To storm the church

As the setting sun gave the waters of the Aegean a breathtaking panorama, the likes of which could be seen on the back of a tourist’s postal card, Raven found himself on the stern deck of Jericho’s yacht, lying down on a beach chair as he held his wife in his arms, who found his chest a much more comfortable spot to lay in than the actual chair. After his blow up earlier in the day, Jericho had been the one to step up to try and mend things, volunteering himself as a sort of bodyguard for the Edge women and children. That was all fine and good, as most Ut Puri agents would find themselves way out of their league in trying to contend with the Canis, but it also forced Raven to mend the situation with his wife sooner rather than later. After a long heart to heart, which both parties sorely needed, Raven had finally relinquished his stance, putting his trust in Jericho to take care of his family while he and Jasper focused on their mission.

“You know,” Raven said as he absent-mindedly ran his hand through Sharon’s long locks. “Sometimes you freak me out with your craziness.” Sharon just turned her head up, giving Raven a look that told him she wasn’t amused with that description. “Hold up baby, I wasn’t finished!” he said quickly as he held his hands up in a defensive posture. “I was going to say that it’s the wild and crazy in you that I love.”

Sharon responded with a light peck to the lips and a coy looking smile as she chuckled. “That’s what you better have meant, Ryu Senko.” She shifted her weight, now laying face to face on top of her husband as she crossed her arms over his chest to prop herself up. “You know, I didn’t like it earlier when you went all glowy eyed on me.” She balled in minor amusement. “Like that scares me anyway.”

“You were scared and you know it,” Raven said with a smirk of his own.

“As if,” Sharon said before kissing him again. “You couldn’t hurt me if you wanted to.”

Raven raised an eyebrow before flipping the two over in one swift movement, locking Sharon’s arms over her head with one hand. “You sure about that?”

Sharon just rolled her eyes in a mocking fashion before locking her legs around Raven’s waist. “I’m sure big boy,” she answered with a confident look in her eyes, matched by the lustful smile she now wore on her face. “I’m the only woman on this planet who can handle you.”

“Really?” Raven asked, his voice taking on a huskier tone as their faces slowly but surely inched closer to each other.

“Really really,” Sharon answered as she took the final initiative, lifting her head to capture Raven’s mouth in a far more heated kiss than before. The two lovers were interrupted, however, but the sound of two amused sounding cat calls. Recognizing the voices even in their sleep, the two adults halted their kiss to look up and glare at their ‘voyeurs’, the two being Roman and Taji, who seemed to enjoy what they were watching judging by Taji having his camera in front of his face in picture taking mode, whereas Roman was leaning on the metal railing as he munched on a bag of popcorn he had pilfered from Jericho’s onboard pantry. “Shouldn’t you two be below deck, gaming or something?”

“Nah,” Taji said as he took a picture of the two adults in their compromising position with a cheshire grin on his face. “This looks a lot more interesting.”

Raven sighed as he shook his head; those boys acted a little too much like he and Jasper had in their days of youth. “You two do realize that you’re interrupting an important conversation between us, right?”

“Please Dad,” Roman said, rolling his eyes and clearly not buying his father’s half baked excuse. “That didn’t look like any ‘conversation’ I’ve ever seen.” Roman accentuated his statement by making air quotations with his fingers, which had the effect of sending Taji and himself into raucous laughter, as well as thoroughly annoying the adults.

“Fine,” Raven said, reluctantly getting to his feet as he crossed his arms expectantly, in no small way annoyed that the two boys had successfully halted he and Sharon’s ‘alone time’. “What do you two want?” he asked, a little too roughly due to his annoyance. “You guys must want something to come actively seek me out on this ship.”

Roman and Taji exchanged an amused glance, which further proved Raven’s point, as well as giving the elder Draco Supremo a deep sense of foreboding. Before Raven had a chance to take back his statement, the two boys had hopped the railing, prostrating themselves in a humorous manner as they clasped their hands in mock prayer. “Can we please come with you guys tomorrow? Please?”

Raven smacked himself in the head as he gave Sharon a pointed glance. ‘And this is what I wanted to avoid.’ In all respects, Raven was mildly surprised that the two had waited this long to pop the question. The boys had put Raven and Jasper in an almost superhero light, so with this being the closest they had ever been to Raven or Jasper at ‘work’, he was actually this from them. “Not a chance.”

“C’mon Dad!” Roman yelled, lifting his head as he tried to do his best impression of anime style cute eyes. “We won’t get in the way, promise!”

“Yeah,” Taji said, even though he kept a small shred of his dignity by not attempting the same look as Roman. “We’ll stay out of the way, no problem!”

Raven opened his mouth to rebuke the boys again, but lo and behold, Roman’s ‘cute’ expression had actually worked on Sharon, who couldn’t help but to giggle at the heartwarming, if admittedly hilarious, scene. “C’mon Ray,” Sharon said, nudging Raven’s side as she covered her mouth to hide her smirk. “You can’t say no to a cute face like that.”

“So you’re against me on this one too?” Raven asked with a fallen look on his face. With the quick narrowing of Sharon’s eyes at him, Raven had no choice but to resign himself to his fate. “Fine,” Raven answered. “I guess it is that time anyway.” He took a few purposeful steps towards the two boys as he gave them a look over. “You boys, all three of you, have proven much more than capable in handling yourselves in a controlled environment. I personally know how skilled you and Quinton are Rome, and I’ve heard nothing but good things about your training Taji. A couple of Ut Puri thugs should be no match for you guys if we even have to do much fighting. Obviously Jazz and I are going to try and avoid that, but if it does happen I have faith in you guys.”

Roman and Taji wore matching looks of excitement as they jumped to their feet in an instant, giving each other a high five. “Sweet!” the two boys chimed triumphantly as they broke down into a 'victory' dance.

“But,” Raven said with a hint of annoyance in his tone, likely due to the, in his mind, ridiculous dancing of the boys. His eyebrows were twitching as he stared the boys down, successfully halting the two from their momentary celebration. “That doesn’t mean you two, or Quinton for that matter, should go looking for trouble. Understand?”

“Gotcha,” Taji said, a bit too quickly for Raven’s liking as he and Roman suddenly turned tail to run off to the lower deck of the yacht. “See?” he said to Roman, not realizing that with Raven’s impeccable hearing he was still within range of being heard. “Didn’t I tell you to trust the God?”

“Alright alright,” Roman said, also oblivious to himself being heard by Raven, who himself was fuming at realizing that he had been played. “I’ll pay up.” Roman sighed as he handed over a twenty to Taji, unseen by Raven. “I won’t doubt Uncle Jazz again.”

Sharon, however, saw the look on Raven’s face, and knew that her husband was suddenly irritated by something. “Problem babe?”

Raven sighed as he wiped his face. “Yeah,” he said with a tone of regret. “Looks like I’ve been played by my son, nephew, and brother.” At the confused look on Sharon’s face, Raven elaborated. “Apparently they had already asked Jazz, and they came to me just to get my stamp of approval.”

Sharon burst out laughing at that; that sounded just like the boys. Ironically, that also sounded like a teenage Raven and Jasper, which she remembered doing something along those same lines with their parents in the past. “Well husband,” she said, standing to her feet and positioning herself in front of Raven, wrapping her arms around his neck. “You can’t really say anything about the way they act, seeing as you and Jazz were the same way once upon a time.”

“I resent that,” Raven said with a grin before capturing her lips in another kiss, before cupping her bottom to hoist her up to his level. “Now,” he said with a lustful grin. “Where were we?” A playful shriek from Sharon was all that followed as the two fell back onto the chair with intentions of continuing just where they left off.

_____________________________________________________

Saraya almost had to laugh as she wiped off a stray stream of blood from her arm. The welcoming party that Jynx had sent to capture her was appalling in her eyes; she hadn’t even broken a sweat as she dealt with the troop of Ut Puri agents, dismissing them with brutal efficiency. The contingent of sixteen agents were all strewn across the stone floor, with some of them knocked unconscious while others were moaning in pain, slash marks and bruises all over their forms. 

‘Well,’ Saraya thought as she purposely drove her heel into the stomach of the closest agent. ‘They won’t be fighting anytime soon.’ She took another look at the carnage that she had wrought with a satisfied grin. ‘Or walking for that matter.’ She kneeled down to the agent she had just nearly impaled with her heel, putting a glowing red hand on his forehead to read his memory. After she had withdrawn the general layout of the church for herself, she stood up with a satisfied grin, her destination clear in her mind. She instantly darted off, moving through the maze of hallways with a speed that made her a blur to the human eye. 

With a practiced ease, she cut down several of the Ut Puri agents that made the mistake of standing in the Exemplar’s way. Her style of fighting was based on misdirection and deception, using her mental abilities to create illusions of sorts in the minds of her opponents. Most of the agents never saw her coming due to this way of fighting, and for those who did, they were overcome by her other method of fighting: that of an overwhelming physical rush. 

Her own physical strength was astounding as a Lamia, but that being mixed with both her own style, which was enhanced by tips from Raven and his own mastery of his personal Seiryu-ken style, was nothing short of debilitating for opponents. To watch the way she was currently dealing with the opposition thrown at her could be likened to a beautiful dance of death as she put down all who were in her way.

She fought through three whole floors, dismantling numerous Ut Puri agents before finally making it to a set of gold plated doors, embossed with varying precious gemstones as well as a superimposed silver pyramid which depicted the iconic Eye of Truth that was so well associated with the Illuminati. Under that was a smaller silver depiction of a bear, decked out in painted armor as it stood on two legs, roaring as it looked ready to charge into battle. 

‘Of course,’ Saraya thought as she stared at the superimposed bear for a moment, knowing this to be Siobhan’s personal office from the memories that she had gleaned from her earlier victims, as well as the more than obvious insignia of the Ursa on the door. ‘The b*****d thinks he can just waltz in here and take over, and use Siobhan’s room as his own personal throne.’ She tightened her fist with a deep growl as she placed her free hand on the door. “Time for a reality check m**********r!” she yelled as she brought the force of her ki to bear, using it to blast the door right off its hinges. As the smoke cleared, she mentally prepared herself for a showdown.

As she should; though Jynx was no Sovrumano, he didn’t hold the title of Justicar for nothing.

______________________________________________________

 "F**k!" Santana yelled as he dropped to one knee, taking a few deep, calming breaths to get his breathing back in check. It had not been as easy for Eric and himself to navigate through the Alexandrian church, partly due to their own power levels being significantly smaller than the Lamia Exemplar and partly due to Santana having to help support Eric's weight as the two made their way to the dungeon-esque catacombs, where the majority of the churches' warriors, as well as its leading Judge Magister were imprisoned. The only reason the two had been able to avoid capture themselves was due to their intimate knowledge of all the churches' passageways, as well as the secret passages that were built into the church for this very situation.

"Are you alright Santana?" Eric asked as he leaned against the wall, keeping a cautious eye out in the direction the two had just come from. The crimson haired warrior bashed his own head against the wall in frustration: he was prideful to say the very least, and the fact that it was his own injuries holding the two back from completing their objective irked his nerves. "We can't keep going on like this; you and I both know that."

Santana took a quick look around to orient himself, remembering as he did so the layout of the catacombs themselves. Although it was generally a massive dungeon, there was a large common area at its entrance, perfect for the plan that was coming to mind. "C'mon," Santana said, getting to his feet and resuming his spot of supporting Eric, even as he heard the footsteps of the quickly approaching Ut Puri agents that has been hot on their tail. "I have a plan. We're about to rectify this pendejo problem of ours."

Eric shot Santana a disbelieving look. "Santana," Eric said as the two took off into a half run, with Santana leading the way to the catacombs that were close by. "I know you're not exactly a slouch, but you can't handle those guys alone." Although Eric was correct in his statement about the Felis' skill, many a person would agree with his wariness; there were at least thirty agents on their tail, each of them specially trained to handle a conflict with a Sovrumano.

"I'll manage," Santana said, hope rising in his heart as he saw a light at the end of the passageway. "It's not like you're going to be much use to me. I'll go to the max with my clones; at least it'll be five on thirty instead of numero uno versus infinity."

As the two finally exited the passageway, Eric took a look at the large clearing they now stood in. "Maybe I can be of use," Eric said with a small grin of confidence. "But you're going to have to let me ride you for it to work."

Despite their current situation, Santana had the presence of mind to give Eric a rough shove away from him as he interpreted what Eric had said. "Puto!" Santana yelled, clearly frustrated. "I could care less what you do, but I don't swing that way."

"Not like that Mexico," Eric fired back, equally annoyed at Santana for even thinking that way. "Think m**********r; Avis right here." It took a few seconds, but the statement finally clicked, with Santana giving Eric a quick thumbs up as he nodded in understanding. "Only for about thirty seconds; this will be the best I can do. I'm still not exactly right at the moment."

Santana smirked as he bent down to allow Eric on his back. "If you're thinking about what I hope you are, then thirty seconds will be all I need."

"Good," Eric said with a nod before closing his eyes to focus on his ki. As he did so, Santana took a couple of steps back to give the Ut Puri agents access to the room. Since the tunnel that they had emerged from was the only access point to the catacombs, he relaxed a bit, knowing that at least for now, he wouldn't be blindsided.

Or so he thought.

"Hey!" a voice yelled from another passage to the Sovrumano's right side, with its owner, yet another Ut Puri agent emerged, followed by yet another ten man squad. "Looks like you two somehow eluded capture." The lead agent pulled twin pistols from his sides and spun them around on his fingers as a sick look came across his face. "No worries; there's still room in these cells for two more."

"Ha!" a female voice yelled, its owner emerging from the original passage, quickly being flanked by the group of agents that had originally been pursuing the two Sovrumano. "Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide scum." The female's own eyes flashed a bright brown for a moment as she took an offensive stance. Any last words?"

The two Illuminati warriors took a look around the room as the number of agents made a show of surrounding them, cutting off any possible routes of escape. Instead of panicking, however, they two steeled their resolve, schooling their features so that their mindset would be unreadable to the contending squads. "No words," Eric said, still with his eyes shut as he subtly manipulated his ki. "Just a question."

The female agent sucked her teeth at the response, but shrugged her shoulders, confident that this would be yet another easy capture for her. "Fine," she said. "I think we can at least give you that; I'll bite. What's your oh so important question?"

Eric took a calming breath even as the Ut Puri agents let their amusement be known. 'Just a few more seconds,' he thought, nearly finished with what he was doing. "How many g-forces does it take to crush a man?"

The female agent balked again at the seemingly meaningless question. "I don't think it's really going to matter much at this point, but please," she said with an air of haughty superiority. "Do tell."

Eric made a play of scratching his head in confusion as he answered the woman. "You know," he said as his eyes suddenly snapped open, glowing a fierce brown as a loud grating sound was suddenly heard. "I don't actually have the answer to that, because I'm not exactly affected by gravity. You however..." 

Eric let his statement hang in the air as he smiled, watching the fruits of his work come into play. Due to his Avis heritage, he could manipulate gravity itself, either in a field or through direct contact with an item, or in this case, a person. The whole reason he was now riding on Santana's back like a child was due to his own manipulation of a gravitational field that he currently has emcompassing the room; through his own contact with Santana, the Felis wasn't effected by it, whereas the Ut Puri agents were feeling the full brunt of his ki manipulation. "You all are affected by Newton's law," Eric proclaimed with a triumphant grin. "Santana, go!"

"On it!" Santana yelled, feeling his own body become lighter as Eric simultaneously reduced the pull of gravity on his body. He dashed off at an even greater speed, no longer affected by Eric's own weight as the Ut Puri agents struggled to mount a defense. Santana went to the male with the dual pistols first, whipping out a medium sized sword that had an inward bend; a kukri, from within his pant pocket before slicing at the man's wrists. In one fluid motion, Santana cleaved the man's hands off before hitting a jumping, spinning back kick to his face to finish him off.

"Move out of the room!" the female agent yelled, quickly recognizing the threat of the two Sovrumano working together, especially with Eric's abilities as an Avis. Her words feel on useless ears, as the human Ut Puri agents were unable to move, with most of them on their hands and knees as they tried to resist the pull of Eric's artificial gravity field. She could only watch helplessly as Santana made quick work of the human agents, running around a room in a circle as he sliced at the agents with deadly precision, with every slice being aimed to hit a vital point. Within seconds, Santana had completed his run, standing back in the middle of the room to square off against the female, who was the only person besides himself that was still on their feet.

"You're Sovrumano," Santana said with a critical look. "That's one of the only ways you could resist my friend's little trick."

The female let out a humored chuckle as her own eyes started to glow. "You called me," the female answered, noticing that the pull of Eric's field was quickly letting up. "I see your friend can't hold up his technique for long. I wonder why that is." She let a malevolent smile grace her face as she took a wide stance. "That was the best shot you had."

Santana took a breath as he cracked his knuckles, preparing himself for a real fight as he made up his mind. "Eric, go find Judge Magister."

"But what about her?" Eric asked as he hopped off Santana's back gingerly.

"I got the puta," Santana said with a confident smirk in the female's direction. "You just go and get our leader free."

The female let out a mocking laugh. "Who says I'm just going to let that happen?" Even as she said that, she shifted her stance, obviously to try and make a play to cut Eric off.

"I did," Santana said, quickly positioning himself in between Eric and the female agent. "Adios amigo!" he yelled, prompting Eric to make his way down one of the other connecting tunnels in the catacombs. Each of the other tunnels were interconnected throughout the catacombs, so it would be a matter of minutes before Eric actually found Siobhan. As expected, the female tried to cut Eric off, attempting to hop over Santana himself before being halted via Santana grabbing one of her ankles to toss her back. "You don't listen very well, do you?"

"I just do my duty," the female answered with a snide look as she prepared herself for a fight. "Shall we?" With matching smirks, the two Sovrumano jumped at each other, meeting in the middle of the floor with a mighty, thunderous clash that echoed throughout the room. With a practiced ease, the two combatants started to exchange skillful shots at a speed that the human eye would be hard pressed to match, each fighting for their own organization's creed in their struggle. 

The stage had been set; on two different fronts, the liberation of the Alexandrian church had begun.