Armageddon [Samhain]

I-I can't promise that! Hairs fall off all the time, it's part of how the body works! I mean right now their in stasis but I can't ensure they never get hurt again! You people are unrealistic. Ulysses snapped back to Red, obviously taking him a little to literal in the concept of people not being hurt. Ulysses took perfect note of the fact Alpha arrived and was beginning to threaten Samhain. That was most undesirable to be sure. Ulysses immediately tried to establish a connection. Calm down. Please. I don't want to do this but if you push him he'll make me do things that I honestly don't want to do. I'm protecting the youngest children here so just please...Don't make me do something that I have no choice in doing. Not when you can prevent it.

"Funny thing about that. I'm not bound to your contrived mortal concepts, like time... and effect." Samhain said as he reached through the telekinetic barrier, giving no feel or disruption to the barrier, literally just reaching through it and poking Travis on the nose. "So your words are just that. Dearie." He said through clenched teeth before withdrawing his arm and looking to the child he saved just seconds ago. He partially wished he could take back what had been done...and he could. But he wouldn't. It was a child, and he protected them. Plain and simple.

"I need associates who want to actually win. People who are willing to do whatever it takes to ensure the mutual victory of all participants in said group. Similar to your Ultra Gang-Bang or whatever, except not horrible and actually effective." Samhain said, and it wasn't likely that anyone could blame him for it. He turned to Alpha and pointed with a smile. "That's were you come into play. You've wronged me in the past. But in helping me, I will forgive you and no one needs to die AND you get the spoils of victory. Refuse...and I'll kill everyone and everything. Except you...and Lucius. If you doubt my abilities in doing so you need to ask no one other than Lucius actually. He's seen a water drop of the storm that could possibly be. He'll warn you." He said before looking to Lucius and smiling slightly before looking back to Alpha.

A mental voice reached across the hive mind, though it was not one that he recognized. Another threat, another sppit upon his face as it would be. It appeared that they had come here simply to insult him and then ask for his help anyway, as if that were how things went. It appeared this Samhain did not understand how business worked, rather he assumed he could just muscle in and get his way. It took all the self control he had not to tear the knight apart, and paint the walls with his blood. It was proven he could do nothing the moment the man reached through the barrier and poke him on the nose, the corner of his lip curling into a snarl as he considered ripping the finger from the hand. However all he did was stand where he was, keeping back his power as the air about him calmed down once again.

Alpha wanted to kill this man and everyone that he worked with but that did not seem possible. Something had been mentioned about him wronging this Samhain but he did not quite understand when that had happened, it appeared more than anything they were just trying to make themselves seem morally superior in some fashion. Something had been mentioned about forgiveness, but he did not see any need for forgiveness. However, upon thinking this over it wasn't about him, so many lives held within his hands and the weight...was not a pleasant one. This would be considered the second time that someone had decided that they would use him by targeting his family, and the feeling was not a pleasant one. Samhain seemed almost smug within their supposed victory, but the victors were always the smug ones. Still, if Lucius thought them an issue he would be doing no good in fighting back.

”Very well, I will accept this generous offer of yours.” He said finally, with scathing courtesy.

Well, that was an odd turn of events. Lucius was more then anything trying to understand the situation, from both Alpha's and Samhain's point of view. Why would this guy show up guns-a-blazing? Lucius recognized this, it was something he himself had felt. Looking at Samhain, Lucius saw a man not so different from himself, a desperate man resorting to something he wouldn't usually be doing. This made Lucius curious really, what was so important? From what he knew of the man, Samhain was more of a freelancer that just did as he wanted, he was pushed to his limit, he was frantic in a sense.

Time was of the essence for him. As for Alpha, Lucius was having trouble reading what the male was thinking. He seemed to be angry at first, but then just flipped a switch, accepting an offer he knew nothing about. What in the world was happening? What an odd situation. Lucius for some reason felt that comment would blow this whole thing out of the water, everybody would lose. What was Travis doing? He sounded as if he were either completely conceding, or that he had a trick up his sleeve, and that more then anything brought uncertainty over the room. That uncertainty was bad for all parties. He had to save this situation, he had to insert himself between these to two see exactly what the hell was going on.

"Shut up Travis....." Lucius said. Not trying to be rude but he really wanted to take control of this and didn't need Alpha spouting off. He understood why he was acting this way, but that didn't make it right.

"You've managed to peak my interest. I know you wouldn't be doing this if you didn't have something very important in the works. So tell me, what is it you need him for? Before me i see a frantic man with little time, that's why you showed up in such a threatening manner. What is so worth fighting for?" Lucius asked, relaxing and getting out of his defensive stance. This wasn't a fight, this was someone who needed help.

Well everything actually confused Samhain more than anything else. Alpha just said "okay" and that was that. There was a total one eighty in personality and Samhain wasn't sure he liked it. Was this seriously it? He wasn't going to ask how working with him was beneficial, he wasn't going to ask why he should be trusted or even why Samhain came in guns blazing? He didn't trust this. He didn't rust this at all. The only plausible things Samhain could think of was that Alpha was either retarded or that Samhain himself had overlooked something and was outsmarted. His pride wasn't so great as to imagine that it was the previous, though from what the evil Red Tide had said; the latter was certainly possible.

"So that's it? You'll simply agree and sit there to plot ways to kill me? You're not even..." Samhain was quite literally at a loss. Not only was this horrifically impractical, but it sucked all the fun out of it as well. Honestly Alpha won...Samhain wanted to give up thinking he was outsmarted. Then Red spoke and piqued his interest once more. He was staggered a little by Alpha, but that wasn't something he even tried to hide. He didn't underestimate Red at all, in fact Blood Tithe had asked him the same exact question, several times and was still irked by the lack of answer given.

"Yes well. It's glad to know that my sense of urgency is coming through quite clearly. You see I don't have time to negotiate or squabble over the problems of the finite. Pride, arrogance and selfishness were not things I could deal with. I needed what I needed...and I needed it now." Samhain said, all too aware how oxymoronic that statement sounded as he looked to Alpha and immediately continued on. "I'm on the verge of a revolution. People like us...the ones that the world sees as "The villains" are about to win, and this world will become a better place. Everything you know today will change. Alas...I'm afraid that...this form, this "body" is...well. Reaching it's expiration date." Samhain said as he chuckled, reluctant to mention his own demise to the two. Samhain could feel Blood Tithe stirring in the back of his mind, both morbidly curious and already plotting what to do should the leader of this "assembly" perish. Samhain ignored him mostly.

"Despite having been wronged you keep your friends close...and your enemies closer. Alpha I'm afraid this is it. I'm afraid that we both, you and I...are out of time. So I made my move. You deserved to be something more than you were made to be. Whether you liked how I got you to be that or not...was irrelevant. I have what I needed now...all that's left was for Alpha to decide if he wanted to be part of this. If he wanted he and his family to be responsible for this. If he wanted to fix what was going wrong...up in here." Samhain said as he tapped his own temple with index and middle finger pressed together. The Black Knight continued to wrestle with the tiger bunching it across the face, grabbing it by the neck and by the lower back. Lifting the tiger overhead he let out a roar as he stepped forward and knelt. He used his super strength to slam the creature's spine onto his knee, causing it to snap and the tiger to snarl and let out pained noises as it's lower body went limp.

"Neither one of us needs to die. None of this has to be for nothing. But I needed you to trust me...or fear me. Trust wasn't an option, no time for flowery meetings and dinner parties. So this was all I had left." Samhain said as The Black Knight stood with a chuckle, walking around and kicking the tiger in the side of the head, snapping it's neck before it turned to Samhain and the rest, eyes falling on the child. "You know what I'll do to you if you try....is it really worth it?" Samhain spoke up, venom in his words as he turned his head only slightly to show he was addressing the man behind them. With a grunt the knight released his clenched fists and resolved to simply stand there.

"We have a chance to change everything. To make the world perfect. Not "close" to perfect, not "almost" perfect. Absolutely perfect. The world you've dreamt of, the life you want. A cure for your malady and a chance to watch all the fruits of your labor actually mean something....That's what I'm doing. For all of us. So...when you say you "graciously accept"... Do you really know what I'm offering? Do you see the sense of urgency and the reasoning for my actions? Are you willing to put aside your petty pride and anger to do what needs to be done?" He asked quite simply, looking between both Alpha and Lucius, as if addressing both of them. Of course the alliance with the Blood Tithe prevented him from recruiting Lucius as well, however his opinion was still an interesting one to hear.

Alpha bristled slightly against being told to shut up, but all he did was bite his tongue and be silent. Talking now, it would only fan the flames of potential conflict, something that he did not look forward to dealing with. His emotions were to be controlled, not the other way around. So he let the mask come back on, suppress everything, that was what he usually did and it worked so far. He could tell that something about what he had said confused Samhain, perhaps it was to his advantage or perhaps he ha made some manner of mistake. His heartbeat was beginning to slow down, mind slowing down from the racing pace that it was going at. There had to be a reason for them coming to him, and even more of one for acting in such a rash fashion. Calming down, rationality came back like a surge, and that meant questions.

Still, Lucius asked that question and so he would let them do what it is they were doing. This Samhain would then begin to explain themselves, the rampant urgency they felt towards trying to get his cooperation, though he wondered why they would want that so bad. What could they possibly want from him so bad that they would go to such extremes? This enigmatic being, well even their expressions were hard to read, and so trying to do that would be almost impossible. The villains were about to win, what did that mean really? Did they have some plan that somehow involved taking over the world? In the end that seemed to be the goal of a villain, but it might have not been the case. In the end he found himself wondering exactly how they would make the villains win, what did they gain from making the villains win?

All of this made no sense to Alpha, it was so strange that he found himself straining his brain just to understand it. Absently he chewed on his lower lip, considering every possible gain and realizing that in the end, well it was either gain or massive loss. Considering the person he was, he would have rather gained  a little than lost everything. One thing that he could tell was that they knew about his dying, but how they knew was something that he wondered. Still they went on about him wronging them, but then again he could always find out about that later, when a gun was not pointed at him. ”Now that explains a lot more.” Travis said, voice now calm as usual. ”I'm however beginning to wonder one thing. Despite your allegations of me wronging you, you offer me a position in this perfect world you plan to make. It's puzzling.” He stated, voicing his slight confusion.

”However, pride and anger, well both of them will only lead me to ruin. I don't understand exactly what you mean by making the villains win, but I can see the value in saying yes. So yes, I accept all that you're offering, if it is truly what needs to be done.”

So, Lucius seemed to be able to get more to this story out of Samhain, which was quite enlightening really. It seemed the man was even more desperate then Lucius had thought, he was dying, and was trying to go about pulling off some manner of deed to cause a revolution. Lucius could relate to that really, it seemed Samhain wasn't so different from himself. This was an interesting offer really, if that's what it was. Lucius gathered that from the whole looking back and forth from him and Alpha thing. But then again, Samhain hadn't expected Lucius to be here. He was here for Alpha, not Lucius.

As interesting as this all was Lucius couldn't get into it, not while his kids were in danger. That is all that mattered at this point, and if this situation was defused and everything was agreed upon, then great, he could leave. He would possibly be a part of this if he was called on, by either Alpha or Samhain, but he had other matters to attend to at the moment, and his kids being in a shadow realm kind of inhibited that. Something was mentioned about dying, though it was vague Lucius gathered Alpha was terminal. Interesting, that would have to be discussed at a later date.

"If what you are attempting to achieve is all you say it is, you will find an ally in me when needed. However, you must understand, i don't like my family being threatened. Please tell your lackey to release my children, then i will be on my way. But when you go about this whole revolution thing, I'd like to be there, I'm sure you can find a way to contact me when the time comes."   Was all Lucius said. Honestly, he didn't know what to think of it all at this time, but knew he would likely want to be involved when it all went down, so this was the best move in his opinion. As much as Samhain was truly preaching to the choir when it came to the whole revolution thing, Lucius wasn't entirely prepared to just drop everything and jump on the bandwagon, not with his own plans starting to finally take shape.

"Thank you. I'm glad to see that you were able to resist petty nature. Most men are not able to do so. Meta or not." Samhain said with respectful little bow and snapping his fingers. Ulysses brought Omega and unattached form him, helping to stabilize him. Samhain sighed an nodded. Before disconnecting Ulysses left both Red and Alpha with a mental note. The children are fine. They'll remember everything. But stasis is boring so I doubt they'll talk about it much. The message was cleared as he looked to Chris and patted him on the back as he stood him up. "I'm sorry." He said. It was genuine and Chris of all people would understand just how desperate and reluctant that Ulysses was.

"I would like that Lucius." Samhain agreed with a smile. Oh he would indeed enjoy it, mostly because that fulfilled a personal obligation. Letting go when Chris was stable, Ulysses nodded and returned to Samhain's side. "Knight, lead the way." Samhain ordered.

"As my prince commands." He said with a small growl, a little spite in his voice before turning and leaving, likely taking the rest in tow.

(I'm done guys. Anybody else got anything to add? If So I'll just delete this part. )

It appeared that things were going better now, granted he still found himself wondering what Samhain was exactly planning. All of this reeked of something else really, but in the end he had no real choice within the matter, that much Alpha knew. Still watching Samhain leave once Chris materialized was enough for him. For now this was over, though he would not be foolish enough to believe that more would not come. Once Chris was oriented from whatever shadow realm he had been put in, they looked to Travis with a sympathetic look, perhaps just for what he was forced to go through or perhaps it was just the usual look. His eyes fell upon the knight as he made a mental note to watch out for them, or perhaps to find a way to deal with them should they become a threat to his family. Once they were gone, that gave him a moment to relax, resting himself against the wall as a soft sigh slipped through his lips.

”Lucius, you'll be free to do what you want around here but i'll retire to my...quarters.” He stated simply as a dull throbbing sensation lanced through his skull. Well, he would do a few things before he could actually relax, likely it would take hours before he could even spend time on himself. The children needed to be attended to, assured that nothing was wrong and they were safe, especially considering what had been used to knock them out. So the nursery was where he would first go, with Omega in tow.

Travis...are you okay? The mental message slipped through the hive mind into his head, seasoned with worry.

I'll...be just fine. It appears I just have more work on my plate, nothing I can't deal with. The mental tone was strained, as if trying to keep something in or perhaps it was something else. Stepping through a doorway he found himself within the nursery, a lot of young individuals around the same age turning their eyes upon them, fear spattered among them as well as apprehension and even confusion. Doing a mental check, he counted around forty in total, Jason standing out amongst them. ”Chris, go talk to Oliver would you? I'm sure he's not too happy about this situation.” Nodding, Chris would break off and seek out his sibling. He would likely be able to explain things better to him, he had a certain way with words when it came to Oliver.

With that done, it appeared that the children sort of gravitated towards him, as Travis sat on one of the tables. They hadn't really noticed it before, but there were dark circles under his eyes. ”You're not sleeping?” He asked simply, cocking his head to the side as the mop of dirty blond hair shifted with it.

He stayed silent for a few seconds with a look of mild shock before running his fingers down his face.  ”Well..I guess I haven't.” A low chuckle rippled from his throat, though it lasted only for a few seconds before fading into an almost tired sigh.

Chris, when everyone is awake, call them into the Nursery. I think it's time I tell them…..the truth.

So, this little stand off seemed to be over. Lucius was quite glad he was able to just talk this one out, really all that would have happened if he hadn't would have been pointless. People would have died, likely on both sides, and that was quite unneeded. The mental note from the mysterious being that had been controlling Omega was noted, and what was also noted was never to use the hive mind, at least not for friendlies, if it could so easily be used against them then it was a liability more then something that could be used for their gain.

As soon as Samhain left the tension in the room left, and Lucius' muscles relaxed. He hadn't felt so on edge in years. He couldn't even think of what could have happened, what they had just evaded. Thankfully instead Lucius gained a little something, whether that was just a contact or a potential catalyst to revolution remained to be seen however. With a wave of his hand Lucius ordered his forces to leave, which they did, teleporting away in a flash. That left Lucius, Oliver, Lucas, and Alpha. The male said he could use the facility for awhile then left, likely to think about all of this.

"Well, that happened." Oliver said, confused more then anything. He wondered if Lucius knew about this, he seemed to recognize Samhain, so he would need to be spoken with about it all after everyone had cooled off.

"Indeed it did, and your very lucky it only got as far as it did. Tell your brother to lower usage of that power of his." Lucius said before looking to Lucas, walking up to the boy before hugging him, quite out of the blue really. He pulled away and looked at his son, Lucius hadn't shown it much but he was worried sick, and so so glad nothing had happened.

"You, Ryan and Isalia need to come with me for awhile." Lucius said, pretty much telling Lucas to go get them, which he would. Ryan likely wouldn't come with his attachment to Alpha, but if that was really his choice then Lucius wouldn't force him. It was just after this situation, Lucius wanted them closer to him.

(END)