Bad Blood (Samhain)

Well it would seem as though Lucius would rise up and avoid the spheres. Sadly, they did not explode. In fact upon further examination it would reveal that they were in fact just marbles. They didn't explode, they weren't super durable. They were just marbles. Blood Tithe let out a little growl as he looked to his belt, where he pulled them from, and realized that a particular someone must have gotten into his equipment again. Honestly he was beyond livid, though he played it off as being part of his plan all along. All he was missing was announcing it was part of his plan and manic laughter. But that wasn't exactly his style.

Three energy waves were sent at Blood, though he honestly had been anticipating it. Raising his gun he fired out a shot to collide with the first slicing wave, though two more incoming gave enough power to shred through it and continue onwards towards him. His eyes widened as the second wave bounced off of his right arm's plating, as it was designed and then second dug and tore through his entire shoulder and torso, digging very deep and causing concussive damages. Blood Tithe staggered backwards, as he raised his gun to fire out at Lucius again, hoping by a long shot that he could manage to blast the son of a bitch's thruster.

The marbles did nothing, which was a surprise really. But then again it could have been just part of Bloods plan, what that was Lucius didn't exactly know but it was to be constantly monitored when fighting someone like him. His energy waves managed to make contact and cause some damages, which was pleasing really but now Lucius had to deal with another shot from Blood.

The bolt was a lot faster then Lucius' thrusters, which were mostly meant for tactical  changes of position due to Lucius' limited movement compared to others, so they weren't up to avoiding the shot. He ended up getting hit in the left thruster, and rather then fall out of the air he just deactivated them and landed on the ground, brandishing his weapon once more.

"Is this all? Really I'm starting to get bored. If you're going to try to kill me, don't make me practically beg for you to get on with it." Lucius said, trying to push the fight into something a little more fast paced, at the moment it seemed they were still poking at each other.

Blood Tithe growled a bit as Lucius continued to try and poke and prod at his ire. Unfortunately for Blood, Lucius was successful. But the anger was not drawn so much from the fact Lucius spoke...but from his thoughts of Lucius timing up just perfectly with this. It sent Blood into an actual rampage. It infuriated him that he was classified as Lucius, that he came from Lucius, the fact he shared a name with the man was driving him mad. It finally began to show as he came after Lucius with perhaps one of the most savage offences he had in a while. Blood Tithe went face first, throwing his right arm out with claws out like a savage. His speed wasn't anything to be laughed at for a change, as he used his own power to throw himself like a rag doll, spiraling in a corkscrew motion, waiting for Red to do anything, and then immediately deploying his trap.

Interesting.....a direct assault? That didn't seem wise considering Blood's long range capabilities, but then again maybe rage had gotten the better of the monster. Whatever the reason for it, Blood Tithe had launched himself directly at Lucius in a spinning motion, seemingly going for melee combat. But Red had other plans. With a wave of his right hand, he sent a wave of red energy arrows at Blood, easily numbering at around fifty and spread out a good distance. From there, he charged in to meet Blood's assualt, attempting to slash and dodge at the monster when they clashed. It wasn't the usual, but it would get the job done. At least it was getting more interesting now.

----------------------------

Meanwhile, Lucas awoke finally, his head feeling like it was full of acid, and his eyes like their very roots had been set on fire. But he was alive, he could barely see or hear, but he was alive and.......there was no more pain in his chest. His powers had left him, or at least had been subdued, and this brought a massive and joyful smile to the boys face. Which.....looked every so slightly different. His eyes were no longer Lucius' stormy grey, instead taking on a blue color. But if you hadn't known him long, you wouldn't notice.

His smile quickly fadded into concern as he remembered the events leading up to this. And he saw that the man who seemed to be, in a sense, his father yet wasn't, had gone. He needed to find out what was happening....and find his Dad....his real one, whichever that may have been.

"Is......is my Dad here?" Lucas asked whoever was still in the room, be it either Samhain or Wic-Kid.

So this was it...

The trap had been sprung. In an instant there was a loud reverbing vibration that fired out, propelling an incredible pulse. This pulse was made up of vibrations sored within the Catalyst, the device attached and seemingly embedded into Blood Tithe's right arm. Every energy strike, every physical blow, channeled and stored within. The first slash of red energy which bounced off the plating, then there was the initial blast that Lucius used to repel him, and a few other instances. Now it was his turn. With the Catalyst he should have found himself on superior ground with the constructs Lucius throwing at him being blown away. The fancy ground beneath him was utterly disintegrated from the molecular vibrations breaking apart the constructs. Lucius himself would likely feel this attack very, very much. Lucius' evasiveness of this tactic would be incredibly difficult to maneuver around as well, as he had already begun moving straight into it. But no matter what Lucius did...Blood Tithe had him. He knew he did...

If Lucius would try and teleport himself, Blood Tithe's 360 sensory would indicate to him just where Lucius had gone, and he would instantly activate his lumosuperior thruster's in order to turn his course of attack and smash himself into Lucius full on as he followed through with his attack. Of course if Lucius tried to defend himself with Cora Zen he would need to deal with the device, activating his chest blast "Cora" the force of the beam would not dematerialize the blade, rather simply knock it aside, or hopefully entirely out of his hand so that Blood could continue through with his attack. Of course there was always the possibility that Red would try to use his Red Energy... if that were his choice of action.... the he just had to follow through with his regular plan.

After responding to any form of problem in his way, his aim was to literally impale Lucius with his own energy manipulation. This was to actually puncture through one lung, and in doing so he was going to cut both the heart walls. This was a very precise stabbing as it did not actually cause death by the way you would believe. The death cause by this...was death by drowning in ones own blood. The lung filled with blood and eventually oxygen would be deprived and the brain would die. Of course the regeneration was something Blood Tithe had already considered... thus his red energy flashed a moment before turning to ice, his own energy mixing with Red's blood and ultimately Red's energy, slowing him down and capitalizing on one of the biggest weaknesses they both had. All while keeping the effect of drowning available. A very horrific and painful experience if it connected. Finally there was the final touch. his final preparation throughout this entire battle...

With Lucius pinned to the wall, Blood Tithe took a step back and held Red Dead Damnation in his right hand turning it slightly to the side as the barrel was lined up perfectly with Lucius' eye. Blood Tithe's left hand came up and opened a his eye began to glow, holographic tracings arrived before a perfect replica of Cora Zen appeared in Blood Tithe's hands the blade aligned with Lucius' throat, Blood Tithe panting with a fervent rage. The entire area was dark, the entire area blackened and the only light now being the eerie white light caused by the emptiness of the subspace glaring inside causing a rather haunting visage.

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"H-hey! You're up. Welcome back." Wic-Kid said with a smile peering through the darkness, having already taken the time to reapply their make-up. They patted Lucas on the cheek before placing a hand under their shoulder and attempting to help him sit up. After he had asked if his father had been here he would likely see the angel from before, Castiel, laying with his back against a wall. His hand was over his heart as the darkness continued to consume him from within. This corruption that had him, this cancer was eating away at his heart. His grace. His light. It was ending him. his corruption wasn't visible from the inside, though it looked like he was suffering a rather severe heart attack.

"I...I'm afraid he is...but I have to ask you...which "dad" are you looking for?" he asked between pained gasps and shifting of discomfort. he began to wince as his breathing became a little more labored and shallow. "Lucas...both of them are your father. But no matter what you see...you need to know that...there's always hope. There's always a light inside all of us. If you can....remember that. Then even a monster...can be saved." He said before raising his hand and waving it, the door unlocking itself and allowing them to leave. Perhaps it was something they should in face see for themselves.

Seconds into Lucius' charge, he saw it. Blood had him. To anyone else it would have seemed like a raging monster just losing it, and Lucius did think that only seconds ago.....but now he saw the true purpose of all this. Fool! He should have known Blood was up to something. Something felt wrong this entire fight, as if the monster was holding back. Why he didn't see this sooner was beyond him. But now all he could do was go into active damage control.

The momentum and the stance Blood took was enough to see that his arm was headed straight for Lucius' chest with plenty of force to cut through his durability, and Red was willing to bet the monsters thrusters were recharged. So, what could he do? He let Blood hit him. He did nothing but put his sword in its case at his side. From there he was rammed into, and Blood's hand impaled him, with the added bonus of freezing his insides to prevent the use of his energy. This.....was some of the worst pain Lucius had ever felt, and now he was pinned against a wall, a hole through him and two weapons ready to blow his life away. Oh, what a shameful way to go. He coughed up blood, laughing like a drunk with red stained teeth, his eyes blood shot and staring at his attacker.

"Hahahahaha, gauhhggg.... Good one...... Looks like you've done it, you killed me. F-finished the purpose of your creaton....... Too bad i didn't get to keep my promise." Lucius said, seemingly accepting the fact he was going to die as his lungs filled with blood. But of course.......Lucius never gave up without a fight.

"Initialize Protocol: Dead End."

-------------------

Lucas accepted the help from Wic, but his attention was on the angel that had done this for him. He seemed like he was hurting.....but why? Perhaps that was a question better saved for later, as of now.....he had his own issue. He didn't know about the whole Sin duplicate thing, but being a smart kid he pretty much accepted something like that happened. He just needed to figure this out.

"....I don't know. Maybe neither are my Dad. Maybe.....we're all in the same boat. If that's true....i have to go find out if we're all lost. Thank you.......Castiel." Lucas said with watery eyes, running up to the angel to try to give him a hug. After a few seconds, he would pull away and turn to Wic, his expression turning to that of worry, or perhaps one of a child afraid of the dark. He really didn't look the age of his supposed genetic years.

"Will......will you come with me?.." He asked, looking embarrassed. But he didn't want to face this alone. After that, he would head for the door, in the company of another or not.

"Yeah, of course I'll go. What are friends for?" Wic asked as they nodded. Wic wasn't one well versed in social graces so the first thing they did was reach down and try to take Lucas' hand. Of course living in a place where they've been socially deprived they saw nothing wrong with this, or how it might have been interpreted. With that they had hoped to face whatever it was together, and hope that all was not lost. Walking with Lucas they made it just in time to see and hear the end of this confrontation.

 "Hahahahaha, gauhhggg.... Good one...... Looks like you've done it, you killed me. F-finished the purpose of your creaton....... Too bad i didn't get to keep my promise." Lucius said. Blood Tithe's eyes drifted to the floor a moment before shaking his head. he knew what would happen, he knew that Lucius would likely try to pull some form of failsafe to try and salvage his pride. But now it was about something more. In a moment, Blood Tithe accessed Rot's files and tried to establish a mutual connection with Hector. No hacking, no tricks. Just one on one.

 Hector. Do not allow whatever fail-safe to come to pass if it will harm him. The plea to Hector was surprisingly real. Perhaps moreso than he even intended. It was said with a form of bittersweet sorrow, traces of anger within him. The Cora Zen replication deconstructed and fell into a beautiful shimmering sand, gracing the ground with an elegant sparkle. In his mind, Blood Tithe's thoughts were entirely of Lucius' childhood. The Step-father he had, and the terrible circumstance. His mind jumped to the prospect of Lucas...and what Red had just said. A tear was almost brought to his eyes, and nothing but pain wracked his mind. What is this trick? I Don't cry... Devils-Monsters... Monster's never cry. he thought to himself, though he may have forgotten to disconnect the link with Hector, leaving himself at the mercy of Rot's manual firewalls to keep Hector from doing anything other than seeing something he likely shouldn't.

 "I would love nothing more...than to run you through." Blood Tithe said with a sneer, his voice heavy. But he moved his gun and holstered it, reaching on his bandoleer and drawing out a special green vial. "But no... I'm going to let you live.... so you can live knowing that I've beaten you... knowing that the only reason I've spared you...the only reason I've spared you is for the promise we both have. The promise we both will keep." Blood said, his voice wavering for a moment, the voice modulator only able to mask it a good portion. Lucius was perceptive however, so who knows what he would notice. Blood's spike would be removed, and where the wound was Blood stuck in the green container, immediately administering an antidote to his own energy's trickery.

 "I am sparing you for Lucas...because a boy like him does not deserve a monster like me as a father...but he deserves something...he deserves a man with hope. But know that the moment any harm comes to him... I will destroy you..." He said, snarling through his modulator as he stepped back and watched as Lucius' regeneration factor would likely come back, even greater than before. He was in danger.

 Thank you, Hector. You've given hope to the last, flickering lights of a dying man...it's more than I deserved...ever. You truly are his greatest friend. Thank you. And with that the connection to Hector would be forcibly severed. Blood Tithe turned to move, though when he saw Lucas and Wic-kid, his eyes widened and he looked at them like a deer in headlights. For a good moment he was shocked, unsure of what or how much either of them had seen. A moment of fear took to him and in an instant he swallowed nervously before calling out.

 "SAMHAIN!"

 In that moment, Lucius, Wic-Kid and Lucas were transported back to Belarus Imperial Palace, left to look at one and other in confusion.

"Lucius.......i.....i can't do that." Hector said, his voice somehow wavering with emotion. He knew what the Dead End protocol would do. It would send all available energy from Hector's core through Cora Zen and into Lucius to utilize both it and Red's own energy. Then the combined energies would utilize his teleporters quantum tunneling capabilities, forcing itself through it and expanding to create a ripple in space itself, a vacume powerful enough to tear this subspace into nothing. Needless to say....this would kill Lucius. Of course it wasn't just that. The protocol had a list of things to do to get Lucius' affairs in order, and would automatically focus on any allies in the area to transport them to a safe place before things got ugly. But Hector just couldn't.....not after all they had been through.

"Hector....please. Opening the rift is the only way to reach out and transport Lucas to safety. He's in danger....and i would gladly sacrifice this already doomed existence.....for my beautiful little boy." Lucius said, a single tear rolling down his face. Not from pain or from the fact he was going to die, but because he never got to show his son just how much he loved him. His only meaningful legacy.....hated him.

Hector took his time, but he was about to do it..... Lucius was going to be killed anyway it seemed, so, he had to pull the plug for Lucas' sake. Or at least he thought. But that was before he saw Blood hesitate...and then the monster forced a communication connection to speak with the AI. At first Hector thought it was just to allow him to gloat as he killed his creator, but....he suprisingly pleaded, as much as a monster could, to stop the protocol. The lowering of the weapons and that was enough to stop Hector, who watched the scene with great anticipation and worry. Lucius himself was wide eyed and astonished, could.....could this being really have good in him? Under all the darkness, was there a flickering light? It seemed so.

".......I.....beileved that promise meant nothing to you. That....that Lucas was nothing........

Thank you, not for sparing my life...but for assuring me that even when i am in total corruption, i will never lose the small light i do have." Lucius said as he was healed by the very person who had nearly killed him. His mind had latched on to the words his dark half said though. He was going to uphold the promise he gave....to Isabella? He was going to live. The monster had never held more respect from Lucius then he did now.

".....Even you, even the worst of him has a good heart, deep down. I cannot begin to express my gratitude, so i return the thanks...... Lucius is not the only great friend i have in this room." Hector said as he watched the sparing of his Creators life. Relief surged through him. They were safe.

That's when Lucas entered the room along aith Wic. They were holding hands....but that wasn't what bothered Lucius. Its that Lucas had saw who knows how much of what just happened. The boy was probably so confused, so betrayed. He needed to know the full story, today. But right now, Lucius was just glad to see him alive.

In a moment they would both be in the Republic Palace, along with the witch with the lack of an apparant gender. But they were of little concern to Lucius at the moment, who immediately grabbed Lucas and hugged him so tight he worried for a moment he might hurt the boy. Lucius' eyes were moving dangeriously close to tears, with all the pain he had put Lucas through, he wouldn't have blamed him if he disowned him right now.

"....Lucas.....i'm so...so sorry. Please know that i would never harm you, never again.

Perhaps.........its time i told you what you deserve to know."

Two rotating clouds of strange smoke appeared, the maroon and navy textures dissipating into nothingness as Samhain and Blood Tithe arrived inside Samhain's occult lair. Samhain was still with his back against his table, elevated above the other minions running about the place. From her space, the Automatron cocked her head to the side and watched. Blood Tithe turned and looked for Samhain, turning around to find the man fading from consciousness, eyes drooping and popping open again. Blood Tithe took his sweet old time, walking up the stone-chiseled stairs and then turning and walking up the second flight. Finally, Blood Tithe had reached his "patient" and squatting down.

"Quickly now." Blood Tithe said as he looked over Samhain. The weakened being held up his empty palm, and reality seemed to warp, imploding in and skewing vision before seeming to cause a crystalline shattering. From there the lantern had returned to his hand. With the movement of a single finger, the door to the lantern opened and exposed his ever-darkening heart. Blood Tithe reveled his own hand, his palm opening as he carefully maneuvered his energized claws around the heart. With the center of his palm opened the energy that was of Lucas poured forth like a calm fire. Closing his eyes, Blood Tithe focused and the energy whispered and began to spiral over the apex of the heart ad working upwards. First was just a little mist, then there was an intense little ring of fire that rotated over it, like a rising hula hoop. Finally the darkness began to shatter, burn and singe as a burning red color began to be seen, a glow re-established. "What in...?"

The intense light faded, and with a brilliant flash there was silence. When the flash died down, Samhain was sitting there with a smile, the lantern glowing once more, a flame seemingly rekindled as he stood up and chuckled. Blood Tithe stood with him, though turned to walk away. His part of the deal was finished, and so he wished to be far from Samhain at this moment. he had a promise to keep after all. Though halfway down the stairs he looked to see a rather calm face with a smirk of arrogance and indigo eyes hidden behind sunglasses. The Author walked with his book tucked under his arm and a chuckle in his voice.

"So here he is...Way to go guys. Props to myself too...trying to make something like you feel...that's tough for even ME to write." He said, the second he said this, Blood Tithe looked over his shoulder at Samhain and then to the ground a moment. his mind flooded with an instant rage as he stepped towards the Author. Closing the distance he gripped the young man by the shoulders and pulled the boy into the face of terror. "Hey man, why the long face? You proved it. You're better than him and you got to have your little pow-wow with your kid. Who cares if it's only because I wrote it?"

"I WILL RIP YOU OPEN!" he hissed, the maw of energy opening, only for Samhain to appear next to the boy and come to the rescue. "DO NOT CROSS ME ELDRITCH! No one. NO ONE plays games with me. NO ONE MAKES ME FEEL!" He snarled, Samhain stood between the Author and his Monstrous comrade. Then one had to remember and realize the loyalty that the Author had done, and finally Blood Tithe was left only to disappointment. That moment came, and Blood Tithe went ballistic, his energy sparking everywhere, volatile and devouring everything nearby. The next thing the creature did was storm off, blowing past the Automatron's area, with a wave of his hand disintegrating half of her assembled drones and leaving her to only glare.

It was an hour before anyone had seen Blood Tithe again, though this time it was nothing more than The Author's own volition that sent him out. Blood Tithe had made himself at "home" outside the lair, through the waterfall and down in the jungle, just off road and to the right and in a neighboring cave. The Author brought the same book, and spared his pen. His greeting went exactly how he expected it to go, with him pinned up against the wall and claws at his throat, a very pissed off Frankenstein monster snarling at him.

"You were the reason for all of it? For the pain? For my sparing him? Was my choice for nothing!?" he seethed, though immediately he was interrupted by the pinned down boy.

"Go ahead...see for yourself." The Author said with a smug little grin, knowing all to well that Blood Tithe couldn't resist. Ripping the book from his hands, Blood Tithe read over the contents of the journal, the Author's book. his eyes scanned the pages and quickly he turned back, looking to The Author.

"This...says nothing about what you said.... this is just a physical recount of what happened!" Blood Tithe protested throwing the book to the ground, the small thing sliding to the boy's feet. The over confident boy reached down and scooped up his journal, and shrugged.

"Yeah, like I said...it was tough for even me to do... and let's face it. I'm lazy. Ain't nobody got time to write all that..."

"Then WHY would you say-To prove a point. To show you that what you just went through...all of it. That was real." The Author said, quickly titling his head to the side, his arms animating as he spoke. "You see I could tell you that you're your own person...or I can show you. I could let you read that all day and you'd still be stuck in that same old mindset. You'd be stuck thinking that it was your purpose to kill Lucius.... to kill yourself. But because of this little charlie foxtrot you've finally seen it for yourself.... You're-Not Lucius-Not a puppet."

It took a moment to sink in, and Blood looked to the Author with a narrow gaze, distrusting and almost vicious.

"What are you talking about!?"
"You were a construct of Sin's....your only job was to fulfill your purpose. To Kill Lucius Alba. Now as a clone of him it was easy to say that you cared about something he cared about, to have lingering traces of emotion. But by sparing Lucius...by feeling those emotions and acting upon them... As the young boy was explaining all of this, Blood Tithe growled and turned, his shoulders lowering as if he were an animal about to pounce.
"You...YOU BROUGHT HIM!"
"I did...and you know what? I'm glad I did... because you were created a clone and you CHOSE to be something else. You didn't just accept the purpose you were given...you made your own. You're free now."
"But how!? How could I? Love, emotion...all of that isn't for the wickedness of how I was born!"
"What, you think you're pure evil? No...only Sin is pure evil; and you're not a clone anymore. Not if you don't want to be."
"Oh and how is that!?"
"That part's simple...just gotta look inside. Gotta find your name. YOUR name...because Lucius... dude, that ain't it." The Author said before turning around and stepping bakc outside. Suddenly there was a loud crunching noise, and a squeel of the Author caught off guard and sliding down into the water...though Blood was left alone to ponder.

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Samhain stood there in his shop, looking over the young man asleep at the desk. With a smirk on his face he reached down and patted the young man on the head before reaching over slightly and pulling on the golden bead chain, turning off the old fashioned light. Samhain turned around and made it down the stairs and to the lobby of the shop when he saw the man standing there. His body was not as large or bulky, his face covered by what seemed to have been a black cloak with bloody red outlining that faded into an abysmal depression.

"Sorry sir, I'm afraid we're quite closed...but you could come back in the mornin' if ye like." Samhain offered politely, though the figure continued to look over the item on display.

"They say that knowing one's true name gives you power over it...or them... any truth to that, Samhain?" The voice was different, but he knew exactly who it was.

"Ah...yes. Yes it does...social at the very least...Why do you ask Lucius?" Samhain asked before the man turned and actually managed to surprise Samhain with the way he was outside of his armor, though several parts of his now "mechanical body" were still there, as he was part machine now.

"That is not my name..." He said, Samhain's eyebrow arching in amusement, as if this were a child making a fuss about being independent and making their own decisions.

"Oh...okay...and what is your name then?" Samhain asked. Blood Tithe stepped forward and stuck out his hand.

"My name is Orpheus.... Orpheus Reinhardt." He said, Samhain stuck his hand out and placed it in Blood Tithe- Orpheus' hand, shaking it with a glint in his eye.

"Ah, well you know this gives me power over you now." Samhain said with a chuckle his overall tone being that of amusement and actually a little bit of superiority. Orpheus just smiled in response.

"I know..." He replied simply enough, seeming "in line" for the first time in a long while. Samhain shook his head a little before sighing.

"Well...it's a pleasure to meet you "Orpheus"." He said before going to pull his hand away, Orpheus' grip tightening and now allowing him to escape. Samhain scoffed before trying to simply pull himself free, his true freedom easily allowing him to do so...

except...it didn't.

His eyes widened as Orpheus leaned forward a little bit, his almost inhuman smile peering through the shadows with a flicker in his own inhumanly colored eyes.

"Yes...a pleasure to meet you again..." He said with a wry smile, like the spider that just caught the fly in his web. Samhain's face contorting to that of anger and irritation.

"Yancey Zazel."