Genesis Crisis: Resurgence IC

University of Academia
Luke Jaron

"My love life?" Luke asked back the question. "I, I had none." and answered short and in very much of whisper that was overshadowed by the moan from James, unless someone was listening attentively, it looked like his ears just turned red. He just stared at the window, waiting for the topic to change and sighed in relief as it did.

Luke had driving license and he wanted to offer James that he could take over the driving if it was tiring him too much; however, James showed stubbornness and he had done the most driving.

Luke was not so sure what to make out of his return to university. Without Mark, the university felt like strange place. Luke tightly closed his lips, if Mark had been hear, Mark would have teased him... No, Mark would have had surprise in his face, seeing his favorite Singer visiting his university...

The painful truth shattered such delightful thought in mere second... Mark was no longer in university. Mark was out there, like an wild beast and he had to be captured... like a beast.

Luke gave out short sigh, and his eyes wondered off to James and Rise who looked like they were comforting each other. Then he glanced at Lenka, who looked really tired.

Luke, however, kept his mouth shut though and followed Rise and James. He did not want to put himself and everyone in awkward moment due to another freudian slip. Sure, Lenka was beautiful, and he might have crush on her, an emotion he was not even sure of. However, at the moment, saving his friend was his priority, and he was not going to let unnecessary misunderstanding to be an obstacle.

Besides, there was nothing good on concentrating at an emotion that one cannot be sure of. It was waste of energy. 'And she could have a boyfriend you are not aware of! so get over with it.' thought Luke as they headed to the psychology department.

James had entered the room with knocking and then later, he came out with another female student. She was short, but she had a commanding posture. She had an aura of a senior student...

In any case, they were led to conference room and she had asked of them what bring them here... Luke  wanted to answer her, but he decided it was better for James or Rise to handle this moment.

University of Academia

Rise followed Lisa down the hall into the conference room - a simple but well-designed room. She dropped into one of the chairs and bit her lip.

"Well, we should probably give you some background fist."

She recounted the events of the previous day - the concert, the Redcape attack, Luke's involvement, the police arriving, and talking with Jax.

"So he asked us if we could track down the Redcape and get it to Kokonoe to study. He thinks she might be able to find a cure," Rise said, glancing at Luke. "Or, at least, give us some idea of what's going on."

Lisa was with them so far, but Rise wasn't sure if she would like what came next. Of all of them, Lisa had seem to taken their time in exile the hardest. Even Alex, with all his self-loathing, hadn't been so thoroughly broken in spirit as Lisa had been. Rise wouldn't be surprised if Lisa point-blank refused.

"Anyway, we used the bio band to track its movement west," Rise continued. "And we thought we might as well stop in to see if you and Alex would be willing to help us out. We could use the old team."

University of Academia
- James & Lenka -

Lenka sat down with the others. She already knew the story, so her thoughts started to run through the recent events.

In the car, she’d been able to get a little sleep, but sleeping in a sitting position was never restful. Shortly she wondered if Luke or Rise had slept at all. This must be hard on Luke, now tracking his former friend in an attempt to capture him with no sure way of know if he could be cured. Not ideal to find peace of mind. Luke’s expression, however, didn’t betray if he was in inner turmoil.

Just then, Rise reached the end of her story and the moment of decision for Lisa was here, so Lenka turned her attention back towards the conversation in time to hear Lisa agree to help them.

James breathed a sigh of relief when Lisa agreed to help them. “Thank you,” he said with genuine honesty. "Yes, we are only supposed to capture it, but don't be fooled. It can still be dangerous."

He pulled up a tablet and opened the Bio band database, entering the code of Mark’s Bio band. “See for yourself, the last time we checked, it was headed for the coast.” The map pulled up and he pushed the tablet towards Lisa.

“Also, we still need to find Alex to ask him as well,” he added.

University of Academia
Luke Jaron

"Just a quick question... How are we going to capture it?" Luke asked cautiously, "Do we have something that could work like a cage? And we probably have to equip ourselves better too..." He added as he recall the battle with the redcape.

Luke's fists were masterfully trained martial artists'; if he had been fighting normal person, it would have broken some bones, even if the person was trained, direct hit from his fists could have ended up someone in worse shape. In additionally, he had fought many foes with his bare hands, including some majins. However, Redcape did not look like it had taken considerable damage.

Luke bite his lips, wondering if he had said too much.

University of Academia

Rise was relieved to here Lisa agree to come with them and help. Luke brought up a good point about how they would go capturing it, but Rise didn't really have any ideas on that front.

"Maybe Lisa could use her Overlimit to trap it?" she suggested. "If we'd thought to ask the police for stunners, that might have helped..."

She figured they could come up with something on the way. She was more concerned with getting to Alex at the moment. She was a bit worried about him.

"Come on, let's go find Alex," Rise said. "Have you see him lately, Lisa? He hasn't really been contacting me recently."

They trekked across campus together to reach the dormitory where Alex was staying. After several knocks, it was clear Alex was either not there or not answering. Rise gave his phone a ring, but received no reply.

"Lisa, can you use your Overlimit to unlock it from the other side?" she asked, biting her lip.

[OOC: Whoever gets us inside, the room will be empty, and show no signs that Alex has been there recently.]

University of Academia

Had they been for real?

Marcus shuddered and dropped onto the bench outside the door. Redcapes? And they were all magic users? Did that mean he was a ticking time bomb?

The sound of the door opening drew his attention, but he quickly turned it back to his feet. The group of people that had come to talk with Lisa were on their way out and across campus. He gave them a few seconds to pass by before looking up again.

Wait. Lenka?

His eyes locked onto the waves of blonde hair spilling over her shoulders. What was she doing with them? Was she involved somehow?

He took a moment to compose himself before rising to follow them at a distance. When the group arrived at one of the dorms, Marcus waited for them to get inside before dropping onto the bench by the door. They were probably looking for another student inside.

----------------------------------------------------------

"I could probably disable it." Lisa responded as they exited the psychology building. "But there's no way I could contain something that size for any real length of time."

After trekking across the campus, she found herself standing outside of Alex's door. How long had it been since she'd been here? Two weeks? Maybe three? "Actually, I don't think I've seen him since last month."

She gave Rise a pointed look at the mention of her overlimit, but after a quick glance down the hall in either direction, she held out an open palm. "Hair tie, please."

After Rise complied, Lisa closed her fingers around it, then dropped the tie to the ground, where it scooted beneath the door like an inch worm. A few seconds later, there was a soft click, and the door swung inwards.

Lisa reached around it and pulled the hair tie from the handle, extending it back to its owner.

"Looks like he's not been here in a while." She said, pointing to the book on the desk, which had accumulated a light layer of dust.

University of Academia
- James & Lenka -

Right, the question of capture. Luke raised a good point and James had to admit, he didn’t have an answer that he knew would work.

“The University also has its own weapon department for training purposes,” he said and looked at Luke. “We can check there before leaving. They should also have some stunners.” And almost as an afterthought, he added with a slight smile. "The police cruiser we're driving, is also pretty well equipped."

They left for Alex’s dorm room only to find it empty. “Come to think of it, I haven’t seen him in a while either,” James confirmed and looked around the room, noticing the signs of abandonment.

“He missed our last sparring session, but since I was so busy preparing for graduation, I didn’t think to check on him to make sure he was okay,” James sounded a little upset. Why wasn’t Alex here? Was there something he’d missed?

“Don’t you have any idea where he could be?” Lenka’s voice sounded through the moment of silence as they stood there wondering what to do. She bit her lip, seeing the confusion and slight concern on her brother’s face.

“I mean, if not, do we have time to also look for him? He’s important, right?” She asked the essential question and James tried to weigh their options. Their priority should be the Redcape, but with Alex’s help the capture of said creature would probably become slightly easier.

He shrugged, at a loss. "As much as I would like to spend some time to search for Alex, we shouldn’t really let the Redcape get much further away from us,” he said quietly and looked at Rise and Lisa to see what they were thinking.

University of Academia
Luke Jaron

Luke was in deeper thought and it started to concerned him as they had very few options of how to captured his transformed friend.

It was then he realized the sudden movement from the door as James had opened the door. but there were none. 'Strange...' Thought Luke as they were no one visible. Was his senses becoming overly sharp as two years ago due to the situation?

Luke could not help his feeling of being followed and that disturbed Luke pretty much. The stalker was definitely not a pro, but as he never wanted to accuse someone wrongly he waited for the moment to be sure.

As they had reached the dorm and to Alex's room, which was found out empty, the group discussed if they should look for the missing member or not.

Luke bite his lips as he was not so sure if it was right for him to raise his opinion on the matter. But thinking about his friend... He could not help but speak it out. "I understand he is an important person, but if we do not know where to find him now... I think we should catch up to my friend as soon as possible. I doubt he would stay in one place for long time." Then Luke glanced at their way back. "And I cannot help it, but I think someone is following us. Do we have other way out of here? Or do you want to confront that person?" He asked in somewhat whisper so that it won't alert the stalker.

Luke, of course, wanted to avoid the stalker. He did not want to waste the time on the person who might be following them because of Phoenix, then again, as there had been a little hint of someone's involvement, he was not so sure... Was it wise to let the stalker go free without interrogation?

"If we want to confront the stalker, I have an idea." Said Luke, confidently.

University of Academia

Rise's stomach twisted with anxiety as she waited for Lisa to work her magic with the door. When they entered, it was immediately apparent that Alex had not been there in some time.

"Where would he have gone off to without saying anything?" she wondered aloud, chewing on her lip. This wasn't like him at all.

Despite everyone's anxiety at Alex's behavior, no one seemed to think they had the time to look for him while the Redcape was on the move. When Luke mentioned that they needed to look for his friend instead, she wanted to lash out. Why should they help his friend and not theirs?

But no, she couldn't do that. Maybe he was being selfish, but so was she. This was about Kaddath, not any one person.

"Yeah, I guess you guys are right," she conceded heavily. Luke suddenly alerted them to the presence of a stalker. Was it a spy? Someone watching to see if they contacted Alex? Rise was feeling aggressive enough to find out right away.

"Yeah, I have some ideas of my own," Rise said darkly. She threw open the door and jumped into the hallway, fan extended at the young man near the door.

"All right, who are you and why are you following us?" she demanded, flames licking at the edges of her fans.

University of Academia
- James & Lenka -

Stalker? What stalker?

James looked confused upon Luke’s alert. He hadn’t noticed anyone following them. Who could it be? Were the spying on Alex or had they been following them since Gemnity?

The mystery was solved before he could ask Luke any questions to clarify. Within seconds of the decision not to look for Alex further, Rise stormed out the door. James and Lenka followed closely behind only to see Rise demanding answers quite forcefully from a young man. James’ eyes narrowed. He recognized the young man from earlier in Lisa’s office.

“Marcus?” Lenka’s voice suddenly chimed up. “What are you doing here?” With slightly flushed cheeks and flowing blonde hair, she peeked around James’ shoulder.

James raised an eyebrow at her questioningly and she shrugged. “We have a few classes together,” she explained quietly.

University of Academia

"I bet can guess." Lisa stepped from behind Rise, pushing aside the extended fan. "How much did you hear?"

Marcus swallowed, eyes darting from one face to the next. Maybe following them hadn't been the best idea, particularly since one of them seemed to have fire magic. "I uhm... I heard enough."

Lisa raised an eyebrow at that, which only made him feel more uncomfortable.

"Look, I didn't mean to intrude, but you can't just overhear THAT and not wonder where things are going to lead." He sent Lisa a pleading look, but she didn't seem as quick to let him off the hook this time.

"I thought, maybe I could tag along?" Even he doubted the surety of that, based on the weakness of his voice.

Lisa shook her head slowly, stepping forward. "This isn't the answer you're looking for, Marcus."

He honestly hadn't even considered that, but hearing her say it made him wonder if that were true. "What if you're wrong?"

"Then I'll happily be wrong, but it doesn't change my mind."

University of Academia
Luke Jaron

Luke was actually expected some of them to be bashing at him or speak badly of him... After all, he was being selfish on the matter of saving his friend.

And even though, he had confidence that they were being followed, he was not so sure if they would believe him.

Rise surprised him by taking the action and asking the question at the stranger; a fellow student of the university.

Luke bite his lips, how Phoenix acted towards the stranger made Luke realize how she was angry with his statement. Maybe he spoke like he did not care about their friend Alex? Even though he did not mean it that way, Luke cast his eyes down, feeling little bit guilty.

Luke quickly shook his head, shaking such feelings. He could apologize to Phoenix, Rise, later. At the moment, he wanted to get his friend safe and secured. If the opportunity comes, he would gladly help them to find their friend too.

Luke carefully study the male student and others; it looked like Lisa, Lenka and James knew him. The male student have answered the question, telling them about how he had overheard the conversation and he suggested about tagging along with them. To be fair, in Luke's opinion, it was not a bad idea to have extra hand.

However, he was not so sure of the strangers' ability to fight nor had confidence of how well the stranger could protect himself. Additionally, as he had no say in this matter, he just kept quiet and waited to see how it would go.

University of Academia

It seemed the stranger wasn't a total stranger to Lisa and Lenka, but that didn't make Rise trust him any better. The fans were down, but still out. James easily recognized him from Lisa's office, and it wasn't hard to make the connection that he'd been following them around and listening in.

"Really? That's your excuse for stalking us?" she said scathingly. "Just couldn't help it?"

She rolled his eyes. If he wasn't an enemy spy, then he was just some clown wasting their time.

"We don't even know you. Why would we take someone like you along?" she said, taking a much less gentle approach than Lisa. "Come on, let's go. We don't have time for this."

She shot a look at James and Lenka, expecting their support.

University of Academia
- James & Lenka -

James followed the conservation with a serious expression, unsure if his somewhat negative attitude towards Marcus resulted from the fact that he had eavesdropped on them or from something else entirely.

Normally he stayed out of Lenka’s University life, knowing much more than he wanted to anyways since she loved to talk about it. However, he never heard her mention this guy.

Pretty quickly it was clear that they wouldn’t allow Marcus to come along and when Rise looked at him for support he nodded. “I agree, you can't come. This isn’t a tag along party. Let’s go,” he said and turned around, ready to leave.

He felt a little bad for Marcus, remembering a time, two years ago, when Rise, Alex and Will had let him come along without much questioning his motives, but it couldn’t be helped. This time was different. They weren’t running, they were out to capture something and letting Marcus come along just because he felt like it, was too much of a risk.

Lenka shrugged. She knew she didn’t really have a say in who came along and who didn’t, but she wondered what suddenly brought this on. She didn’t really know Marcus well enough to be able to ascertain whether he was the reckless type. Except for that one encounter in a hallway a few months ago, their conservations had been brief. A smile played around her lips. Well she knew he was helpful.

When they all turned to leave, she lingered behind for a second. “Bye,” she said, giving him a soft smile.

University of Academia

Marcus blinked a few times, trying to figure out what exactly had just happened. He knew the brash woman with the fans from somewhere, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Yeah, bye..." He absently responded to Lenka.

Wait. Lenka was going with them? The same woman who had told him she was prone to fainting spells? At least Lisa knew what he was capable of, but even she had flat out denied his going along.

Maybe she was right, but something told him that wasn't the full answer.

"Phoenix!" That's where he knew her from. And she was a magic user? Could his life get any more strange?

-------------------------

"I hope the fame hasn't gone to your head." Lisa commented as they stepped out of the dorm. She gave Rise a sideways glance while she swirled meditation balls in her palm. "Marcus may have overstepped, but he does have his reasons."

She sighed and slipped the balls back into her pocket. "Where is Alex when I actually need him around?" Lisa grumbled to herself.

University of Academia

It seemed the matter of the unwanted and unnecessary tag-along was settled decidedly in her favor. Rise felt a savage satisfaction at that. Maybe it was a petty victory, but no less a legitimate one.

When Lisa made some snide comments to the contrary, Rise shot him a scathing look.

"Has his reasons? What, staving off the boredom of academia?" she laughed derisively. "Do you remember the last time a group of students left this campus? None of us came back the same. That kid has no idea what he's asking for."

Rise turned her back firmly on Lisa and marched to their cruiser without waiting for anyone.

University of Academia
Luke Jaron

It looked like Luke had discovered Phoenix's new side; it made him feel even more guilty about it. For once, he acted selfish and the consequence was pretty dire.

"I am really sorry... I didn't mean your friend's whereabouts is not important..." Said Luke, catching up to James, feeling he was responsible for Rise to express her anger and bitterness in such a way.

He was not so sure if he was going to be selfish after this incident as he felt big responsible for how Phoenix suddenly changed her attitude towards the group and the stranger she just met.

University of Academia
- James & Lenka -

James was watching the scene unfold and started to silently wonder if things were already falling apart when Luke’s voice drew him from his own gloomy thoughts.

“It’s not your fault, Luke,” James said reassuringly. “We know you didn’t mean to set the well-being of your friend above ours. Things are a little stressful at the moment and that can lead to emotions boiling over.” He smiled at Luke.

The incident just now had once again reminded him of something that was nagging at the back of his mind since they left the police station. As they arrived at the cruiser, he turned around.

“Lenka, listen to me..,” James began, unsure how to phrase the next part so it wouldn’t upset her. “I don’t think you should come with us.”

Lenka, who was about to get in the car, spun around. “What? Why not?” she asked surprised, guessing the answer. “Oh you think I’m not fit enough to be part of this,” she complained, slightly raising her voice.

“You don’t understand. I just don’t want you to be involved in this for your own safety,” he replied, trying to stay calm. “It will be dangerous and people will get hurt. You could get hurt. You don’t know how to fight, you don’t know what you’re getting into. So it’s safer for you to stay here.”

“And you do know what you're getting into?” she asked sharply. “I was there when the attack happened. That means I’m already involved. Plus I’m pretty sure, your buddy Jax asked all of us to help. That includes me.” She straightened up, determined. Her blue eyes were flashing with the anger that was also colouring her voice. She wasn’t going to be left behind. No, she wanted to be part of this adventure.

“Besides, why does he get to come along then?” she asked accusingly and pointed at Luke.

“Because he is personally affected. His friend was transformed,” James replied, trying to keep his voice calm. “Also, he knows how to fight and he is a strain user.”

[color=#DA70D6“And you think I don’t have a personal interest to be involved?”[/color] Lenka complained loudly, “Just because I don’t know how to fight, doesn’t mean I won’t be useful. Also, you don’t have a strain either anymore.” She looked defiantly at him.

“I don’t care,” James also raised his voice now. On the outside it didn’t look like Lenka’s jab at him having his strain silenced affected him, but it was something that had also occupied his mind. “I’m not taking you with us.”

“You’re not my dad,” Lenka replied strongly. “You can’t tell me what to do.”

“No, but I’m your big brother and mom and dad told me to take care of you.”

They stared at each other, both determined not to give in. Normally James didn’t tell Lenka what to do, but he wanted his little sister to be safe.

University of Academia

Lisa sighed as Rise stormed off. Was this her new normal? Maybe life as a pop princess had actually begun to wear away the compassionate girl Lisa remembered.

"I think he's got a better idea of what he's asking for than you think." She said to the empty air around her. "But that doesn't change the fact that I won't subject him to what we've experienced until now."

With raised voices chasing her across the lawn, Lisa marched towards the car. She should have just said 'no'.

University of Academia

Rise reached the car, feeling her temper cooling with every step. By the time she reached it, all she could do was lean against its side and sigh.

She'd referenced it in jest on the ride over, but this wasn't turning out so differently from the start of their last excursion. They couldn't afford to be at each other's throats already. She'd have to apologize for her behavior.

She still stood by her decision though. And as James and Lenka began to argue, she knew she had to come to James' help.

"Lenka, he's right," Rise said quietly, coming up beside her and putting a hand on her shoulder. "I know you want to help, but it's better this way."

The fewer people involved, the few people she had to worry about.

"Maybe you can search around and find where Alex has gone in the meantime," she added as an afterthought. "Make sure he's okay. I'd appreciate it."

She managed a smile. A look over at Luke made her falter, however. He was looking guilty, and she could probably guess why.

"Don't," she said, shaking her head at him. "It's not your fault. I can get a little heated sometimes. Not much of an idol, I guess, huh?"

She'd been focused on how the Redcape had upset her life, but she hadn't really stopped to concern herself with how Luke must be feeling. She fingered the letter from his friend, Mark, in her pocket and pulled it out.

"Alex... I can't do much more than trust that he'll be okay. But we can help Mark right now. So, let's work together and save him, okay?" she said, holding her hand out to him.

University of Academia
- James & Lenka -

When she felt Rise’s hand on her shoulder, Lenka broke the eye contact with James.

“Well fine! Since you’re all ganging up on me,” she said exasperated and glared first at James and then at Rise. “Just so you know, I’m not happy about this. I really wanted to come along. I’m not an idiot and I don’t like being told what to do and you know that.” Her eyes narrowed and she still sounded upset, but there was a slight edge in her voice that told James she had accepted their decision.

Lenka crossed her arms. “If you both get hurt doing this, I’m not explaining things to mom and dad,” she said and turned around to walk away.

James sighed as his eyes followed her slender figure disappear.

He turned around to Rise. “Thanks for the support,” he said and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “And don’t worry about her storming off. She likes drama.”

Everyone seemed to be slightly lost now that the start of this mission was overcast with so much arguing.

—————————————————————————————

Lenka stopped once she was out of sight from the cruiser and sat down on the stone steps.

It was true, she was upset, but she was smart enough to know that both James and Rise had only meant well. Of course it was a dangerous mission and there was the danger that she would only get in the way. Still, it didn’t stop her from feeling disappointed.

She sighed. She felt for them, knowing from more than most people what Aegis had gone through two years ago and she was worried about the effect it could have on them this time around.

University of Academia
Luke Jaron

"Thank you," Said Luke and shook Rise hand gently, "After this, if you all are planning to look for your friend, please, let me repay you by helping you guys out." He added in very appreciative tone, and he looked little brighter.

After everyone got in the car, Luke looked at the direction where Lenka went off to. Wondering if she really took that well. However, for this, Luke had to agree with James and Rise on this one. They were not going to a camping, but a fight that did not have proper solution.

Another thing that bothered him slightly would be how Lenka had pointed out at him, with the question of why he was going with Aegis. Luke thought he had made his case quite clear, but it looked like whatever reason he had did not matter to Lenka, and how she pointed out him as 'He'... Probably, he was a stranger that she doesn't need to remember?

'I am used to it anyway... And what was I hoping for? Stupid...' thought Luke, shaking his head. Then he raised a question. "So, are we taking look at the equipment on this cruise as we get there?" He asked as it looked like the matter was settled.

University of Academia

Lisa brushed past the others and got into the car while they were talking to Lenka. She could understand James' mindset, and was glad to see that maybe more that just Marcus might be saved from living through events far too similar to those which Aegis had endured in the past.

Rise also seemed to have calmed down somewhat, but Lisa still wasn't sure how to regard her sudden change in mood. Emotional tension was definitely high right now, and it seemed like a poor time to remind the other woman that she herself had been no less prepared in the past, that none of them had been prepared back then. Funny how time had a way of changing things.

As they got underway, Luke mentioned the cruiser's equipment, and Lisa nodded in response. "Yes. I'd like to know what options we have for capturing the Redcape. If possible, I'd prefer not to get up close and personal with it."

-------------------------------------------------------------

Marcus stopped short at the sight of blonde hair on the steps down the path.

Yup. Apparently, his life could get more strange.

Maybe it wasn't Lenka? No, the odds of that weren't good. He should probably just leave her alone, move on with his life. Unfortunately, he wasn't sure where that life would be taking him.

Marcus took a step forward, preparing to go around her, when she let out a long sigh. Oh geez. If she felt nearly as stressed out as she sounded, there was no way he could just leave her alone.

Silently cursing himself for it, Marcus walked down a few steps and plopped onto the stone beside her, leaving a few feet of space between them. "So, I guess it wasn't really 'bye' after all then?"