Webs of fear (Alert| Talos)

Ryan didn’t have first hand experience being hurt by Cora Zen. It was a blade his father had wielded throughout his tenure as a villain, one he was sure had drawn plenty of heroes blood but he had never come to face it.  What he knew was that it could cut, and when it did the blade stung quite keenly.  Feeling it bite into him was a fine example of the pain it could bring, teeth coming down to bite into his lip to choke back the growl of pain. This would heal, he knew that. It wasn’t a big deal at all.

Despite that his mind was running a mile a minute, working through what tactics could take down his father. Fear induced apparition or not, he was someone he had little confidence in his ability to defeat. Was this even his father or just how he perceived him? That might warp his abilities into something even worse than they might have been in reality. The man afterall was someone that prided himself on his ability to prepare to deal with almost anything that came after him. Many heroes had come after him and most had failed.

Using his teleportation technology to such devastating effect, now that was not something he had seen him do before. Moving around in ways that made the subsequent attacks even harder to predict, or even avoid. This was not a fight he could hope to even escape without better prep. Was there any escape from this fight? He worried and wondered over this within the span of a second, something that stretched out over what felt like longer within his hyperactive mind.  He knew he could think like this forever, but the habit was hard to break.

His father had weaknesses, he knew that much but what they were wasn’t something that immediately came to mind. Best he could think of was his own energy, which was opposite in color and from what he could tell properties. After all, heat seemed to mess with his body in many ways which meant perhaps the opposite would affect someone with an opposite energy. The flash of red burst through the thrown up smoke, smashing into a barrier of blue energy that flashed around him. Streak of black coloring it, though it looked more like an accent than anything else.

Thruster sounds caught his attention, followed by Talos speaking to him. I don’t know too much about his weaknesses but I do have a few ideas. Have anything like liquid nitrogen in that suit? He questioned, working through what the two of them could do against someone like Lucius Alba. He wanted to plot within their minds, less that the villain could overhear. His eyes scanned around, though the multitude of explosions were enough to vastly reduce visibility for him. Well, maybe he’d need to invest in better technology in the future. Direct action while possible, gave away too many of his moves.

I know his powers produce and feed on heat to some extent, so extreme cold temperatures should have some effect on him, He mentally explained, not including the fact this was hypothesis and nothing more. He didn’t even ask Lucas if that was how his powers worked, though he had the feeling it was.  Was he lurking somewhere around them, waiting for some kind of weakness before striking? That sounded like something he would do. My energy has properties similar to liquid nitrogen, so it might be some help though his energy also seems to counter it too,

With a thought he tried to blow away the excess of smoke that had been thrown up, revealing the ruined street around them. Cars, their metal exteriors bent and smashed apart. His father was nowhere to be seen, which meant he was watching from a different point or perhaps he had lost interest. That was just the hope really, but if he knew anything about him that meant he wouldn’t be so lucky.

He’ll strike soon, so we need to be prepared, As if reading his mind something did happen, a sudden upheaval of his equilibrium that ripped Cobalt from his feet. A powerful, sudden wind that rose up from a point he couldn’t make out within his suddenly frenzied mind. What was happening now? His mind worked over the possibilities, especially of what he knew about his fathers gadgets. What could create a sudden whirlwind like this? He was sure he had seen something like that when training with his father before, trying to learn how his powers worked and ways he could master them further. It was a short experience yet one that remained within his mind for a while.

What came to mind was a stick that when set down created a powerful maelstrom from the point it was set down. As he spun around in the air, Ryan tried to steady himself though he still slammed into what felt like the rubble of a hotel that once stood around. Massive chunks of cement were pulled up, drawn into the twister and becoming more of a hazard. If someone were around they would end up getting hurt too.  Massive rocks thrown into still standing buildings, slamming through and leveling even more floors with just wanton destruction. With a grunt he shoved one of the pieces of rubble pinning his body down, holding himself in place through sheer will alone against the hurricane force winds that had been conjured up.

This was getting annoying. His father didn’t even have the decency to stay dead and not bother him anymore, even if it were something conjured by an evil pumpkin demon. He felt something stinging in his eyes, though he didn’t focus on that feeling right now.  The real question was where the source of this wind was. ”So, this a new hero friend of yours? Not too impressed, his suit is impressive enough but that’s about it,” The voice came through his helmet, likely connected through a communication thing. He ground his teeth together, looking for where it could be coming from but knowing sight alone wouldn’t help him.

He had to hope Talos’ suit could find and stop the whirlwind.

“Liquid Nitrogen, huh.”

“Calculations conclude his plan is sound, as Lucius’ powers generated a heat signature, which could be how he is able to separate atoms, by expanding them apart.”

“So all we need to do is hit him would high concentrations of cold, and then hit him hard...” Talos grinned under the mask. “Yuri, bring me the Zero Cannons.”  

”Zero Cannons being deployed, ETA five minutes.”

Before Talos could search the area for their attacker, he was suddenly engulfed in a whirlwind. “Crap, Yuri, how do we deal with his??”  

”Energy signatures detect the source of the whirlwind is located below.”

An icon appeared on Talos’ HUD, but as he went to find the source, a boulder collided with his back, sending him off balance, and into the whirlwinds current.  

“Okay, I would like to get off this ride...” Talos stated out loud, as the strong winds sucked him in, spinning him around rapidly, his HUD knocked off it’s equilibrium, and unable to horizon-lock. “I’m gonna hurl.”  

”Switching to AI control, targeting energy signature.”

A port on his forearm opened up, firing off a decent sized missile. Using the currents momentum, the smart missile steadily reached it’s target, hitting the rod dead-on with a small explosion.

The whirlwind stopped, but forced Talos to fly into another series of buildings. This time, however, he hit the wall of one building, and tumbled down into a back alley.  

Groaning, Talos rolled over, getting to his knees slowly, as his face mask opened up, and Jacob emptied his stomach on to the ground. “Ugh...” The facemask closed, but Talos remained on one knee, still trying to regain his focus, and balance, after being jostled around by the whirlwind. “Yuri...Yuri...” He paused, shaking his head, as everything came back into focus. “Yuri, what’s the damage?”  

”Armor down to 67%, and primary thrusters are offline, sending replacements with the current package.”  

As Yuri talked, a low hissing came from the shadows of the alley, as a massive snake slithered towards him.  

Talos sighed. “Increase delivery thrusters to max.”  

”Sir, that will disable the auto attach systems.”

“But will get the delivery here in five seconds...” Talos rose to his feet. “I know how to manually install the packages, just land on my mark.” He raised a hand, pointing a laser at the coiling serpent.

As the creature attempted to strike, it’s head suddenly turned into a bloody splatter on the walls and alley, as it was hit with a rather large, armored pod.  

Talos lowered his hand, wiping some of the blood from his armor and face, as he stepped towards the package. “Separate.” He commanded.  

The pod shifted into several different pieces.  

“Okay, gotta be quick.” Jacob ejected from the suit, quickly moving, like a Nascar mechanic.  

He started by removing the damaged back thrusters, twist locks free and disconnected connectors, throwing it aside, as it began to smoke from the failsafe. He then connected the new thrusters, smirking as they hummed to life, indicating they were ready.  

Returning to the suit, He used the mechanical strength to attach the new weapon, which looked like two shoulder-mounted laser cannons, each steaming from vents, indicating they were cooling something.  

“Alright, let’s finish this mother fucker.” Talos growled, launching back into the air.

”I could say the same about you. Half your suite is a bunch of gadgets,” He snipped back, feeling something rising up in him like a cold wind. Scouring his insides, as if any moment the pressure would splash up towards the surface.  The whirlwinds howled around him, wrecking the immediate area and sending large chunks of debris hurtling further around the city. Who knew such a small device could cause so many problems? That was his father for you. Take a small innovation and turn it into something that could kill dozens, if not hundreds of people if he were so inclined.  Even thinking about it was enough to make him sick.

”Tools Ryan. All that matters is that you use the tools correctly, something you just aren’t doing.,” The voice quipped through his suits communications array. ”The fact you think you have a plan is even more amusing. Perhaps I’ll need to make the point a little more...directly,” That was when the ground beneath him collapsed with a faint explosion, bringing him down further. He was certain there were sewer tunnels under the city. Even Vegas, desert bound as it was needed ways to dispose of their waste.

The enclosed spaces were dark, only faintly lit by the light that poured through the hole above. His eyes scanned around, using what low light settings his suit had to track any movement around him. It wasn’t hard to see him there, black and red, visor glinting within the tunnel.  Cora Zen was drawn, red energy sparking off of it in little crackles.  Fetid water flowed just a few feet to his left, mostly blocked now by the  rubble that poured down from the streets.

”You have a weapon of some kind don’t you? Draw it!” The man slipped into what he could only describe as a kind of fencing position.  Even with his limited knowledge, he could see this specter resembling his father was just as skilled as the real thing. There were few if any flaws within his stance, so rushing him would do no good., He didn’t spend much time learning how to fight like that. He also knew that trying to throw the man around would do no good, he was just immune to any kind of direct manipulation.  If Lucas were here, maybe he would have a chance but he wasn’t here. That only made it worse for him.

Raising the metal hilt, he channeled his energy through and crafted a blade with it.  A thing blade, composed of cyan energy and the occasional streak of black energy through it.  Ryan took the best stance he could, letting his foot slide back until it hit a bit of broken concrete. ”This should be good enough,” He noted, eyes focusing only his false father now. Any move he made would need to be considered with all the caution he was capable of.  They were...maybe fiften feet away from each other, standing as the sounds of destruction came from the city above.

”You’ll need to finish this quickly, if you want to save anyone in the city above,” His father noted, not sounding cocky or even condescending. It was like he were stating a matter of fact. People were dying and he was just squaring up with his dad like he had all the time in the world.  That was enough to embolden him; anger him even. Without even thinking he darted forward, footsteps hammering in his head and sword swung for the mans neck. A simple decapitation if it managed to land, but he knew it was not so simple.

Cora Zen casually moved to the side and his weapon almost glided along the edge of that pristine looking red blade.  His attack didn’t touch his father but it sure did  leave him open to  a playful swipe across the cheek. Quick and painful as Ryan threw himself back with a brief, weak burst of telekinesis.  Cora Zen had shorn through his visor and managed to cut him, nothing new there.  It was then that he realized that he didn’t move as far as he had expected,  stopping mid air after a few feet and that Lucius was already rushing him. A flurry of slashes he barely managed to deflect with his own weapon.

Red and blue sparked within the near darkness, each blocked slash coinciding with two more than couldn’t be deflected.  Splattering blood across the floor, and each strike also robbing him of what felt like his own vitality. As if his body just wasn’t working along with whatever was coating his fathers weapon. Each attempt to counter attack came with a simple parry, followed by a shallow yet punishing slash. Were this anyone else he was sure his body would have quickly healed, made useless a death by one thousand cuts strategy but this was his father. He always had something prepared for any occasion. Anything to counter someone, especially someone like him.

This trade of blows went on for a few seconds before his father stepped back, not a single scratch oin him while Cobalt had blood pouring from various cuts that just weren’t healing like he was sure they should.  Lucius tutted. ”Seems like you didn’t learn anything while I was dead.” Well, that wasn’t true but he didn’t let his father know that. Instead he took a step forward, breathing deeply as the runes he had managed to carve into the floor below him activated.

Lucius’ boots sunk into now liquid concrete, followed by another rune turning it back solid. A split second long enough for him to leap forward, sword becoming an erratic blur of energy and his own telekinetic prowess augmenting the strike he was about to lay down. The concrete beneath his own feet even cracked as he took a step forward, barely able to follow what he was doing as his own weapon came down. It all felt like it was going as planned, until the blade came up and his own weapon fizzled out of existence. Blue energy washing over the man, followed by the point of the weapon positioned to slide right between his ribs.

It hurt.

He felt something iron bubble up into his mouth, and heard the weapon slide out of him. ”Please, did you think I wouldn’t know about your alchemy. Flame is predictable if nothing else,” He flicked the blood from his weapon, stepping back and Ryan stumbled back. ”You’re still too early to defeat me. Not like that anyway,” He raised a hand to press against the opening in his chest. He had purposefully missed a vital strike, it was just something meant to hurt, not kill him. Was this some kind of game? If this wasn’t really his father, that meant he had no reason to hold back like that.

”If you think that’s all you have another thing coming,” Suddenly a burst of steam filled the area around them, removing vision from the equation.  With that he channeled some energy into his injury, forcing the wound to close enough to stop the bleeding. His body seemed to have a different reaction to anyone else, though Sven stated something about most of his physicality coming from that came energy. The AI really knew a lot it seemed.

From there he tried to visualize how his father would act, perhaps teleport to the surface street. That was where Talos would be and he had no issue dealing with him, perhaps he was confident he could deal with someone whose only abilities were a super suit.  Yeah, that would work fine with him. A faint blip of light within the steam proved that assumption true. Holding his breath, he looked up hoping he knew enough about his father to be able to react.  With that he floated above into the smokey, yet clearer streets.

Yeah, they were just as ruined as he remembered. His chest ached with each breath but he didn’t have time to worry about that. Already his body was slowly beginning to heal that injury, lessening the pain enough to operate for the time. There his father stood, one hand on his hip and the other still holding his sword.  Without thinking about it he unleashed a pulse of blue energy that rose along the street like a small wave, washing around the fear apparition.  It didn’t seem to do anything but that wasn’t the point. He could tell the maelstrom was gone, which meant he didn’t have to worry about anything hurling into them.

With that brief distraction he hurtled himself forward, quickly breaking the distance and  slashing at him with the same energy blade, Re-igniting it was easy, so long as he focused on maintaining that same shape, He wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.  This time their blades came to clash, causing the black suited man to slide back.  The grit beneath them scraped, his eyes looking around for where the suited hero might be.  He was part of the plan after-all.

”Barely even started and you’re already desperate?” He questioned, red energy emerging from Cora Zen and shoving him back as the two separated.  With that several alchemic runes quickly went off, unleashing a hail of spikes formed from the area around them like bullets down on the villain.  Most were slashed down before they could reach him but the ones that connected managed to make the man flinch, nearly fall when one or two connected with his head.  They were the ones he had made hit a little harder with some psionic reinforcement.  Now things were falling into place he could tell.

Desperation was what he needed here.

He teleported behind Cobalt now, leaving him barely enough time to form a defensive blast of blue energy that mostly canceled out the immense burst of red energy.  Still it was enough to send Ryan hurtling forward, skin burning and more of his suit destroyed. Rolling into a slide he quickly unleashed a small flurry of blue darts, most of them batted away by a pulse of force but one managed to hit its mark. A small device he was sure made the teleportation happen. He grinned,, activating the rune beneath his feet, creating a pillar that rose beneath him and rose him into the air.  Disabled his teleportation, have him in a pretty compromising position, so lay that freezing stuff on if you have it, He sent the message mentally as Lucius rose higher, and the ground was quickly molding to bind the man for as long as possible. It was at most thirty seconds but should have been enough to do the job as he rose on the pillar perhaps fifty feet into the air.

“Disabled his teleportation, have him in a pretty compromising position, so lay that freezing stuff on if you have it”

Talos looked over, seeing the pillar rising up, and a red glowing figure trapped at the top. “There you are...” He growled.  

He blasted closer, wanting to see his face as he fired. He only planned to take one shot, to make sure it worked. “Yuri, set blast power to level 100.”  

”Sir, anything caught in that blast will be immediately disintegrate under the cold.”

As he got closer, he pondered the words, wondering if his emotions were clouding his judgement.  

He made a vow, to a young boy, who died in his arms, not to become the monsters he swore to defeat. Was that happening now? Was he becoming a monster??

He looked over the city as he drew near, seeing all the chaos that was transpiring, all the poor souls, caught in this mess, all because some monster decided to play with reality. Because of his selfish actions, monsters like Lucius were given life, nightmares were made manifest.  

The line became clear then, and he had no doubt, his next actions would bear a toll, but it would be one he would gladly bear, if it succeeded. And thus, he only needed to say four words.  



“I’m counting on it.”  



As he drew near, Lucius gave one more attempt, as the stone broke loose from one of his arms. “You should’ve stayed hidden, young hero.” He fired a small flurry of red darts, making sure to get enough coverage, so Talos would have to move, and couldn’t get a clear shot.  

“Shit.” Talos jetted to the side, moving around the blasts, but continued to move forward. “That’s not gonna work a...”  

He felt immense heat, like a white-hot piece of metal had just been pierced into his lower abdomen.  

“Oh, shame, your moving around made me miss your vital organs...” Lucuis was directly in front of Talos, his sword in hand, and the blade, currently stabbed through Talos’ body, cutting clean through the armor, and out the back side. “Still...” He twisted the blade, the heat increasing cause of it. “The damage from my power should suffice.” He looked Talos directly in the eyes. “I commemorate your courage, young hero, but you were foolish to think you ever stood a chance of defeating me!!”  

His vision was starting to fade, as the pain was too immense.  

“Another failure, that is all.” Lucuis slowly pulled the blade back, making sure the pain was felt from every inch that was retracted.  

As he started to float back, he was stopped, as suddenly, driven by some unknown force, Talos had grabbed onto the blade, pulling it back in, and thus, locking it there.  

“What??” Lucius, for the first time the entire fight, sounded genuinely surprised.  

“Speaking for the people of this city, the world, myself, and most importantly, Cobalt...” Talos locked eyes with Lucius, as the cannons shifted aim, locking onto the villain. “Fuck you.”  

Suddenly the sky turned a bright white, as a beam, that could be seen from space, fired off into the horizon, aimed at an upward angle, to avoid contact with anything on Earth. The next few seconds, a light hail started to fall over Vegas, as the moisture in the nearby air was suddenly turned into ice by the cold emitted from an absolute zero cannon shot.

"Oxygen levels are low, taking over...

Jacob couldn't hear the rest of Yuris sentence, as everything went black.

Ryan watched the suited hero close in on the nightmare specter of his father. Hopefully fast enough to outdo whatever reaction speed he might have bound by the amorphous chains of earth. He rose to his feet, channeling a little more energy into his chest injury but not feeling any kind of improvement to his healing factor. Still, it made him feel slightly better despite what Cora Zen might have left in the wound. Breathing didn’t hurt as bad at least. He watched the hero speed towards his father and then things quickly fell apart from there, not that he expected anything less or more.

Darts of red energy flying through the air, each capable likely of eating through any metal that suit might have been made from. Despite that Talos managed to move out of the way of each one, weaving through the myriad of dangers so he could get close enough to unleash a blast that should take the nightmare down. That being until he rammed the sword through the armored figure, well it looked like it and he realized his held breath came hissing out of him. His mind had become numb in that moment.  He saw what happened, the quick motion that defied normal human perception that moved Lucius from where he was to before the hero.

It brought him back to that place, a meeting of monsters and the last time he saw his father. His real father.  He didn’t know what this meant, why he felt the way he felt but a kind of cold fury burned through his veins.  Not that he was particularly close to Talos, but he was someone that he could see himself liking.  Quippy, arrogant even but the kind of person that did what they thought was right. The opposite of his fathers, that was for sure. Losing himself to his thoughts was what led to him missing what happened next, the blast of cold that arced across the sky.

Well he saw the cannon fire itself but not what led to that point. His mind barely even registered that, considering the massive drop in temperature around him and how it didn’t really affect him that much.  Ice plonked against what remained of his helmet, making him aware of the fact that it had begun to hail. Was that a side effect of the cannon he used? ”Wow...” He whispered under his breath, considering the phenomenon and the fact he was sure whatever that was had managed to turn the nightmare clone of his father into powder.

”Looks like your hero friend….was crazier than I anticipated,” The voice was ragged, weak even but he knew it.  Well, seemed he wasn’t powder like he had guessed.

”Of course he is. He’d have to be crazy to associate with me,” He responded sardonically, turning to the man that had fallen from the sky. He was missing a good portion of his right side, most of his arm and all of that leg.  It looked macabre, though the stumps were singed closed with what he assumed was his energy. Anything to keep the blood from pouring out.  ”Didn’t think you could look that pathetic dad.” He sounded listless then, approaching the downed villain who didn’t even seem to make any move to defend himself.  This city was still overrun with nightmares but all he could look at was this man here. Each step felt leaden, as if the energy fighting with the energy that ran through his cells were winning. Well, that was no surprise either.

”You wanted to see me like this. You’ve always hated me, haven’t you Ryan?” He couldn't read that tone in the mans voice. It twisted his guts, making the corners of his eyes sting.  The hilt in his hand felt heavy, impossible to hold onto and yet his fingers kept their grip on it.  Why was this so hard. ”Ever since I left you, maybe before then even.  You’ve hated me for a long while.”

There was perhaps a couple feet between them, his grey eyes looking down on the still proud copy of his father.  Was he like Orpheus or someone else? Maybe just an illusion meant to torment him. If he walked away, would this monster eventually become someone? A person that could come to care about him like he hoped his father did?  ”No...” The blade ignited, plunging through his chest, spreading a cold through the mans form. Rapidly breaking him apart. It made him think of a pile of snow, shattering and breaking apart as he flooded energy into this being.  His eyes hurt worse now. Tears spilling out in small droplets over his cheeks. He was glad his helmet mostly covered that.

”I loved you,”

As the cold dust blew away in the wind like a flurry of snow in winter. He turned from the scene and felt the sudden weight of everything hitting him at once. His limbs felt heavy, mind a whirlwind of frantic thoughts that quickly gave way to oblivion.  He hit the ground quickly enough.

He really was a monster.

”Scannning...heart beat stable...blood pressure dropping...activating clotting agent...”

Talos, moving like a puppet, brought a hand up, as a small tube popped out of the tip of the forefinger. The suit then stuck the tube into the stab wound, injecting a clear, gel-like, substance into it.  

”Blood pressure stabilizing...breathing stable...waking user.”  

“Gah!!” Talos sprang to life, as a small electrical shock woke him from passing out. “Oh man, my head is killing me.”

”Well, you were border-lining cardiac arrest, and ended up unconscious due to extreme levels of pain.”

“That sounds right, that sword felt like it was lighting my insides on fire...” Talos scanned the area, suddenly alert. “Where’s Lucius??”  

”The Zero Cannons were a direct hit, and Lucius sustained critical damage, which was enough to allow the hero Cobalt to finish him.”

“Good, where’s Cobalt??”  

”Down below, sir...” An icon appeared on his HUD, showing Cobalts unconscious body.  

“Shit...” Talos dropped to street level, rushing over to Cobalt. “Yuri??”  

”Despite his vast injuries, he is stable, and vitals are steadily improving, most likely due to fast healing.”

“Then why aren’t the wounds going away?”  

”It appears residual energy from Lucius’ sword is preventing said healing to take full effect, and he will need to be treated for wounds naturally.”

“Okay then let’s get the hell out of here.” Talos looked up to the tree, seeing Silver Scion, still hanging from the branch. He lifted off the ground, seeing that they had cleared the threats, and he had time.  

“Alright, buddy...” He looked over the bindings holding the hero in place. “You don’t know me, but I am a hero, just like you, and I’m here to save you.” He reached up, using a precision laser to cut the bindings.  

As the body fell limp onto Talos, he descended slowly, adjusting so he was carrying him over one shoulder. “I really hope you don’t wake up and start attacked me.” He muttered to himself. He landed on the ground a few seconds later, scooping Cobalt in his other arm, before taking back off, flying for home.  



Sometime later...



“Look, right there, when he teleported to Cobalt... “ Jacob sat at his work bench. “The energy coming from his suit is allowing him to somehow create temporal shifts in the physical plane, and pulling him from one location to another, via most likely a neural uplink.”  

”Sir, I suggest you take time to rest, otherwise, you risk opening your wounds.”

“Eh, Doc sealed the wounds pretty good, I can’t even feel it.” Jacob took a swig of a Monster, grabbing a a pair of tools. “Besides, this is calming to me, and how I rest, remember?”  

”You can’t feel the wounds because Doc gave you a heavy dose of painkillers, which you shouldn’t mix with energy drinks.”

One the work bench, laid out in a neat display, was Cobalts suit, which Jacob had to remove, so “Doc”, an autonomous medical drone, could properly work on his wounds. While the hero slept off his injuries, Jacob decided to fix up the damage his suit had sustained, as well as add a few improvements. “How's the jet thrusters coming??”  

”Fabrication is at 58%.”

“Good, once that’s done, I need the helmet designs done next, with the improved sensors.”  

”Of course sir, and your own suit??”

“I will work on that later, I have some improvements I wanna work on...” Jacob held up Cobalts broken helmet. “But Cobalt comes first, he did save the day, after all.”  

Ryan, when he wakes, would find himself in a white room, laying on a medical bed that is way too comfortable to any hospital, a robot-like figure on wheels moving around the room, currently checking on Silver Scion, who was also in the room. He was dressed in very comfortable, silk, white patient pajamas, and his wounds were covered with bandages.

When was the last time he collapsed like this?

His mind wandered back, reaching for anything that could give an answer but all he could find was something that happened almost a lifetime ago.  Back when a cult wanted to turn him into some kind of dark messiah, if that was the best way of putting it. A peoples that even his monster of a father seemed bothered by, though he couldn’t comprehend what they really wanted.  Back when they were a family, Back when it felt like he wasn’t so alone, but that was a lifetime ago.  Images flashed across the blank canvas of his unconscious mind, unable to fully turn off despite the injuries he had suffered.  An opposite energy reeking havok within his body, keeping any damage from healing and slowly doing all it could to kill him. The fact his body naturally produced an opposite energy was enough to keep it from killing him as it was.

He had heard that someone died because his fathers energy existed within their body.  Tearing them from the inside out until they could do nothing more than pass away, another victim of the mans boundless evil.  Well, Lucius Alba wasn’t the only person he could call father.  Another face was there, more like his own but different also.  A kind of impassable wall, where emotion rarely showed but he could always image a smile there.  He knew Alpha wasn’t exactly the greatest person either, but there wasn’t pain there.  A kind of feeling like he were being stabbed through the heart when thinking of him.

What was he doing now? The thought settled down to the bottom of his thoughts like silt at the bottom of a riverbed.  Like all the other unconscious thoughts that faded when he rose, returning to the waking world.  His eyes slowly, sleepily opened to the sterile white room much like the one of his birth. It brought many mental images with it.  A chemical taste and scent, one that made him shoot up to a sitting position, feeling over his chest which was generously bandaged.  A robot wheeled around, likely monitoring him and...The Silver Scion? That was a surprise.  He ran his fingers through his hair, forcing some of the stray dirty blonde strands down into a more suitable shape, trying to figure out what could have led him to a situation like this.

Slowly, he threw his legs over his hospital bed with the faintest tinges of pain remaining from his myriad of injuries mostly healed now. How much of the red energy had been purged from his wounds? He wondered this, feeling over his bandaged injuries and wincing when a few of them were tender.  Turning attention to the robot, arcing a brow. Was this something Talos made or someone else? If the former that was almost impressive, he didn’t know many people that could do something like creating robots. His father maybe, a few his of his siblings as well but they were the intelligent sort. That just spoke of the heroes intelligence too.  ”Talos around?” He questioned  the robot, not quite waiting for an answer as he stood to his feet. Wobbling only a little before managing to get his bearings.

This place belong to you? I’m really hoping I haven’t been kidnapped, He probed for the mental link to see if it was still there,  mind working through where he might be and if he could find the hero through just intuiting it. There was the hope but he didn’t want to rely on vain hopes alone.

The robot rolled over to him, it’s singular ocular “eye” giving him a quick scan.  

”Scanning...” It spoke in a rather soft, soothing tone. ”Vitals stable...blood pressure stable...injuries stable...diagnosis...healthy.” From the center of its main body, a port opened up, an arm extending out, holding a lollipop. ”Have a good day.”  

Before Ryan could question more, a life-sized hologram of a child appeared in the room to his right. ”Glad to see you are okay, my name is Yuri, and I have been instructed to overlook your recovery, and answer any and all questions you may have.”  

The hologram walked over to the door of the opened, which opened for him. ”If you will follow me, Mr. Mercer is awaiting you in his lab.” He signaled to the exit.  

As they walked through the rather fancy mansion halls, the hologram never lost connection. Upon closer observation, it would be clear that a series of black strips, two on each side of the roof where it connects to the walls, and two where the walls connect to the floor, were actually light sensors, that emitted the 3D image.  

”Mr. Mercer will be glad you are okay, and able to walk around, and so am I, or, I would be, if I had any semblance of emotions...” He glanced back to Ryan, looking as if he was waiting for something, before turning back around. ”Sorry, little bit of AI humor.” He then continued to lead the young man through the main living area, complete with the biggest couch imaginable, and an even bigger TV.

Eventually, they would find themselves in what looked like a garage, a factory line, and a science lab all had a child. The room was huge, with various fabrication stations positioned throughout, each one tooling away, crafting a new part, or repairing damaged pieces.  

Across the lab, sitting at a bench against the wall, Jacob continued to tool away. He had several monitors on display, each one showing a different image, or recording, all from the fight in Vegas.  

One display showed a POV of the fight, recorded from Jacobs suit, another had CCTV footage of Cobalt and Lucius’ interactions, with some audio. A third and fourth display showed two different 3D renderings, one of Cobalts suit and sword, and the other of Lucius designs. Upon closer look, Ryan would find he had managed to get the details of his suits design down to the smallest components. For the render of Lucius, however, there were a few blank spots, in which a computer was trying to calculate the possible missing pieces.

Jacob turned to check on the status of one the fabricators, when he spotted Ryan, and gave him a large smile. “Oh hey, glad to see you up and moving, Doc always does a fantastic job.”  

From this angle, the fact that Jacob was missing his lower legs was obvious, as two stumps excitedly shuffled in the chair.  

“One sec...” Jacob spun back around, grabbing his prosthetics. “I don’t like wearing these while sitting in chairs, they tend to chafe real bad...” He slipped each one on, giving them each a test swing, before standing from the chair. “So, I supposed I should just clarify, I am Talos...” He pointed to a nearby wall, where his armored suit sat on an angled bench. “My real name is Jacob, but don’t worry if you don’t want to give me your real name, I understand the need for privacy.”

The robots eye rolled over him, making feel Ryan feel naked despite the clothes covering him. Was he being scanned? Possible but he wasn’t going to ask the robot, if only because he wasn’t sure if the thing was programmed to even respond to people. Well, the thing said it was scanning him so maybe that was one of those obvious things he ended up overthinking.  Ryan sighed, looking down to his feet and back to the robot with a weak smile. ”Thanks,” He said despite the pointlessness of the gesture, almost committing to just trying to find Talos before a hologram popped up. It was an honest to god hologram, something he only expected to see in his visits to Belarus long ago as they were. It was shaped like a child, though he didn’t think too hard on why that might be.  Alpha might have said that certain choices told you about a person but he wasn’t sure how often that was true.

The hologram signaled towards an exit, mentioning that a Mr.Mercer would be waiting for him in a lab. Had he heard that name before? He worked through his mental notes but nothing came to mind.  So he followed the black strips along the span of the wall, each footstep a little steadier than the last as he walked. Getting his blood flowing seemed to help his healing, as if what residual pain that remained were melting away quickly.  He was following the hologram, who was capable of talking. Even making a joke, which made him sound a little more like Sven.  Just thinking about the AI was enough to put a smile on his face.  A weak one but better than before.

”I think i’m going to like you,” He noted to the AI, blinking several times in  rapid succession as he committed the concept of this Mercer having an AI to memory.  They were intelligent, skilled and even funded enough to do things like forming an artificial intelligence.  It was no mean feat, it meant he was dealing with someone as intelligent as him. Outside of home that was a concept he never expected to encounter like this. His father was the exception of course, but he was an exception too all of his kind.

He was led through a living room and then eventually  a massive garage.  Parts moved all around him, mechanical things that moved about as well as massive monitors displaying various scenes. Most of them were of his father, him fighting even.  All of the images were from Vegas, which meant he was likely working with the image of his father from that nightmare world.  Across the room someone was working at a bench, slaving away at something but he couldn’t tell what it was from here. Ryan hmmed softly to himself, brows furrowing in a curious fashion.

That person turned in his chair, noting him finally with a smile. He smiled in return, it just felt like the right thing to do.  His glance went down to see his legs were missing below a certain point. Was this Talos? He hadn’t thought about it before, but if someone could make a mechanical suit, perhaps they could make  their own high end prosthetic. As if to answer the question he raised a couple prosthetic legs,  slipping them on before standing up. He was Talos, that much was confirmed by the guy himself.  He blinked, and nodded crossing his arms over his chest. ”My names Ryan. You know me as Cobalt,” He responded, approaching him casually. He looked to be around his age, which made everything he was doing even more impressive.

He gave the suit on the wall a quick glance and turned it back to Jacob. A few of the TVs protrayed his interactions with his father, even what they were saying were broadcast through them. It was enough to make his skin crawl. He had even managed to get the schematics down to the fine details of his suit, as well as whatever that nightmare version of his father was wearing.  Well, it looked like there were a few spots missing but he supposed that was something that could be filled in.  ”What are you doing here? Looks like a little suit repair but...” He furrowed his brows noting a few changes that weren’t in the original design. Changes he didn’t mind, didn’t even have enough time or resources to do himself, but they were changes he liked.  Why didn’t he think of putting them in?

”More like a suit upgrade I guess. ” He amended,  stroking his chin. Should he say it? There was a specter lying over his mind, wondering if he had managed to figure out something that was easy in hindsight. The screens playing his battle and words with Lucius were obvious enough, especially with one of his first ever lines. Thinking now, he was sure the man was more discrete than that. Well, it wasn’t truly him so maybe that just came with it didn’t it? ”A little uncanny seeing him all around like this too. So, guess there’s a connection between the two of us?” He looked to Jacob, arcing a brow though all he could offer was a quirk of the mouth instead of a full smile. ”Not that I made it hard to guess. Cobalt, and Red are pretty opposing names when you think about it,” His was just a different shade of blue afterall. ”What kind of theories you got goin on about that?”

“Oh, this...” He looked back to the suit, and his improved designs. “I apologize if it’s too forward...” He chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. “I have this habit, when I see technology, I just have to tinker, and add things.” He looked to Yuri. “Yuri, what is the status of our other friend??”  

”Silver Scion is currently stable, but still unconscious, Doc is watching over him currently, keeping his vitals up.”

“Good, when he wakes, make sure to explain the situation to him, last thing we need is for him to go apeshit on the medical room.”  

With a nod, the hologram vanished.  

Jacob turned back to Ryan, who had been inquiring on how much Jacob had put together. “If I had to take a gander, and going off the vast amounts of evidence, such as you two fight the same, dress the same, and your mannerisms are fairly similar...” He rubbed his chin, clearly thinking it over. “Calculating how long Lucius had been around before his timely death, and your estimated age, I would roughly place at around late teens, early twenties at the most...” He took another swig of his Monster, then returned to his work. “I’d say our now confirmed dead pain in the ass was your father.”  

Jacob didn’t seem phased at all by what he just said, as if the information either hadn’t quite settled in yet, or it didn’t matter to him at all.  

“So...” He walked over to one of the fabricators, which was currently at work, shaving metal into a defined shape, specifically, back thrusters. “Like I said, I took the liberty of learning the mechanics of your suit...” He was clearly changing the subject, not wanting to put Ryan through any more stress, and also didn’t want to tread into touchy subjects, not upon first meeting the guy. “It’s pretty advance tech, I had to run through the basic mechanics at least twice to figure out how it all ticked.” He motioned to the additions he made to the 3D Render. “I did find a few pieces that could be improved, like the sensors in the helmet, I gave them a tweak, adding in a suite of features like Infra Red, Thermal, Nightvision, and so on..” He looked to Ryan, an excited smile on his face, like a kid, getting go show off his favorite toys. “Then there’s the aeronautical traversal pack...” He pulled up an image of the suits thrusters. “It’s a jetpack!!” He stated happily.  

“I loved you.”  

The audio echoed throughout the room, as Cobalts final blow to Lucius had finally showed up on the screen.  

Jacob looked over to the video, seeing the young hero collapse, after what he could only assume was the hardest choice he ever had to make.  

“Look, I’m not gonna pretend I understand your pain, I kinda got the lucky draw when it came to fathers...” Jacobs tone shifted, as he sounded much more mature than he originally appeared. “But, I know I speak for a lot of people out there, when I say this...” He placed a hand on Ryans shoulder. “That man was a monster, everyone knows that...” He pointed a finger towards Ryans heart. “And I have fought along-side you enough now, that I can confidently say, you are nothing like him, and are far better of a man than he could ever be.”

Ryan blinked, licking his lips as if they had suddenly become dry.  That was a pretty accurate assumption, something he didn’t expect but here it was.  He focused on the male only a few feet away from him, considering what he had said. Okay, he was way smarter than just the average person, and maybe he had more information than anyone else would have too. Sadly that nightmare construct that masqueraded like his father had managed to spill a lot of information across the streets like guts. ”You’re lacking a few key details but you’re right on the money for the most part,” He said absently, thinking back to all of the details that came with Lucius Alba being his father. Lucas, and even Isalia, though the latter was a face he never forgot.

Conversation quickly moved from that to something else, his suit it sounded like. He had managed to add many features to his suit. Improved sensors that he was sure would be able to improve his heroic abilities, see through things that his sight would be foiled by.  It sounded like something he was sure his father would have built into his suit, to make sure he was never at any disadvantage.  ”That’s pretty impressive. You’re really good at this technological stuff,” He noted, a faint smirk of approval playing across his lips. It likely didn’t sound like much of a compliment, but he had meant it as one. He’d never expected someone to be able to do something like this but he was absolutely wrong there.

”It’s fine, this wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had to see him die,” He responded, looking down to the fingers pointing to his heart.  His expression was almost unreadable, though his mind was like a storm working through everything that came with ‘killing his father’. That was a pain he was sure would never really fade away, not like he had hoped it would.  ”He was an interesting person, especially to have as a father but we don’t get to choose our parents. Not that I knew him a lot, his actions have  hurt a lot of people that I care about, so maybe it’s better he’s dead.” He felt the tears threaten once again though this time he quelled his emotions, It felt easy then.

”Enough about my family though. Tell me more about the jetpack. That sounds pretty amazing,” He tried to turn the conversation towards something else, the two were looking over something made in a fabricator. His armor it seemed. ”I was considering taking what I could of my fathers teleportation technology and implementing it in my suit,. Surprisingly gathering tech for portable teleportation tech is a little difficult without the money necessary,”  He noted with a faint smirk, realizing he couldn’t rely on his parents for things like that. Would he have to steal something like that or find a work around? A question he was sure needed an answer but he didn’t want to burden Jacob with that kind of thing. ”Think you could help me workshop a few more improvements in the suit?”

Jacobs face lit up at the mention of the jetpack. “Right, so, I noticed you lacked any kind of ariel movement besides a slight hover...” He paused. “I assumed it was some kinda telekinesis, considered you already displayed telepathy, and I figured, moving that way must take some mental strain...” He  grabbed a pen-like object, pointing it at the 3D render on the screen.  

With a single motion, the Render moved from the screen, and appeared beside Ryan, as a life size hologram.  

“So I figured, if you didn’t have to focus on keeping yourself in the air, you can focus that power onto other tasks...” He continued, as if the sudden hologram was an everyday occurrence. “It functions similar to a segway, using your body motions to predict a flight pattern.”  

Jacob walked over to the hologram, pulling the jetpack off with his hands, as if it was a real object. “See, the thrusters activate automatically when you tilt and sway...” He moved the pack around, showing the thrusters adjusting to the angels. “It will take some getting used too, but I designed it after my suits own designs, but outfitted it to your specs.” He set the object back onto the 3D render. “I also improved your helmet, putting in an entire suite of interfaces, like different vision modes, scanners, horizon lock, the works...” He looked from the suit to Ryan. “And that’s just the beginning, I have and entire catalogue of ideas I think we could add on.”

As Ryan brought up his fathers teleportation device, Jacob spun back around to the monitors. “I was interested in that little bit of tech myself...” He brought up the CCTV footage of Lucius vanishing from view. “Temporal technology is incredibly finnicky, and dangerous for anything organic, which is why it’s not common use.” He pulled up a schematic, showing a 1:1 render of what looked like a teleporter device, based on what Jacob assumed was the part on Lucius suit. “The fact that your father was able to utilize it without being fused to his suit every time was a miracle...” He tapped a finger to his chin. “But, if he was able to stabilize temporal pockets, and utilize it with such efficiency, then there’s no reason we can’t...” He grinned to Ryan. “He might have been smart, but last I checked, he’s the one in the grave, and we’re still kicking...” He pulled the device from the screen, and into a second hologram. “I’ve already begun designs on some basic temporal devices, based on what I learned from your fathers tech, which I plan to integrate into my deployable weapons...” He brought up a hologram of his zero cannons. “Since they are comprised of inorganic materials, they will have no issues with bio-deformation...” His smile grew from ear to ear. “I can teleport weapons in and out of a fight in a matter of seconds, and won’t have to rebuild them after every use.”  

He looked over to Ryan, holding out a his fist, indicating a fist bump. “I think this is gonna be the start to a wonderful friendship.”

”I thought moving myself would be good enough but I suppose it looks awkward to anyone who can properly fly,” Ryan admitted, nodding a couple times.  It was hard to properly replicate flying simply by moving himself through the sky, maybe that was why he didn’t default to it when he could help it. Trying to grasp movement in a space like the sky was a little more difficult than simply running around, perhaps moving to a higher vantage point when he needed to. That was what made the other males suit so impressive or perhaps just gave him a better advantage when dealing with skybound threats.  His response was just to throw things until he knocked them out of the sky.  ”Not wrong there either. I can move things with my mind when the mood strikes,” he raised a hand, with that motion a few loose and unused tools raised from their spots to twirl around before being set back down.  Just a parlor trick really compared to what he could do when he tried.

Still, he liked turning things towards the jetpack. It made it easier to turn his father and his death from his mind. Break a chain of grief that he was sure would never truly be loose from him. They moved from there, mentioning various specs that were added to his suit including a suite of vision choices added to his helmet.  Things quickly moved to his fathers teleportation technology, temporal pockets and the like. He mused over this, thinking back to what he knew about what his father could do and what they meant. ”Maybe temporal isn’t the right way to approach it. ” Ryan mused outloud, brows furrowing and considering all of what his father’s tech was capable of doing.  Something like temporal only brought with it the idea of time to his mind and what that could imply for teleportation. ”His technology might work on more spatial dimensions, subspace and the like,” He tried to think back to what his father had shown through his capabilities before.

Even in the fight with Talos, because he was sure that he remembered things despite not being able to immediately bring up that information now.  ”It brings to mind quantum entanglement, though moving from one point to another as quick as he does might not take that into account. Maybe the tech can do something like creating a quick subspace between one point and another, slingshotting the target through that and allowing the appearance of teleportation. It may connected with the technology that allows him to ignore things like kinetic energy, like when you punched him and he didn’t even move. If that’s the case maybe it would be easier than I thought,” He’d fallen into a thinking state, blinking and turning to Talos with an apologetic smile. How much did he say? He wasn’t sure if it sounded like something that was demeaning to the other genius but he simply wanted to help him create something that could be useful from that.  Even if he didn’t know too much about his father, what he did know was that the man was intelligent.

He was smart but he was also dead, even if it was at his own hand.  He raised a fist and returned the fist bump, hoping his rambling did something to help. ”Just what I’ve noticed really. Hope it does something to help you anyway,”

Jacobs eyes went wide, listening to everything Ryan had said. “Spatial dimensions, of course!!” He began typing furiously. “Creating subspace tunnels to traverse through, rather than accelerating your atoms to move from one location to another, would explain the lack of bio-deformation...” He pulled up several tabs, all related to Quantum tunneling. “Okay, so if we calculate mass, distance, and time traveling in a tunnel, while compensating for any external resistance, we can determine the energy output needed to create quantum tunnels...” He paused, taking a look at his equation he just made, before continuing to ramble himself. “But, it can’t be just any kind of energy, it has to be something that can effectively manipulate the laws of time and space, without tearing holes in reality...” He brought up another window, showing an energy reading, which was currently being scanned, as data was being processed on the same window. “The energy his suit the what we need.”  

As the scan finished, the results made Jacobs heart sink.  

Unknown Signature.

“What the hell do you mean unknown signature??” He typed furiously. “That’s physically impossible, my systems are the most advance in the entire world, it knows every energy signature on Earth...” He sighed. “Don’t tell me the program is bugged.”  

”The scanners are working properly, sir...” Yuri appeared once again in its hologram form. ”However, my database only has knowledge of energy signatures of this Earth.”

“What are you saying, this is energy from another Earth??”  

The screens suddenly flickered, as Older photos, videos, and journal logs were put on display.  

”Your father, before he died, worked on a special task force, which specialized in all branches of science.” A picture popped up on the main monitor, showing an old photograph of a group of people, Jacobs father standing in the center of them. ”The task forces primary objective was to monitor and study super villains, in the hopes of finding ways to negate their powers, and exploit any potential weaknesses, should heroes fail to keep them in line.”

Another a video played, showing his father, and another scientist, investigating what looked like a previously active combat zone. They collected samples, and scanned the area, observing any readings they came up with.  

”Your fathers team took on the task of studying Lucius...” Another video popped up, showing his father in a lab, going over schematics and photos of Lucius with his team. ”In his studies, he was able to theorize Lucius suit was drawing energy from somewhere outside of our own dimension, and utilized that energy to power his equipment, allowing him to create gadgets far more advanced than anything seen before.”

Jacob read over some of the blueprints from the files. “Holy shit, he actually created a quantum bridge...” He expanded the blueprints, showing what looked like a portal gateway. “My father invented dimensional travel for the common man.”  

"Almost...”  

A news clipping appeared, which hit Jacob in the gut like a brick.

Genius inventor, killed in plane crash.

”Your father was getting too close, and Lucius was onto him...” Yuri continued. ”As a warning, Lucius had your plane sabotaged...” An picture of the plane, strewn across a field, in pieces, appeared next. ”He was hoping, that your death would deter your father from furthering his experiments...” A final image, showing Jacob in the hospital, connected to various tubes and wires, both his lower legs gone, appeared. ”When your father died instead, and you survived, he considering the job done.”

If Jacob still had knees, they would’ve given out from underneath him, as he leaned against the table, his stomach in knots. “Why didn’t anybody tell me about this??”  

”Your father managed to hold on for an hour after the operation, but was slipping...” Yuri stepped up beside Jacob. ”His final request was to bury the project, and keep you in the dark, in the hopes you wouldn’t go after Lucius yourself, fearing he was far too dangerous for you to handle.”

He couldn’t blame his father on that, even a nightmare version took everything he had to beat, and he even had help. He could only imagine how powerful the real deal was.  

“Wait, if he had it buried, how did you have it?”

”I didn’t, I only discovered these files during your fight with the nightmare clone, as I was looking for a weakness, it was heavily secured, and took a while to acquire.”

“So the General, was he even involved??”  

”Yes, he was Lucius’ mole in the agency, and the man who sabotaged the plane...” Yuri paused. ”When Lucius attempted to pin the whole thing on the General, the Agency agreed to take the bait, and avoid further conflict.”  

For a brief moment, the room was silent, as Jacob just shuffled through the new files, speed reading all the info his father, and his team had managed to theorize. “Yuri, start a render for the quantum bridge...” He finally stated, his voice unnervingly calm, for someone who just received the news he did. “And see if you can find anymore files from Dads task force.”

”Sir??”

“My father was killed trying to find a way to stop the worlds most dangerous villains...” Jacob shifted back into work mode. “Lucius is already dead, and I got to him get what he deserved a second time over, even if it was a nightmare clone...” This wasn’t Jacobs normal work mode, however, he was intense, and focused. “But Lucius had a team, and they’re still alive, including the nut job currently screwing with Vegas...” The lab sprang to life, as dormant machines started to hum to life. “They are gonna regret the day their ally decided to cross paths with the Mercer family, I will make sure of that.”

He wasn’t just on a mission now, he was on a warpath.