Worst Case Scenario (Phoenix)

It felt like yesterday. He had heard rumors of The Black Beast—a power so great it could end a planet by simply touching it's surface. At first he was skeptical. Why at that time specifically? What prevented it from attacking at any other point? But, as the rumors were further verified, there could be no doubt. What he had been concerned about for so long was coming to pass. A threat that the whole of humanity could not hope to stand against—a threat inhumans only had a long shot at defeating. They had not listened. They told him that progress need not be pushed so hard. They told him what he was doing was evil. They told him it was authoritarian and harmful.

It felt like yesterday.

Here he was, repeating that same scenario again. Not the Black Beast, but some other grand power he was unaware existed. This was his problem. No matter how much he achieved, he was helpless in the face of those that would not listen. Progress at any cost was necessary. Yes, it could damage the world in it's wake, but that damage was better than having the world torn about by superhuman war or having it be invaded by outsides threats of unimaginable power. The world needed to defend itself. It was young and vulnerable. It was inadequate. Despite his seeming misanthropic nature, Lucius loved Earth, and he loved the humans and inhumans that inhabited it. He only wanted them to live and prosper. If only they would listen.

It felt like yesterday when he scarified himself for the people. He gave his life for those that he had been frustrated with for so long—those people that called him a villain and a devil, when in reality he only cared about the safety of the future. That is what Lucius Alba truly was. He was a man willing to lay it all down for humanity, no matter what form it took. He was a man with vision that could not be stomped out.  That was the only reason he was here, listening to an old enemy, even if he knew he would not be listened to in turn. He'd never give up on progress. He'd never give up on a better world. He would never give up on tomorrow.

Yet, all that commitment would go unappreciated. He'd still be the bad guy. Lucius considered these thoughts as he looked upon the beacon of heroes in New York. A teardrop shaped hall of heroes stood before him, in all it's glory. The dictator shook his head. All this grandeur. All this splendor. Yet, none of them would do what was necessary. None of them would do anything that made the public see them in a negative light. That is why "heroes" were limited, and would never accomplish a thing. You had to be willing to give everything—your life, your morals, your family, and your reputation. You had to be willing to make the tough choices, and not care about what people thought of you. That was the only way to fix the world.

Lucius had teleported to the Talon's base, though he wasn't sure how many Talons were actually left. The last time they met, he had shattered them into pieces out of spite. It was unclear whether this base was empty save for The Patriot, or brimming with heroes. Considering Phoenix's rather recent return, it was probably closer to the former.

The dictator walked into the main building, looking around and expecting to be greeted. He wasn't quite sure how this worked. This was supposed to be a talk, so he hardly understood why it had to be in such a large base. Perhaps it was a trap. Not really Patriot's style, but Lucius was prepared nonetheless.

"I hope you have something stronger than tea this time around. If it's your intention to speak about existential threats to Earth, we're going to need it," Lucius said, not quite a yell but loud enough that his voice would reverberate through the lower level of the base and alert people to his presence.

The sun shined bright, almost blinding him. He could hear the waves crashing. The sound of all his friends playing at the beach. Taking off his sunglasses he looked up to see all the Talons playing some catch with a football. All but one. The love of his life. She was laying next to him in the sand. "You know if you ever get tired of crime fighting we could use a vacation." Andrew smiled. The green eyed gal seemed to just giggle. Then the sun started to get brighter and brighter, a dragon flying down at full speed. A goliath of a monster. As it roared fire, Andrew stopped it, 10 more circled around him. One slashing his back, sending the hero toppling over.

He woke up in a cold sweat. Another dream. A dream he'd been having a lot recently. He looked down at his body and frowned at some of the scars that painted his flesh like tattoos. As he stood up he threw on a pair of black jeans, a white button up shirt, and a vest. Sean had been making him more fashionable and professional looking than his older wardrobe.

Slipping into a pair of black and white vans he walked into his bathroom, and brushed his teeth looking in the mirror. His hair neat, beard trimmed to a five o'clock shadow. Ready to take on the day. The A.I. in his room informed him a person had entered Halo HQ. "Well it's likely Sean." he figured rinsing out his mouth and shutting off the water. He got into the elevator and made his way downstairs.

To his surprise it was none other than the Crimson Tide himself. Lucius Alba.
After his comment Andrew couldn't help but grin. "Hey I was just trying to be kind, besides who doesn't like a nice warm cup of tea? You want some water or something before we dive in?"

Two couches raised apart from each other a table in the middle growing from the floor and a big screen appearing to their left. on the tables edge two water bottles sat.

Picking one up Andrew twisted it open and cracked his neck.
"I promise I have something much stronger than tea in mind. Before we get into all that you look a lot better than the last time I saw you. Then again the arctic isn't exactly known for being kind to most people, but then again what does it even mean to be most people anymore?"

Andrew leaned forward and pressed a button on the table and a boat load of information came across the screen. "I've been assembling a response team to a god like figure calling himself Deity. Obviously as I learned from a trip to Canada just charging in to try and play hero and attacking him isn't very bright."

The hero gestures around as if to say "Look at this place after that absolute catastrophe."

"This guy's playing chess. You're a chess master. Zell's a chess master. I've gotten pretty good at being a tactician and we all have fire power. I'm gathering up the strongest and smartest people I know. I filled you in before on who he is and what his plan is. I can fill in any blanks the screen isn't showing you. I can also get you a copy of the same data."

The screen showed who had joined the resistance so far as well as everything Andrew had known. "Listen, before we continue. You were right about a lot. I learned a lot. Going in guns blazing to save the day is a good way to get everything taken from you. I needed that punch in the mouth. For what it's worth I'm sorry about Vegas too. I had a lot of growing up I needed to do. I had no right just attackin ya like that."

Taking a sip of water he extended his hand as an olive branch before the two would continue speaking and awaited to see how Alba would react.

Lucius laid a hand on the water bottle. He ran a gloved finger over it's cap, as if he were debating on whether to drink or not. Truth was, he rarely drank water these days. His specific healing ability kept him perfectly hydrated most of the time. Alcohol was different. He enjoyed the taste, and of course the buzz. He had to drink an ungodly amount, but it was still possible for him to get drunk, thank the Heavens.

He pulled his hand away from the bottle, deciding against it. After they both sat down, a flurry of information appeared on a nearby screen. Lucius' mind was quick enough to gather it all and get the gist, but even so his HUD recorded everything for later analysis  

"Deity? Bit on the nose, don't you think?" Lucius smiled under his mask. Regardless of the power of this individual, simply calling yourself "Deity" was naively arrogant.

Lucius thought about the situation. He could bring the full force of Rise down on this "God," but if it turned out this thing was stronger than anticipated, everything he had worked for would be for nothing. If on the other hand the individual was weaker, then Rise might question why Lucius was using their full power as if he were ordering a pizza. Going all out was probably not the best choice.

As Lucius was thinking, Andrew said something equivalent to an apology. Lucius was surprised, and a bit confused. Why would this man trust him so handily, let alone try to mend old wounds? It's not like Lucius' prior conflict with Phoenix would prevent them from working together. Lucius grumbled.

"The past is the past. Forget about it and move forward," Lucius said. The dictator then took his mask off, pulling down his hood in the process. He messed with his dark hair, putting it back into place.

"You should also be careful coming to conclusions about my rightness. Fact is, if you fully understood who I am, you wouldn't think I was right at all. Maybe in some things, but the overall picture would be something unacceptable to you. We are simply different. I am pragmatic and single-minded in my focus on securing the future of the world. You, on the other hand, care too much about the individual people who currently exist. Despite the fact that if an improved world is not created they will die screaming anyway, or otherwise continue to suffer pointlessly as they always have, you are unwilling to sacrifice them to end the cycle. In other words, you can't bring yourself to put the needs of countless future generations above the needs of damned souls. Damned to stupidity, damned to suffer, damned to squabble, and damned to utter annihilation. That is what those precious lives you focus so much of your time on are if the larger problem is not fixed," Lucius said, going on a bit longer than he expected. He really needed a drink, but all he had was a bottle of water. He cracked it open and took a long sip. Tasted like nothing.

"This Deity is just a symptom of a world that cannot handle itself. When the world doesn't have people strong enough to fix everyone else's problems, who protects it? Without me or you or others like us, things like Deity will come along and destroy everything, and it's only a matter of time before we are caught in a position where we can't or won't help. Heroes, Phoenix, are not sustainable. Humanity must grow up. After we end this Deity problem, a new one will arise, over and over, until the roots are pulled up and singed. Do you understand? I help you, but it is a tiresome chore that is pointless if we don't set up the world in such a way that it can overcome big problems on it's own," Lucius said. He leaned in his chair, starring off into space now. There he was, rambling again. He continued, but more quietly.

"....But as I said, we are different. You will never give up on this pointless errand, because you have your ideals. That's fair. Perhaps it is not my place to try to talk you out of them. However, make no mistake, we do not agree. I am not right, not to you."

"I promise I didn't poison it." Andrew grinned taking another sip. Watching Lucius move his hand away.

"If it were anymore on the nose he'd be wearing it like a damn piercing." Andrew jested at his old time foe. It was so strange to be sitting across from someone he once stood on the opposite side of battle. There was one thing that was for certain. The two would make much better of an alliance against this Deity than enemies during these times.

"I think we could use a drink with a PH level lower than six. What do you say?"
A bottle of scotch was brought in by a robot with two glasses. Andrew let the robot pout the glasses and thanked AVIAN.

After a sip Andrew settled in a bit and listened while the man spoke. He let him finish while sipping and nodding to show he was paying attention.

"Listen. there was a time I thought that too. Back when that Holocaust guy attacked and killed my family in front of me. Destroyed Boston and started leveling and under construction New York. I was so much weaker then. I wondered a lot why do I risk my life and lose everything?"

The hero stood up, almost pacing. swirling his glass a bit between sips.

"Tyuki helped get me through it all along with Sean and the other Talons. When I exploded above the city with him I didn't know where I was when I woke up. Truthfully I thought I was dead. All my family gone. All the sacrifices made. For what? But somewhere some little kid didn't die that day because of those actions. Somewhere someone didn't lose a mother, or father, or the woman they're in love wi..."

He stopped. Remembering Tyuki was gone. It was literally written all over his face and Alba would pick it up without trying.

"My point is I can agree with you. We do need to get to a place so that little boy, or mother, or father, aren't dying in a vicious cycle. What would they do without us? I don't know it would be lambs to a slaughter. I'm not a butcher. I know how powerful this guy and his army are. They make you fight with one arm behind your back or just play the numbers game. It's always something."

Andrew sat back down on the couch, looking back at Lucius.

"You mistook me, Alba when I said you were right. We aren't going to agree on world views always and this isn't the time to debate them. I meant you were right when I said I'd lose it all. I hugged Tyuki and she almost threw up on me! I lost the one beautiful, accident that ever loved me back. She didn't care if I was Phoenix or Patriot. Now I don't get the shine in her eyes the way I used to."

Patriot took a bigger sip. Clearly pain in his eyes.

"That's what you were right about. You broke the Talons, the wings, the whole damn bird. You were right. It focused me though. I started training. Preparing. To comeback and be the man I'm supposed to be, or at least I think I'm supposed to be."

He knocked back the rest of his glass and poured another, completely drowning it. Followed it up by a third that he sat back down and sipped. "I just want this bastard dealt with. Then we can worry about fixing an earth left to save. Then I can try and fix the mess I've made of my life because of my past arrogance and mistakes. I'm sorry for rambling."