Existentialism [Red Tide]

Alpha, Lucius and Gamma
--

Gamma would get flung across the arena by The Mistress' wicked fast head kick which left a bloody gash on the side of his face, Oliver wasn't expecting her to be fast. Lucius, however, was. He knew if she had his energy she would probably have a few other things as well, and it seemed Alpha had the same idea. His basic blast had been thwarted by the woman with an equal showing of power, the meeting had a rather explosive result that caused flashes of brilliant light all over the arena and cheering audience. The floor around them had been ripped at and burned into nothing but a black sand. It was going to take a bit more cunning then this to take her down.

"When i first got my powers i could be sent into a rage at the drop of a hat. We need to make her use my energy and try to piss her off. At that point she will be more aggressive yes, but she'll lose tactical thinking and martial prowess in favor of just trying to tear our heads off." Lucius said through the hive mind as he took a more serious stance. She would be nearly impossible to defeat without paying on her weaknesses, which just so happened to be those of the people she copied. Their opponent then utilized Lucius' energy offensively, forming cannon constructs to fire upon them. Alpha had put up a barrier, but knowing his energy Lucius knew it wouldn't last to long. Putting up a red energy barrier around Alpha's he waited for the assault to cease.

Gamma, though, was caught outside the barrier. A few shots came his way, which he quickly danced around with his new speed. Oliver had heard what Lucius said in the hive mind, so rather then straight up trying to punch her to death he needed to annoy her. Charging her once again with his fist raised he prepared to strike. This time was a bit faster, around mach three. Once he got close though, he didn't finish his strike, instead sliding low to the ground at high speeds in an attempt to trip the woman. Seeing that The Mistress' bombardment had stopped Lucius lowered what was left of his constructed barrier and Alpha would likely do the same.

"Decent constructs, not very creative though." Lucius said in a tone that could probably be heard from a school teacher. With a movement of his hand he formed four large serpent constructs that then burrowed into the ground. In moments the four snakes would strike out from the ground beneath The Mistress, three attempting to catch a piece of her in their jaws while the other moved in circles around her before tightening. Since she had Lucius' energy and likely the mercs strength, this wouldn't be a problem. However, it wasn't meant to be, it was meant to lure her into using more energy.


Zeta and Daniel
--

Zeta seemed a lot worse then he was letting on, though he still managed to make a joke which surprisingly got a smile out of Daniel. He didn't know exactly what to do, he could teleport them out and get some help.....but wouldn't that mean all that fighting they just did was for nothing. Daniel thought for a moment and came to the conclusion they would be fine, they had meta humans to free. Grabbing Zeta by the hand he helped him to his feet, before teleporting them both up on the balcony where Daniel looked for the entrance to a possible holding area.

Finding a door he gently let Zeta stand on his own before kicking it down. It looked pretty much like a old roman prison, yet each cell seemed to have high tech modifications likely to counter act the meta human powers. Luckily the locks were electronic, which made them hackable. Removing his phone he typed in numerous codes and got connected to the locks before cracking each and every key code. The doors sprang open, allowing the liberated meta humans to walk out.

"Who are you?" One of them said as he staggered out of his holding area like a zombie.

"We're your liberators."

Delta, Isabel and Leo
--

The bear roared and trembled, but it just looked to be getting more pissed. Isabel had managed to duck under the bears flailing strikes, but Leo got caught by a single claw that opened up a nasty looking cut on his arm. He yelled in pain and took a few steps back, then realized something. Why was there even a kid on the bears back? And if bear was getting bigger and stronger as they attacked, why not try to hurt the kid instead?

"The kid! ...Um, this sounds bad but...KILL THE KID!" Leo said as he tended to the wound on his arm with his healing light. Isabel had heard that loud and clear, and if anyone had the guts to hurt a child, it was her. Firing a blast of energy it would loop around the bears back and attempt to hit the kid in the back of the head, hopefully she was like the bears control or something because Isabel had just about enough of this fighting business for one day.

Alpha, Lucius and Gamma
--
While his defensive barrier was solid, the sheer firepower that the red energy could bring with it was more than enough to break through it within a matter of minutes. Still, those minutes were enough time really to formulate a strategy, as basic as it would be. While she did have their powers, which also likely meant that she had imposed their weaknesses upon herself, meaning they would only need to take advantage of the weaknesses they knew well enough. Still, even then this mistress was a powerful meta-human if they could simply copy their powers with nothing more than the will to do so and she hadn’t demonstrated the ability to do so the last time they had met. This was beginning to grow stranger by the second, as if she were playing around with them more than anything else.

Sadly, Lucius forgot one thing that he remembered, she had more than just his power at her disposal. Gamma would rush her, proving the punch to be nothing more than a feint at the last minute, but the air would ripple about her, releasing what looked like a telekinetic pulse within the last seconds of the attack to throw anything around her back. Still, it gave Lucius enough time to have his constructs burrow underground and latch onto her, a low burning sensation but at this level of durability she would barely feel it. ”What is this?” She would state tearing them from her body with immense strength, throwing these serpents to the ground. She seemed to be going to do something else, but like a television her body would become as static for a moment, growing sepia tone and almost shuddering from existence.

Be careful you two. I don’t know what’s happening now. Alpha would say via telepathy to the two, kneeling as if preparing for whatever it was that would happen next. However what had happened next was unexpected.

”It looks like I had less time to play with you three than I thought. Very well, liberate your precious metahumans. You’ll find they aren’t the only I possess but I have a feeling we’ll meet again.” Within an instant she was gone, a single grated gate opening likely leading them to where this arena’s metahumans were being held.
--

Zeta and Daniel
--
Zeta felt like utter shit when it came down to it, but he wasn’t the type to let his infirmities be known to others. Rapid healing would be really fucking great right about now. He thought to himself, looking over the painful burn marks on his side. Still, the meta-human was kind enough to help him up and that was more than Zeta had actually been expecting. Then came the sensation of teleportation, which felt disorienting more than anything else as they found themselves somewhere else, though all he felt was that his stomach was going to upheave.

Standing before a door, Daniel would let him stand on his own, though all he did was slump against a wall while trying to compose himself, which would take a moment or two. Luckily, the dizziness would pass enough that he could stand to his feet. The place around him was vaguely reminiscent of a roman prison, with a few modifications to keep metahumans trapped within them, some of them looking a little haggard but not by any means malnourished. Once he composed himself, Zeta would follow after the blond still keeping a slow pace rather than rushing himself.

One of them would ask who they were and Daniel would answer for him. ”Yupp, we’re here to set you free from the evils of…whatever.” Zeta added running a few fingers through his hair while the guy would do all of the hard work. ”So what now hot stuff? Do we just let them out and wait for the others at the meeting point?” Dizzy from bloodloss, Zeta found his filter to have gone off even more than usual.
--

Delta, Isabel and Leo
--
Delta sort of paused for a moment upon hearing kill the kid, he could just hear his heart pounding in his head. They couldn’t kill a kid, that went against everything he knew, hell, even the worst of his family wouldn’t kill a kid. Omega and Alpha even had drilled in their head that pointless cruelty was stupid. They could knock the kid out, that would likely stop things, but before he could do anything Isabel had already done her attack. One of the bear’s claws raked across his chest, drawing a small bloody line across it but he was sort of focused upon the thing he could not stop. The hit had connected, and the bear let out a roar as it began to decrease in size rapidly to the point that it just faded away in a puff of dust.

What was left was a small limp body plopping against the ground bloodily. Over half of their lower torso had been destroyed, splattering messily over the ground, a few inner organs showing as well as what Delta could only describe as the whiteness of broken bone. Without even thinking, shirt ripped and now stained with blood he would walk over to the kid, six or seven in age, barely hanging onto life yet he was only a few seconds close to death. His fingers were shaking, trembling violently as he looked down at the body. It was almost as if he had killed the little guy with his own two hands, he did nothing and they were dead now. His mind had shut down, seismic sense let him hear many things and one thing that had stuck with him more than anything was the stop of the small vibrations formed by the child’s heartbeat. Kneeling down, he would steadily lift the child up, blood running over his arms and staining them dark red.

Delta, what are you doing? he could feel Omega within his mind, but even that just made him feel sick.

Just….what’s right. He would respond. The child didn’t deserve to die, he didn’t deserve any of this, but now he was dead, and the blood was all over his hands. ”You two just liberate the people or whatever, I….need to be alone.”
--

Alpha, Lucius and Gamma
--

Gamma was thrown across the room once again, this time not with the force of a kick but with the force of a telekinetic pulse. He had done nothing but get his ass handed to him this entire operation, she was just too quick. However, the distraction of his attack did manage to allow Lucius to land a hit, one quite awesome looking. Snakes, giant red energy snakes attacked The Mistress yet her sheer durability and strength made quick work of them. She did seem surprised though, which was a victory in itself considering the fact the woman seemed unphased by such things. Suddenly something odd happened, a jolt of static went through the woman which made all three in the room anticipate a new form of offense from her, instead she retreated.....

"I look forward to it." Lucius said as he put his arms in their usual reverse fold. She then disappeared, giving the trio a much needed break.

"Well, wasn't that fun....." Oliver said as he got back to his feet. They looked relatively alright despite the battle that had just went down, well, at least Lucius did.

"I hope i didn't hurt your ears to badly, that device has caused permanent damage before." Lucius said turning to Alpha. He had faith the males enhanced healing would take care of it, and even if that didn't he could fix his hearing in a number of ways, but Lucius was basically just saying sorry in his own way.

"Anyway, lets get to the reason we're here shall we?" Lucius said before walking toward the gate that had opened for them. The crowd scattered, in moments clearing out like roaches. Good, they wouldn't need to deal with that. Inside he saw numerous cells with meta humans inside, all pretty distraught looking but not mistreated.

"Get the doors open." Lucius said telepathically to Hector. In a moment they sprang open, allowing everyone within to walk out.

"Hello my friends, your free to go if you'd like. But as a token of gratitude I'd like for you to stick around for a few minutes, we have some things to discuss." Lucius said leading the group of forty or fifty metas out into the arena. Once there most would wait as asked.

"If you all are finished, I'd like for you to meet us down the path me and Alpha took." Lucius said over his communicator to all members of his party.


Zeta and Daniel
--

Before Daniel could respond to Zeta he got Lucius' command, seems they finished their arena or whatever it was as well. Good timing considering the fact Zeta looked like utter crap.

"Alright, I'll lead our portion there now." Daniel said motioning for the prisoners he freed to follow him. Most did as he said, likely out of curiosity and gratitude but some did just go on their mary way. Daniel had never seen so many meta humans in one place in his life.


Delta, Isabel and Leo
--

Well, that was a bit more brutal then Leo had expected....but then again this was Isabel they were talking about. He nearly vomited at the sight of the body, and a huge sense of shame washed over him. He didn't exactly mean for the kid to get killed, he just got caught up in the moment because he was being attacked by a huge ass bear. Isabel also looked a bit upset, but that faded rather quickly. It wasn't like she hadn't killed before. Both were shocked to see Delta pick the body up, too confused to even say anything. Alphas underlings were clearly less brutal then Lucius', but what did they expect they would be doing? Surely they didn't think there would be no bloodshed.

"Um......alright....we'll just....go then." Isabel said with more care in her voice then she had ever had, which was not a lot. From there Leo and Isabel continued on and found the holding area. Neither of them had hacking prowess, so they just battered them open. Most followed just like with Daniel and Lucius, but of course a few just ran off. Isabel then got Lucius' message and headed back, leading the group to where Lucius had asked. The walk was relatively mute, Leo and Isabel were reflecting on what they had just seen and done....it was horrible.


Meet Up
--

The two other groups of meta humans traversed the narrow corridors until they arrived in the arena where Lucius, Alpha, and Gamma had fought so much. Most were whispering to each other and wondering what would happen next, others got fed up and left, yet still their number was enough to fill the majority of the arena. Standing where the Mistress had been before she descended on the arena Lucius looked down at the freed prisoners with a smile, his mask now removed and his hood down.

"Hello, my name is Lucius. I told you all that i had something to discuss with you, and that i do. Just know though, i would never force any one of you into anything, i would be a hypocrite if i did. After all we have free will, freeing you gives me no say in your lives but i want you too consider something. How long will it take for you to be captured again or killed if you go out there on your own? Its a dangerous world that ultimately doesn't care for our kind, you need people to watch your back. I feel a storm brewing, its inevitable but i much rather be on the side that unleashes it then the one that takes the brunt of it.

We are superior to the current dominate race, yet on our own we are nothing. I fear evolution will be dramatically hindered due to our own inability to focus. We fight pointless battles between each other and brand ourselves with moral tags such as 'hero' and 'villain'. The struggle of humanities defense we will have to deal with in the future is nothing compared to the barriers we have placed in front of ourselves. We were created by nature to take their place, yet all we do is seek personal fame or power. Let me tell you, the ultimate good for this planet resides in us.

Brothers and sisters, you have been wronged, used for mere entertainment. But you already knew that, the question is what are you going to do about it? I'm not saying revenge, no, that would be just as petty as the actions of this Mistress. I'm saying you should unite with like minded members of your race to keep something like this from ever happening again, to further a common goal. The constant in fighting of our people has made us vulnerable to outside forces and imprisonment, i say we rise above that, rise above meaningless disputes and take our rightful place.

We are the next stage in evolution, but even i, with all my power, cannot achieve dominance alone. The humans by default are strong in resources, but soon they will crumble in the wake of our superiority. There's a new dawn coming, and i hope each and every one of you will be a little patriotic and help to achieve it. Whether you choose to come with me tonight and live a more important, meaningful life or not, you will eventually be pulled into this conflict. When you do, if you choose to oppose your own race you will find no shelter with the humans. They will brand the heroes with the same iron as the villains and will fight tooth and nail for what they perceive as right. Know where your welcome, know what side your on, and fulfill your destiny....."  Lucius said getting mixed reactions, but most seemed quite energetic and some were even clapping. Others turned around and walked away half way through, but like Lucius had said they would see the error in their ways eventually. Looking to Daniel the teleporter disappeared from view, porting to a place Lucius had been working on for quite some time now. Lucius did the same trick he had before with his teleportation device to open a portal, though this one was much larger to allow the crowd of about two hundred to move through it.

"I hope you all make the right choice. At the other end of this portal awaits a safe haven for our kind, one where you can all stay at your leisure." Lucius said as he walked through the portal, the rest of his followers and most of the newly freed prisoners coming with him.

The fighting was over, something that Alpha could appreciate more than anything. His hearing was slowly returning but it would likely not be up to snuff for a small while, if it even came back the same at all. If that did happen, well he would find himself with another handicap but those could be worked around like any other. Regardless, they had meta-humans to liberate and that seemed to be the imperative of Lucius at the moment, so with ears still ringing and the males speech nothing more than ringing in his ears they would venture further. It seemed his siblings had done their jobs, though Omega had relayed some rather unnerving news to him. Not that Alpha had let that much show, but it appeared they would be dealing with a problem from Delta of all people, though it was not likely to be something that would be a problem.

Not a problem for Lucius at least, Alpha however would be dealing with much more than them. Nothing too difficult, just something that would end up being a slight problem in the future, should it affect Delta’s mental health in any way. Upon stepping further into the compound, they would find the meta-humans trapped within their cells, some huddled against walls and others pressing against the bars upon seeing the unknown people entering. They weren’t The Mistress or any of her cronies, but someone new, and they didn’t know the people that would set them free. In a moment without tampering the doors would open on their own, allowing the trapped meta-humans to step out of the doors, though they weren’t even aware of the hand that was picking through their minds. While Alpha would have normally avoided such things, there was likely information about them in connection to The Mistress that both him and Lucius would find interesting.

This was the time to do that in fact, when fighting was not going on and no one was likely to attack him during the process. So dig was what Alpha would dig, picking through thoughts and memories while he would put the task of following Lucius into the subconscious, his body doing the rest.  A body that could do something as complex as this, well that was something that he truly loved, coupled with the mind itself. Once they were done with the freeing, and everything they would return to the arena which had been deserted by the patrons that had been readily watching the fights that were taking place. Lucius had commanded that his underlings return with all of the ones that they had freed and then they would also deal with Delta at that point, should he still…have the gruesome reminder.

Knowing his sibling, well that was likely. Sadly, they weren’t all capable of killing, that much he was prepared for once they were born but this was something they had all actually volunteered for. It had begun to help their leader Alpha, something that many of the younger ones would have done anything to be chosen for, but he knew they would not be able to do it for long, especially with the possibility of murder involved. Still, soon enough the others would find their way to this space, first Zeta who was looking worse for wear and Daniel who was looking remarkably less damaged. If he knew anything, likely Zeta had a hand in the male keeping safe but then again that might have just been an assumption. Zeta would look to Alpha with a smirk, one that said that had done their job, and all he did was give an approving nod to him. He was Zeta for a reason, and not just because that pryokinesis of his was impressive.

The next was Isabel and Leo, with Delta walking around ten feet behind them with a solemn look on his face, and he could just feel the morose feel of Omega at the back of his mind. He would take notice of the bloody mess in his arms, but it appeared that no one else had, as Lucius would descend into a rather rousing speech. Sure, it didn’t get all of the meta-humans on board, but the again that was to be expected. Followed by that was a large portal that was created through use of Daniel’s teleportation powers. Turning his eyes upon Leo, he would say one simple order. ”Tend to Zeta.” He said simply, giving the male a look that gave no room for them to argue with him and then he would step through the portal along with everyone else, the same feeling that had washed through him as before. The others would likely walk through, his eyes following Delta of all things.

He would drop the body at Lucius’ feet, letting it thud there dully, what blood remained flowing out, though most of it had already been shed either on Delta’s clothes or the floor he died upon. If one looked into his eyes, they could see a sort of emptiness. ”Where was the safe haven for him?” He asked simply, before turning and walking away. Something told Alpha that this would just be the start of something, something that could end badly for the two Delta had went with.

Suddenly a ripple in  space itself opened in a underground facility Lucius had come to call "The Sanctuary". Everything was either black or glowing white, it all looked very high tech and sleek. It wasn't like it needed to be though, it was just a place for his kind to stay, but if Lucius was able to make something better he always would. The place was huge, thousands of personal sleeping quarters as well as rooms dedicated to basic and luxury accommodations dominated the headquarters. After everyone had came through the portal they were greeted by the voice of Hector, who explained everything about The Sanctuary.

Meanwhile, Leo guided Zeta to a place where he could sit while he tended to his wounds as asked, he looked like the worst off out of the entire group. In moments the crowd scattered, off to explore their new high tech home. Lucius watched with a smile on his face, finally he got a sizable amount of his kind to see the light.

Suddenly, Delta came forward and dropped a body, and a child's at that, in front of him. He asked a question, a good one, but left before Lucius could answer. Lucius just clicked his jaw in disgust at the body in front of him, and he knew exactly who did it.  He had told Isabel not to kill any metas, only subdue, yet she blasted this poor and very young child to smithereens

"Get rid of it...." Lucius said in a soft tone looking to the shocked Daniel, who just blankly stared at him.

"GET. RID. OF. IT!" Lucius said with a sudden outburst of anger that put a fire under Daniel. In a moment Daniel disappeared with the body and Lucius was storming away, after the person responsible.

"Nice speech Lu...agghh." Isabel said as Lucius approached rapidly before getting punched in the temple.

"What did i tell you Isabel? I'm a lenient person, but you went to far this time!" Lucius said before continuing on. He struck her over and over with energy charged fists, a bit brutal, but she could take it. She was finally downed by a knee to her gut, sending her tumbling to the floor.

"Eh......ehg, since when, have you, given a shit about us taking lives?" Isabel said, panting. She had burns all over her face from the energy, and her already tattered clothing was even more ripped to shreds.

"He was one of us, and you didn't need to kill him. There was no rational reason for you to take it that far, but then again you aren't known for your rationality." Lucius said as he closed the distance with her again. Before he got their Isabel fired off a beam of energy, which Lucius simply matched with his own and continued like nothing happened.

"Disobey me again, and I'll kill you." Lucius said standing above her before walking away. The rest of his party just seemed shocked, but no one really cared for Isabel enough to stop Lucius. Isabel staggered to her feet, semi tears running down her face before silently walking off and out of view.

Alpha would do what he did best while watching the scene unfold, and that was watch. Sitting silently while things unfolded and letting them play out, perhaps this would let him learn more about the man he called his ally. To watch and learn from the shadows, while Delta had just dropped the corpse at Lucius’ feet. The rage within him was palpable, more like a storm within his mind that almost lashed out at him. With the whole goal of meta-human liberation done, they would soon return to their base, but not before he would do a few things of his own. ”Quite the show you put on Delta.” Alpha would state simply, glancing around him to be sure that it was only him and Delta. His younger sibling would turn towards him and all he saw for a moment was…emptiness.

This was his first time seeing death, the fact that something could be so final likely did not sit well with him. ”I want to kill her.” Delta muttered under his breath, an unexpected response from the kinder of his underlings, but then again he enjoyed the unexpected. Without him compelling it to, one of his hands were pulled up as the thick blood coating it would seemingly pull itself from the skin, as well as his shirt.

”Killing can come later. You’re covered in blood, and I’m sure you need a little rest.” Clean of all the blood within a second, Alpha would pat Delta on the back and motion for him to go on. ”Yes, the killing part can come later.” He muttered with a wry smirk, letting most of the blood save for a small amount drop to the ground with a wet thump. Producing a small vial, he let the blood flow into it and capped it off. If anything, Alpha was prepared for everything, or at the least most things. With that he would turn his attention back to the sight of an angry Lucius, something he had seen before but not quite like this. He hadn’t expected Lucius to care about the murder of a child, as he had seemed the type to kill without remorse and yet here he was brimming with anger.

Even his very thoughts were rife with this rage, and that rage was likely going to be taken out on whoever had done this. Lucius stormed away, but like a shadow Alpha would follow, silent almost in movement as he would watch to see what he would do. Would the meta-human liberator punish her with death or a slap on the wrist? What he bore witness to was interesting, it was quite the brutal beating, and he had actually been waiting for Lucius to outright kill her. Isabel would attempt to fight back but in the end, she was not match for the man’s rage and in the end she could have died. In the end, there was only shock but no one would come to her aid, the woman had garnered no love from her comrades. In the end, they were disjointed and that could have been used against them.

”Always full of surprises aren’t you Lucius?” Alpha muttered within that modulated voice his mask offered, twisting a few small strands between his fingers. Letting them slip into a separate vial, he would approach Lucius not quite fearful as anyone else would have been at such a sight. ”Lucius, if I might have a moment of your time.” He would say loud enough for him to hear, though perhaps a little louder than intended. Luckily nothing that would be considered annoying. ”I might have a little information about a potential development you would find interesting. It appears that The Mistress had developed a means by which she can turn humans into meta-humans. I was thinking that perhaps you would want to go after this information once everyone’s had some rest.” If Lucius was truly interested within this venture, well he would find out.

It was likely that no one understood why Lucius had just delivered a beating to one of his most trusted lieutenants for something most thought he would be fine doing himself. But the fact of the matter was the little boy didn't know what he was doing, and even if he had he was far to young. Isabel had disobeyed a direct order, and had done so before on many occasions. She needed to be taunt a lesson. They didn't just liberate hundreds of metas to kill them without mercy, especelly not the young and innocent ones. Lucius started walking to a more private part of the facility to calm himself, but was intercepted by Alpha much to his surprise. Something about the male made Lucius come to his senses, though he couldn't quite pin point what it was.

"Of course you can have a moment." Lucius said closing a bit more distance with Travis. He then started speaking about a way to make humans meta human, supposedly the Mistress knew of or even created the method. This caused Lucius to raise an eyebrow, he had been working on something like that for months, in fact Alpha himself did indirectly by fixing his fusion core. If Lucius could get an easier way, well, that would just push his plans time table up even more.

"I do indeed find that interesting...... Perhaps we should look into it further. But as you say, i think both our groups need a bit of rest and possibly some mental help." Lucius said, half making a joke but maintaining his seriousness. It had been a long day, and as important to the cause as the ability to change humans to metas was, he needed some sleep.