Liberation

‘Crap!’ Eric thought as he took what seemed to be his millionth break, leaning against the passageway’s stone wall. ‘Hope I find an Angeli on the way to the Judge; I’m beat!’ Although Santana had successfully put the female Ut Puri agent’s focus on himself, it wasn’t exactly an easy task for an injured Eric to traverse the Alexandrian catacombs by himself, especially when he had used a large amount of ki to help Santana fend off the mass of Ut Puri agents.

“Psst!”

‘The hell was that?’ Eric thought, forcing himself into a position of self defense as he tried to discern the barely audible hiss. ‘Note to self: tell the Judge that we need better lighting down here.’ Indeed, now that he was in perhaps the deepest of the church itself, the lighting had been dim at best. No normal person would have been able to see without some kind of aid, and even Eric was struggling to see ahead of him.

“Psst!”

This time, Eric was able to tell the direction in which the hiss had come from, so with a grunt of pain, he moved as quick as he could towards the source of the noise. The hissing continued, only getting louder as he made his way further into the catacombs, until finally, he emerged in a slightly better lit tunnel. This one he knew quite well, as this tunnel was where most of the actual holding cells were located.

“Psst!”

This time, the hiss, which sounded more like an angered rat, was abruptly stopped by the sound of a stomp, followed by the gruesome sound of shattering bones and flesh being ripped. “I can’t believe this crap,” a male voice said, sounding like their mouth was filled with something. “Reduced to eating rats raw just to survive.”

“Identify yourself!” Eric yelled, subtly manipulating the little amount of ki he had left, just in case he had to defend himself. “Whoever’s making that noise better come clean right now! I really don’t want to have to make anyone a pancake on the ground.” To Eric’s surprise, what followed next was an eruption of raucous laughter, and it surprisingly came from the cell to his immediate right. That surprise turned into slight mirth as he quickly realized who the laughter belonged to.

“So you’re the one who managed to escape, huh?” a male voice asked, before the owner of said voice made his way to the bars that denied him his freedom. The man looked to be in his early twenties, with light brown eyes and a nearly bald head except for a very ancient Egyptian looking ponytailed topknot, easily standing over Eric at nearly seven feet. “Not bad kiddo.”

Eric’s mood only dampened as he glared at the man with narrowed eyes. “Not bad my a*s Ricardo,” Eric said, refusing to lighten up his glare at the man. “Look at me man!”

Ricardo scoffed as he gave Eric a look over, noticing the wounds and ample amount of gauze Eric was sporting. “You’ll get used to looking like a walking mummy; comes with the job.” Eric’s eyes widened at the non-chalant way Ricardo referred to the wounds that he had received in trying to escape Jynx’s raid, but the slightly older Illuminati member didn’t seem to care much. “Keys are over there,” Ricardo said, pointing to the wall on the other side of the room. “I would like to stretch my legs sometime soon.”

“I should keep you locked up,” Eric mumbled to himself as he went for the set of keys. He and Ricardo didn’t have the best of relationships, a major part of that due to Ricardo being the type of person to lord over their successes to people. Ricardo was something of a braggart; the only reason he could get away with his attitude as much as he did was simply because of his ranking as an Avis Lieutenant. “Are you the only one in that cell Lt?”

“The only conscious one,” Ricardo said with a shrug, watching Eric closely as he made his way back over to unlock the cell. “Everyone else in here were dumped like sacks of potatoes during the raid. Besides myself, only Judge Magister Siobhan and a few of the other lt’s and commanders came here conscious.”

“Crap,” Eric said, struggling with the lock for a few seconds due to its rust. “That means no healer for me.”

“Actually,” Ricardo said as Eric finally popped the door open, taking a few seconds to stretch his limbs. “I saw Cassandra when she was dragged down here. She looked to be alright, given the circumstances. I couldn’t tell you if she is now, but it’s a shot.”

Eric pumped his fist, celebrating what he saw as a minor victory. “That the focus then,” he said as he threw the set of keys at Ricardo, suddenly feeling revitalized from the thought of a conscious healer in the catacombs, captured or not. “Help me get everyone else free while I find the Judge Magister and Cassandra.”

Ricardo gave Eric a questioning look as he spun the keys around on his finger. “Who died and made you king? Last time I checked, I outrank you by quite a few levels.”

“As far as I’m concerned rank doesn’t mean squat right now,” Eric said, turning his back on Ricardo as a small smile came to his face. “Santana and I came here on direct orders from Exemplar Saraya to free you guys. Besides, how can you talk about rank when you got captured, not me?”

 “Ooh,” Ricardo said in wonder as a lecherous grin came to his face. “The new Lamia Exemplar? Heard she’s freaking hot.”

“She is,” Eric said, fully agreeing with at least that comment. “Now can you get to freeing everyone? Santana is doing what he can to buy us some time.”

“Gotcha,” Ricardo said with a nod before dashing off to complete his task. Eric watched him leave before getting to his own task. He really needed an Angeli healer; he just hoped that he was the only one in that bad of shape.

____________________________________________

'This chick is fast!' Santana thought as he steadily backpedaled away from his chosen opponent, dodging a ferocious flurry of jabs and palm thrusts in the process. The Ut Puri female had not taken Santana's distraction kindly, immediately rushing at him with skilled hits that would have already crippled a lesser person. Though her hits were coming at a fast, erratic pace, Santana noticed that every one of them were expertly aimed at critical points. She was trying to break him down before he got a chance to swing; only his heightened endurance saved him from her wrath. 'And good.'

"Stop jumping around and take this beating like a man!" the chick yelled, obviously frustrated that she had yet to lay a finger on the elusive Felis.

"I'll pass," Santana said with a wink before fizzling from sight. This maneuver put the female on edge; all Sovrumano were dangerous in close quarters combat, but the Felis were even more so, due to the fact that they could literally disappear from sight, only to attack you from a completely different angle. Santana proved that point as fact a few seconds later, crushing the female with a solid right hook to the jaw in his invisible state. "Even I can sense the amount of ki you have loaded into your strikes."

The female spit a glob of blood out before jumping back from where she thought Santana was before bringing up her guard. "So they do teach you something useful in these catacombs after all." She then heard the light footfalls of Santana, who had decided to use his invisibility to the fullest, and ran towards the sound with a leading palm, intent on ending the fight before Santana could do anything else. However, she had forgotten about the Felis' other ability, one that she was painfully reminded of when Santana suddenly reappeared a few feet in front of her, even as another Santana connected with a knee lift to her gut. The original Santana let a victorious smirk come to his face at his success before jumping in the air to deliver a wicked right cross to the female's face, sending the woman flying into the adjacent wall.

"Wow," the original Santana said, still with the smirk. "You look like you're having some problems."

The second Santana nodded his head in agreement. "It couldn't be the numbers game; Ut Puri agents have that one in the pocket." Both Santana's shared a laugh at that comment, one that didn't please the female in the slightest.

"You're a wily fellow, aren't you?" she asked as she slowly got to her feet, wincing at the pain in her back from her collision with the stone wall. "Anyone ever tell you that you talk too much?"

"Mi madre," the original Santana answered with amusement in his voice. "But then again, when your kids have the ability to spam multiple versions of themselves it gets a little hectic in the home." He tilted his head to the right to signal his next move to his clone, before the two split apart, dashing at the female from opposite angles. "Let's get wild!"

'Gotcha!' the female thought as a hidden, calculating grin graced her face. Just before the two versions of Santana got within striking reach, she suddenly spun, grabbing both their wrists before hurling the two away from her. She didn't stop there; as soon as the doppelganger hit the adjacent wall, she dashed forward in a dazzling display of speed, before letting loose with a barrage of measured strikes to the cheat, ending with a stunning uppercut which was more than enough to dispel it. "You left yourself open for that little kitty," she said with a flip of her hair. "And for that, you're about to pay the ultimate price."

The original Santana gave her a disbelieving smirk. "You talk like you just won  the lottery," he said as he cracked his neck. "What did you do? Vencer una copia? That wasn't beating me; that clone only had about thirty percent of my ki powering him." As soon as the words left his mouth, however, Santana immediately dropped to one knee, gasping for breath as if he had just finished running a marathon. 'The hell?' he wondered as he glared at the female, knowing in his gut that whatever had just happened, she was responsible.

The female just gave Santana a sick looking grin as she slowly sauntered over to him, her eyes glowing menacingly as she approached. "Is it kicking in now?" she asked as she kneeled behind him, cradling his head like one would an infant. "Do you feel the essence of the mamba?"

'F**k!' Santana swore, his face displaying the emotions that were going through his mind even as his eyelids started to droop. "Anguis," he said with a raspy sounding voice.

The female chuckled as she rubbed her cheek against Santana's, feeling a lot more secure in the action due to his incapacitated state. "Yes my fellow Divino; I am Anguis." She sighed as she pulled Santana's head closer into her chest. "Just one touch. One touch, and my foes are fated to experience the bliss that is true death."

Even in his encumbered state, Santana found the strength to laugh. "You'll never get away from here alive, you know that right?"

The female balked at the claim as she kissed him on the top of the head. "I already have," she said with an air of confidence. "My venom is already running through your bloodstream; you have maybe five minutes before you fall asleep for the final time."

Santana sighed as he turned his head to look at the female. "If that is indeed true," he said. "Then can I at least know the name of my killer?"

"Ahh," the female said with a mischievous grin. "You wish to know who I am?" She made a show of picking at her nails as she toyed with the question for a few seconds. "I can at least give you that; you're not exactly a bad fighter, and you did manage to give me a few good hits." She started to walk off in the same direction that Eric had gone, obviously to take care of what she saw as another loose end. "Zafira; Ut Puri's Crimson Viper."

At that Santana let out a humored laugh. "So," he said as he made a show of getting to his feet, even as his breathing became more haggard. "I was facing off against that caliber of fighter all along?" Santana had heard a few things about Zafira, the woman that was made of equal amounts of sadism, beauty, and skill. She had a few bodies to her name, just nowhere near as many as Draven himself. "Then I have only one thing to say to you."

"And that is?" Zafira asked, turning towards him with a questioning look.

"Die!" Santana yelled as he ran towards her with a renewed vigor, in the same motion pulling, of all things, a grenade from his pants pocket. He pulled the pin with his teeth as soon as he was within striking range, allowing the grenade to go off in a fiery explosion that rocked the entire room. As the inferno raged on, a third Santana fizzled into view, this one truly being the original as he stared at his work. "That should do it."

A slow, mocking clap to his left shook him from his thoughts. "You almost had me there," Zafira said as she stopped her clapping, before leveling the Felis with an angered glare. "You actually tried to kill me in such a gruesome fashion. How dare you!"

Santana scoffed as he turned his attention completely on her. "For the record chica, you did just try to kill me with your poisons. You really think I didn't know what kind of Sovrumano you were? You pretty much gave it away with all that ki you were charging your hands with." Even still, Santana did give her a curt nod of respect. The ki that Zafira was using was barely detectable; if it hadn't been for the training he did get during his travel to Rhodes, the fight might have had a different outcome.

Zafira sighed as he readied herself for another round. "Looks like we're back to square one then." She then assumed a wide offensive stance as she flipped her hair to the side. "Shall we dance once more kitty?"

"Sure," Santana said with a grin as he assumed his own stance. "And for the record, stop calling me a kitty; I'm a whole lot stronger than a newborn cat."

"You have to beat me to get that kind of respect!" Zafira yelled as she began her charge, one that was mirrored by Santana as their personal battle raged on.

_________________________________________

 

Nestor leaned back in the beach chair as he leisurely blew smoke out of his nose and mouth, fully aware of the mixed looks of shock, anger, and general displeasure on the faces of the other men. "And that's what's going on here," he said, finishing up a lengthy conversation with the brothers Edge and Jericho. "They want to conquer Rhodes in their first step to reclaiming the dominance they once enjoyed. There have been a couple of skirmishes between Ut Puri's Corps and the few Sovrumano here who have the heart to contend against them, but in the end, they too have met the face of death in Draven the Manslayer."

After a few moments of thought, Jericho was the first one to speak. "You know Nestor," he began, carefully organizing his thoughts lest he offend the 'Protector of Rhodes', "I'm actually amazed that you stood toe to toe with Julian. I'll be the first to admit it; the thought of fighting Julian Draven scares the hell out of me. That dude is on a whole other level, both in strength and mentality."

Jasper balked at that. "Julian's strength doesn't scare me; it's the fact that he's batshit crazy that makes me leery of him."

"Well I'm sure you aren't, Mr. Nyce," Jericho said with a roll of his eyes. "I swear to God you Draco are broken as sin. You guys get to control all the elements! Fire, wind, earth, water, and lightning? Your spit makes a flamethrower look like a bic."

Raven just grinned at Jericho's accusation. "Indeed," he said. "But in the same respect, it takes a long time to be able to control all five of the elements consciously. That isn't even giving respect to how Jazz and myself accomplish the feat." Raven then raised an eyebrow at the noticeably swaying Jericho, who had been giggling like a buffoon the entire time he had been speaking. "Give me that rookie!" he said with a laugh, snatching a massive joint that was being passed around between the four men out of Jericho's hand.

'For the purposes of conversation', Jasper and Nestor had decided to roll what they had called a 'super massive black blunt', which was essentially a joint the size and thickness of a baseball bat. Even Jericho, who normally didn't indulge in smoking pot, jumped at the chance to hit that particular joint, marveled at its' size, as well as the sheer quantity of marijuana required for rolling such a joint. Needless to say, the 'rookie' was stoned out of his mind.

"Hey!" Jericho yelled, trying to take the joint from Raven's clutches in a futile attempt. "Give it back!"

"No," Raven said, easily holding the joint out of Jericho's reach even as he took a few pulls, essentially stiff-arming the Canis in a manner that was humorous to the other two Sovrumano, who were taking their own shots at Jericho.

"You're worse than a cat on cat nip!" Jasper said with a grin. "I've seen actual dogs handle herb better than you Irvine!"

"He's young," Nestor said as he shook his head, laughing silently at the stoned mess that was named Jericho Irvine. "Give him time."

"Time?" Jasper asked. "Ha! Jericho's about to be out for the count in the next five minutes."

"And hungrier than all three of the kids once he wakes up," Raven said as he passed the joint to Nestor. "Think he'll worth half a damn tomorrow?"

"He isn't that weak," Jasper said with a nonchalant wave. "He's still a Sovrumano; he might be a rookie to us when it comes to smoking, but he'll still out-smoke any normal man." Jasper sighed in contentment as Nestor held up his hand for a thumbs up, agreeing with Jasper's truthful comment. "The advantages to being what we are right?"

"I'm sure that might be one of the reason's Ut Puri doesn't like us," Nestor said before letting a loud cough rip out of his mouth. "Cannabis Sativa is the plant of enlightenment, and most of their members can't smoke nearly as much as we can. I know I'd be mad if the Scions told me that they're taking away my ability to fully indulge."

The four Sovrumano shared a laugh at that, before Raven's face twisted up into a more serious look. "We jest," he said with a look out into the sea, staring at the shores of Rhodes as the sun was starting to rise in the east, giving the island a glowing beauty in the dawn's light. "But this is serious. Nestor, I know that the safety of Rhodes is important to you, but Soulberaker's acquisition is that much more in the scope of things. You're it's guardian; can you take us to where it is?"

"I can tell you," Nestor said, resuming a much more serious posture the second Soulbreaker was brought up. "But even if I told you right where it was, there's no way you or Jasper could get to it alone. I would have to literally open the way for you two; I have it sealed behind ten feet of pure adamantium from all sides. Even your combined power wouldn't be enough to break through the seal."

"Simia," Jasper said, appreciation and respect clear in his tone. "You have to be exceptionally strong just to be able to create adamantium, either from metallic combination or purely from your own ki." Jasper chuckled before letting out an appreciative whistle. "Ten feet, from all sides? That's amazing."

Raven and Jericho suddenly shared a knowing look. Jasper, although being one to show respect, never truly lauded anyone for their skill...unless he already had a certain plan in his mind. "Jazz," Raven said warningly, willing to bet his seven figure bank account on what he just knew was on Jasper's mind.

Apparently, Jasper either didn't catch the hint, or he just flat out didn't care, as his very next action was to turn towards Nestor with a challenging look. "I got to fight you," Jasper said with a dead serious look. "Not to the death obviously, but you sound hella strong."

"Jazz," Raven said in a pleading tone. 'In a way, I see why Victoria didn't want Jazz to come with me,' he thought as he tried to reason with his brother. "We're still in the middle of a mission. You can come back by yourself after this is all over with."

Nestor, however, laughed at the challenge, himself always wanting a chance to test his mettle against a Draco.  "Actually, that doesn't sound like a bad idea," Nestor said, to the complete shock of Raven and Jericho. "And I have a better one, so that you my dear Exemplar won't have to worry quite as much about your family."

Now that caught Raven's interest. "Go on," Raven said, leaning back as he took the half finished super-joint for himself.

"Your sons," Nestor said with a faraway look out into the sea. "They're well trained; exceptionally strong for their age."

"Duh," Jasper said with a proud grin. "They were trained by the Rave Master and the Nycest, ever. They have no choice but to be; it's that Edge blood in em'."

Nestor chuckled a bit as he and Raven met eyes. "You're not following me all the way," Nestor said. "You're not actually an Illuminati operative, so you're not around as many trained Sovrumano as your brother here." Nestor closed his eyes as he explained where he was coming from. "The tallest boy, the one with the long hair; that's your son isn't it Raven?"

"Yeah," Raven said, pressing his fingers to his temples as he felt a phantom headache coming on just from the mention of his eldest son. "That's Roman; a good kid, but a handful all the same. Knows way too much for his age, but that I have to blame on Saraya. She has a way of corrupting men."

"You weren't com-!" Jasper started with a mischievous look on his face.

"Shut you mouth Jazz!" Raven yelled abruptly, really not wanting to talk about the incident that nearly got him, Roman, and Saraya nearly murdered by Sharon months ago.

"I'm not even going to ask," Jericho said with a slurred voice as he laid back in his chair.

"Anyway," Nestor said, a part of him wanting to inquire what was going on, feeling like the odd man out, but Raven's sudden change in attitude told him otherwise. "That kid, Roman, he's almost as strong as that Santana kid I mistakenly tried to fight before."

"Santana?" Jasper asked, recognizing the name. "Isn't that the kid who came to the Pharos in the first place Rave?"

"Yeah," Raven said with a confused look on his face at Nestor's comment. Yeah, he knew Roman was strong for his age, but to compare his strength to Santana, well...

"You look surprised?" Nestor said, correctly gauging Raven's thoughts from the look of confusion on his face. "Don't be; I was only talking about the level of strength he has, not his skill, although I wouldn't be surprised if he was just as skilled knowing that you have a direct hand in training him." Raven gave Nestor a nod, appreciating the praising comment for his son. "That's where my idea starts; have any of them actually seen two Sovrumano go at it 'for real'?" A quick shake of the head from both brothers answered that question. "Ok, well Jasper, you have your match. Meet me at the Acropolis of Lindos at three this afternoon. Not only will they get to experience the strength of us Sovrumano first hand, but I want to give them a lesson, if I may?"

Raven and Jasper shared a questioning glance, each having the same thoughts in their mind. They had been wanting to take the next step in their boys' training for a while now, but never got the opportunity due to Raven's busy schedule. It seemed that they were going to get that chance handed to them by Nestor; it sure wouldn't hurt to squeeze in a bit of training in a place where they could openly, and the kids would get a better understanding of their abilities just by watching a fight between two Sovrumano. "I like that idea," Raven said with a nod. "But did you say the Acropolis of Lindos? The same one that the Knights of St. John occupied?"

Nestor let a knowing smile come to his face as he stood up in preparation to leave. "The very same Raven. Think about it; why would someone fortify this little isle in the first place?" Nestor let out a laugh as he saw Raven put the pieces together. "I see you follow me now; I'll be waiting for you there."

Jericho sat up, noticing that Nestor was preparing to leave. "How did you get out here anyway man?" Jericho asked, having not seen any kind of boat or anything for Nestor to get out to his yacht. "Need a ride back to shore?"

To answer that, Nestor reached into a small sack that was hanging off his left hip, before tossing what looked to be gold dust into the air. With a brief flash of his eyes and some subtle ki manipulation, the gold dust molded itself into an extremely thin disk that floated in the air, almost three feet in diameter. "I'll manage," Nestor said with a wave as he hopped on his chosen mode of transport. "And Jazz, I want to see why they call you the Nycest, ever when you fight me. Understand?"

Jasper let out a humored chuckle as he waved at Nestor. "Sure," he said with a grin. "You better pack your lunch though."

Nestor gave Jasper a confused look from the expression. "I don't even think I want to ask why," Nestor said with a grin before flying off on the disk, speeding through the air at such a speed that the surface of the water crested in his wake.

____________________________________________

 

'I know why,' a hidden Taji thought, who had just woken up due to the men's loud banter. Unlike Nestor, he actually knew why his dad was called the Nycest, ever. 'Cause if you don't,' he thought as he watched Nestor disappear into the distance. 'That's yo' a*s, Mr. Postman!'

_____________________________________________

A now fully healed Eric sat up from the bench he was sitting on, rolling his shoulders before letting loose a few punches in front of him. Sure enough, he had easily found the Angeli healer Cassandra, trapped in one of the more durable cells in the prison catacombs. After freeing her from her chain restraints (and getting thoroughly shocked in the process), Cassandra, an olive skinned beauty that stood only to his neck despite being old enough to be his mother, had immediately taken to healing his of his wounds. She was highly skilled in what she did, easily patching him up in a matter of moments.

"Thank you Cassie!" Eric said in elation before giving her a hug out of gratitude. "You're the best!"

Cassandra smirked before playfully shoving Eric by the head. "Not be a long shot Vadilisi," she said, calling him by his last name due to herself outranking him, holding the rank of Captain. "I'm just glad you actually escaped; had you not I don't know what would have happened." She gave off a happy look, but inwardly she knew that Eric had inadvertently saved her from the fate Siobhan had gone through. The only reason she herself hadn't been subjected to the same fate was due to the Ut Puri guards being called away to take care of Eric and Santana running loose. 'Oh someone's about to have hell to pay.'

"Hey yo!" Ricardo yelled in a sing-song like tone, emerging from one of the other passageways in the prison complex. He was being followed by at least a hundred more Illuminati members, every one in varying degrees of health. "Heyyy yo, Sovrumano free, now we gonna fight on!"

Cassandra and Eric rolled their eyes at the singing of Ricardo, but appreciated the fact that he had indeed done what was asked of him. "Stop acting retarded," Eric said, swiftly giving the lieutenant a swift, yet harmless, smack to the back of his head. "You find where the Judge Magister is being held?"

"That way," Cassandra answered, pointing to the direction in which she heard the Judge's terrified screams. Before Eric or the others had a chance to take even a step, she stopped them with a wave of her hand. "Eric, since you are under orders from Exemplar Saraya herself, you can come with me. Everyone else, you go and liberate our church!"

Just by the way she had said it, the mass of Illuminati agents knew that there was a definite reason Cassandra had explicitly ordered the group away from where their judge was being held, but not one person in that contingent outranked her, so they dispersed with a wave of the captain's hand. Ricardo, however, stayed put, leveling Cassandra with a stern look. "What's wrong Cassie?" he asked. "You gave an order that Siobhan herself could have. Why not let the church as a whole be there to free her?"

"Trust me," Cassandra said, turning away with Eric in tow. "The Judge Magister isn't going to want a lot of people to see her like this."

"So what?" Ricardo asked, stubbornly pressing the issue. "Who hasn't been roughed up by Ut Puri before? What's a couple of scrapes and scratches?"

Cassandra suddenly stopped, turning around with a look of sadness that caused even the hardened lieutenant to take a step back. "If only it were just physical wounds," she said, leaving it at that before she and Eric continued on to liberate the leader of the Alexandrian Church.

Ricardo was stunned for a few moments as he understood Cassandra's between the lines message. 'The nerve of those b******s!' Ricardo yelled in his mind, before another realization came to his mind...that being the mood of the Judge Magister once she was freed. 'Well,' he said, shuddering at the thought of an angry Siobhan, even if that anger wasn't directed at him. 'I hope these jokers and that Justicar had their last rites read to them before leaving the Vatican, cause if not, only God can save them.'

Even that was a stretch: Siobhan wasn't called the Illuminati's Aurora just because it sounded good.