Sunset

"Shit...at least I had a childhood." He said with a sigh. He didn't realize this had been going on since the dude was a child. That was messed up. Did humans have no sense of sanity? No moral fiber that screamed out this was someone's child? He felt that protective urge swell up, but with nothing to lash out on, he quickly felt it release. He listened intently, and suddenly everything about this poor bastard just made sense. He felt an uneasy lump in his throat as he nodded.

I sure know how to pick my targets. Pick the one bastard who literally was raised to be this and beat his ass. Yeah. Good one Matthew. Hope you're happy Humanity, you sick son of a- "You know uh. Yeah. Believe it or not I get that. The Guinea Pig thing....not so much of a lab rat type thing but more of uh....pet type way." He said with a slight chuckle. Why he was talking about this now was beyond him. But he decided to open this can of worms. Not that somehow spilling his own story was anything even remotely intelligent, but maybe this is something he needed to do. Maybe he was okay with this being the time someone, anyone knew about what makes him tick. He'd been manipulating therapists since he was 6, but somehow. Somehow the superhuman godly being was just human enough to cause a momentary lapse of judgement.

"You uh...my family are all gifted. They got these little cool gifts. You know how you got yours. Uh...guess uhm.... My mom, my dad, and my older brother, me and my younger brother. Just uh...throw out a guess there. What's our gifts?"

He had that some small recognition he didn’t have a childhood. Ever since he managed to eek out a small amount of freedom, Atlas had learned people didn’t spend their lives in a facility. People prodding him daily, making sure his powers grew at some kind of rate. His mind managed to conjure up the phantom sensations of being pricked, and each time he grimaced at the fact. Well, eventually he grew numb to the tedium of it all. There had to be a reason and purpose to all of this, right? Thinking now, he wondered if there was any real reason. A good reason anyway.  He had seen his powers used to destroy a city and kill people, a concept that tore at his very heart.

Humanity continued to talk, bringing about his family. A family of people with gifts? He turned his attention to the man, a single brow quirked and curious expression taking over the somber one. He didn’t know him enough to guess on that kind of thing.  ”Couldn’t guess actually. I suppose if I had to guess with you, some kind of intelligence or a gift that affects that?” The man was obviously brilliant, well compared to him but that didn’t mean anything either as well. He didn’t exactly know much about what determined a person as smart. It was one of those nebulous things as far as he could tell.

”Think you can tell me what they are? I mean, if you want to, don’t have to. Don’t know if I’ll get even close,” Awkwardly he chuckled, keeping his eyes on the man.

He couldn't help but chuckle when he was guessed to have some kind of intelligence. He was flattered actually, but if that were the power he were given, he'd have been happy with it. A power at all, even the dumbest. Even Nihilus' power, the ability to strengthen yourself at the cost of long-term detriment was a blessing. It was worth it to help people. He then had Atlas ask if he could tell him. To which he smiled and nodded, as if shaken from a daze.

 "My dad's gift is changing reality. He can warp reality with a single command...Awesome right? He just speaks Bible verses and shit of literal biblical proportions happens. Watched him make an entire squad of superhumans trip over themselves." He said as he explained it. The identity of the man wasn't exactly a secret, though his prowess as a high-grade reality manipulator was not exactly well known. There had only ever been speculation to the limitations of his power. He shook his head and then cleared his throat.

 "My mom can give anyone she wants the ability to run 70mph minimum, durable enough to shrug off small arms and most Calibur rifle rounds. Increases their strength by 1 ton. Just any number of people who can hear her she can turn them into superhumans." He nodded as he recounted his mother's signing. He was never a big fan, and truthfully her singing wasn't the best for mortal ears, but it was good enough. It was his mom, after all.

 "My older brother has a power that will only hurt the guilty and corrupt of heart. It will heal and save the innocent and weak....the asshole got the power to save people." He said with a chuckle quickly moving on to spare Atlas some of the time. Also due to his own distaste for his older sibling. "And my little brother...he's you. Well similar powers. Physical empowerments. He gets two wings when he witnesses an injustice, or a victimization. Those wings turn into 4, then 6. Each time a new set appears he grows in power, until he is impervious to all damage...even my dagger...which cuts even you on your best day." The chuckling ended as he looked over at the boat, contemplating his next course of action. He let out a slight sigh, as if his insanely powerful, blessed and perfect family were something of a joke. He shook his head.

 "All of those powers...and you know what I ended up with? Nothing." He said, a slight tinge of resentment in his words. "I got a chair and a laptop, told to watch the enemy exits. Keep an eye open for traps...yeah, because traps are so dangerous to a group of people who can take down a first-world country. Just gave me a job to keep me quiet and busy while they were actually doing shit." He spat. The rest was history, to him at least. He let out a heavy sigh as he tossed the notebook aside and looked at the fire. It was still going strong. He desperately needed to do something. He had to take away the regret of sharing his history with someone that wasn't Ryan, or Rochelle.

"But uh...yeah...I get that. Guinea Pig feeling, that is."

The powers of his family sounded impressive, no, they sounded amazing.  A man who could alter reality with his words, a woman who could inspire and empower the masses, someone who could save those deserving as well as punish the wicked. Not even counting someone who could become so powerful that a dagger that could harm even him was useless. It made him feel...even smaller really.  He couldn’t really comprehend the kind of people that could do these things but he didn’t doubt they could.  Even still they all sounded too perfect and that made him wonder what the person before him could do.

It had to be something equally cool, right? He waited with baited breath, turning full attention and yet found the answers not what he was expecting. He had no powers? Despite all he did to manage to bring him low, the man before him had no abilities? The confusion was obvious on his face. A dumbstruck look that was just hard to wipe away.  As if he couldn’t really conjure up an answer.

The sigh of regret Humanity produced after just proved that statement true.  That he had somehow been born normal in a family of seemingly exceptional people, and it seemed like they had made him feel...less than. Did they mean to do it? He didn’t know the family well enough to make that kind of judgment. If they were heroic individuals, would they do that to their own family. What did family even mean to someone like him? Atlas just didn’t have a frame of reference for those kind of relationships.

”A biblical themed power set. Can’t say I’ve heard about anything like that...which is surprising considering what some of them can do,” Atlas admitted, nodding a couple times and turning back to the fire.  He opened his mouth again, unsure what to say.  Was any consolation really good enough?  ”Sorry you felt that way, especially around your family.” He gave the best apology he could, and yet he had a feeling it wasn’t enough. He didn’t even do anything wrong, but he felt sorry for the man despite what he had done to him before.  

He sighed too.. ”How long do you think till dawn? I don’t have a watch...well I had something to tell time but it got busted up in the fight.”

"Not yours to apologize for. At least I had a family. Fucked up or otherwise. I'd argue that your trauma is more valid. Yours at least isn't self-inflicted." He said with a huff. Atlas lacking a conventional upbringing was not at all surprising. People with atypical upbringings or inconsistent parental figures often times with either adapt to become chaotic bisexual murder-hobos, or in any non-DnD setting they turned out to be people that clung to the most basic and consistent ideals present in the figures they did have. "Dunno. Dawn is probably three hours out yet." He said with a shrug, low-balling the hours they probably had left together. Of course the moment the sun went up that mask was going on and he was getting the Hell out of dodge.

The concept of someone knowing his face, the concept of someone being able to kill him at a moment's notice took the ball out of his court. It was something beyond his control. When he had a position of power, he was fare and respectful, but when others had control, could you trust them? They were slaves to their emotions. Wasn't he? No! He felt anger, he wanted to lash out, but he chose something else. Then why did he choose his name? That name. The silence was almost deafening after a few minutes.

"I've been punching above my weight class for a while now. You've never even had to face someone your own. So how about this. If you can agree to total secrecy, I can show you how to beat Amaterasu." He said as he folded his fingers together, looking over at Atlas, studying his face a moment for any kind of reaction. He smirked slightly, not sure why in the Holy hell he'd offer to do that. "I taught Bolt to beat Zodiac. I taught Silus how to beat Michael. The latter probably doesn't mean anything to you, but perhaps the former." He said, recalling how Zodiac and Bolt began to start a high-speed battle in the middle of a populated city. Even though Zodiac was faster, stronger and more unhinged, Bolt managed to pull it off. Even if it wasn't his teachings, the foundation was something he helped build... even if he was a treacherous bastard.

Three hours left?

He thought that over while looking to the still dark horizon. That meant he would be island bound for that time, waiting patiently despite not having much patience at the moment. A silent, painful anxiety had begun to take root in him. The kind that twisted his guts into a knot, leaving him unwilling to stay still.

He would be powerless for that time, though Humanity hadn’t made any moves to kill him. Would someone with the concept of him being anyone really want his identity known? The two of them seemed to be in very strange positions.  A human who had been punching above his own weight class, that would have been inspiring if he weren’t also the man who kicked his ass.

The very concept was enough to bring with it an almost bitter chuckle. ”Not many people my own league coming for a fight it seemed. Guess they had better things to do,” He admitted, unable to remember when he fought anyone who really hurt him before Humanity and Amaterasu.  He was starting to believe there was no one on his level, but those two proved him otherwise. Though when it came to the people he trained, the names mostly meant nothing save for faint recognition when it came to Bolt.

Was that a hero he had heard about before? The internet was abuzz about that for a little while. ”Think I heard about Bolt. Fights get big enough and people talk about them.” He turned his attention to Humanity again. ”Want to show me how to defeat her? I’d say that was impossible, if you didn’t already beat me,” Seconds more of silence, his mind working over how he would respond to this.

”Why not? Sure, if you can teach me how to beat her I’m willing to learn. I think you and her beating me is proof enough I need to grow. However that happens, ” He shrugged, wondering what he could even learn.

"I have a safehouse in Los Angeles. Other vigilantes there but you're going to give them this." He said as he dug through his bad for a moment, producing a small necklace. The necklace was made of some kind of silver, or platinum and has three rings decorated onto it with Latin and other languages around it. In the center was a small sphere, an emerald which adorned the center. All and all the necklace piece was about half the size of a palm. He tossed it to Atlas.

"We'll begin then. For now I plan to keep reviewing my memory palace for details on your gith with Amaterasu and that strange fighter that removed seals on her blade for bursts of speed....and Iskandar. I'll need to kill him soon." He added that last part quietly as his eyes seemed to almost shift color for a moment, the one off colored eye matching the blue hue of it's partner. As he looked through his bag, he came across one of his crime-scene investigative tools. Looking at it he cocked his head to the side. Pulling out the wand, he turned to Atlas and gripped the handle tightly before waving the wand. A harsh, bright purple light began to emit. Humanity threw it to the ground next to Atlas.

"UV light for CSI shit. Won't give you a lot of power, but might get something." He said with a shrug. He'd wait until daybreak at that point, hopefully Atlas could get a small jump start on what little energy the UV light had to offer.

He looked down at the small wand emitting the harsh purple light. The intensity briefly irritated his eyes, but that faded quickly enough. What replaced irritation was something he could only describe as pleasant. As if his very cells were slowly being filled, and that was when he realized before Humanity spoke.  He mentioned killing someone, drawing a concerned look from Atlas, though he said nothing on the concept.

”You work with others? I...no offense but that’s surprising,” He responded, grinning despite himself. Holding up the wand to his face, hoping that would somehow soak up just enough energy to get him somewhere. He needed enough to fly, maybe fly fast enough to get him somewhere with a little more sunlight.  ”Any UV light is better than none. Might get enough to...fly maybe, if I can just pout the energy to that. Means I’ll have to work slower than I’d like,”

He felt stronger, that much was force certain. ”Once I’m sure about things, I’ll head to LA first thing. Will be hard not drawing attention but I’ll see what I can do,” Would the battery in this thing give him enough? He was already feeling stronger, that faint buzzing he had grown used to returning. It was better than the relative emptiness he had felt.  Well, hopefully this necklace would be enough to get those Vigilantes he spoke about to accept him. ”Guess I’ll see you then?”

"I'll see you then." He said with a chuckle. He went back to his book as Atlas took the want to himself and finished getting enough of his strength back. He could fly off or do whatever it was that he wanted, but Matthew stayed behind. He was looking over his notes, recalling different circumstances that he had previously recalled in his watching footage if Atlas.

This Amaterasu was more powerful, and more skilled. She wasn't a fighter though, and anything she could do Atlas could do. That had to be the belief he held onto. So now it became a moment of sketching. A new humanoid figure, a new slate of black armor, a new cone like set of leggings for exaggerated flare and almost laughable exposure, but the a terrifying black cloak which was melded into the arms, a horrible red glowing amalgamation, a horrifying creature of darkness the opposed the sun and sought to devour it whole.

"I know just....how to make you."