Bad Blood (Samhain)

Lucius had not expected to form a 'Red Family' like something out of a comic book, but then again when Batman first started out you can bet your ass he didn't expect it either. How could a man that had lost everyone he ever cared for regain them in such quantity? Lucius didn't know, but he had someone again, multiple people, and it felt good. Everything was going well really, his plans finally coming true. After Belarus, he felt truly happy. No not just because of victory, but because he could share it, because his life had meaning again. He owed that to a few people, but Silus was the one who had set him on this path. He saw through Lucius' evil just as Isabella had, he saw what Lucius could be, and then set him on the right track. He was a bit too prideful to thank the boy beyond what he said in the hospital, but if Silus knew Lucius, he would understand that was the most genuine thing you could pull out of that pride of his.

This was the aftermath of the first real step toward what Lucius was working toward, and it was such a great thing. He sat in the republic palace, finally getting a rest from all the paperwork he had to go over to solidify this whole thing. The world didn't trust him, sure most of the country did, but not the rest of the world. That would take time and showings of peace and prosperity, but eventually they would come around. The military was on high alert, Lucius fully expected old enemies or even allies to try to make contact with him after hearing about his change in status, but that was paranoia more then anything. If he were attacked now, well, that was full on assault of a world leader. No one that didn't want the fury of an entire now content country coming down on them couldn't touch him. He sipped his drink, laid back in his chair, finally trying to get some sleep after weeks of being awake. But then someone came in.

"Lucas, when did you get here?" Lucius asked. The boy must have used teleportation technology once Hector told him everything was clear, and he could enter the country.

"Um, just a few minutes ago......Looks like you really did it." Lucas said, not making eye contact with his father as he sat down in one of the plush chairs across from him.

"What's going on? You look.....troubled." Lucius asked. It was quite apparent from how Lucas was acting something was bothering him. And Lucius knew what it was, but asked anyway.

"....Have you figured out how to get rid of them?" Lucas asked. He was of course referring to his powers, which he hated with a passion. Lucius just sighed, he didn't know how lucky he was.

"We talked about this, they are too heavily implanted in your genes. You aren't even a metahuman, you're....something else entirely."  Lucius said. It was true really, but Lucas thought Lucius was lying all this time. He just figured his dad wanted him this way.

".....Please try harder....you don't know how it feels." Lucas said in response, hanging his head a bit.

"Yes i do, you got them from somewhere Lucas..... You're a strong boy, you can temper your powers just as i have, then the pain will go away, i promise." Lucius said. Unfortunately though Lucas start faintly crying, trying to hide it but failing. Seeing that, Lucius' heart sank. He didn't know what to do for Lucas. He understood the boys powers were worse then his in regards to their negative effects, but he didn't think it was this bad until now.

"Unfortunately I have plans elsewhere...so you'll need to start talking just...a wee bit...faster." The Irish accent said as a hand clasped at the sphere past the cloak and hidden armor. The arm of the Elditch being bypassed flesh and bone, cloth and armor. There was no defense as he reached in and clasped the beating heart of the costumed villain. Here, Gravity Man lay against a wall, feet dangling as he was pinned up by the impaling arm. Around the area lay four other members of the Gravitas Gang. Absolute Zero lay there, an arm cut off clean through the lats and phazed through his own heart while on leg was actually backwards on his anatomy and half his head was shattered open, pink and red slushy hues covering the ground. Xerox lay pinned beneath a heavy machine while the poltergeist was nowhere to be found, though was impaled and pinned to the ground by three lead pipes. Ink was collapsed, unconscious with blood trickling down her cheek and her stomach oozing fresh unoxidized blood. Their lives were of no significance... the significance was in his answers. Time was running short and there was still so much that needed to be done.

"G-G...Go rot." Gravitas said as he tried to move his arm, his heart seizing in the clutch of the Eldritch as gravity attempted to pull them to their knees, sadly ending in vain.

"Oh come now, haven't we JUST gone through this? You can't hurt me. So make this real easy for both of us Dearie and tell me. Where...is ..Manamagnus?" He asked through his teeth as he clenched, looking at Gravity Man and wanting for nothing more than to crush this pathetic little light from existence. "I'm waiting."

"You won't find him-You can't. You....know you can't...Just like-...just like you won't kill me. You've got nothing to gain." Gravity Man said, and the fact that it as true only drove Samhain mad. Even in the face of utter destruction he still managed to keep a cool head, to be snide and assured. It made Samhain squeeze and Gravity Man call out in pain...and then suddenly he dropped. His eyes opened and he looked to his chest, feeling and seeing how he's still alive.

Samhain dropped him and stumbled back, basically falling over himself as his hand fired back and crossed over his chest, the other arm having dropped the cane propped him up as he almost collided with the floor. Gasping, groaning and snarling in pain as he writhed around, trying to compose himself, but in the end only floundering about and slamming his body into everything as he tried to do so. Gravitas really didn't give a shit about what was happening to him. If he was lucky it would be a heart attack. It was in fact odd as Samhain ended up falling over and propped himself up into a corner, a cold sweat. The doors to the building burst down and two figures stepped in, casting shadows. The first was a hooded and cloaked figure with a large construct on it's shoulder. The other had a long lanky tail-like shadow from the back of it's head. The figures stepped forward one stood in direct line with Gravitas, though looked to Samhain, the other went to Samhains' side and began to look him over.

Gravitas looked to the one directly across form him, his Gyro sense narrowing it down to the man and his eyes widening.

"Y-you? Why?" Gravity Man asked as he went to stand, his wounded pride and sense of betrayal kicking in as he tried to stand. The shadow turned to look at him with a single glowing red eye before extending a hand. A blast of powerful energy flashed out....

It was some time before anything else would happen again, but when it did was fortunately aligned with Lucas and Lucius' meeting. The meeting of father and son had it's toll but eventually it would come to an end. Of course with a little help from an anonymous tip there was a hint within the guards of what had happened in the country, a place not far away where Gravity Man was barely alive, and his generals were in equally bad shape...except Poltergeist, whom none of them could see or hear...who was just sort of chilling there and trying to nom on the iron bars to be free.

Wic-Kid on the other hand had his own business to attend to in the city, or the palace.

".....Lucas, please stop." Lucius' said. He didn't like to see the boy cry. It was rather upsetting really, it made him feel those pesky emotions. He got up and walked over to his son, trying to hug him but getting only flailing in return.

"WHY DID YOU EVEN MAKE ME!? This isn't life! This is torture!" Lucas said as he stormed out of the room, and then out of the palace.

"Lucas! Come back!" Lucius yelled, beginning to go after him but a guard came into the room, coming with urgent news.

"Sir, we have.....an issue. We just got a tip that your ally....um, Gravity Man? Yes that's right. Is in critical condition in a nearby location." The mans words shocked Lucius, but then again he had been expecting this. Lucas would have to be dealt with later, this was far more important. But who could have put Gravity Man and his gang in critical condition? This was not good, not good at all. Someone powerful was after them, and Lucius needed to find out who.

"Mobilize shock teams and use anti-meta equipment, I'll meet them there." Lucius said before walking off and into the newly redone presidential office. From there Lucius stepped inside a glass pod and was outfitted with his equipment automatically, then ordered Hector to open a door to the palaces garage where his vehicle was waiting. It was a modified and extremely high tech 67 Camaro, which screeched out of the garage once he got in with surprising speed for a car.

Lucius could see several armed units were mobilizing as he drove, so that was good. Really they wouldn't be very effective if there really was a metahuman threat, but official military had their uses. Eventually they would all arrive, the units would storm the building guns raised, ready to shoot at hostile attackers and get anyone who needed it medical attention. Lucius would come in after about ten swat team members, not yet seeing what was going on but he had a feeling a lot of these soldiers were going to die.

Lucas luckily was away from this, but not really ok in any sense of the word. He couldn't think about anything else. His body ached to lose control, but he couldn't. Any normal person would have succumbed to this several times over, Lucas was strong, but he didn't know how much he could take. He was just walking now, down the city streets, bumping into people, obviously in a horrible state. He was in actual pain, the red energy within his body was literally eating away at him because he refused to give in and use it.

The room was devoid of all life, save for the barely living bodies of the Gravitas Gang. It was entirely empty, though there was no detectable threat in the immediate area. The swat team did as they were trained, and all would seem to go well... Gravity Man was in critical condition however. The fact he was still alive was a testimony to his sheer willpower and resilience. The burns through the armor, the cloth and smell of smoldering flesh. No energy signature, no trace. Chemical burns? The possibilities were almost endless, though what could have done this to them? The only one that seemed like they weren't in critical condition was Xerox...maybe he would have answers for them. For now they had to focus on stabilizing the conditions.

"To think that someone so formidable would find themselves victim to a cardiac disorder." Blood Tithe said as he walked behind the hobbling man as he almost fell forward, catching himself on his cane before placing a hand on the wall, trying desperately to stand themselves up. Blood Tithe seemed to ignore the struggling man, though continued to keep himself in his "designated" spot that he walked in...to appease his own OCD if nothing else. "How terrible it must feel. Samhain, the Eldritch taken down by some physical malady. There's a delectable irony... the man who cannot be touched...taken down by his own flawed physiology."

"WIll you ever shut up!? It's not...a heart attack you primitive.... MUD-MONKEY!" Samhain snakred as he stood himself up and turned, sweat pouring buckets as his eye flashed an unhealthy orange before dying down to their ususal color. Blood Tithe would have been insulted, though he seemed to revel more in the concep that Samhain became so defensive. With a sickly cough and a growl to clear his throat, Samhain stumbled forward, actually falling into a seat as he started banging his cane off the ground rythmically for a total of seven times. In that moment a dark end table appeared, and floating just above it was a weird lantern with purple energy instead of glass. Contianed deep in the center of the strange energy was a light that was shining ever so dimly. Reaching forth Samahin's hand seemed to prompt the lantern to open around his hand, exposing a strange appearing construct. Blood Tithe didn't get a good glimpse, even with his cybernetic dissection. All he could see was a faint outline of the construct and a blinding light, pure and vibrant...but it was patchy, veiled over...being smothered.

"No...no-no-no....There's....There-There's not enough time..." He said, seeming rather concerned, even border lining a pure panic attack. Blood Tithe cocked his head to the side as he tried to formulate and make heads or tails of this situation. Samhain pulled his hand out and turned, slumping back into the chair of their little "safe house".

"I may have a solution to this particular issue." Blood Tithe chimed in, having very little to go from, but still formulating his own opinions. Samhain looked to him in disbelief as Blood wrote down something on a piece of paper and handing it to Wic-Kid, sending them away.

"Oh...yes. Ask the scientist who confuses this for a heart-attack how to remedy an occult affliction." Samhain said sarcastically before Blood Tithe let out a little growl and seemed to shrug this all off, obviously having the advantage for the moment.

"Indeed...but you see, Light is not a mystical concept. There are elements of it that would be of a more...logical nature. Perhaps it is you who are foolish. You are continually trying to solve something of a fantastical nature with something...equally mythical. Perhaps you should try to combat the fantastic with something a little more...logical?" Blood Tithe offered, Samhain seemed to ponder this a moment. He looked to Blood Tithe with a little hint of curiosity, but filled with more caution than anything else. Blood Tithe was not one that a leash was easily kept on...and honestly keeping hold of the leash was bound to get even Samhain a bite. "Come now Samhain... After all... isn't it with logic that parents defeat the fantastic imaginations of their children for the cold and hardened reality?" It took a moment, though it was with great disdain that Samhain looked to Blood and sighed.

"...What would you suggest?" He asked. To this Blood Tithe only smiled.

Wic-Kid ended reading the piece of paper and followed it's instructions to the very detail, going to every location and then ending up at a small park just inside the city. It was there that Wic reapplied their eye shadow and hummed a little tune while they walked, dressed in their standard black gear with buckled boots. Removing their hat their long brown hair trailed down to their mid back, covering the "mommy's" comment on the back. Everything was going fine until someone so rudely knocked into them and knocked Wic on their ass. "Yow! Ow, ow. Pfft. Damnit." Wic said as they shifted and got to a knee, looking to stand themselves up.

Lucius eventually got into the room of horrors, for lack of something better to call it. That's what it was really. Gravity Man and his lieutenants were utterly beaten to a disgusting degree, but with a few scans from Lucius' mask he could see they were all still alive. He immediately ordered for the men to get them all to ambulances, which had just arrived outside. If they didn't fight, the paramedics would take them all on stretchers to the vehicles that would take them to the hospital, god knows they needed it.

Lucius noticed Xerox was in decent shape, compared to the others anyway. Surprising, but quite convenient as well. Who could have done this to such a powerful group of metahumans? The building at the very least should have been destroyed, this just looked like someone systematically owned each of them in rapid succession. Walking over to Grey Lucius gave Gravity Man a look, an acknowledgement that he was here to help more then anything. He didn't want to talk to his ally in this state beyond that. Instead he would talk to the one that wasn't completely fucked right now.

"Gray, what happened here? There are only a few people i know of that could cause this much devastation."
Lucius said. He was in a state of shock really. If Gravity Man was so easily dispatched by whoever did this then Lucius himself wouldn't be able to defend against it either.

Meanwhile, Lucas was still walking, nowhere in particular it seemed. Perhaps he was just going somewhere to think, or get a breather. He didn't really know, all he knew was that he had to keep going. Suddenly, he rammed into someone. An odd looking individual, a female it seemed but then again minus the hair they could have been male. Lucas fell backwards to the ground, and since his powers weren't active at this moment it hurt quite a bit.

"Arrrggg! Owww. What the.......Oh, sorry, guess i kinda, spaced out or something." Lucas said before getting up and brushing himself off. Was comic con in town or something? Was it Halloween already? Lucas wondered why this person was wearing such odd attire. They seemed to be odd all around though, so perhaps wondering was just wasted time.

Gray felt the gravity in the air thicken as Lucius passed. Gang members needed to be carted away, Xerox had blood gushing from his head and his arm was fucked while a few copies of his body laid around, lifeless. Lucius spoke to Gray speaking of how he knew few people able to do what had happened here. Grey couldn't help but grow inherently defensive as his mind immediately accused Lucius of all this. Why blame Lucius? Why not blame Lucius?!? Have you met the guy? He's about 5'10, black hair, dressed to the boot in sci-fi techno shit, uses volatile energy and loves long walks on the beach...oh and completing the package is the fact he will probably kill your parents and tease you about it for years to come! The guy was a ruthless, cut-throat son of a bitch that just confessed to knowing people who had the ability to do this. That was all the proof Gray needed to convict Lucius. It also made sense that Lucius would try to off Gravity Man, after all they just took a country and didn't even give Gravitas the chance to assist them. They were probably working on their own hidden agenda, or looking to cut corners.

 "Well isn't that convenient." He said shortly before dragging his forearm over his head, soaking up a little blood before it slid down his skin and into his eyes. He didn't trust Lucius at all, and honestly the only thing keeping him from killing Lucius was the simple fact he needed to make sure Gravity Man made it through this travesty. Well that and he actually couldn't kill Lucius because he didn't have the skill or power to do so...so that's actually two reasons. "I don't know who did it. Sorta slipped my mind to ask him when I was busy not being able to actually hit him while he was crushing Gravity Man's heart." Gray said as he glared at the memebers carting his allies away. Oh Lucius was going to pay for this trechery, Gray would make sure of that....even if he didn't actually do it. Meanwhile, however there was a different event unfolding.
   
"It's...fine I guess. Just didn't expect that. Doesn't help that I'm still in this stuff." they said with a little chuckle before holding their hand up. "Can I get a hand up?" Wic asked as they tried to be friendly as possible..and tight jeans were not the easiest to get up in.

Well, Gray didn't seem to be in the best mood. In fact, it almost seemed like he was angry at Lucius, at least from his body language. Of course, if he were in Gray's position, he probably would have accused the supposed ally that shows up to help immediately after they get their asses kicked. However, it wasn't true this time. And if that's really what the male thought, well that would just make this more difficult. Lucius looked around the room, considering those he knew of that could have done this. Apex, Silus, Sin, Blood Tithe, Samhain...... Apex seemed unlikely considering how much trouble Gravity Man caused him alone in their last encounter. Silus wouldn't do this. Sin as far as Lucius knew was terminated, but this did fit into his power negation. Blood was dead. That left only one, and this person did have a history of randomly showing up for unknown reasons to wreck shit.

From what he saw of Samhain's powers, it fit pretty well. He walked right through Alpha's telekinetic barrier, teleported instantly across the world to get a tiger......and many more examples. If Lucius remembered correctly he also said something about being free of concepts, perhaps that's what his powers were rooted in. If that were the case, well he couldn't be effected by anything, even Gravity. All this made him a prime suspect, but then again some new metahuman Lucius didn't know of could have done this. It wasn't concrete, but it was a worthwhile assumption.

"Did this guy have a beard? A Scottish accent? Maybe a cane?" Lucius asked Gray. He honestly didn't care if the male thought he had ordered this, he could run under that delusion all he wanted and it would get him nowhere in the end. Right now, finding out who did this and getting everyone medical attention was top priority.

"You need to go to a hospital, let the medics take care of you and we'll talk this over later." Lucius said. He realized that even though Gray was in decent shape compared to the others he wasn't in actual decent shape, so the medics would help him out in the ambulances like they did the others. From there he would move out to his car and start tapping on it's central computer, then spoke to Hector.

"Hector, check all technological readings from this area in the last few hours for suspicious activity that may help in finding out who did this. Video Cameras and Belarus Satellite imagery included. If Gravity Man is smart he likely installed some kind of security protocol, so if there is one tap into it and check that as well." Lucius said, and the AI started scanning. It was a large scan, even for Hector, so it would take a minute or so.

Meanwhile Lucas was still encountering this guy/girl person. They asked him to help them up, which he did, stepping forward and giving them a hand. Normally someone of Lucas' build wouldn't have been much help, but his peak human strength would easily get this person to their feet unassisted. He was trying to be as friendly as possible, after all he just rammed into this person, and that was not cool.

"I didn't expect it either. But at least neither of us is hurt...... Why exactly are you wearing all that?" Lucas asked out of curiosity more then anything. He had seen some odd people, but this one ranked pretty high.

It didn't come to a surprise for Gray that Lucius figured out who hurt them. Especially since he probably hired the bastard. Gravity Man didn't actually involve any security measures as he didn't actually intend on being here long. The concept of keeping all the heads of a hydra tied together just didn't sit well with him honestly. That and with growing ambition he seemed to be more wary of all things involved. Including his own generals. Unfortunately Gray was dismissed and medics went to help him. For the sheer fact he owed Gravitas his life, he complied to keep him safe. It would be unfortunate and it would be messy if anything happened to Gravitas at this stage in the game, especially after having just given Gray a second chance like this.

  Lucius had his own events to attend to, but unfortunately a satellite and any form of observation devices remained useless in yielding information. As far as they were concerned no one and nothing had entered the building. Of course all the while Lucius was doing this, Lucas and Wic were having a rather important meeting with Lucas asking all of the hard questions. The first one coming to mind being why Wic was dressed the way they were. They sort of chuckled, not entirely sure if the boy was joking or not. "The country was taken over by a guy who looks like he jumped out of a star-wars movie, and you think that a witch is strange?" They asked, teasing Lucas a little for his curiosity, however admittantly it could have been virtually anything. "I'm helpin' out an angel so they'll save my mom. What's your excuse?" They asked before pointing at Luca's shirt and giggling, stating that they were just kidding.

 "Speaking of, you don't by chance know anything about a...library, do you?" Wic asked before looking at the paper Blood Tithe had created. Hopefully there was some form of assistance to be rendered.

Hector found nothing, absolutely nothing. No one could be seen going into the building, even before the Gravitas Gang arrived. Lucius considered this, coming to the conclusion that yes, Samhain was the one that had done this. By being so untraceable, he ended up becoming traceable. That was quite ironic really, but then again maybe hiding wasn't even his intention in the first place. Why go after Gravity Man? Lucius knew the male tended to have a lot of knowledge someone like him really shouldn't, but something so valuable he would allow himself to be beaten nearly to death? What was so important to them both? Lucius really didn't care when it came down to it, but he needed to know if Samhain was still in the country and what exactly he was doing. If this effected him, well he knew the man would have no problem wiping out everything he had gained.

"Sir, it's quite unclear, but i have made a discovery. By amplifying my scanners using the countries satellite system i found a few technological signatures masked in a similar fashion to your own. Beyond the fact it is nearly unhackable and highly advanced, i can't get anything. Perhaps this technology belongs to the group of people you're searching for, very few people could create an encryption such as this." Hector said. An interesting thing indeed. If the systems were masked that well, then really only a few people could have created it. Lucius was willing to bet someone like Samhain could easily find someone like that, the only problem was Lucius couldn't really use what Hector found.

"Location?" Lucius asked the AI. He had low hopes, but perhaps he would get lucky.

"Negative, i can only narrow the activities location to about a twenty block radius." Lucius thought about this for a second, what could he do? Well, maybe he would just ask nicely rather then work his ass off to go find whoever owned the tech.

"Alright.....let's call them then. Bring the encryption down a little so that whoever owns the tech picks it up instantly, but make sure it's high enough no one but them will pick it up." Lucius said. An interesting tactic, but surely whoever owned the tech would be curious as to who was trying to contact them, maybe they would even speak back. Once Hector started recording, Lucius would speak and the message would be sent over the twenty block radius, likely grabbing the attention of Blood Tithes scanners more then most things.

"I know you're here Samhain. And i know you don't exactly care, but that's two close allies of mine you've brought into harms way. I find your goal compelling, but if this continues i can't say I'll be able to get behind it like i said i would. Respond if you hear this, ever since our last encounter I've been itching to speak with you." Lucius said. Whether they responded or not, well that was up to them, but Lucius surely hoped they would. If they didn't, then there really wasn't much to do here. It's not like he could go arrest someone that had just mauled the entire Gravitas Gang.

Meanwhile, Lucas was still speaking with Wic-Kid. The conversation had taken an odd turn, but then again that was the subject everyone seemed to be talking about. Luckily most of it was positive considering living conditions and the economy had only improved since Lucius took over, but the Star Wars get up did cause a little reluctance among some.

"Um, library....hmm. I think there's one a block or two in the direction you were headed, but i'm not sure. I just got here..... Anyway, you speak English, and mentioned Star Wars. Are you American? And what do you mean by....helping an angel? And, um, is your Mom alright?" Lucas asked. He found himself scrabbled a little by all of the weirdness that was this conversation, but he seemed to ask all his questions, even if they weren't really in proper order.

Was Wic-kid an American? Not that they knew of, granted despite being born in Australia and being an Aussie to their core, they did have a sense of American fashion, loved a lot of american things and actually spent more time in America than they did in their homeland. But thinking over the comment Wic just let out an amused little hum before nodding, their hat bobbing up and down as they did so. It was sort of odd to be entirely honest, that he just so happened to run into the only other "American" in this freshly overturned omlette of a country. Wic's true hesitation was in answering the question about their mother and what was "wrong" with her per say.

  "It's EXACTLY what it sounds like. I'm helping an Angel, and in return they're helping me by helping mommy dearest." Wic began with a giggle before shrugging it off and turning to walk a little, ort of hoping that the strangely placed English-speaking guy would follow him. "My mom is...not okay actually. She's got something that's...well it's similar to a metagene, but it's not one. It's driving her crazy, making her insane and making her do things she wouldn't do. She's always struggling and always losing control. So this Angel is going to take her powers away to save her. But because he's gonna do that he needs me to help him find a book at the library that's gonna help us find the location of what he really needs my help getting. It's sort of like an RPG, without the explosion. " Wic explained a bit, hoping to have enlightened little Lucas to what the scenario was. Though he didn't exactly speak in riddles or lies, in fact Wic-Kid was quite honest indeed. The view just got slightly altered and resulted in a similar sounding situation for Lucas. It's not like Wic even knew it was familiar to Lucas in truth.

  "So there's my story, now tell me yours hot shot." Wic prompted with a smile and a slight lift in their attitude.

******* ****** ****** ******

      Unfortunately there was no reply to Lucius' call for Samhain. Well there was, but perhaps not the one he was looking for. Before Lucius' eyes fluttered down a page, rather nice handwriting adorning an older yet still crisp page, barely touched in all it's age.

 
 It was signed with Samhain's signature. Of course after Lucius had time to process everything the ink seemed to vanish. It would seem as a simple parlor trick or a simple "showing off" of the Eldritch's part, however in a slight bit of patience the paper would seem to secrete the ink once more, this time more.... interestingly aligned.

 
The way the words seemed to write themselves was almost like someone was writing in response.

The persons words seemed tailored to him. Lucius probably would have gotten suspicious, but not Lucas. In the end he liked to believe everyone was trust worthy, unless they were weird monsters or something. So, as soon as he heard the things this person was saying, he immediately wanted to know more. His trust was already pretty high for this person, but that was just the naive and trusting child in Lucas coming out. He was born only a couple months ago after all, and really knew nothing about what he was or what was happening to him. The promise of relief alone was enough to sway him.

"That's........that's like the same thing I'm dealing with right now! I'm a metahuman.....or something, honestly I'm probably not even that...... Anyway, i want to get rid of it.....it hurts too much... Do you think he would help me too? If i.....i don't know, helped you find the book?" Lucas asked, unaware that this was probably some manner of trap. Or maybe he did know, deep down, but he was just ignoring it because he wanted something.

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Well, that wasn't quite the response Lucius was expecting, but it was one, so there was that. A paper appeared in his hands, with appearing and disappearing writing like something out of Harry Potter. That at least confirmed Samhain was behind this, but that meant Lucius' trail had went cold as well. It wasn't like he could hunt Samhain down, and in the end the only thing he could do when he found him was talk.

It would likely have been better to speak with Gravity Man, sure he was in critical shape, but he probably knew more about why Samhain attacked him then anyone. So, Lucius followed the ambulance, and when it stopped he walked into the hospital. He would give the doctors awhile to stabilize the gang leader and such, then walk into the room, motioning for the people in the room to leave.

"What did Samhain want from you?" Lucius asked. He knew Gravitas knew about Samhain, or at least was smart enough to know the man that attacked him was the one Lucius was referring too

Wic-Kid smiled when they heard Lucas tell them that they had a similar problem with their own powers. Instantly Wic-Kid loved this kid 100 times more, simply because they knew the pains and the struggles that their mother was going through. Unfortunately this was in fact a trap, though it was nothing that Wic-Kid knew of. even if they did, this trap was a trap entirely different than anything that was probably thought of. Wic nodded and laughed a little. "Yeah, Definitely! He helped me, He's gonna help my mom. We don't have metagenes either so... things are looking up!" Wic said with a giggle and entering the Library. The Library wasn't an overly grand one in comparison to Asylum's...but it was formidable for a country riddled with civil war and unrest.

  "So we're looking for a book called "The Alchemist." but the I will be spelled with a Y. This particular book will have a cover signed by Nicholas Flammel. It has a message in it that they need." Wic said with a sigh before looking to Lucas. "I-i-iuhm... I've never uh...been in one of these places other than....well the one I've been to was intentionally out fo order to encourage randomized reading. So...how does this work?" They asked, hoping that Lucas would have some clue or indication.

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         The Gravity in the area increased as Gravitas let out a growl and then a full out yell. The gravity was in attempts to drive Lucius down, or weigh him down to some extent. Gravity Man was weakened, and so was his powers by extent. He was still a foe to be wary of, especially when a singularity began to form with where Lucius had been at the center. This was likely highly concerning, especially form how well Gravitas and Lucius got along in previous endeavors. It was quite clear however that Lucius was not the only one whom had thought of ways to cause difficulties for his "allies". "Don't. Play. Dumb." He snarled, as his bandages began to soak with a deep red color. His head was still covered by the hood, though it was sheered off of the thing.

    "You know what he wanted...He asked me. YOU ASKED ME. I'm not telling you... I'm not telling anyone. Was this all a lie? To gain my trust and betray me...just to play dumb!?" He snapped. After a moment he released the gravity. "No...that's not you....but....but it was you. I SAW YOU!" Gravitas snapped as he grabbed his side and with a whip of his hand collapsed the bed with his power. He then sat down on the bed before huffing and puffing.

   "You killed Overdose....You just walked in and then Xerox and I...." His hysterical ramblings didn't seem to make sense at the moment as he just continually reminisced about how he saw Lucius. How the blind man specifically saw Lucius was the question though. He just rambled before falling silent. "H-how many did I lose?" Was all he could ask as he shook his head and sighed, a rumble coming from his throat.

Lucas was elated at the persons words. Could this be it? Would he be able to free himself of whatever it is he was? Lucas could only hope. It hurt like hell really, yet whenever he got close to the edge he knew he couldn't cross, it was almost like he wanted it. Whatever was happening within him was complicated, and he had a feeling his father knew a bit more then he was saying. What would he think after this all went over? What would he think about Lucas going behind his back and getting rid of these pesky powers? There was only one way to find out, really.

"Great! ....i mean, awesome. Let's get to it then. The library should be this way, like i said." Lucas said, a bit louder then he thought. He then lead the person with a fast trot to the place where shit is written in books. Once they got there, well it seemed neither of them had any idea what they were doing.

"I haven't really either.........i mean, a public one. But i'm pretty sure we can use the catalog computer to find what you're looking for." Lucas said, waving for the person to follow him before resting his finger tips on the keyboard.

"What did you say the name of the author was?"

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Lucius wasn't really shocked by the sudden pulse of gravity downward, considering how weird Grey was acting earlier. Lucius' first reaction was to thinly coat his body in solidified red energy, then manipulate it so he could at least try to get to his feet. Sure, he wasn't going to move much, but at least he wasn't face planted into the ground. Gravitas was frantic, saying things that made little sense. But what was clear was that he was being framed.

"You can't believe that, after what i said of my goals, our goals. I'm being framed, Gravitas. Samhain is a snake in the grass, it makes perfect sense to impersonate me to turn us against each other." Lucius said as he visibly struggled on one knee to pull himself up. Even with his powers assisting him, this was difficult.

"Like you said, this isn't me. I wouldn't pretend i had nothing to do with it after you already saw me." Lucius reasoned. He didn't know how the downed meta would react, but he had to get through to him.

"As far as i know......just Overdose." Lucius answered with a sincere level of sadness. That kid didn't deserve what he got.

"They wanted the location of a man who made something....very unique." Gravitas said as he held out his hand. quite literally it looked as if the air itself bubbled and peeled back, revealing the void black nothingness as it seemed to pour through with no barriers, adhering to a designated structure. It appeared to be a blade of some kind, a hybrid of a sword and a pole arm of sorts. However before it could solidify or even finish taking it's full form it hissed and slithered back into darkness before the tears where the darkness came from vanished into a deep violet mist. Gravitas groaned, his own will not powerful enough to withstand the strenuous exercise of calling forth such a weapon.

"I was never one to believe that...crap about Eldritch beings. But this...Lucius this sucks. Gravity...what kind of being isn't affected by GRAVITY? Absolute Zero stood still...there were no molecules moving. Absolute Zero had an area in ABSOLUTE ZERO and he walked through...tore out his heart and shattered him..." Gravity Man was still reeling by the things he had experienced and as his memory began to recall. Though first he bolted forward and coughed, the strain of the fast motion on his already bloodied bandages made the liquid seep. "L-Lucius. They aren't going to stop until they find him. They said that they'd get him one way or another. If not through me then through who lead me to him...But... This person...this impersonator said something about kids, children." he growled, though not of mal-intent...he growled because there was blood filling in the back of his throat.

"There were two. Two pure. Two innocent. Something about a stone.... The imposter...he...he looked exactly the same under the armor but he was...strange. he had heavy armor, constant energy...I-I thought I saw a Tesla coil on his shoulder at one point." Gravitas said as he grunted to continue. "They are going after the one who lead me to the smith....and Lucas." Gravitas said. Unfortunately the warning was just a little too late. The second that Gravity Man has said this, Lucas vanished off the grid. No type of magic nor technology could find him, no means of recall nor teleportation could move him. He was gone, trapped...and Lucius was left to bear it.

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"Uhhh..it says it's by Michael Scott. it's named "The Alchemyst." but the I in Alchemist is a y for some reason... apparently Nicholas Flamel wrote a note on the front page." Wic offered the information as they looked on a piece of paper. This particular piece was interesting because it seems as though this ficticious character had a note within one of these novels. It could have been just a funny little thing the author did to promote a particular series....like a limited edition sort of deal. Wic had a strong suspicion that that wasn't quite right. In fact Wic had felt like a lot of things weren't quite right... something was making them feel a little strange, and not in the weird way. Something was amiss here, and they'd personally figure out what it was. But first, Wic-kid needed the hep of a little Lucas in order to figure out the area the book would be in. After going through the books on the shelf they eventually found the exact copy they were looking for.

The book was slammed down on the table and Wic looked to Lucas before nodding and opening the book to look at this "note" left by the ficticous immortal. The note read rather plainly.




"Well this is...kinda weird and depressing." Wic said offhandedly after reading the note. What was this message, what were it's secret? Of course while they had been busy looking at the book they hadn't even noticed the entire area around them had changed. This library was no longer as it appeared. It was a rather illustrious room, designed and fashioned the same way of the country's royal palace. The vanity of such a place was beyond that of even Lucius' castle. The beauty and elegance of the sculptures as the dim lit room was filled with the noise of a crackling fire. Comfy red chairs were set about, gold trim and embroidering with a crest upon all of them, rosewood hand crafted chair perfectly stationed with a table n the center, three glasses of water set.

"I see you found it..." A voice said from behind them. Turning to the source would reveal a rather tan individual with equally dark hair and dim, dark blue eyes. A genuine smile was on their face as they stood with their hands in their jean pockets. The boy, not much older than them, looked to Wic and smiled and nodded before looking to Lucas, still smiling as he greeted him. "Hello Lucas. It's good to finally meet you. You've got quite a chatter box talking about you upstairs." The youngt man said before pointing to the seats. "Well now, let's sit down at least. From what I gathered you both had quite the walk.... so tell me Lucas. What brings you my way?" The angel asked, when he turned the light seemed to refract through the air just right to give off traces of a nigh-invisable halo and fraction of a second of a rainbow light tracing down the wings like a lustrous blade. The angelic being sat themselves down and didn't stop smiling as they looked between Wic and Lucas.

It was here where they were suspended. Kept from Lucius at this moment in time. It was here that the plan all came together.

Lucius was released from Gravitas' power, but soon he was gripped by something far worse. Each word, each sentence, it made it all make a lot more sense. Lucius' eyes widened, he knew before Gravity Man was finished talking what this was all about. Blood Tithe was alive, Samhain brought him back. Would be an easy task for someone not bound by the basic laws of physics. Fear jolted through him. He was scared, scared for Lucas, scared his secret would get out, but most of all scared of what Blood would do. He knew everything Lucius was, and he was the horror within him. This was bad, very, very bad.

"Oh......no, no no no no no.......NO!!!" Lucius yelled after rubbing his face. After that, in a fit of anger he whipped around and slammed his hand into the wall, which exploded with red energy in the next second before disappearing entirely. Lucas was going to find out, best case scenario, and the worst.....well that was too difficult for him to think about. Lucius obviously had Hector look for Lucas, even though he knew the AI wouldn't find him. It was hopeless. There was only one thing he could do now.

"This......this doesn't just suck...... Gravitas, this is worse then you imagined." Lucius said before walking out of the room. He was in danger of losing so much today. It was nearly checkmate, and he saw it coming...that was the worst part.

"Hector.....get into contact with Nicolas anyway you can. This concerns him just as much as it does me. I have a feeling he might not take to kindly to what i did, but it's the only move i can make right now." Lucius ordered as he walked out of the hospital. His mind was racing all over the place. He was going up against beings that could ruin him, including himself. He had to play this smart to get out of it intact.

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Lucas and Wic-Kid eventually found the book they were looking for. It didn't look old really.....but the writing on the front page was truly chilling. At one point he just stopped reading. All he had to do was get the book, right? He didn't have to read it or decode anything, and he was glad for that. However, when he looked away he found himself somewhere else entirely.

It looked like the republic palace, yet....more elegant, if that were possible. A boy sat in the room, water in front of him and a couple chairs they were presumably supposed to sit in. Lucas had no idea what was going on, but he knew he had to play along. Running from this place seemed like the dumbest idea imaginable. The boy spoke, not really giving information......but asking a question Lucas didn't know how to answer, or if he even should.

"I don't even know who you are... How do you know my name?" Lucas said. How was he supposed to know what brought him there? He didn't even know what brought him into this world.