of happiness. Did not do anything to make Jake less tense about this kid. Judging by that happiness, Lucas wasn't expecting the boy here, in fact, the boy might not have even expected this to happen. He turned off his red vision for a moment to actually look at the kid, blue eyes now taking in the details, before flashing back to red, where the new boy and the other two became red pluses of life once more.

Keeping the whys to himself, Jake cleared his own throat, seeing as he was perhaps, the odd one out of everyone here. "Well, new person, you being here means you have some idea as to what is happening? Cause otherwise we need to start moving soonish or sooner then now." The boy may have sounded impatient and maybe a little rude, not offering his own name and all, but he was wary of this kid.

And a little rushing would perhaps, get someone to give all the secrets he needed out, name, reason for being here. What they were going to do moving forward along with everyone perhaps moving towards their goal. They were here to stop... Something. They couldn't do that when they were so far away as they were now.

”Go in, do the stuff and get out.” He parroted with a nod, filing away the information into the part of his brain where the rest of this missions data went. They were supposed to break out a few metahumans from this facility, likely to get their allegiance or whatever the Rise head would want from this mission.  With a motion the red energy corroded a wall away within seconds, giving them an opening with Travis stepping through and looking around. His field extended outwards, keeping track of even the smallest little changes within topography or potentially anyone that would be following them.

No alarms sounded off, which meant they had managed to get through without any fanfare. A single access ladder existed beyond the wall, something they would likely have to climb down. ”We can take care of ourselves Lucius. We always manage to get through the overwhelming odds before.” A casual dismissive motion of his hand as he stepped towards the ladder that lead down and seemed to just step down. Rather than actually climbing, he let his powers lower downwards. It required less effort, and he felt like it made him look cooler. Eventually he would reach a bottom and land, letting hands bury into his pockets and waited.

–

Their plan was less fighting and more trying to outmaneuver them towards their goal. What that was he didn’t know, but something told him his brother likely knew what they were doing. Their dads would likely nor enjoy the concept, but then again this was so the two couldn’t do something bad. They would have gotten moving, but someone popped up to join their little crusade. It was a strange boy, around his age but something about him felt off. They had the same hair cut? That had to be it. Unless he was thinking about the wrong thing entirely, but apparently Lucas knew him enough to cry over the kid being here.

”Hi. Are you Lucas’ friend?” He queried curiously, not even paying much attention to Jake. He smiled sheepishly, and waved to him as if trying to be friendly.

Their conversation would drone on. Something about abominations, something about things he couldn't possibly have cared less about. Gravitas was here for one reason and one reason only. Lucius didn't even need to say anything as Gravitas was more than willing to "make a new entrance". With a hand rising and a fist balling up, there was a large chunk of ground that began to glow a faint purple as the dirt seemed to get sucked into a small sphere and then flung up onto the air, revealing a large hole in the ground. Through what Lucius had said seemed to haunt him almost.

Get in, get the prisoners and get out. Echoed by Alpha in a way what was so simplistic it was mocking. But then again, when you didn't like someone...everything they did pissed in your cheerios. Gravitas was not so shallow as to admit he hadn't given this new Alpha much of a chance, but the fact that this new Alpha never approached him was more than enough to tell you that this...thing hadn't changed at all. It wasn't even a metahuman, it was a captive animal, bred in a tube. Just like it's entire little swarm. Okay...that wasn't fair, and Gravitas knew it. He was just being bitter and jaded.

Gravitas had normally been more willing to speak with Lucius, or at least willing to insult Alpha for his carelessness. But he was....different now. He was focused, his objective was clear. Perhaps Lucius saw it and didn't say anything before. Perhaps he didn't care. Either way, it was of no consequence. No consequence that Gravitas knew of, at any rate. Dropping into the hole, Gravity Man would see Alpha at the end of a hallway, floating down the ladder. Even though this wasn't the same Alpha, something about that smug nature made Gravitas wish that there had been Agency turrets that would have torn through his kinetic shields like a flaming sword to paper. Both sadly, and fortunately, that was not the case....



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Silus almost broke. Lucas was squeezing rather tightly. Silus felt a pang in his chest, something that hurt him, splintered him in a way he didn't realize that it would. Grief and regret were plentiful for Silus right now, but this just seemed to add to it. Lucas had seen him in his wounded state? Why hadn't anyone told him that? Why hadn't he thought to ask that? Silus closed his eyes with a small smile and squeezed Lucas back. It was very true that hadn't spent a lot of time together, but it was quite clear that they both suffered a similar plight. One suffered it silently, the other actually fought against it. In that regards.... Silus was more the coward than Lucas.

He admired Lucas for a lot of his attributes. Some of them he shared with Lucius, true. Others...he could never see Lucius having. Silus finally realized that the hug was uncomfortably long for most people, and for the sake of normalcy patted Lucas on the back and released him. Of course he then realized that he was apparently back from the dead, so wouldn't that warrent an uncomfortably long hug?

"I uh...Sorry..." He said softly before rubbing the back of his head. "I'm kinda....immortal. It comes with the whole... "Lucifer" thing and your Dad being....what-who he is. M-my dad. Not yours. But the expression..." Silus said as he seemed to frantically justify what he was talking about, not accusing Lucius of anything but then looking off at the Rise heads. Jake would speak to him, but he wouldn't offer a name. As far as Silus was concerned that just means that this poor guy was going to go through a lot of heartache. He ignored Jake for a moment in favor of a smaller and more diminutive type. Similar to him, though if Silus had to guess, he'd be about the same age...maybe a hair older.

"Yup! Nice to meetcha!" Silus said, sounding more like his usual self as he gave a small wave back. Of course he finally answered Jake, turning to him.

"Uhm, new person has a name. Thanks for being manipulative of the situation though. I'm here because I know that Lucius is a good guy that's REALLY stupid for someone so smart. I know Travis kidnapped my friends for experimentation or something, and I know that Gravity Man is a terri-bad person." was all he was willing to tell Jake at the moment, before smiling and shrugging. "I figure if these three are all together; it's nothing my daddy would concern himself with, but that doesn't mean this isn't gonna be a perfect storm." Silus said as his eyes slightly shifted in color, looking back to the triad of villains.

"Looks like they're about to start... You wanna go first, or should I?" Silus asked as he carefully squinted. Yes he squinted carefully, because if you squint too harshly, you might blink and in that split second you have your eye shut, reality itself might entirely change, or the man who generates black holes could dance a jig. In his mind he was begging that Lucas forgive him for whatever happened here, because the void inside just kept growing, beyond controlling. But before anyone could act, Silus sort of pulled at Lucas, off to the side a little and had a more quite tone as he spoke. "Promise me if things get rough...I mean-if things get weird, like...completely 180 from what you'd expect; especially of me. Just-get out. As far as you can, as fast as you can. Got it?" The whispered voice would hopefully be enough warning for Lucas to know what to do, in the worst case scenario.

Gravitas was being rather quiet. Well, more quiet then usual. Understandable, considering the events of his absence. Still, there was something grating about it. His fellow Rise Head and friend seemed more dangerous, actually. Like a coming storm, it was like at any moment the cloaked reaper could lash out with violent effect. Lucius weighed his options in regards to interacting with the man, but he eventually decided Gravitas was best left alone for now. He didn't want to piss his allies off at such a crucial time.

Travis, confident as ever, decided to do exactly what Red warned him about. It was irritating momentary, but It's not like he could really control Travis. He'd give his fellow heads tactical suggestions, but ultimately it was up to them what they did. That said, there was a reason why Lucius had survived as long as he had, and there was a reason why he was just as formidable without his abilities. Falling back on your powers to save you while abandoning basic tactics was never a good idea.

"Fine. You can be the distraction," Lucius said as he watched Gravity Man do as he had suggested. With impressive use of his abilities, the very earth was done away with to create a new way in. Peaking down, Lucius saw what appeared to be an empty utility hallway.

"Excellent," Lucius said, unflinching as he jumped down the hole. He fell quite a ways—something that would be fatal for a normal person, and landed on his feet. His metal trimmed boots smacked against the steel floor, and he raised his red energy emitting hand immediately. Luckily, his scanners had been correct. There was nobody down here, and the technological cloaking the Rise Heads had still gave them the element of surprise.  

"That was careless of him. But, I believe we could use it to our advantage. He'll draw threat to him while we work on getting everyone free and acquiring the data we need. If Sven's scans are correct, we should be able to get to an access point by going down this hall," Lucius said, cold as ever. His head was seemingly in the mission. He didn't have much time for normal interaction with such pressing matters at hand. But even still, Lucius did, for a moment, pivot on his heel and look back to his comrade.

"It's good to have you back, Gravitas," The Dictator said, then pulled his hood back up. It had fallen when he jumped down the hole. After that moment of sentimentality, Lucius simply turned and began walking. He was concerned about potential reinforcements, and he was concerned that this could go badly for them if they didn't find evidence of the abuse they suspected, but if they did, an uproar would follow. With that information, even if they flattened this place it would seem just.


Travis would find himself in a room with reflective surfaces. It was like he had just gone down the rabbit hole to wonderland. A hallway full of mirrors, and at the end, a door, and a tinted window above it. Behind this window were two silhouettes of suited men. Once they saw Travis, they seemed to finally understand that they had a breach. The alarms went off.

"State your business," a deep, level tone said over an intercom.

If Travis were to look closely at the walls, he would notice a slight blue energy overlay. It was like a shield all around it. This shield reflected energy, plasma, projectiles, and God knows what else directed at it back at the origin. Something like Lucius' energy might have been able to eat through the field with persistence, but Travis was alone. This was going to be an uphill battle.

Without conversing any longer, one of the silhouettes behind the window clicked a button. From the walls, machine gun fire erupted from four different holes. This was no regular gun fire, however. The bullets had the same blue, electronic coating as the walls. It seemed these men had become really annoyed with metas pulling their rounds from the sky.



"Right, that's what I thought. If they're all three together, it's usually bad news..." Lucas said, still shaking off the shock of seeing Silus again. He was smiling and trying to be happy, but anyone with any amount of socials skills could tell you he was still anxious. He hid it pretty well for a kid, sure, but inside was another story.

Lucas was about to get to the whole 'execution' of his plan thing, but Silus pulled him slightly to the side. The younger boy asked him to promise something. Lucas cocked an eyebrow, not really understanding. Promises were a big thing for Lucas, and he definitely didn't want to refuse, but he didn't know what Silus was asking of him.

"I-I don't know if I-Silus, I don't know what you mean, and I don't know if I can promise that...... But i trust you. I promise," Lucas said, passing Silus by after giving him a pat on the back. The Rise Heads had been inside long enough to start moving forward, and that meant that the game was on.

"The people that own this facility are probably not our friends, so keep that in mind. Today, an enemy of my enemy is my friend doesn't apply," Lucas said, tactics mode on, but still a kick in his step.

Well. Jake wasn't too tired anymore. Now. Now he was slightly annoyed. Which was stupid. He shouldn't be annoyed at this kid, but. The way the kid talked. What he called himself. Lucifer? The boy refused to think this kid was the devil. Because if he was. Then things were truly screwed. And Samael's family just got even... Weirder.

And maybe it had to be with how the kid was able to tell, just from his words, that his motive was to learn. Only he made it sound so much worse then it needed to be. All he wanted was this kids name, and now his eyes were narrowed as he stared back at the facility, watching three grown men go into a hole and start walking. Red, Alpha or... Travis? Jake was going to go with that. And finally, Gravity man, not gravy... Jake was so glad to he lost the nick name thing. His own style of Lucifer, Zaapiel. His own names. Stupid, childish things.

So while Lucas convened with the new one, Jake kept to himself, allowed his mind to mellow. There wasn't going to be a fight less it was a last chance, which meant Jake didn't want that last chance to happen. He needed to abide to what Lucas wanted, and what Lucas wanted was less death and simply to foil the mission of the three big heads without direct contact at best.

Simple enough. If anything could be simple like that. Something would go wrong and it could be anyones fault, his, one of theirs... Most likely his.

Soon after, Lucas gave the go ahead, and Jake nodded. Before realizing that, oh yes. He hadn't introduced himself to the other kid yet, and he wasn't sure how, not with the whole. 'Lucifer' thing as the boy had put it. But he sighed and just decided to go with all of it. If he wasn't going to learn this boys name, he was at least going to have his known. "Got it Lucas. And new one. Name's Jake. Jake Lucifer Zaapiel if you prefer the whole thing." The boy stated as he stood to his full height, looking towards Lucas now, and his... Brother?

He really was out of his element among these three. But he was here for Lucas, and that. Was enough. "And, if we're talking about being careful, let me take the hits if we encounter any. I can take them." Nodding as he said so, Jake turned back to the facility and began walking, his gait slow as to wait to see what the other three did. Were they walking? Did they have other means of travel? He wasn't sure, but he'd find out. Otherwise, his eyes were still tracking the big three the best they could. Not the hardest thing, but getting harder the further they moved.

Travis liked Alice in Wonderland. Not the myriad of remakes, just the original and perhaps the Disney movie with its nice animation. The hallway looked like an attempt to replicate the look, without likely any real success but they were probably  Instead a creepy voice questioned his intentions and then quickly proceeded to go on the offense. It was as if people didn’t understand how  conversations worked, which meant he would have to teach them a little manners. There was a faint sheen of blue energy over the walls, likely akin to when they dealt with Saint. Was everyone just using these damn fields that made his powers useless? There would have to be some words with the assholes that went about creating things to specifically deal with him. Maybe he should have listened to Lucius instead of tuning out his wordy drivel after the first few sentences. Now he would look bad infront of Gravitas considering this was his first time meeting the gravity metahuman.

Machine guns popped from the wall, panels opening and creating openings within the barrier. Not enough to let him do anything against the walls, and these openings would be corrected within the span of less than a second. Nanoseconds even, but they were slow enough that he could react to the opening. As the bullets collided with flesh, the machine-guns began to crush upwards and the four were reduced to nothing more than scrap within the span of time they could fire and pop out.

Pain exploded through his body all at once as Travis stumbled backwards and flopped onto his back. I really hate these bullet things. His bodies ability to recuperate came quickly enough, muscles knitting together and pushing out the bullets through pressure caused by his body reforming. Blood rushed from his mouth, quickly being expelled from his lungs which took in blood and he stood back up. ”Okay, now that was rude. I’m totally breaking your legs now.” He said loud enough for anyone that was monitoring him to hear with eyes narrowed in annoyance. If they wanted their barrier, he would show how useless that barrier was against him.

No one shot him full of bullets and got away from it.

A few more plopped from deep injuries, not quite closed but they weren’t bleeding heavily. ”Wonder how much pressure that fancy barrier if yours could take.” He focused on a point within his palm and projected the force forward in a precise fashion. It would collide against the field that would attempt to push it back, but that just lead to him pushing back. It was an attempt to push through their field and maybe cause a little havoc. After all, he was playing distraction now.

–
Ryan considered the male that his brother seemed so happy to see, eyes narrowed for a few seconds before widening back to normal. He offered a wave back to Silus, playing with one of the dangles at the front of his hoodie while Jake spoke. He seemed to be a strange guy, someone he didn’t expect his brother to have been hanging out with. Was he one of the many people that Lucas had managed to make friends with? A raven croaked in the distance, black feathered bird seemingly keeping its distance while picking at what he assumed as a dead animal. ”Nice to meet you too.” He responded in an almost timid manner. He didn’t want to fight his dads, though going with his brother likely meant that they would have to do that.

Would his dad actually hurt them? Now he was beginning to question if that was the case, if only because he had began thinking about what his parents were doing beyond the comfy little facility Alpha liked to keep him in. Either out of possessiveness or a fear he would get hurt was unknown. He broke off a piece of chocolate from his bar and offered it to Silus, if only because he was hoping to get friendly with this strange boy.

He was doing the friendly thing right?

”I’m Ryan but everyone just calls me Beta.” He gave when Jake gave out his name, trying to stretch out the hivemind he had going on. ”I can connect our brains so we can talk over long distances.” He offered so people that might have denied the link before knew what he was trying to do.

”So, how are we getting in?”

Hollow words to an extent. Even if they weren’t, they felt hollowed. Even if someone had betrayed him, how could they have possibly been so wittingly deceitful as to keep the entirety of Rise, especially Lucius Alba, one of the smartest men alive in total darkness. What a fool they had proven. Perhaps if more time had been given, perhaps if more warning had been shouted, well he wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with. Lucius looked to Gravitas, whom all he could do was nod. Anything else was too…. Painful? To speak? To lash out or, scorn with the proverbial push-off? None of that would change what happened. Even Gravitas could agree with that. There was only one direction to move… Forward.


He followed Lucius, and at the first sign of resistance, Gravitas would increase the gravitational field surrounding the guns by three hundred times the regular statistic of 9.8. When weaponry wasn’t seen, he was busy altering his own, more isolated gravitational field, stretching it outward and dominating the very floor he walked upon. Gravitas was focused on the mission it would seem, and nothing was going to stop him. Even if he was not being his violent self, he was still formidable.


-------------------------------------------------------


So it took a moment, but Lucas agreed that he would appease Silus in that moment. That brought a huge relief to his heart as he seemed to be more calm, and more at ease about having to do what might be done. Especially if it happened...again…

This other guy introduced himself, it would seem as though he had a middle name that was the same as Silus’ first name. His eyes widened a little and his smile plastered on his face as he nodded, grateful to meet someone else with such an off name. "Oh? Sweet! My name is “Light Bringer” but that translated directly as “Lucifer” but when you hear how we talk, like native Ether with the energized harmony sounds like “Silus”...or wait…. Was it the other way around? Was I bortn Silus but it means Light Bringer and that translates…." Silus was immediately taken back, but then Jake made it quite clear that he was the one here who would be playing the role of “Tank”, which Silus was completely cool with. He nodded. "You’re gonna take the hits? Yessir!" He said obediently then looking to the new little Ryan character.

Well his name was Ryan, he was adorable and seemed totally innocent. Sadly that was the perfect criteria for Silus to stay away from this person, because odds were he was going to murder someones sister. Of course Silus warmly smiled at the boy and was offered chocolate. Silus looked at the piece and shook his hand at it gently, trying to politely keep the chocolate at bay. "Erm, I shouldn’t eat chocolate before something like this.. I might get hyper and make chocolate golems or something-hehe" he said, trying to be slightly humorous. But after a moment he realized that this boy introduced himself as beta. Beta...Jason? No this kid’s name was Ryan. His heart sank as he slowly began to worry. He tried not to let his worries get to him as Lucas gave them the run-down. Friends of Friends not being allies… or something like that.

It’s all the same anyway.

Silus looked to Ryan and the second he said about linking minds, he apologetically shook his head. "I-It’s probably better I’m not linked in. Last guy that tried to mind link we me kinda...went blind and was bleeding from the ears." He coughed awkwardly before directing the conversation. "S-so I used to be good friends with a Beta. His name was Jason...what uh...what happened to him?" Silus tried to tactfully displace the awkwardness as he started towards the opening that Gravitas had made.

Nothing. Gravitas said nothing. Perhaps he was just focused on the mission, but all he cared to add was a simple nod. It wasn't like Lucius was looking for a drawn out conversation about how great their friendship was, but you would think Gravitas would at least be talking. This left Lucius with two hypotheses: either Gravitas had been through so much trauma that he simply didn't want to interact in the way he once did, or Gravitas in some way blamed Lucius, and perhaps Alpha.

Maybe that was warranted. Maybe Lucius could have done better in searching for Gravitas as soon as he was lost. But, Rise was designed to only step in once a head's own sector failed to deal with the issue. Granted, Red could have done something simply because he was fond of Gravitas, breaking that rule, but he was sorta caught up in other things.

His daughter was murdered, he was nearly killed by one of Nicolas Flamel's long lost apprentices, Vexus defected for no apparent reason but ego and then scorched the outskirts of Belarusian land, Ryan went off to join Lucas in outright revolt against him, and Sven was as insubordinate as much as he was no longer a friend. Through all of this, Lucius had no one. Silus never showed up, the kids that weren't dead left him, and Alpha was still recovering from his brain injuries. Red, the cruel and apparently evil dictator, had been beyond busy with such painful experiences and was disconnected from everyone. It was no surprise he didn't drop everything to go find a man who seemed to want to be as loosely involved with Rise as possible.

"A son of light, the once loved torchbearer cast down by a holy knight. He carries the dawn to all, and yet still he is damned to fall. He does what's right, yet they call him devil at first sight. Guilty is the one who seeks the truth. Sinful is the man who seeks the flame. Ignorance is the only thing that won't bring you shame," Lucius sang softly to himself. it was a song he had compiled when he was young. Was it a shot at Gravitas? Maybe, but there was more to it regardless. It seemed no matter how noble Lucius' acts were, they were always lost in his darkness. He was the universe's favorite scapegoat.

Lucius' little song was cut short, though. As the two Rise Head's walked, men came from around the corner. They wore guard uniforms, had guns and stun batons, and seemed to be escorting a prisoner.

"You guys aren't gonna take my mask again, are you? It was just a scuffle!" said the kid. They didn't answer him, however. As soon as they saw Lucius and Gravitas, the guards gasped, raising their weapons. Unfortunately for them, Gravity man had that covered. The guns and tasers were ripped from their hands, but not before a few bullets went off. They seemed to be anti-meta rounds, from what Lucius could see of them. High velocity, high penetration, yet brittle enough to break apart once inside their target. Brutal against lesser metahumans, and apparently also effective against durable ankle bracelets. A couple of the rounds hit the teenager's Power Regulator, which Lucius recognized as being one of Slattery's. In fact, it was one of the models Lucius had personally upgraded, though made of cheaper materials. Red could only speculate how they got their hands on that tech.

"Ha....Hahahaha! It's you! It's really you! I've dreamed of this moment!" the kid said, brilliant yellow lightning running down his arms. It spat at the air and cracked almost as loud as the real thing. With a single motion of the teen's hand, the bolts lashed out at the guards. Cleanly, they struck at the heart of each with channeled fury, causing them to drop dead instantly. This wasn't some run of the mill elemental. Only a single touch from the lighting charred the four men. Looks like they picked the wrong line of work.

My scanners are going crazy. They've never measured lightning so powerful. Lucius said over his comm-link with Gravitas. Something was telling Lucius this guy was not exactly friendly. The Dictator took up a fighting stance.

"I figured you'd be dead by now, Alba. I guess if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. At least you came to me. Saved me the trouble of hunting you down. Still gotta find that fucking human though..."


"Mayday! Mayday!" the voice said into the speakers, not sounding so confident this time around. Apparently those guns worked better last time. The guns crumpled at the first bit of pressure brought against them by Alpha's telekinesis, despite appearing to be high tech. Apparently they were cheap knockoffs or something.

Travis then focused on destroying the shields. He put all his might behind the pinhole attack, and when the shields pushed, he simply pushed back harder. It was a remarkably straight forward approach, but it was working. It was pretty evident this tech wasn't on the level of something from Alba, Genetech, or Masters himself. It crumbled quickly.

The shields burst, and then the wall behind essentially exploded. The men in suits were knocked all over the place as their viewing chamber was cracked open. It looked like a simple office, really. It also looked like these guys didn't actually get much action. They're computers were filled with tabs from YouTube and flash game websites. The facade had been broken, and the three men in the room were terrified.

"We-we didn't me-p-please don't. I have a family!" one of the men said. Another behind him added a simple "me too" as he stared down his fate. It was at this point Lucius might say that they were beaten, and that killing them was unnecessary. Unfortunately for them, Lucius wasn't here.


"I don't really know. I saw him awhile ago. I assume he still lives in Alpha's facility, but I um, haven't been there for some time. Lucius kinda kept me close," Lucas said, responding to Silus just as the group came upon the hole Gravitas had made. Lucas didn't see any way down for himself. A fall wasn't worth reactivating Synthesis. He looked to his companions, brows furrowed.

"I uh, won't be able to get down there safely. Wanna help me out, Ryan?" Lucas asked. He didn't really like asking for help in such a manner, but he knew his little brother would be fine in doing it.

Once each of them got down in their own ways, Lucas most likely being lowered by Ryan's telekinesis, Lucas would brush his pants off. He looked down the hall, seeing that the Rise Heads had probably turned a few corners. The element of surprise was safe for now, but Lucas wasn't sure how long they could remain unseen. If he could help it though, Lucius wouldn't ever know they were here. After all, they didn't necessarily need to confront Rise to stop them. All they needed was to get what Lucius wanted before he could get to it. What that was, well, Lucas still wasn't sure.

"Guys, this should be pretty easy now that we got Si. He's like, super powerful and stuff," Lucas said with a little chuckle. He was saying that mostly to motivate everyone. Naive as he was, he noticed that something wasn't quite right with Silus. The boy could only hope it wasn't serious.

Making it to the hole with the others he assumed was made by the one called gravity man... Somehow, gravy man sounded just so much more innocent. Better. Yea, Jake wasn't in the mood to get into a fight with anyone today. If only he was so lucky. Red eyes a blazing, he kept them shifting between the three groups. His, the one that went alone and the other two. With everyone being red lights, he couldn't tell who was who, a guessing game was all that remained.

Knowing Lucas had his own way down thanks to his brother, that meant Ryan could get down, and he assumed the other one, Silus, could get down easily enough. So, with a nod, Jake hopped into the hole and fell, landing with bent knees and the ground cracking under his feet, shock reverberating though his legs to his body, but nothing he hadn't felt before. When the others made it down, Jake pointed to both groups not his own. "Two that way, one that way. We planning on rudely interrupting their work in some way. We'll need too..." Jake paused, the two had become many, seven in total. And no sooner did seven become three, with four red lights, dying out, blackening. Dying. Dead. Yet, Jake wasn't sure how.

The third light was smaller then the other two, around his and the others sizes... Perhaps one of these metas that were supposedly locked in this facility? But where they the one to kill those four or the two... He needed to see, he needed to stop whoever it was that decided to kill. He wasn't going to stand by while more red lights died out. "The two encountered someone, people are dying. Lucas. You got Silus. I'll distract the two and keep everyone busy. You do, what you got to do kid. Alright?"

Jake stated, not really asking for permission, but waiting for his friend to give it, because he was sure, Lucas would give it, but even if it wasn't... Besides, even if it wasn't the two, he was going to be creating a diversion for Lucas and the others, the smart ones in this group, to do their thing while he kept the facility guards, the two Rise, and the metas of this facility distracted if he had too. If he was distracting, then it wasn't a fight, even if they were throwing things at him, and he threw things back.

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]