Sweetness On The Desert Air - [Lantos||R]

[Joshua D. MacArthur]

March 5th, 2009

The Great Salt Lake

He woke with a start to find his eyes had been covered by something dark and his hands unable to take it off due to the rope binding them, steadily he got to his feet to allow his head to shake the material off and finally found himself looking out onto a great expanse of nothing. The black cloth that had been covering his eyes now lay around his neck which still left him bound and unable to use his hands to protect himself "YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!" he screamed out into the sky knowing full well that he was being watched and recorded. Joshua began the task of wriggling his hands together in an effort to perhaps get one hand free, his head turned down away from the blaring sun overhead and so did not sense the approach of the individual behind him. It wasn't until he heard the unmistakable crunch of footsteps that he finally did turn around to see a figure approaching him from quite a distance away, and with narrowed eyes began to force his mind into the other person...to find his telepathy was being blocked. "Oh crap, i never thought he'd tap me to go against one of the projects so soon and what am i saying he's an evil bastad so of course he would. Okay what do we know? He can block my telepathy which means that's narrowed down to atleast being Dreadnaught class or project Helios..."

Joshua stopped talking outloud upon noticing that the man had indeed stopped one hundred feet away from him and that the ground had begun to shake, it didnt take a genius to know that the guy was powering up for an attack but he needed to know what kind first. And so with a sound very much like a sonic boom a huge beam of energy was directed at his position, the salted ground beneath the beam broke apart creating huge plumes of dust rising into the air. "Shit!" he said as he threw up the strongest shield he could in so little time and gritted his teeth as the beam came into contact with his shield. Joshua now knew that he was battling against Helios as his feet braced himself yet were still forced bacwards slowly, the beam ended suddenly and he found himself under a barrage of punches aimed at him. Quickly he ducked and dodged the punches as best he could finding any opening to kick his attacker away from him, a well placed foot to Helios' head sent the man stumbling back a bit allowing Joshua to flare his power burning away the ropes.

With free hands he rubbed some life into his wrists and prepared for another salvo from the man in front of him, in an instant Helios was in front of Joshua and fired another beam point blank into the telekinetics gut. The shield that had remained in place took the brunt of the damage and still caused Joshua to fly back into the ground hitting it hard twenty five feet away. His hands clenched the fabric over his stomach as his lungs coughed up blood "Gotta stay alert or i'm fucked, get up damnit get up!" Quickly he surged to his feet and threw a wall of telekinetic energy at the oncoming beam causing a massive explosion that momentarily stopped the two combatants, once the smoke cleared Joshua lifted hs hands skywards causing the ground under him to break away in large chunks and begin to revolve around him. The salted dirt crumbled into fine particles and with the added help of his telekinesis became harsh streams of sand aimed at the quick Helios that would rend flesh and skin from bones.

[Lantos Harrison]

"Lantos woke with a start and rubbed his head. He wasn't sure what had happened. One minute he was sitting at the park bench reading a text book, now he seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. Lantos linked a few times, trying to gain complete consciousness. After a moment or two, he was able to fully realize he was not where he had been.

Lantos scanned the desert area, and then leaned back on his hands. He quickly noticed the difference in the ground around him that was very unlike normal dirt. It had a high amount of salt in it. He clearly was not in Texas anymore. Lantos pushed up off the ground. He needed to find a way back home, and fast. Eli could be in danger. He needed to find her, and then find Kuro. He'd worry about who put him out here later.

Lantos began heading forward, following one direction. If he didn't alter his path, surely he'd find some sort of civilization. At least, that's what he hoped for.
~~~

"It feels like it's been two hours. Where am I?" Lantos was now talking to himself, wandering aimlessly. He thought he was headed one direction, but had managed to loop around the area a few times. He stopped, and sat down to rest. He was getting thirsty, and put his hand to the ground. The ground was dry, but there was still water there. He focused on dragging the water molecules towards him, and forming them above ground. The sand formed a crystal like glass around the water. Lantos drank deeply from it, barely breathing.. He threw the cup he'd formed, and it shattered.

"Who would put me out here? What did I do?" Lantos stopped talking suddenly, hearing a commotion off in the distance. Lantos headed as fast as he could towards it. Commotion meant people, and people meant getting home. When he approached the scene he was shocked to find it wasn't what he was hoping for.

First he noticed the large beast that was being pelted by dirt particles, and looking over he saw a familiar face. Apparently, Joshua was some monster fighter. He'd only met the boy once before, and it had been on a horrible forest rendezvous. There was a some large beast attacking the two boys. Here, the same thing was happening.. Only, this time, Lantos had the chance to walk away. Of course, that wasn't in the boy's nature.

He quickly ran to Joshua's side, and made his presence known. "Look here. If your going to keep bringing giant monsters to me, we are not going to be friends anymore. I don't want to be some ghost buster!" Lantos grinned, and knelt to the ground, putting his hands down. He allowed for the salt to form two giant spears, and shot them from the ground towards the beast.

[/blockquote]

[Joshua D. MacArthur]

Helios quickly dodged both projectiles in a blur of movement that showed exactly just how fast he could move when he wanted to, once to the left and then the right his eyes never left the position of this newcomer. The man closed the distance between himself and Joshua letting loose a series of barrages that the telekinetic had trouble blocking, and then suddenly upon finding an opening punched the buy multiple times to then send him flying into Lantos. Far above the battlefield a MQ-9 Reaper silently recorded the fight for the researchers safely tucked away miles away, the data so far gathered was promising yet they new that there was more beneath the surface of what they had seen so far.

Joshua groaned in pain and silently cursed his Grandfather to thousands of years of torture if he ever got the chance to take the old man out, his chest hurt something fierce and from the sounds coming from under him Lantos was in some pain. He had been shocked at the sight of his friend enough to drop his guard allowing Helios to overwhelm him with physical moves and prevent him from creating a proper shield "Never thought i'd get you underneath me this way, but i got to say the view sure the hell is nice. Next time we have crazy kinky fight sex i say we pick a time when we're both not going to die." The sandy soil he had used as a whip had fallen to the ground with his break in concentration and yet without missing a beat, Joshua formed his "whips" again but this time concentrated on breaking up the ground all around them. His idea was to slow Helios' insane speed down enough with the uneven ground and hope Lantos got the idea quickly "Gotta give you a quick update before sunshine over there decided to be a right bastard and attacks us again. This is Helios, a project from my Grandfather's company and a power user obviously due to the fact he can absorb ambient cosmic energy into the cells of his body, transform it in an unknown manner, and release it as waves of energy that heat the air in their path enough to turn it into plasma." Joshua released his control over the whips and brought his powers together to create a strong shield surrounding them, their attacker on the outside weakening his shield with continuous beams of energy.

He had wanted them to get the chance to come up with a strong strategy for this battle with the goal of getting away safely for there was no way they could kill this thing as things were right now, the jade eyed boy could feel how weak he still was even with the cryo-healing sleep. Slowly he made his way back to Lantos while holding on desperately to his control of the shield "How the hell did you manage to find me? I'd assume my Grandfather would send me alone against Helios after the lengths he took to put me under with tranqs...lovely man huh?" he said with harsh irritation. "Okay this guy is the pinnacle of genetic manipulation to this date and walking perfection, this is his first real life battle from the last communique i received before getting knocked out two days ago. If that's still true then he'll only haveexperience fighting the AI holo-room thing they have up in Kansas and so wouldn't expect on the fly attacks, which is why you have to come up with the plan. Your powers are new to it and i'm at the disadvantage since i was already fighting it when you came here...so you have anything?"

[Lantos Harrison]

The two spikes missed their target, and Lantos was suddenly sent flying backwards. Joshua landed on top of him, and at his comments, Lantos pushed him off. "Not in your life sport. There will be no kinky fight sex." Lantos grinned for a minute, shaking his head, and getting up. Defeating this target was not going to be easy. The two had to be creative here, but Lantos was still having trouble thinking straight.

Lantos looked over as Joshua explained this creature to him. A project. Something created. This man was not someone born this way. Lantos was appalled by the thought, and made it quite clear. "Sorry to sound rude, but your grandfather is a sick man. Why would he make something like this? It's disgusting and wrong! And, not to mention, probably going to kill us..."

Lantos watched as Joshua ran forward again to fight. His whips forming and beating the ground. Lantos picked up on his plan, and followed suit. He put his hands on the ground, and parts of the earth began shooting up and down. Shifting places. Pillars shot from the ground, and large holes sunk in. The surface was becoming very uneven, as opposed to the salt plane it was.

As Joshua backed up, surrounding the two with a shield, Lantos stood up. "I didn't find you. Well, I did... It wasn't like I was just out here hanging out though. I remember being at a restaurant waiting for my girl. Next thing I know I am sitting in the middle of this desert. It's not quite what I had imagined the night being like. Someone must have attacked me though. That is all I can think.

Lantos looked over at Joshua. "On the fly attacks, huh? I think I can manage that." The boy smiled, and sat on the ground. He reached down and took his shoes and socks off, leaving his feet bare. Standing back up, he looked back at Joshua, Then he won't expect anything as stupid and crazy like this!" Lantos stepped forward, and held his right arm out. A large blade began to form down his arm. Lantos winced a little, but then regained his composure.

"Here goes nothing..." Lantos took off running,, leaving the safety of Joshua's shield. He began changing the ground that his feet was now touching. The surface moved up and down, and Lantos created a path that he could run on, changing the height of it rapidly to avoid getting shot by anything. Helios would hopefully be to baffled to come up with a plan. No AI would run crazily at the target with just a sword as a weapon. It was to insane.

[Joshua D. MacArthur]

Joshua stood opened mouthed at the sheer audacity of Lantos rushing Helios and with a quickness shook off the shocked expression to break his hold over the shield and run after the other boy. If Lantos was going to run straight at the imposing figure facing against them, then he'd run in a diagonal path firing off telekinetic waves as he ran "Shit! The uneven ground makes it harder for me to move too, but i have no time to bitch about that...gotta keep us alive." And as they began their offensive against Helios, their opponent stood still with head cocked to the side at the sight of Lantos running at him like a crazed warrior. Within his battle driven mind the different scenarios carried on against AI combatants played out quickly with none fitting the scene before it, Helios took a step back in confusion over this new development and to Joshua that was something significant.

The revelry was short lived as a wide smirk slid over Helios' lips and his right armed gathered ambient cosmic energy from the are to a single focal point, then with sudden force thrust his hand upwards and let loose a terifying beam of energy. It continued onward and upward visible for miles upon miles around them until it arced back down to Earth gaining speed as it went and for Joshua it became clear just what would happen. With the devil at his heels he closed the distance across the desert landscape using his levitation and threw himself into Lantos letting a quickly placed shield take the full brunt of the attack. They had not expected Helios to be able to attack from above in such a manner and so there was a chance Lantos would have been utterly destroyed in the blast. "Fuck!" he managed to yell out feeling something shift in his shoulder that had no business shifting like it was doing and from the sharp hot poker sensation coming from his ribs there was a deffinite crack somewhere. Joshua slowly got to his knees and off of Lantos to come face to crotch with Helios and knew it was close to over unless by some miracle "You will stand down and come with me Joshua MacArthur, your Grandfather has ordered your termination at the facility in Montana. Cooperate not and i promise not to rip your friend's spinal cord from his still warm body, refuse i will not only do that but i will show him what cosmic energy can do at point blank range to his head."

Joshua knew there was no choice in the matter and sure enough the hand now wrapped around his throat hauling him a foot off the ground proved it, there would be no promises kept "Fuck your promises asshole!" His only usable arm pressed his hand against Helios' chest allowing his mind to easily force its way into the man's mind and place a mental block on all experience stored on fighting major battles. It was all he could think of at this point to give them more time and soon regretted it when Helios dropped him on his bad arm which in turn bruised his already cracked ribs. "You with me Lantos? Sorry i tackled you and i will give you a better apology later if you get us some distance between us and this sick bastard. It'll give us some time to do this right now that i blocked all his memories of any fighting experience he had."

[Joshua D. MacArthur]

Note: I really wanted this thread to be finished for the story to move on and so i shall do so with this post. I will not be god-modding here, so put down those pitchforks and Mike i hope you don't take offense.

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The psychic block had an immediate effect on Helios as the memories of all the battles he had been in were locked away for the remainder of Joshua's hold on them, his head looked towards the heavens as he felt that peice of him ripped away. Helios let out a chilling scream that sent fear into the telekinetic user's soul and prompted him to get over to Lantos' side quickly for what he could feel as the climax of this battle was about to be played out to whatever end. A foreboding silence descended upon the desert as the screams died out and all was still save for the random swirl of dust that whipped about their feet. Helios' eyes settled once more on Joshua and Lantos who stood close to eachother taking in the weariness of the power users before him, and not knowing how to proceed shifted into a defesnive position

Joshua's eyes widened at the display of uncertainty and signaled for Lantos to see what he was seeing, a glimmer of hope that they would indeed make it out of this fight with their lives. They would have to be swift and attack with all they had to incapacitate Helios, then and only then would they be able to flee for anything but that would mean their deaths. "If anything happens to me Lantos, do whatever you can to take my body away from here and not let them get their hands on it. I've done all i could to prevent them from being able to duplicate my powers, but it was only a matter of time before they figured out why all the experiments went...wrong when fused with my abilities. I...I want you to find Levi Storms and take me to him, tell him i tried and to move swiftly for the 'barbarians are at the gates'." His eyes of deepest jade allowed him a moment to remember that night and as quickly as it filled him, it was swept away. Joshua's pulled his powers into the palm of his right hand and pushed it into his injured shoulder, the forced setting of his shoulder pulled a cry of pain from his lips yet no more was given.

The young telekinetic shifted his weight to his right foot and pushed off against it as he rushed towards Helios' position, he gave himself into the fight and rose inches from the ground with his levitation gaining speed as he moved forward. Helios lashed out with a devastating right hook that Joshua ducked under and gave him leverage to flip over Helios' head to face the man's back, without hesitation he blasted the back with telekinetic energy sending the warrior twenty yards into the dirt. The man staggered to his feet and quickly had to defend against a flurry of Joshua's kicks and punches, his own physical attacks landing harshly against a flare up of the telekinetic's shields. Joshua could feel the cracks in his shielding after each successful hit was placed against the telekinetically reinforced defense, his left arm swept out and to his front as he pulled a large boulder with his powers into Helios' side. The impact reverberated in the air and was offset by another quick sound of energy being released, the moment the boulder hit the warrior's side a blast of cosmic energy was directed at Joshua hitting his shields point blank and sending Joshua into the closeby rockface.

As the dust settled and the sound of fighting came to an end, the unmoving body of Joshua MacArthur lay prone atop the dusty ground of the Great Salt Lake Desert and his combatant underneath the city bus sized boulder hopefully dead. Joshua's powers swirled around his body just an inch above his skin forming a protective cocoon for the body, it was the only sign that the telekinetic was indeed alive and fighting now for his life. A sudden burst of energy shattered the heavy silence that had descended, a portal had formed near Joshua's still form and out stepped Cronus who looked at the ravaged battlefield with a stoic expression. His indifferent look fell as it came to rest on Joshua and with swift movement picked up the boy bridal style in his arms, Cronus barely took notice of the other man who had obviously helped out the one in his arms and began to leave towards another formed portal. "For what aide you have given him i shall allow you to continue your existance, you have my word though that this one shall not meet anymore harm at the hands of his grandfather. You will take that portal next to you back to Texas and forget about him, you would not be able to help him anyways as the cocoon would sear through your flesh. My ability to bend all energy allows me to carry him and the pull in my chest prevents me from seeing harm to him or those he cares about, so rest easy that he shall be reunited with Levi Storms shortly. Good day Lantos Harrison, i fear you must now watch your back for some time." His deep timber of a voice cut off as he and his precious cargo stepped into the portal that lead to Levi's current position, with a snap the portal closed leaving Lantos alone in the still desert and the portal leading him home thrummed softly.