Violence and pie (Red)

Within a matter of a second, the sword spearded itself into the ground, making it something that he could not exactly remove from the males grasp and actually, he just managed to put himself into a dangerous situation. His fist ended up being caught within a large red energy hand, something that somehow managed to hold him in place for even a moment. It didn't take a genius to see that they were augmenting their own strength with that energy, so that meant he needed to get out of the bind he was caught within. He gave a quick attempt to pulling away, but that only ended with his hand hurting really badly, so he would have to try something else. Considering the sun wasn't offering him any healing mojo, he would have to avoid doing anything that overly damaged him.

However, something happened that required that he do something about. This meant he would have to move out of the way as the chains of energy sprung up, Atlas forcibly ripping his hand back which tore a little at his hand as he managed to get back. Not that he could entirely escape the chains, but that did get him out of the way of what looked to be a blade springing upwards, likely in away that would have done some fatal damage. A few of the chains wrapped around his right arm, as well as his legs, something that proved annoying for someone trying to get out of the way. Making use of his excessive strength, he tried to break the chains and managed to do so well enough as they would clatter to the ground.

"I'm going to do it."  

"So what Atlas."

"That one move you keep telling me not to use." He said, making sure only the people on the other side of his communicator can hear him.

"You were told to incapacitate him, not kill him." He could hear that they were apprehensive about the idea being proposed, but then again things were as they were. If he just used the power in the open, then the collateral damage would be something they couldn't just explain away or deal with. So he had an idea in how to stop that, so long as they sent someone to catch him upon falling.

"I think he's sturdy enough to survive it." Atlas said, preparing something to do next. Taking off at supersonic speeds, he began to quickly move around Lucius rather quickly. This was to create a tornado around them that would rip the oxygen from within the spot that would likely begin to suffocate them, depriving them of oxygen and likely doing something. Not like he could rush into it, when likely they had a means to get out of the way. Luckily he was capable of reacting to any attempt to stop him, well most of them.

Well, at least Lucius managed to not get pummeled, That was the point of his little move in the end. The chains dispersed as well as his augmentations once Atlas broke through it all, and Lucius could feel that the irritation was settling in. He could go on for hours theoretically, but the Red Energy had it's own brand of strain. Use it too much and super genius turns into raging maniac. He would have to limit his use from here on out, using it for smaller things.

He picked up his sword, holding it at the ready in a low fencing guard, stepping to the side as he stared down his opponent. He was close enough that Lucius could hear some conversation going on, but he couldn't quite get the words down. Hector analyzed it and found that it was something about an attack, but beyond that he couldn't make anything out.

Next the hero started flying in circles around him, generating a whirlwind of sorts. Lucius had been in one of these before, and he hated them. They were just such a bad time. Last time however his teleporter had been overheated through repeated use against a speedster in close quarters, this time it was free and ready to use. He was hoping not to have to, but if he let this take his air or knock him into the air it made him a sitting duck. He teleported out of it, likely surprising his opponent. He had only used it once this fight and that's when Atlas was down, so he likely didn't expect it. Unfortunately however, this made it unusable for a bit. He hoped that trump card he overheard was this tornado, but he felt it was just a lead up honestly. He left some explosives behind, like, all of them, so they would likely send Atlas flying off course from the unexpected jolt. Heck, it could even damage him a bit considering the entire tornado was enveloped in the explosion.

Lucius was now away from his opponent, a good two hundred feet to the west actually. This gave him time and distance, as he tossed a few small constructs along the path between him and Atlas, which hid themselves and got into place. They would shoot out little bullets of red energy as Atlas passed until they were destroyed or he got out of range, and these lead right up to where Lucius was standing, behind the corner of another building. He took out his civilian phone, and called the police.

"This is Lucius Alba, President of Belarus in the states for diplomatic purposes. I'm being attacked by the metahuman known as Atlas, i would be in your debt if you could get some cops down here to call him off." Lucius said before hanging up. After all, he hadn't been charged with any crime, there wasn't enough evidence against him, and he had diplomatic immunity here and in most other UN countries, all political leaders did. Atlas was the one doing something against the law, Lucius was merely defending himself, even trying to talk with Atlas at the start.  If the brute ignored the officers, it was always a preventative measure to keep them around, even if Lucius didn't use them as official hostages.

Things looked like they were going pretty well, that being until Lucius appeared to teleport out of it. Teleporting? Great, I didn't now he could do that. part of him was more annoyed with whoever was gathering the information, but then again he would just have to roll with it. Next was an explosion that found itself filling up the entire tornado as he was thrown backwards, a stinging sensation present as he collided with the ground followed by a resounding crash. "He really loves his bombs, doesn't he." he grumbled to himself, quickly moving to his feet in a fluid motion. His eyes darted around for Lucius, only seeing what looked to be constructs being sent in his direction, things that he could avoid should he put a little effort into it. So that was what he did, managing to avoid the constructs, though despite his hearing his attention was on other things.

That was when....he heard something that sounded strange, in the sense that he hadn't expected to hear it. The sounds of sirens akin to those of the police, causing him to looking around for the source of the sound. That was when the x-ray vision kicked in and he found Lucius, though they...were on their phone of all things. Either they were making a social call, or this had something to do with that. "Atlas stand down. He's called the local authorities. We cannot afford a public incident like this." He ground his teeth, creating an audible sound but he did nothing else. "Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I do." He said, not offering any manner of argument. Rather than running after them, he clenched his fists and chose to stand where he was, fuming more than anything else. As the cops came, he proved himself to be no longer violent, likely expecting his superiors to come to smooth things over.

"Ahhahahaha! Oh, how a few men in blue outfits can bring a virtual god to his knees.... I thought you had more chops then that." Lucius said after a loud robotic chuckle escaped his mask. The suit found itself being shredded by Red Energy, revealing Lucius in a nice business suit underneath. Of course, Hector took all the data beforehand, and there was still audio and video in Lucius' more formal garb, he just looked more innocent, as a cut formed across the top of his face. The police closed in, and Lucius, as was protocol, but his hands up.

"Atlas, please stand down. This man has done nothing wrong, officially at least. It's out of your contract with the city to attack him." A cop spoke, pointing a police issue anti-metahuman gun, not that it would do anything. They didn't make any moves, but they seemed to defuse the situation and asked Lucius a few questions before he gave his verdict on whether he was pressing charges.

"I won't be, as long as i can meet with the people contracting Mister Atlas. I would just like to personally get to the bottom of why they would be unlawful, or why they might be out for me. Is that alright with your people, Atlas?" Lucius told the officers before looking to Atlas with a smile. The cops believed that to be a good idea, because honestly no one wanted to die today, and pressing charges or trying to arrest either would likely lead to that.

Lucius mocked him, thought there was nothing that he could really do about that. He looked to the cops, trying to make himself look as non violent as possible considering he had tried to groom a good image with the law enforcement before. There was no need in ruining that image in one fell swoop, though if he did have to attack anyone, perhaps someone without a lot of public affection was perfect. "Tell Mister Alba that we would be willing to have a meeting with him." He nodded, knowing that he had no more real choice within the matter. That was when he looked to Lucius, though within the blink of an eye they were gone. He only remembered a black blur, and then where the metahuman once stood was nothing. Lucius however, would find themselves moving rather quickly and then everything stopped as they were settled safely a top one of the many tall buildings of New York.

"You're a hard man to get ahold of Mister Alba, but I'm lucky to have you so....vulnerable." Should he turn, he would see a strange feminine figure garbed within a black outfit, and an exotic mask that covered her face save for the hair that flowed from it. "A lot of people want you dead, must be the copious amounts of blood you've spilled. I'm not one of those however, you could say I have a...business proposition for you." They offered, resting their hands upon their hips. "I promise it'll be something that you won't want to refuse."

Just when things were about to get interesting, in that he was going to meet these people that supposedly wanted to kill and/or arrest him, something happened. A black blur of sorts, likely a meta, surprised him. Now, he had the reaction to avoid it, with Hector monitoring his surroundings and all that, but honestly he was a bit taken off guard and once a speedster gets you wrapped up, it's better to simply secure yourself and tag along for the ride. He shielded himself, and in moments was standing on top of a building.

A woman stared him down, starting to speak in clear villain talk. He deduced this was likely someone who didn't like Atlas much, and maybe saw how Lucius contended with the metahuman. That or she simply heard a lot of him and wanted this private talk. Regardless, he hated the fact she spoke as if she were so in control and so clever. Even without any gear, Lucius was not vulnerable.

"Vulnerable? I've been vulnerable, many years ago, this is not it dear." Lucius spoke with a smile, hair blowing in the wind as his sharp eyes stared down the female.

"I like to think I've made an improvement on the whole blood spilling thing, considering i managed to do what no coup has ever done; taking a country without a single casualty." Lucius said. He did truly dislike the fact people brought up his more aggressive past, especelly since all those cases were unproven and he now had immunity.

"Make it quick, I'm a busy man. Trust me, i get such inquiries a lot."

"I must admit, your confidence is admirable. Your take over of Belarus was impressive, no one else would have likely been able to do so with such professionalism. Having a certain Alpha on your side has never hurt anything either, has it?" She noted, letting the unspoken accusations remain unspoken as she continued to size Lucius up with a gaze that would make anyone uneasy, should they be able to see it through her visor. "Still, let us not get off track Mister Alba. I'm offering you an army, something I imagine you could appreciate. Imagine soldiers, all as powerful as Atlas and completely under your thumb." She paused for a moment, turning towards what looked to be someone zooming through the air.

"One moment please." She said, holding up a hand as within a matter of a moment Atlas appeared with a fist caught within her hand. The roof beneath them crack, these cracks spreading outwards as the shockwave spread quickly outwards. "The grownups are talking right now, so you'll need to wait over there." Just as quickly as that, she kicked him into an adjacent building with an impressive amount of force. "As I was saying, does my offer catch your interest Mister Alba?"

".....Do you take me as a fool? I already have all the army i need. I have Belarus, i have Rise and all the great minds and power that back it. Even still i wouldn't use it in Saturday Morning Cartoon fashion. I'm looking for a revolution of the fabric of our culture, not a takeover of the planet with potentially traitorous soldiers no doubt under your control. I'm a man of progress, not mindless slaughter and subjugation!" Lucius said, clearly taking even the suggestion of such a thing as an insult. Only an idiot would follow along with that.

"This talk is over. Touch me again and I'll kill you." Lucius said as he brushed himself off, then stepped off the building backwards. He knew this chick was hostile, might as well get some distance and figure things out before all hell broke loose. Plus, it would give Punch Things Till They Die Man time to come and maybe occupy her.

"Yes, because your revolution is guaranteed to work." She noted to herself, shrugging as Lucius denied her offer. "A word of advice Lucius, don't go around making threats you can't deliver upon." She added, as atlas rose from the building he had managed to fly himself into. That gave him enough time to fly at the moment once again, though he avoided just charging at her as that did not seem like it would do anything against her. Appearing before the unknown villain, hands clenched into fists as he stared them down. "Villainous types these days are always so testy. Acting so high and mighty, until they're crushed under foot. You heroic types never really stray from the mold either." She made the first move, gripping onto his neck with a strength that seemed unreal even for him.

Despite how he kicked, something was happening. As if his strength were being sapped, rapidly fading as his limbs proved to be less than "I don't have time for you." With a casual motion he was tossed to the street, plummeting towards...well..the hard ground, colliding with a conveniently placed car as the metal bent under the force. Getting up after that wasn't something that Atlas could do, considering the whole broken bones business. "We'll meet again Lucius, but next time I'll be sure to make you regret not accepting my offer." And like that she was gone.

So, she just sorta ran off, according to Hector who had her on surveillance as Lucius free fell from the skyscraper. Odd, she had him cornered with his power nearly exhausted and his tech gone and she simply warns him and leaves? How dramatic of her.

Now i see why the heroes always win........ At least against people like that. He thought to himself as he broke his fall with a few energy ropes and simply swung to the ground below. He saw Mister Meathead had fell, likely due to that woman batting him away again. This actually worked out perfectly, despite the fact Lucius felt the woman literally served him the victory on a silver platter.

"Do forgive me for this Atlas, but we have some unfinished business that I'm not about to forget about because of whoever that was." Lucius said as he approached Atlas and grabbed a hold of him. The male was likely too weak to do anything, and if he somehow managed to Lucius would utilize his energy one last time to forcibly restrain the metahuman. After that, it was only a matter of firing up his teleporter, and they were gone.

Atlas would find himself in the underground facility known as the Sanctuary, in Lucius' personal lab inside a meta proof cell to be exact. The airwaves were controlled by Hector, so there would be no communication from the middle of nowhere in Belarus, underground, with signals locked down by an advanced AI. The clear cell sealed Atlas inside after Lucius walked outside it, looking at the male from safety. It likely wouldn't hold him for too long at full power, but Atlas was not at full power.

"I don't think we had a formal introduction, my name is Lucius Alba, how about yours?" Lucius said, literally reaching through the glass which lit up a techno blue around where Lucius stuck his arm. Red could do that, but Atlas wasn't getting passed the barrier anytime soon. Regardless, Lucius was extending his hand for a shake.

Atlas strangely found himself unable to move, though the intense pain wasn't exactly helping in that department. Likely he had a few broken bones, some in his legs and maybe even some damage in his spine. Maybe that explained why he couldn't feel the legs, but then again not like he had the time to think that over when a certain Lucius approached him, and did the very expected. He was aware that he was far too weak to do anything, and his body would need an impressive amount of time to do anything at all, if he didn't die beforehand. Honestly he had no idea the full extent of his full damage, but he did know that he was being teleported to somewhere else entirely. It looked like some kind of cell, not like he could really grasp what the cell was exactly, though he knew in this state he couldn’t break out even if he wanted to.  

Now that he was stuck in this situation, a little healing would have been awesome, but not as if he could do that himself, and well....the only one he knew that could do that was likely far away. Maybe he was on Belarus, or somewhere else, knowing Lucius being one of those evil genius types anyway. "I know who you are, and what you are." He said not bothering to offer a name, glaring at Lucius. The disdain was palpable if nothing else. "Let me save you some time, I have nothing to say to you. So go off somewhere else and wait for me to die so you can dissect me or whatever it is you want to do." He then said turning his attention to the wall rather than look at him.

Oh bother, tough guy even when he's bleeding out. Not a very smart decision, if his priority was not dying anyway. Lucius was honestly tempted to do just that and simply walk away, but then again Atlas was more a use to him alive then he was dead. There wasn't much Lucius didn't know about the metagene at this point, 'dissecting' likely wouldn't get him anywhere. He withdrew his hand with a small chuckle to himself, wondering how to go about this.

"Brave words. Honestly i might have considered doing what you say if it wasn't hugely dishonest. We both know you have no intention of dying here, so level with me." Lucius said, pulling up a chair from a nearby desk before situating it in front of the cell. He sat with a small sigh, then looked to his.....prisoner?

"Before we get to the obvious questions, the why's and who's and all that, i think we should get to know each other a little. After all, you should know what your enemies are about before sending building crushing shockwaves at them." He continued, pouring himself a drink, amped up as much as his scientific ability would allow. Even that was gone rather quickly though. He took a sip and shook a shiver from his spine, before looking back at Atlas.

"You have a family Atlas? Friends? I honestly doubt it considering the eye in the sky you kept reporting back to. You poor poor thing....... You see, i know a thing or too about lab rats, and that's what i see in front of me. Do you deny it?" Lucius said, clearly starting one of his mind games, but it truly was more out of curiosity then anything.

"We both? Wow, now you're a telepath too?" He said with a roll of his eyes, making it obvious he was being wholly sarcastic with that statement, grimacing as he felt a small amount of pain shoot through him. All he needed right now was some precious UV light to get things back into working order, however he didn't expect that he would get any here. Being too weak to really break out made healing himself even more difficult. If only he could just heal on his own, that would have been pretty great but genetics just did not give him that card. The light above him, while offering some manner of illumination weren't helping in any other way. Part of him wondered if he could forcibly take the energy in, but that sounded like too much work, pretty painful as well. It didn't sound like something that he would be capable of doing, but maybe he could try that.

Lucius was continuing to talk, but he was only vaguely paying attention to what he was saying anyway. Mostly words, nothing that he really cared about save for the bit about him being a lab rat. That was something Damian was rather sure he wasn't, considering he had been assured that wasn't the case for years. He was important, irreplaceable and something told him he would be rescued. "Yes I do deny it. I don't know what gives you that idea, but I'm no lab rat." He responded, visibly annoyed and slightly shaken by that, though even he didn't know why that was the case.

"Well, i just figured most people don't intend on dying pathetically in a cell. So, yes, both, unless you do wish to die." Lucius said in retort to the comment that the male made. He clearly said it just to retaliate sarcastically. That was like someone scolding a person who pulled them away from an incoming car because they assumed that someone didn't want to die. He was grasping at things to disagree with for the sake of disagreeing.

"What makes me think that is i have never seen a natural, none enhanced metahuman with your level of power. Contrary to what many believe metahumans aren't inherently weapons, but you, you clearly are. You're engineered, there is no other explanation. So, yes, you're a pet, a lab rat, a toy. Everything special about you came from someone else using their own gifts...." Lucius said. It was all quite casual really, he didn't fluctuate much in his tone, as if he were explaining fact. He drank deeply this time, finishing off the glass and setting it aside. It felt quite nice after such an ordeal.

"But i think we can do something about that, Atlas. All you have to do is have an open mind. But, if you are indeed already their toy, there might not be much help for you." Lucius finished, waiting now for Atlas to ask what he meant, or at least somehow push the conversation along beyond denying everything with poorly executed sarcasm and spite.

Disagreeing with someone you didn't like was pretty easy and he could keep doing it, at least until the whole dying thing happened. "So let me get this straight. You've never seen a metahuman this powerful, so I must be made in a lab? Sorry to say, but that logic has its fair share of holes in it." He responded and in a sense that was the case, considering there could be some strong metahumans around that were as strong as him or even more so. Something about what he was saying practically stank of him trying to tear him down, take anything he had and make it insignificant. If his assumption about this person was even half right, then he was likely working for some angle. Their tone didn't change much, but then again he was running of assumptions, so he may have been wrong. However, for the moment he was sure being wrong wasn't the case.

"And what would you do? I'm just dying to hear it." He asked, sarcasm still obvious.

"Not when you have created your fair share of lab rats. Come on, your combination of abilities doesn't just show up naturally in any old metagene. And this is ignoring the transmissions my AI picked up between you and your overseer. They are clearly your boss, and you are clearly the product of a scientist cherry picking." Lucius said. He really didn't have to make his case, because he knew it was true. Powers tended to take a general theme when they showed up naturally. Data was a good example. Lucius and Atlas, they had powers chosen for the purpose of advantage in combat, and solely for that. All engineered metahumans were that way, unless the engineer wanted to make it seem like the lab rat was natural.

"I'm already doing it. I have been doing it since we met. Those ideals of yours are so strong, stupidly so, similar to the relationship between your body and mind...... Tell me, what did they tell you i did that was so wrong? Maybe they said i had a hand in peoples death so i could achieve some self proclaimed goal of the greater good? Sounds quite familiar don't you think? You know how many people you have likely killed in your little bouts with your rogues gallery? Even if you haven't, which i highly doubt considering you recklessly attacked that woman while on top of a public scyscraper, many of your type have." Lucius said, still sitting in his chair looking almost bored.

"You people are worse then me. You get people killed while trying to punch a problem to death without looking at it's roots. I potentially get people killed while getting things that matter done. It's all for some ego trip, all so you can put the villain away and be the hero. Even if rape and murder and war still happen just as much. Maybe you should wake up and see the world isn't getting any better because of what you do."