Reunited in the ashes (Alert, invite only)

Ryan was in a hotel room when it happened.

The television broadcasting the news he guessed switched to something else. A broadcast from obviously not the network with a woman dressed in white armor designed to look as if fire were dancing across it making what sounded like grand proclamations.  He was watching the tv, sipping from a juice pouch and texting Zeke alongside Connor who seemed to be on about his social media. All it took was the broadcast to break his attention from whatever he was doing, slack-jawed as he watched the amateur footage of a building being brought down. ”This is...the perfect opportunity!” He said finally with arms shooting out in a faint cheer, mussing up the blankets.

Sorry Zeke. New York is getting blown up by bad guys. Going to go thwart that now. He texted Zeke and a less superhero response to Connor with a selfie on him lying on the bed before  rolling over and digging out a large metal case from under the bed.

Flamel had helped him design the suit and he worked in a bit of irony because that was something he wanted in his new superheroic life. The latch came undone with a code. Ryan shoved open the top to revel in the design itself. Dark blacks, buckles, cloaks and the outline of blues that he came to associate with himself. Everything was meant to fit his own body type. This was the second time that he put the suit on. Drawing on his own knowledge of where things went and what to attach to what until he  was fully dressed.

”Wonder if this look fits me,” He muttered to himself staring in the long glass mirror set against the wall. It felt like it worked but at the same time he didn’t know.  The glance out of the window was when he came face to face with one of the men on the television. Dressed in black with faces only covered by one of those black masks only concerned with covering around the eyes.

They locked eyes for a few seconds.

He wanted to say something but they greeted him with laser eyes. It nearly collided with him before slamming into a telekinetic barrier between him and the other person. Still Ryan was thrown back, hitting the wall which shuddered and cracked on impact. The mirror disconnected from the wall, shattering as he tried to contain the energy within a small bubble. That became a small anger as he pushed back the energy into the face  of the person trying to fry him to a crisp. The attack seemed to hit them hard, throwing the flying person through the air and slamming into the side of a building across the street.

”Geeze, this is going to look bad on me,” Ryan muttered to himself, hearing the voice that came through the modulator. Something told him he would get charged for the window too. With a low annoyed growl he jumped out the now destroyed window, feeling the wind whip through his cap e. Telekinetic prowess holding him aloft while he was lowered to the street below. Making contact with the concrete and seeing that the person he had thrown back was already out. Mask having scorched away and face marred with burn marks he swore were beginning to heal rapidly.

They let out a loud curse and charged hims again. This time he expected the attack unleashing a wave of his energy. The blue energy streaked with black. This seemed to do more than his telekinetic attack. Causing them to scream in pain, slamming to the ground as the cold began to quickly claim their clothes and likely damaging the flesh as well. The wave of revulsion was first to come though he felt the effects of the energy cleansing him of the negative feelings. The city was burning and he needed to do something about it.

Was it lucky that Lucas was in New York on this day?

Maybe. Maybe it was lucky. It happened so sudden. If he were away, there would have been no way for him to get to the city in time to do anything. Unlike his father, he didn't exactly have access to teleporters whenever he wanted, so it was good in a heroic sense that he was already there. That said, this seemingly random occurrence did present some risk to the teen. He wasn't in peak form, just learning the in's and out's of his new abilities. Even though he was here, he might just get himself killed instead of helping anyone. So, was this lucky?

He'd have to find out.

Lucas had been in a book store reading some comics when it happened. The TV's in the store's cafe, where Lucas was sitting, flicked to a woman who was declaring some kind of violent revolution. Lucas cocked an eyebrow. Was she serious? In all honesty Lucas wasn't used to seeing 'villains' make such moves. The ones he knew were calculating, not doing anything rash until they were sure it would go well...... That meant one of two things. Either this person was an amateur, doing this as some kind of prank or sloppy power grab, or this was the culmination of a very long plan. Lucas could only hope it was the former.

The teen set his coffee and comic down. Any doubts about this being serious faded from his mind when he saw a man get thrown into a building just outside the store. The shocked teen sprang into action, running to the bathroom to get his gear on.

When Lucas came out of the store, he had a mask that covered the lower part of his face on, a trench coat, and Cora Zen tightly fastened to his side. He realized that the fight that had broken out outside had quickly been resolved, with the one that had been thrown into the building groaning on the ground, burnt in some manner.

Lucas turned to see who had done this, and his eyes locked on a male of about his size, dressed just like......... No. It couldn't be him. Lucius was dead, right? Maybe this was a copy cat. Maybe just someone with a similar fashion sense?

Lucas shook his head. It didn't matter. He needed to figure out who was to blame here. He drew Cora Zen, pointing it at the hooded, masked figure.

"What did you do? Who are you?"

Ryan watched the man he had struck down with his energy, skin hissing from cold burns and waited for them to rise.  He kept his eyes trained on the man before seeing that they weren’t going to get up again and turned towards a voice that seemed to call him out. They wanted to know what he did? Well, that was pretty obvious and he pointed that out with a motion to the black suited man kneeling not far from him. There was something about this hero, if they were even a hero but he didn’t care much for that. They were pointing a sword at him and that was enough.

”Put the sword down unless you plan on using it,” The voice that worked through the filter was hard, like a razor along with the cold edge the words held. As if he would strike without hesitation if he made use of the weapon. With that they didn’t even keep full attention on the man in black with their weapon as familiar as it felt. ”shouldn’t you be worried about dealing with the actual problem and not the one who looks vaguely villainous?” Was that how he looked? Ryan had an idea he would look bad with the armor associated with a dictator but then again that was what came with paying dues to ones own father.

One or even two of the men dressed similar to the one he took down seemed to descend upon the street, looking over their comrade before looking at the two of them as if they were both at fault for this. “You’re going to regret that,” Sounded like a woman. Was it bad to hit girl? He never knew with all of the media that seemed to portray that as such, which gave her the time to bridge the space between them and slam a fist into a barely protected face and throwing him through a building.

It stung a little but he could tell his mask wasn’t damaged despite the buildings not having the same luck.  She was already on him and began to unleash rapid fire strikes while he assumed the other one was taking to the one that was threatening him only seconds ago.

"Who says I didn't plan on it?" Lucas said. It was pretty clear now that Lucas saw the other individuals in the distance who were similar to the one that just got knocked out that this hooded man wasn't the issue. Sure, he had a rather villainous looking style, but than again Lucas himself didn't exactly scream 'Superman.' Lucas sheathed Cora Zen, just as the real enemies descended on them.

The female struck first, closing the distance with the other hero and hitting him in the face. This launched him into a building in the distance, and the female followed him to continue her assualt. This left Lucas alone with the other. Male, large, imposing. No doubt powerful, given what Lucas had just seen. A worthy opponent for just about anyone, yet Lucas remained confident, striking a light footed, evasive posture.

"You should have stayed home, kid. We aren't your neighborhood street thugs," the man said. Lucas ignored him. The teen was too busy analyzing. His own powerful intuition along with his OPTIC lenses took in everything about this man, giving Lucas all the information his already inquisitive mind needed to profile him.

He was like the others, no doubt. He walked with a confidence and posture only great power brings. His steps were deliberate and disciplined, and his back straight. He was dressed similar to the others, except he wore more heavy duty shoes—combat boots, to be exact. His subtle mannerisms all gave Lucas the impression this man was trained, and the fighting stance he took all but confirmed this.  Military. Sambo and...... Boxing? He was strong, but also skilled. This would be tough.

"I think you'll find I'm more than a match," Lucas said, smiling under his mask. The man just shook his head, stepping forward into a high speed dash.

Lucas was already moving.

He knew what the move was going to be the millisecond it was initiated. A simple hay-maker. Nothing fancy. No doubt his opponent figured Lucas could just be blitzed, so didn't start with any complex technique. How wrong he was. Lucas casually leaned back, the fist missing his face by half an inch.

The man raised an eyebrow. He wasn't expecting that. It looked like the kid was fast, but, not? Lucas wasn't moving quickly, yet the teen dodged as casually as swatting a fly. It was as if he saw it coming.

Whatever, the man thought, unleashing a flurry of tight, trained boxing jabs. Maybe the kid could dodge one, but how could he evade a flurry of near perfect, trained blows, coming at his face so quickly? The man gloated to himself. he had the speed of Atlas! How could anyone contend with that?

How indeed.

It was almost boring. Like watching a movie for the hundredth time. Lucas had already calculated this sequence of events, and indeed thousands more. There was nothing unpredictable about these strikes. Trained as the attacks were, they were not innovative or adding anything new. Even then Lucas would have had a chance to adapt, but without those factors, it was like child's play. A fist came his way, he leaned to the side, evading it by a hair again. Another flew at his gut, he jumped back. An upper cut? Yeah, he did the Matrix thing, no sweat.

On and on this went. Lucas had looked at this fighting style so long, analyzing it with his super computer contact lenses and impeccable mind, that there was little chance of it surprising him. Dozens of strikes came his way, and with each, the man got more and more frustrated. He just barely missed. Just barely hit nothing but air instead of his intended target. He got sloppy. This was what Lucas had been waiting for.

The boxer overextended himself, giving Lucas an opening without risk of getting hit. He dove legs first through the mans legs after evading his heavy lunge. He was small enough to slide through this small opening AND perform an attack. As he slid, he drew Cora Zen, slashing at the man's Achilles Tendons. The man let out a howl of pain, falling to his knees just as Lucas kicked himself to his feet, like a ninja.

The man was breathing heavy. Though durable, the masterwork blade cut deep into the man. There was no way he'd be able to walk, or even move without pain. Still, this was a powerful metahuman, so he attempted to continue, but Lucas was ready.

Having already slipped underneath, Lucas was behind the downed man. Without hesitation, he held his hand to the man's head. Lucas' eyes then lit up with white light, tinged with red, and so did his hand. The man screamed out in agony, his attempt to continue to fight thwarted by the surging of energy through his skull.

Lucas continued, wincing at the man's pained screams, which eventually turned to whimpers. It was never fun to do this. Guilt could be so painful, especially with the influence of the red energy. But, the path to redemption is never paved with gold.

The man fell down onto his face once Lucas stopped, sobbing. Lucas himself had a few tears streaming down his face, but he quickly wiped them away, sheathing Cora Zen.

Lucas lowered himself down to the sobbing man, placing a hand of comfort on his shoulder. The man looked up to him, pure sorrow in his eyes.

"Sven, get this man an ambulance.... Those wounds from Cora Zen won't heal nicely without a physician, metahuman or not....As for you, take care of yourself.." Lucas patted the man one last time, then got up, turning to see how the other hero was doing with his own enemy.

"Need any help?! I got this one!"

It took the woman a few moments to see that the attacks she was laying on him didn’t do anything. Hitting the telekinetic field between them and not actually even striking the armor he was wearing much.  The subtle change within her body language was enough for him to know she realized that. ”Just figured it out huh?” He questioned through the filter of his mask, watching the trajectory of a punch aimed for his face motivated by annoyance.  He calculated the angle, force behind previous punches and what he expected her to be able to output when genuinely trying to go all out.  All of this within less than the millisecond it took for her to follow through with the attack.

All within acceptable perimeters.

The fist collided with a force equal to its own, releasing a shock wave that shattered stone around them but didn’t move him. Slowly he rose from the deep crater than had been made beneath his body, brushing away a bit of dust which clung to his cloak.  ”If that’s the best you could do I don’t think I need to waste all this brainpower to think of a more elegant solution. Sometimes the most direct path is the best,”

”Don’t you look down on me you little runt!” She roared before trying to strike him again but before she could move she was being propelled into the air. Smashing through the ceiling and every floor above them until she was hurtling into the air to a sudden, jerking stop. Then came rocketing down until she met with a wall of invisible force which seemed to reverberate through her body.  He knew it would likely cause massive damage to her, but it was unfortunate. Had to be done to keep her from thinking that she could hurt anyone she wanted, if she survived anyway.  It was all childs play but when he thought about it most combat with metahumans was simple. Painfully even.

He walked from the crumbling shape of the building he had been thrown into and turned to the hero who addressed if he needed help.  ”No, I don’t believe i’ll need help here,” On cue the person he had been fighting slammed into the ground, causing the concrete to spiderweb outwards from where they impacted.  ”there seems to be more than these two around the city,  so I was hoping to deal with them before they caused anymore...extensive damage. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to have someone help,” He did want the help but a part of himself didn’t care one way or the other. He would take down all the bad guys himself if he had to.

Lucas couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle when the lady hit the ground, just moments after the other hero said he didn't need any help with her. It was as if her smacking down proved his point. Sure, it wasn't nice to laugh at people's pain, but it was such a funny punchline and effect. Like something he'd seen on cartoons. Besides, she could take it.

Lucas made sure to approach her and hit her with some energy. That way she wouldn't be hurting anyone else any time soon, even if she didn't learn her lesson today. After that, the boy's attention was completely on the other hero. The guy seemed..... Familiar. And it wasn't just the look of his gear. He acted like someone he knew. Lucas couldn't deny that, but it was..... Developed? Mature? Different?

Lucas shook his head. He'd just have to dig a bit if he wanted to know more. Speculating with so little information would be pointless.

"Yeah... I'm a bit concerned actually. This looks like a big deal. It's not your average Tuesday villain power grab. This seems like a full scale assault. New York might be...... Well, might be looking at another disaster," Lucas said, looking out in the distance to see fires erupting. People were fleeing and there was a near constant vibration in the ground. Terrible things were happening all over the city. These people needed all the help they could get.

"Anyway, dude, I understand the whole 'reserved tough-guy' persona. I'm sure you have your reasons for it, but this isn't a lone wolf job. If you want me to come with, we have to use team work. I'm a partner, not a tag-along. We'll be far more likely to save all these people if we earnestly work together." Lucas was hoping that didn't come off as rude, but he really didn't want this makeshift alliance to be nothing but them fighting in the vicinity of each other. That would defeat the purpose of teaming up at all.

With that, he'd follow the hero wherever he decided to go. It was kind of a long walk before they found anything, so Lucas started humming a bit to keep himself occupied. After awhile, that humming turned to a light skipping. He seemed like he wanted to keep moving, and was extremely light footed. He'd skip circles around the other hero as they walked, sometimes even walking backwards as he took in the sights around him. He looked....bored, but unmistakably upbeat.

"So, what's with the sith lord costume. Taking tips from the world's favorite Dictator?" Lucas asked, not even looking at the other hero as he whistled and walked with a kick in his step.

Ryan was almost pleased with how she hit the ground at the right moment, but that would have broken his own stoic exterior. Couldn’t have people looking down on him like when he was just a little kid. He was a big now, which meant acting more adult. Well, that was how it was right? ”A metahuman call for action suggests that. Though I can’t tell what they’re trying to do with that,” Would people be so stupid as to just run from their homes and begin to literally destroy an entire city? The fires in the distance meant that some kind of destruction was going on, but he didn’t know if these people with the shared powers were the brunt of the attack itself. Something told him that the causalities would be high regardless if he helped or not.

”That would be fair. I would just need to know what you’re capable of if we’re going to be working together, ” Trying to play it cool was easy, but he couldn’t help the times that he wanted to be less...cold so to speak. He wasn’t like their fathers who seemed to have an easier time controlling their emotions. It almost made him wonder if he was even doing it right, though the other guy assuming he was one of those lone wolves was a start.  Was that how he came across to other people?

Either way he looked off into the distance where the greatest amount of destruction was happening, eyes narrowing behind the visor and calculating what he could do. It didn’t matter because he knew he had to do something about it. Already he was working over what could be causing the explosions. Maybe more of those people with their hot eye beams hitting gas lines which ignited them and brought buildings up in flames. Were they trying to cause so much damage or what? He exhaled deeply, stepping back as the large section of a building nearly fell on him.

From behind his mask one could assume that he looked almost bored with the situation but that was because no one saw his face. ”N..no, maybe i’m taking inspiration from the Sith,” he deflected lamely, almost annoyed but forcing his feelings back. He seemed to jump over the large bit of rubble that stood in their way, seeing the scene ahead. Three of those men in black with their lasers and what could only be described as water being vomited from manholes. Well that had nothing to do with fire. ”looks like we might be dealing with some kind of hydrokinetic too. Well, that’s interesting,” He noted to himself turning to Novus.

”So, what’s your thoughts on dealing with this?” This was how he was supposed to be working with someone else, right?